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Show 4 Thursday, February 18, 2010 OPINION www.dailyutahchronicle.com Poision deaths show need for intervention fter global warming ruining ur ski season, alcohol laws constrictGEORGE ing to the point of a modern prohibition, ARTSITAS and Chris Buttars wanting to eliminate the 12th grade as an effective Senior, Mass Communication budget cut solution, U students have another anxiety Although calls are purely volto burden them regularly: being untary and age is confidential, poisoned. Utah Poison Control Center's The Utah Department of Coordinator of Outreach Health reported the number of Marty Malheiro said she has Utah residents who die from noticed a pattern in the numpoisoning is nearly twice the ber of younger patients, but national average. The report hasn't seen any solutions. takes into account anything "(College students) can from toxic fumes and pain come in for a number of medication to the stuff straight reasons," she said. "It's mostly out of Sabrina's teenage alcohol abuse, drug abuse and cauldron, but with most of the even energy drink abuse, so deaths occurring in Salt Lake it runs the gambit of any kind County, U students might want of poisoning. For the past two to be a little more wary of their years, the Health Department surroundings. has had a tough time figuring There's no immediate need it out." With Utah ranking fourth for hysteria or even an emergency seminar with Poison in non-medical use of pain reControl, as the death toll relievers, according to the most ports that only the tiny fraction recent U.S. Health and Huof 23.6 out of ioo,000 people man Services survey, strides die in Utah from poisonare being taken to limit and related deaths, as opposed to remove opportunities for prethe national average of 11.On scriptions in Utah that lead top of that, people between toward substance abuse and the ages of 45 and 54 are the accidental overdose. most susceptible, according to Some laws—such as the state officials. U students don't one that would notify doctors need to worry about the posof a patient's record of drivsible poisoning as long as they ing under the influence becontinue to not accidentally fore they prescribe powerful pills—are coming to fruition swallow antifreeze. However, there is still reaby Utah lawmakers, but these son for concern. The report are only small steps. does stipulate pain medicaAnother bill would require a tion deaths, and though it's physician prescribing potennearly impossible to tell tially fatal medications to regwhether they're intentional, ister and gain knowledge in a they still resonate a generasubstance-abuse database. This tional ascent into prescribed is wonderful, but this really substance abuse. hasn't happened already? Drug complications result Happy Valley used to be a in 20 percent to 25 percent of joke to me, but now it has bedeaths in Utah, according to gun to be painfully apparent the state examiner's office— that doctors aren't adequately the most out of any other acquainted with the repercuscause of death. U students are sions of the pills they fling just as likely to be a part of out like confetti. How can a this statistic, so it's possible bored college student resist? that recreational drug users Doctors prescribe Adderall, in college are involved. also known as amphetamine The Utah Poison Control or speed, to children. They Center took in more than prescribe codeine—the key 56,000 calls last year alone. ingredient in any bad rapper's chalice—for a solid fake cough and some sniffles. It's time for doctors to take the responsibility that juvenile students with mischievous mindsets simply don't have. Utah: 21.3 per 100,000 It's terrifying to think of people what has happened to the U's U.S. Average: 11 per core of religious and moral justness so renowned as our 100,000 people identity throughout the nation. Source: Utah Department Poison deaths seem to be a silly subject, but with all of Health, health.utah.gov the pain medication deaths tallying up, it's time we think about how many more times DJ AM's "Interventions" can come back to Utah. This is a solvable problem that is going unnoticed. letters@ chronicle.utah.edu Poison Deaths VLADIMIR SOKOLOV /The Daily Utah Chronicle Social-networking sites can threaten more than grades W e've all seen the way socialnetworking sites such as Facebook connect us to friends and family. The site, started by computer science students, has more than 400 million users and is quickly changing the way we communicate with each other. Although it's a great distraction during lulls in lecture and homework, users are beginning to notice some negative consequences of Facebook use. Last April, an Ohio State University study found that college students who use Facebook spend less time studying and have lower GPAs than students who don't use it. "We can't say that use of Facebook leads to lower grades and less studying—but we did find a relationship there," said Aryn Karpinski, co-author of the study. "There's a disconnect between students' claim that Facebook use doesn't impact their studies and our finding showing they had lower grades and spent less time studying." Connecting with others on the web causes users to experience a range of emotions, particularly in romantic relationships. A study, published in the CyberPsychology & Behavior Journal concluded MBA Program that there is a "significant association between time spent on Facebook and jealousy-related feelings and behaviors experienced on Facebook by college students." Some observers are even noticing that Facebook is exposing them to health risks. Because profile updates often include only a brief sentence, users aren't given time to assess the value of the statement and its true meaning, says Jim Schumacher, a suiteroLcom contributor. "In the long run, such a habit forms insensitive and numb personalities, as they are reading the most intimate and sometimes most horrible details of others' lives without the need of reacting to them as they would have to in a real conversation," he said. Although there still hasn't been a complete and credible study proving the negative effects of social-networking sites, the field of questions is green for behavioral scientists. "We have to ask the questions, `What happens to young people when they spend hours and hours with the computer? Are they getting outdoors? Are they exercising? Are they learning to talk to each other face to face?'" said Gary Small, professor of psychiatry at UCLA. One of the big questions is whether social networking is actually bringing people closer together. Users often connect without the deep interaction or one-on-one physical contact that allows people to gauge each other's sincerity and veracity needed to achieve a close relationship. Maybe it's just good enough to use social networking as a way to stay in touch, kill time and quickly access information, such as someone's phone number or address. The very fact that we engage on these sites means we care and want to connect with each other. In terms of the depth of that connection, it's up to the individual user to decide what that means. letters@chronicle.utah.edu Result How closely have you followed the legislative session? •E REP Presented by The Daily Utah Chronicle every Friday. WEEKEND SPORTS GUIDE |
