As this epidemic unfolds into a likely years-long crisis, the specter of an incoming swarm of students grows more ominous. Towns together with colleges must protect citizens’ safety and secure our public health systems.
I propose that students should be informed that living in the Valley is a privilege and during this crisis, any gathering over X people shall be grounds for immediate expulsion. If called to a party, the police should gather all the IDs and send them to their college presidents. The presidents must effective immediately expel the students, and the towns should expel them from the Valley within 24 hours. Non-students should be issued a 24-hour, leave-the-Valley ticket with stiff fines if ignored. This needs to be draconian for the duration of the epidemic. The world has changed, this will get the message across.
Robert Cabral
Amherst