Collegian
Page 8
Stress
By Debra L. Malone
Collegian Staff Writer
You arc tensed at your typewriter
trying desperately to get out the
first draft of that final term paper.
The topic is established and the
research completed, but the words
will not come. Your mind is frozen
and the clock is ticking. Your heart
begins to race, your ears vibrate
with a strange hurt, the keyboard
blurs, and your hands begin to
shake.
You arc sitting'itNhc classroom
staring at an exam but
look like they are written-in a
foreign language. You feel the
sweat on your forehead and a wave
of nausea passes over you. You
begin to hope you will pass out so
you can take it later, but it does not
happen, so you struggle through.
The common element in both of
these cases is anxiety or stress. An
everyday occurrence for most
college students, stress becomes a
way of life. What can be done,
however, to prevent it from
becoming so severe that it effects
our academic standing?
~ The Ycrkes-Dodson Law, named
after the psychologists who noted it
in 1908, states that performance is
best when arousal is moderate.
Therefore, a level of anxiety when
Easter Egg
Hunt
by Thang Tran
Collegian Photographer
On most Saturdays, the halls of * he " lhc
the Reed Building are usually £° , g if saw Cal ™ Filing «n an
peaceful, but not the Saturday Q f Easter Bunnysuil Some were awed,
April 2nd, 1988. At 10 A.M. an S ° mC WCfC f W,th horror wh,le
Easter Egg Hunt was scheduled, with ‘ff 5 ngh ! “PJ 0 bunn y L l °
approximately 100 eager eyed shake hands and take Photographs
youngsters participating. The ages Wl , * n . . . ~ ,
ranged‘from little toddlers to 12 year BuUcr - 3 me u mber u Vet's
olds. Hie children consisted of ? ub ex P rcsscd lbat the Minority
children of the community and R ‘*n»‘™nt and Special programs
relations of students and staff. They f" d ? e , Vcl * Club who sponsored
were divided into four age groups: 0- lbc EaSlcr Efig Hunt wcre />“ ,lc
2 1-4 5 8 and Ot? F pleased with the outcome of Egg
’ The hunt was originally planned HunlCrs ‘ 0nl >; 20 t0 I ?° P art , ici P ants
for the outdoors on the soccer field wcre ® x P cc . ted 1 * but lhe . rcsuUs were
across from Eric Hall. But due to the suipnsmg.
gloomy weather conditions, it had to EIZ lh,nks the "umber of
be held in die Reed Building. cbddren that participated shows that
The members of the Vet’s Club “ a for Bchrend to inlcract
decorated with balloons and Wlth ** comm nn.ty.
streamers, and hid the goodies in the Hopefully, this event will help
Gorge. The "Go Ahead" was given start other clubs and organizations to
and the kids invaded the cafeteria, interact with the community. As of
432 Chocolate eggs and several now, a Halloween Carnival for the
baskets were hidden for the anxious fall semester is planned as an
raiders. The youngsters who found alternative to "trick or treating",
the most eggs in each of the four age
groups were awarded prizes.
r(n‘try corner
The mind escapes the body,
The two are supposed to be one .
This happens almost instantly.
TeCi me how it‘s done.
Thoughts leave through the cracks,
Ideas tftraitoh the holes.
Xt’s air Host gone,
Now, there goes my soul.
X see everything In front of me,
Day after day after day.
X see you standing there too,
And X don't know what to say.
Catch me.. .I'm faCCing,
X don't know what to do.
The truth ready is,
X hope.ym fading out of love from you.
r y
How To
Reduce It
entering a testing area or beginning
a new assignment may well make
the difference between "A" or a "B".
When the anxiety becomes so
severe that we arc either impaired or
totally paralyzed we must be able to
take action to save ourselves. There
are several techniques for stress
reduction, but they must be so well
practiced that they arc initiated with
minimal conscious effort.
Anxiety and stress are personal,
therefore the same techniques that
workTbr one person may not work
for another. Experimenting with
several techniques is the easiest way
to discover which type works best
for you. Once you've made your
choice keep practicing it, rehearsal
is the best way to learn your part
before you get on stage.
The first step is to recognize
when normal everyday stress is
becoming severe anxiety. Anxiety
charges the body with such extreme
tension that some physical
discomfort is almost inevitable.
These symptoms, though
frightening are not dangerous.
Many people experience horrible
chest pains and shortness of breath,
but its not a heart attack and they
are not going to die.
