Some college students get a vaccine for meningitis before coming to the University. What some don't know is that the vaccine cannot be as effective three to five years later. At least, that used to be the case.

Now, a new meningitis vaccine that Health Services will have in March is effective for up to eight years.

While some will argue that the vaccination is too costly and that the disease is too rare to be a concern, someone who has contracted bacterial meningitis would quickly disagree. The effects caused by the disease can be debilitating and, in some cases, even cause death.

"There is inflammation of the spinal cord and brain," Judy Stevens said, the community health nurse wellness educator at UNH Health Services. "It can cause hearing loss, mental retardation. You can die."

The current vaccination protects against four out of five of the strains of bacterial meningitis and lasts between three and five years. For a junior who got the shot before they came to UNH, their vaccine could be ineffective.

"If you got it three years ago, you should be OK, but you might want to get a booster," Stevens said.

-Peter Driscoll

Four different required student fees were presented and discussed at the recent Student Senate meeting. All four were raised.

Sunday saw a 4 percent raise in fees for the MUB, Counseling Center and Campus Recreation, which passed with little controversy. But the increase in the housing fee gave the Senate pause.

Students living off campus do not have to pay this hefty fee. However, for those living in the dorms or in campus apartments, the 8.75 percent increase matters.

The increase comes directly before three major housing construction plans are scheduled to begin. Two new towers will be added in the Gables, part of Forest Park will be turned into undergraduate housing and an addition will be added to Hubbard.

William Conk, the director of housing who projected that the housing fee will keep increasing every year, was present at the meeting and ready to defend the fee increase. Public Relations Manager Allie Ross-Raymond asked Conk if the money was invested before or after student approval. "The yearly 8 percent increase will help pay off loans on the new construction," he said.

"Before," said Conk. "The University wanted to move the projects along, and if we waited for the students, then we'd be about a year behind." Ross-Raymond followed by asking Conk how much money the University would lose if the bill were failed. "I think we are committed to continue on with this process," said Conk.

The University's Oversight Committee passed all of the fee increases before student approval.

-Sonja Fridell

An a cappella-fest this past Sunday night not only brought entertainment to Durham, but also benefited tsunami victims with donations made by attendees.

A cappella groups Not Too Sharp, The New Hampshire Gentlemen, Maiden Harmony and Alabaster Blue united together for a benefit concert in a collaborative UNH and community-wide effort to raise money for tsunami relief.

The relief concert has been in the works since late January and was organized and orchestrated by UNH junior Marty Rowley. At the beginning of the show, he took the stage and extended his thanks and appreciation for those in attendance.

"I don't think people realize how much devastation there was," Rowley said, "and how important this event is. Every last dollar counts."

-Kristen Melamed

SB 181 would double the amount of state money for N.H. residents to attend college.

Do the students of this University care whether New Hampshire residents can afford college? UNH student senators have already answered that question, and the answer is "Yes."

During the Feb. 20 Student Senate meeting, the senators unanimously voted in favor of SB 181, which calls for doubling the current amount of state grant money given to N.H. residents to attend college.

That money is allocated through the state's only scholarship program, New Hampshire Incentive Program, or NHIP. According to its Web site in the N.H. government network, NHIP allocates money to N.H. residents only and is to be applied toward a post-secondary education.

NHIP currently allocates $3.1 million from the general state fund to students each year. If this bill were to pass, an extra $6.2 million would be factored out of the state's approximately $8 billion biannual budget, amounting to a total of $12.4 million for the program.

Sen. Lou D'Allesandro (D-Manchester), one of the bill's seven sponsors, said although the bill is worthwhile, "that's a pretty significant appropriation."

-Genevieve Giambanco

The vandal found in Randall Hall, Thomas Emanuel, once worked on special military projects at Raytheon, graduated in the top 10 in his high school class and earned a PhD. Things changed drastically for Emanuel, who once covered himself in feces in Laconia so no one would bring him to court.

"What happened to Thomas, I don't know," Lt. John MacLennan of the Laconia Police Department said. MacLennan has dealt with Emanuel for the past three years.

According to Deputy Chief Paul Dean of the UNH police department, Emanuel, an alumnus of 1989, has been banned from the campus following a January arrest for spraying the bottom floor in Randall with a fire extinguisher.

Dean also stated that though Emanuel has filed an appeal, if he steps anywhere on the University's property he would be charged.

Though MacLennan stated Emanuel is someone who everyone should be aware of, the Laconia police department is not looking for him at this time and believes he is not currently dangerous.

"Anyone can be dangerous under the right circumstances," MacLennan said, who explained Emanuel has had hard times because of mental illness.

After the arrest from the University, Emanuel was found in a similar situation in Laconia with another fire extinguisher.

According to MacLennan, around Feb. 12 Emanuel was found in the basement of a Laconia bar and dance hall where police found the room vandalized by a fire extinguisher and a list of potential victims carved on the door.

"He is not a productive member of society at this point," MacLennan said, who was on the list along with Laconia police department Chief Thomas J. Oetinger.

-Mark Daniels

The full text of these stories and all the news from The New Hampshire, the student-run newspaper of the University of New Hampshire, can be found at www.tnhonline.com.