Vaccine Requirements at Regis University
Charlie Means, Staff Writer
Regis has partnered with Tepeyac Community Health Center to provide free vaccines for all students at Regis, allowing students to protect themselves against a host of illnesses. However, the federal government has recently been steadily working to make it harder to obtain vaccines. For example, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently released the new Covid vaccine, but only made it accessible to people 65 or older, or to those that have pre-existing health problems. This is a drastic shift from the previous administration, which made the vaccine available to everyone. This reduction of vaccine accessibility is beginning to influence individual states throughout the country. For example, the state of Florida is moving to end all vaccine mandates. This sort of attitude towards vaccines can make it harder for populations to gain herd immunity to diseases and could see certain diseases and illnesses develop mutations that make vaccines less effective.
Charlie Means, Staff Writer
Regis has partnered with Tepeyac Community Health Center to provide free vaccines for all students at Regis, allowing students to protect themselves against a host of illnesses. However, the federal government has recently been steadily working to make it harder to obtain vaccines. For example, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently released the new Covid vaccine, but only made it accessible to people 65 or older, or to those that have pre-existing health problems. This is a drastic shift from the previous administration, which made the vaccine available to everyone. This reduction of vaccine accessibility is beginning to influence individual states throughout the country. For example, the state of Florida is moving to end all vaccine mandates. This sort of attitude towards vaccines can make it harder for populations to gain herd immunity to diseases and could see certain diseases and illnesses develop mutations that make vaccines less effective.
Stephanie James is an Associate Professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences at Regis, and helped run the vaccine program on campus. Dr. James said that the number of students that have gotten vaccines have gone down since the pandemic ended. This can be attributed to our increased distance from the height of the pandemic, and the former abundance of vaccine clinics and appointment availability. However, I think that numbers are also going down this year due to actions by the federal government. Again, this part is purely speculative, but I do think that there is a chance it might play a part in numbers going down.
Another reason that vaccine participation has gone down over the years is the rise in vaccine skepticism, which I understand. Having someone stick a needle in you and put something in your body that you might not know a lot about can be frightening. But, I do think that a big reason that vaccine skepticism is on the rise is the amount of misinformation that is easily accessible. With this convenient, never-ending source of information, people not only become skeptical of vaccines in their own systems, but also begin to not want them on the market at all, making a bigger impact than if it was just their personal choice.
Dr. James told me that the rise in skepticism and misinformation is a big concern within the scientific community at the moment. Dr. James talked about how a potential solution would be to implement more exercises in schools, even at the middle school level, about teaching students how to evaluate if a source is credible and teaching young students how to find evidence based data. I think this is a fantastic idea as it would allow people to continue to make their own choices, while also providing them with the tools to make the best possible choices for them, be it getting vaccinated or not.
To wrap things up, if you are interested in getting vaccinated, or if you want to find out more about vaccines, here is a list of resources I’d recommend:
A Recap of Super Bowl LIX
Charlie Means, Guest Writer
As many of you know Super Bowl LIX was last Sunday, February 9th, 2025. Whether you watched as a huge football fan, or just watched the game to see the commercials, the game was legendary and I am here to share my thoughts with you all, and give you the keys to the game.
Charlie Means, Guest Writer
As many of you know Super Bowl LIX was last Sunday, February 9th, 2025. Whether you watched as a huge football fan, or just watched the game to see the commercials, the game was legendary and I am here to share my thoughts with you all, and give you the keys to the game.
Super Bowl LIX was unique as we saw the second part of an intense faceoff between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Kansas City Chiefs. After seeing these teams go head to head two years ago in Super Bowl LVII, there was a lot to gain and a lot to lose for both sides. Of course, a lot has changed since then. The Eagles have acquired Saquan Barkley (who, side note, carried me in fantasy this year), and the Chiefs now have Deandre Hopkins and Xavier Worthy. Despite these changes, the basic structure of both teams remains the same. It’s all about Jalen Hurts vs Patrick Mahonnes, AJ brown vs Travis Kelce, and football fans vs Taylor Swift fans. Now that main differences have been addressed, let’s talk about the keys of the game.
Key 1
Key number one is pretty simple: turnovers. Neither Hurts nor Mahonnes has thrown a pick so far this postseason, but the bright lights of the super bowl tend to force mistakes. Last time these two teams faced off, a Nick Bolten fumble recovery shifted the momentum of the game in Kansas City's favor. On the flip side, Kansas City's main backs (Kareem Hunt and Isaiah Pacheco), did not give up a single fumble during the regular season, although Pacheco played just seven games.
