University Daily Kansan / Tuesday, April 30, 1991
11
Semester's end signals stress
Good stress coping skills help keep mental, physical health
By Amy Francis
Kansan staff writer
Only four more days of class remain. The pressure is on many students to turn in projects and complete class requirements.
Final exams also loom in the future for most students. All this can add up to stress.
"A little stress is healthy, but when your coping skills break down, it can rapidly become unhealthy," said Charles Yovey, chief of staff at
Watkins Memorial Health Center. "Stress has a profound effect on your body, both physically and mentally."
Headaches, increased stomach acid, skin rashes, lower abdominal problems and heart problems such as palpitations and a faster heartbeat can result from stress. he said. Insomnia also can be a problem.
Janine Demo, coordinator for Watkins' health education department, said a student's eating habits
"They're probably eating more junk food," she said. "Some people, that is how they've always handled it."
also could suffer
Staying up all night is additional stress that some students have at this time of year. Demo said.
"The best advice is be realistic about your schedule. If you try to do everything, what you lose is your diet, your sleep and your exercise."
"All-nighters are probably the biggest taboo," she said. "You can only physically and mentally concentrate on a subject for so long. Your body is working in overdrive and that lowers your ability to ward off sickness."
tute to sleen
Yockey said that acute stress usually did not last long
Demo recommends that students use a calendar to organize time demands.
But students should not try to relieve stress by drinking alcoholic beverages, she said. Alcohol lowers the immune system more.
"Most students recognize that with the end of their last final, that will be the end of their acute stress," he said.
Tune in, massage out, bathe away stress
By Amv Francis
Kansan staff writer
Stress. It is a part of almost every person's life, but how people choose to deal with stress varies as much as the sources of the stress.
said.
One popular way to deal with stress is to rub it out. Massages have been used and enjoyed for centuries.
Bob Proctor, owner of Home Bodies Activated, 745 New Hampshire St., said a massage rehearsed musculus stiffness by bringing blood to the muscles.
"Most people find it's a time to escape and relieve themselves," he
A massage at Home Bodies Activated costs $25 an hour. A massage at Amma Health Services, 211 E. Holliday Blvd., hour and $40 for an hour, a half.
For those who do not have the budget to afford a visit to a massage therapist, there is the option of soliciting a back, or neck-ruin from a friend.
But if the hands on approach is not wanted, natural-sound tapes and subliminal message tapes are available.
Mark Rosebary, retail clerk at Kief's Discount Records and Stereo
Supply, 2429 Iowa St. said natural sounds cassette tapes, such as those featuring the sounds of the ocean, bass drum tapes tape cost between $7 and $12.
Both types of tapes are available at varying prices at record stores in Lawrence.
For those who do not just want to listen to running water but would rather experience it for themselves, there is the option of a warm bath.
Wal Mart, 2727 Iowa St., offers a small package of Acti-Bath for $2.46. Acti-Bath is a water tablet that carbonates the water, causing a tingling
Bubble bath is another option for bathtub fun.
feeling.
Students who want a more active approach to stress relief can go to Robinson Center. Swimming, racquetball, tennis and weight lifting are available. Ice skating is also available. Robinson is open for student use from 5 to 10:30 p.m.
Reading a favorite magazine or book while in the bathtub also can be relaxing. But if a student's eyes are weary of reading, background music and a wet washcloth covering the eyes may be the answer.
Shell docking
Former Kansas crew coach Dave Jewett and his wife, Jennifer, lift their shell from the Kansas River. The Jewettes just moved back to Lawrence from Cincinnati. They spent yesterday afternoon on the river for exercise and enjoyment.
Texas nuclear-weapons plant unsafe, authorities say
The Associated Press
Finding may jeopardize Amarillo plant's billion-dollar plans for expansion
WASHINGTON — The General Accounting Office said yesterday that a nuclear-weapons plant in Texas had been plagued by safety problems, including exposure of workers to uranium dust.
"Workers were exposed to the black dust for years without being aware of its radioactive hazard," the report said.
Pantex, the nation's only final assembly plant for nuclear bombs and missile warheads, was described as having one of the worst occupational safety records in the Energy Department's weapons complex.
It said exposure of workers to tritium and depleted uranium raised questions about health and safety procedures.
GAO, an investigative arm of Congress, also cited deficiencies in the plant's radiation protection program.
In 1989, a radiation specialist came in contact with black dust that consisted of depleted uranium.
Authorities found that although workers had observed the black dust since 1984, nothing had been done
about it
Energy Department officials told GAO that the radiation protection staff at Pantex knew little about tritium and the hazards posed by release of the gas. Few safety measures were implemented by workers from such a release, it said.
Concern over the report's findings
A May 1989 turtlem accident could have been prevented with proper equipment and procedures. GAO reports that the vehicles have been estimated at $3 million.
was expressed by a number of law-
makers, including Rep. Mike Synar,
D-Okla, who had asked the GAO to
minimize the Pantex safety program
"The situation at Pantex indicates that the message of improved safety that DOE Secretary (James) Watkins has been trying to communicate to the nuclear-weapons complex has not spread to Panexus." Sylar said.
GAO said the Energy Department could not be sure the plant was operating safely because it had com-
plleted fewer than half of its safety analysis reports. Those reports, GAO said, should have been completed years ago.
GAO suggested that Congress might consider regulation of Paxen by the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board.
The board regulates safety programs at other plants. But Pantex has been exempted from the board's authority.
GAO said congressional staffers told it Pantex was exempted in 1988
because the operation appeared to be relatively safe at that time. And there was concern that allowing a national security risk could potentially national security risks.
Federal officials have been considering the possibility of moving operations formerly conducted at the Energy Department's Rocky Flats Facility and Pantex Rocky Falls has been shut down because of safety concerns.
A Pantex expansion could mean between $500 million and $2.2 billion worth of construction and between 1000 new jobs for the Amarillo area.
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