It's Fall 2022 and the masks are off. Well, officially, masking is a "personal choice". Leadership has dropped the COVID ball and is hoping that nobody is going to pick it up again. So what's left to do? Continue to mask, provide alternatives for everyone that don't require in-person gathering (classes, labs, meetings), get vaccinated […]
The following are a set of preliminary tests I did to determine relative speech sound performance while wearing a mask. I'm particularly interested in the context of mask-wearing in a classroom, but this could be helpful in many other workplaces. I tested a number of masks in my dining room. Audio levels were measured using […]
York University's EECS department has an Aranet4 CO2 sensor available for borrowing. Go to the ground floor of the Lassonde Engineering Building, and go to the sign-out desk in the PRISM computer lab at the south-west corner of the building (near the hallway that leads to the Steacie Library). The location is highlighted in light […]
[March 20, 2022 update] A version of the N95 motion was brought before YorkU Senate in January 2022 by Senator Patrick Phillips. It appears to have passed but has not led to subsidized distribution of N95s on campus. [Feb 2, 2022 update] The first motion (Recommendation for N95s) resulted in a recommendation email to all […]
I'm submitting the following four motions to my department's monthly meeting to see if we can set ourselves up for a safer return to campus. There are four motions: A recommendation for wearing N95 Funding for N95s A request for CO2 sensors A request for portable air purifiers (HEPA) Feel free to reuse and/or adapt, […]
October 31, 2021 (Updated Nov. 5, 2021) [Update Nov 5, 2021] In response to my questions I have received a letter from the Provost of the University, Prof. Lisa Philipps. Only the academic freedom question was addressed. The administration of York University has announced a return to face-to-face teaching in January 2021, with changes in […]
It's Oct 8, 2021. Last week I heard from my Vice Dean of the plan to go back to in-person teaching in January, 2022.[1] I believe that this is potentially a premature decision as York University appears to have ignored deficiencies in its measures to fight COVID. These include a vaccination documentation system that may […]
The CS Viamonde school board provided a response about the status of ventilation and air filtering at the La Mosaïque elementary school in the east end of Toronto on August 24, 2021. The letter is included at the bottom of this blog post Executive Summary Air filtering is vital to keep our kids safe in […]
Introduction COVID has changed everything about campus life. In order to maximize the safety of students, staff and faculty at York University, we, as a community, need to focus on multiple factors, including: Vaccinations Ventilation (and air filtering) Masking Progressive work / study policies Last week, our university partially caved to pressure from the YorkU […]
Introduction It's May, 14, 2021 and the consensus is that COVID is airborne, that the characteristics of aerosols play a significant role in how it spreads and infects. This is distinct from the outdated assumption that it is spread primarily through droplets and/or surface contact (foamites). Summary: Add CO2 Sensors to our Classrooms & Offices […]