Beat Story #2

October is known for being breast cancer awareness month and this year marks the 25th anniversary of having the month dedicated to awareness.

Lock Haven University is doing many activities to raise awareness of breast cancer. The Lady Eagles volleyball team is participating in an event called “Dig Pink” on October 30. The event is sponsored by the Side-Out Foundation. The volleyball team will be selling “Dig Pink” T-shirts and raffling off volleyballs signed by the Lady Eagle squad and all the money made will be donated to the Side-Out Foundation and to the local American Cancer Society.

The school also is a member of Colleges Against Cancer and recently president of the Lock Haven Student Cooperative Council, Chris Lunden was elected to the executive council of the National Colleges Against Cancer. Lunden said that the school would be selling T-shirts promoting breast cancer awareness as well as hosting “Boobie Bingo” on October 22.

Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women and is the second leading cause of cancer deaths in women. It is estimated that at least 200,000 women will be diagnosed with breast cancer yearly and of those more than 40,000 will die. Mammograms are used to detect breast cancer as well as doing a self-check. Mammograms should be done yearly for women aged 40 and older while self-checks should be done monthly. Clinical breast exams can be included in routine checkups.

Mock Crime Story

A parent homicide occurred Thursday October 8 at 2:14 p.m. at the 400 block of West Church Street.

Officer Suzann Hobart reported that a call was received around 2:14 p.m. and two preliminary officers arrived on the scene immediately. Officers arrived on the scene to find a silver Dodge Neon with the victim inside the backseat of the car. Located behind the Neon was an orange moving dolly on the left side in the back. Scratch marks were also seen on the back of the vehicle and officers still had yet to determine the reason for the dolly or the scratched paint. Police will not be releasing the name of the victim who was the infant of suspected shooter John Smith.

John Smith is a 34 year old man who apparently fled the scene after the incident occurred. Officer Hobart said there were "no motives as of now."

Megan Smith, who was the wife of John Smith, said that the two were having an argument over lunch about child support. Megan Smith said that she was going to take John Smith to court and upon hearing that news John Smith reportedly said that he was not going to pay, and that he would shoot the infant before paying the child support. Megan Smith said the next thing that happened was John Smith turned around in the front seat and shot the infant.

Officer Hobart said there would be more information on the incident being released at a later time.

Beat Story

The first doses of the H1N1 virus have arrived in Pennsylvania as of October 6th and are being recommended for those healthy individuals in the 2-49 year old age range.

The H1N1 virus has been confirmed in 2,862 cases in the state of Pennsylvania with hopes that the number will decrease with the release of the new vaccine. The vaccine is a nasal spray known by the name FluMist. The Pennsylvania Health department said that they hope to have at least 2.5 million doses of the vaccine available by the end of October. As of now the vaccine is only going to those in the age range of 5-9 due to its limited quantity. The Department of Health said they based their choice on three factors, the most important being the trend that has been seen in Pennsylvania so far.

The H1N1 virus has symptoms that are very similar to the seasonal flu yet in those individuals with health issues can show more severe symptoms. Some of the main differences that have been found between the flu and H1N1 virus are: the elderly seem at a low risk to H1N1, pregnant women and other health conditions that are considered at risk for complications from seasonal flu are even more at risk for complications due to H1N1, and the young adults who are not usually affected by the seasonal flu are for H1N1.

Clinton County has seen three confirmed cases of the H1N1 virus yet Lock Haven hospital says that they have not seen any confirmed cases of the swine flu. Sharon Wachob CNM of Geisinger Hospital said “we have seen many cases of the H1N1 virus” and that they were still waiting to receive the vaccine and find out who would be top priority for receiving the vaccine. Dr. Lisa Esolen who is the Director of Infection Control at Geisinger said that Geisinger has increased their use of hand sanitizers, and ask any patients who check-in if they have had any flu symptoms to help fight the spread of the virus.

The Center for Disease Control released a list of ways the colleges can protect themselves against the H1N1 virus. The most simple of these ways is to promote the use of hand hygiene. Lock Haven University has installed hand sanitizers in every building. Also, simple etiquette such as covering your cough and sneeze with something other than your hands is encouraged. Individuals with the H1N1 are supposed to be isolated away from the healthy people. The time that the CDC released the list the H1N1 vaccine had still not been released.