A message from Joe Alutto and Larry Lewellen

The Provost and Vice President for HR of Ohio State University want you to do what I was taught in kindergarten. "Understand that the symptoms of swine flu closely resemble seasonal flu and include fever, weakness, coughing and lack of appetite. It is contagious. The best way to prevent swine flu is to continue to follow these steps:

Cover your nose and mouth with a tissue or your forearm (not your hand) when you sneeze.

Avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth to prevent germs from spreading.

Wash your hands often with soap and water and use hand sanitizers.

Avoid being in close contact with those who are ill. If you are ill, please limit your exposure to others by staying home from work or school.

Swine flu can be successfully treated with medication. If you think you might have the flu, please see your primary care doctor. He or she can test you for the flu and will be able to identify the strain of the flu you may have. University students should call or visit the Wilce Student Health Center if they have questions or concerns."

I remember about 15 years ago we had a big cost cutting campaign in the OSU Libraries. My suggestion was to launch a hand washing campaign to cut down on sick days. I was told it was not a line item, therefore it wouldn't count even if we could do it. All the things they are saying about prevention are common sense, and you should have been doing anyway. I also carry a squeeze bottle of alcohol hand rub in my car and my purse. And every time I see a cashier pick up my coffee cup by the lip and hand it too me, I want to smack him.

Also, if swine flu had been on the uptick after George W. Bush had returned from Mexico, you can bet your patooty that the press would have blamed him. As it is, because Bush stressed the spread of disease as a weapon of terrorists and beefed up that component of security, we should be in good shape--as long as Obama doesn't wait as long as he did with the pirates. But if he fails, he can blame Bush anyway as not having done it right. Nothing was achieved in his 100 days, and he can either use the excuse he was a baby, out of the office campaigning in Illinois, or it was Bush's fault. The press was so sickening over this 100 day meme over the week-end it was enough to give one flu symptoms. And nothing but taking over large sectors of the economy, creating a constitutional crisis over interrogation techniques and raising more debt has been accomplished. Way to go BO.