Megan Stralow
Published: October 29, 2008

Two bomb threats at a local high school and a series of lockdowns at the elementary schools had parents questioning school safety last week.

When school safety is discussed, we often focus on high schools and colleges.

In light of recent threats, the Dubuque Community schools are becoming active at the elementary level.

Saint Joseph the Worker Pre-school teacher, Laura Albach teaches her students safety every day.

“A lot of these kids are here every day, they know the parents, they know people who walk through the building a lot. If it’s somebody they don’t know, they shouldn’t talk to them,” said Albach.

But what precautions are taken if a threat is credible?

Saint Joseph the Worker Early Childhood Director, Tammy Pierro said that the right measures were taken to ensure safety.

“With last week’s incident, I know that other schools, public and parochial, were also on lockdown and they did follow the procedure,” said Pierro.

However, John Burgart, Superintendent of Dubuque Community Schools is not afraid to take it to the next level to guarantee safety.

“To make the students and their parents and our staff feel comfortable; we aren’t ignoring an threat and are doing whatever we can to try to ensure safety,” said Burgart.

Local educators agree that the most important thing we can do is teach safety tips to our students.

And Albach is a teacher who does this every day.

“If they learn something this young, they’re bound to have it repeated to them several times before they get to the age where they might actually need it,” said Albach.

One thing that was consistent amongst the different schools is the need for flexibility with their safety plans.

Although they can’t plan for every threat, they can still be able to adapt to different situations that may arise in the schools.

Both Burgart and Pierro are updating their safety plans even though the recent threats were not harmful.

They haven’t released the details yet, but they say that both students and parents will be informed when the new plans are finalized.

Megan Stralow can be reached at Megan.Stralow@loras.edu

Megan Stralow
Published: October 1, 2008

According to a cnn.com study, one in four Americans takes sleeping pills.

But are they a problem here at Loras?

Senior, Kari Gossling is like most college students.

“I do have trouble sleeping at night a lot,” said Gossling.

These difficulties can be linked to staying up too late, being bogged down with projects and living in a social environment.

Gossling said, “Sometimes it’s noise and sometimes it’s just stress,” said Gossling.

Regardless of the cause, a lack of sleep can make students turn to medications.

“I’ve taken Tylenol PM and things like that. They really don’t always help, but sometimes the idea of taking it helps,” said Gossling.

And although Tylenol PM isn’t necessarily addictive, Loras College Counselor Mike Boyd says sleeping aids can become problematic.

“The difficulty with all of those is that becomes something that they then they start to depend on to get to sleep instead of being able to fall to sleep naturally,” said Boyd.

But Boyd says such addictions are rare at Loras.

“I’ve haven’t seen a lot of when I talk to students about everything that they take,” said Boyd.

If you are having trouble sleeping, Boyd recommends a more natural approach.

Don’t take naps during the day, avoid caffeine within 6 hours of going to bed, establish a regular bedtime and exercise.

However, this is one tip to lead to success.

“Trying to be regular in your sleep patterns is the most important one,” said Boyd.

And Gossling seconds that recommendation.

“It really ruins your system in a lot of ways. Or you hit snooze one to many times and then you’re exhausted all day,” said Gossling.

The study found that women are more prone to take sleeping pills than men.

Megan Stralow can be reached at Megan.Stralow@loras.edu

Megan Stralow
Published: September 17, 2008

A new flu shot has been released that helps prevent influenza, as well as pneumonia.

Due to the nature of the progressive illness, Dr. John Viner urges people to get immunized because the virus is everywhere.

“You inhale it and when it comes to town, it’s hard to avoid. Because it’s in the classroom, it’s in the cafeteria, it’s at the mall. It’s about everywhere you might be,” said Viner.

Viner especially encourages college students to get the flu shot. However, some Loras students take the extra step in staying healthy.

Senior Emily Thornton has been taking vitamins and health supplements since she was a little girl.
Thornton has a daily routine to try to stay healthy.

Thornton said, “I take vitamins or I try to take vitamins daily like with my lunch and dinner. Cause I don’t drink milk very often so I make sure I take calcium and try to take an immune supportive thing which has helped me because when I was in high school, I got sick all the time.”

Thornton also does natural remedies such as drinking tea, but also takes organic throat sprays to prevent getting sick.

Thornton finds that by doing these things she doesn’t get as sick as her peers.

But the best way to avoid getting sick is by doing what your mother told you, eating chicken noodle soup and washing your hands.

Megan Stralow can be reached at Megan.Stralow@loras.edu

Megan Stralow

Published: September 3, 2008

Tragedy shook the University of Dubuque community as they were notified that two of their aviation students were involved in a plane crash in Cassville, Wisconsin.

Juniors Cory Alsip and Grant Vogt crashed into Eagles Roost Resort around 4:00 p.m. Wednesday afternoon. Luckily, no one was renting the cabins at the time.

Cassville resident, Rita Breuer could feel the impact of the crash.

 “I knew it was a plane. I knew right away it was a plane when I heard the noise and I heard the engine. And the crash, I knew right away and I just and it just shook our house,” said Breuer.

Alsip and Vogt were taken to Grant Regional Health Center in Lancaster and later flown by Med Flight to University of Wisconsin Hospitals in Madison. They are listed in critical condition.

An investigation is still under way in finding the reason of the crash.

Megan Stralow can be reached at Megan.Stralow@loras.edu