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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 20, 1996)
\ By Mike Kluck Senior Reporter By the time most students graduate from UNL they will have faced park ing problems, Big Red Saturday and financial aid lines. And they probably will have prayed to the porcelain god at least once. According to The Alcoholism and Drug Abuse Council of Nebraska, drinking in college has become almost as common as a Nebraska football vic tory. However, the problem with college drinking is that most students don’t consume alcohol for a social purpose. Instead, many drink to become intoxi cated. Psychology Professor P. Clayton Rivers, who teaches a class discussing the psycho-social aspects of drinking, said the amount and frequency of drinking in college is a problem. “Drinking and single-mindedness gets college students down,” Rivers said, “They focus on getting drunk, rather than sipping and drinking in small amounts. They don’t build social stuff around alcohol. Alcohol is the whole party.” According to the Indiana Preven tion Resource Center, drinking to get drunk can be called binge drinking, which is having five or more drinks in a row on at least one occasion. The Indiana center said in a national survey that one-third of high school seniors and 42 percent of college stu dents had reported binge drinking in the past two weeks. Steve Gragert, a University, of Ne braska-Lincoln junior education major, said he has relatives who are alcohol ics, but has participated in binge drink ing. “Isn’t it something every college student does?” Gragert said. “It’s something you have to get out of your system. I think many college students drink just because you have time on your hands” “Having an alcoholic in the family has helped me to know what leads to alcoholism,” he said. “I have seen what can happen with alcohol and believe who become alcoholics are ones who don’t have a strong will.” Binge drinking is popular with col lege students for two reasons, the In diana Prevention Resource Cento' said. It is the first opportunity of freedom from parental control, and the students are targeted by marketing techniques of beer companies._ And although The Alcoholism and Drug Abuse Council of Nebraska and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services have promoted zero use of alcohol, they have recognized that moderate drinking is tolerable. The Alcoholism and Drug Abuse Council of Nebraska says moderate drinking is no more than one drink per hour, two drinks per day for men, one for women and no more than four days per. week. A drink is considered to be one 12 ounce beer, a one ounce shot of 100 proof liquor or one four ounce glass of table wine. Also, The Alcoholism and Drug Abuse Council of Nebraska says that sipping drinks is better than gulp ing or “slamming” them. Senior criminal justice major Catherine Doeschot said although she has binged, she is still able to go to the bars and drink only two beers; espe cially when she’s driving. “When I’m driving I allow myself two beers and then don’t drink any more,” Doeschot said. “A lot of times when I know I’m driving, I don’t drink at all.” The U.S Department of Health and Human Services has said in some cases, people who drink moderately have a lower risk for coronary heart disease. But moderate drinking can also have its problems. “Research indicates that if you ex ceed these recommendations, you in crease the likelihood for experiencing an immediate impairment-related prob lem, a longer-term health-related prob lem or both. And, of course, the more you exceed the guidelines, the more you increase your risk,” The Alcohol ism and Drug Abuse Council of Ne braska said. Those risks could result in prob lems with cirrhosis of the liver and/or gastritis, or inflammation of the stom ach, which can lead to problems in cluding tearing of the lining, ulceration and severe bleeding. “Drinking at moderate levels has both benefits and risks,” NIAAA Di rector Enoch Gordis said. “Therefore, it should not be surprising that there are questions about what advice to give to individuals about using alcohol. “Current advice to individuals should acknowledge that there are trade-offs involved in each decision about drinking.” * Gordis said that as long as people are aware of the trade-offs and do not fit into a special risk category, there is no reason to try and convince diem not to drink. Massages flex muscle m relaxing By Cuff Hicks Staff Reporter At this year’s summer Olympics, massage therapy was included for the first time as part of the sports medi cine program. Over 130 massage therapists worked with the athletes in Atlanta, helping soothe the muscles of those who won the gold and those who didn't. This is not an isolated incident. Massage therapy has swept the coun try and is starting to become common place. Once everyone wanted a mas sage, now everyone’s getting a mas sage. ' “People think that the body isaself I 1 . — contained mecnanism, out it s reany high maintenance,” said Kari Phallon, a junior at UCLA. Phallon supplements her regular income at a local Pizza Hut by working as a masseuse for hire. “It’s really a kind of bizarre health craze. You'd think people would have thought of it before now,” Phellon said. Professor George Hide of the Col lege of Journalism and Mass Commu nications has been getting massages off and on for about five years. “I got one as a present and it was really, really relaxing,” Hick said, “ft helps keep me going.” TUck said that he tries to get a mas sage every month, but that sometimes he “treats” himself to more than that “The muscles in the human body build up tension that has to be released, ■■■■■■■■■••■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■I otherwise they start to lose sane of I their strength. Athletes have known fa I years, but the general public at large is I just seeming to come to terms with it,” [ he said. Phallon, who is majoring in com puter science, said that money would be tight for her if she hadn’t offered to give one of her friends a massage one day when she was a freshman. “It was one of the guys who plays basketball,” Phallon said, “and his legs were really tense especially. I gave him a massage, and later that week he asked... no, insisted that he pay me fa the massage and asked fa another. That was how I got my first customer.” Since then, Phallon has turned her talents into a mina business, bringing her regular appointments and a steady LINCOLN GYM 2545 Randolf • 435-1111 •Moo - Fri 6am-10pm • Sat 10am-6pm • Sun 10am-2pm Photo Illustration by Tanna Kinnaman Beer is a generic name far beverages made by fermentation of extracts of cereal grain, particularly barley, or other starchy material. Beer is a beverage known since antiquity and next to wine is probably the oldest of prepared food drinks. _ _42| Source:Connecticut government study Natalie UnstromfDN UUaJUJG. _ , “Working at Pizza Hut will pay a for a half-hour massage and pretty few bills, but California life ain’t cheap, soon. I’m making a few hundred bucks you know?_SoI_chaige twenty bucks a Ms agreat wayto^yfaxol I I ■=? I • • I I 1 ‘ I 7 i ree U-lock W ** pur UNL student ID. Offer expires 9-30-96. >706 Randolph 438-1477 JB| Photo Ilujstx/oton by Maeni Srck lege” Phallon said. - In the last few years, Phallon said, the number of massages she gives in creased dramatically. “I used to do like five a week and go a week or two without an appoint ment when I started. Now I'm up to ten a week and I have a waiting list of at least three weeks,” she said. Most massages take place in a warm room, often with soft music play ing. Almost all massages use light oil or lotion to allow the muscles to be worked without chafing or friction bums. “Massages are a great way to re lax,” Jared Kotil, a freshman computer science major, said. “I got one as a present once, and man, it was just in credible.” _1___
