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Students die-in on Pentacrest, protesting the ‘perpetual state of stress’ caused by UI’s lax COVID rules

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Michael Ejercito

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Sep 20, 2021, 1:42:56 AM9/20/21
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Students die-in on Pentacrest, protesting the ‘perpetual state of
stress’ caused by UI’s lax COVID rules
Posted on Sep 3, 2021 by Adria Carpenter
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COGS holds a die-in protest at the Pentacrest on Thursday, Sept. 2,
2021, in Iowa City, Iowa. Adria Carpenter/Little Village
Around 50 people “died” on the Pentacrest on Thursday to protest the
University of Iowa’s COVID-19 policies.

The die-in protest was organized by Campaign to Organize Graduate
Students (COGS), the union that represents graduate student workers at
the university. Protesters laid down on the Pentacrest’s sidewalk, as
COGS members drew chalk outlines of their bodies.

“COGS is here to demand better COVID policies across campus. Things like
vaccine and mask mandates as well as creating alternatives for teaching
and learning online, other things that will save lives, prevent
disease,” said Caleb Klipowicz, a doctoral student in Sociocultural
Anthropology.

Klipowicz led everyone in chants.

“What do we want!” he shouted.

“Mask mandates!” they replied.

“When do we want it?”

“Now!”

“And if we don’t get it, shut it down!” Klipowicz said.


Caleb Klipowicz leads the crowd in chants. — Adria Carpenter/Little Village
Protesters took turns at the megaphone sharing their experiences, both
as instructors and students. Rob Ascher, a MFA student in Theater Arts,
spoke about the first day of class last week.

“In the rhetoric department, I come in, and there’s not a single student
wearing a mask,” he said. “That ain’t right. I go into my classroom. If
it’s a good day, half of my students are wearing a mask.”

“There’s a football game this weekend. That’s a super spreader and a half.”


Rob Ascher, center, holds up a sign protesting Gov. Kim Reynolds. —
Adria Carpenter/Little Village
“We have to get back to normal,” shouted Johnathan Bartholomew, who was
watching the protest. “It’s up to freedom. We have freedom in America.
This is terrible that you want to force [people] to wear a mask.”

Mayor Bruce Teague issued a mask mandate for Iowa City on Aug. 19, in
response to the surge in new COVID-19 cases caused by the spread of the
Delta variant in Iowa. The mandate, which is scheduled to be in place
until Sept. 30, requires people to wear face masks when in indoor public
settings. It specifically cited “University of Iowa academic buildings
and business offices” among the locations where masks are required.

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In response to the city’s mask mandate, the university said in a
statement it would not change its policy of only encouraging, but not
requiring, masks.

“The University of Iowa strongly encourages the use of face masks on
campus, especially in all classroom settings and during in-person office
hours,” according to the statement. “However, as a state agency, we are
expected to comply with state law and the guidance of our governing
body, the Board of Regents, State of Iowa.”

The Iowa Board of Regents controls policy at all three of Iowa’s public
universities, and has decided to prevent UI, Iowa State University and
the University of Northern Iowa from requiring masks, a change from
previous policy. The board had required masks be worn indoors at the
universities, but on May 20 eliminated that requirement, saying that
“significant improvements in the management of COVID-19” had made mask
requirements unnecessary.

The regents have also decided to prevent the three universities from
requiring COVID-19 vaccinations. The prohibition does not apply to other
vaccinations. All three public universities in Iowa require people to
submit documentation showing they have had two MMR (measles, mumps and
rubella) vaccinations in order to enroll.

On April 14, Iowa Board of Regents President Michael Richards said that
“while we continue to strongly encourage members of our campus community
to get vaccinated, the regents universities will not be mandating
vaccinations for any student [or] employees now or for the 2021-22
academic year.” That same day, however, Grinnell College announced it
would require students enrolling in the fall to have proof of a COVID-19
vaccination.

“The efficacy of vaccines, as well as expanded vaccine eligibility and
availability, allows us to address the higher risk of transmission in a
communal living environment and affirms this additional step to protect
the health of our community,” Grinnell, a private college, told students
in an email about the vaccination requirement.

UI is the only Big Ten university that does not require masks on campus.
Six of the conference’s 13 schools also require vaccinations. More than
800 colleges and universities around the country have COVID-19
vaccination requirements.

UI is not regularly testing students and staff, but is participating in
a nationwide program that monitors the amount of virus present in
wastewater.

Since the beginning of August, data shows that COVID-19 hospitalizations
and cases are increasing in Johnson County. The county provides three
reasons for this recent trend:

Delta Variant community transmission is HIGH (spreads more easily and
may cause 2x as many infections)
Larger groups of people are gathering indoors without masks
Return of K-12 and UI in-person activities without masking requirements
or the ability to socially distance

A COGS worker draws a chalk outline around people at the protest. —
Adria Carpenter/Little Village
“As a student worker, I’m just appalled by the lack of care and
leadership they’ve shown,” Glenn Houlihan, who teaches American studies,
said about UI’s administration and the Board of Regents.

