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Page 12 The Blue Banner September 7,2000 news UIKH Health UiMe HBV concerns students Rachel Grumpier Staff Writer Hepatitis B (HBV) is a health disease that mostly affects young adults, and UNCA health practioners and undergraduates are attempting to inform UNCA stu dents about the health risks and factors that attribute to the infec tion of the virus, since it cannot be treated, according to a representa tive of health services. “I want people to be better in formed,” said Michael Gray, a se nior who is infected with HBV. “HBV is something I have to be aware of everyday, and it scares me that I may never get rid of it.” Gray discovered that he had HBV two years ago, and his primary con cern is to try and inform students about the virus. “It helps me realize how impor tant life is,” said Gray. “It makes me really mad that people are not aware of it. “I was very scared when I first discovered that I had the virus,” said Gray. “I was extremely de pressed for the first six months after I found out about it. I felt like no one would talk to me about it, and I felt like there was nowhere I could go for support.” HBV is a viral infection which primarily affects the liver by caus ing inflammation and dysfunction, according to Eric Pyeritz, director of health services. It is estimated that one out of every 20 Americans has been in contact or become infected with the virus, according to the Hepati tis B Foundation. There are also over one million people who are chronic carriers of the virus. “HBV can not be treated once a person becomes infected,” said Pyeritz, “but there are ways to pre vent getting the disease. A person can get immunized with a series of three shots.” However, not everyone who has HBV is infected for life. Some people do not become carriers, and are able to fight off the disease themselves, according to Pyeritz. “People who are chronic carriers can have cirrhosis and liver cancer, so it is potentially life-threatening,” said Pyeritz. Most people are able to recover from HBV infection, but 10 per cent of infected adults are never able to develop antibodies against the virus and remain infected, ac cording to the Center for Disease Control (CDC). There are ways that students can become better informed about the virus, according to Pyeritz. Every health and wellness class covers HBV when they discuss sexually PHOTO BY JUSTIN MECKES Linda Pyeritz, registered nurse at health services, prepares to give an immunization for Hepatitis B. transmitted diseases. “We try to inform students through the academics,” said Pyeritz. “We have literature and information at health services, so people can become better informed, and we also have very active family planning services. I feel, however, that new freshman should be better informed.” HBV can be spread through many different ways, but the most com mon is through unprotected sexual intercourse, according to Pyeritz. “HBV is spread through the con tact with the blood and body fluids of someone who carries HBV, so all intravenous drug users are at risk if they share contaminated needles through the skin,” said Pyeritz. “The more common way of contact is through unprotected sexual inter course, and UNCAstudents should be concerned, because it is a sexu ally transmitted disease.” The virus is also spread at birth if the mother is infected, according to a U.S. Department of Health and Human Services information sheet. Health care workers can be infected with the virus if they are pricked with the same needle as a carrier, while individuals can also spread the virus by sharing hygienic items like razors or toothbrushes with an infected person. Symptoms of HBV, according to Pyeritz, include dark urine, fever, extreme fatigue, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and jaundice. N.C. is developing a program The Blue Banher Weather Seven Day Forecast where all newborns and children in sixth grade are being asked to get the immunization shots. The American College Heath Associa tion has recommended that all col lege students become immunized, according to Pyeritz. “Hopefully, we will come to a time where a large percentage of people living in N.C. will be im munized,” said Pyeritz. “It is also required that health care workers and people who are going into nurs ing be immunized.” “Health services does offer the HBV vaccine shots,” said Pyeritz. “The cost for a series of three shots for students between the ages of 19 and 20 is $15. If a student is 20 years of age or older the shots are $30 each, and we are probably the same price as the health depart ment.” “We have given 38 doses of the HBV vaccine in the last 12 months,” said Linda Pyeritz, a registered nurse at health services. There has not been an increase in people who are diagnosed with HBV on campus, according to Pyeritz. It