Nor do anxious feelings mean
you are going crazy. According to
Stuffed animals were awarded to
the 0-2 age group. Packaged Easter
Baskets were awarded to the 3-4 age
group. And 4 gift certificates from
Max Toy World were given to
winners in the age groups of 5-8 and
9-12.
Even though not all were
victorious, all enjoyed themselves
Dr. Theodore Rubin, "People often
believe that strong reactions to
stress are actually signs of
impending insanity. They
frequently become disoriented and
suffer a loss of identity - the sense
of being almost literally beside
yourself. You feel mysteriously
attacked and think you will never
recover." In fact, however, almost
every severe bout ends in less than
twenty minutes.
The above mentioned fears will
only aggravate the attack and
increase its duration and intensity.
Therefore, understanding that this is
an "anxiety attack" and not a life
threatening situation is the first
crucial step in eliminating it, or at
least regaining self control.
By associating the tension with
energy, the revving up of the body
for "fright or flight" is easier to
understand. Your body is charged to
fire, and therefore must be safely
discharged. Getting physical,
exercise can accomplish this
without a negative reaction.
Regular exercise offers continual
protection against a repealed buildup
by increasing your sense of calm
and confidence.
Take deep breaths in a slow
rhythmic fashion. This allows the
body to alter its intake of oxygen,
and decrease the feelings of dizziness
which accompany stress. The
second value is your focus of
concentration is diverted from a
feeling of panic to one of soothing
self control.
Amnesty International
by Darren Boyce
Collegian Staff Writer
The local Amnesty International
group is becoming active. The
group, currently with 15 members,
meets every Wednesday at 2:00 p.m.
in the Library Conference Room.
There, the group discusses some
concerns of A.L, writes letters to
prisoners of conscience, and plans
activities. There are no dues; it
costs no money to join. New
members are always welcome.
The group, lead by coordinator
David Friend, is now gearing up for
the largest campaign ever undertaken
by Amnesty. This campaign, called
Human Rights Now!, marks the
fortieth anniversary of the signing of
the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights (UDHR). The main
intention of the campaign is to
broaden the awareness of the rights
guaranteed in UDHR worldwide. AI
The Collegian wants You! If you are interested
in writing, taking pictures, typing, or learning about
layout, think about joining the Collegian .
Extensive experience isn't necessary-the desire to
work , learn and make a contribution is. Schedule
Commit 001 for fall semester.
Empty days and empty nights
would become weeks filled with joy
if it were only his,
that very special toy.
During these episodes allow
/ourself to relate to another person.
Whenever possible talk with a
friend and express your feelings, or
allow your focus of attention to be
diverted. This can often be done
simply by picking up the phone or
talking momentarily with a
classmate before the test begins.
Dr. Deßosis states, "Identify the
source of your anxiety, then state it
aloud to yourself. Question why
you are afraid and then talk back to
yourself. Become confident with
the idea that words have power and
you can talk yourself out of feat and
into success."
Maintain rational goals, do not
expect more from yourself then is
possible to achieve. Eliminate the
stresses before they become too
severe by identifying problem areas
early. When it becomes apparent
that your having difficulty with an
area of study get help then, not the
day before the test. Review early
and often, develop good nutrition
and sleep habits, and remember one
failure does not mean the end of the
world. By placing everything in
perspective and establishing
priorities unnecessary stress can be
eliminated.
When stress does occur recognize
it and take steps to alleviate it as
quickly and effectively as possible.
Coping with stress is a fact of life,
how we do it makes the difference.
members across the world will
participate. Other goals of the
campaign include counteracting
repression of human rights activists,
encouraging more governmental
promotion of human rights
concerns, making human rights a
more prominent feature of foreign
policy, and strengthening A.i.’s
relation with other human rights
organizations.
From now until the end of the
semester, Bchrcnd’s local A.I. group
will hold a petition signing
campaign. Students and faculty will
be asked by A.I. members to sign
the petitions. The petitions, along
with thousands of others across the
country, will be presented to the
United Nations and government
representatives on Human Rights
Day, December 10, 1988. Be sure
to sign up as these petitions protect
your rights. Speak out!
Love doesn’t happen all by itself
you cause it to happen or not
For love is a feeling you choose to share
and I've chosen to share all I’ve got
How you share your love
is very essential indeed;
an ingredient of the Golden Rule,
"give as much &s you need."
I cannot express enough
the happiness that I feel
because we have chosen each other
and I know in my heart it is real.
