Meningitis and College: Parents need to Act

Parents with college age kids. Do you know Meningitis? There are two outbreaks going on now, one at Princeton and one at UCSB. There is a vaccine, but only for one type - Type A. There is one for Type B (see link) that Princeton is racing to offer. Meningitis can be very deadly and some that get infected loose hands or feet, but they live. Note, a Lacrosse Player at UCSB just lost his feet, and that is something that the University has failed to tell parents about in their communications (our son goes to UCSB).

Get to know this infection. It can be a matter of life or death.

Meningitis and College
Most of the cases of Meningitis occur at College, when your student lives in a Dorm. Students in Dorms live in closer contact, which often lack stringent cleaning in common areas.

Also, educate your student about NOT sharing cups (ever). This is a vital part of stopping the spread. Also, help them understand the symptoms and not to wait to seek treatment (it can attack very very quickly).

Parents and Meningitis
Finally, as a parent, you have some due diligence to do when searching for a college. If you have a high schooler, when you are doing your due diligence, you need to find out how often and how well the dorms are cleaned. There is a correlation. 

For students that live in off-campus housing and/or a fraternity or sorority house, infection rates are lower because the students are not in such close proximity. So, my advice is to do the following:

1. Due better due diligence on Dorm Selection. It might impact your final selection of a College or University.
2. Ask questions if Dorm cleaning is being enhanced. How often are common areas in the dorm cleaned?
3. Find out if the Medical Center near Campus is trained on recognizing Meningitis.
4. Vaccinate your Student (state law in NJ, PA, CA). Look at the new vaccine for Type A.
5. Get your student out of the dorms after freshman year.

So don't mess around. Get smart about Meningitis. Start now and find out about the dorms at any college you are seriously considering. Educate your student too. Use common sense. If when on a tour, it doesn't look like the bathrooms are that clean, think twice. 

EDITORS NOTE: I dealt with this in the early 2000s at Penn State (I was House Corp President of my Fraternity). The University President at the time, Graham Spanier, didn't want to offer Meningitis shots at a reduced cost (like other Big Ten Schools did). So we got the PA Legislature to make it a state law to require them. Our brothers at Sigma Chi were all encouraged to get shots and we never had an issue...

Picking the Right Mac Laptop for College

If your high school graduate is about to head off to college, it is important to properly equip them with a PC (oops I meant a Mac) that is easy to use and that will work reliably and not require any assistance. We made the shift for our kids back in 2006 and the long term road test indicates that occasionally running disk utility is the only maintenance needed on these machines.

The laptop of choice for a lot of students is shifting to the Apple MacBook and the reasons are now self-explanatory (they easy to use and just work, all the time).  I'm going to share some brief thoughts on which MacBook to choose and the reasons why.

Platform - 13 inch vs 15 inch MacBook Pro
This is a personal preference, but a bigger screen often means more productivity. The only reason not to buy one from the University Store (UCLA offers both) is because you DO want to order online and get the 500 GB 7200 RPM hard disk. It is much faster than the standard drive (5400 RPM) and that also means more productivity for your student. Check out this link from MacRumors.com. Having had a glossy 13" MacBook for a while, I might now opt for the Anti-Glare Option.

Support
Don't forget Apple Care. Don't skip this option, as it provides three years of support and repair service for your Mac.

Office Suite
Microsoft Office 2008 is the office suite of choice. Note that a key feature in MS Word is the Note taking feature and it allows for audio recordings of the professor's lecture.

Online File, Content Access and Backup
Mobile Me from Apple is one option, so is Google Docs. Some friends are using Mobile Me more often and for a student, it also backs up contacts. Before you sign-up though, check out what the University is offering. Also, send along some food sized USB memory sticks for file sharing etc.

Accessories
An extra power cord can be a life saver, as sometimes a power cord can be left in the library and you need power for an all nighter... Some dorm rooms won't fit an extra display but that is your choice.

Transporting and Protecting your laptop
A number of providers, including Speck provide skins and backpacks/bags to protect and transport your Mac...Solar backpacks, while not for everyone, do work.

The printer to pick will be a separate post, as picking the right printer is easier said than done. So, have fun picking your Mac and start using it now, so you get used to it before heading to school.