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Show AggieLife Page 6 Monday, Nov. 23, 2009 Aggies around the world Aggie life through Dominican student's eyes H undreds of different smiling faces, a large mass of students walking on the Quad, a handwritten class schedule, and nice weather outside are the things that I will never forget about Aug. 29, 2005, my first day of classes at USU. The campus was somewhat intimidating, and for a minute I just thought, "Why am I here?" The language was familiar, but everything else was very confusing. Coming from a college in the Dominican Republic and having to adjust to Utah State University was a big challenge because there was so much to learn about academics and the campus life, but at the same time, I had a lot of things from my culture that I wanted to share with my fellow students. Four years later, I can still remember that first day of school. But I look back and I can see how my life has changed throughout my college careers, how important the support was that I've received from the faculty and staff members, the leadership opportunities through campus involvement and the living and learning experience in the residence halls through the Residence Life program. The biggest difference that I found between my previous college experiences in the Dominican Republic was the support from the professors. If I had continued my studies in the Dominican Republic chances were that I would be taught the same topics in my classes, but the key difference was that my professors were part-time faculty members and would just come to college, teach and leave - giving us pretty much no access to them. While here at USU, the professors have time outside the classroom to meet with the students, adding value to the quality of the education provided. During my sophomore year, I remember struggling with some accounting terms and calculations. For a moment, I thought I was out of luck and was not going to be able to finish my assignment, but I quickly remembered that I had a syllabus with my professor's contact information, office hours and tutoring session schedule. Since I was used to seeing my professors in class but didn't know how accessible they were in their office, I decided to take the risk and go to my professor's office. "Aldo, how are you? Come in, sit down. How can I help you today?" I couldn't believe that my professor knew my name and was willing to devote his time to help me understand the homework problems. Just a few weeks ago, while working on a semester-long project, my group was evaluating the technological requirements to develop the project, and one of those requirements was a dedicated Web server space to run an online application. My professor asked our department head, John Johnson, what our options were. Johnson replied, "I have a computer that no one has used for a while. You are more than welcome to use it as a server." In just a matter of minutes, we had a Web server up and running, and a physical location available to work on. Through my years at USU, I've learned that we, as students, have an unlimited access to a lot of resources that can help us succeed, such as professors, supplementary instructions, labs, technological assets and physical workspaces. I believe students at USU and at most universities in the United States are privileged. They have continuous academic support from the faculty and staff members that other students in different countries that I've been don't have. I highly encourage the students to use those resources, and I'll guarantee that they will notice a difference. Don't be shy, talk to your professors, visit them and ask for help, use the labs, attend SI sessions. They are here for us, and they play a big role in the quality of the education that we receive in the United States. Aldo Gomera is an international student from the Dominican Republic, pursuing a master of science degree in management information systems. He is also an alumnus of the USU Study Abroad program, where he spent a summer in South Korea, China and Vietnam. Colleges respond as more students seek help "If a student calls for help and they need urgent help, they're seen the same day or same moment," said Jill Richards, counseling director. Mental health counselors at La Salle At Rowan University in Glassboro, Pa., an University were feeling overwhelmed, their increased number of students are "coming appointment books packed with students in in with heightened symptoms of depression, need of help, seemingly more so than ever. anxiety and suicidality, as well as students Counseling director Suzanne Boyll recently with developmental disorders, specifically ran numbers and confirmed her suspicion. Asperger's disorder, as well as attention-deficit They were busier. As of Oct. 16, the number disorder," said David Rubenstein, counseling of counseling sessions had spiked 48 percent and psychological director. to 204, up from 137 the same time last year, a Gwynedd-Mercy College in Gwynedd jump not solely explained by Valley, Pa., has treated stuthe school's record freshman dents with deeper problems, enrollment. too. Counselors in 1999-2000 "If you make "There are trauma-related saw 133 students for 227 sesa person wait, problems, death of a family sions; last year, the numbers anxiety builds. If member, bad news about a were 126 students for 610 sesclass, other family stresses, sions. they have to wait boyfriend/girlfriend issues, Increasingly, students are two weeks, they conflict with a roommate," requiring hospitalization, may not go for said Boyll, a 30-year veteran some schools say. Temple help." and one of four psychologists University last year had 37 stuon staff. dents hospitalized, up from 16 Counseling centers at in 2007-08. — Jill Richards, many schools in the region "We don't know if that's Rutgars University and nationally note the same a trend, but we're going to trend: more students seeking monitor it," said John DiMino, counseling director help for routine and severe Temple's counseling director. problems. And more students are cornStill shaken from the ing to campus already with a Virginia Tech shootings in mental diagnosis. 