Andrew Ludington dons shorts, a bright aqua tee shirt, and a faded navy Ralph Lauren baseball hat, brim to the back. He sits on a blanket, surrounded by a few fellow Marist undergrads, relaxing outside and enjoying the refreshing energy that spring has brought to campus. Though final presentations, papers, and exams are merely days away, an outsider to college life would never presume the intense academic pressures these students are facing.
“In this upcoming week, I have three six to eight page papers, one 10 minute presentation, and a final exam in all five of my upper level fashion and communication classes,” said Ludington, a sophomore.
“The only thing that keeps me sane from the eight hours a day I am spending in class and in the library is my attempt at relaxation outside for like 20 minutes with my friends,” he said,” If I didn’t take breaks I would probably die.”
Though this may sound extreme, stress is a proven cause of several illnesses, and in severe cases, even mortality.
According to WebMD, If left unmanaged, stress can lead to emotional, psychological, and even physical problems. These can range from the common to cold, to lower defense of viral infections to more severe conditions such as heart disease, high blood pressure, chest pains, or irregular heartbeats.
“Andrew has spent more time in our physician’s office since entering college than any other time in his life,” said Ludington’s mother, Camille. “His sophomore year alone he has been treated for strep throat, the flu, bronchitis, and three sinus infections.”
“I really feel like the only explanation for my being sick basically all the time is the insane amount of stress from classes. It becomes impossible to do things you have to do to stay healthy, like sleep more than four hours a night, when there is so much schoolwork to do,” said Andrew Ludington.
Unfortunately, for some students, stress-related illnesses are much more severe than colds and sore throats that can be treated by a round of anti-biotic medicine or a day with soup in bed.
Elise SchianodiCola breaks a sweat at the McCann gym, wearing an oversized Marist athletics tee shirt and running shorts. She blends in with the other 20 students wearing similar apparel on the remaining elliptical machines.
However, SchianodiCola has medical orders to work in a physically demanding study break at least five times a week.
“I would have random extreme dizzy spells, heart palpitation, and numbness in my extremities,” said SchianodiCola. “I ended up going to five different doctors getting MRIs and blood tests, but no doctor could find a cause. Eventually it was diagnosed as anxiety and stress disorder.”
“The symptoms started this year. I was feeling more pressure than ever in my education classes,” she said, “I was told to eat better and exercise more. However, that was nearly impossible since I still had just as much work that was causing the stress to being with.”
SchianodiCola initially expressed her health concerns to her mother.
“Elise needed to work on her time management. Her father and I knew it would be difficult for her to keep up with her work in addition to following the doctor’s instructions to exercise more frequently, but she knew her health was most important,” said Schianodicola’s mother, Rosalyn, an R.N.
Health services recommends that Marist students contact counseling services at extension 3314 or come to their office, located in Donnelly.
WebMD recommends keeping a stress journal to write down issues causing anxiety, exercising, talking with friends and family, participating in non work or school related events, and spending time outside to deal with stress.
“Focusing on the fact that summer is just around the corner is helping me deal with the stress that comes with the end of the year,” said Ludington. “We can all make it through this if we keep that in mind.”
Don McPherson, former Philadelphia Eagles quarterback, spoke to the Marist athletic community Wednesday, April 29 on domestic violence and hostility prevention.
“With the issue of domestic violence at the forefront of many individual’s minds after the highly publicized domestic violence occurrence between celebrities Chris Brown and Rihanna, this speech was very appropriate,” said Marist crew captain Janet Mathes.
According to Alyssa Gates, director of academic advisement for student athletes, McPherson was scheduled to speak on this issue to raise awareness among the Marist community about domestic violence.
“McPherson was a great speaker. He had everyone involved by asking for personal responses and ideas,” said Mathes.
Fellow athletes agree, “It is important for both males and females to be educated on the issue of domestic violence and McPherson is a really cool guy who was interesting to hear from,” said Marist hockey player Justin Frei.
McPherson began his speech discussing his past as a speaker on drunk driving. He prefers speaking on domestic violence as it is an issue close to his heart.
“Domestic violence is viewed by our society as a woman’s issue… and that is just not the case,” said McPherson.
The former NFL player believes the concept of masculinity is to blame for this. “We don’t raise boys to be men. We raise boys not to be women or gay men,” he said. “There is so much emphasis on men being tough, brave, and unemotional.”
As a social activist, McPherson has founded several outreach and mentoring programs. He regularly speaks at college campuses as a critic of gender roles.
“The standard constructions of masculinity and femininity limit men’s emotions and overall well-being, as well as contribute to gendered violence such as domestic violence, stalking, and rape,” said McPherson.
Attendance for McPherson’s speech was mandatory for all Marist athletes, but was open to all students and faculty wishing to attend, according to Gates. It was held in the Nelly Goletti Theater.
