ND students lacking proper immunizations By LESLIE

Public health officials have dis­ covered that 66 percent o f the American students and 88 percent o f the foreign students at Notre Dame lack p roper immunizations. This was learned after officials ex­ amined the health records o f 9,000 students fo llow ing recent outbreaks o f measles and rubella on college campuses across the country. Dr. James E. Bowes, pub lic health office r o f St. Joseph County, has jo ined members o f the N otre Dame Student Health Service in investigat­ ing the records. W ith in the past 10 years it has been ru led that all ch ild ren entering kindergarten must be immunized. A ccord ing to Bowes,“ The students w ho are in college now just slipped by.” The most recent outbreak in the area occurred tw o weeks ago at Purdue University. Since then 5,400 students have been immunized. “ But that was after the fact,” Bowes comments, “ We want to im m unize ou r students before an outbreak.” O ther such outbreaks have oc­ curred at Texas’s Baylor College, and both Ferris College and Kalamazoo College in Michigan. Bowes has been fo llow ing this problem fo r tw o years and decided to take action before the outbreak at Purdue occurred. He began w ork ing w ith the Student Health Service six weeks ago. “ I predicted this long before Purdue.” As o f today, he has gone through 3,000 health records. One thousand letters o f inv ita tion have gone ou t to students who have not been immmunized o r have no record o f im ­ munization. “ I f a student has p ro o f o f im m unization, w e encourage him or her to come in and a llow us to update ou r records,” he said. The Student Health Service has purchased the im m unization supplies and w il l charge students at cost. The cost w i l l range from *3 to $12 depending on the num ber o f shots given. He rem inds students that the le tters they w i l l receive this week do not require that they be im ­ munized. I t is m erely a preventative action that is strongly encouraged. Bowes has also contacted the health service at Saint Mary’s. “ Mrs. Wood, w ho is in charge o f Saint Mary’s Health Services, w ill be checking her students’ records and we w ill assist her in any we can.” The goal o f University health o ffi­ cials is to im m unize all students necessary by spring break. Bowes says,“ W hen they leave campus they w il l be in contact w ith younger brothers and sisters and o ther pos­ sible carriers. We want to pro tect them before they leave fo r break. Any student w ith questions is en­ couraged to contact Bowes at 2849573. F lan ne r resident K u r t Shinn dives f o r a w ide sports possib le toss in one o f the f i r s t baseball games o f the year. Cupero). Unseasonably w arm tem peratures made such yesterday. (P hoto by H a m il