By Robert Eggleston
Special Toy
There is a toy
a boy cannot buy.
it makes him angry,
it makes him cry.
Some {day with this toy,
some already have,
to the boy it is a puzzle,
the pieces he hasn't.
He sees this toy in many {daces
and that alone makes him glad,
but when he must leave it,
its absence makes him sad.
features
View Point
On Life
by Terry Anthony and Jim Hale
Collegian Staff Writers
The morning their column was due Jim and Terry were in a major
pickle, they had no ideas on what subject they could write on for their
column. The creative spring from which they had drank from so many
times before had gone dry. So for inspiration, they sat around in their
Winnie the Poo pajamas, ate doughnuts, pondered the true meaning of
life, and read the National Enquirer. As Jim was starting to read the
Masters and Johnson Report on Sex and the professional pancake
turner, an idea struck him. Just the day before, a member of the
administration here on campus told our two whizzes of the journalist
world that they were apathetic. Jim misunderstood the meaning of the
word and thought it was a complement so he gave this person a big
sloppy kiss. Needless to say, Dean Lilley was not impressed with
Jim's pucker power.
After this embarrassing display of emotion, Jim and Terry decided to
consult with Mr. Webster on the meaning of the word apathy. So they
dusted off their copy of Webster's Illustrated Children's Dictionary and
after several minutes of debate as to whether A is at the beginning or
end of the alphabet they found apathy. The dictionary defined apathy as
"lack of interest, concern; indifference see apathetic." Jim and Terry
thought 'Yea, so what’ and quickly moved on to the word apathetic
which meant "Showing little or no emotion; spiritless." Spiritless,
Jim and Terry were not spiritless. Why they just went and bought a
case of spirits the night before.
Since our legends of the black and white page look upon themselves
as role models for the entire campus community, they decided to do
something to solve this crippling disease that affects Behrcnd. Jim and
Terry bounded into their linen closet and re-emerged, with towels
wrapped around their necks as CAPTAIN APATHY BUSTER and his
sidekick KID SPIRIT, ready to combat apathy wherever it raised its
ugly head.
The first stop was the Wintergrcen Cafe. Captain Apathy Buster and
Kid Spirit jumped on top of a table and started preaching the gospel of
involvement. After two brief minutes, our heroes were pelted by a
dozen half-eaten subs, pizza crusts, and that apple stuff the Wintcrgreen
Cafe serves. Well at least our pals of the printed page didn't go hungry
that day.
Next stop was the T.V. lounge during Days of Our Lives, prime
apathy busting territory. Just as Jim and Terry walked in, Jennifer had
announced that she was pregnant and the father was not Frankie but a
travelling gerbil Gypsy named Spike. The occupants of the T.V.
lounge were devastated and once they realized the capcd crusaders in
front of them were Spike's legal guardians, the scene got nasty right
quick. They were furious at Jim and Terry for not teaching Spike the
ABC s of safe sex and threw the two out a third story window in
Lawrence. Lucky for Captain Apathy Buster and Kid Spirit, they
remembered to wear their super suits which saved them from any
permanent injury.
After nursing their wounds, Jim and Terry decided they were bruised
but not yet defeated and they headed for the Behrcnd weightroom. As
they leapt into the room, every eye in the place noticed them. The
guys in the weightroom must have felt a twinge of envy as Jim and
Terry stood there in tight spandex with capes flowing behind them
because within ten seconds some amazon took our heroes of apathy
busting, tied them up into a ball, and headed up to the gym mumbling
something about dweeb volleyball. So these jealous musclebound
mealheads played a game of volleyball with Jim and Terry as their ball.
After a holly contested match, the two wonder writers managed only to
escape after an errant spike sent them through a window.
Jim and Terry decided that, Hey! maybe apathy wasn't really all that
bad. When they were apathetic they lived happy, ignorant lives, but
when they tried to become active they were pelted by Gorge food,
thrown out a third story window, and used as a volleyball. It looks like
it is back to a life of beer, ESPN, and blowing off classes for these two
Bchrend studs, but then that is the way everybody loves them.
Numbness creeps in.
A dull void opens up.
I all in and |all down.
Darkness surrounds me
I can t turn hack now.
1 ve come too jar.
/\y only hope is my sanity
Even that is d windling.
You Jon t know what s going on.
Neither do 1. v
I hope and 1 pray it ends soon.
Can t you see what you ve done.