KANSAN.COM / THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN / MONDAY, AUGUST 16, 2010 / BACK TO SCHOOL
41
HEALTH
Keys to staying healthy in college
Alcohol, late-night pizza runs and sleepless nights leave students vulnerable to illness and stress
BY MEGAN RUPP
mrupp@kansan.com
Staying healthy is not the primary concern for incoming students at the beginning of the fall semester, but for some it's the only thing that's important.
Lisa Sardo, a junior from Overland Park, said working out regularly and eating right helped her stay motivated and focused on her academic coursework.
"I played soccer in high school, but my freshman year I didn't really work out at all," Sardo said. "I was eating really unhealthy food, whenever I wanted, and then wondered why I couldn't pay attention in class."
Sardo said a friend of hers told her to schedule time for exercise into her weekly routine and keep a food journal to increase her energy. Sardo said she started feeling the difference after only a month and now swears by the practice.
Ann Chapman,
a dietician
at Watkins
Memorial Health
Center, said time
management was
the key to staying
healthy. She
suggested tak-
calorie intake was not enough on its own.
ing the time to schedule work-out times at the beginning of each week and using the services the University offers to schedule what you plan to eat. She said Better Bites, the healthy eating program on campus, met Heart Association criteria by offering foods that are lower in fats and calories. She also said that Nutritional
"If you're eating like you should all week, but on Friday you go out and have three beers, then go out and have another three beers on Saturday, those six beers can results in about a pound a month," Chapman said. "A lot of freshmen don't understand that and then are shocked when they're sophomores and junior and have gained 15 pounds."
Chapman said that many people overlook the calorie intake of alcoholic beverages. She said that 12 light beers can add up to 17 more pounds a year and six mixed drinks would probably add up to about 10 pounds a year. She said it depended what mixer is used, but the alcohol calories alone translate to five pounds per year.
"The double whammy is youre not only adding the extra calories from the beers, but you often go out
on the Dining Services website allowed you to get a breakdown of everything served on campus eateries each week, so you can plan ahead for what you want to eat. She said that by the end of the day, if you log what you eat, it will have kept
"A lot of coffee drinks are popular today, but a Starbucks venti with 2 percent milk is 410 calories."
ANNE CHAPMAN Dietician
with your friends and grab something to eat late at night," Chapman said.
This is one type of social eating, but Chapman also said to be aware of eating at club meetings, while
doing homework with friends, and going out to eat as a way of socializing. Though she suggested eating more produce, not skipping breakfast and avoiding social eating, she said one of the biggest issue is beverage calories.
"A lot of the coffee drinks are popular today, but a Starbucks venti
sleep they need. He said many students feel too busy to get the seven to eight hours they need, but that the benefits of that time are under-estimated.
a running count of your calorie and fat intake.
"The problem with not getting enough sleep is that we have problems retrieving things that we've learned," Wade said.
"The problem with not getting enough sleep is that we have problems retreiving things we've learned."
JOHN WADE Outreach coordinator, Counseling and Psychological Services
with 2 percent milk is 410 calories," Chapman said.
Chapman said monitoring your
Chapman said to also be aware of high sugar beverages like Gatorade and soda.
Wade said that students needed to
John Wade, outreach coordinator for the University's Counseling and Psychological
Service, said most college students are not getting near the amount of
information you've studied," Wade said.
remember that learning dealt with understanding as much as it did retention, which became increasingly difficult without adequate sleep. He said a lack of sleep could impair concentration and motivation, while increasing your susceptibility to illness, stress and irritability.
"You need the rest period in order to synthesize and be able to use the
If you find yourself lying in bed, staring at the ceiling, Wade suggests getting out of bed until you feel ready to fall asleep. He said after waiting 30 minutes with no luck, lying in bed can create a cycle of frustration associated with sleeping that prevents you from sleeping in the future.
on/KANSAN
t lab
wrence-
science-
36A
smontemayor@kansan.com
For having grown up with the onset of the Internet, our generation may not be all that Web savvy when it comes to researching, a study by the International Journal of Communication suggests.
