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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 21, 2004)
Today Friday Saturday High: 58 High: 57 High: 57 Low: 46 Low: 46 Low: 40 Precip: 20% Precip: 80% Precip: 60% MORE ONLINE, Will Tour, director of the University of Colorado Environmental Center, will speak on campus today as part of Campus Sustainability Month. Visit www.dailyemerald.com for the complete story. IN BRIEF Senate approves request The ASUO Student Senate ap proved a special funding request from the University Mentor Pro gram at a meeting Wednesday night in the EMU Board Room. The sena tors voted unanimously to transfer $3,245 into the group’s account to make up for a shortfall in projected funding and for program growth. The request was the first for the program, which matches students with professionals in career fields in which they are interested. Program officials originally projected a carry forward of $8,000, but personnel and telecommunications costs caused by service expansions ne cessitated the change, according to a program representative. Senator Kevin Day commended the group for coming forward with its suspected carry forward and budgeting in advance. “To be off by $2,000 is still a good job, considering how their budget actually is and how much they pro jected,” he said. Erin O’Brien, the new director of the ASUO Women’s Center, also in troduced herself at the meeting. O’Brien, who recently moved to Eu gene from Los Angeles, said the Women’s Center has been under both physical and philosophical construction, saying the program will strive to be “truly inclusive.” Senators also nominated mem bers to sit on an executive hiring committee to fill Senate 15, which is currently empty. — Parker Howell Zoning: Class collaborates Continued from page 1 He said he had never considered the historical aspect of the targeted neighborhood or the idea of pre serving a buffer zone between resi dential and commercial areas of the neighborhood. “What they want to do makes it a difficult design problem,” he said, adding that it is crucial for archi tects to consider any concerns resi dents might have. The three-person Planning Division hearing the request issued a statement in favor of Williams Bakery, acknowledging that the request was indeed legitimate, according to the new site-review criteria. However, at the request of Fairmont Neighborhood Associa tion members, both sides have one more week to submit additional evidence and testimony to be considered at an Oct. 27 meeting. meghanncuniff@dailyemerald. com ^■1 Oregon faces worst shortage of flu vaccine in 10 years The state will supply the shot for the 12 counties with the lowest percentage of vaccinated residents BY RUKMINI CALLIMACHI THE ASSOCIATED PRESS PORTLAND — Less than half of high-risk Oregonians will be immunized this season as the state braces for its worst flu-vaccine shortage in a decade, state health officials said Wednesday. “You can definitely call it an ‘acute’ shortage," state epidemiolo gist Dr. Mel Kohn said. Officials estimate that 1 million Oregonians fall into the high-risk category, which includes the elderly, the sick and the very young, according to the Atlanta, Ga.,-based Centers for Disease Control. In a typical flu season, only about 500,000 of those people choose to get vaccinated. State officials are hoping that number will not increase this year. A statewide assessment shows that Oregon has received roughly 224,664 flu shots this season. State officials believe Oregon will be allotted another 250,000 vaccines by private provider Aventis Pasteur, one of the nation's two flu vaccine providers — and the only one left standing after British authorities shut down the Chiron Corp.'s Liverpool plant, causing the U.S. shortage. A serious problem will arise if more than the yearly average elects to be vaccinated this year, said Dr. Grant Higginson, Oregon public health officer. “My concern is that with all of media attention and all the work we’ve been doing to get the at-risk folks vaccinated, that we may see more than the average 50 percent,” he said. The Oregon Department of Human Services will distribute 4,000 doses of the flu vaccine from its own reserves to the 12 counties that have the lowest percentage of vaccinated people. The 12 counties, almost all of them along the Oregon Coast or in Eastern Oregon, have vaccinated less than 13 percent of theirhigh-risk residents. No county in Oregon has vaccinated more than 60 percent of its population, officials said. Moreover, the state expects to receive an additional 20,000 doses directly from Aventis Pasteur, part of the 250,000 expected to arrive in the state. The rest will be distributed directly by the vaccine manufacturer to private health-care providers, including veterans’ hospitals and long-term-care facilities. Aventis Pasteur will release 14 million vaccines nationally within the next eight weeks, followed by an additional 8 million doses in January. The current shortage is expected to stress all levels of Oregon's public health system. For example, state officials have said that doctors will be fined up to $500 for administering a vaccine to - 11 l—l—H—l a patient whois outside the high risk group. But within that broadly defined population, there are no guidelines as to whom should be vaccinated first — a pregnant woman, an infant, a 90-year-old nursing home patient? “If you check any one of the boxes, we send you straight in to get your shot. We don’t say she’s older than you, so she should go first. Or he's sicker than you, so he should go first,” said Kaiser Permanente spokesman Jim Gersbach. Health care workers who deliver direct care to patients are also in the priority group, ranked no higher or lower than their patients. “Nursing homes are going to have to make some tough decisions,” Higginson said. Kaiser Permanente, one of Oregon's largest health care providers, announced Wednesday that it expects to cancel its flu-shot clinics after ex hausting its vaccine supply. “If demand holds steady, we expect to go through our vaccine supply by sometime on Friday,” said Jan Weaver, coordinator of Kaiser Permanente’s flu vaccination campaign. Elbe Nelson, 68, of Milwaukie, said she was on pins and needles un til she was able to get her flu shot Monday, the second day of the Kaiser Permanente clinic in Portland. “I feel very fortunate,” she said. “I was indeed concerned. I’m older, and I suffer from asthma — anything respiratory I pick up goes very se vere. I feel very sorry for the people who have not been able to have theirs,” she said. -"‘^ y^Great resume builder ^^Help increase voter turnout • Help pfan and run a smooth election procelj^^ • Applications available outside the ASUO office in Suite^EMU. • Applications Due October 28th at 5pm @ the ASUO officel^ • For iriore information, contact Kelly Cheeseman at 346-0629^ An affirmative action/equal opportunity/American with Disabilities Act Employer
