At the end of your rope? Programs are lifeline to sanity
• ■The University Health Center
offers ways to beat stress; sure
signs include anxiety and poor
eating and sleeping habits.
BY MARGARET BEHM
You’re 10 minutes late for
class, your dog ate your home
work and some old woman in a
Volvo just stole your parking
spot.
Sounds like you’re stressed.
Stress is an everyday part of
our lives. Sometimes it can be
overwhelming. But with some
practice, it can get easier to deal
with.
Mary Swoboda, a clinical
social worker at the University
Health Center, said it’s common
for people to go through times
when they’re stressed.
“I think everybody has peri
ods of life when they’re over
whelmed,” Swoboda said.
Typical signs of being over
stressed can be anything from
being anxious or not sleeping
well to not eating properly.
If someone is under over
whelming stress for a longer
period of time, it may lead to
depression, said Luis Diaz
Perdomo, a psychologist at the
University Health Center.
Not dealing with stress prop
erly is what makes people not
feel well, he said.
“It’s not the stress that makes
these signs appear, it’s you not
managing your stress,” Diaz
Perdomo said.
To help students learn how
to deal with stress, the
University Health Center has the
Relaxation Hour. The program
takes place Tuesdays from 12:30
to 1:20 p.m. It is free for students
and no reservation is necessary.
The program will feature a
new relaxation exercise such as
muscle relaxation, visualization
or breathing exercises each
week.
Students can determine
which exercise works the best
for them.
It is important to train your
self to deal with stress like you
would train yourself for other
things, Diaz-Perdomo said.
“The idea of any kind of
training is practice,” he said.
"You have to do it like you would
physical conditioning.”
Sometimes people use stress
relievers that are damaging,
Diaz-Perdomo said.
“Stress relievers can be dam
“Stress relievers can be damaging if the only
thing they know how to do is go and drink to
relieve stress. ”
Luis Diaz-Perdomo
University Health Center psychologist
aging if the only thing they know
how to do is go and drink to
relieve stress,” he said. “Pretty
soon that one beer doesn’t do it
anymore. Then it’s two, then
three.”
Students can also go to the
University Health Center for
biofeedback training, which is
when a machine measures how
much stress a person’s body is
under.
This is important because
you may not even know that
you’re body is stressed,
Swoboda said.
"A lot of people don’t realize
when they’re stressed,” she said.
“Your body gets to thinking it’s
normal. So you should recondi
tion yourself to be relaxed
instead of being stressed.”
Students also get three free
counseling sessions at the
University Health Center.
Students should take advan
tage of the sessions, Diaz
Perdomo said.
"It’s not like you have to be
crazy to go to a counselor,” he
said. “If you have some doubts
or concerns, come see a coun
selor."
College students can be
stressed by a variety of things.
Many college students feel over
whelmed from the burden of
classes, Swoboda said.
“A lot of people talk about
that when you’re in school,
you’re never really done with it,”
she said. “You can’t just go home
and say ‘OK, I’m done with it for
today.’”
College students also often
work too many hours, Diaz
Perdomo said.
“Sometimes I have to ask a
student to take a step back and
ask themselves, ‘Am I a student
or a worker that’s taking class
es?’ ”
British study probes asteroids
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
LONDON - They may only
strike every 100,000 years on aver
age, but life-threatening asteroids
could be heading Earth’s way, and
scientists said Monday they want
a closer look.
A panel set up this year by the
British government to assess the
risk of asteroids slamming into the
planet called for an international
program to build a powerful $22.5
million telescope in the southern
hemisphere.
“The risk is very real - and very
tiny - but with awful conse
quences, and we ought to be
doing something about it," said Sir
Crispin Tickell, Britain’s former
ambassador to the United
Nations and a member of the
panel, which published its report
on Monday.
Although millions are already
being spent trying to track Near
Earth Objects, or NEOs, scientists
acknowledge they’re very much in
the dark. Asteroids near Earth
travel at between 10 and 20 miles
per second, making them hard to
detect. As a result, scientists watch
their orbits to predict their expect
ed course.
According to the U.S. space
agency NASA, at the beginning of
2000, only about half the estimat
ed 500-to-1,000 near-Earth aster
“ The risk is very real — and very tiny — but with
awful consequences, and we ought to be able to ,
be doing something about it. ”
Sir Crispin Tickell
former British U.N. ambassador
oids measuring half a mile across
or larger - big enough to cause a
global catastrophe - had been
detected.
The proposed 10-foot tele
scope would see further and wider
and be able to pick up the faintest
of glows, the panel said. Operated
robotically, it would supplement
the coverage of other telescopes in
operation in the northern hemi
sphere.
"It’s a question of giving our
selves a chance,” said Robert
Massey, an astronomer at Britain's
Royal Observatory in Greenwich.
“We would be able to spot trouble
10 to 100 years away and could
take steps accordingly.On the
other hand, if it were a year away,
probably the best we could do
would be to duck," Massey said.
Objects hitting the Earth have
caused devastating damage over
millions of years. One impact off
the coast of what is now Mexico 65
million years ago is thought to
have led to the extinction of the
dinosaurs.
Another impact in 1908 in
Siberia knocked down trees with
its shock waves over hundreds of
square miles.
The report listed nine objects
that have come within two lunar
distances of the Earth - about
497,120 miles-since 1991. In May
1996, an object 984 feet wide,
called JA1, came as close as about
298,000 miles to the planet.
It also called for further study
into how to destroy a sizable
object on a collision course with
the planet. One possibility is a
nuclear explosion by the side of an
asteroid to divert it from its course.
Recent Hollywood block
busters “Armageddon” and “Deep
Impact” have heightened public
awareness about asteroid disas
ters.
