Swine again

President Obama declared on Saturday that the swine flu outbreak is a national emergency.

So, how does this affect you? This means that governments are now allowed to set up emergency facilities and alternate sites for treatment and care for the illness.

Depending on where you live, there are a couple different things happening. In Delaware, two people died this week from the illness. One was on the 19th and one was on the 22nd. Agreed, this is some pretty scary stuff.

Don't forget all the precautionary measures to take. Yes, I'm sure most of these have been pounded into your head time and time again since the disease first surfaced last winter/spring. Still, keep yourself healthy.

Vaccines are still not readily available, and, even if they were, they're still being worked and reworked.

Keep on the lookout for more coverage of this... as I'm sure, unfortunately, this isn't the last of it we're going to be seeing.

Obama's campaign manager returns to UD

So, this past Wednesday, the 21st, I had the amazing opportunity of meeting with and interviewing David Plouffe, President Obama's campaign manager. He returned to UD to hold a question and answer session, open to the public.

Plouffe was a really nice, personable guy. He was incredibly easy to talk to and interview. Coming up this week, Gwen Ifil, the moderator of the presidential debates, is also coming to UD, and I'll have the opportunity to speak with her, as well.

Here's some coverage of the Plouffe event.

On the topic of news again...

I don't want to generalize, but I'm going to. I feel like most college students are slightly apathetic when it comes to paying attention to, or following, the news. I mean, really, we could get into this whole in-depth conversation about what "news" actually is, but I'm going to pass on that for that moment.

Think about it. How much do you, personally, know about what's going on in the nation/world on a daily basis? If someone in class asked you if you had watched the news the night before, how often could you reply with a "yes"? I understand you could very easily say "Well, Ashley, you're a journalism major. You enjoy reading the news. It's what you do." Yeah, I get that. But, seriously, the news affects everyone everyday at every moment. It affects you on a constant basis, and you may not even realize it.

For example, approximately three weeks ago, the "government" of Guinea (for those of you who don't know where that is, it's on the west coast of Africa) attacked innocent civilians, killing more than an estimated 50 people. This may seem like it doesn't affect you. But, alas! It does!

The U.S. government has since considered helping Guinea. (If you don't believe me, check here and here.) Guess what? Now it affects you. Your country and government are considering offering aid to the people of Guinea. It affects tons of things. Money. Soldiers. Relief workers. To name a few.

I understand this is a broad and single example of the news in another country, on the other side of the world, affecting you, but follow me to my point. I'm not saying every little thing that happens is going to affect you personally. I'm saying you should be aware of your surroundings. Be aware of what's going on. Don't be apathetic. Don't be just another college student. Be a smart one. Put your education to use. No matter how you get your news, be sure to get it. As much as possible.

Where do you get your news from?

As technology is steadily evolving, there are more and more outlets for students to get their news from. I, personally, enjoy opening a newspaper in my hands. I don't mind reading news on the Internet, either. Don't get me wrong, the Internet makes it incredibly convenient for me to read the news at any time of the day or night from my cellphone and laptop, but I still like having an actual newspaper in my hands to read. I don't know what it is about it. It may be the journalist inside of me who prefers that, who knows. Blogs are also steadily gaining public interest. It's hard though, when reading one, to determine the actual legitimacy of it because anyone has the ability to start a blog. Anyway, where do you get your news from? What's most convenient for you? I'm interested to find out =)

Party Colleges Do Little to Curb Drinking...

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Obama's Healthcare Reform

I wanted to post some articles by The Review about the current Healthcare Reform bill that has been put forth by the Obama administration.


Healthcare debate brings out emotions on all sides

Lined up outside of Kirkbride Hall, three protesters stood with signs reading, “Abortion is not healthcare,” “No taxpayer-funded abortion,” and “As future nurses, don’t make us participate in abortion.”

Sophomores Maria Lort and Gina Paladinetti along with graduate student Nick Cotter protested the inclusion of abortions in President Barack Obama’s proposed healthcare plan at a College Democrats and College Republicans debate on Oct. 6 in Kirkbride.

Cotter said all three students are pro-life and do not believe the new healthcare bill should cover abortions.

“The Democrats keep saying that there’s nowhere in the bill that abortions are included, but, the fact is, without a specific exclusion of abortions, they would be considered healthcare,” Lort said. “It’s part of women’s services, so it would automatically be funded.”...

Read the rest of the article here

Axelrod brings Oval Office insight to university

David Axelrod, senior adviser to President Barack Obama, visited the university Wednesday night to discuss healthcare reform with students, faculty and community members at Mitchell Hall.

The event was part of the fall Wednesday night public affairs lecture series held as a part of the “Assessing Obama's First Year” class taught by professors Elizabeth Perse and Gretchen Bauer.

At 8 p.m., 30 minutes after the event was scheduled to start, Provost Tom Apple took the podium to introduce Axelrod and explain the delay.

Mr. Axelrod called a little earlier and gave us that excuse that I must hear 50 times a day: ‘I’m meeting with the president of the United States’,” he said...

Read the rest of the article here

H1N1 Vaccine

It seems a lot of my friends are having the same concern as I am about getting the swine flu vaccine. Everyone thinks its either not going to work or its going to actually give them the virus because its the first version of its type. Either way, this is something affecting all of us. Here's an article from the NY Times you may want to check out.

Why are we afraid of the vaccine?