In like a “Gale” of Wind: Scandal at the WEIC

By Sophie Harrington

Let’s just say this, Sciences Pistes: make sure you’ve packed your own sleeping bag and aren’t in the mood for cuddles this weekend at the WEIC, because you won’t be wanting to get close to anyone; things are about to get itchy and red real fast.

As members of sports teams from the campuses of Reims, Dijon, le Havre, and Poitiers prepared to set out to win the first WEIC of the year, hosted in Nancy, rumors spread that there was an epidemic of scabies at the Nancy campus. While it seems suspicious that this information was only dispersed the day before the competition (could this be their secret tactic to win?), the Sports Bureau of Nancy assured players and supporters alike that there was no breakout, and only “some isolated cases of [scabies].” At this moment, all but one of the students who has the disease have been completely treated, and the last student is undergoing treatment right now.

According to Healthline, scabies “is a skin infection caused by a mite known as the Sarcoptes scabiei. Untreated, these microscopic mites can live on your skin for months. They reproduce on the surface of your skin and then burrow into it and lay eggs. This causes an itchy, red rash to form on the skin.” This can be a highly contagious disease that is spread through skin-to-skin contact, and sometimes can be spread through bedsheets and clothing.

Throughout the day on Friday, November 23, the sports associations of all the campuses worked quickly to relocate the students who were supposed to stay at “the infected apartment,” according to the Association Sportive.

Get ready for a tough battle this weekend and make sure to keep your friends close, and the Nanciens far, far away.

Sophie Harrington is a first year student in the Euro-America Program attending the Dual BA between Sciences Po and Columbia University. Born and raised in Cambridge, Massachusetts, she has also spent many summers in France where her mom grew up. Previously she was a part of her high school newspaper “The Register Forum” and was inspired by one of her favorite movies, “Spotlight.” After seeing the film, she was able to go to the Boston Globe headquarters and see where the Spotlight team worked!