On April 26, the student organization 4th Dimension hosted a panel discussion with the Dean of Student Life Subir Sahu, Assistant Dean of Student Conduct and Community Standards Stephen Rupprecht and Associate Dean of Counseling and Health Annette Molyneux to discuss the university’s current drug policy, with a special focus on the Responsible Dragon Protocol. The focus of the discussion is to clarify what drug policy means for students. 4th Dimension is a student organization whose role is to spread information on substance abuse and the stigma surrounding addiction.

“Currently, our main focus is pushing for drug policy reform on campus,” Elizabeth Ferris, senior anthropology major and president of 4th Dimension said in an e-mail interview.

“There is a lot of confusion on what the Drug Policy is as well as the Responsible Dragon Protocol (RDP). Students are afraid to call for help if a friend [is] in trouble because they might get penalized. We want a clear RDP that supports the safety of our students. This is an issue that goes beyond students with substance abuse and touches all students on campus,” Ferris continued.

The panel began with breaking the myth that Drexel is a zero-tolerance school on drugs, and clarified that Drexel is a drug-free school. Four years ago, the university told students that there was a zero-tolerance policy in place with a penalty of suspension on first strike. Now, the policy is immensely different. According to Rupprecht, the response to a violation is now subjective to each case. One of his concerns was the increase in the number of cases that involved students dependent on prescription drugs that aren’t prescribed to them.

The discussion soon shifted to 4th Dimension’s primary focus: The Responsible Dragon Protocol, is a university initiative that has created provisions to consider alternative consequences for students who, while under the influence of alcohol or drugs, report medical emergencies that happen as a consequence of alcohol or drug abuse.

“The University will consider the positive impact of reporting an incident when determining the appropriate sanctions for policy violations. In such cases, any possible negative consequences for the reporter of the situation will be evaluated against the possible negative consequences for the student who needed assistance,” Drexel University states on their website.

This policy can be compared to the Medical Amnesty Policy at the University of Pennsylvania. Their website states, “No student seeking medical treatment for an alcohol or other drug-related overdose will be subject to University discipline for the sole violation of using or possessing alcohol or drugs.” This policy extends to students who report these incidents as well.

Many students expressed concern with the wording of this language. They insisted that it might discourage students in dangerous situations to contact emergency services in fear of possibly facing some form of punishment.

Rupprecht explained that it was very unlikely that a student would face punishment for reporting medical emergencies related to drugs and alcohol. “What the policy allows us to do is to say, ‘Thank you, you made a great decision,’ ” Rupprecht said.

“There will be no conduct record for the person that gets the help. Meaning, you called 911; you got an RA involved; you identified yourself as the person helping. Now– were you drinking that night? Sure. Is there a good opportunity for education, maybe? Yeah, but we don’t need a file to achieve that outcome. So, we’re not going to issue a fine. We’re not going to involve your parents. You’re probably not even going to be put on probation,” he continued.

“I think where there might be need for discussion is with the person that needed the help. Because our policy right now does not provide amnesty for that help,” Rupprecht said. However, Rupprecht clarified, adding that it would be very unlikely that the student needing help would be suspended. In other words, if someone ended up in the hospital for a drug overdose, that person would not face suspension.

“100 percent the policy should be that you have 100 percent amnesty because 99 percent means nothing. 99 percent could mean 0 percent. From first-hand knowledge, I know that 90 percent of the student population believes that they’re actually protected [or unsure],”one student in the audience said.

Sahu said that his concerns not only lie with the language of the policy, but also with the student culture that may discourage some from reaching out to emergency services. “There’s a little part of me that’s like, ‘Is it the protocol? … Or would that continue to happen even if we updated the policy until it’s crystal clear? I argue that there’s a cultural piece of Drexel students to that [point],” he said.

In comparing policies between the University of Pennsylvania and Drexel University, Sahu clarified that in order to change the policy into an amnesty program it must go through an approval process by all the necessary leadership including the board of trustees.

A student followed up by asking what kind of benefit a full amnesty policy such as Penn’s would provide the school.

“It protects the university,” Sahu said, explaining that the more caveats in the language, the more protected the university is. However, Rupprecht admitted that the language on the website has not changed since it was originally written and that it is due for a review. He also stated that suggestions made at the panel will be taken into account during the review process.

One participating student expressed concern that students will be hesitant to come forward about addiction issues in fear of being penalized. Molyneux responded, “Anyone who comes to counseling for whatever – whatever happens in a counseling session – will stay in that session.”

