Science departments offer
non-major theory courses
The University provides a number of phsyics, biology
and chemistry courses with interdisciplinary value
BY EVA SYLWESTER
NEWS REPORTER
University students do not have
to be science majors to take advan
tage of the University’s programs
in biology, chemistry and physics.
All three of these science depart
ments offer entry-level classes
open to students of all majors.
“This is science literacy mostly.
All the classes we teach at this lev
el are science literacy,” physics
professor Steve Kevan said.
The University requires that all
bachelor of arts, science, and fine
arts degrees include a minimum of
15 science credits.
Senior English major Gillian Bar
low said she is taking Biology 122,
Introduction to Human Genetics,
to fulfill the science requirement.
“What’s more interesting than the
actual mechanics of genetics to me
is the ethical and practical implica
tions of genetics,” Barlow said. “I’m
glad this class integrates that. ”
Kevan said he finds the Univer
sity’s science requirement to
be relevant.
“Why should someone who’s
not majoring in history want to
know about history?” Kevan said.
“They’re both important.”
Kevan is teaching the Essentials
of Physics classes (PHYS 101, 102,
103) this year. The classes do not
have to be taken in sequential order.
“These are conceptual courses,”
Kevan said. “It’s like ‘Bill Nye the
Science Guy’ of physics.”
Kevan said although the class
uses almost no math, it does some
times require small amounts of
arithmetic and algebra.
“We tend to get a lot of math
phobes in this class,” Kevan said.
Julie Haack, assistant chemistry
department head and senior in
structor, will teaCh Chemistry 111,
Introduction to Chemical Princi
ples, spring term. While this class
is a prerequisite for major-level bi
ology classes, it also meets general
education requirements and is
open to non-majors.
“Chemistry is really what we
call a central science, and it im
pacts a lot of other fields,” Haack
said. “Everything around us is
a chemical.”
Haack said students from vari
ous disciplines are able to integrate
knowledge of chemistry with
their majors.
“They might get a unique idea
for something to do or invent
something different,” she said.
Some students use this interdisci
plinary approach to add the natural
sciences to their academic goals.
“I’m interested in sustainable
business,” junior business major
Taylor Gordon said on his way out
of Physics 162, Solar and Other Re
newable Energies. “I thought get
ting a better handle on the physics
of sustainable energy products
would give me a better idea of the
business climate.”
Kevan said it’s rare for students
to become science majors after tak
ing basic science classes.
“Generally we get students who
are interested in science, but not
interested enough to take the
plunge,” he said.
Haack estimated that out of
every 100 students, only two come
out of Chemistry 111 with the reac
tion, “Oh wow, I had no idea this
was what I wanted to do with my
life.” She said a far more common
response is, “I had no idea chem
istry was so accessible. ”
“It’s kind of like opening the
door and giving them a toolbox
and saying, ‘Look at all the cool
stuff you can do,”’ Haack said.
evasylwester@dailyemerald. com
IN BRIEF
Senate Democrats push
for higher-ed spending
SALEM — Emboldened by a favor
able revenue forecast and the gover
nor’s endorsement of a new insur
ance surcharge, Senate Democrats
say they are ready to push for a siz
able increase in state aid to schools.
Democratic leaders said they
would work to provide $5.4 billion to
schools, $400 million above Gov. Ted
Kulongoski’s initial funding proposal.
Senate President Peter Courtney
called $5.4 billion, the minimum
amount needed to head off more
classroom crowding and shortened
school years.
The Democrats’ announcement
was immediately assailed by House
Republicans.
“They started filling up the shop
ping cart before they know how
much money they have to spend,”
said House Speaker Karen Minnis,
R-Wood Village.
Governor Kulongoski had pro
posed that the Oregon Lottery intro
duce new electronic slots games,
with $65 million of the additional
revenue dedicated to the state police.
Democrats want that lottery mon
ey to go to schools, so the governor is
proposing to pursue the insurance
surcharge to pay for state police.
There’s no specific insurance sur
charge plan on the table at this point,
but similar legislation introduced in
2003 would have cost the average
motorist about $36 per year.
“It would be a tax increase on
every citizen who owns a car,” the
Canby Republican said.
Bin Laden enlisting Iraqi
operative for U.S. attacks
WASHINGTON, D.C. — New intel
ligence indicates that Osama bin
Laden is enlisting Abu Musab al-Zar
qawi, his top operative in Iraq, to
plan potential attacks on the U.S.
Al-Zarqawi has been involved in
attacks in the Middle East. He has
not been known to have set his
sights on America.
In a bulletin this weekend, Brian
Roehrkasse described the informa
tion as “credible but not specific.”
The intelligence was obtained over
the past several weeks.
The government has no immedi
ate plans to raise its national terror
alert level, Roehrkasse said. But the
intelligence “reiterates the desire by
al-Qaida and its associates to target
the homeland.”
Bin Laden was in contact with al
Zarqawi within the past two months
in an effort to enlist him, said an offi
cial, who spoke anonymously.
