It seems as though the big news on the local, national, and world scene for the past decade has been the constant threat of the next big pandemic. In 2003, the spotlight was on SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome), which was contained by the World Health Organization (WHO). Next up was the “Bird Flu” (H5N1), which from 2006 to present day kills millions of birds in Asia and would have been a pandemic if it had mutated to infect humans quickly. And that leads us to novel H1N1, the “swine flu”, which is virus made of four different strains; one usually in humans, one in birds, and two found in pigs.

This latest pandemic has been thought to have been in Mexico since January 2009 but only recognized much later in March at which point Mexico City was basically shut down. In April 2009, two cases are found in California, the first time the disease was discovered in the US.  Today, an estimated 49,214 people are infected in the United States and 631 people have died. This is the disease that has been christened as our latest pandemic.

However, the general student consensus on campus is not fear or concern but much closer to apathy and honestly, can you blame us? Based on CDC statistics, the people who have died after catching the any kind of influenza, including H1N1, has dropped below the seasonal baseline and well below the epidemic line. This does not mean H1N1 does not spread easily, which is all that pandemic status implies. So essentially, the most likely scenario if you catch H1N1 is that you will have typically flu-like symptoms. While that is not pleasant, you also get a week off from school and meals delivered to your door.

But wait a minute; the swine flu can kill, right? True, but right now the fatality rate of H1N1, based on early numbers, is just below getting struck and killed by lightning. We will not know the precise rate until the pandemic is over, and even then, the numbers are simply estimates. The CDC warns us though that viruses change with time and could grow to become much deadlier. The last time H1N1 was a major pandemic was the Spanish Flu in 1918, which killed almost 100 million people at the end of WWI. That virus was relatively quiet, similar to our 2009 H1N1 outbreak, until it mutated and killed millions of people the next year.

Thankfully, scientists highly doubt the ability of the current strain to mutate into a more lethal form. Researchers at the University of Maryland concluded that the swine flu does not meet the typical criteria for recombination into a highly lethal form. In fact, most deaths from swine flu occur when the patient already has preexisting conditions, such as pneumonia. So the flu is not deadly to most in its current form, and the chances of it becoming deadly are relatively low. So what is the big deal?

As with most universities, Lehigh has taken a very serious approach to the Swine Flu. The administration has sent out numerous emails since last year informing students about the progress of Lehigh’s preparations for the flu from the “Pandemic Flu Committee”, formed several years ago to draft written plans to deal with such an outbreak. There is a special section of the website dedicated to the H1N1 virus, with prevention information and updates as well as the procedures the CDC “highly recommend” every major university employ. The Health and Wellness Center distributed anti-bacterial hand wash at check-in back in August and has masks available to cover the nose and mouth of infected students. The administration is taking no chances.

The difference in the level of seriousness between the administration and the student body is all a matter of perception. As a student, the most likely worst case scenario is a week of the flu and delivered meals. To the school, the worst case scenario is the same “as the worst case scenario for any college campus, and that is that there could be one or more deaths from this infection”, according to Dr. Kitei, director of the Health and Wellness Center in an email.  I believe the more likely worst-case scenario is for the infection to spread to a point where the school would have to close. Lehigh is always looking for national attention but I don’t think this is quite what they had in mind. The potential media nightmare and the damage to the school’s reputation are the things that keep school administrators up at night.

With news of a second student infection on campus on Tuesday 9/15, it will be interesting to see if the perceptions of the students change from the view that the infection does not affect them at Lehigh.  Dr. Kitei is skeptical, commenting that, “Obviously, students will be more aware of H1N1 novel (swine) flu now, but I’m not sure perceptions have changed.”

Sources:

CDC. “CDC 2009 H1N1 Flu.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Web. 15 Sept. 2009. <http://www.cdc.gov/H1N1FLU/>.

Dr. Kitei. Message to the author. E-mail.

ECDC Daily Update. Rep. European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, 15 Sept. 2009. Web. 15 Sept. 2009. <http://ecdc.europa.eu/en/healthtopics/Documents/090917_Influenza_AH1N1_Situation_Report_1700hrs.pdf>.