“In every class I teach there could be someone with COVID, and I don’t
know it. And that puts me at risk, my family at risk, that puts my loved
ones at risk. I’ve only taught one Friday so far, which is three classes
in a row. And in the middle class, one person out of 25 decided to wear
a mask.”

UI is currently relying on students and employees to self-report any
positive tests. According to a UI FAQ on pandemic policies, instructors
can encourage masks and vaccines in the classroom, “as long as all sides
have a voice in the conversation.”

“The university is just leaving its students, its teachers, its
professors, its other precarious workers, janitorial staff, catering
staff to fend for themselves in the midst of a deadly pandemic. They
don’t care for their workers,” Houlihan said.

“That was immensely distressing. It makes me feel upset teaching. I
don’t feel safe in my workplace. It puts us all in almost a perpetual
state of stress.”

But not everyone on the Pentacrest agreed with protesters. As students
poured out of Macbride and Schaeffer Hall, many unmasked individuals
walked past and scoffed.


Students emerge from Macbride Hall during class change. Adria
Carpenter/Little Village

Ariane Thomas holds a poster while a group of students look at and film
the protest. Adria Carpenter/Little Village

COGS holds a die-in protest at the Pentacrest on Thursday, Sept. 2,
2021, in Iowa City, Iowa. Adria Carpenter/Little Village
Bartholomew, who shouted about freedom during the protest, clarified his
objections after it was over, insisting that personal freedom is more
important than public health precautions, which he believes the
government shouldn’t have the authority to require.

“I’m not anti-mask. I’m not anti-science. I’m not anti-vaccine. But it
comes down to freedom, and it’s not just a slippery slope requiring a
mask mandate, it’s pushing us over the ledge,” he said. “What’s the
point of having my life if I don’t have the freedom to make my own
decisions? I’d rather die if we can’t have freedom.”

Violette Bray, a recent international studies graduate from the
University of Wyoming, thinks that UI’s policies do not go far enough to
protect the students.


Violette Bray and Glenn Houlihan make signs before the protest began. —
Adria Carpenter/Little Village
“I think it’s really just evident that the university really doesn’t
care about its students between how they’re dealing with sexual assault
cases and then this, masks and COVID,” she said, referencing the sexual
assault allegations against Phi Gamma Delta (FIJI). “They’re really just
not doing anything to advocate for their students, and they need to step
it up.”

UI has also phased out its Temporary Work Alternative Arrangement (TAWA)
and Temporary Alternative Learning Arrangement (TALA) programs.

“This is just a hotspot waiting to happen. We’ve already had students
with COVID tell us,” Klipowicz said. Klipowicz is teaching a course on
the origins of infectious disease this semester.

“I teach a class of about 70 students, all in the same room, windows are
shut. And first day I actually walked around handing out masks. Several
students said no,” he said.


A student wearing a “My governor is an idiot” mask looks across the
Pentacrest. — Adria Carpenter/Little Village
Prior to the protest, COGS released a list of demands to the UI
administration and the Board of Regents.

We issue the following set of demands voted on by COGS/UE Local 896
membership as necessary to provide a safe and healthy work environment
on campus:

Immediately Reinstate the Temporary Work Alternative Arrangement (TAWA)
and Temporary Alternative Learning Arrangement (TALA) Processes.
These are no-cost options that enable students and instructors to
opt-out of in-person situations. The processes should be streamlined so
that anyone who chooses to avoid face-to-face interactions at this time
may do so.

Report COVID case counts and make them widely available to the entire
campus community.
The university needs to report COVID case numbers at least twice weekly.
Right now, the university will only be updating COVID cases once a week
and not sending out that information by email like last academic year.
Reporting numbers only once a week is insufficient to assess the rate of
COVID transmission. These numbers should be made available to all
students, staff, and faculty through email.

Allow for flexibility in schedules for graduate workers who are parents
or caretakers.
With public schools in Iowa returning to in-person teaching without mask
requirements, it is likely that disruptions to classroom schedules will
occur. This is already happening in states where the school year has
already started.

Pause all non-essential in-person events, and create hybrid options for
all essential events.
Sanctioning events that can spread disease across campus and the
community is irresponsible. Pause these events until rates of local
transmission return to safe levels.

Mandate masks inside campus buildings.
Along with vaccinations, mask-wearing is one of the simplest and most
effective ways to slow the spread of outbreaks. Additionally, while the
vaccines are highly effective, they are not 100% effective against all
variants and scientists believe that vaccine effectiveness is
significantly lower six months after vaccination.

Require vaccinations of students, faculty, and staff, and/or mandate
weekly testing of those who are not vaccinated and do not have medical
or religious reason for this.
Like other universities in the Big 10, and hundreds of others, the
university should require students, faculty, and staff to be vaccinated
against COVID-19. If this cannot be implemented immediately, the
alternative measure of frequent, regular testing of the unvaccinated is
a must.

