<p>Won’t the colleges administer free vaccines? I hope they will be sterile though.</p>
<p>EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS
In the event of a declared pandemic (influenza or other communicable disease), American University will implement a plan for meeting the needs of all members of the university community. Should the university be required to close for a period of time, we are committed to ensuring that all aspects of our educational programs will be delivered to our students. These may include altering and extending the duration of the traditional term schedule to complete essential instruction in the traditional format and/or use of distance instructional methods. Specific strategies will vary from class to class, depending on the format of the course and the timing of the emergency. Faculty will communicate class-specific information to students via AU e-mail and Blackboard, while students must inform their faculty immediately of any absence due to illness. Students are responsible for checking their AU e-mail regularly and keeping themselves informed of emergencies. In the event of a declared pandemic or other emergency, students should refer to the AU Web site ( HYPERLINK “<a href=“http://www.american.edu”>http://www.american.edu</a>” <a href=“http://www”>www</a>. prepared. american.edu) and the AU information line at (202) 885-1100 for general university-wide information, as well as contact their faculty and/or respective deans office for course and school/ college-specific information.</p>
<p>I do think you’re a little too worried, hello5. I’m sure AU, like every other school, has a raft of contingency plans which they’ll share when and if the need arises. D told me every syllabus she received has an admonition that class will be conducted online in the event of cancellations due to the flu. And with all of Washington DC at hand, it hardly seems necessary to stockpile food, even if AU’s food service might shut down. I can see that recommendation making sense for a college in a remote area, but not one located in a major metropolis. (Unless you’re presuming the entire campus would be quarantined, but that seems highly unlikely, if not completely impossible.)</p>
<p>Seriously, cadmiumred? You think a university health service would administer non-sterile injections? That’s ridiculous.</p>
<p>Our D told me yesterday that the health service will have the seasonal flu vaccine in 2 or 3 weeks (I forget which she said at the moment) and the H1N1 vaccine when it is available. There will be a $20 charge for the vaccines, which we will be able to get reimbursed for by our health insurance. I do not know the vaccine is covered for students covered by the student insurance, but I would assume so.
Ellen (the other parent)</p>
<p>Thanks for the reality check. I’m sure I’m not alone with these concerns. It might be beneficial if the school was more pro-active in getting this info to parents.</p>
<p>D is in McDowell, triple, cozy but making it work. She loves DC, is exploring it all over. She went to boarding school so that may make her adjustment easier, I don’t know. Kids on the floor are a fresh/soph mix. They’ve done small group dinners, gone to the movies, had a birthday party for 1 kid, etc. Shopping, exploring G’town area. She has been all over. Likes classes very much except perhaps calc but will endure :-). A few roommate issues but they are working it out. Nice and involved RA. She hasn’t mentioned ETOH but it wouldn’t be a big deal. She doesn’t drink but does expect that others will. Nothing loud and wild on her floor. Mc D is north side. Very pretty area, I have to say. As for the dry campus…that doesn’t mean that kids won’t come back trashed from other schools/clubs etc. She is working out (maybe one of those early AM ones mentioned earlier) and keeping up with her sport (figure skating). All in all a reasonable start.</p>
<p>I would expect that the food services program would keep extra nonperishable food items in stock till we see how the H1N1 plays out. In running a boarding school health center that was part of our plan. The Health Center, I would guess, would separate sick students by either moving them to a central location, sending home with parents if possible (not on public transportation obviously) and/or asking the healthy roommate/s to move out. Our generation is simply unfamiliar with this type and extent of illness. If it happens, we’ll get through it. None of it will be ideal and students will have to adjust and be flexible. In a crisis you have to realize that life is going to be disrupted, less than perfect and you follow the rules in order to get through the experience. Staying healthy and using good hygiene techniques is the best defense we have right now. Can’t emphasize that enough. No sharing water bottles, drinks, utensils, and cover sneezes and coughs. Handwashing, handwashing, handwashing. They have heard it all since kindergarten but its really essential now.</p>
<p>Last note (I think) - vaccines are expensive and unless the federal govt. is giving them away, they won’t be given free to the students. We did vaccinating at the boarding school I worked at. We charge a nominal cost to cover the cost of the syringe, needle and vaccine. We kept it as cheap as possible but could not do it for free.</p>
<p>As I said, at my son’s college institutes a lot more procedures to crack down on these problems. Adults,married couples over 50, live in, and walk the halls of the dorms everyday. More activities are also planned for the kids to get involved from the get go as a deterrent to alchohol use.</p>
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<p>How old are the students?</p>
<p>I find this a little disturbing, actually. It sounds more like a boarding school situation rather than a University with young ADULTS who should be learning to take care of themselves, learn to make good decisions for themselves and handle their own problems.</p>
<p>Daughter reports that hall is still staying up until 2 a.m. even on weeknights. RA said she would reprimand breaking a noise policy past 11 p.m. when she hears the noise but stays on the far side of the T shaped hall and doesn’t come to my daughter’s side of the hall. (lazy). Her roommates are having to constantly tell their neighbors and others on the hall to be quiet, and it is not working. Daughter has to wear ear plugs Ridiculous!</p>
<p>So your D is getting along better with her roomies, then? That is good news! </p>
<p>I’m sorry she is not happier with her floormates. How does she get along with them other than at bedtime? Is it something she could discuss with her neighbors at dinner or a floor meeting?</p>
<p>It’s sort of funny because S is in Anderson, which is reputed to be a party dorm, and while his floor certainly seems to be social it is not at all a version of Animal House; yet your daughter is supposedly in one of the dorms reputed to be “quiet” and it’s not. Unless maybe our children have different standards for describing life on their respective floors!</p>
