Nursing Alumna Lisa Kennedy Sheldon '78 Interviewed on NECN

Lisa Kennedy Sheldon '78 discussed the confusion set off by a government panel's new recommendations on mammograms. She appeared on NECN on Thursday, Nov. 19, during the news network's "Affairs of State" segment.

Sheldon says the panel's recommendations are surprising because they are an abrupt change from those set in place in 2002. Despite the new recommendations, she emphasizes that women should speak with their own health care providers to determine what is best for them.

Sheldon is an assistant professor at the University of Massachusetts College of Nursing and Health Sciences. She teaches graduate and undergraduate courses focusing on oncology nursing and cancer care.

Link: Lisa Kennedy Sheldon on NECN

Volunteers Offer Summer to Banish Bed Bugs

Fifteen low-income and refugee families living in Manchester’s Langdon Mill apartments have been tossing and turning at night, losing sleep for two years because of a bed bug infestation.

But they may soon rest easy, as volunteers from Saint Anselm College and other local organizations do not sleep well at night, even on summer vacation, knowing others are in need.

Six students, faculty, and staff have volunteered their summer vacation to help the 60 residents of 82 West Brook Street while their apartments are professionally cleaned. The volunteers live in the Manchester area and responded to an unusual summer plea from Meelia Center for Community Service director Dan Forbes.

“Eliminating bed bugs is always complex work, and it is further complicated in this case given the language barriers and refugee experience of the tenants," said Forbes. “This is why real community effort is necessary.”

The challenges are unique: the residents must move from their apartments bug-free into nearby temporary housing, then return to their cleaned, repainted, and refurnished apartments a week later. Many of their belongings, and nearly all of their furniture, must be destroyed to prevent re-infestation.

A language barrier complicates the Langdon Mill Campaign. When organizers and city health officials meet with families, instructions “have to be translated into four to five different languages,” Forbes said. Refugees hail from Russia, Somalia, Sudan, and Turkey, and they can find the displacement unsettling. Forbes describes volunteer commitment as an invaluable aid to these families.

“We believe success is far more likely if we have volunteers helping families with the preparation for the temporary move, visiting during their temporary relocation and continuing after reentry to reinforce the plan to prevent future infestations,” he told the volunteers.

The comprehensive plan is an approach that Forbes and his community counterparts hope will serve as a model for other low-income residents trapped in bug infested buildings throughout the city. The Meelia Center uncovered the plight of the Landon Mill residents when students contacted a refugee leader with donations from the college’s end-of-year Food, Clothing, and Furniture Drive. The response was, “We're desperate for the furniture, but can you put it in storage? The families are overrun with bed bugs.”

Last year, “we actually almost entirely furnished these apartments,” Forbes said. A system is in the works to provide for the furniture needs of residents through a safe donation program, preventing tenants from bringing in roadside furniture that may be infested.

Forbes expects to expand the Saint Anselm involvement in bed bug projects when the fall semester begins. He coordinates service learning for the college, and has found both interest among nursing students and need in the community.

“This is just one apartment building. Unfortunately many others in the city are also infested," he said. But with the dedication of Saint Anselm College volunteers, fifteen Manchester families will soon be able to sleep tight—and be safe from the bed bugs' bite.

The Langdon Mill Project has posted a list of needed items on their website, http://nhbedbugs.com/.

Saint Anselm Students Dig for History in Italy

About 75 miles northwest of Rome, a group of 20 Saint Anselm College students and faculty are braving heat and snakes to excavate what they believe is an Etruscan religious sanctuary. Read more

Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE) Compete in Nationals

While most Saint Anselm College students have packed up their dorm rooms and moved home for summer break, the college's SIFE team is taking in the sights, sounds, and tastes of Philadelphia, Penn. as one of 137 colleges qualified to compete at SIFE's 2009 National Exposition.

I, Jenn Goonan, senior English major and former communications intern, have joined the Saint Anselm group on their trip to Philly to capture all the action as it happens. Check back throughout the next two days to hear all about the group's competition or check out the photos on Flickr.

The team of eight, Thomas Cullen '09, Christine Connolly '09, Nick Rich '09, Meredith Shepard '09, Katie Bruce '10, Nick Provost '10, Will Combes '10, and Michael Conley '10, led by faculty advisor Dr. Thomas Fitzpatrick, will be in Philadelphia May 10-12 competing against colleges and universities from around the country.

Arriving Sunday, the team spent the day touring the City of Brotherly Love, checking out Independence Hall, the Liberty Bell, the Eastern State Penitentiary, the Philadelphia Museum of Art's infamous steps (the same steps Sylvester Stallone ran up in boxing movie Rocky), and of course, the group had to indulge in the one and only, Philly cheese-steak.

After touring the city, the team joined thousands of college students at the Philadelphia Convention Center for the annual Rally of Champions. Mike Conley, junior business major from Hopkinton, N.H. represented Saint Anselm by carrying a Saint Anselm College sign across the stage behind the New Hampshire state flag.

During the rally, SIFE also acknowledged the faculty advisors, including Dr. Fitzpatrick.
Various speakers energized the students, including SIFE Alumnus of the Year Mr. Tony Dickinson of Wells Fargo & Co. Dickson encouraged students to network and accept failure as a learning experience. The rally's keynote speaker, the Honorable Edward Rendell, governor of Pennsylvania, opened the exposition, noting the students' accomplishments and wishing them luck.

The trip is about more than sight-seeing and networking though, and the group is presenting Monday at 1 p.m., so Sunday evening was all about preparation and perfecting their presentation.

Although everyone appeared on edge as they worked out the presentation's kinks, adjusting to describe new projects and new results, Provost promised "Tomorrow will be like clockwork."

Sarah Gingerella '10 is New Holmes Scholar

Sarah Gingerella, of Oakdale, Conn., was named the Fr. Bernard Holmes, O.S.B., Scholar for the 2009-2010 academic year at Saint Anselm College, President Father Jonathan DeFelice, O.S.B., announced.

The award provides Gingerella with a full tuition scholarship in her senior year at Saint Anselm, where she is studying international relations. Gingerella, who is also earning certificates in Spanish and Russian Area Studies, wants to perform humanitarian service after she graduates.

“I want to be able to help people in a practical way,” she says.

The Holmes Scholar is the senior who best exemplifies the values of the late Father Bernard, a former president of the college. The winning student must have a strong academic record, exhibit leadership, and demonstrate a commitment to service and the life of the college.

Gingerella is a flutist who plays in the college’s student jazz band and flute choir. She helps teach English to immigrants and refugees in the English for New Americans program, and she works to build awareness of human trafficking as part of the student-founded Slavery Still Exists program. Last summer, she studied Polish history, language and literature in Krakow.

She also is on the retreat team of campus ministry and works in parish outreach, offering retreats to young people about to be confirmed.