Image provided by: The Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs; Warm Springs, OR
About Spilyay tymoo. (Warm Springs, Or.) 1976-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 21, 1984)
t OREGON STATE UNIVERSITY S pilyay T ymoo J How to handle school stress EXTENSION It’s a typical Tuesday in home room. Tom flops into his seat and yawns, “W hat a boring day. I’d give anything for a cigarette.” “Me, too,” Carla replies. “I ’ve got to pass a history test in fif teen minutes.” Then she’s back to her notes, cramming furiously. Jackie bounds in and tells Cheryl, “The tryouts are at three o’ clock today! If I can make the team this year I might have a chance at an athletic scholar ship. I ’ve just go to make it.” ‘’Just do your best,” Cheryl says. “You have a good chance. But, I know I ’m not going to college on an athletic scholar How do you make it through use as a full meal other times of ship. In fact, the way my grades the holiday without putting on the year. Sandwiches can be a are going, I may not be going to twenty pounds and overspend good quick meal. A nother one college at all.” Which student above is deal ing your food budget? The an might be soup and cheese toast. swer is to change the way you S om ething light, som ething ing with the most stress? Maybe eat. quick, something to take the you’d pick Jackie, who’s facing During the holidays there are push off the whole holiday sea im portant tryouts, or Carla, about to be quizzed in her worst lots of meals, heavy meals, peo son. ple are in a hurry, and it would O r you could cut back to two subject. Sure they’re under stress, be the perfect time to do some meals a day. That way less time but so is bored apathetic Tom, alternative kinds of meals: per is required for food prepara and Cheryl who’s feeling frus haps breakfast for dinner-pan- tion, so more time is available trated and discouraged. Stress cakes and eggs are a good selec to spend with loved ones, and to can come at you in all kinds of ways, ranging from high anx tion. You might want to do enjoy holiday festivities. iety to a down-in-the-dumps something that you might not depression. Any situation, positive or neg ative, that changes your status quo will be stressful. Falling in love or getting into a top college can be as stressful, in their way, as quarreling with your best When home gardening activ Gasoline engines should be friend or failing to get a term ities begin winding down in the drained of gas and make sure all paper in on time. fall, d on’t forget to clean and the fuel is removed from the In school as in life, stress is store equipment before retreat carburetor and gas lines. This inevitable, and th a t’s not neces ing indoors for the winter. will prevent buildup of gum sarily bad. Consider: Equipment that receives care from gasoline evaporation in ♦W ithout the pressure of an will last longer and require less the lines. upcoming exam, few of us would repair. In the long run, properly Engine oil that is old and buckle down and really learn a maintained garden tools make dirty should be changed. Re subject. gardening easier and more effi move the engine’s spark plug ♦The tension we feel before a cient. and squirt a small am ount of oil test or a tryout—the possibility Clean and sharpen small hand into the cylinder. Turn the engine of not succeeding or winning tools before storing them. Be over by hand to make sure the big—makes us try harder and sure to remove rust spots as well cylinder walls are lubricated be as dirt. Apply a light coat of oil fore putting the spark plugs to the tools to protect them back in place. against rust. Power equipment parts that A fter m aking sure garden 3 contact the soil when in .use hoses are completely drained, should receive a light coat pf oil D on’t let winter weather keep coil and hang them from à before going into storage. Bare you out of the garden all winter curved surface. Hanging hoses metal surfaces should be re long. Keep on gardening out from a nail or hook causes a painted if the original paint has doors in a coldframe. Use of a sharp bend to form in the hose been damaged or worn away. coldframe enables the home gar that will weaken it and may “Storing tools in a lockable dener to sow summer flowers create a leak. cabinet or closet will keep them and vegetables weeks before out McNeilan urges home garde safely opt of the way,” McNei door spring planting dates. In ners to follow manufacturer’s lan says. “ Hanging them from addition, you can start annual instructions when cleaning po the garage wall is another way flowers for fall and winter, and wer equipment. to keep them from under fpot.” perennials for next year’s grow- Clay Penhollow M ollie Driscoll Change the way you eat Clean garden equipment for winter often perform better than we thought we would. ♦If there was no anxiety about succeeding, we’d never taste the joy that comes when we do realize a prized goal. ♦Even being bored can be a valuable stress. It can motivate us to go out and make life more interesting. School is a high-stress situa tion. Your day is controlled by schedules, bells, and rules. Wheth er you’re answering questions in class, taking a quiz, or facing final exams, you’re being asked to perform. As if this weren’t enough, you begin junior high as a kid and graduate from high school as an adult. In between, there are all kinds of changes—in your body, your social life, your goals, and your general outlook. No wonder school can feel like such a pres sure cooker! There’s no point in wishing stress away or trying