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THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
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MONDAY, NOV. 30, 2015 | VOLUME 130 ISSUE 27
NEWS ROUNDUP >> YOU NEED TO KNOW
Of the 40 or so bus stops at KU, EIGHT HAVE COVERED SHELTERS. Read about the factors that help determine whether a stop gets a cover. News PAGE 9
News >> PAGE 2
KU VOLLEYBALL WILL HOST THE FIRST AND SECOND ROUNDS OF THE NCAA TOURNAMENT. The Jayhawks will face Furman first. Sports >> PAGE 12
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MUSIC IN FOCUS:
Joyce Castle, a distinguished professor and former opera star. Read her story. Arts & Culture >> 9
KANSAN.COM>>
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VIDEO: Bve.
VIDEO: Bye, McCollum. Watch last Wednesday's implosion of the residence hall on Kansan.com. Want more? Read the story on Page 3. » Kansan.com/news
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FOOTBALL MAY BE OVER,but
coach David Beaty and players are confident about the program's future. Read 10 quotes from current coaches and players at >> Kansan.com/sports
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Mark Maiden, a junior from Overland Park. has biopolar II disorder.
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As more students come to KU with mental health issues,the University struggles to meet demand
KELLY CORDINGLEY and JAMES HOYT @KansanNews
JAMES HOYT/KANSAN
By the second semester of freshman year, Mark Maiden had thought
Maiden had thought about committing suicide numerous times. Maiden was diagnosed with bipolar II in high school and arrived at KU with medication to lessen the severity of bipolar mood swings. But on this day, the urge was overwhelming.
"I had a suicide attempt in the scholarship halls," Maiden said. "I had a prescription for Xanax, I swallowed a lot, a lot of Xanax. I was lying on a couch in a public space and was there for, like, 12 hours — from like noon to midnight. Then I woke up and went to bed in my room and went to classes the next day."
That next day, Maiden did poorly on a test and had an emotional breakdown.
"I was so upset that I left the room, started screaming in the library and went and cried in Murphy Hall's bathroom," Maiden said.
Maiden withdrew for the semester and received intensive outpatient treatment before coming back to school.
Today Maiden, a junior from Overland Park, is one of an increasing number of students on campus with severe mental health issues. Bipolar II differs from bipolar disorder in that the manic episodes are slightly less intense. These students, along with an uptick in students with milder forms of depression, anxiety and stress, are a challenge for campus counseling services,
which is on track to see a record number of students this year.
Number of students this year. Michael Maestas, director of Counseling and Psychological Services, or CAPS, the University's on-campus counseling service, said earlier detection of mental health issues and advancements in medications have contributed to the increase of students on campus with severe mental health issues.
"It seems to be building year-to-year, and some of it has to do with advancement in technology with psychotropic medicines" he said. "So now students who
might have severe problems can function better, so they're able to do things now that decades before wasn't thought of.
"One of the top concerns reported by KU students, and nationally, is that students are coming to campus feeling less emotionally prepared for stress,
For many of those students and others, accessing mental health services holds less stigma than it used to. But it isn't just mindset driving the desire for more services. Maestas said more students in general are experiencing adjustment problems.
adjustment, for developing interpersonal relationships, coping, all that stuff' Maestas said.
In the 2015 University of Kansas National Collegiate Health Survey, 46 percent of participating students reported feeling "more than average stress." Of students who participated, 58 percent reported feeling overwhelmed.
Harrison Baker, a student senator and chair of the CAPS Advisory Board, said there are numerous stressors that are particular to students.
"It could just be the stress of
changing from high school to college, moving away from your family if you've gone out of state. Being a first generation student is a specific stressor, being a minority student, LGBT, international, all of these types of things interact with each other," Baker said. "So if you have multiple ones of those, you're a member of the LGBT community, minority student who's also first generation, you have a lot of specific stressors that a middle class, multiple generation stu-
SEE HEALTH PAGE 2
RICK BOWMER/AP
Cheick Diallo speaks with reporters while Kansas coach Bill Self listens during a news conference after Kansas defeated Vanderbilt, 70-63, in the Maui Invitational on Nov. 25. The NCAA will allow Diallo to play, ending a monthlong investigation into the prospect's education and background.
