The first weeks of school are always a flurry of adjustments and getting settled into new routines.
Many times, students are too overwhelmed to focus on many issues outside of their own personal bubbles.
Personally I’m already hanging on by a thread for the semester. There are, however, a few big issues that students at Colorado Mesa University (CMU) are paying attention to that I’m sure will continue to stay on our radars.
“I think for CMU, trying to get the hang of how to do school and COVID at the same time, that’s probably been the biggest challenge,” Junior Salina Maharjan said when asked about issues she’s following most closely.
CMU has kept a low prevalence rate through the first few weeks of testing, although the percentage jumped from 0.42% to 2.03% after the numbers were published on Friday, Sep. 4.
Many schools nationally have already moved classes online after suffering coronavirus outbreaks, and I hope that CMU can continue the relatively impressive containment job they’ve done so far.
“Issues I’m paying attention to most right now have a lot to do with the presidential race, how that’s all unfolding,” Junior Brandon Hanson said. “I don’t really like to go to either side just because I know both political parties have their issues.”
The 2020 presidential election, which pits Joe Biden against Donald Trump, has already set the stage for perhaps one we’ve never seen before. Hanson is right to be weary of both parties, especially given the hyper-partisan nature of politics nowadays.
From the way the United States has handled the Coronavirus pandemic to the recent Black Lives Matter protests and police violence, this election should be on every students’ radar, even if they find themselves politically jaded.
“Jobs, the jobs that are available,” Junior James Somsen said. “Especially in the COVID mess that’s going on right now.”
Unemployment in the United States can be tricky to truly follow, as the differing ways of counting and measuring the impact of COVID-19 can be tweaked to impact the numbers differently. While unemployment has recently fallen under 10% after peaking at 14.7% in April, under-employment is a problem that students should watch out for.
“[Nationally], the election,” Freshman Timmy Madrigal said. “For CMU, what’s on my mind right now is [how] our cases might go up soon.”
“Personally, it’s everything that’s going on with COVID, and just trying to stay on campus if it gets shut down like all the other schools have been,” Freshman Nathan Tomasello said.
“Nationally, definitely the election,” Junior Jose Rico said. “At CMU, COVID.”
COVID-19 and the election seem to be weighing heavily on everybody’s minds, and that will probably only continue as we draw closer to election day.
Watching the news and reading about politics can be jading, yes, but it is an important thing for students to pay attention to, especially given this will be the first presidential election many are voting in.
Monitoring for COVID will continue as we follow the safety guidelines and continue struggling through classes while the semester ramps up in difficulty.
