16
University Daily Kansan
From Page One
Fridav. Dec. 6, 1985
Stress
Continued from p.1
come in are disturbed and worried.
While there is, hope for the disorganized, there is less hope for the procrastinator. Sometimes students have to face the fact that they haven't been doing the work, and that it is too late to do anything that will make a difference, she says.
"Toward the end of the semester students begin to see the handwriting on the wall in terms of how well they will do," he says. Going home and leaving friends is also a problem for some, he says.
"People always hope there is magic, but there isn't," Zimmer savs
The University Counseling Center in Bailey Hall counsels students individually. "We deal with those kinds of issues that prevent people from getting the most out of school," says Director James Lichtenberg.
"A typical kind of case is a person who has fallen behind somewhere along the coursework." Lichtenberg says. They might have been putting work off, and then they can't find the books and references they need for papers, he says.
"On top of that are all the exams they have to study for.
"We try to look at options," he says. "Sometimes we simply help them to look at their situation." The important thing is to see to it that their self-esteem doesn't go down the drain, he says.
"We see about 1,000 different students for counseling each year," Lichtenberg says.
Sometimes, he says, that makes waiting lists necessary.
"A couple of weeks ago it was almost three weeks before people could get to see us," he says, adding that there is always someone on call. "A lot of the issues that will come up at this time will be temporary, and might be solved in a single session."
"It is easy to become cynical," he says, but "you never tell anybody their problems are stupid because it is important to them."
William Binns, clinical psychologist at Mental Health Services in Watkins Memorial Hospital, says the hospital gets a rush of admissions before any vacation.
"I see that most often related to the
"ing of the semester," Binns says.
"Sometimes it is related to study pro-
blems, but they come to us almost all
semester long."
College living doesn't have to be stressful, he says, but students experience stress for many different reasons.
"As human beings, we don't have to have a sabre-tooth tiger bearing down upon us to feel threatened," he says. "If we think we are threatened we are going to react as if we are. If your body is constantly prepared to deal with this threat, that is stress."
"The natural antidote to stress is relaxation." That is the aim of the hospital's stress management program.
"We try to make them aware of the tension level in their bodies," Binns says.
The program also uses different relaxation techniques and gives information on nutrition, clothing and exercise.
Raymond Higgins, coordinating director of the KU Psychological Clinic, says the clinic treats some students for stress — some of which is related to schoolwork. The clinic often has problems finding space for more students and to send them elsewhere for help, he says.
Doug Hay, Salina sophomore,
thinks the pressure students put on
themselfs is a lot greater than the
pressure their teachers put on them.
The finals are too close in time, he says, "but if you budget your time you can alleviate a lot of the pressure."
Sandra Sims, Chicago sophomore, thinks she'll get through the semester with an ulcer. "There aren't enough hours in the day," she says. "It's not that I'm not trying but it's this tremendous load of work, and I haven't even gotten around to organizing for finals vet."
She quickly draws a face in pencil on the pizza box lying on the table --- wild eyes, a wide open mouth and electric hair standing straight up.
"This is me," she says, sighing.
Alumni
The alumni center opened in August 1983 and cost $5 million to build. All the money came from private funds.
Continued from p. 3
Not everyone thinks the Alumni Association should have built such an elaborate building and some contend that it doesn't meet the needs of faculty and staff.
Tim Miller, lecturer in religious studies, said that for an expensive project such as the alumni center, the association would need to spend a lot of money on maintenance.
Although the $5 million building was erected with private funds, Miller said, most donors would be generous only once and the center would have to bear the expenses. Miller said he was not a member of the association.
Williams said the center had not drained the financial resources from the Alumni Association, but the association still didn't have enough money for its programs.
Life memberships today are $500,
Williams said. Annual memberships
are $25 — the highest membership
fee for an alumni association in
the country, he said.
About 65 percent of the association's 34,000 dues-paying members have life memberships, meaning that they pay only once.
Williams said 22,500 members have life memberships. About 18,000 of
those paid $100 or less, because they paid at a time when membership rates were lower.
