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STEVE Brennan (Letters, October 11) seems oblivious to the epidemics and disruption on campuses in fall 2020, and the rationale for a cautious and mixed approach to academic returns this year.
While Scotland still has an average of 2,500 new Covid cases per day, around 100 people die every day across the UK and with unknown consequences for predominantly Covid youth, the pandemic is far from over . The security-focused approach currently protects Mr. Brennan’s daughter, staff and the rest of the student body, and is the best way to bring us back to some form of normalcy in the future.
Let us remember that university employees moved learning, student support and research online overnight when the pandemic struck. Since then, they have worked even harder to deliver a high quality education, with blended, blended and digital learning adding to the workload and away from the easy options suggested by Mr. Brennan. We know that students want online learning choices, giving them more accessibility to learning at a pace and time that is convenient for them, which, combined with a live chat, provides a learning experience. complete learning.
Universities are not nightclubs. It is crucial that they are safe spaces for students and staff who also have underlying health issues or vulnerabilities. This means continuing with a careful, safety-focused approach that prioritizes the health and well-being of your reader’s daughter, staff, and the rest of the student body.
Mary Senior, University and Collegiate Union, Glasgow.
* I NOTE with interest Steve Brennan’s letter. I have friends who are currently supporting students on courses who wonder if the current arrangements are adequate and provide the valuable education they are paying for. Our students have struggled for the past 18 months and now, in addition to Covid, there is a housing shortage. This is particularly acute around Glasgow due to the upcoming COP26 conference, and some have nowhere to stay.
I’m sure there are a lot of parents who will think that maybe now is not the right time for their child to go to college, but the reality is that we need a constant number of young people with a broad skills base to keep our economy running and to provide our employers with a sufficient number of qualified people. Universities have a role to play in ensuring that they can provide these people. Believe me, you don’t want to phone the dentist when you have a toothache to tell them they don’t have one, because “there is a shortage because none of them graduated this yearâ€.
It seems to me that the world will have to live with Covid-19 for some time to come; indeed, it can be as good as it gets, so it would be good to know if there are any plans for universities to return to some semblance of normalcy. If not now, then when?
Ian Higgins, Airdrie.
A SAD WASTE OF NHS RESOURCES
HAVING seen my consultant at an eye clinic in the Glasgow Royal Infirmary, my eye drop prescription was changed. I duly explained this to my general surgery receptionist when requesting a new prescription. I picked up the package and found out at home that I had received the first one and not the new one.
I called the surgery and was told that since they had not received notification of the change, I should contact the hospital and search for the required letter, which I did. I then contacted the pharmacist and informed him of the change and offered to return the wrong prescription which they said I could do but the drops had to be destroyed. It turns out that they are single drops, in sealed “envelopes”, in unopened boxes, and I only picked them up two days ago. Regardless, for the boring “health and safety” mantra, they must be destroyed, and no, they cannot be given to a third world country.
I think a similar situation applies, for example, to urine and blood sample bottles. When a box is opened and found to contain the wrong type of bottle, the entire lot is destroyed. I’m sure there are many other examples of such debauchery. It’s like burning booknotes. No matter how much money is donated to the NHS, it still wouldn’t be effective.
Lesley Mackiggan, Glasgow.
DON’T GET LOST IN SPACE
WILLIAM Shatner, 90, wants to travel to space to see what he needs to do to save the planet. Maybe not burning tons of fossil fuels to get off the ground and stay on Earth would be a start. All this “space tourism†is one of the worst things imaginable; billionaires who have nothing better to do.
Steve Barnet, Gargunnock.
SUPERMAN AWAKENED
So, after beyond ridiculous suggestions that a woman should be interpreted as James Bond fueled by testosterone, we are now told that a non-human superhero from planet Krypton is bisexual (“Today’s issue: Superman sort â€, The Herald, October 13), announcing the arrival of Peak Virtue-Signaling. This terrible slander can only be the work of this wicked brain Lex Luther. Or maybe the Joker? Unfortunately not.
How about portraying James Bond struggling to pay for electricity, or a homeless, jobless Clark Kent surfing on Jimmy Olsen’s couch? Or a world where Harry Potter has to walk two miles a day for fresh water to survive? The reality of life for millions.
Take a step back while awaiting the onslaught of abuse.
John Dunlop, Ayr.
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