OUR VIEW: Sick students need to keep their illnesses in the confines of their own homes.

Sniffling. Coughing. Puffy, red eyes. Scratchy throats and barely audible voices. These are just a few of the sounds and disgusting bodily functions that students experience as classes drag on through the campus flu outbreak. 

Missing class in college is completely different than missing class in high school. One absence can mean missing an entire chapter’s lecture, not just a small chapter section. Some professors have a strict attendance policy and will drop students with a W or F for missing too many days. So students are coming to classes despite being contagious, coughing all over everything and spreading germs like a forest fire.

All this does is prolong the outbreak and infect even more people with illnesses, and some students have immunodeficiency disorders — they literally cannot afford to get sick, because it can kill them. We should not be risking the life of our fellow classmates for a class.

Get a doctor’s note and let professors know. If Vinson Health Center is booked, head to a local clinic or urgent care center for quick, non-life-threatening medical care. It’s for the good of the campus that sick students stay home.