NASA has already earmarked
more than $1 billion to gain a bet
ter scientific understanding of
asteroids, which are rocky or
metallic bodies hurtling through
space mostly in a band between
Jupiter and Mars.
Poll shows Nelson ahead ofStenberq
FOIL from pagel
Hagel and himself.
“The focus has been on get
ting Republicans to vote
Republican,” Vanderford said. “If
he does that, he will win.”
Robert Sittig, a political sci
ence professor at the University of
Nebraska-Lincoln, said he was
surprised by the size of Nelson’s
lead.
Six months ago, Sittig said, he
would have predicted Stenberg to
win on the basis of the Republican
Party's sizable lead among regis
tered Nebraska voters. Although
he expects the race to tighten, he
said Nelson looks poised to win.
He said the poll could hurt
Stenberg s chances by making
national donors and the national
Republican Party more reluctant
to invest in his campaign.
“This kind of poll result is pret
ty damaging for Stenberg,” Sittig
said. “I imagine the Stenberg cam
paign is in quite a tizzy.”
Sittig said Nelson enjoys
essentially the same popularity he
did four years ago. The difference,
he said, is that instead of facing a
new face like Hagel, Nelson is now
facing the “staid, solid,
unprovocative” campaign of
Stenberg.
The World-Herald poll
showed that one-third of those
who planned to vote for Bush
were supporting Nelson for now.
In order for Stenberg to pull off a
comeback, he will have to solidify
that base, Sittig said.
“The challenge now for
Stenberg is to try to take those
squishy Republicans and bring
them home,” he said. “How does
he do that? It’s hard to say.”
Both sides of marriage amendment optimistic
AMENDMENT from page 1
recognized in Nebraska. The
uniting of two persons of the same
sex in a civil union, domestic part
nership or other similar same-sex
relationship shall not be valid or
recognized in Nebraska.”
Thirty-three other states have
already enacted legislation or
approved initiatives banning
fame-sex marriages. If Initiative
416 passed, Nebraska would
become the first state to specifi
cally ban civil unions and domes
tic-partner arrangements, too.
Earlier this year, Vermont
legalized civil unions for gay part
ners. Mills said passage of
Initiative 416 would ensure
Nebraska would not be forced to
recognize civil unions for
Nebraskans who traveled to
Vermont to enter into them.
“For all intents and purposes,
(Vermont) redefined marriage,”
she said.
Mills said she was disturbed
by one of the World-Herald poll’s
findings: 27 percent of respon -
dents said they disapproved of
homosexuality but thought it was
a private matter.
“I think this indicates that a
number of people are increasingly
afraid to voice opposition to
homosexuality as a lifestyfe for
fear of being labeled a hate-mon
ger,” she said.
Clements said supporters of
the amendment gained the nec
essary signatures to place it on the
November ballot by misleading
voters. She said she was confident
Nebraskans would reject the
amendment.
“Who’s attacking marriage?
Not gay and lesbian people in
Nebraska,” she said.
"(Amendment supporters) are
trying to make second-class citi
zens out of a portion of
Nebraskans. No one, whether gay
or straight, liberal or conservative,
would support that.”
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Dean candidate:
Job preparation,
liberal arts key
DEAN from page 1
sciences to foster condi
tions that allow the inspira
tions of faculty and students
to flourish.”
Tomlin said he was
aware of the large number of
administrative openings at
the university but said that
hadn’t yet affected his desire
to come to UNL.
But it has made him
wonder why so many open
ings exist, he said.
Tomlin said it may
become an issue if he moves
farther along in the selection
process.
“All of the candidates are
excited to be here now,”
Tomlin said. “I’m interested
in learning about the cam
pus. Second thoughts would
arise when we moved into
the next stage.”
Susan Rosowski, English
professor, said she found
Tomlin to be articulate and
thoughtful.
It is also helpful to hear
about other universities,
Rosowski said, and Tomlin
talked quite a bit about his
experience at Oregon.
Rosowski did not want to
comment on Tomlin as a
dean candidate specifically
but said she thought the new
dean needed to have a clear
understanding of the facul
ty’s mission.
“He or she will need to be
at the core of the identity of
undergraduate education,”
she said. “They should also
be effective working with
other colleges and repre
senting us." •
The next dean candidate
to come to campus is
Richard J. Hoffman, dean of
the College of Arts and
Sciences at the State
University of New York at
Albany. He will be on cam
pus from Sept. 20-22.
UK_
ising
& the media on body image.
12th & O - Gateway Mall
www.sartorhamann.com
UED CS2STEH
Kit wm
:
Lied Center programming is
supported by the Friends of Lied
3no grants from the National
Enddwnent for the Arts, a federal
agency; Heartland Arts Fund, jointly
supported by Arts Midiwst and
Mtd-Amenca Arts Alliance; and
Nebraska Arts Council All events m
the Lied Center are made possible
by the Lied Performance Fund
which has been established in
memoiy of Ernst F. Lied and his
parents, Ernst M. and Ida K. Lied.
■^University of
w® Nebraska-Lmcoln
An equal opportunity educator and
employer with a comprehensive
plan for diversity.
Veriovka Ukranian National
Song and Dance Ensemble
The company was founded following World War II by
Hryhory Veriovka, but its traditions are rooted in the
timeless folk ancestry of the Ukraine. Over 80 artists
perform compositions of Ukrainian instrumental music,
singing, and dancing. Anatoly Avdievsky, the artistic
director, utilizes the work of traditional and contemporary
authors to create a rich, cultural experience that has been
embraced by audiences the world over.
Friday, September 29, 2000 • 7:30pm
Lied Center for Performing Arts
Lincoln, Nebraska
Tickets: (402) 472-4747 or (800) 432-3231
Box Office: 11:00am - 5:30pm M-F
www.liedcenter.org
