Unwelcome Intruder Hits Duke TIP campuses; Students, Staffs Suffer But Persevere

By Maddy Rollings
M&M staffer

The villain crept around each corner, lurking in hidden crevices. He popped out to attack when least expected. He caused students to be bed ridden for days, and made one student leave campus for the rest of the term. This is not what the students from Duke TIP at the University of Georgia expected to happen on their three-week adventure.

The scoundrel causing these unfortunate events has hit other Duke TIP campuses, but luckily no one was seriously hurt.

“We’re not the only [campus], and we’re also not the worst one,” said Alex Pagnani, On-Site Director for the program this summer. Maybe you guessed it, but the uninvited visitor is a mysterious illness TIP students dubbed "TIPlague", also referred to by some as "The Death" or the "TIPidemic."

The sickness has come in four waves over the term, each with the distinctive factor of their own. It began with regular colds, mutated to throat infections, jumped to pink eye, and now those with the illness are left with fevers and headaches.

“TIPlague is a mess,” said Pagnani. Doctors that have examined students say that it is nothing more than sinus and throat infections, but the fact that it spread like wildfire over the campus magnified the effect of "The Death."

The plague didn’t just affect the students, though. Five known staff members have been battling illnesses of their own.

“Most of the instructional staff that got sick had things that the kids didn’t have, which was a little odd,” said Kristin Gravley, Teaching Assistant for Media and the Message: Communicating in the Digital Age. “When you’re working a 12- hour day, it’s really hard to keep your energy up and not like, get cranky and be in a bad mood.”

Kiersten Neely, 14, from Charlotte, N.C., is a third year TIPster and sufferer from the "TIPlague." Her illness lasted between four and five days, and she was resistant to visit the clinic for medical assistance. She believes that most of the contagiousness was in a mental state, though.

“Everyone else gets sick, and you think you’re sick because everyone around you is sick. But you really are just bringing it on yourself… I didn’t want to miss anything. I didn’t want to waste any time. So I decided to just put it to the side. So I need to focus on TIP and not being sick,” said Neely.

There comes a point, though, when it is necessary to visit the doctor. Her symptoms included stuffy nose, sore throat, and fever. The doctor gave her cough syrup and tablets to recover from the illness. This was routine for most students.

It is important to get students to the clinic as soon as possible to stop the "TIPlague" before it gets too severe. The decision is initially up to the student, but if the temperature is too high, they are required to visit the doctor, Pagnani said.

If students are recommended to stay away from others, they are put into quarantine by the camp for a period of time. Six TIP at UGA students have been quarantined, thus far, but have not been kept for more than a 24-hour period.

Hydration is very important for the TIPsters to maintain. The University of Georgia is in the middle of Georgia, with hot and humid weather. TIP staff took notice of this, and with every outside activity, they require water breaks. Hydration is very important to health.

Rest is vital to keeping up the immune system strong and healthy. Enforcing lights-out has been stricter this year, along with asking each students to rest when they are feeling symptoms of "The Death" coming on.

Duke TIP offices in Durham, N.C., have recognized that most campuses are suffering from some sort of "TIPidemic," and are working toward eliminating the sicknesses. Measures have been taken to make the students more aware of hygiene, like putting up Red Cross posters inside of the dorms. Duke TIP has also bought $7,000 worth of alcohol-based hand sanitizer for all of the campuses to put in classrooms, dorms and bathrooms.

This criminal has made his mark on the students of Duke TIP, and is slowly edging out of the way. One thing is for certain though: the "TIPlague" of 2009 will not be forgotten.