“College campuses are an excellent audience for speeches on pressing social issues. McPherson’s speech on domestic violence undoubtedly made an impression on the athletic community here,” said Mathes.
"Wake up!" It's 8:00 a.m. and I just accomplished wakeboarding for the first time before most people wake up in the summer.
It’s the end of the spring semester and summer is just around the corner. When I ask classmates and peers what they have planned for the summer, they tell me that they do “the usual,” which made me wonder what exactly “the usual” is when it comes to summer plans.
The majority of Marist students come from the east coast states of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. Because of the geographical location of these states, access to a beach or lake can be reached by an hour-long car drive. As soon as they get out of their car, they plop down on the sand and take a nap or try to obtain the perfect tan.
As relaxing as that sounds, going to the beach every weekend just to lay down for a few hours and then drive home can become boring and quite redundant very quickly. While on your day trip, why not try something new? It’s hot outside so why not cool down in the water and have some fun?
Some of the coolest summer activities are growing in popularity, and being a “beach bum” is no longer as appealing as it once appeared. The summer season has so many options to offer the bored and lazy, and they just have to know where to look for something to do. Get out of the air conditioning, get outside, and get wet! This time of year is ideal to try a new sport and cool down at the same time!
Water sports are a popular way to have fun, cool down and even work out. Some of the most popular ones to try are water skiing, wake boarding, and slalom skiing.
Catch some waves instead of some rays this summer with water sports. Instead of being a beach bum and taking a day-long siesta, get up and enjoy the day! There are no excuses for being “bored” unless you have tried every activity there is to do on this fine planet we call Earth. There are many things to try, and the possibilities are endless.
One sport that has been increasing in popularity since it had been invented in 1922 is water skiing. A man from Minnesota named Ralph Samuelson built the first pair of water skis and was towed by a boat with an outboard motor. Water skiing started as an exhibition sport in the 1920s and 1930s. It became an official competitive sport when the American Water Ski Association was formed and hosted the first annual National Water Ski Championships at Jones Beach (Long Island, N.Y.).
Today there are roughly around 11 million recreational water skiers in the United States, according to USA Water Ski. I am proud to be one of the many recreational skiers making wake in the fresh water of Lake Hopatcong, N.J.
I used to be a beach bum in the summer, but as much as I love reading and relaxing in the sun, I felt like trying something new while I had so much extra spare time on my hands. I always acted as a spotter for my older brothers when they skied, so I wanted to try it out myself. I fell in love with water skiing the first time I put on the skis and face-planted into a wave.
Trying something new in the summer is a great way to grow and challenge yourself when you aren’t challenging yourself with classwork during the school year. If you have a boat, buy a tow rope with a handle intended for skiing and a set of skis at a specialty shop. If you have never skied before, either find a friend to teach you or your best bet is to sign up for an introductory lesson. Look online for an instructor located near you. Or, if you want to completely immerse yourself into the sport, you can attend a camp specifically for waterskiing, such as Coble Waterski and Wakeboard Camp in Lillington, N.C. The instructors of the lessons or camps can teach you how to position your body in the water and give you tips on how to get up. Luckily I had my father explain the process so I didn’t need to pay for lessons.
The sport is pretty simple once you are able to stand up. The hardest part of water skiing is planing off. Sometimes your skis cross each other, or you fall backwards the first few times, but I accomplished skiing without lessons through my own trial-and-error. Once you get up, the challenge and the thrill of the sport is balancing on a surface that is as slippery as ice. If you master two skis, you can try to do some stunts or challenge yourself by trying a different type of board, such as wake boarding or slalom skiing.
In slalom skiing, the skier uses one ski and stands straight forward with one foot in front of the other. Wakeboarding involves riding the wide wakeboard sideways similar to a snowboard, but on water that is not frozen. Last summer I learned how to wakeboard and found it much easier to plane off because I learned on skis. Regular skis can cause your legs to go in different directions, but a wakeboard keeps your legs straight.
This slalom skier is maneuvering an obstacle course.
I plan on trying my hands at slalom skiing this summer. It is my challenge that I have placed before me to get active and to attain a goal before I return back to school in the fall. What will you accomplish this summer?
Challenge yourself in some way this summer, whether it is through water sports or another similar activity. You will make new memories, pick up a new hobby, and you won’t be bored. Besides, when your friends ask you what you did for the summer, you can say that you picked up a new talent instead of saying that you spent the entire time sleeping. Who wants to hear how bored you are in the summer anyway? How boring.