Nothing that a student reports in the counseling office will leave the office.

One student explained that she came to the counseling center for help when struggling with addiction, and is now in recovery. She made a point that the counseling website needs to be more clear in informing students looking for help with a substance problem that they will not be penalized for seeking help.

Rupprecht responded, “Please take a look at what the policy looks like right now, and then take a look at it again in the fall. We can make that change very easily. Great suggestion.”

The same student also noted how many resources there are in Philadelphia that she had not known about until after she was sober. She expressed that she thinks the recovery community at Drexel should become more involved in providing help at the university.

The discussion also provided a common interest in requesting that the staff at Drexel such as Public Safety officials and Residential Assistants be better informed about the policy.

This event was in conjunction with a series of events hosted by the organization which serve to raise awareness about alcohol and substance abuse during Alcohol Awareness Month, panning from April 24 to 29. The other events include a yoga event on Race Lawn that occurred on April 24, the discussion panel and lastly a Blackout Day on April 29 during which students will wear black clothing and take a vow of silence in order to push for changes in the drug policy at Drexel. The Blackout Day will end with a Break the Silence event that will occur in the Van R Ballroom from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.

“The silent protest shows what it would be like if these students were no longer here because of this strict policy,” Ferris explained.

Sahu and Rupprecht will also be participating in this event to show their solidarity with the students.

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Researchers at Hahnemann University Hospital and Temple Lewis Katz School of Medicine are collaborating on a new study called the Philadelphia Immediate Transport in Penetrating Trial (PIPT) with the goal of increasing the survival rates of victims suffering from penetrating traumas. Temple University’s Dr. Zoe Maher and Hahnemann’s Dr. Brendan McCracken hope this study will lead to a change in the way victims of gunshot, shotgun or stab wounds, who are likely to bleed to death are transported in emergencies.

PIPT will study a highly specific segment of Philadelphia’s population—patients who suffer from penetrating traumas being transported in advanced life support ambulances who are subject to advanced pre-hospital interventions. These interventions include fluid resuscitation, where a patient is given an intravenous salt-water solution to prevent dehydration and the placement of a breathing tube. The findings of this study suggest that it might be better for patients suffering these traumas to receive basic pre-hospital care as opposed to the two aforementioned methods.

To put the study in perspective, there are almost 300,000 emergency medical calls a year in Philadelphia, and PIPT will be examining a population of 250 people a year. Advanced transport is one of three accepted methods to transport patients. 40 percent of patients come in with police, 40 percent come in through advanced life supports and 15 percent come in through basic life support.This study will compare the latter two.

The study will be conducted over the course of five years, collaborating with all trauma centers around Philadelphia and including Philadelphia EMS. During the period of the study, whenever an advanced life-support care transport is assigned to answer a call, they will randomly commit to either of the two intervention methods: basic or advanced. The randomization will be facilitated through the study. Once on the scene, EMS will do what they always do: assess the patient by determining what type of trauma they have and whether or not they are bleeding to death. If patients are bleeding to death due to having been shot or stabbed, they will be considered enrolled in the study. Though this convention, every patient in the study will undergo an accepted method of care. Once a patient is sent to the hospital and treated by trauma surgeons, they will be formally asked to consent to further tracking of their recovery progress.

“This is the kind of patient population that we think will potentially benefit most from, first, more rapid and, second, less intervention based pre-hospital care,” Maher said in an interview. “The first part of this is something people can easily understand. If you’re bleeding to death, faster intervention to get you to stop bleeding to death is common sense,” she continued.

“It’s the intervention thing where I think not just lay people, but medical people kind of have a moment of pause,” Maher explained. According to Maher, past data has suggested that salt water resuscitation and breathing tubes may be unhelpful or even harmful, but that data is low quality.

So we can’t say for sure that we’re right, but there’s a very strong suggestion that we may be right,” Maher continued.

According to Maher, in the case of fluid resuscitations the elegant system in human bodies that controls blood flow can be altered by the influx of fluid provided by IVs. When losing large quantities of blood, the body will normally reduce blood flow to the injured area and increase flow to vital organs such as the brain. However, the influx of salt water from an IV affects this process in several ways: it decreases the oxygen carrying capacity of the blood because salt water cannot carry oxygen, decreases the body’s ability to coagulate or create blood clots to plug up holes and lastly allows for the potential reopening of  previously created blood clots.

