2008-09 issue17

Page 1

the review washburn university

The Lady Blues basketball team is one game behind ESU for the top spot in the MIAA. Page B2 SERVING WASHBURN UNIVERSITY SINCE 1897

WWW.WASHBURNREVIEW.ORG • (785) 670-2506 • 1700 S.W. COLLEGE • TOPEKA, KAN. 66621

VOLUME 135, ISSUE 17 • MONDAY, FEB. 16, 2009

Professor enlists in Army Reserve

Brownback discusses adoption

Jennifer Loucks WASHBURN REVIEW Bassima Schbley, a Professor of Social Work at Washburn University, was born and raised as the oldest of 12 in Beirut, Lebanon, but at 16, her circumstances changed when she married her soulmate, a member of the American Special Forces. She traveled back to Austin, Texas, with him. Schbley set her sights on becoming a member of the United States Army Reserves. On Monday, Feb. 9, that dream came true. She moved from Austin to Dallas, and from Dallas to Wichita. From there, she settled in Topeka, where she assumed her position at Washburn University. “In my country it is permissible to be in the military, but it wasn’t when I was there,” said Schbley. “I was born in Lebanon, and I love Lebanon, but it was the United States that molded and shaped me into who I am today. The United States gave me the opportunity to pursue an education, which was very important to me, and joining the Army Reserves gives me the opportunity to give back to the U.S.” She appreciates freedom, and she knows that freedom comes at a cost. For reserve members, above all they are required to be a good citizen and do the right thing, for the right reasons at the right time. In the near future, Schbley will be traveling to San Antonio to spend six weeks in boot camp. She feels her experiences in social work will help her in a number of ways. “I really believe that I am a people person, so I will be able to relate to the soldiers who suffer from mental

Brian Allen WASHBURN REVIEW

with the new structure that being in the Reserves brings. Schbley was already organized, but now her weekends will be more regimented, forcing her to schedule time with her children. Schbley said in her youth, she was restricted in some ways. “I had a lot of limitations as an innocent 16-year-old Muslim girl,” said Schbley. “My father and uncle

On Valentine’s Day, Washburn University’s department of social work hosted Sen. Sam Brownback’s forum on adoption in the Memorial Union. Sixteen adoption and foster care professionals, adopting parents and adult adoptees comprised the round table. Adoption is of special concern to participants Sam and Mary Brownback, who have adopted two children from China. “The goal is to find what can we do to best help the adoption process, especially for special needs children such as Down syndrome children, children of color and to address issues of international adoption,” said Brownback. “Worldwide there are 133 million orphans, in the U.S. there are 129,000 in foster care and awaiting adoption, in Kansas there are 870 foster children available for adoption.” according to Gina Meier-Hummel of KVC Behavioral Health Care. “Kansas is one of the worst for moving children along from home removal to adoption, in the bottom three nationally,” said Myndee Reed. “It takes an average of three years,” added Shelley Duncan of Youthville. This delay is problematic because of the negative effects on children. “Reactive Attachment disorder arises out of adoption delays making it

Please see ARMY page A3

Please see BROWNBACK page A5

Photo by Aaron Deffenbaugh, Washburn Review

Army strong: Bassima Schbley, social work assistant professor, completes her documentation to joining the U.S. Army Reserve. She will soon travel to San Antonio to complete the six-week Boot Camp course. illness, such as post traumatic stress syndrome,” said Schbley. “I also speak Arabic; therefore, they may be able to use my services as a translator.” She feels the move will be beneficial in other ways as well. For example, her dream was to get a Ph.D., which she accomplished, but becoming an officer was an even greater dream of hers. She now wants to be a role model for her two sons, and also for women. She wants women

to realize they can do anything a man can do. Not all of her relatives are supportive, though. “I face opposition from my extended family back in Lebanon,” said Schbley. “They feel as if I am betraying my country of origin, as well my Muslim beliefs. If I were to be deployed to the Middle East, they say I would be fighting my own people.” Her family life here will change

Influenza virus infects Washburn Erin Wiltz WASHBURN REVIEW

A3

ETM

Events That Matter

such as a sore throat. A person with influenza might feel a little bit off and think he or she is coming down with something and have a sore throat then all of a sudden one might feel chills, headaches, body aches, fever and coughing. Sometimes there is vomiting and diarrhea with influenza, but not in most cases. Gonzalez said in the residence halls, if a student’s roommate is sick it is best to avoid getting sick, yet help them as much as possible. Be sure to dispose of used and dirty tissues. Also bring the aforementioned roommate their meals and medicine to help maintain a quarantine-like environment. “Of course the roommate needs care but if you haven’t received the flu shot you are potentially putting yourself at risk,” said Gonzalez. Gastroenteritis hit Washburn before the influenza virus. With gastroenteritis, the only treatment is to stay hydrated and wait it out. “It’s hard because when someone had influenza and came in promptly I could just write them a prescription for Tamiflu and told them that they would start feeling better within 12 to 24 hours,” said Gonzalez, who said that unfortunately a strain of influenza

which is spreading this year is more resistant to the treatment. There is a backup drug called Remantadine, which is also available in a generic form. Influenza is highly contagious and the virus is very efficient, and can set in within two days of infection. The tricky thing about influenza is that a person becomes contagious before symptoms set in, and can make them unknowingly expose others to the virus. “We encourage people to get flu shots because once you are sick you are down for a week and a week of missed class is bad at this point in the semester,” said Gonzalez. Gonzalez added that she would be glad to write notes for students whose teachers are strict on attendance because she doesn’t want students to attend class when sick and infect other students. Many people complain that the flu shot hurts and results in flu-like symptom, but they would feel much worse if they had not gotten the flu shot and instead contracted the virus. Young people, the elderly and those with diabetes and other illnesses are at

Erin Wiltz WASHBURN REVIEW

Washburn is switching its online course program from WebCT to ANGEL learning management system. On Jan. 23, the Board of Regents approved the purchase of the ANGEL management system to replace WebCT, which is currently being used for online courses. Washburn University has been using WebCT since 1999. Washburn’s Board of Regents had been thinking about switching programs for the past two years because they knew the current support for the platform would eventually be outmoded. “WebCT is a little outdated and it’s been a reliable piece of software for 10 years with upgrades, but it doesn’t include a lot of the social networking web tools and is not state of the art when comes to accessing student learning outcomes,” said Tim Peterson, dean of continuing education.

Please see INFLUENZA page A3

The Ichabod mens basketball team has fallen to two top 10 teams in a row.

Tallgrass Brewing Co. is first in the limelight for the new Beer Review column.

B6

B1

a&e

The Crane Observatory is celebrating the Year of Astronomy.

sports

news & opinion

The influenza virus has reached Washburn. The first cases have been identified in the resident halls and in the law school. Iris Gonzalez,

director of student health services, sent a mass alert in an e-mail to warn students that the virus is going around and to be careful. She also instructs the proper ways students should care for themselves if they have contracted the influenza virus. At first, doctors look at if antiviral drugs can treat the case of influenza. What people call the “flu” is actually viral gastroenteritis, where there is extreme vomiting and diarrhea. The influenza virus comes with respiratory problems

Washburn to drop WebCT

Sign up for Events That Matter! Receive e-mails that keep you up to date on the events that matter to you: Like Bookstore/Union events, Graduation details and deadlines, secret sales, textbook buyback notifications and the BookWUrm newsletter.

Graduate Salute

Graduating this semester? visit us at the Washburn Spring Career Fair

Register online at www.washburnbookstore.com or fill out a form at the WU Bookstore. (785) 670-BOOK

Please see WEB page A5


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.