News Room

It’s not even Election Day yet, but tens of millions of Americans have already gone through the process of waiting in line to cast a vote. Even for those with the options of mail-in and drop-off ballots, early voting lines have stretched for blocks in multiple states. Theoretically, more early voting means fewer people will try to pack into the polls on Election Day proper — a good thing during a pandemic. But when early voting, itself, results in big crowds — and the voters just keep on coming — it’s worth wondering whether we’re really avoiding as much viral transmission as we’d hoped.

With heightened anxiety over election security in the midst of the 2020 presidential election, Towson University is training local election judges to increase their vigilance. Towson assistant professor of business analytics and tech management Natalie Scala is expanding a training program that identifies and mitigates potential security threats during the voting process. The goal is to protect Maryland’s elections.

In mid-August, the last time more than 28,000 people in Florida were diagnosed with COVID-19 in a single week, roughly 4,900 people were being treated for the disease at hospitals throughout the state. This week, when roughly the same number of new cases were tallied, just 2,350 people required hospitalization. So, does that mean the latest uptick in cases will be far less lethal than the one that gripped the state in the summer? Will those who contract the disease suffer fewer serious health consequences?

The role of University Institutional Review Boards is to approve university research projects involving human subjects. The IRB-approval process ensures that all the necessary steps are taken to protect the rights and safety of people who participate in a research project.  No study involving human subjects can begin and proceed without prior IRB approval.  IRBs apply ethical principles that ensure the well-being of all human participants.   

As colleges and universities reopened in the fall of 2020, many emerged as hot spots of Covid-19 transmission. The narrative that has emerged to explain this centers on irresponsible, party-going 20-somethings who refuse to listen to reason. Some schools have expelled students who held gatherings in their dorms. A few governors have called out these students as drivers of the epidemic. With no national Covid-19 control plan in sight, it may be politically expedient to blame youths for the nation’s woes.