“There are two more factors to add on to this,” Dr. McCracken added during the interview, “The salt water we end up giving to these patients is actually colder than the body’s blood temperature. Dropping body temperature also affects the body’s ability to form clots. In addition to that, all of the salt solutions that we give are very acidic. Even the less acidic ones have a pH in the five range. This also hinders our body’s ability to clot.”

When discussing the breathing tube placement, there is a different set of factors that may come into play for a patient’s survival. “When someone’s bleeding to death, they may or may not be able to breathe on their own, so classic teaching has included assistance breathing,” Maher said.

“When you put a breathing tube and a bag [on a patient], you actually increase the chest pressure and expand the lungs. The expanded lungs can put pressure on the inferior vena cava and the superior vena cava, the largest vessels that go to and from the heart. So now you take a heart pump that’s mostly empty and you can actually make it a completely empty heart pump,” Maher said. This conclusion was based on retrospective data on animal models. Maher also claimed that there have been studies published as recently as February 2016 that support the idea that breathing tubes can worsen survival chances.

The PIPT study hopes to strengthen this conclusion by conducting a blinded prospective study and taking away confounding factors by solely focusing on advanced life support transports.

“The challenge of this study is that when someone is in a life threatening situation where you can’t really delay care to get standard informed consent, you have to do research in what’s called an Exceptions From Informed Consent fashion,” Maher said.

Using this highly regulated research method, the PIPT study will be going into the community to notify them that this study will be occurring, why it’s occurring, and providing the community with an opportunity to provide feedback about the study itself. People will have the opportunity to read about and become familiar with the study prior to its initiation. After this process, the study hopes to launch this coming summer. More information on this study can be found at piptrauma.com.

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On Feb. 24, Drexel University College of Medicine announced a complete rework of their medical program for August 2017. DUCOM, known for its two-track system of lecture-based and group problem solving-based tracks, will be creating a new singular curriculum called “Foundations and Frontiers.”  

The senior associate dean for curriculum, Donna Russo, talked about the revamp, which has been in progress for the past year.

“It was time to really look at [the program] to create one new curriculum to really meet the needs of the 21st century physician,” Russo said. Qualities that physicians have always needed, as well as some that are more reflective of modern times, were considered while designing the curriculum, Russo explained.

Russo said that prior to this switch, there was no difference between the success rates of the two tracks in the previous system.  

The new program will put students out of the lecture hall and instead provide them with more time in interdisciplinary classes in order to solve problems in groups. The new curriculum will encourage students to use their smartphones for information rather than piecing through PowerPoint slides. The number of courses students will be required to take at a time will decrease from nine to four, combining courses such as genetics, biochemistry and cell biology into “Molecules to Organs.” According to Russo, these combined courses will be linked to application-based courses. Lecture halls will be used for testing rather than lecture.

“The curriculum is going to move from being instructor-centered to student-centered, which we have a lot of experience with in our previous problem-solving track,” Russo said.

Many assignments will take place through online learning and independent assignments rather than sitting down in lecture. Information garnered from these assignments will be applied to clinical cases that students will work with in a group.  

“The focus of the curriculum will be more critical problem solving working in small groups, developing skills that they will need to function in a health care team, such as team-building type of skills as well as critical problem solving skills,” she continued. DUCOM hopes that this group-type work will provide smaller, more intimate learning environments.

Students will also participate in collaborations with other colleges in order to make room for concentrations such as population health, ethics and informatics.

“The ‘Foundations’ portion will involve one week immersion courses. Some of these have been introduced to students before but others will be new to the curriculum. While we’ve done population health before, now we’re doing a lot more. We’ve always done business in healthcare, but we’ve never done anything such as informatics, quality and safety. All will be integrated into these blocks, probably largely in a self-directed learning method,” Russo said.

She also said this new curriculum is not expected to interfere with the combined degree programs, and that much of students’ education will involve collaborations with other schools in the university.

With one of the largest incoming classes among medical schools in the country, Drexel educates one in 76 aspiring physicians nationwide. These students will also be asked to engage in community service and incoming classes will be divided into learning communities.

“We’re creating a longitudinal community care practicum,” she continued,” where students will go into the community and work with community members and patients in the community to really learn the principles of social justice, population health, and work in profession teams in the ambulatory settings.”

Many other medical schools have taken this similar model in order to integrate students into the clinical setting of the local community.

According to Russo, this curriculum has been approved by both faculty, students and alumnus.It is expected that  this change will be for the better for future physicians. Russo also explained that although there will most likely be some tweaks when the curriculum comes to practice, she believes residency programs will look favorably on the change in the program.

