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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (May 3, 1979)
c lj si &LJI L1J-, MW* Aggie med techs live in Health Center By Mark Herron Battalion Reporter Steve Borron has been in the Beutel Health Center every day for the past two years. But don’t feel sorry for him — he gets paid for it. Borron lives in a room on the second floor of the Health Center, where he’s a student worker. Frank Felts and Jim Persons, also stu dents, live there too. David Sabado, also a student worker at the Health Center, is mar ried and lives off-campus. Borron said he and the other workers alternate working 5 p.m. till 7:30 a.m. each day. Their respon- siblities include X-raying patients, performing lab tests such as measuring blood counts and driving the ambulance. Borron, a senior from Imperial, said they make 15 to 20 ambulance runs a month. “Most of the calls are for people who sprained their ankle while play ing intramurals,” said Felts, a sophomore from Houston. “Some serious cases have come up,” Borron said, “where visitors to the campus have had heart attacks or strokes. “In those cases we take the pa tient to one of the hospitals in Bryan.” Borron said the worst case he remembers was a student who was stabbed in the chest by his suite- mate. “We bandaged him up and took him to St. Joseph’s (Hospital).” “We’re required to be Emergency Medical Technicians,” he said about the qualifications for the jobs. “To be certified you have to take a health education class, have 40 hours of experience working in a hospital and pass an exam given by the state.” Felts said he doesn’t think the Health Center deserves the name “the Quack Shack.” “I’d say the students get pretty good care for their money.” One area Borron is concerned about is ambulance service. “We use a I972 Ford station wagon for an ambulance,” he said. “It’s got 96,000 miles on it and sometimes we can’t make an emergency call because the ambulance is in the shop.” Borron, a zoology major, and Felts, a med student have hopes of being accepted to Texas A&M’s School of Medicine. “If nothing else” Felts said, “hav ing this job shows I have enough interest in medicine, that I don’t mind getting my hands dirty.” Borron said he is paid $3.14 per hour, while Felts, who has worked in the Health Center four months, makes $2.75. Room and board costs around $100 per month, Borron said. Felts said they eat in the Health Center cafeteria that’s only open to the staff and patients. “We don’t get room service,” he said. Borron said the job rarely gets in the way of his studies. But some times a patient may require con stant “lab work” throughout the night. “A diabetic may come in and you might have to take his blood sugar count every 30 minutes,” he said.” You might be up all night before a major exam and not get to study.” “We usually work about 20 hours a week,” said Felts. Borron said living in the Health Center differs little from living in a regular dorm, “except there are no panty raids.” Their rooms consist of a small living area with Health Center furni ture and decor, two bedrooms with dirty clothes draped across the bunkbeds and one bathroom. A stack of 28 take-out pizza boxes sit in one corner the room. “We average three or four pizi as a week,” Felts said, “one of t lese days we’re going to take the boxes back to Domino Pizza and demand a free pizza.” Borron said they are able to play their stereo, but not very loudly. “It stays pretty quiet around here,” he said. “It’s a great place to study.” The main problem with living in the Health Center, Borron said, is a lack of privacy. There’s a sign on the door that reads, “Staff Only,” and that creates a lot of problems, he said. “Most people think this is an of fice, he said, “so people barge in while you’re sitting around in your underwear.” Lack of privacy is not the only problem though. “Every time I go to cash a check,” Borron said, “I go through an interrogation.” “The cashier never believes the address on my check because it says I live at the Health Center,” he said. “When people ask me where I live,” Felts said, “I say the Health Center, and they say, ‘you live where?’ “Then I have to go over the whole story of why I live here,” Felts said. But, he also said, “It’s a great way to get a conversation started.” One of the four student workers who live in on campus. They make I5 to 20 ambulance the Health Center, makes an ambulance run runs a month. TRAVEL TIPS Europe’s low cost youth hostel and railway systems are the key to successful travel. A fee of $11 to join the Interna tional Youth Hostels Association could save a student traveling in Europe more than $20 a night in hotel expenses. YOUTH HOSTELS are located in most major European cities. With a membership card, a student can stay in any hostel for only three to eight dollars a night, with some even providing breakfast. Although it may be possible to write for an advance reservation, it’s usually not hard to get a spot. The hostels are “big dorms" with about 12 bunk beds to a room. And even though they give you a tube shaped sleeping sack you should have your own sleeping bag. There may be some thieves so a good place to put valuables is in the bottom of a sleeping bag. Public transportation in Europe is quite different that in the United States and student travelers highly recommend buying Eurail Youthpasses because trains are relatively inexpensive and go al most everywhere. A ONE-MONTH pass will make it possible to travel in fifteen different countries for $160. A two-month pass is $260. The European train stations are a good place to pick up tourist infor mation on where to stay, bus routes or directions to a student travel of fice. Purchasing travelers checks be fore leaving the U.S. is a good idea, not only for protection, but usually only big tourist traps will accept U.S. currency. And banks charge 1 to 2 percent when changing currency — so you would lose some money this way. Besides, Europeans really do work bankers hours and some close'as early as 1 p.m. THE FOOD in Europe is expen sive, especially in Switzerland and Germany where the value of the dol lar is low. The French sales-tax sys tem makes its food also expensive. While traveling, a way to take care of some meals is to visit local markets and buy bread, cheese and wine, all of which can be easily car ried in a backpack. Since time is important to most students, flying is the fastest way to get to Europe. Choosing an airline is difficult, but a good way is to check newspapers and travel agencies to compare prices and quality. Choose a reputable charter firm or travel agency to protect yourself. Tour operators are very competitive and there are some airlines that fly charters exclusively. BY CHARTER, a round trip ticket costs about half the price of a com mercial flight. The pitfall of this way to travel is the high risk of the char ter not operating — that is the chart operator may cancel at any time, even on the departure date while the passengers are at the airport waiting for their plane to take off. By charter, the student must leave and return on specific dates. Laker Airlines’ Skytrain goes from New York to London on a “first come, first served” basis. No reser vations are taken except for those who are not able to get on the first flight they wait for. A Skytrain now also flies round trip from Los Angeles to London for about $367. The round trip flight from New York is about $254. In flight meals are an additional $3.50. Germs don’t need a passport United Press International An ounce of prevention could be worth more than a pound of cure for Americans traveling abroad, medi cally speaking. Vaccinations against smallpox may no longer be required since the World Health Organization has re ported the eradication of the once-dreaded disease. (China still requires inoculation, however.) But even so, precautions may still be necessary to protect the American traveler in foreign lands against other potential health hazards, such as cholera, yellow fever, typhoid and malaria. Check public health offi cials, airlines and travel agents on conditions about 10 days before departure to allow time for any inocula tions. Americans planning to visit or pass through infected areas should obtain necessary immunizations before leaving home. Failure to do so could result in being quarantined or even denied entry. And other countries on the itinerary will demand proof of immunization for admission, as will the United States on return home. Cholera shots can be administered by the family doctor or local public health services — usually two injections at least seven days apart — and are good for six months. Only one booster shot is necessary. Yellow fever vaccinations — one injection — last 10 years but can only be given at U.S. Public Health Service or officially designated centers in most major U.S. cities. The inoculations — along with other required and recommended shots — must be recorded in the au thorized International Certificate of Vaccination form and validated with the official stamp of the health de partment and-or immunization center.