THE STUDENT VOICE SINCE 1904
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2010
WWW.KANSAN.COM
VOLUME 123 ISSUE 75
BRAIN POWER
Hit the gym, then hit the books
Memory increases with daily exercise
Editor's Note: This is the third part of a three-part series on good finals habits. Check out kansan.com for information on sleeping and eating during finals.
BY JUSTINE PATTON jpatton@kansan.com
During finals week, swivel chairs and computer desks replace stationary bikes and treadmills as students ditch exercise for more study time.
Amber Long, the fitness coordinator for the Ambler Student Recreation Fitness Center, said these students might be neglect-
mg their grade
point averages
along with
their muscles.
Long said exercise, especially cardiovascular exercise like running, actually helped memory formation.
"I think a lot of times we get caught up in thinking we need to exercise for a whole hour. That's not the case."
Increased heart rate and blood flow to the brain helps people build up memory connections, Long said. So, when students are studying, they will remember the facts more efficiently if they have exercised first.
Long said exercise released hormones like serotonin that helped students feel happy and motivated.
Laura Webb, a graduate student and KU Fit instructor at the Ambler recreation center, agreed that students would feel refreshed after they exercised.
"I just feel better after I work out. My whole attitude has changed after I am at the gym," Webb said. "Even if I'm not all that excited about going to the Rec one day, usually if I go I never regret it."
Patty Quinlan, the nursing supervisor at Watkins Memorial Health Center, said exercise could
Exercise can also help students stay motivated while studying.
"I think a lot of times we get caught up in thinking we need to exercise for a whole hour," Long said. "That's not the case. We just need to work harder in the 20 or 30 minutes that we do have."
Long said students didn't have to spend hours running on the treadmill. She said they could reap these benefits by exercising for as little as 20 minutes a day.
AMBER LONG Fitness coordinator
also help students fight sickness, another finals week foe.
"It helps the blood system and circulatory system work faster, so any toxins or builds in our body can be filtered
out quickly," Quinlan said. "Then, if we are met with bacteria or viruses, our immune system can take care of us."
Ben Pirotte/KANSAN
Long said if students had not exercised on a regular basis throughout the semester, finals week was a great time to start.
"Typically students think they can't spare an hour or 30 minutes to go exercise, because they want to study," Long said. "That's great, but I have a feeling that if they took those 30 minutes to refocus and get some needed energy, they'd probably be more efficient and focused in their studies."
Edited by Dana Meredith
Natalie Pak, a sophomore from Springfield, Mo., catches up on some reading while she pedals away on the second floor of the Ambler Student Recreation Fitness Center. According to Amber Long, the fitness coordinator for the Ambler Recreation Center, cardiovascular exercise incerases blood flow to the brain, which helps build up memory connections.
MEN'S BASKETBALL | 1B
Despite sloppy play, Jayhawks win 81-68 in New York City
Kansas turned the ball over 22 times facing Memphis' pressure defense, but rode a balanced scoring attack to pull away late.
CAMPUS | 3A
Fan caused Malott evacuation
Malott Hall was evacuated Monday after a report of a chemical smell on the fifth floor. An overheated exhaust fan was the source.
INDEX
Classifieds...6B
Crossword...4A
Cryptoquips...4A
Opinion...5A
Sports...1B
Sudoku...4A
WEATHER
THURSDAY
Sunny
5526
FRIDAY 56 34
Mostly Cloudy
Partly Cloudy
All contents, unless stated otherwise, © 2010 The University Daily Kansan
ACADEMICS
Students learn about crimes in accounting
BY GARTH SEARS gsears@kansan.com
Maybe next time Mason will think twice before he turns his students into crooks, teaching them how to wash checks, steal credit card information, even swindle the elderly.
Callie Reber, a master's student from McPherson, is in Mason's "Fraud Examination and Forensic Accounting" class. Her group did a presentation on surveillance, and couldn't think of a better target than Mason.
To his surprise, Paul Mason saw himself on the screen. Someone had videotaped him getting his morning coffee at Panaer Bread and driving to the School of Business.
They always saw him with a Panera cup in the morning, and they asked an administrative assistant near his office what time he usually got in. She said 7 a.m., so by 6:30 they were waiting at Panera, 520 W. 23rd St.
"It made me think about how I follow the same routine every day," Reber said. "He thought it was a good way to show a real-life example of a class concept."
The class, ACCT 741, is a graduate level class designed for people who will work with auditing. For some like Reber, who will be doing auditing for a firm in Kansas City next year, that might be a career as
SEE FRAUD ON PAGE 6A
CAMPUS
Cellphone use in class an increasing problem
Most students text in lectures
BY ANGELIQUE MCNAUGHTON
amcnaughtonkansan.com
On any given day, Tyler Smith pulls out his phone to check texts during class.
Smith, a junior from Hutchinson, said it wasn't really about being bored, but maintaining communication.
In their survey, Deborah Tindell and Robert Bohlder found that 95 percent of students brought their phones to class every day and 91 percent had used their phones to text message during class.
"i just text family or friends and work a lot." Smith said.
The prevalence of texting during class inspired two Wilkes University psychologists from New York to conduct an anonymous survey of 269 students.
According to the study, almost half of all respondents said it was easy to text in class without their instructor knowing. And 62 percent said they should be allowed to text in class as long as they didn't disturb their classmates.
Bailey Young, a sophomore from Winfield, sometimes uses her phone during class to text or check the time.
"I'm not a huge texter." Young said. "I don't just text to text."
Normally, she is responding to a text rather than initiating one, Young said.
SEE TEXTING ON PAGE 6A
BY THE NUMBERS
- 95 percent of students bring their phones to class every day.
- 91 percent have used their phones to text message during class
- About 50 percent said it is easy to text in class without their instructor knowing
- 99 percent of students indicated that they believe they should be allowed to keep their cell phones in class
- 62 percent said they should be allowed to text in class if they don't disturb classmates