On August 31, at 11:14 a.m. local time, a large El Al Boeing 737 aircraft departed from Ben Gurion airport in Tel Aviv to make the first direct commercial flight from Israel to the United Arab Emirates. The flight, which carried both U.S. and Israeli political figures, such as Jared Kushner, senior advisor to the President of the United States, and Meir Ben Shabbat, Israel’s advisor of national security, marked the easing of a half-century of tensions between Israel and the United Arab Emirates through a recent peace agreement. The Abraham Accord, agreed to by leaders of the two countries less than three weeks before the historic flight departed and…
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Gender and racial disparities in COVID-19
Certain groups of people are predisposed to having a severe infection. Children and the elderly come to mind, as both populations have immune systems that are not as developed. Those with preexisting conditions like asthma, diabetes, and hypertension are also at higher risk. Looking at the mortality data, there is evidence to suggest that minorities are disproportionately affected by severe COVID-19. The Center for Disease Control (CDC) readily addresses disparities in those affected by COVID-19, specifically when it comes to race and socioeconomic circumstances of patients. According to the CDC’s public report, “a total of 205 counties in 33 states were identified as hotspots. These counties have a combined total…
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QC Students talk in-person class experience during pandemic
The 2020 Fall semester is in full swing! Despite its historically unprecedented online instruction, Queens College faculty and staff are tirelessly working to ensure that students receive a quality education. With more students being infected by COVID-19 on college campuses across the nation, the fear of a local spike in cases still remains prevalent amongst members of the community. The majority of students are receiving synchronous, asynchronous, or a combination of both lecture types through diverse platforms such as CUNY Blackboard Collaborative Ultra, Zoom, Google Meets, Slack, Dropbox and others. But what happens to those students and professors who need access to science laboratories as per their major or minor…
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OP-ED: Are student activity and technology fees necessary for an online semester?
As fall began to roll around, it was clear to students that classes this semester were going to look extremely different. On July 22, 2020, Queens College announced on its Instagram account that courses would be primarily held online. This caused many students to double-check their financial aid and delve into their tuition breakdown, revealing that students were still being charged $162.40 in student activity fees and $125 in technology fees. Now this raises the question: Since students are not physically present to utilize these services, why are certain fees not being waived? Considering the unique nature of this semester, all extra fees, if any are to be required at…
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The true monsters of “Lovecraft Country”
On August 16th HBO released the first episode of its latest original, “Lovecraft Country”, an American supernatural drama depicting veteran Atticus Freeman’s journey from Chicago to Massachusetts in search of his father. Joined by his uncle George Freeman and childhood friend Letitia “Leti” Lewis, Atticus follows a lead which causes the trio to search for Ardam, a town that disappeared from the map 200 years prior. As they progress in their search, the three travelers battle a series of horrifying “Lovecraftian” monsters, while simultaneously enduring discrimination from their white peers and the police. The first episode, in particular, balances writing, cinematography, visual effects and music to create a breathtaking introduction…