to float above it all. However, there are ways you can handle the pres sure, concrete things you can do to make school life more enjoy able and prevent everyday stress from piling up into distress. What pushes your stress button? The first step is to get a clearer picture of pressures that get to you, whether it’s a partic ular subject, a difficult teacher, unanswered questions ab o u t your future, or too many things to do in too little time. Some stress is external; it’s caused by situations outside you. If you take five tough subjects, get three hours of homework a night, and have a part-tim e job, that’s a pretty heavy load. Maybe you’re up for the challenge, but then something else happens. Maybe your dad has to go to the hospital, or your parents start arguing a lot more, or you break up with your boy/girl- friend. Any of these problems could tip the balance, causing stress overload. Some stress is internal; it’s churned up by feelings and atti- tudes you carry inside you. For example, if you bring home a report card with solid B’s and your p are n ts— or you your self—want to see A’s, those expec tations will color your feelings. You’ll feel more anxiety than someone who thinks B’s are just fine. Or let’s say you know you’ll have to choose soon between college prep and vocational elec tives, but you keep putting off even thinking about your future direction. Eventually, uneasy feel ings will build up inside. Stress again. Coping Patterns Everyone has their own ways of dealing with stress. Tom imme diately wants to light up a ciga rette. Unfortunately, too many people turn to smoking, snack ing, drinking, TV, or even pills as a way to relax. Carla tends to procrastinate, avoiding a sub ject she dislikes, then cramming to make up for lost time. All of us look for quick and easy ways to escape pressure, but avoiding the issue and relying on stress activated habits are hot effec tive solutions. Jackie may sound jumpy about her team tryout, but she’s deal ing with the challenge, and psy ching herself up for it. Cheryl may sound as if she’s gripping, but at least she’s not keeping her problems locked inside. Shar ing frustrations with a sympa thetic friend can be a good first step in releasing inner tensions. Better ways to handle stress Here are eight positive ways to put pressure in perspective and take stress in stride: 1. Really Relax—When your heart is pounding and your hands, start sweating, that doesn’t mean you’re about to fall apart. It’s just a sign that your body has given you a shot of adrenalin, so you’re revved up—maybe overreved—for action. Your best bet for calming yourself is to take some slow deep breaths. Any activity that encourages deep regular breathing, like jog ging, swimming, or yoga can help your body and mind develop the habit of keeping alert and calm. 2. D on’t Be a W orry-W art— Unlike the procrastinator, who’ll do anything to avoid a problem, the worry-wart can’t think of anything but the problems. Most of the time, worrying just churns up more anxiety without accomplishing anything constructive. A typical worry- wart decides to take a study break and watch TV, but feels too guilty to enjoy the show. Physical activity, like a walk around the block, is a good antidote. 3. S to p M a k in g C o m parisons—Since school means grades, it’s hard not to compare yourself to others. Sometimes you begin to feel that those grades or numbers measure you. D on’t believe it? People are much more than their test scores. Grades may be a realistic guideline of how you’re doing and where you stand right now, but they shouldn’t be the sole measure of yourself. “Constantly comparing yourself to others is a way of putting yourself down and th a t’s destructive.” It starts with friends who ask “W hatcha get?” or with parents who say, “Why aren’t your grades as good as your brother’s? These kinds of remarks don’t take your abil ities or personality into account.” Coldframes useful for winter gardening ing season in a coldframe. The coldframe will protect the plants from harsh winter weather and they will grow to transplant size quickly. A typical coldframe is a wood frame box about three by six feet in size with the back (north side) higher than the front. The top is sloped to capture a max imum of sunlight and allow the rain to run off. The top may be either hinged or removable and can be made of window sash, storm windows grass. Because ammonium sul or polyethylene film in a frame. fate can permanently stain con Polyethylene film may cause a crete, keep it off sidewalks and few problem s when used in Western Oregon because it tends driveways. Copper sulfate or ferrous am to sag and collect water. A location that is sunny, well- monium sulfate are chemicals that can be used in spray form drained and protected from the to treat moss-choked lawns. For best results, dilute the chemicals according to label directions. Ferrous ammonium sulfate can also be used as a dry formu lation. Apply it at the rate of ten Almost all foods contain so pounds, per 1,000 square feet. dium, an ingredient of salt. Some M cNeilan cautions home- Americans eat more sodium than owners to remember that chem they should. A diet that con ical treatm ent alone will not tains too much sodium may permanently rid a lawn of moss. lead to a disease called high A permament solution lies in blood pressure or hypertension. correcting the condition that A ham burger alone has very allowed the moss to become little sodium—about 40 or 50 established in the first place. milligrams. But by the time a fastfood