Cougar Village Newsletter

DO NOT USE YOUR OVEN FOR HEATING YOUR APARTMENT!

For your safety and wellbeing, please do not use your oven to heat your apartment!

It is dangerous, inefficient, and violates University Housing Policy!

Still not convinced, here are some other reasons why not to use your oven to heat your apartment!

1. Carbon Monoxide (CO) Poisoning. If you live on the 400-side of the Cougar Village, you have a gas oven. By using your oven to heat your apartment you’re putting yourself at risk for carbon monoxide poisoning if you try to use the oven for heat. Carbon monoxide is invisible, odorless, and tasteless, so you won’t be able to tell if it’s seeping into your home. Moderate levels of the gas can cause headaches, dizziness, nausea, and fainting (it is sometimes mistaken for the flu). High levels can be fatal. When you use your appliances correctly, you don’t need to worry about carbon monoxide poisoning, but using a gas oven as a heater is not the proper way to employ the appliance.
2. Unattended High Heat. Leaving an oven, which can create an abundance of heat, alone while active is very dangerous.  The longer an oven is on -- especially unattended -- the greater the chance of an electrical malfunction leading to a fire.  There is also a chance that something might fall into the oven or onto the stove (like a napkin or cloth) and create a fire.  Ovens are designed to heat the small internal area where your food is cooked, not an entire apartment.
3. Burns Hurt!  You and your roommates, they could be seriously burned through accidental contact with the oven.
4. Inefficient Heating. Because it was not created to heat an apartment, it should be no surprise that an oven cannot efficiently heat up your home. Standing right beside it, you’ll feel toasty, but the air won’t be able to circulate through the apartment very well.
5. Limited effects. Standing right near the oven, you may feel toasty. But there's no mechanism to get the hot air circulating through the rest of your apartment. Plus, spending your days and nights standing or sleeping next to an open oven is neither convenient nor safe.

Kitchen ovens were created to cook food, not to heat homes and apartments. If you want to stay warm this winter, bundle up, and use central heating.  If you are having issues with your heat, please contact UHFM though the work order process.  You can complete a work order online at http://hfmisd.siue.edu/

Stay warm this winter, but above all, stay safe!

Tutoring Resource Center SSC 1252 Hours during finals week!

Dec 8th – Dec 13^th

Saturday   9 -12 noon

Sunday     4 – 8pm

     Monday    8 – 6:30 pm

 Tuesday   8 – 6:30 pm

Wednesday 8 – 2pm

    Thursday  8 – 12 noon

Tutoring for math, science and business will be available

Don't Overload the Washers/Dryers!

Please be aware on campus we have normal sized machines that can only handle a regular size wash load.  When doing wash please do not attempt to wash bulky items like quilts, comforters, extra-large or heavy blankets, pillows, or cushions.  They have a tendency to create load balance issues with the machines which cause the seal to come loose and water to leak.  Also if you place too many items in the machine it won’t properly clean or dry your clothes.  Thanks for doing your part to keep the machines operational.

Prevent Mold/Mildew:  Clean Your Bathroom!

Please make sure you are routinely cleaning your bathroom and shower to prevent mold and mildew.  Thanks for doing your part to keep things clean.

What is Safe Zone?

Safe Zone is a community of people who:

• Will be understanding, supportive, and trustworthy if LGBTQIA people need help, advice, or just someone to talk to.
• Will not tolerate homophobic, heterosexist, cisgenderism comments and actions but will address them in an educational and informative manner.
• Have attended Safe Zone training and have information on campus and community resources.

Mission and Goals of Safe Zone:

Safe Zone's mission at SIUE is to develop a campus community of allies and provide support to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning, intersex, and ally (LGBTQIA) students, faculty, and staff with the ultimate goal of developing SIUE as a safe and welcoming place for LGBTQIA people.

If you have any questions please contact Dr. Shelley Price-Williams at shewill@siue.edu

Please stop by and check out the Career Development Center located in the basement of the Student Success Center, room 0281.  We can help you with your resume, cover letters, job search, LinkedIn accounts, graduate school personal statements/application, mock interviews, and much more.

SIUE Career Development Center
618-650-3708
careerdevelopment@siue.edu
www.siue.edu/careerdevelopmentcenter

Remember that you can search for full-time and co-op/internships on the Cougar Jobline.

Stay Healthy!  Fight the Flu!

What is Influenza (Flu)?

Flu is a contagious respiratory illness caused by influenza viruses that infect the nose, throat, and sometimes the lungs. It can cause mild to severe illness, and at times can lead to death. The best way to prevent flu is by getting a flu vaccine each year.

Flu Symptoms

Flu can cause mild to severe illness, and at times can lead to death. Flu is different from a cold. Flu usually comes on suddenly. People who have flu often feel some or all of these symptoms:

• fever*
• cough
• sore throat
• runny or stuffy nose
• body aches
• headache
• chills
• fatigue
• sometimes diarrhea and vomiting

*It’s important to note that not everyone with flu will have a fever.

