2A
NEWS
quote of the day
"Corruption is like a ball of snow. Once it's set a rolling it must increase."
THE UNIVERSITY JANLY KANSAN MONDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2008
— Charles Caleb Colton
fact of the dav
More snow falls in a year in the southern part of Canada and the northern part of the United States than at the North Pole.
rcn27.dial.pipex.com
et cetera
The University Daily Kansan (ISSN 0746-4967) is published daily during the school year except Saturday, Sunday, fall break, spring break and exams. Weekly during the summer session excluding holidays. Periodical postage is paid in Lawrence, KS 66044. Annual subscriptions by mail are $120 plus tax. Student subscriptions are paid through the student activity fee. Postmaster: Send address changes to The University Daily Kansan, 119 Stauffer-Flint Hall, 1435 Jayhawk Blvd., Lawrence, KS 66045
The University Daily Kansan is the student newspaper of the University of Kansas. The first copy is paid through the student activity fee. Additional copies of The Kansan are 25 cents. Subscriptions can be purchased at the Kansan business office, 119 Stauffer-Flint Hall, 1435 Jayhawk Blvd., Lawrence, KS 66045.
media partners
KUJH
Sunflower Broadband Channel 31 in Lawrence. The student-produced news airs at 5:30 p.m., 7:30 p.m., 9:30 p.m. and 11:30 p.m. every Monday through Friday. Also, check KUJI online at tv.ku.edu.
KJHK is the student voice in radio. Each day there is news, music, sports, and movies content made for students, by students. Whether it 'roll n' rock or reggae
uck'n' roll or reggae, sports or special events, KJHK 90.7 is for you.
contact us
Tell us your news
Contact Matt Erickson, Mark Dent, Dennis Hawley or Mary Sorick at 864-8140 or editor@kansen.com
Kansas newsroom
Kansas tauffer-Fint Hall
Lawrence, KS 854-8410
(785) 864-4810
RESEARCH
Study explores Web's link to health
BY KIRSTEN HUDSON
editor@kansan.com
Sitting at a computer in Anschutz Library, Katie Ashley gets on the Internet to work on a class assignment. Ashley, Lawrence sophomore, said she used the Internet about two hours every day.
"I use it to get news and for social things like Facebook and e-mail, but I also use it a lot for school," she said.
Three students at the University of Kansas are conducting a study to look at how college students like Ashley use the Internet and how that use affects their well-being. They created the study as an assignment for their "Applied Social Psychology" class.
"We looked at a lot of different topics, but this one fit all of our interests," said Kristin Strasser, Garden City graduate student.
Melanie Canterberry, Monroe La., graduate student, and Matt Gallagher. Houston graduate student, are the other two students involved in the study.
The students chose to look at the connection between Internet
use and people's well-being because few researchers had studied the topic.
"There is not enough out there on the Internet and well-being," said Sarah Pressman, assistant professor of psychology and the students' professor. "The Internet is constantly changing and it's hard to trust anything that's five years or older."
The graduate students are gathering data through an online survey completed by students in introductory psychology classes. All introductory psychology classes require students to participate in a University study.
Canterberry said their study benefited from using psychology students because otherwise subjects often expected to be paid. She said the psychology students also fit well with this study because most college students had access to the Internet and used it often.
"They may even use it more than any other age group." Strasser said.
The subjects completed a 45-minute survey containing questions asking what types of Web
sites they visited and whether they used the Internet more for social purposes or for entertainment.
"If you're just using it for news and to go shopping, you might be in touch with friends and family less," Pressman said.
Sarah Kirk, director of the KU Psychological Clinic, said some students at the clinic reported that online activity distracted them and that the Internet sometimes interfered with their social functioning.
"On the other hand, college students report the Internet's value as a research tool for academic pursuits, so it can be a double-edged sword for many," she said.
To see how the Internet affects well-being, the study asks questions about subjects' mental and physical health, such as whether they had been sick lately and how often they exercised. It also asked subjects to rate their stress and depression levels on a scale from one to five.
"Internet use could cause more stress, but it could also be used as a stress reliever," Pressman said.
Gallagher said that the correlation between Internet use and
social anxiety was the subject that most interested him.
Canterberry said questions about Internet use and the development of relationships interested her.
"I think that Internet use will promote healthy relationships for some people and lead to loneliness and social isolation for others," he said.
"I expect that people with different attachment styles might use the Internet for close relationships in different ways and have different outcomes based on that," she said.