re sta u ra n t is done cooking it and covering it with special sauces and pickles, the burger you eat may contain as much as 1,000 milligrams of sodium. (Your body needs only about 250 milligrams a day.) If you ordered fries and a shake, you’re getting even more sodium with your meal. Fertilizers prevent moss growth A fall application of fertilizer on home lawns will keep th‘e turf healthy and help it resist invasions of lawn moss. A complete fertilizer with a high percentage of nitrogen, such as 12 t 4-8, is recommended for the fall application, says Ray McNeilan, Oregon State Uni- versity Extension home garden- ing agent. It other fertlizer mixtures are used, apply about one pound of actual nitrogen per one thou- sand square feet. Lawns need phosphate, and the nitrogen will keep lawn gras ses green without causing undue growth that would require mow ing. Moss can give a home lawn the appearance of being in good condition when in fact it is irra very poor state of health, accord ing to McNeilan. “Moss can become established in a lawn only when some con dition is preventing the grass from growing in a normal health- y way,” McNeilan says. “Poor drainage, low fertility, soil com- paction or too much shade can all keep grass from growing normally while at the same time allowing moss to become estab- lished.” To remove moss, first rake out as much as possible. Then apply ammonium sulfate at ten pounds per 1,000 square feet. Apply the m aterialeither with a fertilizer spreader or by hand. This chemical not only kills moss, but also fertilizes the lawn wind is ideal for a coldframe. Good construction will help con serve the soil heat at night. The joints of the coldframe should be as tight as possible. Soil can be banked up around the sides to keep the planting area warmer. Paint the wood surfaces of the coldframe with a primer and one or two coats of white paint to reflect the light. A wood preservative, such as two percent copper napthenate, is safe near plants and can be used before painting to give protection against wood rot. Creosote and pentachlorophenol will p o iso n th e p la n ts and shouldn’t be used. The frame should be 12 inches in the front (south side) to 18 inches in back. These dimen- sions may be reduced if desired. Heat for the frame comes from the sun. During the night the heat is gradually lost through the cover. During the day, the temperature must be controlled so it doesn’t get too high (100 degrees F in maximum). Raise the cover of the frame occas io n a lly to reduce the tempera ture inside and provide good air circulation. Coldframe tem per-. atures are sometimes not easy to control. They depend on the weather and how often the frame temperature is checked. Poor air circulation can cause damping off, mold and botrytis. The use of a sterile seed medium such as vermiculite, sand or other disease-free planting mate rial helps prevent these problems. Junk food contains too much salt Happy snacking Snack foods can be satisfying and nutritious and still be com patible with the sodium and fat changes you have made in your diet if you select them carefully. Fruits and raw vegetables are good examples of the kinds of snack foods recommended. They contain no sodium, fat or cho lesterol and are low in calories ■ *3® which should please those who are watching their weight. On the other hand, snack foods such as potato and corn chips, M .. _ . ■ chocolate candy, salty crackers, JXimble fingers and concentration buttered popcorn and pizza con- The name o f the game in the Tuesday night crochet class is to concentrate and coordinatefingers with tain salt and saturated fat and that concentration. (Pictured left to right) Donna Seyler and Roberta Queaphama two participants of should be avoided. the class work intently at the art o f the needle work o f crocheting. There are many possible cho ices for appetizing snacks: ♦Fruits and juices. ♦Raw vegetables served alone or with specially prepared dips. ♦Home-fried tortilla shells bro ken into chip-size pieces and served with specially prepared dips. ♦Soda crackers without salt sprinkled on top, spread with peanut butter. ♦Skim milk, low-fat yogurt, low-fat frozen yogurt, sherbet or ice milk. ♦Cereal. ♦Bread sticks or unsalted pret zels. ♦Unsalted popcorn flavored with margarine. ♦Specially prepared hom e made cookies and cakes. ♦Sandwiches, canapes or tea sandwiches. ♦ U nsalted n u ts or seeds, shelled or unshelled. ♦Plain hard candies. Many of the pre-packaged snack foods on your grocer’s shelves contain added salt and are fried or prepared with satu rated fat, Reading labels on the package is the best way to deter mine whether or not that par ticular food product is for vou. Crafts class offered Learn how to make attrac tiv e, easy an d in ex p en siv e Christmas presents, home dec- oratiori and tree ornament. Monday December 3,6-8 p.m. Warm Springs 4-H Center. Spon sored by the OSU Extension Service. Ho Ho homemade for the holidays, nutritious, easy and inexpensive quick breads, muf fins and yeast loaves will be demonstrated. Learn how to attractively wrap these holiday treats for gift giving. Karen Smith, W arm Springs IH S N utritionist and Mollie Driscoll OSU Extension Agent will present the inform ation Thursday December 6,7-9 p.m. Warm Springs 4-H Center. Extension happenings December 3 December 4 Christmas Crafts 6 to 8 p.m. 4-H Center Budgeting-Putting the pieces together 7-8:30 p.m. 4-H Center December 6 Ho Ho Homemade For the Holidays 7-9 p.m. 4-H Center December 18 Share A Salad 12-1:00 p.m. 4-H Center
