Revolutionary: University president suggests not being depressed during quarantine

Abby Neff, Contributing Writer

LEWISBURG – Following a surge in positive Covid-19 cases, the University President released a statement late Wednesday night urging exposed students to stay inside their living quarters and continue to stay positive.

“During these unprecedented times, in which we are all together, things can be really bad, but we’re all feeling them, so you’re not special,” the University President said.

As isolation housing fills up, contact-traced students like Cora Teene ’23 are unable to leave their dorms. “I haven’t been able to leave my dorm,” Teene shared over a Zoom interview. “Exercise is a human right! I’m already a week behind my workout schedule,” Teene said on the second day of her required fourteen-day quarantine.

Other students have also expressed their distress at remaining in their dormitories during the University’s pseudo-lockdown. In an effort to reduce the spread of the virus, the University President generously allotted those quarantining in their rooms one hour of outside time per day. However, due to fear of the severe cold, students were warned against going outside and instead encouraged to stretch their legs in the five-step length of their rooms. Instead, students have been spotted using this time watching snow fall from the warmth of their rooms during last week’s winter snowstorm where temperatures reached below freezing.

For a student’s daily dose of vitamin D, health advisers suggest getting a heat lamp from the local pet store. If students feel as if they are deficient in the vitamin, they can plug in the lamp and rest underneath it for 13 hours.

Throughout a fourteen-day isolation, many students have been binge watching movies like “Titanic” and “Marley & Me” in an attempt to raise their spirits. Others have dove headfirst into new hobbies that include getting an appropriate amount of sleep and watching paint dry. Coincidently, Zoom “camera-on” attendance has been shockingly low for isolated students who reported rather doing another round of quarantine before going back to their in-person 8 a.m. class.

Students in the isolation hotel have reported a surge in annoyance with the University’s administration citing that their friend’s room across the hall is not an ideal spot for Saturday night parties. When asked about the criticisms by students over the University’s isolation policies, the University President stated, “my junk mail has never been more full.”

(Visited 239 times, 1 visits today)