The Cornell Daily Sun (https://cornellsun.com/tag/universal-pass-fail/)
It’s 9 a.m. I’ve already slept eight hours, but I can’t get out of bed. I hit snooze until 10:30 a.m. By 11 a.m., I’m making myself coffee, listening to my parents on conference calls in different rooms. I pet my dogs and bother my little sister. At 12 p.m., I’m surprised it’s already noon. This upsets me, so I lie on the floor and stare at the ceiling until my thoughts tire me out. I scroll.
We are facing an unprecedented dilemma. For the first time in United States history, we are shutting down all our social institutions, ranging from healthcare facilities to education. Within that, there are groups of people who are facing incomprehensible calamities like the death of parents or crippling hunger. Of course, draconian-style, individualistic management is prevalent in the U.S.’s history of dealing with social issues, and the majority of Cornell’s population favors that style. As a result of capitalistic ideals and a characteristically false sense of meritocracy, many faculty want to maintain harsh grades, students want to profit from panicked change and many people are fighting to marginalize students facing intense hardship.