'Bug' Flattens Freshmen; Potatoes Under Suspicion

More than thirty freshmen have been stricken with a mysterious "potato bug" which may be traceable to Tuesday night's dinner in the Freshman Union, according to the University Health Services.

The malady, which causes nausea, upset stomach, headache and fever, has "certain features which suggest food poisoning, and certain features which suggest a bacterial infection," according to Dr. Sholem Postel, assistant director of the University Health Services.

Scalloped Potatoes

"A rough common denominator" of those affected seems to be that all of them ate the scalloped potatoes served in the Union Tuesday night, Dr. Postel said. He said that the Health Services were "uncertain" about the cause of the epidemic, but that tests were being run to determine whether or not it was food poisoning.

"It seems that the sooner you got whatever it was, the worse it was," he added. More than thirty freshmen had come to the Infirmary with symptoms of the "bug," he added, "but we can't be sure how many people had it and didn't come in."

Rotten All Over

One stricken freshman described the illness as "just feeling rotten all over, particularly in the gut." Another said "My stomach felt like it was having inner turmoil. My head was throbbing like a bell-tower. I felt bad."

Charles G. Hurlburt, Jr. director of the Food Services Department, said that the Health Services had been checking at the Union for clues about the disease. "None of the Union employees nor any of us who eat here frequently were affected by it," he said, adding, "If this had been traced to food, I would be the first to know about it."