“Swine flu outcompetes seasonal flu, unlikely to get more lethal | Booster Shots | Los Angeles Times.” LA Times. Web. 15 Sept. 2009. <http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/booster_shots/2009/09/swine-flu-outcompetes-seasonal-flu-in-ferrets-unlikely-to-get-more-lethal.html>.

“WHO | World Health Organization.” Web. 15 Sept. 2009. <http://www.who.int/en/>.

The cost of a college education is the bane of us all, and it isn’t about to get any easier to manage. This summer, tuition at Lehigh increased about 3%. This by itself is not particularly noteworthy as tuition increases every year, however, it should be recognized that a 3% increase in tuition over the course of four years adds up to an additional $10,000 in paid tuition. This increase is mostly to check inflation but it is still an increase. As registered students, we all received a pair of letters from President Gast informing us of both this adjustment and also of an increase in the amount of financial aid being given to students who apply for it. In this economy it is perfectly reasonable for this additional support of those students who cannot pay the tuition in full. The idea, however, of increasing the tuition of those who could afford it to pay for those you can’t brings up some interesting parallels to the economics that we are seeing on a national scale in our country today.

Karl Marx, in his famous Communist Manifesto, wrote, “From each according to their ability, to each according to their needs.” This sentiment summarizes a key idea in his socialist philosophy which espoused the equality of society. We have found since these famous words were written that a society that is given everything does not function as well as one that competes for excellence. From an economic standpoint, this mentality is essentially tantamount to communism. President Obama’s new economic direction for the country seems to be directed by Marx’s works. We are told that the presidency will be able to reform major national institutions such as health care. What we aren’t told is how exactly they plan to afford this sort of restructuring. The most common approach is to simply tax the wealthier citizens more to attain the needed funds. This approach works to an extent, but can’t be sustained. We are discouraging success with the message of, ‘Go to school, work hard so that we can take half of what you earn.’ This is a reality for many people who have worked hard to pull themselves up to a wealthy socio-economic status. Data presented by the New York Times from the Congressional Budget Office demonstrates this. “The poorest fifth of the population, with average annual income of $15,400, pays only 4.5 percent of its income in federal taxes. The middle fifth, with income of $56,200, pays 13.9 percent. And the top fifth, with income of $207,200, pays 25.1 percent. At the very top of the income distribution, the CBO reports even higher tax rates. The richest 1 percent has average income of $1,259,700 and forks over 31.1 percent of its income to the federal government.” This isn’t even including state or municipal taxes. Some citizens can literally find themselves paying about 50% of what they earn to the government, more and more of which is redistributed.

The average tuition cost of attending a 4-year private school, such as Lehigh, is about $37,000. Lehigh University charges slightly more than that, about $38,000 for tuition. This means that with all other costs included attending Lehigh costs about $51,000 a year. According to the College Board, 56% of students attending 4-year universities pay less than $9,000 a year. At the same time, only about 9% of students pay upwards of $33,000 a year for education. This payment system seems arbitrary and redistributive. In 2003, 51% of freshman received average grant of $17,677 according to College Handbook by College Board. This means today’s tuition of $38,330 is excessive. When Lehigh gets to the point that students can’t afford to pay this school’s inflated prices, students will simply go to universities that offer more prudently structured tuition. To be accurate, school’s should list tuition at $20,000 but place an asterisk referencing different pricing for those making more than a $X. Why not have 5% of the wealthiest students pay even higher tuition that will cover the costs of educating more of their peers? It seems Lehigh may be heading down this path. As mentioned above, Lehigh is already slightly above average in terms of cost, and we’re not getting any better. The school is getting more money from fewer students. Financial Aid director Linda Bell described how financial aid is receiving more money from the budget, which is primarily financed through student payments.

