By MARSHA MERCER
This Labor Day weekend, my candidate for Worker of the
Year is a professor who quit.
Irwin Bernstein, a psychology professor at the
University of Georgia, walked off the job Aug. 24 because one of his students
refused to wear a mask properly in class.
“That’s it. I’m retired,” Professor Bernstein reportedly
said and left.
Bravo, Professor, for drawing your personal red line and
for your long run in the classroom. Bernstein began teaching in 1968. He is 88.
That’s not a typo.
He retired in 2011 but returned to teach part time. This
school year he was teaching two classes.
But Bernstein has Type 2 diabetes. His age and other
health problems put him at higher risk for complications of COVID-19.
It’s not too much for him and other teachers in the
nation’s classrooms to expect their employers to follow the guidance of public
health authorities and require masks and vaccinations.
The University System of Georgia offers vaccinations and
encourages masks inside campus facilities -- but does not require them.
So, Bernstein adopted his own “no mask, no class”
policy.
Two of his students missed the first day of class
after having tested positive for COVID-19, the student newspaper The Red &
Black reported. On the second day, 25 students in Bernstein’s seminar did wear masks, but one student
refused to pull the mask over her nose, saying she had “a really hard time
breathing.”
Bernstein asked her twice. An Air Force veteran, he said
he risked his life in the military but wouldn’t do so during the pandemic.
Bernstein’s last stand came as the delta variant is ravaging
the country.
The daily average of hospitalized COVID-19 patients
topped 100,000 over the last week, the highest level since last winter, The New
York Times reported.
Hospitalizations nationwide have risen 500% in the
last two months, primarily in the South, and intensive care units are reaching
capacity. About 1,000 people a day are dying of COVID in the United States, the
most since March, the Times said.
With such devastating numbers, mask and vaccination
mandates in schools and universities should be welcome.
And yet, anti-maskers and anti-vaxers, spurred by irresponsible
Republican politicians, still complain that requiring a mask or vaccination is
an infringement of their personal freedom and rights. Critics of mandates complain
of “tyrants,” and worse.
Some flout the rules with appalling consequences. Consider
a case from California the Centers for Disease Control reported this week.
In Marin County, an unvaccinated elementary school
teacher removed their mask while reading aloud to the class last June and half
the pupils, who were too young to be vaccinated, got COVID-19. Removing the
mask was against school rules.
And yet, as students return to schools and campuses
this fall, classroom conflicts are spreading.
The Republican governors of Florida and Texas have
fought school districts that have imposed mask mandates. The federal Education
Department is investigating whether five states that have prohibited mask
mandates have violated the civil rights of disabled students.
At least 16 states have statewide school mask
mandates, according to tracking by the Times. But that doesn’t always matter to
misguided local officials. A rural school district in Oregon just fired its
school superintendent because he followed the state guidance and required
masks.
Virginia requires all students, teachers and staff in
K-12 schools to wear masks indoors, even if vaccinated. Most colleges and
universities in Virginia also require vaccinations and masks.
Virginia Tech disenrolled 134 students and the
University of Virginia disenrolled 238 who failed to provide proof of
vaccination against COVID-19. It’s unknown how many of these students had made
other plans for the school year.
Fortunately, with full approval of the Pfizer vaccine,
more employers – including governments at all levels -- are requiring
vaccinations as a condition of employment, with a few exceptions.
That’s good news. Few teachers or other public
employees can afford to say, “Take this job and shove it.”
Universities and schools that hold in-person classes,
especially where children are too young to be vaccinated, should protect everyone
involved with vaccination and mask mandates. And they should get community
support when they do.
©2021 Marsha Mercer. All rights reserved.
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