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CU-Boulder student treated for meningitis
Oct 17th
A 21-year-old female student at the University of Colorado Boulder was diagnosed late on Friday with meningococcal meningitis according to county and university health officials. The student, who is a junior living off campus, is in stable condition at Boulder Community Hospital.
Boulder County Public Health officials are investigating the single case. No other cases of the disease have been confirmed by county or state officials at present.
Meningococcal meningitis is a serious bacterial infection that causes infection of the tissue surrounding the brain and spinal cord. Meningococcal disease may be spread to others; however, this is uncommon.
“Most of those CU community members who have had close contact with this student have already been contacted and offered treatment by Boulder County Public Health,” said Dr. Don Misch, CU-Boulder assistant vice chancellor for health and wellness.
The risk to other people is minimal and is confined to those who have had close contact with the patient. Close contact includes kissing; sharing cigarettes, drinks, glasses or eating utensils; and being exposed to secretions from the nose or throat of the infected person.
“Others, particularly undergraduate students who have never been vaccinated for meningococcal meningitis or have not been vaccinated in the past five years, should consider getting the vaccination,” Misch said. “On a university campus, those at greatest risk in general for meningococcal meningitis are students living in residence halls, so these individuals should especially consider vaccination at Wardenburg Health Center or from their personal health care provider.”
“Vaccination is the most effective way to protect against this severe disease,” said Murielle Romine, Boulder County Public Health communicable disease control program coordinator.
Symptoms of meningococcal meningitis can include fever, severe headache, stiff neck, irritability, sleepiness, nausea, vomiting, rash, disorientation and confusion. A person may be infected for one to 10 days, and most commonly three to four days, before showing any symptoms.
The last reported case of meningococcal meningitis at CU-Boulder was in March 2006. That student, a male, recovered fully.
Those who are interested in getting the vaccination can go to Wardenburg Health Center from 8:30 to 11 a.m. and from 1:30 to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday.
Wardenburg Health Center is open Monday through Thursday from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Saturday from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Parents of all incoming freshmen receive a letter during the summer with information about the recommendation for immunization.
For more information on meningococcal meningitis and the vaccination, check the Wardenburg website at http://healthcenter.colorado.edu or http://www.BoulderCountyHealth.org, and click on Meningococcal Information.
The Flower Bin – Giant Pumpkin Contest 2013
Oct 16th
We attend the Flower Bins’ Annual Giant Pumpkin Contest and talk with Don Weakland to learn a little about the rules and contestants that grow these giant pumpkins. Some of the pumpkins reach almost 1000 pounds and there’s also special awards for children growers, largest watermelon and longest gourds, all to highlight the exciting fall and Halloween season here at the Flower Bin in Longmont.
Television: An Introduction
Oct 16th
Are you like me?
I am so old that I remember when people didn’t have televisions in their homes. Back in the Olden Days, we had radios and listened to radio stories while we “watched” them in our minds.
For example, as a kid I listened to and “watched” “The Lone Ranger,” “Straight Arrow,” “Tom Mix” and “Billy Benson and the B-Bar-B Riders.”
The Lone Ranger, horse Silver and trusted Indian companion Tonto.
Google ’em, Dudes and Dudettes.
So, when I heard about television, how it was the “coming thing” and how it added pictures to radio, I naturally assumed that all my favorite radio programs would just automatically migrate to new-fangled television.
Well, of course, some of them did, but many of them didn’t.
Other favorites of my radio listening were “Inner Sanctum” and “Suspense.” Imagine my surprise when years later after I became older and developed an interest in reading and I would read stories by famous authors and recognize some of those same stories that I had listened to and “watched” on radio!
Yes, Dear Reader, Hollywood recycles stories. But then, so did Shakespeare. (Google him, Dudes and Dudettes.)
Anyway, when my parents bought our first television set, guess what. The pictures weren’t in color! They were in black and white! Imagine that. And we were so fascinated with this new-fangled technology that we sat in front of it and watched whatever was being broadcast until the station went off the air at the end of the night.
Yes, Dear Reader, in the Olden Days, TV stations weren’t on 24 hours a day and when they signed off, they showed a picture of a waving American flag and played “The Star-Spangled Banner.”
As a matter of fact, in the city where we lived, there were only three TV stations in operation, which broadcast television programs from the only three networks that existed at the time! (Google ’em, Dudes and Dudettes.)
And all those television signals come through the air from the stations’ broadcast towers right to our television set and the rabbit-ears antenna on top of our TV set. And we didn’t even have to pay for it! Our only expense for watching television in those days was what we paid for our television set! And TV sets were so large that they were just like furniture in the room!
That’s right. Back in those days, so-called “cable-TV” was used only for homes that couldn’t get over-the-air reception from the broadcast towers.
And, then, guess what. When cable-TV became popular and people were willing to pay for television broadcasts, some people were so naive as to believe that if they had to pay for television, there shouldn’t be any commercials!
But then television became so popular, more stations popped up in town, more networks came into existence, and even more commercials took over the programming.
Your Hit Parade by Lucky Strike
In fact, back in those Olden Days, advertisers owned the programs! There was only one advertiser for an entire show! You could google it.
Another oddity back then was that a program lasted all year long! Yes,there would be 39 new episodes each year, followed by 13 repeats during the summer. Imagine that.
Then color showed up, and that meant that it became more expensive to buy a TV set. That also meant that it became more difficult to adjust the picture. And adjusting the picture meant actually getting up out of your chair, walking over to the TV set, and turning dials on the back of the set!
As a matter of fact, the first remote control that I ever owned was actually connected to the TV set by a wire! Can you imagine? Picture it in your mind.
Talk about ancient history!
Kids today just don’t appreciate how easy it is to watch television.
Back in the Olden Days, watching television was an experience. It was something we appreciated, because we had to make an effort to watch it.
And don’t even get me started about kids who have their own television set in their own bedroom! I didn’t own a TV set until I was an adult and had moved away from home!
Well, that’s enough for now. All this reminiscing has made me tired and it’s time for my nap.
Goodbye and good watching.
