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February T, 1996
The Blue Banner
Page 3
Maybe
someone
else should
This letter deals with the edito
rial concerning the freshman
class (Jan. 25, 1996). Unfortu
nately, T^e Blue Banner has
disappointed me again, this
time on a personal level. I un
derstand all too well the antics
and hoopla happening in the
residence halls. I’ve been an
noyed by piercing laughter and
hysterics at 3 a.m. It’s a nui
sance to all students. Yet, this
immature behavior has partici
pants of all ages and class ranks.
I can’t count the numerous
times I’ve seen upperclassmen
(as well as freshman) play the
“Let’s sneak beer in” game and
then throw loud obnoxious
dorm parties. A review of past
write-ups demonstrates it’s not
all made up of freshmen of
fenders. But it’s easy to blame
freshmen. But, in case you for
got, immature behavior is not
limited to freshman year.
Also, the honeymoon meta
phor is insulting.. Are you
people so arrogant and wordly
to forget your freshman year?
Well, let me refresh your
memories with the majority of
our experiences. Nights of
grow up
homesick tears, overwhelming
feelings of insecurity, and deal
ing with possibly the biggest
transition in our lives replaced
the every night pizza parties.
Also, intro courses are taken by
all ranks of students. The de
grees of difficulty are deter
mined by the professor. Ever
had Dr. Maas?
It’s sad that your editorial
board with all its maturity and
wisdom decided to write a con
descending, arrogant, basically
petty attack on freshmen. Dis
claimer or no disclaimer, your
editorial was offensive and dis
respectful and it offended a lot
of people.
I’m surprised people in your
field haven’t learned to reach
intended readers in a positive
and constructive approach. Un
less, it was your goal to insult
and anger the freshman class. If
that was your intention, well,
' all this youngster has to say is
grow up.
Sincerely,
Sara Vank
UNCA Freshman
LaDV C^-Hxce-A-4- UMc/) %
A cry for more modems
David Nanney
Columnist
The good should always come
before the bad. Therefore,
please allow me to offer some
praise to one department On
campus. Kudos to Leigh
Svenson and Kent Thompson
of the Learning Resource Cen
ter.
In my ongoing job hunting
experience, I needed my demo
tape copied to a video tape for
mat reserved mainly for televi
sion use. At a very respectable
price, Mr. Thompson sold me
the tapes and completed the
copying.
Due to a lack of cash, Mr.
Svenson allowed me a short
and small lOU. Thanks to
both of these gentlemen for
their assistance.
The remainder of this col-
timn assumes a limited knowl
edge of computers and the on-
cainpus computer network. I
do not feel this to be a bad
assumption because our world
now runs on the backbone of
computers. However, if you
bave questions about parts of
this article, ask almost anyone
else.
Now, the bad. One day last
Week, I began to log into the
VAX, which I do several times
per day. After entering my user
name and password, a notice
popped up on my screen. To
establish the point of this col
umn, I will include the mes
sage.
“NOTICE TO ALL MO
DEM USERS...
Given the limited modem re
sources available, we restrict
their use to serious academic
ventures only by students, fac
ulty, and staff.
We prohibit their use for in
appropriate activity and by in
dividuals who wish to monopo
lize them during prime evening
hours. Game-playing, MUD,
IRC, etc. are deemed unaccept
able activities subject to account
revocation.”
I am one of the modem users.
From my hideaway in Hoey, I
connect to the VAX to read my
e-mail, check weather informa
tion from around the country,
and locate a plethora of other
information available on the
Internet.
I agree with resttictions
against those who monopolize
the modems strictly for enter
tainment purposes. At times, I
Lack of light potential problem during winter
(CPS)-You awaken to the
sound of your blaring alarm.
As you roll over and moan,
you sneak a glimpse outside
your window. Gray sky filled
with gray clouds. You begin to
wonder where the sun has gone.
You haven’t seen it in days.
Six hours later, you realize
it’s about time to get up. You
think of the resolution you
made just 10 days ago but
quickly decide you’re really not
in the mood to workout. In
stead, you get in your daily
biceps curls by feeding your
self Cap’nCrunch straight from
the box as you sit in front of
the TV with Geraldo.
If this is a scenario you know
well, then you may be one of
the estimated 25 million people
who suffers from some type of
winter depression, according
to “Winter Blues” by Norman
E. Rosenthal, from the Na
tional Institute of Mental
Health.
