Bug Bite 7/18

So the other day when Pat and Katie brought home the lawn furniture, Pat had to kill some spiders- a black widow in particular. YUCK.

So tonight, I feel asleep on the couch and when I woke up, found I had a pee sized bump on the side of my head (behind my ear, right by my hairline towards the bottom). I was hard, and (still is) kinda painful. There was another smaller lump next to it; the swelling extended under my hair. It was 8:30pm, and I was home alone here. I thought for-sure it was a black widow and I was going to die. OK. so didn't think I was going to die, but did want someone to reassure that I wouldn't. So what did I do like any logical child, home alone, with no friends near by? Called and woke up Mom- at midnight her time- while she was on vacation. Freaked her out since she had no idea what it was either, and successfully ruined her night of sleep and relaxation. Wow. Am I a good daughter or what? :) Well, a few hours later and the pain is still there, but the swelling is going down. Katie came home and checked it out- no bite marks like a spider, but seems to far up to be a gland, and too firm to be a mosquito (and doesn't really itch).

So. There ya go. Mysterious bites from the creatures of San Diego to welcome Caitlin.

Oh, other than that: orientation for the Jewel Ball job was a total waste of time, as orientations often are... but was fine overall. I don't expect too hard of a job. :) And made it to the beginning and end of the Art Group. Fun. Neat lady leading it. Guess what? I'm more of an extrovert than an introvert. Who would have thunk! ;)

Night all!

Honestly, I just keep forgetting about our blogs! I was so wrapped up working on my final piece this week I just plain forgot until now. But my piece is coming along. I finally have an interview with someone from Planned Parenthood tomorrow morning, but haven't had any luck finding someone with a bad experience with the vaccine. I also have an interview with someone who has had HPV. Lately, I’ve been looking more into the debate over vaccinating girls before they enter sixth grade, to get a the whole big picture of everything Gardasil.

This weeks readings:

I enjoyed the piece from Rimer about Mr. Jack. It reads nicely, a good pace. But I’m not sure who it’s really about- Amherst or Mr. Jack? I thought it was well-written and fun to read.

What’s also interesting to me is that this student is from Miami. Also being from Florida- I think he probably qualified for what Florida calls the Bright Futures scholarship (which is probably the full-ride offer to UF). With a 1200 SAT, and some volunteer time, he could have had a full-ride to any state school in Florida- or used that equivalent amount to go to a private school. But I suppose Amherst is much more prestigious, but it just seems interesting to me how they painted such a dire picture of him before Amherst. With Bright Futures he would have gotten a month stipend as well.

Overall, I do think that these initiatives are good- and I hope more will follow suite (especially K College). While I don’t remember the rates any more, in sociology we were talking about how we have a much higher percentage of students in the top socioeconomic quartile than the national average- which is already ¾. That’s kind of sad to me. And how the student talks about if any one had ever seen a food stamp- makes me want to ask that to my sociology classes where we talk about these issues.

Gardasil

The first draft is in! It’s a lot of “information” and not as much story. I need some ideas on where to turn for stories. I have interviews with students who have taken the shots and those who have not, but nothing outstanding “stories” came out of those. One idea I have, which I am not sure that we can do, is that I am planning on getting the shot- could I/ should I include stories of my own journey of getting the vaccination? I’m, again, not sure there’s much of a “story” their either. Thanks for reading! Caitlin

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“Of the approximately 6 million new cases of genital HPV in the US every year, it is estimated that 74% of them occur in 15- to 24- year olds,” says Merck, the creators of the new HPV vaccine, Gardasil. Gardasil has become a buzz. Advertising therefore targets students, and Kalamazoo College women are no exception. Some women are very informed, but others only hear bits and pieces about HPV and Gardasil. HPV is a disease that will affect 50% of sexually active people, and can lead to harmful problems like cervical cancer and genital warts. So what is it really, who needs it, what do college students need to know and what are students saying about it?

The basics: Gardasil protects against 4 out of the 100s of strands of the human papillomavirus (HPV). The four strands (strands numbered 6, 11, 16, and18) are reported by Merck to cause 70% of cervical cancers and 90% of genital warts. Women and girls aged 9 to 26 are able to receive this vaccination. The vaccination is given in three separate shots at zero, two and six months. Gardasil is available at our health center for $128 per shot. More insurance companies are starting to cover the shots, but many still do not. Most commonly reported side effects are minimal and include: pain, swelling, itching and redness at the injection site; fever; nausea; and dizziness.

What is important to know is the connection between HPV, cervical cancer and genital warts. HPV is a virus that is detected in women through annual Pap exams, but is impossible to test for in men (infected men are only “discovered” if they develop genital warts). Both men and women’s bodies can often clear the virus on their own, but if the don’t (and it remains undetected and untreated), some strands can develop into cervical cancer and genital warts. HPV strands number 16 and 18 together are the strands linked to 70% of the cases of cervical cancer. It is important to remember that not all strands of HPV that lead to cervical cancer are covered, so it is important for women to continue to get yearly Pap exams.