Suicide bomber kills at
least 115, wounds 132
HILLAH, Iraq — In the deadliest
strike since the fall of Saddam Hus
sein, a suicide car bomber attacked
mostly Shiite police and National
Guard recruits lined up for physical
exams Monday, killing 115 and
wounding 132 in the area.
The bombing presented the bold
est challenge yet to Iraq’s efforts to
build a security force.
Hillah is a largely Shiite Muslim
town about 60 miles south
of Baghdad.
The Associated Press
Disorders: University offers individual counseling and group treatment
Continued from page 1
from eating disorders could be larger,
because men are less likely to accept
having an eating disorder, which is
commonly identified as a female prob
lem, according to ANRED.
Anorexia nervosa and bulimia ner
vosa are two of the most common
eating disorders with which college
identify . Anorexia nervosa is charac
terized by “excessive weight loss
from self-starvation,” according to
NEDA. People with anorexia nervosa
may have unusual eating habits, re
stricting their food intake and keep
ing track of everything they eat, and
may exercise excessively.
People with bulimia nervosa may
have “a secretive cycle of binge eating
that is followed by purging,” according
to NEDA. People may “purge” them
selves by vomiting or using diuretics
or laxatives. Many people don’t purge
themselves, however.
Binge eating disorder diverges
from bulimia nervosa because it
doesn’t involve purging food, but
people with binge eating disorder
may sporadically fast or diet. “ (It) is
identified by periods of uncontrolled,
continuous or impulsive eating
beyond the point of feeling comfort
ably full,” according to NEDA.
While many people may identify
with one specific eating disorder, it’s
more likely they have a combination,
said Brooks Morse, a University Coun
seling and Testing Center psychologist
who oversees eating disorders re
sources at the counseling center. Many
people will show symptoms of severail
problems. For instance, a person with
bulimic tendencies may also compul
sively exercise, she said.
Morse said a host of issues con
tribute to college students developing
eating disorders.
“The age is a time of individuation,”
Morse said. “There’s that sort of con
flict of being on one’s own but at the
same time feeling more vulnerable. ”
Not only are students moving from
adolescence to adulthood, but they’re
doing it in a “semi-closed environ
ment” where they’re comparing them
selves to others and trying to fit in,
Morse said.
“For women in particular, that
whole ‘Am I good enough?’ question
expresses itself on the body,” she said.
Morse said eating disorders can
also develop from feelings of power
lessness. She said if people are
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anxious from uncontrollable issues
such as racism or homophobia, their
anxiety may be taken out on the
body because “the body is one way
that people identify.”
The social implications of dealing
with a changing body, trying to fit in
and dealing with feelings of powerless
ness can contribute to college students
who are already restricting their eating
developing a full-blown eating disorder
when these influences are combined
with psychological and biological fac
tors, Morse said. The proportion of the
problem that is psychological, biologi
cal or social is different for each person
who has an eating disorder, but culture
and experience play a prominent part,
she said.
“Eating disorders didn’t come out of
a vacuum,” Morse said, noting that
models became thinner and the coun
try began to emphasize “healthy”
numbers rather than behavior around
the 1970s. “Underneath the body is
sues is some kind of psychological
pain, but the form that pain takes is on
the body because of the media and
cultural issues.”
Body Mass Index, or BMI, is a
height-weight ratio used to measure
body fat and to set a range of ideal
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weights. But a person’s health is too
complex to be characterized by a sim
plified set of numbers, Morse said.
“Our society wants quick an
swers,” she said. “But I think it ac
tually makes more problems, be
cause people look at (BMI) to see if
they’re healthy instead of looking at
things holistically. Studies actually
show that people, women in partic
ular, are likely to think they’re over
weight even if they meet those
weight requirements.”
When looking at a person’s height
and weight, factors such as body type,
blood pressure, resting heart rate and
ethnicity are also important to deter
mine overall health, she said.
The University uses a team ap
proach to treating eating disorders,
combining psychological, medical, nu
tritional and exercise services for
clients. After students decide they
want help, they sign a “release of infor
mation” form authorizing the team to
discuss their treatment and goals.
The University Counseling and
Testing Center offers two different
programs for people with eating dis
orders. The Eating Awareness Work
shop helps people to change their at
titudes and feelings about food and
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weight by focusing on issues such as
body image, self-esteem, anger, per
fectionism and stress. The Eating
Disorders Group is a program of
fered to women who have or have
had an eating disorder and “are
ready to address the issues that have
caused it,” with a focus on feelings
and relationships, according to the
center’s Web site.
Eating disorders have a range of
short-term and long-term conse
quences on a person’s health, includ
ing heart muscle shrinkage, slow or ir
regular heart beats, heart failure,
kidney failure, osteoporosis, tooth ero
sion and death, according to the Eating
Disorders Coalition for Research, Poli
cy and Action.
Of all psychiatric disorders, anorexia
nervosa has the highest mortality rate,
killing up to 20 percent of those afflict
ed, according to the EDC.
Eating disorders and their causes are
not limited to a specific group of peo
ple, Morse said.
“We have the stereotype that it’s
upper class, white females, but
that’s not accurate,” Morse said.
“Everyone is vulnerable.”
karahansen @ dailyemerald. com
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