We, the students of UCLA, firmly believe the instruction should be switched to remote mode for the rest of the Winter 2022 quarter.
With current COVID-19 dynamics, it is simply unsafe for us to return on campus by week 5. Many students are immunocompromised, have underlying illnesses, or have family members with such problems. Sharing classrooms with 100-300 people for 2 hours straight puts those persons at risk. Despite omicron being considered the “mild” strain, it can be severe in some individuals and have significant long-term consequences. With all that said, we are strictly against returning to campus on January 31, 2022!
Also, many students will have to relocate to the campus and switch to in-person instruction by midterms, which would create academic, psychological, and financial challenges. Also, that would increase the chances of catching COVID right before the midterms.
We believe that the best way to resolve this issue is to switch the instruction for the whole quarter to remote mode and, as the COVID surge passes, we could start in-person classes in the Spring quarter.