WS Chronicle

College students need refunds

To The Editor:

Due to the challenging new nature of social distancing, self-isolation, and sickness, diverse groups of people must adjust to a new life. College students particularly must adapt differently to this unprecedented time and providing housing, parking, and or dining refunds for all college students is crucial. Because of the stay-at-home order most states are under, college students that were forced to move out of residence halls and finish the semester online should receive refunds for the time that is not being spent on campus. There are many students that are not receiving these funds and must sustain their incomes by getting part-time jobs that can interfere with school. Additionally, students that must move out prematurely may not have housing accommodations prepared and are struggling to find a place to stay. Allocating the unused funds to these students provides them with income that helps them with their next steps and gives them the support they need to finish the semester during a global pandemic.

Taylor Adams

Greensboro, NC

Reimburse students before collecting new tuition

To The Editor:

I am writing this letter in response to an article titled “Living Under a New Normal” which was published March 19. This article is very helpful and provides adequate information on the coronavirus. The article also has information about places that are taking precautions such as restaurants, stores, and more. 

Schools are also taking precautions due to the coronavirus and I am writing this letter to express my concern about how schools are dealing with the coronavirus pandemic. Due to the coronavirus, many students have been forced to move out of their on-campus housing. This means that students were not given the opportunity to fully utilize their housing and meal plans for the academic school year of 2019-2020. Although every school has not reimbursed students for this inconvenience, some schools are already collecting fees for the 2020-2021 academic school year. Students should be refunded their money for the present academic school year before they are asked to pay anything for the upcoming academic school year. Due to the coronavirus, many people are out of work and they may not be able to access financial resources that will allow them to pay for tuition and fees for the upcoming academic year right now. In addition to this, schools are not certain about when students will be able to return. Students may not even be able to return to school in the fall, but are expected to pay for it anyway. This is not fair to college students and schools should find a way to make sure they reimburse their students before they require them to pay for anything else.

Vontarya McBride

Winston-Salem, NC

Supporting Terri LeGrand

To The Editor:

Terri LeGrand is an honest, smart and caring Democrat who is challenging Republican incumbent Joyce Krawiec to be our next state senator in the 31st district. Terri LeGrand supports Governor Cooper’s and Mayor Joines’ sensible stay-at-home orders. Krawiec has criticized Governor Cooper and sides with our President (“Krawiec Challenges Govenor on Socioeconomic Impact of Stay-at-home Orders,” Winston-Salem Journal, April 18, 2020). Anyone who sides with Trump, a man who exhibits unbalanced and racist behavior, rather than with our responsible governor, is playing a dangerous political game that puts our lives at risk. Terri LeGrand will protect our health, whereas ideological rightwing politicians, such as Krawiec, will not. Terri LeGrand knows that ingesting cleaning fluid–which our president has suggested as a possible remedy– will not cure COVID-19; it will kill us. 

Political pundits say that this November, if Democratic turnout is high, LeGrand can win, which could tip the N.C. statehouse to blue. As soon as early voting begins this October, I urge you to vote for Terri LeGrand. Your life, and the lives of your loved ones, could depend on it.

Elizabeth A. Carlson

Winston-Salem, NC

Unbalanced media reports adding to uncertainty of pandemic

To The Editor:

COVID-19 has turned the whole world around and affected us and the people worldwide, in a negative way. The world is in a panic because this is a pandemic that has never been seen before and most importantly, it can’t be controlled. There are numerous cases around the world of this outrageous pandemic being reported on all media sites from social media to various television news outlets. And there are questions of whether the media puts the world in more fear than they should be. There are numerous false reports of the media portrayal of COVID-19 for example March 5, 2020: CBS News posted a story falsely claiming President Trump told sick people to go to work. If you read the actual quote, he is talking about healthy people going about their business not knowing that they have the virus: “So if, you know, we have thousands or hundreds of thousands of people that get better, just by, you know, sitting around and even going to work, some of them go to work, but they get better.” March 12, 2020: NBC, NPR, Newsweek, Joe Biden, CNN, and Esquire falsely claimed that President Trump blocked coronavirus testing and rejected WHO coronavirus test kits because lower numbers are good for his re-election. The issue of this spontaneous virus should be taken seriously; as people, we should take precautionary measures to ensure the safety of ourselves, our families, and other people. But as we see different cases being reported on different media outlets, the media only show how worse it gets, leaving people in a panic buying out grocery stores, leaving more people who are reliable on those essential businesses with nothing and putting a stop on stock. Which was very unnecessary because people spend hundreds of dollars more on groceries than they usually have. But the question is: why did people have this mindset of stocking up their household with more than enough groceries for this pandemic than they really needed? When this outbreak first came about, media outlets all over were reporting this global pandemic but without any clue of what it was and how to prepare for it, leaving people in confusion and certain misunderstanding.

Elijah Wall

Winston-Salem, NC

Parents under stress to balance home schooling, working at home

To The Editor:

Following the recent stay-at-home orders given due to the novel COVID-19 coronavirus, many people are looking for ways to keep from going stir-crazy. Most children between 6 and 12 are used to being in school for most of their sunlight hours, and many young children who enjoy being in a school environment are finding the transition to online schooling difficult. Lots of parents are feeling the strain as well.

Speaking from experience watching my own child work through this new learning system, the lesson plans can be cumbersome and time-consuming. The overwhelming impression I’m getting from these lessons is that they were planned to fill a student’s day, not just a couple hours. With a daughter in second grade, this means that it falls to me and my significant other as parents to help her through this work, which takes time away from whatever remote work has already been piled up on us. Now, not only are we stressing out about our work, or worrying about what we might catch every time we go out the front door, we’re also worrying about whether or not we can help her get a handle on her own schoolwork. The daily stresses from being a parent, a student, or a member of the working world have all been exacerbated by the claustrophobia brought on by being indoors for days on end, with little to no interaction with the outside.

Trion D Jenkins, 

Winston-Salem, NC