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A new collaboration between researchers at the Drexel University College of Medicine and Temple University, led by research coordinator Vernon Kalugdan and Dr. Ralph J. Riviello, will be focusing on a condition called status epilepticus — named for patients who remain in a prolonged, often life threatening, state of seizure. The prolonged state transforms into a condition called Established Status Epilepticus if symptoms are resistant to typical seizure medications. Status epilepticus is also unique in that only 7-10 percent of these patients suffer from epilepsy, but it has been known to affect both the very young and very old.

“The symptoms of [status epilepticus] are like those of a normal seizure: involuntary convulsions involving one or both sides of the body, incontinence of bowel and/or bladder, and so on. This is typically an unconscious state where the brain’s signals are firing off all at once with no direct purpose,” Riviello described in an email interview.  

“A seizure itself is actually a symptom of many possible disorders [or] causes that can range from chemical imbalances, malignancy such as tumors or cancers, traumatic injuries to the brain, bleeding in the brain, etc. While the brain’s signals are being mixed up, the signals to control the breathing and protection of the airway are included. There is also a significant surge of electricity going through the brain during a seizure. These are among a number of issues that can lead to permanent disability or even death,” he continued.

Riviello acts as a professor of emergency medicine at DUCOM and also works in the emergency department of Hahnemann University Hospital. Practicing for 18 years, Riviello has also conducted investigative trials on other issues including strokes, congestive heart failure, musculoskeletal injuries, sexual assault and neurological emergencies. His current study, named the Established Status Epilepticus Treatment Trial is being conducted through the Neurological Emergencies Treatment Trials lead by Temple University.

There are several options for treatment of these conditions, but according to Riviello the research into which is most effective and for what reasons is not well established.

“The ESETT study is looking to answer what is the best and/or worst of 3 medicines for ESE.  That is, when first line agents (like benzodiazepines) fail, what is the best second line agent in stopping the seizure activity,” Riviello said.

Because of the impaired state that comes with the onset of a seizure, consent to this study comes with some complications and employs FDA Guidelines 21 CFR 50.24.

“This guideline speaks specifically about Exception From Informed Consent, or EFIC.  That is, if a research study holds the potential to save a life and a traditional consent cannot be otherwise obtained, it is possible to be done with a waiver of consent at that time.  In the case of ESE, a true life-threatening emergency, the above FDA guideline applies,” he explained.

The study includes participants aged two and up and will involve the administration of one of three randomized  FDA-approved antiepileptic drugs: valproic acid, levetiracetam or fosphenytoin. According to Riviello, there is no placebo.

“As the study moves along, if one drug is proven to be dangerous or beneficial, it will be given less frequently or more often respectively, again, through the randomization process,” Riviello said.

“It is believed that with 795 enrollments the answer to the question should be found.  It is possible that the answer be found before 795 enrollments.  If one drug is found to be so efficacious, the study will stop enrolling as it will then become unethical to keep testing when we have found the answer,” he continued.

According to Riviello, studies such as this have had success in the past. One study found that 10 mg of Midazolam administered through intramuscular injections was more effective than 2 mg of Lorazepam given intravenously. The results of this study, according to Riviello, “rewrote the books for the pre-hospital treatment of seizures in Pennsylvania.”

Although Riviello’s study is no longer looking for participants, the study is seeking preliminary opinions from the community before beginning. An online survey can be taken at www.pnett.org/seizure.html.

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Drexel University announced Feb. 17 that the A.J. Drexel Autism Institute has recently received a $3.5 million anonymous grant for incubator programs geared towards young adults that fall on the autism spectrum. The name of the program is Transition Pathways and it generally focuses on high school seniors, a group that is at risk of falling off the “services cliff,” or aging out of their support programs.

The DrexelNow article cited the National Autism Indicators Report in its announcement, stating that 36 percent of students on the autism spectrum never attend college or vocational-technical schools after high school. Only 58 percent ever find a paying job.

With help from teachers and professionals from the Community Integrated Services, an organization dedicated to providing employment opportunities for people with disabilities, the program will be integrating this knowledge into two pathways as a part of their program: a Work Pathway and a College Pathway. The Work Pathway involves students having the opportunity to take part in internships and the College Pathway has students audit Drexel courses. The program is also intended to allow students to participate in the co-op system. In both pathways, the program is said to take over two years in order to eventually provide training and education for students to be independent thereafter.

