1/3. Some friends around the country are texting me that their presidents and provosts are quoting the "Cornell model" saying in-person semester is safer than online as justification for their own reopening decisions. The one thing I'll say about that, for now, is: if you're...

2/3. going to do that, please read the actual paper about the model (and not just the headlines) and ask yourself whether/how the assumptions that feed into the model, and the limitations outlined by the developers, apply to your situation. Paper is here: https://people.orie.cornell.edu/pfrazier/COVID_19_Modeling_Jun15.pdf

3/3. Like many models of human behavior, I think it would be...unwise to *assume* generalizability, particularly when the stakes are so high (to their credit, the developers are clear about that).

I explained why I feel this way in this old blog post: https://thehardestscience.com/2020/05/01/how-many-and-whose-lives-would-you-bet-on-your-theory/

"old blog post" because May feels like decades ago.