Raising a racquet ; Staa McKee/DN
Dan Lehman of Lincoln watches Mike Epperson return a serve during a game of racquetball at the Sapp Recreation
Center Monday morning. Epperson is a former UNL gymnast.
UNL observes National Condom Week
By Jeffrey Robb
Staff Reporter
A week traditionally celebrated by
Valentine’s Day hugs and kisses and
Presidents Day mattress sales has also
been dubbed National Condom Week.
The Condom Resource Center in Oakland,
Calif., has named Feb. 14to21 National Condom
Week in an effort to educate people on the
prevention of sexually transmitted diseases.
A campus effort has been coordinated by the
University Health Center’s community health
education department to reach students with
the Condom Resource Center’s message.
“There are estimates that one of every five
college students has or will have a sexually
transmitted disease. It is also estimated that a
campus the size of UNL has between 50 to 75
students who are HIV positive,’’ said Pal
Tetreault, the university’s sexual education
-44
Education is one of the best methods to encourage sexual health
and responsibility.
— Tetreault
UNL sexual education coordinator
-99 -
coordinator.
In addition, she said 80 percent of college
students were estimated to be sexually active,
and the majority didn’tprotect themselves from
sexually transmitted diseases when engaged in
sex.
These statistics worry the Condom Resource
Center. Since 1978, the center has tried to
coordinate a national effort to educate people
on condoms and other sexual options. National
Condom Week is an additional focus of those
efforts.
Tetreaull said these numbers were espe
cially pertinent to college students, so efforts
were focused on them.
"I think it’s needed because of the high
incidence of sexually transmitted diseases in
our culture," she said. "Sexually transmitted
diseases are most prevalent among individuals '
under the age of 25, described as a large portion
See CONDOM on 3
Campus debit
cards possible
by next fall
By Matt Woody
Staff Reporter
Imagine you just ordered a cheeseburger
and fries at the Burger King in the Ne
braska Union when you noticed your wal
let was empty.
Got your HuskeiCard? No problem.
Although currently no such card exists, it
may not be long before students could make
purchases with their own university-managed
debit card, a UNL official said.
Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs James
Griesen said possibly as soon as next fall,
students would be able to open and use a debit
account through their student ID card.
Griesen saidadebitcard’s function was very
similar to a credit card’s, but the way it works
was much different.
A debit card is pre-paid; purchases are de
ducted from the account’s balance, as opposed
to a credit card where the buyer accumulates a
tab and pays later.
Griesen said when the current photo ID card
system was being developed in 1987 and 1988,
he and others studied the possibility of a debit
or credit card system. The decision was made
not to offer either.
Griesen said he was happy with the ID
system, because one card would be all students
needed for campuswide use. However, he said,
a debit card would be a plus for students.
“I could see it as a major convenience,”
Griesen said.
Andy Epstein, a freshman at Vanderbilt
University, where the Commodore Card is as
good as gold, said the card was very handy.
The Commodore Card is accepted all over
campus, he sai<J,aj)d students don’t hold back
because they’ve already paid.
Epstein said prices at campus stores were
often higher than off campus, but students
didn’t care because the stores took the card.
Mazzio’s, a local pizza eatery, and Dairy
Queen have sites on campus and “make a
killing,” he said.
“Students will go there and they don’t have
to worry about it, because it’s on the card,”
Epstein said.
At Florida State University, the Seminole
Access Card acts universally on campus, said
Bob Basham, operations director of the Semi
nole Access Center at Florida State University.
The card, instituted last fall, has many func
tions, including ID card, library card, debit
account card and dormitory passkey, he said.
“This is taking everything we’ve got and
combining it into one card, so dial’s all students
See DEBIT on 3
Depression disorders treatable, officials say
Stress, sleeping problems
during winter intensified
by natural light deficiency
By Doug Kouma
Staff Reporter_*_
People who have been feeling a bit glum
lately may be suffering from something
more serious than a case of spring fever.
A condition known as Seasonal Affective
Disorder, which is caused by a lack of natural
light, can strengthen the severity of afflictions
like stress, depression and sleep disorders, said
John Breckenridge, a counselor at the Univer
sity Health Center.
The disorder typically begins with the onset
of winter and can last throughout the season.
Symptoms include stress,depression, increased
appetite and sleeping problems.
Extended periods of cloudy, damp days can
make the condition even more severe,
Breckenridge said.
Throughout history, he said, people who
have lived in northern climates often experi
ence “cabin fever” at this time of year. Now,
science is finding that there may be validity to
the condition.
But distinguishing SAD from other condi
lions that cause stress and depression can be
difficult, he said.
“If these symptoms only take place during
the short daylight hours, you begin to know that
this may be SAD," Breckcnridge said.
Research on the topic is ongoing, and many
of the causes of the disorder still are unknown.
“I’m unaware at the moment that they’ve
really tracked down specifically what can hap
pen," Breckenridge said.
He said other problems, such as stress, could
trigger the onset of SAD.
Depending on its severity, the disorder can
interfere with students’ studies, he said.
“Any kind of depression is a serious imper
ilment m that you can’t study efficiently and
effectively," Breckcnridge said.
People who think they may be suffering
from SAD should try to treat the disorder as
well as the individual problems, such as stress
or depression.
Breckenridge said mild cases of SAD could
be cured with something as simple as a “walk
at lunch time when the sun is shining."
But he said only broad-spectrum light—the
same kind as natural sunlight — would help
alleviate the symptoms. Fluorescent light does
not contain all the necessary wavelengths.
See SAD on 3
. >. s'
People suffering long-term
lack of energy, motivation
help with professor’s study
By Kathryn Borman
Staff Reporter
People who have felt depressed and low
in energy for an extended period of lime
may be eligible for some relief as well as
help a UNL professor’s research.
Debra Hope, an assistant professor of psy
chology, works at the UNL Psychological Con
sultation Center studying a type of long-term
de sion.
j condition, called dysthymia by the
American Psychological Association, may in
clude a lack of energy or motivation, irritability
and a pessimistic outlook, Hope said.
Dysthymia differs'from major depression,
she said, which is usually more severe. Major
depression can include feelings of worthless
ness or suicide and is generally limited to
periodic episodes, with returns to normalcy in
between.
‘‘A dysthymic never reaches major depres
sion but never gets back to normal,” Hope said.
Dysthymia appears to onlookers as “a per
sonality style,” she said.
Researchers believe dysthymia affects vic
tims throughout their lives. It severely affects
one in 10 women and one in 20 men in the
United States.
Some dysthymics link their depression to a
single event, such as the death of a loved one or
a move to a new environment, Hope said.
Others say they’ve been depressed as long as
they can remember.
Researchers are unsure whether an event
such as starting a new job or getting married
may coax dysthymics out of their depressed
state, Hope said.
“But people who’ve had it for many years
are not likely to move on without treatment,"
she said.
The psychology study provides 12 weekly
sessions of group therapy in exchange for the
subject’s participation.
Hope said she thought the group treatment
was a positive method for dysthymics.
“A whole lot of the positive experiences we
have with other people (in life) is from group
interaction,” Hope said.
"Dysthymics seem to have a real disruption
in that interaction."
Through group treatment, participants will
receive the support of people in a similar situ
See DEPRESSION on 3