Winter depression comes in
two degrees of severity, said
FredT urek,chairof
Northwestern’s department of
neurobiology and physiology.
Turek, who is also director of
the Center for Circadian Biol
ogy and Medicine at NU, said
some people with mild winter
depression suffer from the
“winter blahs,” while others
with severe depression suffer
from what is called “Seasonal
Affective Disorder” or SAD.
Turek, who has studied how
seasonal changes and the length
of days affect humans’ and
other animals’ reproductive
cycles, hibernation,, and mi
gration, said lack of sunlight-
not cold temperatures-may be
a major cause of winter depres
sion. He said about 15 years
ago, scientists began to notice
that people suffered from the
symptoms of clinical depres
sion more in the winter than in
any other season.
need on the VAX to do some
type of homework or to re
search some topic. Occasion
ally, my computer’s modem
meets busy signals for quite
sometime. Even as many times
as this has happened, I have
never complained to anyone
about the situation. I just have
my computer re-dial until I get
connected.
Sometimes that takes only a
few minutes; at other times, it
may be as many as twenty or
thirty minutes. Yet, I never
gripe to anyone.
Suddenly, the powers-that-be
in the computer science de
partment have decided to be
come Cyber Hitler’s. Anyone
caught “abusing” the system
just might have their account
revoked. This leaves several
questions up in the air: What
are these “serious academic
ventures” mentioned in the
message? Who decides exactly
what is inappropriate? What
can a user do, and more impor
tantly, what can a user not do
on the VAX from modem?
Anyone can certainly see the
subjective nature of these ques
tions.
“What is causing the blahs?
It’s a complex set of conditions,
and we don’t have an answer,”
Turek said. “Look, it’s already
dark out. I’m getting depressed
just looking outside,” he joked.
Turek said exposure to artifi
cial bright lights has curbed
depression for some people.
“After many clinical trials, it
has been found that bright light
seems to be an effective treat
ment for winter depression,”
he said. “How it works, we don’t
know, but it’s an effective treat
ment.”
Miepje De Vryer, a psychia
trist at NU’s Counseling and
Psychological Services, said ar
tificial light is an ideal treat
ment for SAD.
“These are special lights with
particular wavelengths,” said De
Vryer. “You sit in front of these
lights at a particular distance
for about an hour each day,
with your eyes open. In a week
or so, most people can tell if it
makes a difference.”
Symptoms of the “winter
blahs’’ include minor depres-^
sion, and other behavioral
changes, such as minor weight
gain, oversleeping, tiredness, in
activity, increased stress and ir
ritability, illness, and sadness,
he said.
A recent Chicago Tribune ar
ticle said that many people with
the mild winter blahs start over
eating in October, gaining an
average of 5.5 pounds in the
winter season, as they eat more
carbohydrates, fats, and sugars.
Some scientists say they think
this may be related to an animal
instinct to bulk up before the
‘scarce’ winter season.
Eric Haar, who has worked at
Dan’z Cookies for over a year,
said there is a marked increase
in cookie sales when winter sets
in.
“Some people, when they get
depressed, find comfort in
food,” Haar said. “Everyone
As I read and reread this mes
sage, I attempted to translate
the meaning so I might better
understand the writer’s inten
tion. When I check my e-mail
after my evenirlg meal, am I in
jeopardy of losing my
Cyberspace Credentials? If the
subject of academic ventures
was left for me to decide, I would
say e-mail itself is not academic.
Do all of you computer literate
agree with me?
If this were true, every time
you check your e-mail you place
yourself in the position of los
ing your VAX privileges. Does
this upset anyone? Probably.
Does this also put faculty and
staff at the same risk as stu
dents? Probably not.
In past columns, I have stated
one should not complain with
out having suggestions to alle
viate the problem. It took a
great deal of thinking to arrive
at just one feasible solution not
involving monetary expendi
tures, and even this idea is not
completely fair.
Between the hours of 5 p.m.
and midnight, restrict the use
of modems by any one person
to an hour or less. This would
likes to stay in, and we deliver.
During the spring thaw, there
is a little decline in business.”
Turek said those who suffer
from SAD experience seasonal
changes that significantly alter
their daily lives, such as major
weight gain, desire to hiber
nate, excessive tiredness,
changes in personality, and
other symptoms that won’t al
low them to carry on their nor
mal routine.