Diallo will play as Kansas takes on Loyola (Md.)
SCOTT CHASEN
@SChasenKU
By Tuesday, it will have been nearly three weeks since the 2015-16 season began for the Kansas Jayhawks. The team will have already played five games, suffered its first loss and won its first piece of hardware, in addition to notching its first win against a ranked opponent.
However, at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, a new season of sorts begins
For the first time this year, Kansas will be at full strength. The team will have its full assortment of depth, even if it technically be without one player because of a program-imposed suspension.
With freshman big man Check Diallo freed, so to speak, the Jayhawks will finally take the court as a complete squad, something that many hoped would have come to fruition earlier. It will be the biggest game of the year to date for the team and the fans, and that significance remains despite the fact that the game may not end up being all that close.
The opponent, Loyola (Md.), comes into the season at just 1-5. The Greyhounds are not expected to finish as one of the top teams in their conference, the Patriot League, let alone anywhere near the top of Division I college basketball as a whole.
Everyone was excited. We were going to each other's room and asking [them if they] heard the news."
FRANK MASON III Junior guard
And they aren't expected to put up much of a fight in Allen Fieldhouse either.
However, in a different sense, this game could end up being one of the more crucial ones for the Jayhawks. Kansas coach Bill Self has talked about the need for Diallo to get his feet wet and figure things out before Big 12 play. If the Jayhawks can pull
"I can't wait, man," Diallo said after the team's final win at the Maui Invitational. "Even from the bench, I was cheering for my team. I was supporting them [as] hard [as I could]."
ahead early, Diallo should be able to log as many minutes as he can play, as he looks to learn on the court.
And considering Diallo's motor, not to mention enthusiasm about being able to play, that number could end up being pretty big.
And that excitement carried over to his teammates, who — at the same venue — talked about their excitement both for Diallo and themselves, getting to play alongside the 6-foot-9 big man.
"Everyone was excited. We were going to each other's room and asking [them if they] heard the news," junior guard Frank Mason III said of finding out Diallo would be eligible. "We are looking forward to getting back to practice and getting him in the rotation ... and looking forward to having him throughout the season."
Integrating Diallo into the
lineup should be far from seamless. Even though he showed flashes at the high school level, where he was named the MVP of both the McDonalds All-American Game and Jordan Brand Classic, Diallo still hasn't played a minute, let alone a game, at the college level.
He's raw as a prospect and should be expected to have a learning curve similar to, if not more than, what Joel Embid went through at the University a couple of seasons ago.
But that's okay.
"At this stage of his career and his skill level, I'm not sure he's as impactful as people are perceiving him to be," Greenberg said. "Kansas — one — has a skill system, [and] — two — they have depth at that position. So it's not like they're going to get Cheick Diallo eligible and all of
The Jayhawks are ranked in the top five in the country, and the team possesses top-10 talent regardless of Diallo. ESPN analyst Seth Greenberg lamented that sentiment back at the Champions Classic in Chicago, which happened about a week before Diallo was even cleared.
a sudden he's going to change who they are and how they win."
He added: "Cheick Diallo is a piece of a puzzle; he's surely not the puzzle. What he is [right now is] five more fouls. He's got great energy; he can block shocks [and] protect the front of the rim, but he's a fit guy right now."
However, fellow ESPN analyst Jay Williams differed pretty significantly from Greenberg, proclaiming the Jahawks as his pick to win the National Championship following the news that Diallo was cleared to play.
["Diallo] takes Kansas from being a Final Four-good team to a National Champion," Williams said on ESPN. "I am now picking Kansas to win the whole thing"
There's still a long way to go before any of that remotely starts to be realized. However, as the saying goes, the journey of 1,000 miles begins with a single step.
And on Tuesday, the Jayhawks will take that single step.
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