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The Indiana Daily Student

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The Indiana Daily Student

April ‘showers’ in late-night hours

By Chelsea Merta · Tuesday, April 10,2007 12 a.m.

Look to the sky after all the races and parties of Little 500 weekend. Beginning around midnight April 21, stargazers will be able to see hundreds of meteors falling from the cosmos. The stream of meteors originates from the comet Thatcher C/1861 G1, according to NASA’s Web site. Meteor showers are commonly visible in Bloomington, said Caty Pilachowski of the IU Astronomy Department. In fact, they were first accurately explained by Daniel Kirkwood, a professor of mathematics at IU, in the 19th century. Kirkwood discovered that meteor showers were the result of an aged comet that had been heated by the sun and broken apart, Pilachowski said.

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Stanford, Duke adopt ‘green’ dorm projects

By Ben Blackman · Tuesday, April 10,2007 12 a.m.

Several years ago, Richard Luthy and his colleagues at Stanford University’s Civil and Environmental Engineering Department decided to build a student residence for the 21st century: the Stanford Green Dorm. They envision a 50-student house that “would be both a living and teaching place” and would “exemplify the state-of-the-art,” Luthy said. They designed landscaped roofs that collect and filter rainwater for use in laundries, bacterial reactors that purify water from decomposing cafeteria scraps, and geothermal pumps that tap the ground’s heat to keep rooms warm and showers hot.

The Indiana Daily Student

Money and stress

By Gal Shifron · Tuesday, April 3,2007 12 a.m.

For many people, the greatest source of stress is money – or, rather, a lack of enough money to pay all the bills owed. In my private counseling office I see many people with financial problems: individuals, couples and families who tend to spend more than they make. I see serious arguments between couples on spending habits, which are often a result of family values. I see severe stress caused by an inability to pay off debt, often as a result of high-interest credit-card rates.

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Sleep aids can compound insomnia-related problems

By Erin Riley · Tuesday, March 27,2007 12 a.m.

Tossing and turning with frustration and exhaustion every night, freshman Amy Tilles used to count the minutes until she could take another dose of sleeping pills. Tilles experienced sleep deprivation, which is common among college students. She turned to over-the-counter sleeping pills to end her sleepless nights. “I took sleeping pills so that I could sleep regularly so I did not fail school,” Tilles said. “I wouldn’t be tired until 10 in the morning unless I took the pills.” Students are experiencing more difficulties with sleeping disorders than in past years. “In national surveys in the 1970s, approximately 25 percent of college students indicated they have sleeping problems,” said Nancy Stockton, director of counseling and psychological services at the IU Health Center. “But in several surveys since 2000, almost 75 percent of students report sleeping difficulties.”

The Indiana Daily Student

First diet drug for dogs approved by the FDA

By Heather Haemker · Tuesday, March 27,2007 12 a.m.

Attention, dog owners of the world: The Food and Drug Administration has approved the first diet pill for dogs. Slentrol, produced by Pfizer Inc., was approved Jan. 5 as the first canine diet pill on the market, according to the FDA. Scientists developed it to fight the rising number of obese dogs. According to FDA surveys, 5 percent of dogs in the United States are obese and another 20 percent to 30 percent are overweight. Slentrol is aimed at dogs that are at least 20 percent over their ideal weights. Dr. Stephan Sundlof, director of the FDA’s Center for Veterinary Medicine, told MedPage Today, a medical-news service, that Slentrol is a “welcome addition to animal therapies, because dog obesity appears to be increasing.”

The Indiana Daily Student

Fact or fiction: Is bottled water really better for you?

By Heather Haemker · Tuesday, March 20,2007 12 a.m.

There are dozens of varieties of water in the world today. They range from tap water to name-brand bottled water, such as Evian, to the local grocery-store water. Water is essential for human life, and for some, choosing the right type of water can be a major decision.

The Indiana Daily Student

Remember to breathe

By Gal Shifron · Tuesday, March 20,2007 12 a.m.

When a person is under stress, muscles tense up and breathing becomes shallow and rapid. Studies have found that one of the best methods to deal with this stress and its accompanying problems is to breathe deeply and slowly. Most adults do not breathe as deeply as they should. But there are deep-breathing methods that will lead to relaxation and a reduction in stress. From an evolutionary point of view, stress caused human muscles to tense and forced breathing to become rapid and shallow as prehistoric man fought, froze or fled. In tough situations, this high level of tension helped prepare the body for the performance it required. In the modern world, however, we are no longer running or fighting regularly. Modernity has thus hindered stress release (outside of sports or physical activities) and caused the build-up of much higher levels of tension.

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Sweating the heat

By Natalie Avon · Tuesday, March 20,2007 12 a.m.

"Does global warming exist?” is no longer a question stumping citizens and scientists alike, says Philip Stevens, a professor in the School of Public and Environmental Affairs. Now, he says, the question is: “How do we fix it?” A coalition of IU organizations and local businesses are taking the first steps toward fighting global warming, according to a news release from the Indiana Public Interest Research Group. The contributors to this cause are INPIRG, the Environmental Management Association, the IU Environmental Law Society, and IUCoupons.com, according to the release. These players are working on turning the University from a “climate change contributor” to an “environmentally friendly institution.”

