Trumbulletin 10-23-20

October 23, 2020

 

We’re halfway through the semester. Papers are due, exams are happening. We’re holding together and even having some fun.  

Despite the unusualness of the semester, despite the need to test and to distance, we’re doing O.K. We’ve had no positive cases within the walls of Trumbull. We have had a couple of cases among Trumbullians collectively but those people are doing well and have acted so as to protect us all. We’re pretty proud of our community and of how you have all coped with all of this.

At the same time our recent in-house-Yale-group-lesson of just how easily CoVID can spread within a group should remind us just how easily group interaction can lead to its spread. The fact that those who tested positive on the hockey team generally were unaware of having it also demonstrates the wisdom of Yale’s policies of symptomless testing. That testing was crucial to identifying the cases quickly, seeing a pattern in the data, and moving very quickly to contain the spread. It seems to have worked. (Whew!)

We all know the guidelines for being here, of course. Please keep following the compact rules. Please keep wearing masks. Please keep social distancing. Please continue to complete your daily health checks and twice weekly testing. We’re more than half-way through your time here this fall. Let’s make it to Thanksgiving in good shape.

In the spirit of safety (well, that and in the spirit of maintaining quiet during late week-nights as people are sleeping and studying), I did visit one suite very early (12:30 a.m.) on Thursday morning in response to noise complaints. (It was also due to the pandemic lowering my threshold considerably for worrying about social gatherings.)

I visited, knocked on the door and expressed my concerns. In this regard, I want thank the people in the suite for responding so very constructively to my visit.
 
Whereas I do hate visiting suites (and I am very confident that no one likes me disrupting their social lives), know that, at the same time, I am charged with trying to keep you all safe. I’d rather not visit but I will if I must. So, please, keep in mind that gatherings inside which last a while and which cross cut groups remain risky. Also, keep in mind that people now have lots of work to complete, so especially after midnight and especially during the weekdays when people have classes the next day keep noise down.

(That’s it. I hope not to see anyone in the very early morning hours. I am available then for help with emergencies in the wee hours of the day – don’t ever hesitate to contact me in such cases. Otherwise I kind of like to sleep.)

TCC’s Evening Soiree, tomorrow (Saturday, Oct. 24th) evening from 8 p.m. until midnight

This should be fun and I thank our wonderful TCC for hosting this.

I also thank our TCC for hosting the pumpkin carving last Sunday. I’ve liked seeing those pumpkins – especially the Yale and Trumbull themed ones. Of course, in the past couple of days our Trumbull squirrel population has been engaged in pumpkin-destruction. I’ve had to dispose of a few of pumpkin remains but they were great while they lasted.

Head’s Open Office Hours

From now until the end of the semester I will have open office hours on Monday evenings from 8 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. and Wednesdays from 9:30 a.m to 10:30 a.m. EST.

Here are the relevant Zoom links for this coming week:

Monday from 8 p.m. until 9:30 p.m. (join anytime).  https://yale.zoom.us/j/97065387677 (This is the time for Oct. 26th and other evening times will be posted each week.)

Wednesday from 9:30 a.m. until 10:30 a.m. (join anytime).  https://yale.zoom.us/j/99147364891 (This is a recurring meeting until the end of the semester.)
 
Also, everyone is free to make an individual appointment with me to discuss concerns, make suggestions for college events or just to chat.

Voting

Many of you have already voted. Others will vote on election day in person in New Haven. Still others are still engaged in the process of getting their absentee or mail in ballots and then returning them.

Know that we will keep up our current practice of notifying you that materials have come into our mail office for you (via email). Come pick those up. We also have stamps and envelopes available to all who need them in order to return ballots.

Once election night is here, I know that we will all be anxious to hear the outcome.  I’ll stay in touch. I’ll have snacks to pick up. We’ll figure out Zoom ways to stay in touch. It will all be playing out soon.

Do vote!!!

Let’s thank our dining staff for all their hard work feeding us safely

Our upperclass people know just how dramatically different dining is these days from what it was like pre-pandemic.  Whereas I, for one, long to return to those days I really appreciate our dining staff’s efforts to feed us, to make special accommodations for those who need them, to include variety in their offerings, and to make us feel welcome in the dining hall.

I am going to write my own note of appreciation to the dining staff this weekend. If you want to join me (and I hope many will), please write your own note and send it to me by this Sunday (Oct. 25th) before 5 p.m.

I will assemble all notes and deliver them to our dining staff both in person (because not all members of the staff have access to electronic mail) and electronically. I will also be getting small, individual, packages of chocolates for members of the dining team as a symbolic thank you for each of them.

If you want to join in on this endeavor as individuals or as pods, just send me your note as an attachment to an email (margaret.clark@yale.edu). Be creative! Note specific things you like (food wise, interaction wise, or whatever.) If there is a staff member who has been especially kind to you, note that.  You can even slip suggestions in if you wish.

(I will issue a similar call for thanks for our custodial staff next week! I haven’t forgotten them.)

Plants

Thanks to all who attended Trumbull’s first plant event.  There were a couple of people who came late and for whom we didn’t have sufficient bulbs. Email me! I will have your bulbs and containers ready for you on Monday.

For those whose plants are sprouting, send me pictures of their progress.

If you have a dud, know that I’ll have some in progress and you can adopt a new one.

Coming up

We’re figuring out a way to display the YSO’s Halloween show in Trumbull. How we’ll do that depends on the weather forecast but know that we are working on this.

I’ll be announcing another “ice cream” night (for all) during the week next week. Watch your email. It will occur as an evening study break.

We’ll be hosting a toast to our seniors next weekend. Again, watch your email.

Warmly,
Head Clark