Are you kidding?

Today, I got an e-mail from OU's dean of students, Ryan Lombardi. We have had something like SEVEN cases of meningitis on campus in the past two years, which is a LOT when you think about it. Because of collaboration with the CDC, it's been determined that all of the students who have contracted the illness had the same DNA profile, which makes these cases an outbreak.

Because of this, the university has decided that it will be requiring that all students get the meningitis vaccine starting in fall 2010. All current students will be required to have it and all freshman will be required to have gotten it, if I am understanding the e-mail correctly. This isn't that surprising, though requiring vaccinations always seems to result in a bit of a controversy and I can't wait to see the 'but it's my body and why should I get a shot?!' letters in The Post.

My complaint lies in what this e-mail COMPLETELY LACKED, which was information of where you could get the vaccine in Athens. So, I googled, googled a bit more, and finally tried the university health center's website. I knew that they provided vaccines, but assumed that they didn't provide the meningitis vaccine, since they didn't include a link in the e-mail.

So, I went to: http://www.ohio.edu/hudson/index.cfm, which I am providing for context. On the left hand side is a menu. I clicked 'health promotion,' which did NOT, in fact, include any information about vaccines that I could find. So I went back to the main page and clicked 'student health services,' scrolled down the un-alphabetized list on the left and chose 'services provided.' A page with a list pops up, un-alphabetized again, and I clicked immunizations (which, okay, guys, pick a word. Are the immunizations or vaccines?). Finally, a list of what vaccines Hudson provides and when you could get them.

That link should have been included in the e-mail, or should be accessible on the front page of Hudson's site. Also, the page should include prices and information on whether or not the university's insurance will pay for any of what they offer. I suspect that is not common knowledge, so it isn't that much of a stretch to feel that our Dean should have provided this information instead of just informing us of what he and the university have determined about these cases.

Tales of ye olde universitee

Today, I went to the student health center to make an appointment to finally deal with some issues I've been having. 

Hudson used to be open Monday through Friday only; budget constraints meant that the university could not afford to have Hudson open anymore than that, despite the overwhelming consensus that it needed to be open more. Amazingly, students need medical attention on the weekends! Because, apparently, we still get infections and have unprotected sex and punch walls while drunk on the weekend. So the bigwigs on campus put their heads together and, after realizing that they couldn't build a better facility or really do anything to improve our health care, decided that the solution was a $40 fee! The fee, they said, would mean they could afford to be open four hours on Sunday and could hire another doctor, among other things.

If a student decided not to pay the fee, he or she now has to pay for x-rays, visiting the campus psychiatrists, and being told that he or she does, in fact, have a massive sinus infection that is slowly making his or her head implode. 

For me, the fee means I can go see a doctor, which makes me okay with part of my loans and what not going into the program. I thought, 'hey, Hudson will be open on the weekends! I will be able to get any help I need!'

Because it turns out that I need help. But that is another post for another day.

I met my mom and brother for coffee this morning, then sat outside of Hudson until it opened at one. I walked inside, waited for my eyes to re-focus (it was really bright outside and I am very tired), and found the elevator. No one on staff noticed me - at least five other people walked in with me. Not many workers had shown up while I was sitting outside, so I had my doubts about whether or not the elevator would even come. In most buildings on campus, they shut off the elevator when the rest of the building is closed. But the elevator doors immediately slid open, I stepped inside, and pressed the third floor button.

It reached the third floor, the doors slid open and... I was greeted by near complete darkness. The only light on the third floor was coming from the sun filtering in. 

I went back downstairs and found out that only the emergency care bit of the building is functioning during Sundays. I didn't bother pointing out that the third floor was accessible and that I could have spent the day doing my homework up there, presumably without them finding me. I'll let them find that out on their own.