COVID-19 Dominates WSCC Trustee Meeting

MARIETTA, OH — This afternoon, the Washington State Community College trustees came together for their monthly meeting.

Live in Marietta? Click here to subscribe to our free breaking news alerts delivered to your inbox and mobile devices. Follow Marietta Patch on Facebook and Twitter, and download our free Patch mobile app on Android or iPhone.

The meeting started off on a very positive note, Dr. Vicki Wood, President of WSCC, introduced Dakota Vaughn, Student of the Month. He's a student in the school's diesel mechanic program. The Parkersburg native said he had a great experience at the college and is looking forward to finishing his education. He's looking forward to getting into the workforce locally after he graduates.

One major takeaway from the meeting was that while many other colleges are seeing decreases in enrollment, WSCC is seeing a bump. Right now they have a 2% increase in overall students, and a 3% increase in total credit hours taken. Wood said this was absolutely amazing.

"So I'm extremely proud of our team, and the work that they've done."

There was a lot of talk about WSCC's prized gem, their nursing program. The school boasts one of the top community college nursing programs in the state, with students routinely passing the NCLEX-RN test, often with outstanding scores. But, while nursing students are getting their degrees, they will often travel to medical centers. There are a list of immunizations required, measles, mumps, etc., but there's a new one for some, the COVID-19 shot. Students who go to Columbus Children's Hospital, and Camden Clark are required to show proof of vaccination, but as of right now there it's not mandatory at Memorial Health System.

As of right now there is no vaccine mandate for the college, and there was no talk of it. Dr. Vicki Wood discussed possibly offering incentives ranging from $100-$250 to students who show their vaccine card.

Wood said they are staying vigilant to keep students safe. There are a number of COVID-19 protocols in place. Masks are required on campus, they are offering voluntary vaccine clinics, temperature check kiosks are located at campus entrances, free home test kits are available. She brought up charts showing that student COVID-19 infections are way up compared to this time last year. WSCC has seen 41 COVID infections since the school year has started.

"If you look at where we are now, this causes me great concern. Last week we had 16 positive cases, today I think we had another four come in. I haven't had time to even look at them, and that's alarming."

Of the students testing positive, 9 are vaccinated, 23 are not, and they are unsure about the other 9.

The school issued a press release regarding their handling of the pandemic.

"Since the beginning of the pandemic in spring 2020, WSCC has continued to monitor this evolving situation in both the state and in our community. Throughout this time, we have relied on the guidance from the CDC, Ohio Department of Health, and our local health departments. As such, WSCC has worked hard to keep our campus community updated as recommendations have changed based on new information that has become available. During the past 18 months, our institution implemented strategies such as expanding remote coursework, renovated classroom space for social distancing, implemented mask requirements and encouraged vaccinations. All of these strategies were guided by recommendations from health agencies.

WSCC is committed to creating a safe learning environment and our hope is to continue in-person learning throughout this academic year. As always, our mission to support students is our primary focus and we are confident in the continued resilience of our campus community."

Washington State Community College Trustee Susan Vessels also prepared a statement about COVID-19 vaccines and whether students should have the choice to take them. It runs contrary to messaging from the mainstream narrative and many people in the area have shared similar opinions to this reporter privately. Susan Vessels is not only a WSCC trustee but also the President of the Marietta City Council. Patch will run her statement in full, as it is entirely newsworthy.

"Washington State is doing very well, we are ranked among the top community colleges in Ohio. Our academic programs are productive and well-respected, our finances are solid, and unlike many colleges across Ohio suffering declines, our enrollment is up two percent.

Regrettably, we can’t rest on our laurels, as there is always another challenge around the corner. A continuing challenge is COVID and how to deal with it. Because of the vaccine roll-out earlier this year, the worst of COVID was supposed to be behind us.

COVID is still causing struggles, even at our small college. Last month, the trustees were asked for input regarding spending Higher Education Emergency Relief Funds to pay students and faculty to take an mRNA shot. It was proposed that these funds would also be used to set up a database of the vaccinated and the unvaccinated at the college. Both proposals were met with resistance from some individual trustees and were abandoned.

Last Monday, a COVID vaccine clinic was held at the Student OneStop. When we sponsor a shot clinic at our college, I believe we are, by default, endorsing the shot provided, Pfizer in this case, as both safe and effective. The state tells us that that is exactly what the shots are, safe and effective. Nevertheless, reasonable minds can disagree. I do not endorse this shot and I am making this statement to be on record to that effect.

The shots have been available to most for about eight months. Anyone who wants it based upon their own risk assessment has had every opportunity. Local health departments and corner pharmacies offer them for free. As to our 15 students who participated in the clinic, I fear that the majority participated because they were concerned about not being able to complete their clinicals because of health system mandates outside the control of this college.

This coercion situation is not a problem unique to Washington State’s health programs. At some public colleges, it is affecting all students. Students at Ohio State and Ohio University, among others, are being told that they will either be disenrolled or forced to take all classes remotely unless they get the shot. No consideration is given to students who can prove prior COVID infection and natural immunity. This is not the Ohio I know and love. Students should not be discriminated against or punished based upon race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, or medical history including personal health decisions. I believe that college trustees and administrators have a duty to our students to participate in this discussion, even if it is uncomfortable and their opinions are contrary to current state mandates.

The Food and Drug Administration’s Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee held a vaccine hearing last Friday, September 18th. During that hearing, Dr. Steve Kirsch, director of the COVID-19 Early Treatment Fund stated: “I’m going to focus my remarks today on the elephant in the room that nobody likes to talk about: that the vaccines kill more people than they save.” He continued: “Today, we focus almost exclusively on COVID death saves and vaccine efficacy because we were led to believe that vaccines were perfectly safe. But this is simply not true. For example, there are four times as many heart attacks in the treatment group in the Pfizer six-month trial report. That wasn’t bad luck. VAERS shows heart attacks happened 71 times more often following these vaccines compared to any other vaccine.” * * * “In all, 20 people died who got the drug, 14 died who got the placebo. Few people noticed that. If the net all-cause mortality from the vaccine is negative, vaccines, boosters, and mandates are all nonsensical.” * * * “Even if the vaccines had a 100% protection, it still means we killed two people to save one life.”

Viral immunologist and biologist Dr. Jessica Rose also testified. She said that based on the VAERS data, the vaccine risks outweigh the benefits in young people. She pointed to a thousand-fold increase in adverse reactions to the injection in 2021 compared to over the last decade. Dr. Rose also said the data suggests the COVID vaccines are driving the surge of COVID mutations like the “alpha” and “delta” variants. “The emergence of both of these variants and their subsequent clustering arose in very close temporal proximity to the rollout of the COVID products in Israel.” * * * “Israel is one of the most injected countries, and it appears from this data that this represents a clear failure of these products to provided protective immunity against emergent variants and to prevent transmission.”

After eight hours of testimony, the advisory committee voted 16-2 against a widespread COVID booster shot program.

Based upon the foregoing, it is my hope that Washington State will do everything possible to assist our students so that they will not be forced to choose between taking a shot that they do not want and completing their degrees."

Have a news tip or suggestion on how I can improve Marietta Patch? Maybe you're interested in having your business become one of our latest sponsors? Email any and all inquiries to me at christopher.schmitt@patch.com