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Family history can predict alcoholism in some cases

By Kyle Wood · Tuesday, March 6,2007 12 a.m.

Before moving on to the professional world, college students often test their limits through the use of various substances. The substance of choice for many is alcohol. But in the words of Tom Cox, executive director of Amethyst addiction services in Bloomington, alcohol is the “most dangerous one there is.”

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‘Killer Asteroid’ could strike earth by 2036, experts say

By Roberta Kwok · Tuesday, March 6,2007 12 a.m.

SAN FRANCISCO – In the movie “Armageddon,” Bruce Willis saves the world from a killer asteroid by landing on the rock’s surface, drilling a hole and detonating a nuclear weapon inside. But that’s Hollywood. What could really be done about a similar real-world threat? A panel of experts at a recent meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in San Francisco posed that question. Two years ago, NASA identified an asteroid 300 meters in diameter, dubbed Apophis. It will have a close brush with Earth in 2029 and a possible collision in 2036. And Apophis could be just the first in a long line of possible asteroid threats. Congress has ordered NASA to step up its detection of nearby asteroids over the next 12 years.

The Indiana Daily Student

Fact or Fiction?

By Erin Riley · Tuesday, Feb. 27,2007 12 a.m.

One of America’s favorite snacks is made from the connective tissue, skin, cartilage and bones of such animals as cows and pigs. Jell-O, a Kraft Foods product, contains an ingredient called gelatin.

The Indiana Daily Student

Weather dependent stress

By Gal Shifron · Tuesday, Feb. 27,2007 12 a.m.

Do you experience more sadness, irritability and apathy, or less energy and motivation, in these dreary winter months? Stress during winter is a very real phenomenon for many people for many reasons. Shorter days, much longer dark periods, the desire to eat more and exercise less or to “hibernate” more, the threat of inclement weather inhibiting normal activities, and uncomfortably cold temperatures are some of the reasons. During the winter months we want to sleep more, stay in bed longer and eat more comfort foods high in calories and fats. This can leave you with a sense of lethargy, which can enhance winter depression. One thing we can do to offset this is exercise regularly. An exercise routine creates more energy to fight the desire to lounge in bed longer and increases motivation. It can be a good way to meet and mix with other people, too, which helps to prevent mid-winter isolation. It will also offset those extra calories. Another method to prevent the stress of weather-related isolation is making a special effort, or even forcing yourself, to seek social activities with peers. This is a good time to dust off your old indoor hobbies or look for new hobbies as a fun way to meet and interact with others who share similar interests. Another great way to spend quality time is to seek volunteer opportunities for projects that are especially meaningful to you. A good way to start your search for volunteer activities is consulting the Web sites of IU or the city of Bloomington.

The Indiana Daily Student

Students sometimes feel disinclined to seek counseling, experts say

By Alisha Chaudhary · Tuesday, Feb. 27,2007 12 a.m.

Last semester, an IU-South Bend student was visiting the Bloomington campus and jumped from the third floor of Ashton Johnston in a suicide attempt. “Several girls on the second floor heard the window breaking and saw him falling,” Ashton Student Government President Dan Sloat said. “They were very traumatized.”

The Indiana Daily Student

Physicists will soon shed light on dark matter

By Ken Kingery · Tuesday, Feb. 20,2007 12 a.m.

The largest particle accelerator in history is scheduled for completion in August at the European Organization for Nuclear Research in Geneva, Switzerland. The accelerator caused a lot of buzz last weekend at this year’s annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and it should answer many questions scientists have about dark matter. Scientists recently discovered that the matter we can see , which makes up physical objects such as people, accounts for only 4 percent of the universe. The rest is made of mysterious substances known as dark matter and dark energy.

The Indiana Daily Student

Talk focuses on raising transgender children

By Alisha Chaudhary · Tuesday, Feb. 20,2007 12 a.m.

At first, they expected her to get over it. Then they told her to act like a boy. At an age when she was expected to play with cars, guns and G.I. Joes, Ashley liked to play with Barbie dolls and wear skirts and high heels. Today she is a happy, little 7-year-old girl, though she was born a boy. “Ashley” is a pseudonym. Because of the nature of the topic, Ashley’s mother, Shannon, wished her daughter’s real name not be used.

The Indiana Daily Student

Study: U.S. second in science literacy to Sweden

By Maria Karapetyan · Tuesday, Feb. 20,2007 12 a.m.

Though many nonscience majors in the United States specialize in different fields to stay away from science altogether, they leave college among the most scientifically literate adults in the world, ranking second only to Swedes, scientists found in a recent study.

GAL SHIFRON

Lonely no more

By Gal Shifron · Monday, Feb. 12,2007 10:32 p.m.

The need to form social connections is deeply rooted in the human psyche. It is secondary only to physical and safety needs. We all need to feel a sense of belonging; it is part of what it means to be human. Young adults especially need to feel connected to a group to belong to the human family. Feeling alone or out of place causes a great deal of stress.

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