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Post by Ray on Apr 9, 2020 14:54:31 GMT -5
We haven't seen our grandkids for almost two months. They and their parents have been social distancing. If they were tested and found to be negative, I'm wondering why having them visit would be dangerous to us. If testing were widely available, that would reduce the need for quarantining. Hopefully we get to that point soon.
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Post by longsuffering on Apr 9, 2020 15:59:01 GMT -5
Can anyone else think back to the Polio outbreak and see similarities? It was the vaccination that saved the day. There is still no drug that can cure the infection once it has begun. I remember news sweeping through my neighborhood that someone had been infected and all the kids were called in, given hot baths and put to bed in the late afternoon. The look of fear on the adult faces is burned into my memory.
A treatment for Covid 19 may be found and testing will be available but I'm hoping for an effective vaccination and would vote for suspending civil liberties to make vaccination mandatory if I had a vote.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 9, 2020 17:10:27 GMT -5
Can anyone else think back to the Polio outbreak and see similarities? It was the vaccination that saved the day. There is still no drug that can cure the infection once it has begun. I remember news sweeping through my neighborhood that someone had been infected and all the kids were called in, given hot baths and put to bed in the late afternoon. The look of fear on the adult faces is burned into my memory. A treatment for Covid 19 may be found and testing will be available but I'm hoping for an effective vaccination and would vote for suspending civil liberties to make vaccination mandatory if I had a vote. Suspending civil liberties for mandatory vaccinations? Well, you can sign yourself up for the first few tests and see how things go. No thanks.
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Post by Ray on Apr 9, 2020 17:11:16 GMT -5
Can anyone else think back to the Polio outbreak and see similarities? It was the vaccination that saved the day. There is still no drug that can cure the infection once it has begun. I remember news sweeping through my neighborhood that someone had been infected and all the kids were called in, given hot baths and put to bed in the late afternoon. The look of fear on the adult faces is burned into my memory. A treatment for Covid 19 may be found and testing will be available but I'm hoping for an effective vaccination and would vote for suspending civil liberties to make vaccination mandatory if I had a vote. Suspending civil liberties for mandatory vaccinations? Well, you can sign yourself up for the first few tests and see how things go. No thanks.
I assume he means the final version, not the experimental ones.
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Post by hc2020 on Apr 9, 2020 17:13:36 GMT -5
Yikes - This is a rather sobering article on how COVID-19 is affecting colleges and universities, including Holy Cross.
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Post by KY Crusader 75 on Apr 9, 2020 17:18:38 GMT -5
I think the Virus and the decline in the stock market (unless it rebounds mightily in next few months, apossibility) will likely put out of a business a number of colleges that were hanging on by a thread.
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Post by breezy on Apr 9, 2020 17:23:16 GMT -5
An excerpt from an e-mail received this afternoon from my Class Agent:
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"I attended a webinar a couple days ago with Holy Cross President, Fr. Boroughs, and Rick Patterson ’80, chair of Board of Trustees. Fr. Boroughs gave several highlights regarding campus life in the age of Coronavirus:
• Students are in their 3rd week of online instruction • The campus is empty except for the Jesuit community, a small group of international students and a small staff of workers providing meals, etc. • All public construction projects have been ceased. The Jo is near completion but the new arts center is in the early phase. • HC is providing the opportunity for online spiritual retreats for students in a program called, “Communitas." • Fr. Boroughs emphasized the importance of patience, generosity and resiliency as the great lessons of the virus. He stressed that the College cannot control the timeline of this disease so the College will not reconvene until it is safe to do so.
A few highlights from Rick Patterson:
• All College employees will receive full pay until June 30. • The College has always been managed conservatively and, in fact, has generated a surplus every year for 50 straight years. That will not be possible this year with the drop in revenue due to refunding room and board fees. The expected $5 million surplus will instead be about a $3 million loss after a $19 million drop in revenue. • Liquidity is very strong. • The endowment has suffered a drop but there had already been earlier work to de-risk the portfolio. • The College has frozen all capital expenditures and has implemented a hiring freeze. • As the College concludes its capital campaign, the campaign is in great shape.
VP for Advancement Tracy Barlok spoke about ways we all can help financially:
• There is an Emergency Relief Fund at the College which has been used to help students • The annual giving challenge was postponed early in the second semester due to the rowing team’s accident in Florida. Many in our class expressed an interest in a gift in memory of Grace Rett ’22. The annual giving day has now been rescheduled for April 17.
