One of the best ways of gauging the mood on campus is by reading Facebook updates. On Thursday night, people gladly announce where they will be partying; Friday brings a round of, “Thursday night was crazy but I’m going out again tonight.” If on Saturday morning somebody hasn’t yet declared their intention to never drink again, by Sunday they will certainly do so.

However, today is different. Swine flu madness has set in with the revelation that two students on campus are probably sick from this year’s pandemic. The Facebook messages have followed suit, one proclaiming, “I don’t want to die a swiney death.” Really, there is absolutely no reason to panic.

Now, I understand that mass panic hasn’t truly struck and people are generally being level-headed about this. Nonetheless, I wanted to reaffirm the fact that the whole swine flu thing is being blown out of proportion, even if America hasn’t resorted to killing all of its pigs yet.

Here are some things to keep in mind:

-The swine flu has only killed one person in the United States, a 23-month-old child from Mexico.
-If you live on campus you are within walking distance of a hospital.
-This flu is not particularly worse than any other seasonal flu, if you don’t believe me take Obama’s word.

It is worth noting that the Swine Flu does seem to have some unique characteristics, but so far it has yet to prove worthy of much fear. So, buy some hand sanitizer, and if you’re feeling sick, don’t get too close your girlfriend/boyfriend. It is a rare thing that an Infomail is completely justified, but for this GW has been on the ball so far.

If you are still not convinced that the swine flu is not something to worry about, you can continue reading here, here, here, here and here.

Finally, remember if CNN, Fox News and MSNBC aren’t all trying to scare you by keeping it as the biggest story on their front page constantly, it really must not be serious.