2007, campuses are responding to the demand Nationally, nearly 15 percent of college by adding counselors, reorganizing how they students in spring 2008 said they had been assess students to get to the most acute cases diagnosed with depression, up from 10 perquickly, and training workers to deal with cent in 2000, the American College Health newly emerging problems. Association says. Rutgers University's main campus in New A report by Pennsylvania State University's Brunswick, N.J., opened a new $5 million, 35Center for the Study of Collegiate Mental room counseling center this fall with all menHealth found that one in four students who tal health services consolidated there. It also showed up at a sampling of college counseling has overhauled how it responds to students. centers last fall had seriously considered suiBy SUSAN SNYDER The Philadelphia Inquirer Refill your cartridges & save up to 50%! WHY? You save up to 50% vs. buying a new cartridge. Frequent Re-Filler Program where the 10th one is FREE ro.* e • 1.f " gr• ---7;1 6 V IESE6000 a Convenient Mall location DROP & SHOP rot We refill ALL brands cide. One-third had previously taken psychiatric drugs. The influx comes as advances in psychiatric drugs allow more students with serious mental problems to attend college. Students also find less stigma in seeking help; they routinely see commercials for psychiatric drugs on TV and billboards, experts say. "These kids want to be in therapy today," said Ian Birky, counseling and psychological director at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, where the number of students seeking individual or group counseling has crept up in the last decade to 841. "They're growing up in a little bit of a different culture." Add to that the stresses of a bad economy, uncertain environmental conditions, and more "hyper parents" who haven't allowed their children to develop their own coping skills, counselors say. "If you have a parent who is so hyperconcerned that they 'rescue' them, you don't allow them the time that they need to sort of struggle," said La Salle's Boyll. "They're really cheating their child out of their ability to learn to manage their own stress." Consequently, Boyll said, her center is getting more calls from parents asking about their children. By law, counseling centers can't reveal information or acknowledge that a student is a patient without written consent from the student, she said. "We tell them to have their child sign a release," she said. Also contributing to the rise in demand is the better job that counseling centers are doing of advertising their services and making students feel welcome, no matter the severity of their problem. "We say you don't have to be sick to come. If you broke up with your boyfriend or have a roommate problem, you can come," said William Alexander, counseling and psychological director at the University of Pennsylvania, where the percentage of students seeking service has risen from about 9.5 to more than 11 in the last decade. To respond to the increased demand, schools are adding staff. Temple hired three more counselors over the last five years, at a cost of about $250,000. Students arrested for not paying tip By PETER MUCHA The Philadelphia Inquirer $3 credit for qualified cartridge trade-in 0i,- VISIT US at our kiosk in the Cache Valley Mall .41,17!:1 0,144, INKciSolut o s s Your Cartridgg'Ag2[ coow OR GIVE US A CALL at 435-755-0270 2 Refills for the Price of 1 or Get 50% off one refill! Lehigh University got two doctoral interns. Ursinus College grew from one counselor four years ago to three. About 8 percent of the 1,676 students sought counseling in spring 2009. Some schools have taken the unusual step of adding specific fees to help cover burgeoning costs. Emory University in Atlanta a year ago tacked onto bills for all students a $50 fee for mental health and counseling. The reason wasn't only to bring in more revenue for counseling. The university also wanted to reduce the stigma, said Mark McLeod, director of student counseling for the 12,000-student school. "Our board of trustees wanted to say ... it's OK to talk about this," he said. Penn State charges a fee for some services. Psychiatric sessions cost $30; the first 10 sessions with a psychologist are free, and there is a $30 fee for each additional one. Other schools embed costs in health or general fees. To improve service, Temple several years ago converted to a "walk-in clinic format," allowing students to come without an appointment during a four-hour daily window, DiMino said. In the past, students would have to wait several weeks for an appointment, and some were found to have acute issues. Rutgers made a similar shift in spring 2008 that has resulted in more students going in for counseling, said Richards, the counseling director. About 2,800 of the campus's 35,000 students went for counseling last year. "If you make a person wait, anxiety builds," she said. "If they have to wait two weeks, they may not go for the help." The center employs 17 psychologists and social workers, five psychiatrists, three substance-abuse specialists, six doctoral students, and several graduate trainees. Staff has not increased but has been consolidated at the new center. The center also is training its staff in how to deal with students who have increasingly common "pervasive personality disorders," Richards said. The students fail at relationships, struggle with authority figures and have poor self-concept. It was an evening out that college students Leslie Pope and John Wagner will long remem- ber. Not only did they get what they called lousy service, they got handcuffed and arrested. All over a $16.35 tip. They were with a half-dozen friends at the Lehigh Pub in Bethlehem last month, so the establishment tacked what it called a mandatory 18 percent gratuity onto the bill of about $73, according to reports. Pope and Wagner refused to pay. "You can't give us terrible, terrible service and expect a tip," said Pope, a 22-year-old Moravian College senior who's a Pottsville, Pa., native, according to the Lehigh Valley Express-Times. They had to find their own napkins and cutlery while their waitress caught a smoke, had to ask the bar for soda refills, and had to wait over an hour for salad and wings, they told WCAU-TV in Philadelphia. The pub, which was very busy that night, took the $73, but then called the cops, who treated the matter as a theft. The menu clearly states, "18 percent gratuity added to check of parties of 6 of more," and a similar message is printed on receipts, a pub employee said this morning. A court date is scheduled for next month. What would they do if it happened again? a reporter asked. "Honestly, probably gonna pay the tip anyway," said Pope, prompting Wagner, 24, a Lehigh University grad student, to laugh. |