“The annual budget for financial aid is determined based on our current population of aided students adjusted for attrition and cost of attendance changes. Our model for determining the budget on an annual basis has provided sufficient resources to enroll an entering class as well as continue assistance to those who are already enrolled…As stated previously the cost of attendance increases are built into our model to determine the aid budget. A significant increase was made to financial aid entering into the 2008-09 academic year to accommodate the new initiative of eliminating or limiting loans in need based aid packages for middle and low income families.”

This redistributive system makes Lehigh less appealing in the eyes of prospective due to increased costs. Our attempts to try to include more potential students will probably have the unwanted affect of driving away those that can actually afford our prices in full. Lehigh’s already elevated price will start to look less and less appealing when compared to similar schools with lower prices, such as Lafayette, which charged about $36,000 for tuition this year.

The Brown and White recently ran an article in its September 25^th issue that covered the health of Lehigh’s endowment, which is surprisingly good considering the recent financial problems. I believe that rather than strengthening our endowment just for an ostentatious showing of financial strength we should use that money to support Lehigh students. Rather than bulking up our resources we should be fine with using money that we have and need to use during difficult economic times. Rather than charging some students more so others can pay less, let’s cut back in other areas and use the resources we have to educate the next generation of Lehigh students fairly and equitably.

It is clear that if we just keep charging the wealthy for being wealthy there eventually won’t be enough prosperity to pay for the rest of us. We cannot expect those in the very top socio-economic percentages to pay for the rest, no matter the situation. The wealthy will move away and prosperity and talent will walk away with them. It is necessary for the administration to understand the immense burden being placed on those who not only pay for their education but those around them. Lehigh will need to cut costs. Just as our government cannot rely on the wealth of some to fund their programs for the rest, Lehigh cannot rely on the tuition of some to cover the costs for everyone.

The letter’s reference to ‘strengthening our aid programs’ essentially boils down to the simple fact that some students will pay more so others can pay less. The mentality of charging ‘those who can afford it’ is one that will deplete needed resources and cannot be relied upon for long-term economic success. It is simply interesting to note the relations between our schools financial structure and our increasingly socializing nation. The application of Obama’s economics to the tuition structure at Lehigh University will have only harmful ramifications.

We’ve all witnessed heart wrenching losses when athletes walk away in defeat, coaches shake their heads wishing the game had gone their way, and fans sigh with disappointment.  In these dire moments, we need something to unite us, someone to step up, a “go-to” player that can raise the intensity and bring Lehigh one step closer to a win.  What we need is “Team Excitement.” This fall, Lehigh Athletics developed a program in which students “Get paid to watch Lehigh sports!”  Team Excitement is a work study program designed to enhance crowd participation and bring Lehigh PRIDE to the next level.  Lehigh “PRIDE” is a leadership program that helps student athletes build a support network of faculty, staff and peers, but also has turned into a Lehigh Athletic slogan to promote student athlete unity and school spirit.

Whether you desperately need the beer money, want to improve your resume, or feel like playing an important role in bringing the Lehigh community closer, Team Excitement needs you.  But in what sense do paid fans create a better Lehigh environment?  In fact, it may be more damaging to the morale of our athletes than anything else.

Travis Spencer, the founder of Team Excitement, said this program is designed to “create a more energetic Lehigh PRIDE environment surrounding our athletic events.”  So far, Team Excitement is targeted towards football and basketball games, which are the attendance-driven sports, but Travis hopes that over time, Team Excitement will branch out and spread the cheerleading and positive energy to more sports.  “We need a buzz to win during the playoffs, and that involves creating a better energy,” Travis explains.  The bottom line: Lehigh is not showing enough PRIDE lately, and the individuals who rise to the challenge and apply to Team Excitement are going to make that difference between winning and losing.  In another view, students are getting paid to sit on the sidelines and cheer for a couple of hours.  It might seem a bit tiring, but think of the athletes who are actually playing the game.

So far, only two students have applied for Team Excitement, but hopefully people will realize that if they are energetic, enthusiastic, and passionate about Lehigh Athletics, there is a spot for them!  Not to mention, this position speaks volumes on a resume.  Indeed, being on Team Excitement does improve your resume; you could simply say you got paid to cheer for the school you’re passionate about.  Doesn’t that show potential employers all the valuable skills and capabilities you hold?  At the very least, they will know that you’re capable of uniting a crowd of spectators in cheers (maybe inebriated ones, but spectators none the less).

