April 29, 2009
As you have undoubtedly heard, human cases of swine influenza A (H1N1) (swine flu) virus infection have been identified in the United States, Canada, and Mexico, the likely epicenter of the outbreak. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is working very closely with officials in the states where human cases of swine influenza have been identified, as well as with health officials, in Mexico, Canada and the World Health Organization.
On Tuesday, April 28 the first confirmed case of swine flu was reported in Chicago’s Rogers Park neighborhood. Of course there is reason for concern, but there is no need for alarm. However, the situation could rapidly escalate and I believe it is prudent that the college community be properly informed.
This strain of swine flu is an acute and highly contagious respiratory disease. Symptoms of swine flu are like regular flu symptoms and include:
• Fever
• Cough
• Sore throat
• Body aches
• Headache
• Chills
• Fatigue
If you are experiencing any of these symptoms and believe you may have swine flu, it is imperative that you stay home, contact your health care provider, and inform your supervisor.
Students should contact Student Health Center at 312.369.6830. Work-aid and work study students should also contact their supervisors.
Because of the extraordinary circumstances associated with the swine flu, the CareATC on-site medical clinic will be available to all faculty and staff who have questions regarding swine flu symptoms. Faculty and staff may email the CareATC clinic at columbiacollege@careatc.com with your questions and phone number and they will receive a return phone call.
With the current level of concern, the college has elected to follow basic infection control procedures.
Basic infection control:
• Wash your hands frequently
• Cover your cough (see attached PDF flyer)
• Isolate yourself if you develop an upper respiratory infection (i.e. do not come to work)
After consulting with President Carter, the college is taking the following actions at this time:
• Distribute infection control announcements and updates via the college’s student portal, The Loop, List Serve Announcements and the college’s website.
• Provide hand sanitizers and tissues for work and common areas.
• Provide wipes for shared keyboards, phones, and other such surfaces.
These items will be available at the security stations in each building starting Thursday, April 30th.
A supply of each product will be distributed to all campus computer labs.
Students, faculty, and staff may pick up supplies at security stations in their buildings.
Should the situation change the college will make additional announcements and/or updates via the student portal, The Loop, List Serve Announcements and the college’s website.
Additional FAQS:
How do people become infected?
Most transmission is by cough and droplet. Usually such transmission is limited to 3 feet and this transmission is reduced by covering your cough. Transmission is also reduced by frequent hand washing.
How can I protect myself from getting swine influenza from infected people?
To protect yourself, practice general preventive measures for influenza:
• Avoid close contact with people who appear ill and who have fever and cough.
• Wash your hands with soap and water frequently and thoroughly.
• Practice good health habits including adequate sleep, eating nutritious food, and keeping physically active.
What should I do if I think I have swine influenza?
If you feel ill, have high fever, cough and/or sore throat:
• Stay home and keep away from work, school or crowds as much as possible.
• Contact your healthcare provider.
• Rest and take plenty of fluids.
• Cover your mouth and nose with disposable tissues when coughing and sneezing and dispose of the used tissues properly.
• Wash your hands with soap and water frequently and thoroughly, especially after coughing or sneezing. Hand sanitizer may be used when you are unable to wash with soap and water.
• Inform family and friends about your illness and seek help for household chores that require contact with other people such as shopping.
If you need medical attention:
• Contact your doctor or healthcare provider or the Student Health Center 312.369.6830 before traveling to see them and report your symptoms. Explain why you think you have swine flu. Follow the advice given to you for care.
• If it is not possible to contact your healthcare provider in advance, communicate your suspicion of having swine influenza immediately upon arrival at the healthcare facility.
• If you are ill, take care to cover your nose and mouth during travel outside of your home.
Blair Odland, MD
Student Health Center
CHICAGO, IL (April 17, 2009) -- The executive directors of three of Columbia College Chicago’s Centers and Institutes are among prominent Chicago women honored for their contributions to, and leadership in, the arts, education, philanthropy and civic engagement.
Monica Hairston, executive director of the Center for Black Music Research has received the Chicago Defender’s Women of Excellence recognition. This award acknowledges and celebrates African American women who personify the exemplary qualities of respect, responsibility, passion, sisterhood and leadership. The Museum of Science and Industry hosted a high tea and reception on April 17 for the Women of Excellence.
Jane Saks, executive director of the Ellen Stone Belic Institute for the Study of Women and Gender in the Arts and Media, has been named one of the Forty Who Have Made A Difference with an award from the Business and Professional People for the Public Interest. Jane will receive her honors at a ceremony at the Fairmont Hotel on May 1.
Nancy Tom, executive director of the Center for Asian Arts and Media, was recognized by the Asian American Leadership Council of the Chicago Foundation for Women at their April 8 Breaking Barriers event. Nancy joined four Asian American women leaders in the creative arts as she was recognized for her contributions in the areas of academics and philanthropy.
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Chicago, IL (April 14, 2009) – ChicagoTalks, an independent online news source featuring the work of Columbia College Chicago journalism students has won a national Sigma Delta Chi Award for online investigative reporting for a May, 2008 story by Columbia students Erica Christoffer and Becky Schlikerman. The story, an in-depth expose of questionable recordkeeping by the Chicago City Council, was co-published by the online Beachwood Reporter.
The award will be given in late August at the national conference of the Society of Professional Journalists, the nation’s largest journalism group.
