Personal Journal Entry - 31 March 2020
Title
Personal Journal Entry - 31 March 2020
Relation
SRU Faculty
Text
It’s really striking how quickly everything can change. The US is now the epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic. The federal government is slowly coming to the realization that this has no short term solution. Trump extended the social distancing guidelines until at least April 30th.
Pennsylvania is under a shelter in place order. Basically, people are ordered to stay home unless we’re going to the doctor, out for groceries, or other necessities. Yesterday I had my yearly physical and Cranberry was like a ghost town.
Classes resumed yesterday for SRU. My students have adjusted fairly well to the change. It was a massive effort to shift over to online learning so late in the semester. The university announced graduation was postponed until further notice. Summer classes will now all be online. We’re hopeful the fall may see us returning to some degree of normalcy, but it’s too early to know for sure.
Congress passed a $2 trillion dollar stimulus bill. The largest in US history. Most citizens will get a one time $1200 check. Compared to other countries, it’s largely seen as a pittance. Especially considering the same bill is earmarking billions for corporations, airlines, and the cruise industry. The latter is particularly infuriating given that so many sail under foreign flags to avoid taxation.
The country is still woefully behind in testing supplies and the manufacturing of medical supplies. By any realistic metric, the federal response has been lackluster at best, criminally negligent at worst. The President continues trying to pass the buck and blame everyone and everything but himself and his own incompetence. And people are literally dying as a result.
3,440 people are dead as of today in the US. The White House estimates 200,000 could die before it’s all over.
I would much prefer Chaucer’s April to Eliot’s.
Pennsylvania is under a shelter in place order. Basically, people are ordered to stay home unless we’re going to the doctor, out for groceries, or other necessities. Yesterday I had my yearly physical and Cranberry was like a ghost town.
Classes resumed yesterday for SRU. My students have adjusted fairly well to the change. It was a massive effort to shift over to online learning so late in the semester. The university announced graduation was postponed until further notice. Summer classes will now all be online. We’re hopeful the fall may see us returning to some degree of normalcy, but it’s too early to know for sure.
Congress passed a $2 trillion dollar stimulus bill. The largest in US history. Most citizens will get a one time $1200 check. Compared to other countries, it’s largely seen as a pittance. Especially considering the same bill is earmarking billions for corporations, airlines, and the cruise industry. The latter is particularly infuriating given that so many sail under foreign flags to avoid taxation.
The country is still woefully behind in testing supplies and the manufacturing of medical supplies. By any realistic metric, the federal response has been lackluster at best, criminally negligent at worst. The President continues trying to pass the buck and blame everyone and everything but himself and his own incompetence. And people are literally dying as a result.
3,440 people are dead as of today in the US. The White House estimates 200,000 could die before it’s all over.
I would much prefer Chaucer’s April to Eliot’s.
Collection
Citation
Anonymous, “Personal Journal Entry - 31 March 2020,” Shared Voices, Shared Experiences: COVID-19 and the Slippery Rock Community, accessed October 1, 2023, http://slipperyrockcovid19.org/items/show/9.