News Briefs

Nasty virus hits universities

SACKVILLE, N.B. – Classes resumed Oct. 16 at Mount Allison University after an outbreak of a Norwalk-type virus left hundreds of people on and off campus sick.

According to news reports, no sports or social activities were planned for the first day back, and university administrators were asking students and staff who are still sick to stay at home. The local health department reported a steady decline in the number of cases of gastrointestinal illness and said it was still awaiting test results to confirm the cause of the illness.

In Edmonton, some 115 residents of Lister Hall at the University of Alberta had fallen victim to gastrointestinal illness by mid-October. The exact cause of the illness was not confirmed but a medical officer with Capital Health told the media the symptoms displayed by the students – nausea, vomiting and diarrhea – were consistent with the Norwalk virus.

Canadian Press provided the following facts about Norwalk virus:

- named after Norwalk, Ohio, where it was first identified.

- although nasty, the virus is short-lived, typically 24 to 72 hours. Stay home. Drink clear fluids. Do not go to the hospital.

- it takes a very low dose of the virus, which is capable of surviving on inanimate objects for at least 12 days, to get sick.

Campus by design

CALGARY – The University of Calgary is hiring world-renowned architects to design some of the major projects in the campus’s $1.5 billion capital expansion.

Quoted in a news release, U of C President Harvey Weingarten said “we know that the functionality of campus space plays a vital role in enhancing the learning experience. We believe Calgary deserves an exceptionally well-designed campus.”

Up and down research

TORONTO – York University researchers floated in zero gravity recently aboard an airplane modified to simulate weightlessness in an effort find out why astronauts become disoriented in space.

A York news release said the Canadian Space Agency-funded research took in Bordeaux, France, aboard a specially designed Airbus 300. The plane flies 30 parabolas per flight to create 22-second-long periods of microgravity. “Basically, we’re looking at what happens to astronauts’ perception of up and down when we take away the cue of gravity,” said team leader Laurence Harris, professor of Psychology in York’s new Faculty of Health.

“Being in microgravity is like flying,” said Michael Jenkin, a professor in York’s Faculty of Science and Engineering who is part of the team. “You feel completely free of the world – at least for twenty seconds or so.”