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Serving Bureau County Since 1847
Tuesday, December 16, 2014
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Is your flu shot effective?
Health officials still urging people to get vaccinated By Goldie Currie gcurrie@bcrnews.com
PRINCETON — The Centers for Disease Control recently announced the influenza virus has mutated, making current vaccines not as effective as what health officials hoped for in protecting against the strain of flu. With the recent news, however, local health officials continue to urge people to get vaccinated. Diana Rawlings, Bureau/ Putnam County Health Department director, confirmed it is common for viruses like influenza to mutate. “Viruses can change their surface proteins to disguise them, so the host cell will allow them to attach. This is called antigenic drift or mutation,” she said. Rawlings explained
there are several different strains of influenza, and the flu shot is designed to protect against the three most common strains circulating around the globe throughout the year. “Even if the flu shot isn’t as protective against a recently mutated strain, it can still decrease the severity of illness caused by the virus. It can also protect against other circulating strains of the virus,” she said. Rawlings confirmed there have been people in the community who have tested positive for both influenza A and B this year. “Flu is considered widespread across Illinois right now and has increased dramatically in the past two weeks,” she said. “Nationwide, influenza A has been detected most frequently
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New laptops ... powered by STEM By Zita Henneberry zhenneberry@bcrnews.com
Editor’s Note: This is the first story in a twopart series concerning the STEM educational focus in LaMoille Community Unit School District (LCUSD) No. 303. LAMOILLE — Technology in LCUSD No. 303 is getting a significant upgrade. The LaMoille district is distributing new Dell laptops to all students Grades 4 through 12. By February, all students in these grades will have their school laptops, said Superintendent Ricardo Espinoza. “We believe that accessibility and availability of technology and connectivity is paramount to achievement,” said Espinoza. Dell’s Latitude 13 Education Series laptop is
described by Dell as “Classroom-ready. Schoolyard-tough.” This Dell laptop is designed specifically for classroom use. Its’ durable design, Dell described, as ready to withstand harsh treatment and even spills. Senior Jennah Graham and junior Rae Schultz said they were very excited about receiving their laptops. “It’s going to be nice, especially for the seniors that are definitely from class to class, always using them for different projects,” said Graham, “We’re pretty excited, actually, for that too.” Apart from the laptops, Graham said she was excited about her recent STEM educational projects. STEM is an acronym for
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PHS Little Poms light up the court Members of the Princeton High School Little Poms perform during halftime of the PHS varsity basketball game Saturday night at Prouty Gym. Dressed in T-shirts with a Christmas theme, the Little Poms stole the show as they strutted their stuff for family, friends and basketball game-goers. PHS Poms sponsor is Abbi Cochran. BCR photos/Mike Vaughn
Late work — no problem? Berlinski acknowledges there are mixed responses By Zita Henneberry zhenneberry@bcrnews.com
PRINCETON — Princeton High School (PHS) has enacted a recent policy change which will allow PHS students to turn in late work for full credit. “Regardless of the syllabus that was given out in each class, late work will not be docked any points,” Andy Berlinski, PHS principal, said in his letter to students. He continued, “In addition, all students will be allowed to rewrite papers and
redo other work, in order to improve skills and demonstrate knowledge.” Any work which has already been docked points for lateness, Berlinski explained, will be adjusted if possible. “This was a, I would say, a teacher initiated and led decision,” said Berlinski. He said this change was initiated by the division at the end of last week. The division, a group of seven teachers (one from each department), and the principal meet once a week to discuss various concerns. This change
has been part of an ongoing discussion, he said. “The policy change came about in looking at some data that we found to be very kind of concerning to us,” Berlinski said. “Obviously our graduation rate at being at 83 percent and below the state average, I think is probably the one that was primarily the focus of this discussion and what could we do as a school independently from 8 (a.m.) to 2:45 (p.m.) to help ensure student success.” The change is now effective in all classes and for all students at PHS and will continue into second semester. This semester’s final due date for all late
work, work-rewrites, etc. is Dec. 19, the end of the semester. “This is a work in progress,” said Berlinski, “The division had to make a decision going into finals week, and with seven days left, it’s really an open-ended policy.” He said due to the limited time frame the policy is currently a very open-ended one. However, he fully expects to develop the policy further to protect the integrity of the classes, grading and academic fairness. “I do see us working toward making some parameters and restricting this to a greater
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Year 168 No. 151 One Section - 20 Pages
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