It won’t be a typical summer. But we will ride bikes on Comm Ave in shorts again. And students who haven’t been able to go home and are currently living in BU housing can now sign up for summer housing. Photo by Maddie Malhotra (COM’19)

Public Health

BU Begins Summer Housing Sign-up for Students Who Cannot go Home

Also in our Coronavirus Wednesday Roundup: ENG’s Ed Damiano featured in PBS documentary

If you have a question or comment related to BU and its response to the COVID-19 crisis, on the subject of the move-out, remote learning, retrieving personal belongings, or anything else, please visit Boston University’s special COVID-19 website. Questions are being answered there by specific departments in a timely fashion. Thank you.
—Doug Most, executive editor, BU Today

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BU News

Summer 1 housing open for students still on campus

An email offering registration for Summer Session 1 housing went out this week to the 439 students who have received approval to remain in campus housing through May 10. Assuming that their circumstances haven’t changed and they still cannot return home, they are invited to remain in campus housing for the first summer session, which runs May 11 through June 30. Applications must be completed by May 1, and the University is waiving the usual housing guarantee payment. Students should log into the My Housing Portal to apply.

Students will remain assigned to their current room, but could be relocated if that space is needed for reasons related to COVID-19. If an on-campus move is required, BU Housing will coordinate the move in advance and will provide boxes and movers at no cost. Room and dining rates will reflect the Summer Session 1 room rates, which can be viewed on the application’s welcome page. Students assigned to in-suite and traditional-style rooms will be enrolled in the dining plan they select in their application.

A second message will be sent to the students in early June to see if they want to remain in on-campus housing through Summer Session 2 (July 1 to August 15). Undergraduate students experiencing financial hardship should contact BU Financial Assistance at finaid@bu.edu or 617-353-2965. For any questions related to Summer Session housing, contact housing@bu.edu or 617-353-3511.

ENG’s Ed Damiano featured in PBS documentary tonight

David Damiano (CAS’21) was 11 months old when he was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes 20 years ago. His father, Ed Damiano, a College of Engineering professor of biomedical engineering, began his quest to create a portable, wearable device—an artificial pancreas—to automatically control blood sugar levels. Last year Damiano raised $126 million to get his bionic pancreas, as he calls it, through the last stages of clinical development and regulatory approval and into the hands of people who have diabetes. Damiano’s story is among those featured in the new two-hour PBS documentary Blood Sugar Rising, airing tonight at 9 pm ET on WGBH. 

Damiano’s company, Beta Bionics, a socially minded, for-profit public benefit corporation, raised the money for his device, called the iLet. He expects it to become commercially available within a year or so. “This device is around the corner,” he says in the documentary. “It will get much better therapy to people and require much less of their participation.”

Boston and Beyond News

Mayor Walsh rallies “One Boston” to stand together (and stay apart)

One Boston Day was founded in 2015 to commemorate the tragedy of the 2013 Boston Marathon bombings and to promote a positive response by encouraging Bostonians to perform acts of kindness. The annual event is held on April 15, the anniversary of the bombings. But this year, the COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted the normal plans for volunteer activities. Mayor Martin J. Walsh would still like Wednesday to be “a citywide day of reflection, prayer, and unity,” with citizens participating online and through acts of kindness—and most important, to do so while observing social distancing. Find a checklist of acts of kindness that can be done safely from home here. The city of Boston will also host an online interfaith prayer service that will be streamed live starting at 2 pm on boston.gov. Find ideas on how to participate here, and post what you do online using #OneBostonDay. Find a few words from the mayor here.

Boston Police Department loses first officer to COVID-19

The BPD has lost its first officer to the illness caused by the novel coronavirus, the Boston Globe reports. He has been identified as Jose Fontanez, 53, a 29-year veteran of the BPD. He had served in District E-13 (Jamaica Plain) since 1996. BPD Commissioner William Gross says 67 other Boston Police officers have tested positive for COVID-19 (14 are back on duty, 53 remain at home).  

Massachusetts and other governors gauging when to reopen

Bay State Governor Charlie Baker has joined with his counterparts in New York, Connecticut, and several other Northeast states to coordinate reopening society after the pandemic shutdown. But none of them are in a hurry. “Opening before we’re ready will only make matters worse,” Baker said in his daily press conference late Tuesday. He and some of his fellow governors seemed unwilling to accede to President Trump’s statement earlier that he has “absolute power” to decide on reopening. “We’re going to do, in the end, what’s right for Massachusetts and for the people of Massachusetts,” Baker said.

Latest count of coronavirus cases

United States, 598,670; Massachusetts, 28,163.

Distraction of the day:

Journalist Bill Grueskin (@BGrueskin), a Columbia University professor of the professional practice, amused himself one night by tweeting: “What’s the first sentence of the best novel that will be written about this epidemic?” Not so amusing (or maybe it is): he got 23,000+ responses, some funny, some grimly serious, some by best-selling authors. And he collected a bunch of the best ones into this Medium post, which will make you laugh for sure, and cry maybe. A few favorites:

• “Not understanding the seriousness of the phrase ‘asymptomatic carrier’ was a stiff price to pay for zoning out in freshman biology.” (@foggybreeze)

• “The president was undecided and his advisers were equally split on the next move. There was trouble ahead, and the right call had to be made. Six iron? Seven? ‘Seven,’ he said. ‘A strong club.’” (@ericgar62)

• “As Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from uneasy dreams he found himself confined indefinitely in his one-bedroom apartment.” (@DanielGAlarcon)

Find BU Today’s latest coverage of the pandemic here. The University’s hotline for faculty, staff, students, and visiting scholars to call for referral of their virus-related medical concerns is 617-358-4990.