is also fairly uncom mon among UNCA students, be cause a number of students have come to health sen/ices for the vac cine. It is still a concern on campus, however, because people can carry the virus, and be unaware that they are infected and are transmitting it to people who are intimate with them, according to the CDC. Sept. 7, 2000 Local Almanac Last Week IIIURSDAY Partly Cloudy High: 69 Low. 54 FRIDAY Isolated i'-storms IligI): 75 Low: 57 SATURDAY Partly Cloudy High; 80 Low; 58 Day Wednesday riuirsday Friday Sntnnlay Siiiulay NUwtday I'licsd.Ty Hit-’li Low .SI 60' Normals l*recii>* 80/60 8()/(>0 8(1/59 80/59 80/59 80/59 79/59 0.02" 0.31" 0.02" 0.48" O.O.V 0.2J" 0.08" Precipilalion for llic week Normal precipilalion for llte week . . Dcparliirc (roin normal fur Ihe week . I’recipitadon for llic year Nornial precipitation for year Id dale, Departure from normal for llic year . . * rrcv.i|>ilalion inclii!ts snow O'uvcrlal li: .1,18” . 0.98" •t0.20" 26.55" 33.72" North Carolina Recreational Forecast Weather Trivia SUNDAY Portly Cloudy High: 82 Low: 59 MONDAY Scaiiered T-stoims High; 79 Low: 60 TUESDAY Scattered r-storiiis Nigh; 80 Low; 59 WKDNKSDAY Scattered I'-storms High: 79 Low: 59 Afler n week fvill nf cloudy skies and scatlcred slio\ver: and llnitider- . ^|Slorms from u sliibborti area of low pressure, il’s ahout lime for some relief. We'll sec partly cloudy skies for ihe most part Ihroiiyilioiil ihc slate over the nexi few days, TlHiisday will be a cool day. but llieri lem- pcratiircs will rebound to near normal values. As wc begin next week. nK'isfiirc begins to funnel back sicross the slate and that means that rain cliances will go up slightly. It looks like abonl a 3(1 perecnl chance at besl. Do keep your eyes on Ihc Allanlic Ocean as models bring a tropical clisUirbanee near the Southeasl next week. Full 9/13 Lst Qlr i 9/2t) ‘ TIui Iri Sal .Sun Mon Tiie Wed Sun/Moon Chart This Week 5»inri^ Sunset Moonrisc Moonsct 7:07 n.m, 7;'48p,m. 4:08 p.m, 1:25 a.m. 7:08 a,m, 7:47 p.m, 4:55 p.m, 2:l3a,m. 7:09 a.m. 7:45 p.m 5:39 p.m, 3:04 a.m. 7:09 a,m, 7:44 p,m. 6:19 p,m, 3:58 a,m. 7:)0a.m, 7:43 p.m. 6:55 p,m. 4:54a.m. 7:11 a.m. 7:41 p.m. 7:29 p.m. 5:52 a.m. 7:12 a.m. 7:40 p.ni. 8:00 p.m. 6:50 a.m. li'liich monlh li/is llh };iveilcxl nrrcifH‘ /itiiiil' of fOIVIKl'H'S /I .z 7 I U( Qlr ' 10/5 ^111 fon’twl.^. (Idlit. iiihI ^raphivx trailcnuvk of Ro.^^hy nr.illur Svnws. /nc. O 2000. ,ill rif’hn nwnvd National Weather Summary This Week , A front will make its way iluough the Great Lakes states and into llte / I Northeast as we move into the weekend. I he n>ajority if ihe energy ■ with this system is in Canada, so only scaiiered showers and ihimder- storms arc on tap. 1 he (iulfC'oast states will be in for a soggy vveekend in association with an elongated area of linv pressure. This feature will provide sonic relief from the incrcdiblc heal di;»t bas plagued the area over the past few weeks and bring needed lainfall. The Norlh’.vc'jl will be the recipient of beneficial rain fall with a fiontal boundary sel to move in off of ibe Paeinc. Forecast ntodcls also indi cate an area of low pressure moving into the Soiiiheasl from Ihe Allanlic Ocean some- lime nc.xt week. It’s ccrlainiy worth keeping an eye on. I'll I'liul I'ui iIk* .iDswcr. lof! oi'ic hil/’ '/n xywiK •'•'« fiiilii'' I "'i llii’hhic- lniiiihTl'lDil li> limi li'il.iy's lri\ la iiiul prcMous liivi.i nns'vcrs mmsmmm Sept. 9. 1987 - I hundcfsiorni'; in Ibe ccniral United Slates spawned lour tornadoes in Lubbock.'I'exas. Hascbail si?c hail and wind gusts of up to 81 inph were reported as well. Hail two inches in tlianictcr was leporled al both Downs. Kan. and Harvard. Neb, Many automobiles and windows were damaged. Sei)t. 1». I960 - Hunicane Donna struck llte Florida Keys witb peak wind gusts of 18(1 mph. The storm elaimeil 50 lives, injured 1.81)0 others and caused more lhan 300 million dollars in tlamage. The hurricane didn't slop at I'loruia as it continuetl u|> the Atlantic coasiline all the way inli M;nnc Student development scrutinized at retreat Sanna Raza Staff Writer Sarah Wilkins News Editor About 45 UNCA students, fac ulty and administration gathered at the Kellogg Center to discuss stu dent development on Aug, 9. “We had positive feedback about it and everybody was pretty ex cited,” said Sandy Malicote, a French professor and co-chair on the Southern Association of Co! leges and Schools (SACS). UNCA goes through an accredi tation process, the SACS self-study, every 10 years. In 1992, the univer sity earned a C, and Chancellor Jim Mullen isaimingfor an Athis time. “We are trying to do an excellent job this time,” said Malicote. UNCA is doing both the enhance ment and compliance parts of the study, most universities only do the compliance side. The enhancement deals with a particular issue the university chooses, while the