Strasser said her interest was in how people's personalities affected the way they used the Internet.
So far 42 students have completed the survey since it was posted on Nov.1. The study will remain online until the end of the semester.
"We're going to try to get 300 participants, but we'll probably have closer to 150." Pressman said.
Once the graduate students finish gathering data they will each write a paper and submit the papers to a psychology journal.
— Edited by Adam Mowder
THANKSGIVING Foreign students connect with American holiday
International students had the opportunity to experience an American holiday with the Thanksgiving Homestay program. About 50 students spent part of their break with local families this year
Students were given the option of spending Thanksgiving day or a longer period of time with their host families. The families came from Lawrence, Burns, Topeka and Kansas City.
Nick Arthachinda, Lawrence
graduate student and program coordinator, matched students with host families after reviewing applications with preferred location, dietary restrictions, allergies and religious views. The students had the opportunity to go alone or with other international students.
For the single-day program, the host families provided transportation and a meal. When the students stayed for an extended period of time, the hosts were required to provide meals and a place to say.
Although it wasn't a requirement, Arthachinda said, most
families also provided entertainment and an introduction to American culture. He said that the goal was to provide a cultural exchange that benefited both the student and the family.
In the past, 25 to 30 students and 15 to 20 host families have participated. This year, about 30 families hosted the 50 students. Arthachinda said many families maintained contact with the students and continued inviting them to Thanksgiving celebrations after the first year.
Saewe Chung, South Korea sophomore, signed up for the
program because this will be her only semester studying in the United States. She said she wanted to experience what American life was like.
"We study in the same class and eat in the same food court, but our lifestyle is totally different," Chung said.
The program began in 1954 when Betty Grimwood hosted an international student for the Thanksgiving holiday. After that year, the event became a University tradition.
Brandy Entsminger
Santas on parade
People dressed as Santa Claus cross Fifth Avenue near St. Patrick's Cathedral during the annual Sidewalk Santa parade Friday in New York. The Santas will become familiar faces in midtown New York through Dec. 24, collecting donations to provide food support to more than 6,600 needy people through the Volunteers of America's Hope and Hearth Food Voucher program.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
campus
The workshop "Interviewing with Confidence" will begin at 1:30 p.m. in 204 JRP.
The academic date "KU Osher Lifelong Learning Institute: It's About Time" will begin at 2 p.m. in the Central Court & Galleries in the Spencer Museum of Art.
The lecture "Linguistics Colloquy: Nominalization in Q'anjobal Maya" will begin at 3:30 p.m. in 206 Blake.
The lecture "U.S. Class Actions and the 'Global' Class" will begin at 3:45 p.m. in 104 Green Hall.
The film "KT" (Japan) will be shown at 7 p.m. in Alderson Auditorium in the Kansas Union.
The Men's Basketball game vs. Kent State will begin at 8 p.m. in Allen Fieldhouse.
CRIME
CRIME 8-year-old charged with murder offered plea deal
PHOENIX — Prosecutors have offered a plea deal to an 8-year-old boy charged with murder in the shooting deaths of his father and another man in their eastern Arizona home, court records show.
Complete details of the offer weren't spelled out in a court filed posted Saturday on the court's Web site.
But County Attorney Crisp Candelaria wrote that he has "tendered a plea offer to the juvenile's attorneys that would resolve all the charges in the juvenile court contingent on the results of the mental health evaluations."
Candelaria was responding to a defense motion seeking to block him from dropping one of two first-degree murder charges the boy faces in the deaths of his father, Vincent Romero, 29, and Timothy Romans, 39, earlier this month.
Defense attorney Benjamin Brewer argued in a filing Tuesday that prosecutors wanted the charge dismissed so they could refile it when the boy was older.
Brewer said Saturday that the deal would resolve the case without it being transferred to adult court, but he declined to provide additional details. Although he is considering the offer, Brewer said he is unsure of his client's ability to understand the proceedings. At least two mental health evaluations are yet to be completed.
The prosecutor explained in his response to Brewer's opposition filing that he wasn't trying to obtain an unfair advantage, but he pressed for the dismissal because the judicial system isn't equipped to deal with an 8-year-old charged with murder.
Associated Press
KU MEMORIAL UNIONS The University of Kansas
Contributing to Student Success
LITTLE SPENDER
KU DINING SERVICES
Student Saver with Ham
Brellas
KU Dining Services | kudining.com
Union Programs | unionprograms.ku.edu
4
12