Daily Lumina News 082521

Inequality is baked into higher education, says Adam Harris in his new book, "The State Must Provide."
In this interview, Harris speaks to the inequities in higher education, his own experiences at Alabama A&M University, and why he believes states and the federal government bear responsibility to make up for historic discrimination and neglect.

Like a lot of employers, Dean Burrows is looking for help these days. Many of the experienced machinists at the company Burrows runs took early retirement during the pandemic. Finding replacements has not been easy.
That scenario is being repeated across many industries. Businesses have been hiring rapidly, adding more than 1.8 million workers just in June and July. But millions of people who were working before the pandemic are still on the sidelines. And that's creating a challenge for companies as they try to keep pace with rapidly growing demand.

The highly anticipated approval of one of the COVID-19 vaccines by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is a game changer for colleges on the fence about whether to require that students or employees be inoculated against the deadly virus.
The full approval of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine places that shot on the same level as other vaccines that colleges and universities regularly require. Experts say they expect to see more colleges moving to mandate COVID vaccines in the coming weeks.

When Jane Marcellus, a professor of journalism at Middle Tennessee State University, was denied a request to teach remotely because of COVID-19, she responded with her resignation.
She isn't alone. Several other professors have publicly announced that they’re leaving their institutions or choosing not to teach this term because their colleges and universities are mandating face-to-face instruction despite rising numbers of COVID-19 infections in their areas.