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University of Iowa Grad Students Protest School’s COVID Policies for Being Too Lax

University of Iowa Grad Students Protest School’s COVID Policies for Being Too Lax

“in almost a perpetual state of stress”

Years ago, college students in this situation would be protesting for their freedom. Now they are protesting because the rules aren’t harsh enough.

The College Fix reports:

U. Iowa grad students hold die-in, make demands in protest of ‘lax’ campus COVID measures

Approximately 50 University of Iowa students held a “die-in” earlier this month to protest what they believe are “lax” COVID-19 on campus. They also issued several demands.

The demonstration was arranged by the Campaign to Organize Graduate Students, a graduate student worker union. Among other things, the group wants vaccine and mask mandates, Little Village reports.

The Iowa Board of Regents, which makes policy for Iowa’s public universities, has decided against mask and vaccine requirements. The University of Iowa is the only school in the Big Ten Conference that doesn’t have a mask mandate.

Nevertheless, UI said in a statement that it “strongly encourages the use of face masks on campus, especially in all classroom settings and during in-person office hours.”

Sociocultural Anthropology PhD student Caleb Klipowicz led those in attendance in several chants, culminating with a threat to “shut it down” if a mask mandate wasn’t implemented. Theater Arts grad student Rob Ascher complained that “not a single student” was wearing a mask in his class. “That ain’t right,” he said.

American Studies lecturer Glenn Houlihan said he was “appalled by the lack of care and leadership” by UI officials which have put workers “in almost a perpetual state of stress”: “[It’s] immensely distressing. It makes me feel upset teaching. I don’t feel safe in my workplace.”

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Comments

I can’t help but notice that the die-in participants aren’t 6 feet apart (or 6 feet under which would be wayy more realistic if they would do that!)

Gee, I must have missed it where the evil tyrants at U of Iowa forbade the grad students from “protecting” themselves by wearing face diapers.

Or is it the grad students are so scientifically illiterate that they labor under the delusion that their face diapers are useless unless everybody with whom they come into contact wears one?

“so scientifically illiterate that they labor under the delusion that their face diapers are useless unless everybody with whom they come into contact wears one”

Yes, they are. Remember that universal masking was sold as “protect your loved ones” and “masks don’t protect you they protect others from you”.

It’s always some idiot sociology grad student who leads this kind of moronic crap. Guess it’s because they don’t have a future in teaching waiting for them, so they have to learn agitation in case they can land a job doing something other than being a barista or following the horses with the can and the shovel in parades.

Behold the generation whose baby tantrums always worked.

Sociocultural Anthropology…Theater Arts…American Studies. In other words, navel-gazing brats from the “usual suspects” departments, which overwhelmingly tend to be more useless than teats on a boar. And I’m typing this as a guy who spent 21 years working in a major land grant university graduate school.

Old joke: “What’s the proper term for a newly minted American Studies Ph.D. holder? “Uber driver.”

    alohahola in reply to MarkJ. | September 22, 2021 at 6:43 pm

    Sadly, I know a few STEM students who are very freaky-outy about people who have not got the vaccine.

    I suspect it’s less about the vaccine and more about them feeling stupid about their poor knee-jerk jab decisions.

To paraphrase Manfred Mann, “Blinded by the White.”

I know quite a few PhD Karens.

Very disheartening.