Items

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  2020-11-16

  Pandemic Gyms

  A comic strip about Covid-19
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  2020-11-16

  Mask Up the Right Way, Protect Your Elders You Will

  This is a meme of Grogu (baby Yoda), created by Indigenous Rising Media, advising Indigenous communities to wear their masks properly in order to protect their elders.
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  2020-11-16

  Militarization of Police

  The militarization of America's police first came in reaction to riots occurring in cities during the 1960s. These events were often in reaction to discrimination, poverty, high unemployment, inadequate schools, poor healthcare, limited housing options, and police brutality. In 1968, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed into law the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968. The Act created the Law Enforcement Assistance Administration, which made available grants to local governments to develop and purchase military-type resources to suppress riots. The money expedited the development of SWAT and other heavily armored police forces in cities to counteract uprisings.
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  2020-11-16

  Working Canadians should not pay for the pandemic, Jagmeet Singh, leader of the New Democratic Party (NDP) of Canada

  This tweet from NDP leader Jagmeet Singh highlights his belief that working Canadians should not pay for the pandemic. Singh and the NDP tried to use this rhetoric to implement a wealth tax on Canadians making more than 20 mil. annually.
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  2020-11-16

  "The Maclean’s Conservative Resistance with their respective COVID charts"

  This tweet makes fun of Maclean's magazine's "Conservative Resistance" by overlaying the pictures of these respective Canadian conservative leaders with their COVID charts.
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  2020-11-16

  Queer History

  Queer history is one often unknown sector of history designated to historians writing things such as "good friends" or "roommates" to muddy the waters when it comes to discussing queer individuals. In such examples, people who write to their "friend" of the same sex of their undying love for one another in a romantic sense would be played off not as lovers but "great friends". Another example would be the painting dubbed "Sappho and her Friend" where they are quite literally two women having sex. This Twitter thread goes through the ins-and-outs of bits of queer history that have been hidden and not much discussed for these aforementioned reasons.
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  2020-11-16

  Wentworth Institute of Technology - Architecture Studios

  Covid-19 has put a severe dent into the learning ability of those studying for a design major here at Wentworth Institute of Technology. We as a collective group loved having the interactions within our studio space and sharing the ideas and progress of our projects. Being able to have in-person critiques of our projects with people coming from all over Boston just to show us how our project works or does not work. With the pandemic, this all has been lost due to us having to prevent the spread of Covid through walled-off workspaces. Don’t get me wrong, I want it out of our lives as much as the next guy, but also I don’t want to be paying an arm and a leg to be getting a second-rate education. The experience that we all received from an in-person studio is something that cannot be found over a Zoom call. Getting to see everyone's reactions to your final project is one of the greatest parts of becoming an architect. The freshman architecture student cannot get to experience that for their first year on campus and it deeply saddens me. On top of that, with Covid still playing such a heavy role within our lives, I don’t foresee anyone being able to have those in-person experiences any time soon.
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  2020-11-16

  Wentworth Institute of Technology - Beatty Cafe

  What you are seeing in this picture is what a Beatty cafeteria attendant has to sit behind all day to be able to read people's IDs and sell them the “delicious” meals. It is a different situation compared to what we all used to know. The world is having to live behind plexiglass shields 24/7 just to be able to slow down the spread of this terrible virus. We are in such drastic times that our best option is to wall others off and create as little interaction as possible. Yes, the glass is clear but it is not the same as being able to walk up to them and just ask them how their day is going while they sell you an overpriced cheeseburger. Seeing this for the first time opened my eyes to what our lives may look like if this goes on for much longer. People will no longer have the in-person conversations that helped to turn their day from bad to good.
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  2020-11-16

  Preston Potter Oral History, 2020/11/16

  This interview shares the perspective of not only a college student learning during the pandemic, but also a student athlete. Preston Potter strives to maintain his job, his grades, and also stay in athletic shape, while also trying to keep a sense of team brotherhood while staying safe. We explored how he tried to juggle all of this, stay sane, and lead a normal life. Preston gives a positive outlook on the struggles and challenges he faces, focused solely on achieving a dream career of being a professional baseball player. It is a unique look into how different students are handling the many balls they have in the air between work, school and practice.
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  2020-11-16

  Small Gatherings and Daily Activities are a Growing Risk

  Many people are getting infected by COVID even at small gatherings with friends and family. Now that COVID is basically rising everywhere in the United States, the risk of getting infected at what would seem to be safe gatherings are now a potential risk. The article from the Wall Street Journal shows several accounts of people who were with 2-3 people not in their immediate household and contracted the virus.
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  2020-11-16

  IAIA 2020 Graduating Senior Virtual Exhibition

  Every semester the IAIA campus hosts an exhibition for the graduating seniors. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic the campus was closed and everything moved to an online format. Determined to show the work, the graduating seniors worked with their instuctors, advisors and the gallery director to organize and execute a virtual exhibition. The show was designed and created with the Ortelia software. Although they did not get to exhibit the work in person this interactive exhibition did return some normalcy to the gallery exhibition space.
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  2020-11-16

  Having a Negative COVID-19 Test Still Requires Social Distancing

  Some people have started to get tests for the coronavirus as a way to clear themselves to attend dinner parties without needing to wear masks or keep their distance. That’s absolutely the wrong thing to do.
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  2020-11-16

