<p>Maybe it’s cause we don’t have cable and/or watch Faux News, but I’m having trouble wrapping my head around this swine flu “epidemic.” And why the alert level is up to Five.</p>
<p>People die year round from types of flu. The only death from swine flu in this country that I have heard of is a toddler who came from Mexico and happened to die in Houston. </p>
<p>I just don’t understand the panic and cancelling APs, SATs, and sporting events.</p>
<p>And now back to our regularly scheduled discussion by parents of the Class of 2010.</p>
<p>Some of the reaction does seem like overkill (for lack of a more gentle term.)</p>
<p>From what I’ve read from reputable sources, my assessment is that private K-12 schools are the most likely to quickly shut, followed by public k-12. I’ve heard of a few colleges where some students have had it but those schools are still open, last I read. That list includes Notre Dame and CSU-Long Beach.</p>
<p>Some HS in CA is canceling their prom. Northeastern U has commencement this weekend and merely intends to dispense with the traditional handshake that normally comes with the giving of the diploma.</p>
<p>Omitting handshakes at a major event like commencement seems to me like a sensible alteration of everyday procedure. And I guess I can understand closings, if the school needs to be sanitized.</p>
<p>4 confirmed cases at UDel, with 6 more suspected. I have a band festival there next Saturday, and we’re joking a lot about catching swine flu. The jokes have a bit of an edge, though.</p>
<p>There’s a private school closed in Nashville with a confirmed case of swine flu; the school is closed for 7 days and has cancelled a trip to Washington DC. I just don’t get it and agree with mommusic and FAP; I mean flu’s not fun and my heart goes out to anyone who loses a family member, but I’m not quite getting the jump from a new strain of flu to shutting schools for a week. And the kid at said school is already on the mend. Hmmmm…</p>
<p>rocket6louise, I also wanted to encourage you to look at Princeton and Yale. You certainly have a shot at getting in and with the information on your family finances, it could be a smart move finacially as well. Best of luck to you.</p>
<p>Rob: The idea is to prevent further contagion. The incubation period of this virus seems to be quick, so the 7 day closure should allow anyone who has been infected to develop the virus, be treated as well as identified, without passing it on to any number of others.
A new strain of flu means no one has any acquired immunity and the best way to keep it from becoming a serious issue is to prevent the spread where possible, since there will be no vaccine available for 6 to 8 months minimum.</p>
<p>I wanted to take a moment to thank you all for talking me through the Princeton issue. Ironically, a day after I introduced the idea to my S, he got a letter from Princeton, so it would have come up anyway. </p>
<p>Why do I let myself worry so much? I need to get back into the habit of not doing that reflexive worrying.</p>
<p>zoosermom: No. I live in SI but go to school in the city.</p>
<p>Do any parents have experience with Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin? It was on my list before, somewhat hesitantly, but my college counselor visited it last week and absolutely loved it, so I’m researching it more and so far I like what I see.</p>
<p>My S just got what looks like a poster from MIT (it unfolds into this huge thing); I thought it was going to be about science or something but it features MIT student photos & their stories. </p>
<p>“It’s really a poster,” I said, as he unfolded it.</p>
<p>“Too much text,” he said. “I’m not likely to put THAT on my wall.”</p>
<p>I’ve heard lots of good things about Lawrence. The attached music conservatory is unique, especially for those who don’t care for Oberlin’s social justice vibe. Especially strong in the sciences; I crossed it off my list because it didn’t offer my secondary major interest, so I can’t tell you more from my notes.</p>
<p>mommusic got that “poster” from MIT the other day too, only she hasn’t opened it yet. We visited MIT last year, and she liked it at the time, but she’s decided against applying.</p>
<p>Here’s a bit of unsolicited advice for y’all. If you have some down time this summer, start going through baby/childhood pictures to find your favorites. (And schedule that senior portrait!) This year I have had to provide pictures for 1) yearbook ad, 2) musical program ad, 3) jazz choir show ad, and just this morning 4) choir banquet slide show. I know that in some communities, parents do an entire slide show for each student. Summer is a great time to pull the pictures together.</p>
<p>Thank you, missypie, I never would have thought to do that ahead of time.</p>
<p>I’m going to the printers today to have S’s MIT poster copied. Then I’m going to wallpaper the dining room with it so everyone will know that MIT sent him something. I’m going to use copies of the letter from Princeton as a border.</p>
<p>That would be very good advice Missypie, if my baby actually was going to take a senior portrait or have farewell events. That doesn’t apply to us, though, becaus SHE’S ONLY A BABY AND CAN’T LEAVE ME YET!!!</p>
<p>You just never know when the year will get crazy…you might need to go on some “emergency” campus visits when you thought you were done, etc. Plus, lots of these pictures are needed for things that other students are in charge of, so you might get a message on a Wednesday that the deadline is Friday. Or, Grandma may have the only copy of some favorite shot.</p>
<p>Another thing is that some groups (like our yearbook) want a release if the picture is by a professional photographer. You need time to either ask for the release or find another picture if you don’t want to pay for a release. I went through the pictures and found my very favorites, then just put them all together to pull from throughout the year. (But I was still scanning a baby picture this morning for something I found out about yesterday!)</p>
<p>I heard that D’s h.s. may be doing a video montage of the kids for senior night - so they’ll be asking for pictures of the kids from early days to the present - so thanks for the reminder, Missypie. I’ll have D start going through the photos early this summer so that we have a bunch to work with over the year.</p>
<p>For the past few years, it’s been a tradition in the year book for the promoting 8th graders (MS year book) and the graduating seniors (HS year book) to provide a copy of a baby picture, which is used to prepare a double page spread montage. Unless our S changes his mind, we’ll probably use the same picture again. It’s such a cute picture of him standing in his overall shorts set holding a wisp of a long weed, and standing next to a pile of those mini pumpkins used for table decorations. He looks like a baby hayseed.</p>
<p>Yeah, DD got the MIT mailing yesterday; we laughed and laughed Love the wallpaper idea by the way.</p>
<p>Had to start going through pics last week with DD as she had to do a photo montage for her spiritual journey for confirmation (which was this past Sunday.) Gosh they were so little! And I really wish we’d had digital cameras back when they were little. Thanks for the tip; it’s going to be miserable here this weekend so I can start culling through the boxes and boxes of photos.</p>
<p>Got a little verklempt last night at the NHS induction; the speakers told the kids that this was really the first event of their senior year and that it was a great way to start off. And, yeah it really was their 1st senior event. Oh Boy! 13 more school mornings before she’s a rising Senior.</p>
Love the wallpaper idea by the way.</p>