<p>I don’t know if this will be helpful to your daughter, but when my middle son’s fraternity house would occaisionally get too loud when he wanted to sleep, he would put on the tv in his room at a low sound level. For some reason, it had the effect of muting the noise from outside the room. Has she tried this?</p>
<p>One other question…is your D trying to go to bed significantly earlier than her floormates? They may just be on a different schedule than she is and may not be ready to retire as early. A lot of students might just be getting back to the dorm from studying at the library, club meetings, intramural sports or such at 11 and might be indulging in an hour or two of blowing off steam when they get “home” if they don’t need to be up until 9 or 9:30 for a 10am class.</p>
<p>The mayhem is continuing on school nights unfortunately. Her roommates retire after her, but not as late as 2 a.m., like the rest of the wild floor. She has almost all 8:30 a.m. classes. She could contract mono from not sleeping enough hours before her classes start every morning. She shouldn’t have to fight to try to sleep every night . It is unacceptable! Do my husband and actually have no rights as far as AU is concerned with correcting this situation? The RA only cares about the area immediately around her. We are footing the bill for AU and my daughter is still a minor. How can the AU administration expect her to tell the RA and RA director what to do, and AU tell us in so many words to buzz off when we are paying for this nonsense? And yes this northside dorm is “reputed” to be the more quiet of the dorms. Not So!</p>
<p>Forgot to mention there are many older athletes on this floor who are wild and do not talk to the freshman.</p>
<p>I know this is hard to accept (it was for me) but no -you actually have no rights even if you are paying the bill. My eldest disappeared from school (not American University) and since she was 19 it was very complicated to find her. Although the dean of students was fabulous as was public safety they could only stretch the rules to help us. We ended up finding her through a convuluted method where the public safety officer was a friend of the police department was a friend of a bartender. She was being stalked and left town to disappear from the stalker (heads up any parents of performing musicians). Her decisions weren’t great but she was trying to be independant and not lean on us. </p>
<p>This happened her sophmore year but the real wake up call is when they e-mail all of the financial info to the student and won’t share with the parent - it’s up to the student since THE STUDENT IS WHO THE UNIVERSITY HAS THE RELATIONSHIP WITH - NOT THE PARENTS EVEN IF THEY ARE FOOTING THE BILL.</p>
<p>The main point I am trying to make is when they move out you really have no idea what is going on (and probably don’t want to) unless they choose to share. So yes it is up to the student to seek out the dean of students if nothing else to deal with it.</p>
<p>Three years later we have a daughter who seeks our counsel and has matured tremendously. We are so proud of her on many levels but we had a year that seemed to have disappeared and 2 more that were tough. </p>
<p>I have seen where you have attacked parenting skills which is nonsense. Our children are known for having involved parents with limits. There is such a thing as free will. It is absolutely possible that some of the students causing the most problems had very controlling parents and they are blowing off steam and rebelling.
There is always the option of transferring.</p>
<p>One last quote “Pride goeth before the fall”. I say this sincerely out of experience. I have been one of the most prideful with the fartherest to fall. If your daughter cannot adjust and you cannot let go please admit it before your pride creates a disaster.</p>
<p>Oh by the way - every parent afraid of H1N1 - please fear meningitis more and ensure your students are well vaccinated. We have had to many losses in our community from this awful disease. Healthy one night and dead the next.</p>
<p>I hope everyone was somewhat comforted by President Kerwin’s email on H1N1 today. I must say that with we middle-agers being the group least affected by the virus, I am having occasional visions of myself sweeping through D’s floor, tending to the sick young’uns, Florence Nightingale-style! But my real hope is that Family Weekend isn’t adversely affected. There look to be some interesting events planned, especially the Michael Steele-Harold Ford, Jr. showdown. (D is the least politically oriented person in the world, somehow attending the most politically oriented college in the country, but I more than make up for her lack of interest in all things political.)</p>
<p>I was amazed at the timing of the pres email–Does his staff read this thread??</p>
<p>Also, must say I think the whole swine flu thing is overblown. The death rate is only very slightly higher than our usual winter flu varieties. As to stockpiling food in the dorm rooms…ewwww! Three college guys and piles of food do not sound like an appealing mix in that tiny room!</p>
<p>Some estimates are as high as 70-80,000 deaths from this disease, far higher than the apx. 30 -40,000 or so from our typical flu season. The scary part is the population most affected, our young people. There is nothing wrong with stockpiling non-perishable food in the dorms (not necessarily in every room). Many colleges are suggesting it. Being in a large city has no bearing on what will be available if the college is quarantined. I don’t want to be an alarmist, but especially in light of the Pres.'s message, I think it’s something we need to think about.
By the way, my oldest had meningitis as an infant and that was one of the most traumatic experiences of my life (shes fine, mostly). This flu is more highly contagious and not unfortunately not everyone will have the opportunity to get vaccinated.</p>
<p>hello5, I think you are panicking more than is warranted. The report put out last week by the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology states pretty clearly that the death rate of h1n1 is no higher than that our our usual seasonal flu.</p>
<p>The report states that 0.1% (actually it states 0.1-0.3%) die from the cohort of those that are either hospitalized OR sought primary care – that is, went to a doctor’s office or a clinic.</p>
<p>And the report states that the seasonal flu Case Fatality Rate of “all symptomatic cases” is somewhere between 0.05% and 0.2%.</p>
<p>From the report: The pandemic virus’ case fatality rate “appears to be similar to seasonal influenza—possibly on the order of 0.1 to 0.3 percent of medically attended cases (i.e., those infections requiring hospitalization or primary care), and perhaps 0.05 to 0.2 percent of all symptomatic cases, whether or not medical care is sought”.</p>
<p>I think it would be literally impossible to quarantine AU and so extraordinarily unlikely as to make food stockpiling silly.</p>