TRUTH

wash up!In the back of your mind is your mother’s voice, saying, “Wash yourhands.” You think you’re getting away from that when you go to college,but instead, the same hygiene reminder is coming from yourfellow students—from a group named Swarthmore Clean Hands.Seniors Michael Stone and Stephanie Koskowich set out last fallto improve student hygiene by promoting better hand-washinghabits. Koskowich’s motives were admittedly selfish: “I just got sickat Swarthmore a lot, and I was tired of it.” So they put out the wordand got organized.Mara Phelan ’10 has an interest in public health and began collectingstories about illness. “It’s a domino effect with people whoshare bathrooms,” she says. “One sick person touching faucets anddoor handles can get everybody sick.” She’s noted spikes of sicknessaround midterms and finals. “We hope when students see this datathey’ll take proper precautions. Stress levels are high, and they’renot getting enough sleep. They’re not taking care of themselves.”The group’s first priority was to make it easier for students totake care of themselves by washing before meals. Sharples DiningHall has one set of bathrooms near the main entrance—each withjust three sinks. Although students know that they should washtheir hands before eating, Stone says that “the infrastructure makesit difficult for us to do that.” Koskowich agreed, saying of Sharplesthat “although it’s great that there’s a common space where we allcome together, it’s also a breeding ground for germs.” SwarthmoreClean Hands asked for and got foaming sanitizer hand soap in theSharples bathrooms.The group is currently working to conduct a student survey tosee what kind of hand sanitizer is preferred—according to Stone,students want one that “doesn’t dry out or leave a sticky residue.”The administration has been supportive and will almost certainlyfund the project once a sanitizer is chosen. Koskowich cited a studydone at a large school where they installed hand sanitizers “and notonly did sickness rates go down, but it actually saved them money.”Once the sanitizer is installed, Clean Hands will try to track therate of upper respiratory infections at Swarthmore, collecting statisticson symptoms to see how they spread on a small campus. VisitingSociology Professor Ginny O’Connell and her Research Designclass are helping with the study. With Haverford as a control group,ELEFTHERIOS KOSTANSStressbustin’“One waffle or two? Three?”“Why not?” “Strawberry andmaple syrup? Whippedcream?” “Oh, yeah!” Thesewere some of the utterancesheard at the Dec. 14 MidnightBreakfast in Sharples DiningHall. Dean of Students JimLarimore said it was organizedto provide students with anemotional boost beforefinals—“not to mention afew calories to help them getthrough a long night ofstudying.”Staff and faculty members—includingpresidentAlfred H. Bloom and his wife,Peggi—attended, some manningthe kitchen as cooks,waiters, and servers. Larimoreworked the waffle line withPaula Dale, executive assistantin facilities and services, whosaid: “I’m usually bleary-eyedby that time of night, but thestudents were so happy andappreciative that we all gotcaught up in their energy.” Studentsreceived star-shapedstress balls as party favors. Atmidnight, all joined togetherfor a Swarthmore tradition—the “primal scream.” “Imagine800 students and a handful offaculty members, including thepresident and his wife, screamingin unison at Sharples,”Larimore said. “Next year, I’mgoing to throw down my hotpad and run into the diningroom to howl with them. Ican’t wait,” Dale added.—Carol Brévart-Demmthey will compare the spread of sickness in a community that usessanitizer with one that does not.Stone hopes the group will survive beyond its stated goal ofClean Hands: “We wanted to build up a body of people payingattention to public health issues on campus.” Amber Viescas ’09would like to inspire a shift in the way students see their ownhealth. She wrote in an e-mail: “Swarthmore’s emphasis on academicperformance ‘first and foremost’ can actually erode physicalhealth. Every Swarthmore student sees that conflict every time theyget sick: They ask themselves, ‘Do I go into class and possibly infectmore people, or do I stay in and risk getting too far behind?’ I’m notsure all professors see it the same way.”Although the core group is small, more than 60 different studentshave been involved in Clean Hands in some way or another—a small hand-washing army, hoping to give the “Garnet Death” thenasty end it deserves.—Lauren Stokes ’09MICHAEL GILMOREmarch 2007 : 9