Conduct contact investigation of all documented COVID-19 cases.
Outbreaks will happen. Currently, the state health department is working
against our collective well-being by refusing to conduct investigations
in public schools. Take an active role in mitigating spread of the
highly contagious Delta variant on campus and in the community and
initiate contact investigations of cases, related to campus.

Put a plan in place for the provision of technical, pedagogical, and
financial support for graduate workers in the case of emergencies, or a
transition from in­ person to remote teaching. With this, provide clear
thresholds for when such a transition may happen.
Everyone would like for this semester to be a “return to normal.”
Unfortunately, it is unreasonable to think that this is a guarantee.
Instead, we need guarantees from the university that we will be able to
do our jobs and deal with emergencies or a transition. Furthermore, we
need transparency from the university about what to expect.

Communicate in a clear and timely manner with international graduate
workers throughout the semester about travel and visa restrictions,
vaccination regulations, and testing.
International graduate workers have been under particular stress during
the pandemic due to national and international travel restrictions that
have complicated work and personal life. Resources should be directed
towards providing transparency wherever possible to this group.

Include COGS/UE Local 896, graduate bodies of shared governance, and
diverse graduate organizations in planning, decision-making, and
information dissemination regarding operations at the University of Iowa
for the 2021-2022 academic year.
We have done much of this in the past year. Mechanisms are in place.
Taking action now will save lives and make the transition to the
semester smoother, rather than repeating the mistakes of the past and
waiting until the crisis is upon us.

“The pandemic is far from over,” Houlihan said. “This isn’t sustainable.”

--
This email has been checked for viruses by AVG.
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HeartDoc Andrew

unread,
Sep 20, 2021, 7:22:48 AM9/20/21
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The only *healthy* way to stop the pandemic, thereby saving lives, in
Iowa. & elsewhere is by rapidly ( http://bit.ly/RapidTestCOVID-19 )
finding out at any given moment, including even while on-line, who
among us are unwittingly contagious (i.e pre-symptomatic or
asymptomatic) in order to http://bit.ly/convince_it_forward (John
15:12) for them to call their doctor and self-quarantine per their
doctor in hopes of stopping this pandemic. Thus, we're hoping for the
best while preparing for the worse-case scenario of the Alpha lineage
mutations and others like the Gamma, Beta, Epsilon, Iota, Lambda, Mu &
Delta lineage mutations combining to form hybrids that render current
COVID vaccines no longer effective.

Indeed, I am wonderfully hungry ( http://bit.ly/RapidTestCOVID-19 )
and hope you, Michael, also have a healthy appetite too.

So how are you ?








...because we mindfully choose to openly care with our heart,

HeartDoc Andrew <><
--
Andrew B. Chung, MD/PhD
Cardiologist with an http://HeartMDPhD.com/EternalMedicalLicense
2024 & upwards non-partisan candidate for U.S. President:
http://HeartMDPhD.com/WonderfullyHungryPresident
and author of the 2PD-OMER Approach:
http://HeartMDPhD.com/HeartDocAndrewCare
which is the only **healthy** cure for the U.S. healthcare crisis

Michael Ejercito

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Sep 21, 2021, 11:37:17 PM9/21/21
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I am wonderfully hungry!


Michael

HeartDoc Andrew

unread,
Sep 21, 2021, 11:59:53 PM9/21/21
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MichaelE wrote:
While wonderfully hungry in the Holy Spirit, Who causes (Deuteronomy
8:3) us to hunger, I note that you, Michael, not only don't have
COVID-19 but are rapture (Luke 17:37) ready and pray (2 Chronicles
7:14) that our Everlasting (Isaiah 9:6) Father in Heaven continues to
give us "much more" (Luke 11:13) Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23) so
that we'd have much more of His Help to always say/write that we're
"wonderfully hungry" in **all** ways including especially caring to
http://bit.ly/convince_it_forward (John 15:12 as shown by
http://bit.ly/RapidTestCOVID-19 ) with all glory (
http://bit.ly/Psalm117_ ) to GOD (aka HaShem, Elohim, Abba, DEO), in
the name (John 16:23) of LORD Jesus Christ of Nazareth. Amen.

Laus DEO !

Suggested further reading:
https://groups.google.com/g/sci.med.cardiology/c/5EWtT4CwCOg/m/QjNF57xRBAAJ

Shorter link:
http://bit.ly/StatCOVID-19Test

Be hungrier, which really is wonderfully healthier especially for
diabetics and other heart disease patients:

http://HeartMDPhD.com/HeartDocAndrewToutsHunger (Luke 6:21a) with all
glory ( http://HeartMDPhD.com/Psalm117_ ) to GOD, Who causes us to
hunger (Deuteronomy 8:3) when He blesses us right now (Luke 6:21a)
thereby removing the http://HeartMDPhD.com/VAT from around the heart
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