“You could become one less life affected by cervical cancer” is the current ad campaign for Gardasil, but is that enough to draw students in to taking the vaccine? Students here at Kalamazoo College say that their number one fear about the vaccine and often their reason for not getting the exam is the fact that it is still a new vaccine. Senior student Nicki Ritchie refers to past FDA approved drugs and vaccines which proved to have harmful affects long afterwards (like the polio vaccine). Most students showed a fear in the newness of the vaccines, even those who are taking the vaccine. The FDA report on the new vaccine in their September/October issue of their consumer magazine gives more details about the study of these tests that is often not discussed with people taking the exam. Twenty-one thousand women aged 16 to 26 were studied internationally in four studies, but time periods are not stated (additional studies were conducted with girls aged 9 to 16 as well). As members of a well-informed community, it is important to share this information with our community to help our students make informed decisions about if the vaccine is right for them.

So would students who are taking it recommend it? It depends. One student who is almost done with her set of shots says, “I wouldn’t whole-heartedly recommend it, no.” She is another student who worries about how much research has been done on the long term effects of the vaccine. Her mother made her get her shots- she doesn’t think she would have otherwise. She recommends to other women, “Inform yourself and make your own decision.”

Another deterrent for many women is the price of the shots. At our Health Center, a full dose costs $384. Many health insurance companies are not covering the shots, so that is a large price for people who do not deem themselves at-risk. Students need to check regularly with their insurance companies to make sure that their coverage doesn’t change as companies are beginning to include Gardasil in their coverage plans. Additionally, an important resource which students rarely know about is called the Vaccine Patient Assistance Program available through Merck, the company who created Gardasil. This program helps people without vaccine insurance pay for their shots.

The long term potential benefits for Gardasil are hard to ignore. The financial and emotional benefit such as the greatly reduced risk of having abnormal Pap exams returned in your future and the reduced risk of having to have treatment for HPV (which is done by removing viral cells from the cervix in a reportedly painful and unpleasant process by students who have had the procedure). But more than just worrying about having abnormal exams and preventative treatment, the comfort of drastically reducing your risk of getting cervical cancer or genital warts is extremely important for students to consider when deciding if the vaccination is for them. Kalamazoo College women need to inform themselves and find out if the vaccination is appropriate for them.

Updates

I still haven’t gotten far with my next piece, and it’s down to the wire! While I do have access to students with HPV, I’m not sure that there is a story there. I’m now thinking of writing a piece about “dating” on campus (hooking up, relationships, and the party scene) or about the new HPV vaccine. I have more ideas for the HPV story, but I think the other could be more fun to write.

For the HPV story I could talk to students who have gotten it, or are in the process to find out why they decided to get it, what the process is, etc. I could talk to women who aren’t getting and find out why they decided not to get it. I could talk to the health center about giving it and how they are getting information out to our community. Finally, I could look into the health insurance coverage of the vaccine. I have information on this from a meeting I had with Lisa from the Health Center last week, so it’d be an easier piece to write.

I’m not sure what would be the focus of the piece on dating. I’m thinking about asking lots of people how they met their significant other. My goal would be to get information about hooking up and the party culture at K. I think it could just be a fun piece to work on.

Any ideas or opinions? Thanks!

Final Draft: Spirituality

I forgot to post my final draft! Here it is!

Dr. Rev. Mary Ellen Ashcroft, the Chaplain here at Kalamazoo College and a professor of English, walks up to the trunk of the tall tree and places both of her hands firmly on its smooth and rippling grey trunk. She looks up, “Beautiful tree isn’t it?” and then places her forehead on the trunk and stands in silence. She describes how people often feel most connected to their spirituality in nature, and that is part of the reason she enjoys nature so much. For her, spirituality is the “longing for something more than a consumer society.” Her two dogs bound around her as she wanders through the nature reserve.

Mary Ellen has lots of passions in her life. She began seminary, moved to South Africa and worked with an Anglican parish to fight the apartheid movement. She returned to the US and worked as an English professor for years. After finding that she kept looking at students writing for the deeper and more personal issues, and after years of commitment to her Episcopal church, she decided to get ordained as a priest. She took a sabbatical and moved to Cambridge to study. She does not want to be a full time priest, but decided to combine her Priesthood with her teaching in the form of being a chaplain. Here she works hard to help fulfill needs she sees on this campus. “[Students are] not enjoying each other and connecting with each other…but what is most distressing is [students] equating grades with who they are,” so she created ways for student connect in spirituality groups and a place for people to meet and escape from the realities of campus, called The Cavern. She thought students need a connection to spirituality because they “need something beyond just grades and resumes.”

