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Thursday,
Nov. 29, 1984
Stress causes study problems
By Michelle Lackey
She has trouble sleeping at
night, and is now smoking two
packs of cigarettes a day. It's
impossible for her to concen
trate on a long term projects,
only on what work assignments
are due next. Marysue Gaily, a
full-time Humanities student
who waitresses for 30 hours a
week, suffers from a widely
shared problem here at Capitol
Campus: stress.
But Gailey is not alone in her
constant battle to stay on top of
school, work, and other daily
activities. Approximately 80 to
90 students on campus suffer --
either directly or indirectly --
from some form of stress, ac
cording to Edward Beck, coun
selor and instructor for the
behavioral sciences division.
Sometimes, college classes
can give students harmful doses
of stress and pressure, accor
ding to a new Uniwsity of
Utah study.
- Nitairly,adhPiw clammy enittorce
"an overemphasis of grades"
and put "unecessary" pressure
on students, said David
Spendlove, one of three Utah
medical instructors who con
ducted the study of profes
sional, graduate and
undergraduate students there.
The study reported that the
witholding of grades and test
scores, public posting of grades
and the lack of a clearly defin-
Professors analyze Reagan landslide
By Joseph L. Michalsky
"I think the party is in deep
trouble and I think the
Democrats are fooling
themselves if they think they
lost an election only because
Mr. Reagan had the popular
vote," said Dr. Robert Bresler,
Associate Professor of Public
Policy, recently.
Bresler and Dr. Micheal
Young, Assistant Professor of
Social Science and Public
Policy, expressed their opinions
about the presidential and con
gressional elections before a
crowd of about - 40 to 50
observers in the Gallery Lounge
on November 8.
Bresler, who is the Public
Policy Division Chair, feels the
Democrats have to seriously
realign their stragtegy and posi
tions on 'the key issues. Presi
dent Retagan's 59 to 41 percent
Capitol Times
ed expected performance from
the students creates a needless
ly high level of anxiety among
students.
A related story appears on
page 6.
"Many students have stress
because they feel they have no
control" over their academic
lives, according to study co
author Claire Clark.
Although Clark said the
"right amount of stress is
positive because it is
motivating," too much stress
can damage students' learning
abilities, causing them to
become confused, frustrated
and out of touch with their
schoolwork.
Beck said stress has three dif
ferent categories that can alter
a person's behavior or mood.
Physiological symptoms of
stress m a y
_pause headaches,
sweating heart paipatations.
Psychological stress could strig
ger severe depression, and the
most damaging form of stress
is not noticeable where a person
doesn't overtly show any visi
ble signs of stress. When stress
is not easily identifyable,
suicide may be sought as an
alternative, Beck said.
"It's a feeling of physical
helplessness, like being in a
Continued on page 6
landslide win over Walter Mon
dale is not unusual, he said.
"Democratic candidates for
president have been hovering in
the low 40's (in terms of their
percentage of the popular vote)
and have not been able to crack
that barrier," said Bresler.
Citing previous presidential
elections to support his think
ing , Bresler said, "Humprey
got 43 percent, McGovern got
39 percent, Carter got 41 per
cent in 1980 and Mondale got
41 percent in 1984.
"Mondale had the support
of party leaders, had the sup
port of interest groups and was
by and large a solid candidate,
worked very hard and didn't
make any major jabs," Bresler
added, "and yet he was not
able to track the pretty solid
anti-Reagan vote of 43 to 45
percent."
Capitol student's race for
House seat starts career
By Mark Edquid
For many candidates, a
defeat this election year spells
the end of their political
careers. For one Penn State
Capitol Campus student, the
disappointment in losing his bid
fpr a public office means only
a beginning.
Joseph P. Oddo, a senior
public policy major and last
year's Student Government
Association president, was
soundly defeated in his quest
for a seat in the Pennsylvania
House of Representatives. Run
ning as a republican candidate
in the 37th legislative district,
Oddo managed to capture
5,142 votes while his opponent,
the incumbent Emil Mrkonic,
collected over 17i000 votes.
"I took a beating," the 26
year-old Oddo explains, "but I
did a lot better than most peo
ple thought I would."
There are approximately
60,000 people in the 37th
district which includes Oddo's
hometown of McKeesport,
"and practically all of them are
democrats," Oddo says.
Both Mondale and Ferraro
campaigned hard in Pittsburgh
Bresler felt that no matter
who the Democrats ran for
president, they would never be
able to put up any substantial
challenge for the Republicans.
James M, Perry, staff writer
of the Wall Street Journal, said
the Democrats will be looking
for a candidate who can do
more than carry his home state
and the District of Columbia.
Among those being considered
for 1988 ar Senator Gary Hart,
Senator Edward Kennedy and
Governor Mario Cuomo of
New York, according to Perry.
"The party is up for grabs',"
said Gene Russell, the National
Democratic Committee's press
spokesman.
Five Mistakes
Bresler alsodesribed five ma
jor mistakes , of the Democratic
Party in capturing voter
while President Reagan manag
ed to sidestep the heavy
democratic area on his cam
paign swing through Penn
sylvania. Mondale seized 69
percent of the vote in the area.
"That's the kind of beating
I took as a republican," Oddo
says wryly.
A relatively unkn
didate, Oddo found
himself knocking on
doors every days of
the week
"I didn't have the
money to do any
advertising," Oddo
says, "so my main
strategy was to meet
the people one to
one."
"I found myself
getting into some
democratic hornet's
nests," Oddo recalls
from his door to
door campaigning
which he refers to as
being "in the tren
ches."
"They complain
ed a lot about the
economy and the
interest
The first mistake was not
nominating Gary Hart.
"Hart could have appealed
to the younger voters. He broke
out on the New Deal and he
promised to re-energize
American liberalism," said
Bresler.
The second mistake involves
Walter Mondale's failure to
adopt Hart's new ideas after
Hart lost the nomination.
"None of his new ideas that
Hart presented were offered by
Mr. Mondale," Bresler said. A
clear example, he said, was the
Democrats' endorsement of the
Bradley E.F. Hart modified flat
tax.
"This tax would have closed
front loopholes and would have
reduced rates dramatically,"
Bresler explained, "But what
did Mr. Mondale do? He
basically offered a conservative
job the incumbent was doing
and yet they still voted [for the]
democrat."
Oddo says he liked the
challenge of going out and
meeting the public and answer
ing their questions.
`You really have to be on
your toes "
approach which was really a
reaction to Reagan's tax cuts."
Bresler said that Mondale's
approach to the budget was
"extremely conservative."
"In fact, Mondale did not
have any new ideas, any new
programs and he represented in
many ways (both) liberalism
and conservatism," he added.
Letting unionism and
feminism dominate the party
was the Democrats' third ma
jor mistake, according to
Bresler.
"The union leaders and the
feminist leaders did not repre
sent, in my opinion, constituent
groups," Bresler said. He im
plied that those interests were
not capable of gaining the big
block votes for the party.
"The only genuine consti
tuency group represented at the
Continued on page 8
Vol. 19 No. 6