According to their website, both pathways draw upon themes such as independence, work, lifelong learning and community tracks. The program director, Peter Doehring, received his doctoral degree from the Center for Research in Human Development at Concordia University in Montreal, Canada. He is experienced in hospital and community based research and training programs as the former Statewide Director and leader of the Delaware Autism Program. This is only a few of the many programs for children with ASD that he been involved in, including ASD programs working at the Children’s Hospital of Pennsylvania.

When Doehring became a part of the Life Courses Outcomes Research Program at the A.J. Drexel Autism Institute, he began developing programs and policies for young adults who fell on the spectrum.

“Programs like these would have the advantage of giving participants access to all the university has to offer and, through partnership with university-based researchers and facilitate the seamless collection and integration of data in order to carefully evaluate effectiveness,” Doehring said in an interview with DrexelNow.

President John A. Fry was also quoted in the article, saying, “It’s incredibly gratifying to see the A.J. Drexel Autism Institute is inspiring generous and visionary donors.”

He continued, “The Institute is the standard-bearer for Drexel’s commitment to using a public health approach to addressing autism, but its outstanding work wouldn’t be possible without significant financial support from those who share that commitment.”

Within its first year, the program is expected to take up 16 students, mostly but not limited to high school seniors graduating in 2017 from the Philadelphia area. According to their website, the participants they hope to find “are on the autism spectrum, very motivated to work, and have the potential to be independent.”

Clinical research has begun to identify specific practices that are effective at addressing the needs of adults on the autism spectrum, but only for one adult at a time,” Doehring continued in the article. “We need programs that can deliver benefits to an entire population of adults, and this gift will help us demonstrate how to do that here at Drexel.”

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The Daskalakis Athletic Center was host to a visit by the senior vice president and chief medical officer of the Sport Science Institute, Dr. Brian Hainline, Jan. 29. Hainline was in Philadelphia for the weekend because he was being honored for his work in cardiac health by a group called the Simon’s Fund. He was asked by Drexel to give a talk about the new initiative launched by the National Collegiate Athletic Association on Student Athlete Mental Health. The guidelines, released a week prior to Hainline’s visit, detail the best practices in assessing and maintaining a student athlete’s mental health and any subsequent treatment.

Senior biology major and field hockey player Lauren Hibshman commented during an interview about the current state of mental health awareness among student athletes. “I think the NCAA is making great strides toward bettering the awareness of mental health in student athletes,” she said. “In the future I hope there are more programs for athletes and the discussion is brought out in the open more.”

Highlighted during the talk were issues such as hyper-aggression, eating disorders, stress, over-drinking, drug abuse, depression and traumas such as sexual assault.

“We hope to make this an issue that the entire country awakens to,” Hainline said in an interview.

In his talk, Hainline mentioned that an estimated fifth of male athletes report having been in a physical fight within the past year. Over 30 percent of female Division I athletes will drink over four alcoholic drinks in a sitting, with 40 percent of their male counterparts drinking over five. Hainline also discussed statistics surrounding depression and what he claimed was a severely underreported incidence of sexual trauma.

According to the background of the guidelines, one in five adults suffer from a mental illness in a given year, with the highest rate occurring among young adults and college-aged students. Athletes with depression, eating disorders or other mental illness can suffer a greater risk of injury than healthier athletes do.

In an email interview, Assistant Athletic Director for Sports Medicine Michael Westerfer had a few words to say on the issue. “Studies have shown that student athletes suffer from the same mental health issues and at similar rates as their non-athlete peers. The most prevalent are stress and anxiety, depression, disordered sleeping, and eating disorders,” he said.

“My recommendation for student athletes is to ask for and seek help if they struggling in any aspect of their life. Mental health is an important part of student athlete wellness,” he continued.

“Take advantage of on campus resources, such as Counseling Center, DrexelMindKare.org (an online resource for student-athletes to learn more about wellness) and the MindKare screening kiosk located in the lobby of the recreation center,” he concluded.

The guidelines call for licensed practitioners to evaluate athletes and for schools to be transparent concerning the options available to students. Hainline expressed more than once the importance of school emergency plans in case of mental health crises such as suicidal thoughts, homicidal ideation and sexual assault. The guidelines also recommend mental health education to help athletes deal with daily struggles such as stress and sleep deprivation. Hainline also spoke extensively about the importance of peer-intervention.

“The document just came out but there’s already been a great buzz and the student athletes in particular are really behind it. We’re working with the culture association on this and we have several other plans on how we’re going to get this in all of the pockets of the membership,” Hainline said.

“Just generally speaking, mental health has not been always the priority…It’s sort of like a silent injury because you can’t see it on an X-ray and the culture is often just to tough it out,” he continued. “As an athlete we’re kind of expected to mentally tough. Your coaches are hard on you at practice sometimes and you’re expected to get stronger from that.”