Key 2
Now, speaking of running backs, they are our second key. The last time these two teams faced off Kansas City had more total yards on the ground, which no doubt contributed to their win. However, (imagine me saying this with all the authoritative gravitas of a courtroom lawyer), the Eagles were trotting out a combination of Kenneth Gainwell, Boston Scott, and Miles Sanders. Currently, only Gainwell is still with the team. As I mentioned before, the Eagles have Saquan now, who is no doubt an upgrade over the previous backs.
Key 3
Last but not least, we get to talk about Taylor Swift’s boyfriend, Travis Kelce (low hanging fruit, I know). Kelce is without question Kansas City's number 1 receiving option. He has been the team’s leader in both yards and touchdowns in postseason, prior to the superbowl. KC’s other receiving options are Xavier Worthy (a rookie), JuJu Smith Schuster (an all time great name but only a so-so player). More options include Deandre Hopkins (who arrived in Kansas City at the trade deadline), and Hollywood Brown (who missed most of the regular season). All this said, my point is Kelce is pretty much all the Chiefs have for reliable receiving options, and this lack of choices is evident in the game.
In the end, the score was 22 to 40, with a victory for the Eagles. With public pressure, football politics, and team structure at the forefront of the game, the result was massively impactful. While we don’t know when the Chiefs and Eagles will have their next showdown, we do know that Super Bowl LIX will not be forgotten.
What To Expect on the Upcoming Colorado Ballot
Charlie Means, Guest Writer
Hello Rangers! My name is Charlie Means, and I am thrilled to be writing for The Regis Highlander this year. Since this is my first article as a Guest Writer, I assume that they will give me something easy to write about… and it’s politics. Oh dear. All kidding aside, I actually wanted to take this opportunity to shift focus away from the presidential race, and look at some of the propositions and amendments that are on the ballot in Colorado for November.
Charlie Means, Guest Writer
Hello Rangers! My name is Charlie Means, and I am thrilled to be writing for The Regis Highlander this year. Since this is my first article as a Guest Writer, I assume that they will give me something easy to write about… and it’s politics. Oh dear. All kidding aside, I actually wanted to take this opportunity to shift focus away from the presidential race, and look at some of the propositions and amendments that are on the ballot in Colorado for November.
You can find the full State Ballot Information Booklet here, if you are interested in looking at the whole thing. But, since I like hearing myself talk, or in this case write, I’m going to go through a brief summary of some of the things that are in this booklet so that you don’t get caught flat footed come Election Day (November 5th).
The first section of the booklet is about State Constitutional Amendments. While there are seven on the ballot, I have football to wat- I mean homework to get through so I’m going to condense it into the two that concern what I consider to be the most high profile issues. The first is Amendment J, which, if passed, would repel the statement in the Colorado constitution that marriage is between a man and a woman. Essentially a vote for Amendment J would be a vote supporting same sex marriage.
The second amendment that I would like to focus on is Amendment 79. If you are like me, you are probably wondering why one amendment is a letter while the other is a number, and to be honest, I have no clue. Hopefully someone can tell me. Anyways, where was I? Right, Amendment 79! If passed, Amendment 79 would enshrine abortion into the state constitution and would repel the current ban on state and local funding for abortion services.
How are you guys doing, are you hanging in there? Don’t worry, this next section is going to be about guns! Specifically, proposition KK, which, if passed, would institute a new tax on firearms, firearm parts and ammunition, and would use that money to fund things like crime victim service and school safety programs.
Ok, last one, I promise, and this one is probably the most boring but I still think it is worth talking about and that is Proposition 131, which would dramatically shift the way that we vote in state primaries. Essentially this proposition would remove the separation of the Democratic primaries and Republican primaries and would make the primaries one giant thing. With this, you could vote for whoever you choose, regardless of your affiliated political party. After that, the top 4 candidates would advance to the general election, where voters would rank the candidates on their ballot from 1 to 4, rather than voting for just one candidate.
I know that was a lot, and there were some things I didn’t touch on, but I do think it’s important to stay informed about the issues on the ballot where you live, or at least go to school. This ensures that when you do go to vote in November, you are making your decision with all the information available to you so you can cast your vote the way that you want.
On a lighter note, if you did manage to make it through this article, here is a video of some sloths in a bucket!
Thanks for reading and Go Rangers!