Winter depression, in both
its forms, is more common in
the northern United States,
where the duration and inten
sity of sunlight decreases in the
fall and winter, according to
Rosenthal. His studies have
shown that between the 40 and
50 degrees latitude lines, which
includes cities such as Chicago,
Boston, New York, Seattle and
Minneapolis, about 18 percent
of the population suffers from
SAD and 37 percent suffer form
milder winter blahs.
Between 25 and 35 degree
latitude lines, which includes
such southern cities as Atlanta,
Dallas, Houston, Miami, and
Los Angeles, only about 5 per
cent of the population suffers
form SAD and 18 percent form
the winter blahs.
At Northwestern University,
De Vryer said winter is a busy
quarter at the counseling cen
ter. There are 15 counselors
who helped more than 1,000
students last year.
“When the weather starts be
ing cold and unpleasant, it can
be one of the factors that can
make things worse for depressed
people,” she said. “ Despite the
fact that spring comes, people
sometimes still don’t feel bet
ter.”
'The cold, gray Evanston win
ters may contribute to the un
happiness of some NU stu
dents, causing them to transfer
to other universities in warmer
climates. University Registrar
at least cause a slight reduction
in the bottleneck problem.
Obviously, a person working
on a FORTRAN assignment
would not be happy if the sys
tem kicked him or her offwhile
compiling a program.
The only other solution at
which I arrived requires some
money. I attempted to get in
formation about our modems
at UNCA to no avail. There
fore, I will speak from my own
limited knowledge. As far as I
know, we have ten modems
available for faculty, staff, and
student use.
To make a future comparison
somewhat easier, I will restrict
my discussion to only students.
Fall 1995 census data, courtesy
of Dr. Eric lovacchini, indi
cates an enrollment of 3,222
students. Let’s make the math
easy and say an even 3,000.
A little division indicates one
modem per 300 students. In
my opinion, that’s not a great
ratio. A friend of mine attends
Middle Tennessee State Uni
versity. I asked him to acquire
similar data for his school. Cur
rently, 18,000 students share
80 modems, with an additional
Donald Gwinn said the num
ber of undergraduates typically
drops off a little bit in the win
ter. Gwinn said there were
7,603 students in the fall of
1994, which dropped to 7,498
in the winter-a loss of 105 stu
dents.
There are many reasons to
account for this loss-graduat-
ing seniors, study abroad or
university dismissal-but some
students’ departuresmaybedue
to depression and winter blahs.
Students from warmer cli
mates said they have mixed feel
ings about the harsh Midwest
ern winters.
“Last year, the winter was a
novelty,” said Jonathan
Koshiba, a NU sophomore who
is from Honolulu, Hawaii.
“The snow was cool, and it was
kind of fun. Now it’s kind of
cold. It makes you wonder why
you chose this school. But I
don’t get any more homesick
during the winter than during
the rest of the year. I get home
sick like everyone else.”
Education sophomore Joanne
Park agreed that playing in the
snow of the winter season is
fun-for a while.
“I try to make myself happy
in the winter,” said Park, who
is form Laguna Beach, Calif. “I
sit at home and play guitar. It is
a little bet harder coming from
Southern California. We don’t’
see the sun as often here as we
do at home. Even if it’s cold,
whenever I see the sun here, it
cheers me up.”
Some students who have never
before endured a Midwestern
winter said they are looking
forward to the winter as a
change of pace.
“I’ve lived in Orlando all my
life,” said Josh Shader, a NU
freshman form Florida. “At
worst. I’ll only have to deal
with the winter for four years.
But my answer may be differ
ent in three months.”
40 modems on order. Count
ing the new modems, this pro
vides a ratio of one modem per
150 students — half our ratio.
By now, you may be asking
where the money enters the
picture.
If our computer science de
partment would spend no more
than $1500, we could upgrade
and double the number of avail
able modems. If we had 20
modems available, our ratio
would decrease to 1:150.
It is of utmost importance for
our university to provide con
venient access to the Internet.
No one really expected the
recent boom in Internet inter
est, but it has happened. Truth
fully, a world of information
awaits you on the information
superhighway.
Take just a moment and think
of something you would like to
know. Got it? I bet it can be
found on the Internet. Many
other aspects of the Internet
make it tremendously helpful,
and almost a necessity. I sub
mit that with minor effort, the
university’s modem situation
could be resolved.