Please give as generously as you can!"
***
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Post by hc2020 on Apr 9, 2020 17:50:32 GMT -5
Question for the Board: Are financial aid commitments binding on the college or can they effectively reduce their earlier commitments due to changed financial circumstances which adversely affect the school’s ability to fulfill the commitment?
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Post by hcpride on Apr 9, 2020 18:49:34 GMT -5
/\ Are you talking athletic aid or need-based financial aid? (I don’t know the answer, I am just trying to clarify this important question.)
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Post by hc2020 on Apr 9, 2020 18:56:27 GMT -5
/\ Are you talking athletic aid or need-based financial aid? (I don’t know the answer, I am just trying to clarify this important question.) Need-based
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Post by longsuffering on Apr 9, 2020 20:18:04 GMT -5
A scholarship grant is not something you bought so I would assume the typical consumer protection laws applying to purchases do not apply to gifts.
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Post by longsuffering on Apr 9, 2020 20:25:38 GMT -5
Can anyone else think back to the Polio outbreak and see similarities? It was the vaccination that saved the day. There is still no drug that can cure the infection once it has begun. I remember news sweeping through my neighborhood that someone had been infected and all the kids were called in, given hot baths and put to bed in the late afternoon. The look of fear on the adult faces is burned into my memory. A treatment for Covid 19 may be found and testing will be available but I'm hoping for an effective vaccination and would vote for suspending civil liberties to make vaccination mandatory if I had a vote. Suspending civil liberties for mandatory vaccinations? Well, you can sign yourself up for the first few tests and see how things go. No thanks. You're right. I hadn't been thinking about mandating people to take a health risk. I was thinking of vaccines as safe, but perhaps this won't be proven entirely safe for a while. If person A gets vaccinated voluntarily and most people do, then the anti-vaxers can only infect other unvaccinated people so there would be a way for every individual to protect himself without resorting to suspending civil liberties as long as everybody has free timely access to a vaccine if/when there is one.
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Post by hcpride on Apr 9, 2020 21:56:58 GMT -5
/\ Are you talking athletic aid or need-based financial aid? (I don’t know the answer, I am just trying to clarify this important question.) Need-based HC (and other schools) may be in an awkward situation wherein parents of accepted kids need more aid (due to recently diminished finances) at the precise time HC has less money to give. And decision day is May 1.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 9, 2020 22:06:58 GMT -5
Suspending civil liberties for mandatory vaccinations? Well, you can sign yourself up for the first few tests and see how things go. No thanks. You're right. I hadn't been thinking about mandating people to take a health risk. I was thinking of vaccines as safe, but perhaps this won't be proven entirely safe for a while. If person A gets vaccinated voluntarily and most people do, then the anti-vaxers can only infect other unvaccinated people so there would be a way for every individual to protect himself without resorting to suspending civil liberties as long as everybody has free timely access to a vaccine if/when there is one. Swine Flu 2009. Risk was small, but who knows with a rushed vaccine. www.livescience.com/21504-swine-flu-vaccine-nerve-disorder-gbs.html
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Post by longsuffering on Apr 9, 2020 22:13:57 GMT -5
Good article and you know they are rushing full steam ahead on a Covid-19 vaccine.
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Post by hc2020 on Apr 10, 2020 5:24:03 GMT -5
HC (and other schools) may be in an awkward situation wherein parents of accepted kids need more aid (due to recently diminished finances) at the precise time HC has less money to give. And decision day is May 1. I was thinking the same thing. If a parent is out of work and Johnny’s college fund has lost 20-30% of its value and the parents might need to tap into those funds to meet basic necessities, it could really affect a student’s financial ability to attend HC. That has a ripple affect on HC, as a lower enrollment further reduces HC’s bottom line, and it’s ability to provide financial aid. Very difficult times and tough choices for everyone, I am sure.
