Let’s talk turkey in Pulse I 5
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Since 1900 \ Volume 106, Issue 64 | Wednesday, November 24, 2004
Students with alcohol dependencies have trouble
with school health and emotional well-being
BY AY1SHA YAHYA
NEWS EDITOR
Each year 1,400 students die
from alcohol related causes. Thou
sands more are injured, assaulted
or drive under the influence of al
cohol. Excessive drinking by some
students has prompted colleges
nationwide to institute programs
that tackle alcohol issues at multi
ple levels.
Of particular concern are stu
dents who binge-drink — drinking
five or more drinks in one sitting
for men, four or more for women.
Alcohol and its related behaviors
impact the individual’s physical
and mental health, but it also has
“second-hand effects” that touch
on the rest of campus and the
ment and coordination and im
paired judgment and memory.
“Alcohol is a poison of sorts,”
Dochnahl said. “The liver has to
detoxify (thebody).”
Dochnahl said it takes at least
an hour for the liver to process one
drink — one drink translates to
about 5 oz. of wine, 12 oz. of beer,
or 1.5 oz. of hard liquor. This
means certain drinks like a Long
Island Ice Tea, which is made up of
various shots of spirits, actually
constitutes more than one drink,
Dochnahl said.
Many students may not be
aware when a drinker has sue
PART 2 OF 2
The Culture of Drinking
Tuesday: Why do students
drink?
Today: What is the impact of
drinking on the campus
community?
cumbed
to alcohol poi
soning, Dochnahl
said. When a peer
passes out, they just
leave him or her in bed
poisoning deaths were reported
last year, but officers have been
called to help people in serious
community at large.
“The academic community is
affected overall if we have
students not living up to
their potential,” said Sheryl
Eyster, assistant dean of
students and associate di
rector of the Office of Stu
dent Life. Eyster also heads
the University’s Substance
Abuse Prevention Team.
Alcohol dependency
yields dangerous results
Excessive or prolonged alcohol
intake has acute effects, Universi
ty Health Educator Annie
Dochnahl said.
With each drink, a person has
less control over his or her move
to sleep it ott not realizing tnat
the person is in trou
Got into a fight ble.
Had unprotected sex Symptoms of
alcohol poison
Physical injury jng inClUde irreg
Forgot where they ular breath
were or what they did ing, Cold,
bluish skin,
unconsciousness
Did something and excessive VOIT1
they regretted ^jng
This fall alone,
two students died from alcohol
poisoning at universities in Col
orado.
University Depart
The 87 percent of University students who had an alcoholic ment of Public Safety
drink within the school year had the above experiences. Interim Director Tom
Bret Furtwangler | Graphic editor * Hicks said no alcohol
conditions.
“Last year we responded to a
substantial number of intoxica
tions where the person wasn’t
able to take care of themselves,”
Hicks said, adding that many had
to be taken to hospital.
Students who become alcohol
dependent may see their studies,
as well as their emotional well
being, suffer. Such students may
miss class, fall behind, do poorly
on exams and could eventually
be forced to drop out.
Counseling and Testing Center
Associate Director Edel Daven
port said several students visit the
center with alcohol-related prob
lems — in 2003, 137 people were
ALCOHOL, page 4
Fractals reveal mysterious
links between stress and art
Richard Taylor researches the impact of fractals on stress and Jackson
Pollack's use of the recurring patterns in his paintings
BY ANTHONY LUCERO
NEWS REPORTER
There are those who believe that mathemat
ics is a strict science, wrapped in a cloak of mys
tery and complex equations and veiled in jargon
that has little to do with the world we inhabit on
a daily basis. Richard Taylor, a University associ
ate professor of physics , has found that fractals,
patterns constructed from endless smaller
copies of the same recurring pattern much like
the individual water crystals contribute to the
overall form of a visible snowflake, can have an
impact on everything from human stress levels
to the appreciation of art.
Taylor, who also works in the art and psy
chology department, was the first to notice the
use of fractals in Jackson Pollack’s “drip-and
splash” paintings. The study, which has gar
nered national media attention, is a marriage
between university physics, psychology and an
departments, Taylor said.
