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Oregon Daily Emerald
An independent newspaper
www. dailyemerald. com
Since 1900 | Volume 106, Issue 58 | TUesday, November 16, 2004
Post- traumatic
election
disorder
Counseling may be an option
for those who are struggling with
post-election depression
BY PARKER HOWELL
SENIOR NEWS REPORTER
Students and community members feel
ing blue about the results of the Nov. 2
election are not alone — many experts
agree that elections can cause emotional dis
tress, especially when a favored candidate or
issue is defeated.
Sometimes known as “post-election depres
sion,” this short-term phenomenon usually lasts
a few weeks, Daniel Gilbert, a Harvard psycholo
gist who has studied voters’ emotional responses
to results, told MSNBC.com. But for people in
Lane County, 58 percent of whom voted for de
feated presidential candidate John Kerry, feelings
of disappointment may linger.
Counseling and Testing Center Director Robin
Holmes said the center, which offers counseling
services to students, has not seen an increase in stu
dents asking to meet with counselors since the elec
tion. But Holmes said many existing student patients
were affected by the passage of Measure 36, which
limits marriage to one man and one woman.
Holmes said it is common for counseling patients
to discuss disappointment due to an election as part
of their therapy.
“I think it would actually be something that is very
common because it is an intimate relationship and talking
about something that affects people during everyday life —
it makes sense they would bring it up,” she said.
Holmes said students who feel frustrated with the out
come of the election could see a counselor, but can proba
bly effectively work through their feelings by sharing them
with others.
“I do think that it would make sense to come in and see
someone at the Counseling Center,” she said. “But more impor
tantly, people need to take care of themselves by talking to oth
ers. All those common sense things would be really important.
“Keeping it in or taking it out on yourself, all those things
are not going to be as helpful.”
Local licensed clinical social worker Gary Reiss, Ph.D, said
no new patients solicited his services because of the election,
but a “broad spectrum” of his ongoing clients have discussed
the issue. He said many people experience anxiety before elec
tions and depression after if their candidate loses.
“I think people get their hopes up and minds set on
political change in a political area they are concerned
about,” he said.
Parker Howell
Senior news reporter
Reiss said peo
ple’s responses
vary widely, but
M many people have a
f# “fight or flight” re
sponse to losing an
election — they either
“fight” by becoming
“super activist” or try
ing to move some
where else, or ex
hibit a “flight”
response by trying
not to think about what
they are upset about.
“I’ve probably seen more people who are depressed than
hopeless at this point,” Reiss said, noting that some of his
patients were motivated by the results of the election or even
happy with the results.
Although the disciplines of psychology and politics have
traditionally been separated, they are actually intertwined,
Reiss said.
“How people feel about their world has a huge effect on
their psychology,” he said, adding that feeling hopeless about
political change can amplify peoples’ other negative feelings.
He added that campaigns often use psychological means,
such as scare tactics, to influence voters.
“People are often manipulated by political parties ... and
psychology can help bring that into perspective,” he said.
Reiss said modern therapy isn’t designed to get rid of the
feelings that spur people to be politically active, but “helps
people to channel their feelings into social change.”
ELECTION, page 8
IN BRIEF
DPS increases enforcement
of bike laws on campus
The Department of Public Safety’s campaign
to increase enforcement of Oregon’s bike
rules moved into full swing on Friday, as
officers issued a handful of citations
to students who failed to dismount
their bicycles in regulated areas
of campus.
DPS issued seven tickets for
$20 each around the EMU
Breezeway during the first
30-minute enforcement
shift last week, DPS Lt.
Herb Homer said.
As officers began a sec
ond enforcement shift,
Homer said the ASUO sta
tioned people in the
area to warn bicyclists to
dismount to avoid a ticket — a practice he was
happy with, so long as it encouraged bicyclists to
dismount and not risk injuring pedestrians.
Now students who fail to yield to pedestrians
or fail to dismount in areas such as the EMU
Breezeway and the path from the residence
halls to the EMU face fines of up to $25, accord
ing to DPS. In addition, at least one Eugene Po
lice Department officer works the campus area
on a daily basis issuing tickets to bicyclists who
run stop signs or don’t obey traffic signals.
DPS began amping up bike enforcement this
fall after receiving more complaints last year
from pedestrians who were hit or nearly hit by
bikes on campus, Horner said in an interview
earlier this fall.
The department posted sandwich signs,
handed out information on bike laws and is
sued warnings for several weeks before launch
ing full-scale enforcement.
— Kara Hansen
UO to expand
wireless service
around campus
Students are avidly using wireless technology;
75 percent of campus is WiFi accessible
BY ANTHONY LUCERO
NEWS REPORTER
As wireless coverage expands around campus, wireless technolo
gy is making gains with students using the technology in and out
side the classroom.
Dale Smith, director of University Network Services, said about 75
percent of the University campus is accessible for students to utilize
wireless service. The wireless service relies on three different WiFi or
802.11 systems — called a, b and g — which is the standard for most
wireless cards on the market today, Smith said.
“We are unrolling a five-year plan, and it’s going along well,”
said Smith, adding that he wants more wireless coverage in the
Knight Library.
For most students, the increased wireless coverage at the University
has prompted many to forgo desktop computers for the more mobile
laptop set-up, which gives students access to information and files
anywhere from the EMU to certain classrooms at the University.
Chris Mueller, an employee at the University Bookstore’s Digital Duck,
said students who purchase laptops are almost always interested in how
they can get a wireless set-up.
“Students don’t just want the wireless just for school, but they
want wireless at home too,” Mueller said.
“It’s a major convenience because you don’t have cables all over
the house, or you don’t have to carry cables around with you.”
Mueller said the wireless card selection at the Digital Duck is compat
ible with the University wireless system and that most PC systems
should be able to handle the PC-compatible wireless cards offered, pro
vided the operating system is Windows 98 Second Generation or later.
Daniel Albrich, the Microcomputer Network Specialist at the Uni
versity’s Computing Center said the main criterion for choosing a
wireless card is sticking with a name brand wireless card so that de
vice drivers are available for it. "If I were in the market for wireless, I
would buy a 802.llg card,” Albrich said.
The 802.llg card offers a faster speed than its more popular
cousin, 802.11b.
A specific wireless card that caused a problem with University stu
dents, Albrich said, is the Microsoft MN-520 because it needed to have a
broadcast name, or SS identity, to log on to a network and the Universi
ty’s system doesn’t support the use of an identity to access its networks.
Albrich also cited concerns with wireless technology, saying new wire
less standards claim to be much faster but exaggerate speed, and these
new standards are unsupported by the University, meaning a user can
not log on using these wireless cards.
“Hardware vendors want money, period,” Albrich said. “There’s
no standard for many of these new technologies and many hardware
WIRELESS, page 8
Rosier outlook for some undergrads
A survey found that employers expect to increase their college
hiring, particularly in some fields, and expect to increase starting
salaries for bachelor's degree graduates.
Those planning to
increase starting salaries
2002
2003
2004
2005
Intending to hire
foreign students
2004 HV2Z2%~
Planning to visit
college campuses
40%
Top 10 bachelor’s level
degrees in demand,
according to employers
1. Accounting
2. Electrical engineering
3. Mechanical engineering
4. Business administration,
management
5. Economics, finance
6. Computer science
7. Computer engineering
8. Marketing,
marketing management
9. Chemical engineering
10. Information sciences and
systems
SOURCE: National Association of Colleges and Employers
AP
College graduates are actively being recruited into the job market this fall, thanks
to the recovering economy and retiring baby boomers. College hiring is expected
to increase by 13 percent this season. See Page 3 for the complete story.