com pliance serves as a checklist to make sure that UNCA is complying with state regulations, according to Bruce Larson, chair of economics and vice chair of the enhancement program. “We, as an university, decided that our focus will be on the develop ment of students,” said Michael Ridgway Jones, assistant professor of classics and chair of the subcom mittee on co-curricular student ser vices. “What we are talking about is developing the student as a citizen, member of the community (and) as a thinking, feeling being.” “Student development is a mam moth subject, (and) it is eternally interesting,” said Larson. Eight students participated in the retreat, and brought up topics and questions with faculty groups that they felt should be addressed at UNCA. These opinions are posted Car pooling- coming soon to a computer near you. For more infor mation, call Carol Diamond at 689-5399 or Jennifer Ward at 697-8384. The Arise and . Shine! Toastmas ters Club meets on Thursday mornings at 7:15 to 8:30 a.m. in the private dining room. The club promotes public speaking, and is open to students and faculty. For more information, call Leo A. Bares at 232-5169 or 254-1273. on the self-study website, accord ing to one of the student partici pants. “We are happy that it got orga nized this way” so it would not disappear after the confrerence, said Malicote. “It is important that we followed through.” At the retreat, two consultants gave presentations on diversity and the development of students. “Diversity makes a difference be cause of what it does rather than what it is,” said Edgar Beckham, senior fellow of the American Asso ciation of Colleges and Universi ties. “Institutions need to manage diversity. If it is not well-managed, it is not well used.” William Willimon, dean of the chapel and professor of Christian minis- tryatDukeUni- versity, said, “Liberal arts is the best way for an undergradu ate education. Universities are here to give you choices worth making.” Other consult ants will be com ing to UNCA to give their input for the self- study, according to Mahcote. The subcom mittees have been working on the self-study sir cording to Jones. “The whole thing has been going on for a while. What we are doing now is gathering data,” said Jones, The study will be completed in the spring of 2002, and a team of consultants from both the enhance ment and compliance sides will go last year, ac- through paperwork and records to see what UNCA has accomplished and what it could do better, accord ing to Larson in a Nov. 18, 1999 Blue Banner article. “They will look at what we come up vvith and say, ‘Yeah, these are good ideas’ or ‘No, at our school we’ve done this, and this worked really well,’” said Sherry Gale, chair of mathematics and chair of the enhancement steering committee, in the article. The subcommittee dealing with co-curricular services is assessing, evaluating and making recommen dations for student services, such as dining, housing, student leadership programs, pub lic safety, coun seling center, health services and diverse stu dent services, according to Jones. “We are trying to figure out where we are meeting the stu dents needs now, where we are not meeting them and how we can meet them,” said Jofies, As the only designated pub lic liberal arts university in N,C„ UNCA’s “education i: liberating, pro moting the free and rigorous pursuit of truth, re spect for differing points of view and heritage, and an understanding that values play a role in thought and action,” according to UNCA’s new mission statement, “If you want a liberal arts educa tion, this (school) would be the one you would pick,” said Malicote. I PHOTO BY SARAH LACY Bruce Larson, chair of economics and vice chair of the enhancement program, helped coordinate the retreat. Money management classes are available for free. For more information, call (828) 255-5166. sflinr (ffmouc oiurw uRvinc m (Bdipu^ (ommunmi CJiufdi ullke; Father's linail: 75-1 5193 flc-1iC^@aol.corn WWW.5teijgcjie.org HIBSS ««DUU; smuRDny sunonii 5:30 pm 0:30 nm 11:00 Rm 5:30 pm LiK.itetl IjctiKxl litglej at Inlcrseclion of Mernnion Av« afxi B«3VTf Dan) R1: tuni onU) Beaver Dam aiid take )oir fir?t !dt Ciih/ern Strwl. Giurch t* al the cik) of CJverii Strwl Cotilait in for CMURCW RHTf iiTfomiatkinl Sponsoiimj l(ie CuDiofic Slutlent Assocfoliort on UNCA Campus BILTMORE ESTATE JOB FAIR on the Estate at Deerpark Restaurant Monday, September 11th l;00pm - 6:00pm Tuesday, September 12th 1:00pm - 4:00pm Proceed to die Estate’s Reception and Ticket Center for a transportation pass. Great Part-time Opportunities Available Employment Hotline - 255-1144 Website - www.biltmore.com
University of North Carolina at Asheville Student Newspaper
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Sept. 7, 2000, edition 1
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