“Pig in a blanket” no longer only refers to the croissant-wrapped mini hot dogs found at cocktail parties.
It’s now the phrase of choice to describe students quarantined with H1N1 virus at Johns Hopkins University.
This is just one example of college students nationwide using pig humor to lighten the attitude about the H1N1 virus, commonly known as swine flu, while administrators continue to take serious precautions.
Johns Hopkins has taken an unusual approach to swine flu education by compiling a glossary of H1N1 terms, such as “piglet” for infected freshmen and “pig pen” for an infected student’s room.
“We put out a tongue-in-cheek glossary that got information out in a humorous way,” said Dennis O’Shea, executive director of communications and public affairs at Johns Hopkins.
Even at schools where the administration doesn’t approach H1N1 with humor, students have found ways.
At Emory University, the administration reserved a dorm slated for demolition as a quarantine area for infected students. Although it is meant to be a place for recovery, the dorm also has inspired many jokes.
Michael Huey, executive director of student health services at Emory, said the students have even made shirts that read, “I survived swine flu hall.”
“Students are responding to it extremely positively and with a lot of good humor,” he said.
When doctors diagnosed Pennsylvania State University student Sarah Burton with the virus, they warned her against the dangers of H1N1 parties, a popular trend nationwide.
The parties are meant to encourage the spread of the flu so that people have less of a chance of getting it later when it might be more dangerous.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warn against such parties because the virus can be fatal.
Burton found the concept funny, so she advertised a swine flu theme party on Facebook. The idea received a huge amount of feedback on the Web site and in texts and phone calls, she said.
“It was completely on Facebook, but everybody knew on campus,” she said.
She said “wine flu parties,” a play on the term swine flu, are becoming popular at PSU, as well.
“Everything about swine flu is very funny,” Burton said. “It is the normal flu, but you have to stay isolated and wear a painter’s mask.”
Popular pig puns
Glazed ham: Student with sweats caused by H1N1 fever.
Boar war: All-out campus efforts to prevent the spread of H1N1
Bacon: What a pig experiencing H1N1 fever feels like
Pork barrel: An entire residence hall afflicted with H1N1
Source: Johns Hopkins Office of Communications and Public Affairs
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