In his initial work with stress-reduction, done
in collaboration with NASA to minimize stress
for astronauts, Taylor wired test subjects’ fin
gertips in a method similarly used in lie detec
tors. He then measured stress levels througl
“stress-inducing cognitive tasks,” like solving
math problems.
Taylor found the fractals could lower stress by
as much as 50 percent. “We deliberately stress
someone out,” Taylor said. “When you do some
thing stressful, skin conductance goes up.”
After the stressful session, the subject is given a
break to lower stress back to a normal level. Tay
lor then places a fractal background before the
next session begins and tries to stress subjects out
once again.
“With a fractal pattern in the background,
stress goes down as much as 50 per
cent,” said Taylor. “We’re looking at
mundane environments like a ^ ,
basement, exam room or dentist’s f ...
office where human stress can be j
lowered naturally. ” \ '-v.,.
In addition to creating patterns that \
can lower human stress levels, the re- \
suits of the study provide better solu- j
tions for organizing information so the \
eye can spot a particular item in com- \
plex environments, citing possible im- I
provements in efficiency and safety \ /
with interfaces like airplane cockpits or \/
computer desktops, Taylor said, '
Taylor also conducted a study in which 250
FRACTALS, page 12
Courtesy
Cooper Boydston (above)
demonstrates how sensors
attached to each joint are
picked up by infrared cam
I eras and plotted into a 3D
f graph of movement (left); the
! left wrist is highlighted in red
j on the diagram. Boydston’s
work helps tie together the
mathematical patterns, called
/ fractals, created by human move
ment and the fractals that artist
Jackson Pollack created in his work.
,
-J''
4b Programs Finance
Committee
Groups'
2005-06
budgets
analyzed
Finance committee tables two
proposak, completely de-funds
Musical Arts group Monday
BYGABE BRADLEY
FREELANCE EDITOR
Concerns about how student groups allo
cate their budgets continued to block the ap
proval of several student groups’ 2005-2006
budgets on Monday when the ASUO Pro
grams Finance Committee held its second ses
sion of budget hearings.
The Non-traditional Student Union and
Outlaws, a group of law students who focus
on legal issues concerning the lesbian, gay, bi
sexual and transgender community, were un
able to receive budget approval because
ASUO is currently revising the standardized
stipend model, which dictates how stipends
are paid to officers of student groups.
“It’s really unfortunate for a lot of groups,”
PFC chairwoman Persis Pohowalla said. “I
feel for them.”
The revision of the stipend model was in re
sponse to a letter from University President
Dave Frohnmayer, who suggested a revision
after noticing that student stipends made up a
disproportionate amount of the budgets for
some student groups — up to 70 percent in
some cases.
Any student groups that pay their officers
with stipends will have their budget propos
als tabled until January, when the new
stipend model should be in place.
Representatives from the Committee for
Musical Arts — the first group scheduled for
hearings Monday night — failed to show up
for their budget hearing. PFC then voted
unanimously to completely de-fund CMA.
The group has five business days to appeal
the decision.
Next, representatives from the Art History
PFC, page 12
STUDENT SENATE
The Student Senate responded to vetoes of the Ath
letic Department Finance Committee and Programs
Finance Committee funding benchmarks by the
ASUO Executive, approving a 7 percent funding in
crease for the ADFC and a 5.62 increase for toe
PFC during its meeting on Tuesday night.
After the Senate foiled to override toe ADFC bench
mark veto, the executive made its original recom
mendation of 7 percent to toe Senate. The Senate
voted 8-7-1 last week to approve a 5.3 percent in
crease for the ADFC.
The executive recommended a 5.62 percent in
crease for the PFC after its veto was not overruled,
the same benchmark it originally proposed.
Also at the meeting, the Senate tabled its efforts to
review this year’s budget for the Spencer View Ten
ants Council, which had not submitted a proposal to
receive student funding for this year. The group pro
vides services for residents in the University's
Spencer View family housing.
See Monday's Emerald for further coverage of toe
meeting.
— Parker Howell