“Drexel Athletics has established an interdisciplinary approach to working with our student-athletes who are struggling with mental health wellness. There are open lines of communication and collaboration between Drexel Counseling Center staff, Team Physicians, Athletic Training Staff, Student Health and Achieve Center,” Westerfer said.

“Drexel Sports Medicine has taken a proactive approach to mental health and wellness. Drexel student athletes are screened annually through our pre-participation mental health screening process. Drexel Athletics has a policy of  direct referral to the counseling center and a medical appointment for any student athletes who experience mental health issues, to evaluate their health status,” he said.

In light of the release of these guidelines, Westerfer said that Drexel feels that it already addresses the major issues outlined in the document itself, but hopes to continue improving for the benefit of the athletes.

“I see these NCAA Mental Health Best Practices as a benefit for student athletes’ health and welfare and will help all NCAA members schools re-examine their current practices. This document will serve as a guide to best address this area of wellness that may have been overlooked in the past,” he explained.

Hainline was careful to discuss the many gaps in student athlete mental health research. His main concerns regarded research on best utilizing psych evaluations, returning students into academics or the field after a diagnosis and a centralized database. “My vision is that at the front end all of the athletes, the coaches, the administrators acknowledge mental health as as important as an ankle sprain,” he concluded.

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Jan. 7 marked the last day of work for Jersey, the therapy dog employed at the Daskalakis Athletic Center, who had announced his leave from Drexel University two days prior on his Facebook page.

“Well friends [sic] I write to you today with some bittersweet news. Mom has accepted another position and is leaving Drexel. Since she is my legal guardian I must go with her,” Jersey’s Facebook page read. His legal guardian, Kathryn Formica, is currently the assistant director of recreation, health, fitness and wellness for the Department of Athletics. She recently accepted a position at a corporate wellness company.

“There I will have the opportunity to work with many other wellness professionals and oversee multiple offices. When this opportunity presented itself, I knew it was the right move for me and I am excited to see what it brings,” Formica wrote in an email. She had been employed at Drexel since June 2013, and she brought Jersey to the University in September the following year.

Jersey’s post continued, “While I am sad to leave all of my friends I am hopeful that there is another pup out there that can fill my shoes! The road is paved and awaiting a brave pup with high ambition!”

Facebook: Jersey Dog

On their time at the University, Formica had many things to say. “I was given a lot of freedom to create programming that I saw as beneficial to the University and I enjoyed doing so.  In my time at Drexel, I created a Wellness on Wheels program, which delivered programming to residence halls, fraternities/sororities and classrooms. I also worked with colleagues to form some larger events on campus such as the Gauntlet and Stress relief days,” Formica said.

Jersey was an opportunity for the department to show the importance of mental and physical health to students. “Often times students get caught up with physical health and forget that taking care of their mind is just as important. Jersey was able to reach a great deal of students and help them make strides in being more aware of their mental health,” she continued.

Formica hopes to see the program continue after she and Jersey leave. “The hard work is already done so I would be sad to see Drexel not continue the therapy dog program. I think that the impact Jersey has been able to reach a wide variety of students,” she said. “From the regulars who would visit him each day to the students we would encounter just walking around campus. What I will take away from this is Jersey’s ability to lift students spirits and make this campus feel more like a home.”

Many schools have also had therapy dogs come in during finals week and times of high stress, but Drexel was the first to have a permanent in-house therapy dog. Formica said that schools have already reached out to her for information to establish similar programs.

“Jersey is going to miss all of his friends but he is optimistic about his retirement. He is looking forward to days filled with puppy play dates and naps,” Formica said. “Jersey hopes that students continue to find creative ways to manage stress and a reason to come to the rec center to visit his former colleagues!” she continued.

“Thank you to everyone who helped bring me from an orphaned boy into a life full of love and bellyrubs! I couldn’t [have] asked for anything more. As I head into retirement I am proud to say I was and will always be the very first four-legged [sic] dragon.” Jersey concluded in his Facebook farewell, bidding adieu to his loyal student following.

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On Nov. 12, President John A. Fry announced that Drexel University will revoke its honorary degree awarded to Bill Cosby in 1992. This makes Drexel the first University in the Philadelphia region to rescind one of Cosby’s degrees.