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Post by hcpride on Apr 10, 2020 7:34:40 GMT -5
HC (and other schools) may be in an awkward situation wherein parents of accepted kids need more aid (due to recently diminished finances) at the precise time HC has less money to give. And decision day is May 1. I was thinking the same thing. If a parent is out of work and Johnny’s college fund has lost 20-30% of its value and the parents might need to tap into those funds to meet basic necessities, it could really affect a student’s financial ability to attend HC. That has a ripple affect on HC, as a lower enrollment further reduces HC’s bottom line, and it’s ability to provide financial aid. Very difficult times and tough choices for everyone, I am sure. It even effects Early Decision kids who may no longer be in the same financial situation as when they applied (ED I: 15 NOV '19) to that binding process. I know they can back out due to financial hits but they may not have preserved too many options for themselves and if a significant number bail that is very bad news for a school like HC. I agree that HC might have to dip into the Regular Decision waiting list pool of applicants much more deeply than in the past (as I recall financial need plays a part in who gets offered admissions off of that list so it might help the school from a strictly business $ense if they have to do that provided the school wisely waitlisted a much greater number of kids this year and those kids have lesser financial need ). One hopes they can find the numbers (enrollees and dollars) they need during this admission/decision cycle.
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Post by purplehaze on Apr 10, 2020 8:16:33 GMT -5
I read that many schools have very long waitlists as they prepare for a lot of jockeying to fill their class. i would also think schools will extend the May 1 decision day when a family needs more time
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Post by Pakachoag Phreek on Apr 10, 2020 11:08:16 GMT -5
1.) The total value of the endowment in fiscal year 2020 does not materially affect the operations of the college until fy 2022, which begins July 1, 2021. 2.) My understanding with respect to increased need for financial aid for fy 2020-21, the college's concerns, grouped by PP's category, are as follows: a.) increased need for those students already enrolled and receiving aid, and for those enrolled students not presently receiving aid and who now need aid. b.) those accepted students who need an increase in the financial aid package offered them at the time of acceptance; c.) those accepted students who were not offered fin aid as it was determined that they did not need such, but changing financial circumstances now qualify them for financial aid. 3.) The college is actively working on how to pay for new/additional aid for a.) b.} c.) 4.)The Federal government is distributing $14 billion in emergency financial aid grants to students. Holy Cross is getting $1.9 million www.chronicle.com/article/How-Much-Coronavirus-Stimulus/2484715.) The economic contraction now being forecast for the second quarter, by JPMrgan Chase for example, is severe; JPMorgan Chase forecasts a 40 percent contraction in the economy, and a 20 percent unemployment rate. Such forecasts, if they are on the way to being realized, will put enormous pressure on Congress to quickly enact another massive stimulus bill. TBD, what if anything such a bill might contain in additional monies for colleges and universities, and college students. 6.) The great problem is what to do to about unemployment in those industry sectors completely dependent of consumer discretionary spending, at a time when many consumers will be tightening their belt, and still fearful. "Underscoring the urgency of the cuts, the number of people flying in the U.S. dropped to below 100,000 on Tuesday [April 6], 95% below the level a year ago." < Bloomberg
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Post by longsuffering on Apr 10, 2020 14:50:44 GMT -5
Just got some family news. The daughter of a second cousin (is that a third cousin or a second cousin once removed?) who is very sharp, just committed to a five year BA/MBA program at Fairfield. Her mother and grandfather both went to HC. I don't know the decision making process but HC doesn't offer a business program other than Economics/Accounting as far as I know. I hope a full review of the Holy Cross mission both philosophical and practical will be prompted by the Corona Recession.
I also heard that a second cousin and his wife both have Coronavirus. He is mid forties and is at home with moderate symptoms and she has been in the hospital for five days with oxygen and has tremendous pain when she tries to sit up. Very sad and neither is elderly.
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Post by hc2020 on Apr 12, 2020 20:44:46 GMT -5
Boston University among the first to publicly acknowledge that its campus may not open until 2021:
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Post by bfoley82 on Apr 12, 2020 21:30:53 GMT -5
We haven't seen our grandkids for almost two months. They and their parents have been social distancing. If they were tested and found to be negative, I'm wondering why having them visit would be dangerous to us. Here is why that is dangerous, they could get infected from the time they tested negative and by the time they see you.
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Post by bfoley82 on Apr 12, 2020 21:32:52 GMT -5
Yikes - This is a rather sobering article on how COVID-19 is affecting colleges and universities, including Holy Cross. Pretty sure that is legendary Princeton and current Denver men's lacrosse coach Bill Tierney's son.
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Post by hchoops on Apr 13, 2020 7:20:09 GMT -5
Boston University among the first to publicly acknowledge that its campus may not open until 2021: This would obviously take BU out of PL fall sports, and probably winter as well.
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Post by longsuffering on Apr 13, 2020 9:55:26 GMT -5
A higher education bubble waiting to pop has found it's pin.
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