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CA L I F O R N I A P O LY T E C H N I C S TAT E U N I V E R S I T Y University Art Gallery exhibit showcased faculty artwork.
Michelle Obama starts mentoring program for girls in Washington.
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Women’s soccer wins Big West conference championship. IN SPORTS, 12
Monday, November 2, 2009
Volume LXXIV, Number 35
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H1N1 Health advice now available after hours Vaccine at Cal Poly Megan Hassler mustang daily
mustang daily staff report
The H1N1 vaccine arrived at the Cal Poly Health Center Thursday afternoon. The first shipment contained 3,500 vaccines. There have been between 400 and 500 cases of influenza-like illness reported in the Health Center since the beginning of the school year. Health Center officials have made plans to alter the hours of operation of the Health Center in order to make time to administer the vaccine. Starting tomorrow, the Health Center will be open from 8:30 to 11 a.m. and then will open again from 1 to 4 p.m. for immunization. The schedule change will last through Thursday. A student-ID card is the only thing needed to get the shot. The vaccine will not be given to anyone who is currently sick or allergic to eggs, because the vaccine is made of see H1N1, page 2
The Cal Poly Health Center started a free after-hours nurse hot line in response to the rapid spread of H1N1. It will help students who have health inquiries when the Health Center is closed. “This product we have purchased is an accredited nurse info line. They are practiced at interviewing over the phone and trained,” said Dr. Martin Bragg, director of Health and Counseling Services. The company, Nurse Response, has professionally trained triage nurses who received special training to help patients make informed decisions by phone. The service is open from 4:30 p.m. to 8:30 a.m. Monday through Friday as well as on weekends and holidays.The service became available on Oct. 24. The program cost between $35,000 and $40,000, which came from an emergency funds reserve. These funds are similar to a savings account, which the Health Center keeps for unexpected costs. This year, the reserve started with about $500,000. The money is also used to purchase software and computers and to maintain staff during budget cuts.
This program will not affect health fees this year or next year. There are similar products that are online and feature live chat with medical professionals. However, Bragg said there is something lost when you don’t hear the person’s voice in communication; he felt that the Nurse Response’s
With this extraordinary year we are going through, we thought it would be helpful to have one number to advertise for students. —Dr. Martin Bragg Director of Health and Counseling Services
phone service would be more beneficial. “There have been times when I have wished the Health Center was open on the weekend,” mechanical engineering junior Tyler Whipple said. “It will be helpful for quick questions rather than going into the ER.” Although the hot line was
Former hostage marks 30 years since Iran embassy takeover Kevin Diaz star tribune
WASHINGTON — A yellow ribbon — ceramic to withstand the passage of time — still hangs from the old oak tree in L. Bruce Laingen’s front yard, a 30-year-old reminder of the Minnesota farm boy’s ordeal as the highest ranking diplomat among 52 American embassy workers held hostage in Iran for 444 days. It dangles by a string as frayed as the memories of that Iranian hostage crisis, which introduced America to militant Islam. To Laingen, now 87, little has changed in America’s relationship over those years with that autocratic regime. As the 30th anniversary of the embassy takeover by radical Iranian students approaches Wednesday, three American hikers are being held there against their will.
Laingen decries the regime’s continuing failures: last June’s tainted elections, the brutal repression of protests and subsequent show trials, including the
I’ve been an advocate of engagement with Iran since the hour I left. —L. Bruce Laingen
started because of H1N1, it is not only for flu cases. Students can fire off symptom-specific questions, learn if they should wait to treat their symptoms when the Health Center opens or ask general health questions. “I won’t really use (the nurse hot line) because my sister is a
one set to begin soon for the hikers. Despite all of that, Laingen remains as certain as he was three decades ago that engaging with Iran is the right approach for the United States. “I’ve been an advocate of engagement with Iran since the hour I left,” Laingen said in an interview last week in his suburban Bethesda, Md., home. “I meant it then and I’ve said it ever since,” he said. “I’m deeply grateful now that we’re beginning to maybe talk to them.” To Laingen, ever the diplomat, that’s not a slam on the more hawkish stance of former President George W. Bush, who included Iran in his Axis of Evil. “He did what was possible at the time,” Laingen said of Bush. “I don’t believe he should have
former Iranian hostage
see Hostage, page 2
doctor, so I just call her for help. I think for most people who don’t have that family member it is a really good idea,” biology sophomore Misty Moyle said. This service has been available for many years. “We had explored (the nurse hot line) as a possibility several years ago,” Bragg said.
However, it did not seem to be necessary because most students at Cal Poly have health insurance, he said. Nearly all health insurance includes a health advice line in the cost. It was decided in the past that it was not worth the cost when most students had access to a similar service. Due to “the flu epidemic at hand,” Bragg said the service now seemed to be a good option for the Health Center.An e-mail announcing the nurse hot line’s availability said that this would be the “most challenging year health-wise.” Nurse Response is used at Humboldt State and 15 other universities nationwide. They also work with other businesses, including health providers, hospitals, provider groups and state agencies. The program will be used on a trial basis this year. Once the Health Center conducts an annual review, they will decide whether it been a worthwhile venture. “With this extraordinary year we are going through, we thought it would be helpful to have one number to advertise for students,” Bragg said. More information can be found at www.hcs.calpoly.edu/health/ nurse_line.html or the hot line (1-866-439-2012).