He wrote to the University: “The misconduct by Bill Cosby that came to light through his sworn deposition testimony stands in clear opposition to Drexel’s values. As a result, the University has revoked the honorary Drexel degree bestowed upon Mr. Cosby in 1992. I have made this decision in consultation with the Executive Committee of Drexel’s Board of Trustees.”

Fry refers to the allegations made against Cosby in sexual misconduct and assault of dozens of women, including using drugs in order to take advantage of them.

He continued, “Universities are critical arenas in the movement to recognize and address sexual violence and misconduct as a societal problem. Drexel takes that responsibility very seriously, and the decision to revoke Mr. Cosby’s honorary degree flows from that responsibility.”

Cosby was awarded the traditional honorary degree, a Doctor in Pedagogy (the field dealing with the method and practice of teaching), after he was the convocation speaker for that academic year. Drexel’s revocation follows similar revocations by several schools around the country, including Lehigh University and Franklin & Marshall College. The University of Pittsburgh, Haverford College and West Chester University have reportedly been discussing the option, according to Philadelphia Magazine. Temple University, Cosby’s alma mater, has been outspoken in the defense of Cosby, and reported having no discussion of revoking Cosby’s degree. The vice president of the office of communications of the University of Pennsylvania said that it was not in their practice to revoke honorary degrees, and thus was not discussing the option. (However, University of Pennsylvania has revoked two honorary degrees in the past, belonging to German Kaiser Friedrich Wilhelm II (awarded 1905) and German ambassador to the United States and Mexico Johann Heinrich von Bernstorff (awarded 1911). Both had their degrees rescinded in 1918.

This is the first that Drexel has mentioned revoking Cosby’s honorary degree. When Philadelphia Magazine asked schools whether they would be revoking their honorary degrees in light of the allegations in October, Drexel did not respond. However, they did report to New York Magazine on or before October 27 that “no action had been taken at this time.”

Stephen Sheller, a member of Drexel’s Board of Trustees was quoted in a story Nov. 2 by the Philadelphia Inquirer about decisions to revoke Cosby’s honorary degrees. Sheller said, “You want to be very cautious and get all the information and make a carefully considered decision. I see other universities have done it. I would recommend we find out what was behind their decision and make sure we’re making the right decision.”

Following Drexel’s revocation, there are now 36 schools left where Cosby holds honorary degrees.

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Among Drexel’s most notable students, Sophomore business major Kinzey Lynch has been making headlines and getting attention all over — for running down the Schuylkill River. But what makes him so special for doing the same thing hundreds of people do on a daily basis? Lynch was born with micropthalmia, a condition that impairs his vision to only shadows and colors. Lynch, clearly, has never let that slow him down from what he wants.

“I got into running in middle school. Prior to running I wrestled as a kid. I sprained my knee in a match and decided to take up a less contact sport. I was drawn to running because of the comradery it brought,” Lynch said.

“When running, I was not limited by my vision. I could run just as my sighted peers. I started out running 5K’s in my hometown of Collegeville with my high school cross country team. In my junior year I stumbled upon ‘Achilles International,’ a nonprofit organization that provides guides for runners with physical or mental impairments,” he continued. Having a guide allowed him to run long distances such as the Schuylkill River Trail.

Photo courtesy: Kinzey Lynch

He joined the group in October 2012. By January 2013 he was able to increase his rate of five miles in one run to being able to complete a half-marathon of 13.1 miles. It would be that following November that he would go on to complete the Philadelphia Marathon, a race spans the distance of 26.2 miles long.

“My proudest moment thus far has been when I crossed the finish line at my first marathon. This meant a lot to me because of the hard work that went into preparing for this race. Many of my guides and my parents made a lot of sacrifices to allow running that race to be possible,” Lynch spoke of his experience. “Having my first marathon happen in my hometown was special, but crossing the finish line in front of my friends and family was the culmination of months of hard work and dedication. In a way that is what running has meant to me. I love to run because each race builds on the last. Each run helps you to prepare for the next challenge.”

Lynch would go on to complete a multitude of other marathons, including the Chicago Marathon in October 2014 while starting his freshman year Drexel University. He is currently preparing to run the New York Marathon Nov. 1.

“On average, during marathon training, my miles per week are around 60-70 depending on what my schedule calls for. I often times will run during the week at night. Running later in the day helps me to clear my head of any stress from the day and prepare for the next day,” he said. “On the weekends I typically have a long run which can vary during training from 10 to 20 miles. I typically run the loop of West River Drive but also enjoy running across the bridge into Camden for hill practice.”

