Sanitize, be healthy

AJ Marsiglia – Special to The Southern News –

In recent months, the flu epidemic has caused a scare around the nation. Taking precautions has become something of a norm for people battling against the flu. Here at Southern it is no different. The steps that the university has taken towards making sure students are safe is evident. A big factor in making sure that the flu does not become an issue on campus is attacking the main place that it could turn into a problem—Conn Hall.

“We try and make ourselves available for any students,” Danny Dawkins said, the resident district manager of Chartwells Food Service. “As far as cleanness, we make sure we have the cleanest facilities even with the flu or not.”

Dawkins is working to make sure that the students and facility are safe when coming to Conn Hall. Since our return to campus, there have been more hand sanitizer stations placed around the cafeteria. Also along with the hand sanitizers, there has been a checklist of things for students to read and educate themselves about staying healthy.

Although the university is putting its best foot forward in dealing with the flu, it can be hard to make sure hundreds of students are properly taking care of themselves.

Sophomore Juan Bonia has taken it upon himself to make sure an effort to stay safe and healthy.

“Since coming back to school I have made sure my plates and cups have been cleaned, I also really like the hand sanitizers all around the cafe it makes me feel that SCSU is really trying to help us out,” said Bonia.

If the students are able to see the effort that our school is putting into our health, it can make a big difference in the fight against the flu. Since our university is just like a small community, we need to stick together to make sure we can be safe and healthy at all times.

But Tyrell Robinson, a sophomore, believes there should be more than just a checklist, hand sanitizers and cleaner plates.

“When it comes to being clean I am the type of person to stay on top of my things, and for some people it could be hard to go out and get the flu shot,” Robinson said. “That is why I feel that we should offer some sort of flu vaccine that is available to students that could not go out and get it while on break.”

If students reach out more to show their concern for the well-being of our community, then the university can only listen and respect our wishes. Instead of turning into another community filled with the flu, we can stand up to it right now and make sure it does not hit us as hard as it hit the nation.

Time will only tell the outcome of the flu, but the strong stand against it so far has shown that Southern is ready for the long haul no matter what. Coming  together and brainstorming more ideas on how to keep everyone safe will pay off and before we know it, this flu talk will be all but dust in the wind.