On December 29th, UMN sent out an email encouraging students living on campus to take a COVID test within 24 hours of returning to campus at Boynton Health Center. While this is a step in the right direction for increased testing, it’s not enough. Similar sized schools such as UW-Madison have been testing students every 2 weeks for months. Currently, UW Madison is requiring students in residence halls to be tested twice a week. Their on campus testing sites are free of charge. UMN should be able to as well. Some UW schools, even if smaller, test their students weekly, and have been since September. Joan Gabel said in her interview to the MN Daily in early December, testing will be “more and more available, easier and easier to get at” in the Spring Semester; if UMN is truly committed to keeping their students safe, they should be more than happy to accommodate students with free, available testing for students. Students are paying full tuition, and while that’s a separate issue, it should cover the cost of testing to keep us safe. Don’t make more delays; don’t add more steps to your sunrise plan. Test us biweekly, at least.