Also receiving awards this year at the SPJ event are the New York Times, the Chicago Tribune, the Washington Post, National Public Radio, CBS News / 60 Minutes and a host of other print, online and broadcast news outlets.
ChicagoTalks is co-published by journalism department faculty members Suzanne McBride and Barbara K. Iverson. The team launched the site two years ago with a grant from J-Lab: The Institute of Interactive Journalism. ChicagoTalks has published more than 400 stories, including an earlier investigation that won a national ward from Investigative Reporters and Editors.
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Chicago, IL (April 13, 2009) – A group of Columbia College Chicago graduates from several disciplines have won a Silver Telly Award for “Impossible Is Nothing,” a spec commercial for Adidas produced for the 2008 “Get Your Spot Shot” program out of Columbia’s Portfolio Center. The Telly Awards were created in 1978 to strengthen the visual arts community by inspiring, promoting and supporting creativity. Entries are received from an international field of contestants.
“Impossible is Nothing” was a collaboration by creatives from several disciplines. Conceived by Ramon Davis of Marketing Communications and Winston Yanni from Advertising, Art Direction, the spot was directed by Vlady Oszkiel. Cinematography was by Jamieson Mulholland. Jill DiBiase served as editor and Quintin Radford produced. The production team all hailed from Film & Video.
"Being a part of this multi-department initiative was an invaluable experience in that it created a practical environment for students in different visual mediums to collaborate," said Radford.
The “Get Your Spot Shot” program is sponsored by Columbia’s Portfolio Center in conjunction with the Art & Design, Marketing Communication, and Film & Video Departments. Now entering its third cycle, the program gives advertising art and copywriting students the opportunity to submit 30-second spot ideas, along with a script and storyboards. The top three concepts are selected and then produced by film students. Each production uses a $1000 budget donated by the sponsoring departments.
“The need to collaborate with other departments is essential to prepare students for the real world. This was a real team effort,” says Alan Rado, one of last year’s Spot Shot faculty advisors. Rado, a former instructor at Columbia, initiated the project with the Portfolio Center because he felt, “advertising students needed an opportunity to take their ideas a step further.”
Tracey Nader, Senior Copywriter at Wunderman and a Spot Shot judge says, “It was great to see the breadth of work and talent that existed at Columbia. It was fun to get a glimpse of what today's students deem creative excellence and where their imaginations are taking them.”
All spots produced through the “Get Your Spot Shot” program can be viewed at www.colum.edu/spotshot
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Chicago, IL (April 6, 2009) -- Before The Daily Show, the Colbert Report and JibJab, there was the editorial cartoon. These witty and often-times biting social commentaries were found in the nation’s newspapers and magazines long before the current crop of television and online brands of political satire came to screens across America. Throughout the years, these satirical cartoons have lampooned everything and everyone from Barack to Blago. Political cartoons have been published in newspapers and magazines in the U.S. since 1754 when Benjamin Franklin created his “Join, or Die” cartoon for the Pennsylvania Gazette.
In 1980, with the passing of legendary editorial cartoonist John Fischetti, Columbia College Chicago developed the Fischetti Competition to recognize excellence in the field. For more than a quarter-century, The Fischetti has celebrated the profession of editorial cartooning and the men and women whose wit and artistry hold both politicians and the public to account, asking us to think, to discuss and often to amend our behavior.
Lee Judge of the Kansas City Star is the 2009 first place winner for his “Price of Gas,” a stark and poignant anti-war statement depicting a soldier’s helmet perched on a rifle. Honorable mentions went to Mike Luckovich of the Atlanta Journal Constitution for “Day One” in which President Obama sits at his desk taping together the U.S. Constitution and Michael Ramirez of Investor’s Business Daily for his biting critique of the banking scandal and the victimization of the American taxpayer.
Visit our website to view the winning cartoons, learn more about the winners get the history on the Fischetti award and scholarship.
The 2009 Fischetti Editorial Cartoon Competition Awards and Reception honoring Judge, Luckovich and Ramirez will be held on Thursday, April 16 in the college’s Hokin Annex Gallery, 623 S. Wabash Ave. A live auction of this year’s winners will be held during the event. A silent auction of recent images drawn and signed by past Fischetti winners, many of them also recipients of the Pulitzer Prize, are also available that evening, a separate collection from the on-line gallery. To R.S.V.P. for the event call 312-369-6600. New this year is an online auction of political cartoons.
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CHICAGO, IL (April 3, 2009) – Columbia continues to gather accolades for the wealth of exceptional writing its student body produces. The Fiction Writing Department has announced that the 30th anniversary issue of Hair Trigger received its fourth consecutive Gold Crown Award from the Columbia University Scholastic Press Association (CSPA) at ceremonies on March 15, 2009.
Fiction Writing students featured in Hair Trigger 30 won several individual awards, including first-place prizes in all three of the major categories – Experimental Fiction, Creative Nonfiction Essay, and Traditional Fiction. This last category was swept by students who claimed all three of the top Traditional Fiction prizes, including three honorable mentions.
The Fiction Writing Department entered their departmental publication Fictionary for the first time. The news magazine, which featured cover art by legendary cartoonist Art Spiegelman, competed in the CSPA Specialty Magazine category and came away with a Silver Medalist Award. In all, Spring 2009 is a winning season for the written word at Columbia.
For a complete list of the 2009 winning students, visit Fiction Writing on the Columbia website.