How Flu Spreads

Most experts believe that flu viruses spread mainly by tiny droplets made when people with flu cough, sneeze or talk. These droplets can land in the mouths or noses of people who are nearby. Less often, a person might get flu by touching a surface or object that has flu virus on it and then touching their own mouth, nose or possibly their eyes.

Period of Contagiousness

You may be able to pass on flu to someone else before you know you are sick, as well as while you are sick.

• People with flu are most contagious in the first 3-4 days after their illness begins.
• Some otherwise healthy adults may be able to infect others beginning 1 day before symptoms develop and up to 5 to 7 days afterbecoming sick.
• Some people, especially young children and people with weakened immune systems, might be able to infect others with flu viruses for an even longer time.

Onset of Symptoms

The time from when a person is exposed and infected with flu to when symptoms begin is about 2 days, but can range from about 1 to 4 days.

Preventing Seasonal Flu

The first and most important step in preventing flu is to get a flu vaccine each year. Flu vaccine has been shown to reduce flu related illnesses and the risk of serious flu complications that can result in hospitalization or even death. CDC also recommends everyday preventive actions (like staying away from people who are sick, covering coughs and sneezes and frequent handwashing) to help slow the spread of germs that cause respiratory (nose, throat, and lungs) illnesses, like flu.

For more information… https://www.cdc.gov/flu/keyfacts.htm

Some children are at especially high risk

Children at greatest risk of serious flu-related complications include the following:

1. Children younger than 6 months old
   These children are too young to be vaccinated. The best way to protect them is to make sure people around them are vaccinated.
2. Children aged 6 months up to their 5th birthday
   Since 2010, CDC estimates that flu-related hospitalizations among children younger than 5 years ranged from 7,000 to 26,000 in the United States. Even children in this age group who are otherwise healthy are at risk simply because of their age. Additionally, children 2 years of age up to their 5^thbirthday are more likely than healthy older children to be taken to a doctor, an urgent care center, or the emergency room because of flu^1,2,3. To protect their health, all children 6 months and older should be vaccinated against flu each year. Vaccinating young children, their families, and other caregivers can also help protect them from getting sick.
3. American Indian and Alaskan Native children
   These children are more likely to have severe flu illness that results in hospitalization or death.^4,5
4. Children aged 6 months through 18 years with chronic health problems, including:

• Asthma
• Neurological and neurodevelopmental conditions [including disorders of the brain, spinal cord, peripheral nerve, and muscle such as cerebral palsy, epilepsy (seizure disorders), stroke, intellectual disability, moderate to severe developmental delay, muscular dystrophy, or spinal cord injury]
• Chronic lung disease (such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease [COPD] and cystic fibrosis)
• Heart disease (such as congenital heart disease, congestive heart failure and coronary artery disease)
• Blood disorders (such as sickle cell disease)
• Endocrine disorders (such as diabetes mellitus)
• Kidney disorders
• Liver disorders
• Metabolic disorders (such as inherited metabolic disorders and mitochondrial disorders)
• Weakened immune system due to disease or medication (such as people with HIV or AIDS, or cancer, or those on chronic steroids)
• Children who are taking aspirin or salicylate-containing medicines
• Children with extreme obesity (body mass index [BMI] of 40 or more) Calculate your Body Mass Index or BMI, here

Vaccination is the best protection against flu

For more information…https://www.cdc.gov/flu/parents/index.htm

Sign up for e-Lert today!

What is e-Lert? SIUE's e-Lert is a text messaging service that will be used to quickly notify faculty, staff and student cell phones when an urgent situation, such as a bomb threat, severe weather, hostile intruder, or when the University closes due to inclement weather. There is no cost to register for the alerts; however, standard rates may apply if your cell phone plan does not include text messaging.

Rave Guardian

Southern Illinois University Edwardsville (SIUE) now offers the Rave Guardian app for its students and their families. Rave Guardian is one of the best ways to not only improve personal safety, but also protect your friends by building a private safety network. This app provides instant communication with friends, family, campus safety, and even 9-1-1.

SIUE encourages all students throughout campus to utilize the app to network with friends and help increase overall safety and security of the entire student body. An important part of the Guardian app is that students can use it not only to keep themselves safe, but to help protect others. Even students who may not feel as if they need others to help keep them safe can utilize the app to be a guardian and help protect their friends.

Download Rave Guardian and Become a Guardian on Your Campus

Download Rave Guardian for Free The app is available for free on the Apple or Google app store.

Use Rave Guardian to Protect Yourself and Others

Set a Safety Time – Notify people you trust to check in on you if are alone or in an unfamiliar place.

Manage and Message Your Guardians – Invite family, friends or others to be your Guardian, and communicate with them within the app as needed.

Easy Emergency Communication – Call safety officials directly for help if you are in trouble and send text tips – including photos – if you see something suspicious.

Rave Guardian is a proven personal safety solution used on campuses across the country. To learn more, visit siue.edu/emergency.