Volume 125 Issue 51
kansan.com
Tuesday. November 20, 2012
Cellphone charging stations come to college campuses
PAGE 6
Jayhawks take down Washington State
CELLPHONE COMPULSION
PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY TRAVIS YOUNG/KANSAN
Paul Achtley, a psychology professor, says that a new study shows that texting is more of a compulsion than an addiction among college students. Around 100 University students were surveyed for results.
TEXT ADDICT?
Research shows texting is a compulsion, not an addiction
NIKKI WENTLING
nwentling@kansan.com
"At certain points, I feel like I need to text someone," said Hilgers, a junior from San Diego. "It's not a want. It's a need to text anybody and no one in particular."
Warden, who assisted in conducting research, writing the program and analyzing the data, said that she personally does not feel compelled to text. Warden got involved with the two-year study partly because she views texting as bothersome.
"What we found is, people are willing to wait, but they aren't willing to wait that long." Atchley said. "I think this is because responding to a text doesn't make sense if too much time goes by. If you asked me a question and it takes me a day to get the answer to you, there's probably no purpose to me responding at that point. So, young adults feel like they need to respond quickly for it to be relevant."
"I feel like it takes away an innate personal interaction you can have with somebody." Warden said. "Over the years, I've felt social pressure to respond to texts from people."
Katllyn Hilgers said she's adduct ed to texting.
Atchley, with the help of Amelia Warden, a senior from Lawrence, used behavioral decision-making techniques with about 100
She said her friends thought she was bad at texting because doesn't text often and doesn't respond
Hilgers said she sends about 75 texts a day. Her sense of addiction may not be typical of most college students.
University students to come up with the findings. The duo assessed if students were willing to wait to text in order to gain a monetary reward.
Paul Atchley, a psychology professor, recently completed a study to determine whether texting was addictive to college students. Atchley, who has done several other studies on texting, found that young adults are able to think about it rationally, and it is more of a compulsion than an addiction.
"People feel the need to text back quickly," Atchley said. "They receive a text, but they can withhold responding to that text if they really need to do so. It was a surprise, honestly. I thought wed find more evidence of addiction."
ntling
quickly.
Atchley said that because people are able to make rational decisions about texting he thinks it is possible to change people's behaviors regarding texting and driving with educational messages.
"If it was truly an addiction, it would be far more difficult," he said. "I think that what we found so far is that young adults are largely aware of how risky it is to text and drive."
This is the case with Hilgers, who said she does not text while driving because it is unsafe. Instead, she asks a passenger to text for her.
The study was funded by the KU Transportation Research Institute, and was published in the current issue of the Journal of Applied Research in Memory and Coognition.
Atchley, who has studied driving for more than 25 years, said he would continue to conduct research on the topic.
"There is no worse example of how a distraction can kill you than texting and driving," he said.
Edited by Luke Ranker
CAMPUS
Chancellor Bernadette Gray-Little answers questions in her office about tenure, student senate and her plans for Thanksgiving on Monday afternoon.
Chancellor discusses post- tenure reviews
TARA BRYANT/KANSAN
NIKKI WENTLING
nwentling@kansan.com
In her third discussion with The University Daily Kansan, Chancellor Bernadette Gray-Little discussed state funding, a post-fenure review initiative and faculty survey results.
POST-TENURE REVIEWS
At its December meeting, the Kansas Board of Regents will consider requiring universities to conduct performance reviews of tenured professors.
These post-tenure reviews would be conducted every five or seven years. People in the tenured professor's department would evaluate and assess his contributions, teaching, service and research.
"I think it could be a very helpful part of the way we look at faculty and how they're doing, making sure a person is progressing in terms of their career and staying on track," said Gray-Little.
If the Board of Regents approves, the post-tenure review requirement would be implemented in the spring of 2014. Gray-Little said the faculty senate began discussing the process of the reviews and submitted a statement about it.
"It looked as if the faculty were laking a positive approach," Gray-Little said. "I interpreted that statement as meaning it could have some benefits and the faculty wanted to make sure it was done In the right way."
FACULTY SURVEY
The results of a statewide faculty governance survey were announced last week, and the University took the second-to-last spot among other Board of Regents schools.
The American Association of University Professors conducted the survey, which asked faculty about how much voice they have in the governing of their institution. KU faculty who completed the survey graded it on an A-F scale.
