On this, Monday, Aug. 9, episode of Sundial.
FIU鈥檚 Fall Semester Amid COVID
Florida International University will begin classes in the coming weeks as coronavirus cases continue to surge across the state.
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FIU President Mark Rosenberg raised concerns about the rising COVID cases but feels confident in the student population.
鈥淲e have a student body that has significant responsibilities in their respective families and in their workspaces. 85 percent of our students work full or part-time. These are individuals who understand what鈥檚 at risk,鈥� said Rosenberg on Sundial.
The largest university in South Florida cannot mandate that their students, faculty or staff be vaccinated due to Florida鈥檚 executive order banning vaccine mandates by state-funded institutions.
FIU has a tracking positivity rates among faculty and staff. Among those tested on Aug. 6 of last week, 12% of faculty tested positive as well as 8% of students.
Fort Lauderdale Beach Tunnel
The city of Fort Lauderdale recently announced plans to accept a bid to build tunnels from the city鈥檚 downtown to the beach.
Any other companies interested have to formally submit their proposals to the city by the end of this month. The original comes from The Boring Company, led by Tesla CEO Elon Musk.
鈥淭o take your car down Las Olas Boulevard on a popular Saturday, it's going to take you a long time. The city has run out of options to make Las Olas wider," said 港澳天下彩Broward County reporter Caitie Switalski Munoz. "They were unhappy with what they were seeing from a consultant and so now the idea is that this tunnel system would sort of replace making changes to Las Olas Boulevard."
Ft. Lauderdale Mayor Dean Trantalis visited the company鈥檚 site in Las Vegas and has been working directly with Musk about the logistics of the project.
People would not be driving their own cars through the tunnels. The proposal is for Tesla vehicles to transport people to and from downtown and the beach.
Residents have raised concerns about the cost of the proposal and whether South Florida鈥檚 rising seas and consistent flooding could prove dangerous.
Switalski Munoz also joined Sundial to talk about the 鈥嬧�媍ounty elections supervisor's this year.
Managed Retreat
A , released Monday, paints a dire future if changes are not swiftly made to protect the environment.
In some cases, the damage has already been done 鈥� and it鈥檚 irreversible.
With temperatures and ocean levels rising, some researchers say we鈥檙e all going to need to learn about something called 鈥渕anaged retreat.鈥�
鈥淚t's a phrase that refers to a very large number of options for removing people and assets from places that are really at risk from flooding or other hazards,鈥� said Katharine Mach, an associate professor at the University of Miami鈥檚 Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science.
Land buyouts are already happening in parts of the Florida Keys that have been determined to be too unsafe.
Mach recently co-published a paper on managed retreat in the journal .
