Since the COVID-19 pandemic began its domination of the global news cycle in February, the virus has served as a framework around which to discuss a host of other topics. One of the most notable: the shortcomings of the American health care system, specifically the limited number of ventilators. In March, the American Hospital Association estimated that up to 960,000 Americans could become sick enough to require ventilation—but the United States only had about 200,000 machines.
Robert McPherson ’91 has been singing since he was a very young boy. “I was a preacher’s kid. I grew up singing gospel,” he says.
Decades have passed since he performed his first solo, but McPherson’s passion for music is as strong as it ever was. Instead of singing traditional gospel tunes, he’s an accomplished operatic tenor. And even though the coronavirus has shuttered performance venues across the country, McPherson is still singing for his public, online.
In 2020, as it does every 10 years, the U.S. Census Bureau will attempt to make an official, complete count of the population. Andrew Gomez, assistant professor of history, uses data from the census in his research (on early Cuban communities in the U.S.) and his teaching (on the history of the census, as well as how immigration has shaped U.S. cities over time). Here, he shares seven things you might not know about the census.