It’s not all fun and games though; there are rules.  Lehigh has a zero-tolerance policy toward engaging with the opposing team or fans in an inappropriate manner, otherwise just keep it classy, and try not to make the cheerleaders jealous of your incredible cheering skills.  Lehigh is always striving to improve campus unity, and with Team Excitement, everyone will cheer and chant together making Lehigh an even closer community.  Soon, by the end of every game, all will stand and sing “Kum Bah Ya” or the Lehigh fight song.

As an athlete at Lehigh, knowing there are paid fans sitting at my game is a little degrading.  Any athlete should be disappointed that this absurd program is so disrespectful towards what we are passionate about.  I certainly don’t know of any other schools that pay their fans.  Maybe if Lehigh used the money for more scholarships, there would be a stronger athletic program and the “buzz” problem would take care of itself.  Team Excitement is making the joke of “you pay your friends to hang out with you” into a reality.

Team Excitement has a long road ahead of drawing in those dedicated cheerleaders or sports fanatics who just crave that intense atmosphere.  But even if these fans scream their heads off, student athletes are still essentially being mocked. When the team loses, the fans don’t share in the agony of defeat.  They take their eight bucks and move on.  At the end of the game, it is not about Lehigh PRIDE, it is more of a degrading experience for the student athletes.

On the night of September 17, 2009, in front of a packed audience at Baker Hall, TJ Leyden, a former Neo-Nazi white supremacist recruiter, gave Lehigh University students some StrHATE Talk on how to turn away from hate. At least, this is how it was advertised – and you know what they say about truth in advertising. It really should have been “Former Neo-Nazi talks about all the bad things he’s done in his life and why other people shouldn’t do them.”

Specifically, the flyer for the speech said Leyden became “one of the nation’s most compelling advocates for the importance of diversity and cultural importance.” Pfft. Leyden spent maybe five minutes of his two hours on diversity. He mostly talked about his history in the white supremacy movement and the violent acts he committed. The explanation of his exit from this lifestyle was more of an afterthought.  He never really explained how he repented. He also found time to insult the US military, equating the Marine Corps to a racist organization that hates gay people. He even said that “The military made [him] a better racist.”

TJ Leyden was a white supremacist, and this feeling was deeply held. He recalled one particularly gruesome event in which he kicked a kid in the thumb with his steel-toed Doc Martens so hard that air escaped the body as the bone broke the skin. His explanation for leaving the white supremacist movement was even more confusing than that event was grotesque. He said he got out of it because he didn’t want his two sons to become radicalized and end up in prison. This led him to turn his life around, somehow. The problem here is repentance. He goes into an anecdote about how his mom forced him to go to a Jewish tolerance center. At no point in the lecture did he explain how he realized his beliefs were wrong, nor did he fully explain these so-called activities of repentance.

Leyden is a consultant for the Simon Wiesenthal Center, a Jewish human rights organization. But he didn’t really explain how his “expertise” is of value to their efforts. For all we know, he’s just capitalizing on his knowledge of the skinhead movement. I doubt he talks to them about diversity…

This lecture was marketed as a Neo-Nazi turned diversity advocate. If he’s the latter, he didn’t make that clear. He had some compelling words about how important diversity is, but he also made a very judgmental remark. First off, he told everyone to “Fight racism with your mind, not your fists.” Powerful words indeed, but not something most college students haven’t heard before from sources with considerably greater moral authority.

That’s not to say this lecture wasn’t interesting. The fact that there’s a video game where the objective is to kill the “Master Jew” in the subway is twisted enough to border on comedy. I also learned that the inventor of the electric can opener, Ben Klassen, founded a white supremacist group called the “World Church of the Creator,” which advocates a whites-only religion. And there’s at least one thing Leyden and I can unequivocally agree on: he’s a Packers fan.