VCU construction workers allege exploitation. From VPM News: Speaking anonymously, undocumented workers at Virginia Commonwealth University construction sites say they are being exploited by unidentified middle men who misclassify them as contractors instead of employees, deprive them of benefits, and don’t pay them for overtime. VCU said it does not hire undocumented workers (illegal aliens) and cannot account for the practices of the sub-contractors that its general contractors hire. The article leaves a lot of questions unanswered, primarily, which construction companies are engaging in these allegedly illegal practices? Who are the “middle men” the article refers to? Name names. Do Richmond’s larger, more reputable firms engage subs who hire and cheat undocumented workers? Alternatively, are the offending firms owned by Hispanics? If so, does the prevalence of this practice reflect VCU requirements for giving work to minority contractors? At the very least, VPM ought to be asking these questions.
A COVID bonus. There’s a silver lining to every dark cloud. In the case of the COVID 19 epidemic, the unheralded benefit is universities’ crackdown on big parties. Restrictions on the number of people who can gather in one place puts a huge crimp in fraternity life at James Madison University, which is rated No. 33 for top party schools in America, reports the Daily News-Record. Let’s speculate about the downstream consequences… Tighter COVID-19 restrictions means fewer drunken parties… which means less drunken party sex… which means less “regret” sex. One can predict that fewer cases of regret sex will translate into fewer accusations of rape and sexual assault. We are witnessing a fascinating social scientific experiment. I hope someone is tracking the numbers.
Meanwhile, in the racial healing department…. The Virginia Department of Education offers its monthly #EdEquityVa webinar series to provide educators with “professional learning opportunities” to advance “education equity.” This month’s offerings for Racial Equity & Anti-Racism include:
- Webinar: Do America’s Public Schools Owe Black People Reparations? (Communities in Schools)
- Schools Confronting Racism and Community Pushback: Three Lessons from ‘Sounds Like Hate’ (Teaching Tolerance)
- ‘Too loud. Too assertive. Too defiant’: How to Create Better, Safer Learning Environments for Girls of Color (The Education Trust)
- Dismantling Systemic Racism in Schools: Big Ideas (Education Week)
- A System Disrupted: COVID-19’s Impact on Educational (In)Equity (Communities in Schools)
