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November 1, 2002
. NOv 14 Pages
Vol. L R END to
" COLL EGE No. 2
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Deadline for meningitis vaccine draws near
by Caley Doran
staff writer
In June, Governor Mark Schweiker and the
Pennsylvania Legislature signed the College and
University Student Vaccination Act. In accor
dance with the act, all students residing in Uni
versity owned housing must provide proof that
they have received the meningococcal vaccina
tion or sign a waver exempting them from receiv
ing the vaccination.
The waver verifies that the student has made an
enlightened decision not to receive the meningo
coccal vaccination. Students who have not com
pleted and turned in the certification form or an
exemption waiver by Jan. 9 will not be permitted
to live on campus next semester.
At the beginning of the semester, some students
submitted a University Health History record.
That is a record of other specific vaccinations that
the University requires prior to attendance. It does
Greek Week encourages solidarity among brothers and sisters
by Chrissy Speranza and Adrienne
Schermer
contributing writers
The Interfraternity Council and Panhellenic
Council sponsor Greek Week, whose purpose
is to unite the Greeks on campus and to pro
mote the Greek System. It is also an opportu
nity to provide an element of brother and sis
terhood. Each organization shows ability to
work as a team and welcomes spectators to see
the closeness of the Greek community on this
campus. Greek Week occurs on the Behrend
campus during each fall semester.
The Greek Organizations which participated
this year were social sororities and fraternities
that included Alpha Sigma Alpha, Theta Phi
Alpha, Alpha Sigma Tau, Kappa Delta Rho,
Delta Chi, and Sigma Tau Gamma.
Greek Week consists of a different event for
each day of the week, Monday through Friday.
The events this year were the tug-of-war, relay
race, reek sing, drag race and a chariot race.
Every organization shows its own spirit in dif
ferent ways, and encourages its participants by
cheering, painting its faces, and even dressing
up as their mascot. Each event is easily judged
by who won, except for Greek Week.
A panel of five judges is selected and asked
to judge each organization on Creativity, Origi
nality, Appearance, Lip Sync, Prop/Stage Use
and Overall Performance. Each event awards
points to each organization. The winner
recaeives the highest amount of points, in de-
alloween cheer abounds in Bruno's
PHOTO BY ERIN McCARTY / BEHREND BEACON
Students who enter Bruno's on Thursday are greeted by a line of carved pumpkins. They could cast votes on their favorite by placing change in the cans next to the pumpkins, which were
carved the night before. Proceeds go to THON.
NEWS 1-4
ADS 5
Inside
EDITORIAL 6
CALENDAR 7
FEATURES 8
"Y 4 4
; ) •
Pettli Statcl it 11
not meet the requirements of the law.
Even if your meningococcal vaccination was
included on your health history record or you re
ceived it from University Health Services, you
must still submit a completed certification fonn
so that the file can be retrieved from Health Ser
vices and put on file in the Housing department.
It is important that students receive the vacci
nation because the symptoms of meningitis can
be misleading.
"Meningitis initially appears like a bad case of
the flu and can move very quickly to becoming
life threatening," said Patty McMahon, director
of the Health and Wellness Center. "The vaccine
offers varying percentages of protection from the
four main types of bacterial meningitis and is a
relatively safe vaccine. We urge those living on
and off campus to consider being immunized."
According to the Meningitis Research Founda
tion, when a person has developed meningitis, bac
teria from the blood transfers into the membranes
Members of Behrend's Greek community convene during Greek Week, an annual week of events promoting friendly competition among
fraternities and sororities.
scending order, rewarding one point to the or- Delta Rho won the tug-of-war, Theta Phi Al- Chi won the drag race,
ganization coming in last place. pha and Kappa Delta Rho won the relay race GREEK
This year Alpha Sigma Alpha and Kappa and Greek Sing, Alpha Sigma Alpha and Delta
A&E 9-10
SPORTS 1-4 B
around the brain. The bacteria cause the tissue
around the brain to become inflamed and the fluid
to become infected. Without treatment the per
son infected will go into coma, which can be
deadly.
According to the Meningitis Foundation of
America, symptoms of meningitis include vomit
ing, headache, drowsiness, seizures, high tempera
ture, achy joints, and stiff neck. Meningitis caus
ing bacteria can also cause septicemia (blood poi
soning).
The Meningitis Foundation of America found
that, once contracted, most cases of meningitis re
quire hospital treatment. The bacteria are fought
off by white blood cells in the tissue, but in the
fluid there are no white blood cells so therefore
there is nothing to fight the infection.
The infection can spread very rapidly to all ar
eas of the body. Large amounts of brain damage
can be caused in just a few hours. The infection
can prove deadly in only 24 hours.
NEWSROOM: 898-6488
FAX: 898-6019
=2l
Contact Us
E-MAIL:
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=MI
"The meningitis vaccine is available at the
Health and Wellness Center for $B5 that can be
billed to the student account or paid for at the time
of the visit," said McMahon. "A coded receipt to
turn into the student's insurance is given to the
student for any services received here."
According to the American College Health As
sociation, 3,000 people are infected with menin
gitis each year, and it claims about 300 lives yearly.
An estimated 100 to 125 cases of Meningitis oc
cur on college campuses each year, five to 15 of
which are fatal.
"Many students are opting to be immunized, in
cluding those who live off campus," said
McMahon. "One immunization is all that is
needed. No booster is recommended. We will con
tinue to have the vaccine available for all that want
it. It can be given before, with or after the flu shot,
which we also encourage students to come in for."
Offices are located
downstairs in the
Reed Union Building
CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
continue. on page 2