Since the pandemic’s start, the catastrophic effects of the budget cuts against the City University of New York (CUNY) have trickled down to all corners of the community. Recently, CUNY laid off approximately 3,000 adjunct faculty members. This left many without financial stability and healthcare, among other basic needs. It’s worth noting that CUNY received $251 million from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES). The CARES Act is a $2.2 trillion stimulus bill that was passed as a result of the economic crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The CUNY Professional Staff Congress (PSC) filed a lawsuit against the university’s upper-level administration, arguing that funds from the…
-
-
Members of Congress condemn CUNY over use of CARES Act funding
The City University of New York (CUNY) has received funding via the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, a federal bill that allocates billions of dollars to higher-learning institutions. It should be very helpful in the necessary transition to a new normal, but the big question is: Where is that money going towards, if not the students and faculty? According to a press release on the CUNY website, the CARES Act gets its financing from numerous sources, including “the Governor’s Emergency Relief Fund, the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund, and the Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund (HEERF).” The Act’s funding is dispersed in two ways: “$12.56…
-
Operation Warp Speed: The Race for a Vaccine Candidate
With the coronavirus pandemic at its peak in the United States, the Trump Administration announced, “Operation Warp Speed.” Its goal is to produce 300 million doses of a coronavirus vaccine by January 2021. According to Health and Human Services, Johnson & Johnson, Moderna, and AstraZeneca have already received multi-billion dollar investments in their manufacturing capabilities. One may begin to wonder, how is the coronavirus vaccine being made? The answer lies behind the science of it all. Viruses are some of the simplest organisms known to man. They lack basic machinery to replicate themselves. For this reason, they use a host, like a human cell. The lack of essential cellular processes…
-
CUNY seeks to implement invasive test proctoring software
Since the world became introduced to online education, college students all over the world quickly downloaded platforms like Zoom, Google Hangouts, and Blackboard Collaborate Ultra for their synchronous classes. Naturally, everyone became suspicious about the ulterior motives of these platforms, as it is a common belief that many of these companies secretly record meetings that take place online. Recently, new evidence has been brought to light that unfortunately proves that the wild conspiracy theory is, in fact, the truth. According to an online petition created by the Brooklyn College Student Government, The City University of New York (CUNY) was recently exposed for teaming up with McGraw Hill Publishing to implement…
