LehighWeek Volume 12, Issue 18

              A show of support
Professor's stricken son
finds a larger family
See Page 2
Volume 12, Issue 18
LehighWeifc
The campus digest for innovation, news and events with SouthMountaineer
Swim teams continue
their winning ways
See SouthMountaineer   8
January 27,1999
Student with
meningococcemia
remains in ICU
David Biddle '01, who was
rushed by his roommates to St.
Luke's on Jan. 19 with meningitis-like symptoms, remained in critical condition in the hospital's intensive-care unit yesterday, but doctors were
more hopeful about his
prognosis.
Meanwhile, 2,300 students were vaccinated
for meningococcal diseases last week, prompting officials to schedule
a second vaccine clinic
on Thursday, Jan. 28,
from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the student health center. The first
clinic had been scheduled before
Biddle became sick.
Dr. Susan Kitei, director of
the student health center, said
Biddle was diagnosed with meningococcemia, which infects the
bloodstream. Meningitis, a similar disease, infects the membranes surrounding the brain.
Kitei said doctors were much
more optimistic about Biddle's
chances of recovery than they
were last week.
"He's much better," Kitei said
of Biddle. "We're pretty confident
he's making it. Some people die
of this disease within a day or
two."
No other students have been
diagnosed with a meningococcal
disease, Kitei said, although
some have come down with the
flu.
Meningococcal diseases are
not highly contagious. They are
primarily spread through close,
extended exposure to the same
air in an enclosed space, such as
sleeping in the same room. A secondary method of transmission
is through saliva, such as kissing or sharing a glass. Casual
contact such as being in the same
class or eating a meal together
is not enough to put someone at
risk.
The health center last week
gave preventive antibiotics to
about 60 students who had had
close contact with Biddle and
were considered to be at risk of
contracting a meningococcal disease.
Early symptoms of the disease include high fever, severe
sudden headache, stiff neck,
nausea, vomiting, rash and lethargy. The incubation period for
the disease is typically 3-4 days
and is at maximum 10 days.
The vaccine, which was administered last week by a company called VACCESS, offers
protection against four of the five
strains of meningococcal disease,
and takes two weeks to become
fully effective. It costs $65.
Students go racing at Penske
Roger S. Penske '59 has built Penske Racing into
a legend and a model for success. Since 1969, the
team has won 99 races, including 10 Indianapolis
500's, and nine driving titles, feats that are records
in the sport.
Lehigh's student chapter of the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) has its own race drivers,
the Formula SAE racing team. Formula SAE is an
annual intercollegiate design competition, in which
students design, fabricate and compete with formula-style race cars.
On Wednesday, Jan. 20, SAE members, accompanied by Charles Smith, chairman of mechanical engineering and mechanics (MEM); Ronald
Hartranft, the group's adviser and professor of
MEM, and John Van Ness, associate vice president for development, toured Penske's Reading, Pa.,
testing facility.
Team coordinator Tom Lombardi showed the students Paul Tracy's 1997 Penske-Mercedes car, and
explained to them its inner workings. The students
also saw Penske's dynamometer shops, where engines are run through a series of tests after they
are race ready. Lombardi said that an engine requires 110 man-hours to build and test.
The students also got to see the huge trailers the
cars are transported in, and the team's fabrication,
engine and paints shops.
Russ Highton Jr. '99, a mechanical engineering major and SAE president said, "the engineering insight is invaluable. Seeing this helps us keep
up with the latest technology and really will make
our car better. Many of the technological aspects
seen in that car can be applied to what we are doing here at Lehigh as students."
"It gave them an appreciation for how a quality
ESI
Pam Shealey
Tom Lombardi, team coordinator for
Marlboro Team Penske, answers a question
during the SAE students' recent tour of the
Penske Racing facility in Reading.
engineering operation is carried out," said Smith.
"Race car development and preparation is no
longer a back street garage activity, but a high-
tech process that requires sophisticated engineering to be competitive and successful."