"This organization has people who wanted to make a life commitment," he said. "That's an honorable thing. Years ago, none of us knew what the inflation rate would be.
"We need money to start new programs. We may have to stop something at times to start something else. If this organization doesn't search out and experiment with its programs, then we're going to become static."
"We have to determine what is the most effective way to spend the limited resources we have," he said.
For example, he said, the association needed to start programs to involve students in the association before they leave the University.
The KU Alumni Association is not the only association concerned about finances. The alumni directors of the Big Eight schools will gather this weekend. Tom Schultz, alumni director at the University of Missouri at Columbia, asked in November that the Big Eight directors list items to discuss at the meeting in order of importance.
Future funding sources was the top priority for discussion at the meeting, Williams said.
Petition
Continued from p.1
Woodyard, associate vice chancellor for academic affairs, said he had seen the petition.
"I think it would be premature for me to comment on it at this point because I have not really had a chance to study it," he said. "Vice Chancellor Tacha has called for a committee to study the issue, and I'm going to chair that committee."
Jan Eighmey, Mulvane fifth-year education student who helped write the petition, would say only that before Thanksgiving break, the petition had been sent to Haack, who had worked together with them and would decide the next step.
"I really don't want to comment on this," Eighmey said. "We're not saying anything because we're following all the correct procedures and want the petition to be treated with respect. We feel like the people involved with this have the right to see it first, and we don't want to give these people any outside pressure."
Education majors get bachelor of science in education degrees at the end of four years. But to become certified teachers they must be recommended by the University to the state. KU students have to come back for the fifth year as graduate students to complete internships and student teaching for undergraduate credit. They also take some courses for graduate credit.
Finals
Continued from p. 1
Center, said the studies that had been conducted so far were negative or inconclusive.
He cited one study that seemed to link the loss of a spouse with an increased mortality rate.
"The study doesn't say whether you liked your wife or not." Goodwin said. "There was a small increase in mortality, but that small amount could easily be explained by the fact that she died of something contagious, or your nutritional status has declined, you're not taking care
Denney, who became interested about three years ago in the effects of psychological factors on the immune system, said he would be looking primarily at the frequency of minor illnesses in his subjects.
of yourself. The idea that you die
from grief is unfounded."
He said that there might be a valid association between emotions and serious illnesses, but that no conclusive studies had been made.
Denney said that for a comprehensive study, however, a researcher would have to follow many people for many years.
for a bigger effect of psychological factors," he said.
"It's consistent with the alternative model of disease that allows
"The problem with the studies is that they are studying people after the fact, after they contract the disease," he said. "But it's also very, very difficult to do these studies the way they need to be done."
Research
Continued from p.1
work. Whether the faculty can do this depends on the University's willingness to support the faculty's efforts.
"Not all of us can be patent clerks in Zurich and come up with E equals mc squared," he said. "It depends on how well the University lives up to its end."
A willingness to support research is what separates the great universities from the average ones. And this is what separates the universities of Wisconsin and California at Berkeley from the University of Kansas, he said. Wisconsin and Berkeley are two universities that lend above-average support to faculty research efforts, he said.
Robert Weaver, chairman of biochemistry, has a research contract from Eli Lilly, an international pharmaceutical company that has its headquarters in Indianapolis.
Weaver's contract carries a six month classification period. University policy, which allows up to one year of classification, permits him to do research he would not have the chance to do otherwise, he said. But research is best when it is free and open, he said.
Open research allows scientists to share information, be said, and prevents researchers from duplicate one another's mistakes.
"I think research is a lot more fun when you can talk about it," he said. Corporations and government agencies have legitimate reasons for wanting to classify research, said Richard DeGeorge, professor of philosophy. The reasons include guarding trade secrets or national security.
"The problem comes when you take these reasons and try to combine them with the University." DeGeorge said. "If the idea of the University is free and open inquiry, that's where you've got your clash."
Proponents of the classification proposal argue that the University won't get contracts for advanced research without it, he said. Opponents argue that a school of free and open inquiry can't do secret research.