Swine Flu has officially hit home. With 350 confirmed cases at UCSC so far, the Student Health Center is moving fast to try and secure vaccines for students across campus.

My mother once went through a phase of opening envelopes with gloves. It wasn’t as much a fashion statement as it was a precaution. You see, in the long-ago days of 2001, during the height of the post-9/11 bubble, which some may argue has yet to pop, the media alternated front-page stories between three main topics. They were the search for Osama Bin Laden (location still pending), the looming war with Iraq (end date still pending), and what has since come to be known as the 2001 anthrax attacks (source of origin still pending).

The recent outbreak of swine flu has our Board of Regents scared. In these times of fear we see people act irrationally. From airplanes landing prematurely to the UC Board of Regents canceling their annual meeting, the H1N1 virus has many on edge.