Rash decision?

Since spring break, when a hapless student brought a case of measles to Hanover, more than 70 students have contracted rubeola, a mild but highly contagious form of the disease. Dick's House filled up, and some students were quarantined in their dorm rooms.

It was initially believed that most of the victims were freshmen and sophomores who had never been vaccinated, who were vaccinated when a weaker, less effective vaccine was used, or who were vaccinated before 12 months of age. But as the disease spread to include some people vaccinated as recently as 1984, the New Hampshire Division of Public Health called the situation an "epidemiological puzzle" and has begun to study the problem along with Dartmouth and the Center for Disease Control.

The disease also played havoc with sports. The New Hampshire Department of Public Health and College officials agreed to cancel several athletic events. The decision was not universally popular. Athletes and coaches complained that the officials had overreacted.

Women's lacrosse was one victim of measles. At the close of a successful season, the nationally ranked team had to settle for sharing the Ivy League crown with Harvard as the measles and inclement weather led to repeated cancellations of a showdown in Cambridge.

Track also suffered. The Connecticut Board of Health prevented 18 members of the men's and women's teams from competing in the Heptagonals at Yale in early May. Following a recommendation from the Massachusetts Department of Health, the Massachusetts attorney general threatened to cancel the New England Track and Field Championships at Northeastern if Dartmouth competed.

Some men's and women's tennis and crew events were also cancelled after team members contracted the disease. Dartmouth decided not to row in the Eastern Sprints at Worcester, Massachusetts, when the New York Health Department advised three colleges in New York Columbia, Syracuse, and Cornell not to attend if Dartmouth were there.

In a letter to the editor of the Dartmouth, Health Services Director John Turco explained that "currently recommended immunization guidelines do not necessarily protect individuals from getting the measles." He asked Dartmouth students to avoid making trips to other campuses."