The Cavern, with its bold and simple colors, and inundates visitors with the calming smells of sandalwood and spices. It is structurally just the basement of Kalamazoo College chapel, but as one student says, it is a place of “peace, balance, and escape.” “I wanted to created literal and metaphorical places for people to grow spiritually.” “I wanted it to be funky and classy,” Mary Ellen explains. A large bookcase on the opposite wall is stuffed with 12 boxes of Celestial Seasons, varieties of coffee, and coffee condiments. A large Hamilton Beach coffee warmer warms water. A coat hanger on the wall has been turned into a coffee cup holder with each labeled for the mugs owner. The harsh fluorescent lights are covered with fabric to give a calmer light effect to the space. Students wander in and out; a student chaplain sits at a desk in the front of the room welcoming Cavern guests. In the chapel library, cushions and floor chairs supplement the couch and chair for sitting places. Cookies are in a container on the table in the corner. Further down the hall is Mary Ellen’s office, a tiny room, with one curved wall. A bookcase, her desk, and a lectern occupy the room.

One of her passions is her current partner, Suzanne. As friends for years, Mary Ellen says that Suzanne was, “[the] perfect support for me,” when she and her husband broke up. Suzanne and Mary Ellen had similar break-ups with their husbands and both have three children. Mary Ellen talks about how she wasn’t sure that she could ever be happy again. She recounts feeling a strange feeling in her the time after the divorce where she would think, “oh, that must be a ting of happiness,” but it was never a lasting feeling. Suzanne provided friendship and support though this hard time in her life.

Mary Ellen recounts when she knew that Suzanne was more than just friends. Hiking together on the Superior Trail in Northern Minnesota, Suzanne fell off of a bridge and hit her head on some rocks. Mary Ellen ran to the nearest road to get help. When the nearly 25 First Responders came to help, they left their radios on and Mary Ellen could hear them talking about how much blood Suzanne was loosing and Mary Ellen fainted. They took her to the hospital and came back and got Suzanne out. Mary Ellen remembers when one First Responder visited her in the hospital to update her on Suzanne’s condition (she was stabilized). The First Responder told Mary Ellen that Suzanne was the most amazing person they had ever met; she had been encouraging them for the 6 hours it took to get her off the trail. Mary Ellen says, “I realized the way I felt was more than just good friends… [the next] few days spent together [were] sacred time.”

Suzanne and Mary Ellen have found home in Kalamazoo. About 8 months after realizing they were more than just friends, they had a commitment ceremony- that was 2 years ago. Shortly after that they moved here to Kalamazoo for Mary Ellen’s new job. For Mary Ellen, her same-sex relationship plays out in her faith because the strongest element of faith is when something good comes out of something bad. They moved to Kalamazoo together from Minnesota, but still spend their summers in the woods of northern Minnesota- hiking, walking, picking with wild-flowers, and bird-watching. The community here is very open to their same-sex partnership and she recounts nothing but stories of openness and sharing from the community. Here they share an adorable welcoming home within walking distance of the college. Suzanne spends does a lot of volunteering and, as Mary Ellen says, “nurturing plants and people.” They have a beautiful, well tended garden in their back yard. Their two dogs bound around her as she works with the plants.

Mary Ellen’s partnership with Suzanne is another facet of her life which makes her a fantastic resource for our campus. As a very open person who listens and shares; she has many ways to relate to members of our college community. Mary Ellen’s Christian beliefs inform her own life, but she focuses on bring all spirituality to our students. As a woman priest in a same-sex relationship, her position on spirituality is extremely open-minded. She works hard to bring opportunities for spiritual growth to our students, to show our students that our lives need not revolve around grades and resumes.

Final Piece

I was thinking about looking at STIs on campus for my final piece, but I’m not sure how I’d go about doing that. I spoke with Lisa of the Health Center and they have no data about STI rates on campus for many reasons. I am thinking about just speaking with students about their experiences, but I am not sure what my “point” would be in that case. I’m still thinking of ideas. There is a lot of information about the new HPV vaccine, so maybe I could look into that. I could speak with students who have taken it or are in the middle of their course of shots as well as providers of the shots.

Sorry everyone... can I try again?

Hi everyone! So, after reading some comments, I realize I completely missed the ball this the last article- it wasn’t a feature. I was looking for “messy” and just got crap. It was scattered and needed more focus. I apologize to everyone who did read it.

I’m posting a new article. I’m sorry to make people read twice. This one isn’t so messy, but is a feature on a new band called Panic! At the Disco that was in Rolling Stone. I had never heard of them, but was intrigued to read the article because of it’s tag-line: “Panic! at the Disco went from a group of teenagers who'd written only three songs and never played a live show to the biggest new rock band in America. Their secret: Put together a band the way you'd create a MySpace page and let the kids run wild.” Not knowing the band before, I had a definite image of them painted in my head by the end of the piece.

Again, sorry for the last piece! But in case you still want to take a look: Bareback Mountain.