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Show Take Note: i Wednesday, Sept. 13; 2006 Today is National Programmers Day. It is the 256th day of the year, the amount of information you can fit in a byte. 797-1769 features@statesman.usu.edu Focus: Dating i \ perspective in dating in a state where over 60 percent of th^opulation.are members of the Church bfJesus Ghrist*-o£ Latter-day Saints* BY MANETTE NEWBOLD Senior Writer Taking control of your emotions BV ADRIENNE WINEGAR Staff Writer D. ating is rough. With emotions running high from hook-ups to breakups and the relationships in between, the meat market can be a scary place. Throw in a couple of other interesting factors and it all adds up to one sometimes frightening part of life: dating in Utah - especially for someone who's not a Mormon. Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are encouraged to date within their religion and marry in the church's temples. For believers of other faiths in Utah, this may make dating more difficult, as they are the minority in the state where 62.4 percent of the population is LDS. "Coming here was the most difficult move in my life," said Andrew Hall, a USU junior majoring in accounting. "There is a different social and cultural perspective here and it was difficult to bond and make friends similar to me who had similar interests." Hall, a Methodist, said he moved Students have to deal with many issues that create a world of emotions. From happiness or sadness to excitement or fear, it's not surprising that students end up on an emotional roller coaster. But by understanding emotions and learning how to learning how to control them, students can better deal with the ups and downs of college life. LuAnn Helms, a licensed psychologist at the USU Counseling Center, helps students better understand their emotions and learn how to manage them. "I don't think that controlling them is a good idea, but being able to manage them is." "Some students come in because they have problems coping with anger, they feel guilt and shame, experience sadness or lose a loved one," Helms said. Tom Atwood, a sophomore majoring in Spanish, said, "We deal with our emotions every day." When asked why students are emotional, he said, "I think school is one thing. [Students] feel weighed down with all the things they're involved with like homework, family, and relationships." Alisha Barnes, a senior majoring in psychology, said she has had difficulty in the past handling emotional strain and its effect on her studies. "Last year, I had this very negative mindset of not only myself, but of my own world," she said. It brought my grades down and it brought my view of how I was doing in school down. I thought I could just make it up and just be this superstar and get everything done and then it didn't happen." Negative attitudes and sadness are emotions that affect students in one way or another. For instance, a person who feels incapable of succeeding isn't likely to put forth much effort. This person, therefore, is on the road to failure. Psychologists call this the selffulfilling prophecy. Atwood said she has felt similar emotions. "I have felt sad and I think a lot of people feel sadness every once in • DATING see page 8 Tyler tarson/(mlarson@cc.usu.edu >• EMOTIONS see page 8 Breaking up is hard to d USU students say they know how to get over a break up and move on to something better B Y MARY ROWLETT StafT Writer Sally and Joe were a happy couple that skipped merrily across the Quad every day and wrote poetry for one another. Joe was sure he had found the girl of his dreams, but on their five-month anniversary, Sally told Joe that she was breaking up with him. "It just doesn't feel right," she said. Joe was so crushed, he could not eat for a week. He stopped going to classes, skipped out on the Finance Club meetings and played video games in his pajamas. It's hard to be in good old Joe's situation, and many people have been hit hard by a relationship's end like a slap in the face (sometimes literally). People often go into slumps afterward, and it's difficult to snap back into reality. Scot M. Allgood, director of the USU marriage and family master's program, said there is a shared identity when two people come together and when it ends, it causes you to think about who you are without that person. "You need to have a clear identity when you come into a relationship," he said. Allgood is also a counselor at the Family Life Center and has a private practice. He said he deals with problems from marriage issues to adolescent drug abuse. "Some people go into a relationship without having developed their own identity," Allgood said. "If those relationships break up, it can be very harmful." So how does someone get over a relationship like Sally and Joe's? Allgood suggested self-help books by authors such as Jeff • STEPS see page 7 Tyler Larson/tmlarsonQcc.usu.edu |