"I'm surprised that our faculty feels that they don't have a voice in governance," Gray-Little said. "We have a very strong shared governance experience here involving faculty, staff and students."
Gray-Little said that the number of recent campus initiatives may have caused faculty members to have concerns with governance.
During a talk with the Kansas Board of Regents last week, Gov. Sam Brownback said there would be no spending increases for the higher education general fund, but additional money may be provided for specific projects.
"If we were, that would be really delightful news because that is very important, but I was not
“There's a certain amount of discomfort with change that I think anybody would feel,” she said. “A lot of things are going on right now, and maybe that makes it hard for people to feel they're in their comfort zone.”
STATE FUNDING
In the same talk with the Board of Regents, Brownback encouraged universities to focus on entrepreneurship. Gray-Little said the governor emphasizes entrepreneurship because the creation of entrepreneurs leads to the creation of businesses and jobs.
"It's something that we are very interested in and very involved in and have been for the last few years," Gray-Little said. "It's something we agree with and are doing."
shocked to hear him say that we would not be receiving more, but I can always be hopeful," Gray-Little said.
HOLIDAY PLANS
Thanksgiving break begins tomorrow. Gray-Little said she would be traveling out of town to a large family gathering.
"I won't be in Lawrence for Thanksgiving Day, and I won't have to cook," Gray-Little said. "I am one in a family of eight sisters and brothers. Seven or eight of us will be there, with assorted children and spouses and so on."
Gray-Little said her favorite part of the holiday is seeing her family, and that she plans to eat turkey with rice, a tradition in her home state of North Carolina.
Next week, the Chancellor's residence will be decorated for the winter holidays.
Edited by Emma McElhaney
SHOPPING
Black Friday benefits could deceive shoppers
MARSHALL SCHMIDT
mschmidt@kansan.com
"Since I don't have a lot of money, I'm not going to waste it on Black Friday shopping," said Jenna Gannon, a junior from El Dorado. Instead of spending money on Christmas gifts, Gannon plans to make baked goods as her presents.
Masses of shoppers will lineup Thursday evening waiting for Black Friday sales, but some students plan on spending their post- Thanksgiving holiday avoiding the crowds.
And while buyers think they are getting large discounts, businesses tend to raise retail prices, making sales not as significant as they are advertised to be, said Greg Gao, a junior finance major from Shaanxi, China.
"Even though people are getting sales, they'll end up spending more money overall," Gao said.
Shoppers tend to overspend when they buy products on impulse simply because they think getting good deals, said William Lewis, personal finance professor.
"Black Friday is a good deal if you have self control and buy something you were going to buy anyway," Lewis said.
When shoppers put discounted items on their credit card, the interest charged on it can negate any savings incurred and sometimes cost more, Lewis added.
"Psychologically speaking, you think you're getting a good deal, but really businesses are getting the better deal," Luchen said.
Gina Galanou, a junior from Athens, Greece plans to go shopping with her family. She will likely wait until after the crowds have subsided in the afternoon, even if it means missing the early bird sales. To avoid overspending, Galanou intends to stick within her predetermined budget.
Despite the perceived economic
"When you think of economic growth, this is more of a curious tribal custom and doesn't get at the heart of whether you and I are going to be better off five or ten years from now." Bittingmayer said.
Although Michael Luchen, a senior from Overland Park, plans to take advantage of Apple's App Store sales offered Friday, he's not sold on the hype of Black Friday.
"I'm a very careful shopper," Galanou said. "I go out with what I want in mind, and if I find it at a good price, I will buy it."
Index
CLASSIFIEDS 9
CROSSWORD 4
boost, increasing inventory and hiring additional staff puts a strain on retailers on Black Friday, said George Bittlingmayer, finance professor. Though businesses will likely turn a profit from Black Friday sales, the benefits to the overall economy are unclear, Bittlingmayer said.
CRYPTOQUIPS 4
OPINION 5
SPORTS 12
SUDOKU 4
— Edited by Laken Rapier
Don't forget
All contents, unless stated otherwise, © 2012 The University Daily Kansan
Thanksgiving Break begins tomorrow. Enjoy your five-day weekend!
Today's Weather
Sunny. Wind at 6 mph.