Things just got real - really real.
Ball State University confirmed two cases of swine flu Wednesday. One of the people lived in a residence hall. The infected have since recovered, but it's here.
Where were you on that one, Ball State?
We understand you couldn't tell us who had it, but you could have at least warned us that the virus was on campus.
In the not too distant past (Wednesday, actually), we said you should be more honest and open with students. You set us off by keeping information from us until the day you took away a smoking area, a mild inconvenience at most. Now we find out these cases have been confirmed for a few weeks. Your decision to keep that information from the students was absurdly irresponsible.
In a Daily News article about swine flu written Aug. 26, students told us they weren't worried about the virus. They said the ordeal was blown out of proportion, and they didn't think about it anymore. At the same time, students on this campus had the virus.
As college students, we think we're not susceptible to something until it happens to us. Disclosing that information could have helped students realize that this is a legitimate issue that could put them in danger. In the same article Kent Bullis, director of the Amelia T. Wood Health Center, said the virus could infect as much as 50 percent of the campus if no one gets vaccinated.
He is the director of the Health Center. You trust him to do that, and you probably trust his word. The vaccine won't arrive to campus until October or November. You should have let us know that the chance of getting swine flu had increased and, once again, stressed the importance of taking precautions. You did send us a bunch of precautionary e-mails, but you should have told us when you found out students were diagnosed.
We found out from a professor's rumor in a class. Were you trying to hide it? Did you want to set the school apart from others who had outbreaks? No one would blame the administration for students catching the virus. You had no good reason for trying to keep a lid on this one.
More cases popping up in the next few weeks isn't out of the question. A few people may have the virus and not know it. If we do see more cases, we'd have to wonder whether at least some were avoidable.
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