  Pandemic speeds up influx of remote workers to small cities

  This story, which also appears on NPR, talks about how smaller cities like Burlington, Vermont are experiencing an increase of new "remote workers". They're escaping the big cities for multiple factors, many exacerbated due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
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  2020-11-16

  St. Mary’s Graduation Planner

  College can be very difficult, and it is very common for it to be harder for freshmen. Now add the stress of a freshmen along with a global pandemic; it can be very difficult for freshmen to stay on track. St. Mary’s University, however, is combating this by mailing and handing out graduation plans booklets to all freshmen. These booklets contain a handy graduation plan along with a planner and schedule imbedded inside the pages. Personally, I’ve found the book to be extremely useful in my studies and greatly encourage others to use it during these difficult times. Over all, I thought it was very comforting for the university to do this when the pandemic has left a lot of freshmen feeling unsure and lost.
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  2020-11-16

  Freshmen Study Lifesaver

  Going to college is very difficult. I think anyone can agree with that especially if someone's never been to college. When I started, I was immediately caught off guard. I never knew when my assignments were, and I occasionally missed assignments. There was something about this online experience that really made it difficult, so I went in search of something to help. The screenshot is of my schedule early in the year when I finally decided to utilize Google Calendar. It was by far the best decision I made this semester, and it is my best advice for anyone (especially freshmen) looking to get more organized. Covid may have changed what college would normally look like, but it has taught me to adapt during this hard time. Google calendars was just a new way of me doing it.
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  2020-11-16

  Learning to Play Piano

  My roommate Vanessa decided to take advantage of the online classes available at our university and decided this was the year that she would learn piano. She had always wanted to learn how to play piano, but had never had the time to drive out to lessons. St. Mary's University this year was offering all music classes online and she decided to take advantage of this opportunity. Piano has become her new hobby, her new way to relax. As her roommate, I have had the unique opportunity to listen to her skills grow from the beginning of August to now. She said if it hadn't been for Covid-19, she would have never thought to have taken piano or had the opportunity to learn a new skill. There are some silver linings in this pandemic and some of them have come in the form of new hobbies and talents.
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  2020-11-16

  item: Learning to Play Piano

  My roommate Vanessa decided to take advantage of the online classes available at our university and decided this was the year that she would learn piano. She had always wanted to learn how to play piano, but had never had the time to drive out to lessons. St. Mary's University this year was offering all music classes online and she decided to take advantage of this opportunity. Piano has become her new hobby, her new way to relax. As her roommate, I have had the unique opportunity to listen to her skills grow from the beginning of August to now. She said if it hadn't been for Covid-19, she would have never thought to have taken piano or had the opportunity to learn a new skill. There are some silver linings in this pandemic and some of them have come in the form of new hobbies and talents.
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  2020-11-16

  Crazy Semester for St. Mary's University

  This email that I provided goes to show the crazy semester we had at St. Mary's University. The Dean is sympathizing with the student and faculty for how hard everyone worked during the pandemic and how we were still able to come together whether it be through zoom or safe social distancing events. It also states struggles that everyone has been through such as Zoom glitches, dropped internet connections, etc. This shows that the dean is able to see all the hard-work that the students and faculty went through to finish the semester.
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  2020-11-16

  Campus Adds Socially Distanced Seating

  With campus dining switching to only offering to-go options, St. Mary's added numerous picnic tables throughout campus. These picnic tables are made of rough wood but they allow students socially distanced seating options, instead of having them return all the way back to their dorms to ear.
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  2020-11-16

  Pandemic Hiking, Guadalupe River State Park

  I had not gone hiking since before the pandemic so I was nervous about this first trek out. I had to wear a mask when entering any buildings but other than that things were the same. I chose to go to the Guadalupe River State Park since it was one I had not previously visited. I was surprised at how many people were at the park on a weekday but it was easy to be away from people the farther you were from the water. I had a mask on anytime I had to walk near someone, but hiking on the Barred Owl and Bauer Trail I didn't run into anyone. Attached are photos from an isolated pocket I found where I could spend time with my feet in the cold river. For the first time in months, I felt a sense of normalcy. Besides the mask and the need to make reservations beforehand, nothing about this hiking experience was exceptional, and yet I felt completely renewed as I huffed and puffed back to my car. I hope that people still take precautions when they can.
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  2020-11-16

  Modification to Library

  One of the busiest areas on campus is the Blume Library, particularly the Cotrell Learning Commons which is where the campus Starbucks is located. Changes were made to library operations in March and that included how the public would enter and exit the building. In order to limit the number of patrons inside the building, a walk-up window was added to accommodate those wanting to enter just to get Starbucks.
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  2020-11-16

  Isolation Art

  Isolation Art, 2020 Acrylic on canvas, 36x24 Between March 24th and June I was working remotely, and terrified to leave the house. I tried to get into new hobbies and thought that FaceTime would be sufficient for human connection, but it was not. Several personal milestones were accomplished during those months and not being able to physically be with my family was tough. The anniversary of my father’s death was the most difficult even to grapple with alone, but I could not help but wonder who else had lost their father that day because of COVID. So, I painted. It’s difficult to tell, but the words on the canvas read, “I’m so fucking sad. I see and I don’t care.” The headspace I was in was not a good one but I am grateful that I was able to get out what I needed to when I needed to. I listened to the news daily and every time that number rose my heart sank further and my anxiety deeper. I have since repurposed the canvas and painted over it, but this photo remains.