■Jeff Bachman
Externs earn experience
With the nation facing an historic presidential impeachment
trial, Washington, D.C., seems to
be the place to be. And for Dennis Zehner '99 it was.
Zehner was one of 53 students
in the College of Arts and Sciences who externed over winter
break. Gabriela Santamaria
'02 worked with a women's basketball coach, while Susan Glod
'01 shadowed a doctor.
Externships give students a
chance to "shadow" a Lehigh
alum or mentor in the workplace.
They are usually scheduled during breaks in the academic year.
Zehner worked with Michael
Marinello '89, press secretary
for Sen. Bob Kerrey (D-Neb.)
"As a journalism major I
have always dealt with things
from the journalist's perspective," said Zehner. "This
externship helped me see the
media game from the other
end."
During the opening week of
the 106th Congress, Zehner
helped Marinello draft press releases and clip reports. He also
rewrote the official biography of
Kerrey. And he was in the Senate just minutes after senators
were sworn in for the impeachment proceedings.
"It was beneficial having
Dennis here, especially with the
impeachment happening in
Senate," Marinello said.
Dr. Sal Alfano '74, assistant
director of the emergency
department at Holy Spirit
Hospital in Camp Hill, Pa.,
examines a patient as extern
Susan Gold '01 looks on.
Santamaria, who hopes to
go into the biology/pre-medical
science program,externed with
Princeton's head women's basketball coach, Liz Feeley '87.
She said she learned about
coaching and medicine.
"I had the best of two
worlds," Santamaria said. "I
now have a whole different feel
about medicine."
Santamaria saw what Feeley
does as head coach - from viewing videotapes of potential opponents to meeting with assistant coaches. She met with the
team's trainer and its head doctor, gaining a glimpse of what
sports medicine is all about.
Glod, a biochemistry/music
double major, also hopes to go
into medicine. She spent a day
with Sal Alfano '74, assistant
director of the emergency department at Holy Spirit Hospital in Camp Hill, Pa., following
him as he treated patients in
the emergency room, the clinic
and the drug and alcohol wings.
"I got some early work on
bedside manner," she said. "I
learned a lot about different aspects of medicine. It was a good
experience overall."
-Audra Gaugler
and Jeff Bachman
Report calls for changes
in campus drinking
A new report has been issued,
which discusses drinking on
campus, progress to change the
campus climate and
recommendations on
further steps to address
the problem.   The report, "Project IMPACT:
A Call to Action" calls
for campus-wide discussion this spring on steps
to reduce abusive drinking, with implementation of final decisions
next fall.
"Lehigh has been
working to reduce the
abuse and use of alcohol
for well over a decade,"
said President Gregory C. Farrington.
"The goal is to create a
healthier, safer living
and learning environment by
reducing the frequency of alcohol abuse and its consequences,
including violence, vandalism
and academic disruption. As
president, and the parent of a
college student myself, I am personally committed to reducing
binge drinking among our students and improving the living
and learning environment at
Lehigh for the entire student
body."
The report includes changes
recommended by the policy task
- ftjrce of Project IMPACT. That
task force includes campus and
community representatives.
The proposals of the committee focus on several main
themes: expansion of program
opportunities not focused on alcohol; increased individual accountability; enhanced clarity
and enforcement of campus alcohol policies; discontinuation of
the present Lehigh BYOB
policy; engagement of parents as
partners in the effort to reduce
high risk drinking; revision of
tailgate policies; and University
support for local ordinances that
would increase landlord accountability in Bethlehem.
Among the changes suggested are notifying parents of
all alcohol violations, enhancing
party management by adding an
additional security guard and
trained bartender, suspending
students found guilty of two serious alcohol violations, and limiting the amount of alcohol
available at a social event based
on the number of 21-year olds
attending.
The entire report, and its recommendations can be found on
the web at www.lehigh.edu/
news 1990121z.html. Comments
and suggestions should be sent
to Vice Provost John Smeaton
at IMPACT@lehigh.edu.
To get involved, contact Program Manager Maddy Eadline
at x85181 or nu^3@lehigh.edu.
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