Oregon is listed as having 18.6% with no health insurance.

• “One percent of students who answered a question about binge drinking reported going on a binge 10 or more times in the previous two weeks. Nearly half of those respondents said they had seriously considered suicide in the past.”
• “The vast majority (93 percent) of students who responded to a question about campus violence had little to no fear of losing control and acting violently.”
• “The 7 percent considered to have strong fears were most likely to be male and said they had previously harmed another person. They also tended to have experienced a cluster of other symptoms, such as a fear of having a panic attack or suicidal thoughts.”

On Monday, February 23, 2009, the chapter watched the second of the movies in the series relating affluence and health care. This movie was Philadelphia, and many in attendance had never seen the movie.

Discussions were enlightening, and it was mentioned that many things had improved in the workplace. However, there is still much misunderstanding about HIV and how it spreads.

Tom Hanks

On Monday, January 26, 2009, Sigma Zeta brought back movie discussions by watching The Bucket List and discussion the dynamics of affluence as they related to wellness, and, in this movie, cancer treatments.

Attendance was good, and the discussion following the movie was excellent. Many important areas were addressed. For example, who was the wealthier of the two men and why.

Movie Discussion Night

Interacting with the students is always interesting.

Chapter members working the table.

Near I-5 by our Adopt-A-Road sign

Getting the gear.

Each term Sigma Zeta cleans the highway in front of the college. Our section stretches from Interstate-5 to Spring Blvd., and it happens to be the main thoroughfare for vehicles traveling from south Eugene to the dump.  For that reason, we usually find a lot of trash. This time we collected 35 bags of trash.

This clean-up was on Presidents’ Day, February 16, and Lane’s campus was officially closed that day. Our chapter made arrangements with SeQuential (a biofuel dealership) to use their restroom facilities. Thanks SeQuential! Also, thanks to Public Safety for allowing our chapter members to use the parking lot.

Normally we hold a potluck following the cleanup, but this time we were prohibited from holding that activity on campus. The weather was very nice, and the bulbs we planted last fall were beginning to bloom. It was a great day.

Being very serious!

fish pond

For the second year the chapter has worked the youth fish pond at the Eugene Boat and Sportsman Show. It is a great activity–we are not sure who has more fun:  the youth, the adults, or the volunteers!

This year one of our volunteers took photos of the youth with their fish, and then she emailed the photos to the parents. (Thanks, Darla!) Because of this, we have fantastic photos of the event.

It's slippery...

It has been a fun activity, and people on campus give amazing stares as Oscar is hand trucked from building to building. Thus far Oscar has visited:

• Public Safety
• Kaaren O’Rourke’s office in the Business Department
• Brian McGlynn’s office in Industrial Technology
• Jean Cassidy’s office in Mathematics
• Vicky Kirkpatrick’s office in Mathematics
• Board of Education meeting
• Dr. Mary Spilde’s (College President) office in Administration
• Jim Salt’s (Faculty Union President) office in Social Science

Oscar being deputized...

We look forward to future adventures of Oscar, and more pictures are available on the chapter web site.