Zero tolerance

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EVAH BANIGE

THE University of Technology (Unitech) in Lae has adopted a tougher stand against drunk students and illegal residents in its campuses.
Instead of drunk students having to face the administration’s disciplinary committee, they will be expelled without a hearing from now on.
The move has been necessitated by the cholera outbreak in Lae, due to which it was feared that drunk students would be less prone to observe good hygiene and, thus, be more susceptible to the cholera virus.
The administration will automatically terminate any student under the influence of alcohol trying to enter the university’s main gate.
The university has also limited visitors to the campus.
It has also pledged to carry out a house-to-house survey to rid the university of wantoks.
The stand was revealed by Unitech Chancellor Philip Stagg when accepting a petition by the Student Representative Council (SRC) on Tuesday.
The petition aimed to impress upon the senior executive management of the university to take measures to ensure that students do not contract cholera or dysentery. Last Friday, the students had called for the university to close after suspecting fellow students of contracting cholera.
Mr Stagg said the administration had developed a contingency plan in case of an outbreak on campus.
A sick bay or cholera care centre was also erected for the ill to be held and stabilised before referral to the treatment centre at Angau Memorial Hospital.
The university has pledged to provide toiletries and disinfectant to be distributed to students on a weekly basis.
Mr Stagg also urged the students to take heed of advice from medical experts following a visit by an officer from the World Health Organisation on Monday.