Collegiate Times

Swine flu.

Those two dreaded words have struck our campus hard - or about as hard as most other seasonal flu viruses. While there was a time last spring when the mention of those words brought a sense of fear to many people who had heard news of a few deaths it caused, it's now pretty obvious that swine flu bears the same threat all the other flu viruses have posed.

Of course, that doesn't change the fact that it's very painful, superbly uncomfortable, and makes the idea of drinking the same soups for several days unappealing. It's not something you really want to have - or to share. Your classmates wouldn't be too happy with you after catching the infectious disease.

So you stay at home curled up in your room surfing the Internet and watching television in between those essential naps. When you're feeling well enough, you might pick up the phone and call Schiffert. After all, you'd be happier if you could see a doctor about the pain pulsing throughout your body.

Schiffert, however, is too full today, and likely will be tomorrow, so you're encouraged to e-mail your professors to ask for assignments and mercy for those classes that take attendance.

While this scenario seems perfectly reasonable for the most part, there are always those people who abuse the system by either skipping class or not keeping up assignments, and in doing so inevitably end up cheating everyone. There are also those who make the decision that since they aren't feeling their best, they should quarantine themselves just in case. This is a notion that Schiffert itself probably encouraged by sending out the mass e-mail telling students to keep to themselves if they think they're sick.

Our inner hypochondriac knows that paranoia makes us think we might be seriously ill, especially when it's perpetuated by the health center itself.

With that said, Schiffert is probably doing all that it can in this situation. It's not really designed to handle hundreds of sick students at once, and there's not much the staff can do to really treat a virus. If you're feeling really sick, you definitely shouldn't risk infecting everyone else.

It's more about personal responsibility and knowing your body. If you have a fever, you should stay in bed. If you're just feeling a little congested, brave the cold and make it to class.

While the whole student body should not be penalized for the mistakes of a few students, we should still try not to trample on the good faith of our teachers. Eventually, it wears thin. If you're really sick, send an e-mail first thing, ask for your assignments, request that someone send you the notes and actually read that section of the book. It may not be easy to get through a math assignment feeling like you've been run over, but try your hardest anyway.

Keeping up with your work and staying in contact with the professor - even if you are one of those people who decides to stay at home because of a runny nose - is probably the way to make sure we keep the good faith we've been given.

The editorial board is composed of Sara Mitchell, Debra Houchins and Bethany Buchanan.