Spring semester started off slightly differently than what students had become accustomed to in the fall. Temporary enhanced safety protocols were announced before students returned to campus in response to the Omicron variant. Classes were moved to remote learning through the week of Jan. 10, though students who cleared COVID testing requirements were allowed to move into residence halls as early as January 9th. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Additional enhanced safety measures included wearing KN95 or N95 masks indoors, but because they may not be as accessible, surgical masks may be doubled up. A surgical mask covered by a cloth mask is also permissible. Students eligible for a booster dose of the COVID-19 vaccine are required to receive it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Also unlike the end of the previous fall semester, University Dean of Student Affairs Donna Eddleman announced on Jan. 4 that student organizations would withhold from hosting indoor gatherings and meetings, that indoor social gatherings could not exceed four persons, and that only enrolled students and university personnel are allowed inside residence halls until Jan. 21. However, on the 21st, the Dean announced protocols would be extended until the 31st of January because of increased concern over community members not complying to the measures in place. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Finally, temporary enhanced safety protocols were lifted on Feb. 1, meaning students could eat inside of the Irvine Commons again instead of the grab and go procedure. Student organizations are now permitted to hold meetings indoors again\u2013 with masks of course. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Students of the University of Redlands had mixed reactions to the lifted protocols surrounding indoor gatherings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe’re still in this uncertainty,\u201d said Carlos Chavez \u201823. \u201cI don’t think the university is really focusing on major protocols and really caring for the student body as far as protection they might need.\u201d He pointed out that weekly COVID case reports may not encompass the true number of positive cases on campus because not all students are complying with the seven to ten day testing requirement. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI think [indoor dining] should be allowed. It makes sense, we pay for it,\u201d said Kylie Robinson \u201824. \u201cWe should be able to have access to it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019m comfortable, personally,\u201d said Ben Cowan \u201822. \u201cThe numbers seem to have been pretty good, at least for what was recorded for the school, it didn’t seem like there was a crazy outbreak. I guess there\u2019s also an option to not eat [indoors] if you aren\u2019t comfortable, you can take it to-go.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI think it\u2019s like business as usual,\u201d said Angel Lopez \u201823. \u201cIt just feels like last semester.\u201d On the subject of the honor code with COVID-19 testing, he said, \u201cI feel like it\u2019s fifty-fifty. You\u2019ll have people that are like \u2018Oh, s\u2014 I have COVID\u2019 or you\u2019ll find out that someone had COVID and you\u2019re like \u2018dude, what the f\u2014 why didn\u2019t you tell me you had COVID?\u2019 I have seen both sides.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In addition to the Irvine Commons being open for indoor dining, as of Feb. 16, the Launch and the Den have reopened as well. The COVID Task Force is formulating plans to gradually lift indoor mask requirements, however, the CDC considers some areas of campus as high transmission spaces, thus, the Task Force is airing on the side of caution even as the state of California begins to lift the mask mandate. Indoor mask requirements will still be in place after Spring Break. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Photo contributed by Bulldog photographer Michael Driscoll.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Spring semester started off slightly differently than what students had become accustomed to in the fall. Temporary enhanced<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":525,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_FSMCFIC_featured_image_caption":"","_FSMCFIC_featured_image_nocaption":"","_FSMCFIC_featured_image_hide":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[112,20,96,136],"class_list":["post-524","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-commons","tag-covid-19","tag-dining","tag-safety-protocols"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/theredlandsbulldog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/MichaelDriscoll_CommonsSeating-1.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theredlandsbulldog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/524","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theredlandsbulldog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theredlandsbulldog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theredlandsbulldog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/25"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theredlandsbulldog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=524"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/theredlandsbulldog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/524\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":526,"href":"https:\/\/theredlandsbulldog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/524\/revisions\/526"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theredlandsbulldog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/525"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theredlandsbulldog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=524"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theredlandsbulldog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=524"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theredlandsbulldog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=524"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}