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<div class="" style="font-family: Palatino-Roman;">Dear Biology Majors,</div>
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<div class="">Next week will bring a national election in the midst of a global pandemic and a time of heightened tension and division in our society. This is stressful to many/most of us who are worrying about the election process and outcome while trying
to keep up with the demands of school and everything else. We understand that life events are affecting you. They are affecting us. </div>
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<div class="">On Tuesday, November 3 (election day), our in-person lab classes have been cancelled. Some faculty have also decided not to hold class that day. As has been true all semester, almost all of our classes are recorded and available asynchronously
for those who decide not to attend class synchronously. This will be especially useful for those who need extra time to vote, who will be working at the polls, or who are helping to get out the vote. </div>
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<div class="">In these difficult times, when there is a heightened feeling of so much going on that is out of our control, it can be difficult to cope. An approach that we find effective is to focus on things we can control. We can control whether or not we
vote. We can control how we interact with and support one another, and how we work to create an open, accepting, and supportive community. </div>
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<div class="">If you are registered and haven’t voted, PLEASE VOTE! Have a look at <a href="https://vote.mit.edu/" class="">https://vote.mit.edu/</a>. MITvote is "<i class="">a non-partisan student organization at MIT, MITvote is currently working to increase
voter turnout and student engagement for the 2020 general elections."</i></div>
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<div class="">In addition, we encourage you to talk with each other, with friends, family, us, and/or with MIT support professionals. Information about many of the support services available at MIT is available at <a href="https://studentlife.mit.edu/support/support-services" class="">https://studentlife.mit.edu/support/support-services</a>. </div>
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<div class="">We very much hope you are doing OK, but we understand if many people are not-quite-OK (or really-not-OK) right now. As always, let us know if we can help, and please take good care of both your physical and mental selves.</div>
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<div class="">Best regards,</div>
<div class="">Adam, Cathy, Alan</div>
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Alan D. Grossman<br class="">
Professor and Head<br class="">
Department of Biology<br class="">
Building 68-530<br class="">
M.I.T.<br class="">
Cambridge, MA 02139<br class="">
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(617) 253-1515<br class="">
<a href="mailto:adg@mit.edu" class="">adg@mit.edu</a><br class="">
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