Volume 93/Issue 1
THE
September 2ND, 2019
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Rhode Island College’s Independent Student Newspaper Since 1928
Student Community Government holds first parliament meeting of the semester with 60 open seats
Abigail Nilsson News Editor
Wednesday evening, the Rhode Island College Student Community Government (SCG) held their first meeting of the semester with eight members of parliament in attendance. One of the topics of discussion was low attendance and the empty seats that need to be filled. When asked about how many seats should be filled, President Joshua Percy said, “ideally, double the executive board, which would be 20 people not including those of us here tonight. There are 60 available positions.” At the moment, the secretary position on the executive board is open as secretary-elect, Genesis Garcia, resigned right before the semester began. Sign-ups are available for this position now until September 6.
When asked about her resignation, Genesis Garcia said, “Me resigning from SCG was a decision I have been thinking about the whole summer. It was not an easy one but in the end I just came to the conclusion that I wasn’t happy anymore being apart of it. The students of RIC have lost their faith in SCG a long time ago and I joined because I strongly believed that SCG needed representation, and I wanted to help make a change. I fought the good fight alongside officer Janelle Gomez and other past comrades... I hope this new school year SCG will work on rebuilding their relationship with the students of RIC because no real change can happen without the students fighting alongside with them.” Along with Garcia’s resignation, SCG Administrative Supervisor Mary Levesque left her position for another job opportunity
at Brown University. This position was filled by Diane Cary, who will begin training on September 9. Sign-ups for class elections will also be held in September, with seats available in each graduating class. No student names were submitted for election last spring. Another topic of discussion during the SCG meeting included the projected renovations in Horace Mann and Clarke Science buildings. Alexis Polonsky,
Speaker and Commuters at Large Representative, asked, “What happened to the Dunkin Donuts in Craig Lee?” Arthur Patrie, the Staff Representative, did not have any updates as of two weeks ago but stated “when there is [an update] I will be happy to share it.” The RIC SCG Mission states that it is “responsible for the administration of the revenue received for all of the student clubs funded.
Photo by Mark Medeiros These clubs and services are provided for the promotion of the general welfare of the Rhode Island College community and the community at large.” Without these positions filled, the eight members of SCG who were present are the sole members responsible for making final decisions regarding the distribution of the student activities funds that every RIC student pays for in their tuition bill.
First human case of EEE in over a decade reported in Rhode Island Abigail Nilsson News Editor The Rhode Island Department of Health (RIDOH) said that the person infected with EEE (eastern equine encephalitis virus) is from West Warwick, RI and is over the age of 50. The Center for Disease Control says EEE “is a rare cause of brain infections (encephalitis). Only a few cases are reported in the United States each year. Most occur in eastern or Gulf Coast states. Approximately 30% of people with EEE die and many survivors have ongoing neurologic problems.” In a press release from the RIDOH, Ana Novais, Deputy Director of RIDOH said,
“EEE is a rare, but very serious disease. We strongly recommend that people everywhere in Rhode Island to protect themselves and their families by using insect repellent, minimizing outdoor exposure at dusk and dawn, and wearing long sleeves and pants when outdoors at those times. People must also reduce opportunities for mosquitoes to breed by eliminating standing water around their homes.” The RIDOH suggests protecting yourself by wearing long sleeves and pants, using bug spray specifically with DEET. The CDC noted that symptoms of the disease can present differently based on someone's age. There are two different ways that the illness
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can present systemically, meaning it can affect every organ in the body, or encephalitic, causing swelling in the brain. Systemically it can cause fever, discomfort, chills, joint, and muscle pain that can last up to two weeks. Encephalitic symptoms can
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start off similar to the systemic symptoms and include headache, irritability, restlessness, drowsiness, anorexia, vomiting, diarrhea, cyanosis (having a blue or purple coloring of the skin), convulsions and coma, which can result in death.
The state of Rhode Island will be doing mosquito spraying in the near future, but what will Rhode Island College be doing to protect students from EEE? The RIDOH suggests that schools and community leaders participate in the “smart scheduling” of activities. This means having early morning or events scheduled for dusk to take place during the early afternoon or indoors where there is a decreased risk of mosquito bites. Visit the Rhode Island Department of Health http://www.health.ri.gov/ mosquito for additional mosquito prevention tips.
Graphic Courtesy of CDC.gov
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