He went on to say, “Running marathons in my opinion is much like the journey we all face in life. Much like marathon training life can be filled with challenges. You may have good runs, you may have bad runs. But no matter how bad things may seem, no matter how far or difficult the run, you never give up. You always must keep fighting until you reach the finish. I try to live my life how I run. Each goal to me is another race. Each day another practice run to prepare you for success.”

Photo courtesy: Kinzey Lynch

Lynch also discussed about how people reacted to his impairment when he began running in high school. “As I began running in high school I was told my visual impairment would make me a liability on the course and that having a sighted guide would provide me with an unfair advantage. After continued persistence however this would change. I haven’t had any problems running here at Drexel,” he said.

Although after entering college, Lynch said he experienced less ableism, though he did report some difficulties in the classroom. “A majority of my professors have never had a student with a visual impairment and some are less willing to accommodate than others,” Lynch commented.

He continued about what it’s like to live in a city. “Navigating around the city can provide its own set of challenges. I’ve had to learn to be more in tune with my environment when doing seemingly simple tasks such as crossing Market St. or finding my next class. Over time, however, practice makes perfect and I have found that once professors see that I am willing to put the extra work in to be successful, they are more the willing to work with me. Finding my way around campus has also gotten significantly easier over the past year.”

Despite these challenges, Lynch gave some words for current and future students who find themselves facing similar experience. “The best advice I can give to someone with a similar situation to mine is to always be open to new possibilities. I found running by accident and it was undoubtedly the best decision I could have made. Being afraid of what may happen can limit what your potential. Living in fear of falling may prevent you from having some of the most rewarding and gratifying experiences. While there is always room for improvement in the way of accessibility both in sports and in life as a whole it is the responsibility of people with disabilities to live life to the fullest.”

He continued, “If I can find success in running and at Drexel the same can be said for anyone else. If you want anything bad enough you will always find a way to have it.” Lynch ended his story saying he doesn’t believe that what he is doing should be considered “out of the ordinary.” To him, he’s just being himself.

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On August 17, a coalition of researchers from Drexel University, the University of Pittsburgh and the National Institute of Health published a research article suggesting that the Ebola virus can survive for at least a week or longer in sterilized waste water. Charles Haas, the department head and director of the environmental engineering program at Drexel was one of the main researchers involved in the discovery.

“My long term research interest is in the assessment and control of human risk from environmental exposure to pathogens, so this fit in well with many other things we’ve done in the past,” he wrote in an email interview. “I started to look at two principal issues — how do we know what the incubation time is, and what happens to patient waste, particularly for the patients coming back to developed countries for treatment.”

Haas, whose specialty includes water treatment, risk assessment, bioterrorism, environmental modeling and statistics, microbiology, and environmental health began by looking into this research by studying the guidelines on viral decontamination set by the World Health Organization and the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. He did this along with colleagues at the University of Pittsburgh. These guidelines state that patient toilet waste could be directly released into the sewage which contradicted what Haas and his colleagues knew about viral infection prevention.

Photo courtesy Wikimedia, Moreau1

Ebola, a virus currently seen in prevalence in areas of West Africa, dominated the headlines earlier this year when an outbreak reached emergency levels in the region, taking the lives of thousands of people. With some infections reaching all the way to Europe and the United States, infection prevention continues to be a serious issue for medical personnel in West Africa and the States. The virus is known to be passed on from contact of bodily fluids such as blood, saliva, waste, semen and vomit.

After this, the team read into literature about Ebola and its related viruses about its survivability in the environment. They saw no reason in which the guidelines would be effective in eliminating Ebola from the wastewater in the method they said, which would not have worked on many viruses in general. “We were then able to obtain funding from the National Science Foundation and the Water Environment Research Foundation,” Haas wrote.  “The NSF work, which Pitt is leading without collaboration, focuses on experimental studies of viruses that could be indicators for Ebola survival in wastewater; we have also been able to collaborate with a group at the National Institutes of Health where they are able to do disinfection studies on Ebola virus.”

He continued, “Our current work is in fact confirming that Ebola can persist in wastewater for as long as a week.”

Haas affirmed that he planned to further conduct experiments on the sensitivity of Ebola to various disinfectants which might be used, such as bleach or detergents. He went on to describe the risks of ebola infected wastewater.

“For the WERF work, which we are leading, we have developed a risk assessment for sewer system workers who are working in the vicinity of the discharge of a hospital wastewater into a sewage collector,” he wrote. “We are finding that the [non-disinfected] patient wastewater may in fact pose a small risk to these workers and further study and data collection are needed to more fully characterize this.”

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