M. D. Rezaiekhaligh/KANSAN
The study, written and conducted by professors at Northwestern University, found that students often only chose websites that appeared at the top of Google searches to complete tasks or perform research. Eszter Hargittai, associate professor of communication studies at Northwestern and one of the study's authors, said that most mistakes in the Web research process occur before students even click "Search."
"I think part of it is not so much necessarily what else they can be using." Hargittai said. "I think a big part of it is being more critical and careful about what they are already using."
Hargittai said that search results aren't necessarily ranked in terms of credibility. More sophisticated queries are also needed to glean credible sources from popular search engines.
University of Kansas students have nearly 400 databases at their fingertips, with information on every subject at the University that is not usually found through Google searches.
"The research process, you know, it's like anything else," Albin said. "You learn how to do something well over time. With new technologies, you have to learn how to do research different ways. A student who jumps online and pulls three articles off of the Internet and then writes a paper on it and hands it in the next day is not going to get really, really good grades."
tami Albin, undergraduate instruction and outreach librarian, often helps students interested in improving their ability to navigate the library's extensive online resources. She said that whether a student is using Google or a library database, a level of skill is needed to effectively complete a desired task online.
Albin said that students are welcome to bring assignments to the library to review with a librarian and seek the proper avenue for research.
"Librarians love to find stuff, so we're really good at it," Albin said.
SEE RESEARCH ON PAGE 6A
While Alec Rothman, a sophomore from Boston, is an exception to the rule, Thea Glassman, a sophomore from New York City, affirms the study's results.
"My English teacher last year actually looked at our bibliographies before he read our papers to see how valid our sources were," Rothman said. "And once he saw
Rothman said he most often uses the library's databases or news sources such as The New York Times when working on a project. Rothman analyzes the assignment and considers what research will be necessary before logging on. He said that these skills were instilled during a freshman English course.
"We can find ways to access the things they need."
employees to get direct deposit
BY MICHAEL HOLTZ mholtz@kansan.com
"We've been trying for years to encourage staff and employees to utilize direct deposit," said Diane Goddard, vice provost for
Though the state's deadline for direct deposit enrollment is Oct. 1, the goal of the Bursars Office is to have 100 percent enrollment by the beginning of September. Yoakum said more than 95 percent of University employees have already signed up.
Two separate policies require students and University of Kansas employees to sign up for direct deposit to receive refunds and paychecks electronically.
According to an announcement that the Bursar's Office posted online, the new refund policy allows students to receive refunds faster and more safely than they would if the University distributed them as checks.
The second policy is a state mandate requiring direct deposited paychecks for all state employees, which includes University employees. The employees have until Oct. 1 to comply with the new policy.
"The advantage to the University is better business efficiencies," said Katrina Yoakum, comproller for the University. "We spend a lot of time following up with checks that are not picked up."
administration and finance. "We ramped it up to the 80 percent level pretty quickly. Getting from 80 to 95 percent has been more difficult."
Employees who do not have an account at a financial institution will receive a Skylight Financial account, an ATM-based bank, and a Skylight pay card. Employees must sign up for this service at the Payroll Office.
Kelsey Smith, a junior from Council Grove, signed up for direct deposit when she started work for KU Libraries three years ago. She said shed recommend other students to sign up for it as well.
"I think it's easier that way," Smith said. "You don't have to worry about getting a new check deposited in the bank."
Though University officials have recommended refund direct deposit for at least five years, they was unable to mandate the policy until a federal law changed. The
policy has been in effect since last November.
Yoakum said direct deposited refunds will save the University $10,000 annually.
The Bursar's Office most recently notified students of the refund policy in an e-mail sent Aug. 2. The e-mail included instructions explaining how to set up direct deposit online or by completing a direct deposit authorization form.
It's also much quicker. Goddard said students signed up for direct deposit will receive refunds at least a day faster than they would otherwise.
"Having everyone on direct deposit means there are fewer people who handle that transaction," Goddard said. "It's just more efficient and much more accurate."
Edited by David Cawthon
For more information on refunds, please contact the Bursar's Office.
(785)864-3322
bursar@ku.edu
For more information on paychecks, please contact the Payroll Office.
(785)864-4385
payroll@ku.edu
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