A group of nurses at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center is considering forming a union, according to The Valley News. The nurses have decided to meet with representatives from the Massachusetts Nurses Association to discuss the possibility of creating the organization. DHMC is the largest employer in the Upper Valley and has 1,900 nurses. In response to the talk of unionization, DHMC administrators have distributed a PowerPoint presentation that addresses problems with unions and strategies to discourage them. The nurses at the center have varied opinion about the move to unionize, with some saying unions will hurt the management process at DHMC, while others favored unions, The Valley News reported. According to some nurses, DHMC's recent decision to implement merit-based pay may have contributed to the discussions. A union cannot be formed at DHMC unless 30 percent of the nurses show an interest.
The majority of college officials expect tuition increases to continue at a rate higher than inflation, according to a report by Independent 529 Plan, a tuition payment program. Over 70 percent of the officials who responded to the organization's survey shared this view. They cited pressure to keep up with amenities offered by other schools and the increasing cost of health care as reasons for the tuition increases, the report said. The officials disagreed about whether the increases would affect the composition of their student bodies and whether the government should provide vouchers for students to use at the school of their choice. More than half of the officials, however, said they believed government assistance for students should not depend on the school they attend. A majority of officials also agreed that limiting tuition increases would give more students access to their schools.
The web site laundryview.com allows students to check the status of their laundry without leaving their dorm rooms. The web site, created and maintained by Mac-Gray Corporation, has links for every laundry room on campus and displays whether laundry machines and dryers are in use, empty or out of service. Students can also sign up to receive e-mail updates or text messages when laundry machines are free and when their own laundry is finished. The site also includes advice for doing laundry and creates a weekly "usage report" to help students avoid going to do their laundry when the rooms are likely to be occupied. Laundryview monitors 60,000 laundry rooms across the country, according to the web site.
