Coming off the heels of Syracuse University’s decision to suspend on-campus classes until the end of the month, sentiment expressed by the student body is a mixed bag. Now, millions of Americans are becoming experts on a virus that world-renowned scientists are just now beginning to understand.

On one hand, many concerns around the spread of COVID-19 are founded in the fear of the unknown and what little statistics we have on the virus. As students, we joke that we “live in a petri-dish” when the seasonal flu season begins. Thus, a virus of this magnitude would not be hard to spread in the close setting of a dorm.

The fact that we do not know much about the virus makes it particularly concerning in how it would affect residential life of a university. COVID-19 emerged mere months ago. The seasonal flu has been around for centuries and society has been able to prepare every year for it through experience.

For COVID-19, there is no vaccine, a slow response to testing in the United States, and mixed signals from the financial sector in how supply-chains will be affected by the virus. In a panic, consumers across the nation have created a dilemma for stores to stock shelves for basic needs. For many, the real question truly is one between rational fear and hysteria.

The cancellation of in-person instruction has drawn more confusion and frustration between students. There is concern with the cost of tuition and whether or not online classes justify paying up to $6,000 on housing alone. There is very little SU has done to answer this problem.

Apart from administrative efforts to curb the spread of the virus, zero cases have been confirmed in Onondaga County. At the same time, New York remains in a state-of-emergency as one of the hardest hit states.

Taking precautionary steps based on expert opinion is necessary in mitigating the risk of both COVID-19 and the inevitable next virus. In the end, SU is among a growing list of schools across the nation giving into concerns of the spread of the virus. Though these are burdensome measures, we need to take a step back and consider that this needs to be handled calmly and strategically. SU suspending a week of in-person classes is necessary to prevent further spread of the disease and is in the best interest of the campus community.

Harrison Vogt is a freshman environment sustainability policy and communication and rhetorical studies dual major. His column appears bi-weekly. He can be reached at hevogt@syr.edu. He can be followed on Twitter at @VogtHarrison

 

Published on March 11, 2020 at 12:28 am