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Thu, 04/23/2020 - 14:07
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The new normal is still a mystery. Will the pandemic cause permanent changes in the American lifestyle? Or are masks and social distancing temporary? At this point, no one knows what life is going to look like three months or six months from now. But experts are talking. Educators, religious leaders, corporate executives, and small-business owners are preparing for the future. Here are some of the ideas leaders are kicking around.

• K-12 schools. Physical distancing in the classroom is the biggest problem for educators. Staggered schedules may be a solution. Some students will go to school in the morning and some in the afternoon. If classes are smaller, the 6-feet-apart rule may be possible, even in gym class. Recess may devolve into watching movies. School assemblies may be eliminated. Individual sports like gymnastics, track, tennis, and golf lend themselves to safe distancing. No solutions have been considered yet for team sports like football, soccer, basketball, and baseball. Even if played without crowds watching, the close contact by players is still a problem.

• Universities. The financial hit to universities is huge. They have to refund students for unused campus services, including housing, parking, and studyabroad programs. Spring athletics were also a source of income that was eliminated. Higher-education institutions received millions from the federal CARES Act, but not nearly enough to make up for losses due to the coronavirus outbreak. More online classes will be available in the future, but the whole college experience of socializing with hundreds of other students will have to be re-imagined and so will college sports and dormitory living. The one positive outcome is that online learning is a success at the college level.

• Sports. Football matters to high schools and universities. So does basketball. Games will be played at some point because college sports is a multibilliondollar business. USA Today estimates that the top 50 schools in the Power Five conferences generate $79 million per school. Both college and professional sports are determined to come back in the 20-21 season, even if they don’t make the money they are used to generating. The stands may be empty and the games broadcasted, but they will be played.

Some far-out solutions have also been proposed. College sports may be divided into spectator (those that bring in money) and participation (the ones that don’t make money). The participation sports would not need full-time coaching staff. Only the spectator athletes would be offered athletic scholarships.

• Churches. The drive-in churches during the pandemic lockdown were a big hit. Cars provide steel and glass protection against COVID-19 transmission. Also popular were the creative use of horns, lights, and windshield wipers, and the come-as-you-are dress code. Other churches provided streamed services or TV broadcasts from empty sanctuaries. Drive-through communion and confession also received positives responses.

• Customs. The handshake, the highfive, and the peace greeting in churches are all gone for now and maybe permanently. Other pandemics are expected in the future, and hand contact may be a nono forever, replaced by the nod and the bow. FaceTime, Zoom, and other conferencing methods may replace the hospital visit, funerals, weddings, baptisms, and reunions. Trade shows, conventions, and company retreats may be things of the past. Museums, concerts, theme parks, carnivals, movie theatres, casinos, sports arenas, shopping malls, bars, and restaurants will all adapt to new ways of handling crowds.

Will the pandemic do away with rodeos, proms, graduation ceremonies, birthday parties, and summer camp? What about big events like Mardi Gras, the Super Bowl, and Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade? No one knows. The one thing that is certain is the new normal will not be the old normal.