QUChronicle.com October 22, 2014 Volume 84 Issue 9
ARTS & LIFE
OPINION
‘Nine’ exceeds expectations, pages 12
Uber taxi banned on campus
SPORTS
The good and bad of caring page 9
Immediate impact, page 16
SWEET AMERICAN CHI MORE PHOTOS, PAGE 10
By SAL SICILIANO Staff Writer
See UBER TAXI Page 3
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Medical director: Ebola protocol in place University prepares for possible Ebola outbreak
By BRYAN LIPINER Editor-in-Chief
Although there have only been two confirmed cases of Ebola and one death in the United States, there is a protocol set in case a Quinnipiac student were to become infected, according to University Medical Director Phillip Brewer. When a student enters an exam room at Student Health Services, they are always questioned about their travel history. If a student were to have risk factors similar to Ebola, he or she would be placed in “immediate isolation,” which would likely be in a separate exam room, according to Brewer. An ambulance would then be called, and the student would be transported to a nearby hospital as soon as possible. After the student is transported, the Health Center would be shut down until a professional decontamination team would arrive and clean the area. The team would also have to decontaminate the areas where the student previously was, in addition to tracking down people the student had contact with. With one building shut down, the auxiliary building on York Hill would likely become the main health center.
On Wednesday, the School of Nursing, School of Health Sciences and School of Medicine will collaborate to present an Ebola preparedness presentation. School of Nursing students are required to attend, with all attendees receiving instruction in working with the disease.
“This is not gonna be over in a week, or a month. The question is, will it, like wildfire, jump to any other countries.”
– PHILLIP BREWER Quinnipiac medical director
Brewer said if students have a fever, it’s important to keep an eye out for symptoms, which can include fever, diarrhea and vomiting, among others. Symptoms can appear anywhere from two to 21 days following exposure, according to CDC. gov. Ebola is usually transmitted through blood or body fluids, such as urine, saliva and sweat. Yet, prior to experiencing symptoms, the disease “does not appear to be contagious,” accord-
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The university does not currently allow Uber on campus.
BRYAN LIPINER/CHRONICLE
Alpha Chi Omega held its annual Frisbee Fest Sunday Oct. 19 on the Quad. Members of the Quinnipiac community gathered to pie each other during the event.
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Uber is a private taxi service that has recently gained momentum at Quinnipiac as a new means for student transportation - one that Public Safety is not allowing students to use. Despite a website that advertises convenience and over five million downloads on Amazon and Apple’s app-stores, according to their two websites, Public Safety has advised the company not to pick up students on campus due to safety precautions. Chief of Public Safety David Barger believes the fact that the company’s national independence from taxi companies regulated by Connecticut state taxi laws is enough to raise concern. “What it comes down to it, under Connecticut state law,… [state taxi drivers] basically need a taxi license, an endorsement and a background check,” Barger said. The state taxicabs themselves, like the drivers, also have to pass a background check to be able to serve the public. “Heat, air conditioning, all that type of thing, ensures a [state] taxi license, plus you have to have a meter in the taxi,” Barger said. “Uber right now, to the best of my knowledge, doesn’t [require] any of that.” Uber is a private company, meaning that CT taxi laws and regulations do not apply to them. “Basically you’re in a private vehicle–they have no endorsement to additional insurance. You really don’t know who’s driving you,” Barger said. The company, founded in 2009, is “evolving the way the world moves… seamlessly connecting riders to drivers through apps,” according to its website. With a smartphone and the free Uber app, a passenger can set a route, find an available Uber driver in their area and see estimates on arrival times and fare quotes, which the company says is “often cheaper” than a state taxi.
ing to Brewer. Brewer suggested that the recommendation for caring for patients with Ebola has not been adequately followed around the United States. Following the death of Thomas Eric Duncan in Dallas, Texas on Oct. 8, two nurses became infected. “The recommendation is that everybody who presents with a fever has to be asked where they’ve been in the last 21 days,” Brewer said. “If they have any risk factors that have to do with Ebola, they have to be immediately isolated and taken somewhere for observation. That’s still not happening.” Last Thursday, a Yale University doctoral student was admitted to Yale-New Haven Hospital for Ebola-like symptoms. Later in the day, the student preliminarily tested negative for the virus. “This is not gonna be over in a week, or a month,” Brewer said. “Because the number of cases, the question is, will it, like a wildfire, jump to any other countries? We don’t know yet.” As of Oct. 15, there have been 8,997 total cases of Ebola, leading to more than 4,000 deaths, according to CDC.gov. In the United States, there
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