By Jessie Fillingim
With flu season right around the corner, University students are concerned about their health. However, they may discover too late that the University does not provide the resources they need when they get sick.
College courses are challenging as it is, and any student who has been sick at college knows how difficult it can be to stay caught up with work. Today’s overworked academic world makes little time for sick days and does little to aid ill or disabled students.
Students who are away from home for the first time often seek out a hospital or doctor that offer urgent care services in case of an emergency. Although the University’s Wellness Center claims to offer urgent care services, these services are rarely available to students in need. Don’t plan on just walking in to the Wellness Center and getting help when you get too sick. I tried that last year and got turned away, despite a high fever.
With over 4,000 students living in close proximity on campus, there is a major threat of a flu epidemic. Many students who live on campus do not have vehicles, and the University does not provide transportation to off-campus medical facilities. The sick student must either wait until an appointment is available (maybe 1-2 days) or schedule an off-campus appointment with a physician and arrange for transportation to the medical facility.
On top of the stress of being sick, the ill student is responsible for paying for these expensive services, often a confusing and hopeless task. Every student at the University automatically has accidental insurance coverage. But when a University student comes down with the flu, has a severe allergic reaction, or develops an auto-immune disease, the accidental insurance plan may get in the way of the student’s treatment. A student without supplemental insurance may not qualify for benefits at some medical facilities that provide free service only to the uninsured because they have this insurance, even though the insurance will not cover any non-accidental medical services.
With all of these liabilities, one would hope that the University takes top-of-the-line preventive care measures in keeping students healthy. But despite the urging of many students and groups, the University fails to provide healthy eating alternatives on-campus. In fact, the University’s dining services are repeatedly negligent by refusing to properly label their soups, which sometimes contain shellfish, a food that can cause a severe allergic reaction.
To keep students healthy, the University should provide options and incentives for students to eat well. Healthy options should be cheaper than non-healthy foods to encourage students to make health-conscious choices. Dining services should offer at least one vegetarian soup option each day and provide more vegetable-based dishes.
It’s not out of the ordinary for University students to pay for an off-campus gym membership because of the University’s inadequate fitness center. Waitlists to use equipment, lack of group exercise programs and restricted space discourage students from working out on campus. One way to fix this is by allowing students studying personal training, nutrition or athletic training to earn classroom credits by instructing an on-campus fitness class each semester.
That being said, I have to give props where props are due, and the Wellness Center helped students tremendously by bringing flu shot walk-in clinics to the Student Center. Although no more clinics will take place this year, students can still receive flu shots for $10 at the Wellness Center by appointment.
You have a duty to protect not only yourself but other students from contamination by getting your flu shot, eating well and exercising regularly. The University might not make it easy to do so, but staying healthy is ultimately your responsibility.
Jessie Fillingim is a second-year law student. You may e-mail her at [email protected] University.edu.
