Rabid Response
Did you know that 55,000 people die every year from rabies, a disease that is 100 percent preventable?
The majority of victims are children that live in poverty, often in undeveloped countries.
Two Oklahoma State University students, Alex Glover and Jennifer Moreno, aim to help prevent the deaths by raising money with a 5K Race for Rabies at 8 a.m. Sept. 8 at Boomer Lake in Stillwater.
The entry fee is $20 and includes a T-shirt. And dogs can even join their owners, provided they have current proof of rabies vaccination.
The proceeds will go to the Alliance for Rabies Control. Also OSU veterinary students will be eligible to win a symposium by international rabies experts and can apply for a two-week internship at a field site in Africa.
For more information, contact Moreno at jennifer.moreno@okstate.edu
Student Safety
Do you have a student in college?
A year ago you probably didn’t worry much about their safety on campus.
Then again, that was before the tragedy at Virginia Tech, which took the lives of 33 and reminded us that violence can occur anywhere, to anyone.
Universities and colleges across the nation have spent the summer updating and investing in school security plans. They’ve hired more police officers and counselors, expanded emergency communications to notify students and staff during an emergency. Some have even put locks on classroom doors.
But is your student actually any safer? And what can you do to help protect your loved ones?
I want to know your thoughts, your ideas. E-mail me at ssimpson@oklahoman.com
Susan Simpson, Education Writer
vaccinations
Remember the big to-do about the cervical cancer vaccination for 12-year-old girls?
We have all slept since then, and the now 23-minute news cycle has moved on to young Hollywood’s rehab stints and other socially important happenings, so I can sympathize if the vaccine, Gardasil, sounds more like a plant nutrient stick than a three-cycle injection.
However, with school starting again soon, I’m wondering if parents are opting to have their doctors go ahead and give their daughters the vaccine as part of their regimen of back-to-school immunizations? Are parents insisting this be part of the cocktail, although not required to enroll? Are doctors pushing the vaccine? Does anyone care anymore?
If this is familiar to you, e-mail me below or call (405) 475-3364.
Heal Me
Congratulations to the University of California at Davis, which announced today a $100 million grant from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation to launch a school of nursing in Sacramento. The gift, to be allocated over 11 years, is the largest ever in the nation in the support of nursing education.
Imagine what Oklahoma could do with $100 million for nursing! First up would be to expand the pipeline so that thousands of qualified would-be nurses aren’t denied entry into nursing school because of a lack of faculty and clinical space.
Scholarships, tutoring, career awareness campaigns — they’d all be possible with such a gift.
And the return to Oklahoma would be one-hundred fold. As our population ages, so does the critical need for more health personnel. The Oklahoma Hospital Association estimates that by 2012, the state will be short 3,000 nurses.
State Regents pumped $4.5 million in nursing and allied health programs last year, mainly to hire new faculty. That’s a start, but public funding alone won’t solve this problem.
Tell me your suggestions at ssimpson@oklahoman.com
Susan Simpson, Education Writer
Help for Stuttering
I got a press release today about the Stuttering Foundation’s Web site www.stutteringhelp.org
The release says it’s the leading online site for those seeking help with stuttering, a complex speech disorder.
Here are some misunderstood aspects of stuttering:
Myth: People who stutter are not smart.
Reality: There is no link whatsoever between stuttering and intelligence.
Myth: Nervousness causes stuttering.
Reality: Nervousness does not cause stuttering. Nor should we assume that people who stutter are prone to be nervous, fearful, anxious or shy. They have the same full range of personality traits as those who do not stutter.
Myth: Stuttering can be “caught” through imitation or by hearing another person stutter.
Reality: You can’t “catch” stuttering. Recent research indicates that family history (genetics), neurological development, the child’s environment and family dynamics all play a role in the onset of stuttering.
Myth: It helps to tell a person to “take a deep breath,” or “think about what you want to say.”
Reality: This advice only makes a person more self-conscious, making the stuttering worse. More helpful responses include listening patiently and using slower and clearer speech yourself.
Myth: Stress causes stuttering.
Reality: As mentioned above, many complex factors are involved in the onset of stuttering. Stress is not the cause, but it can aggravate stuttering.
Check out the site and tell me if it’s helpful.
Susan Simpson