Globes around the world serve as models of our planet, depicting each nation as a separate entity. There are clear lines and borders that concisely separate the various pastel countries. However, these models fail to represent the total interdependence that exists between each nation when it comes to caring for the environment. Regardless of ethnicity, language, politics, religion, or history; world citizens are all universally affected by issues pertaining to the health of our planet. Just as the pastel boundaries on the globe fail to represent the links between all nations, environmental issues that seem minute often fail to receive the global attention they deserve.
Bee populations are declining at rates of up to 80 percent in the United States and Europe. Though this may seem insignificant in comparison to global issues such as genocide or climate change, essentially all flowering plants need bees to survive. Globally, bees generate about 14 billion dollars annually in produce. The bee population contributes massively to both world agriculture and the economy.
In the winter of 2008, more than 25 percent of the country’s 2.4 million bee colonies were lost to Colony Collapse Disorder. This loss had a 12 billion dollar effect on America’s agricultural economy. However, the negative effects of honeybee population decline are far more extensive.
The role honeybees play in our diet goes well beyond honey production. These creatures pollinate an estimated one-third of crop species in the United States alone. Honeybees pollinate about 100 flowering food crops including apples, nuts, broccoli, avocados, soybeans, asparagus, celery, squash and cucumbers, citrus fruit, peaches, kiwi, cherries, blueberries, cranberries, strawberries, cantaloupe, melons, as well as animal-feed crops, such as the clover that is fed to dairy cows. Therefore, should the bee population continue to decline at such a rapid rate, not only are the production of all these crops at risk, but also animal products produced by species that eat these crops.
About 80 percent of the world’s almonds come from California, making this crop the U.S.’s most valuable horticultural export. Since 2004, almond farmers have been forced to transport billions of bees from across the country as well as other nations in order to pollinate the almond blossoms.
Studies have shown that bees are not dying in the hive; rather something is causing them to become disoriented and fail to return to their hives. This is referred to as Colony Collapse Disorder. Many theories are currently debated on the issue.
An impending theory is that cell telephone transmissions confuse and disorient bees, causing them to become lost. The technology that is improving our global communication is potentially damaging world agriculture and therefore having an enormous economic impact. A limited study conducted by Landau University has found that bees will abandon their hives when cell phones are turned on and placed next to them.
Scientists have also considered the possibility that some kind of new toxin or chemical used in agriculture is responsible for the population decline. The world wide use of such chemicals has increased exponentially in the same timeframe that the bee population has showed signs of decrease. Other scientists believe that the large-scale use of genetically modified plants could be a factor.
Co-operative, a British supermarket chain, has banned use of neonicitinoids, a class of pesticides implicated in bee deaths around the world. The company is prohibiting suppliers from using eight pesticides that have been connected to honeybee colony collapse disorder. Use of these pesticides has already been restricted in some parts of Europe.
The global importance of bees was noted by Albert Einstein. “If the bee disappeared off the surface of the globe then man would only have four years of life left. No more bees, no more pollination, no more plants, no more animals, no more man.” Our world is above all else a complex union of nations with individual cultures, yet global concerns. It is crucial to keep the issue of bee population decline at the forefront of such concerns. All too frequently the enormous impact of a smaller entity is underestimated, the effects of which are unimaginable.
The ABCD's of skin cancer; look for these when checking for signs of skin cancer.
Turn on the television news any given night and you’ll hear about the latest cancer news; newly discovered cancers, how doctors are treating patients, or even how cell phones can cause cancer. We all are afraid of mortality, especially over a disease like cancer. Because of this fear, most people try to find ways to prevent any disease they can. They prevent colds by washing hands, sexually transmitted diseases by wearing condoms, and infections by cleaning fresh wounds. Did we ever think that we could prevent cancer, or at least some forms of it?
Skin cancer is the most common form of cancer, and more than 1 million cases are diagnosed every year. In the American Cancer Society’s annual statistics report, more than 20 Americans die each day from skin cancer, primarily melanoma. One person dies of melanoma almost every hour (every 62 minutes).
With these startling statistics, wouldn’t you like to know an easy way to prevent skin cancer? It’s quite simple, actually.
My first piece of advice is this: avoid tanning and “catching some rays.” Tanning is the skin’s reaction to ultraviolet radiation. Ultraviolet (UV) rays make skin tan because when it is exposed, the brown pigment called melanin is produced from cells called melanocytes. The dark pigment in the epidermis is meant to defend the body against further damage from UV radiation.
The problem with tanning is that UV radiation damages epidermal DNA. Enzymes race to the damaged cells in an attempt to repair them, but the restoration of the cells is not always successful. The unrepaired mutations of the cells can increase the risk of skin cancer and cause forms of photoaging such as wrinkles, sagging of the skin and sun spots.
If tanning causes premature wrinkles and sagging, then why are there so many college students in bathing suits lying out in the sun on the campus green without at least sunscreen or an umbrella? Sometimes when I pass by the students on my way back from class I hear conversations about how sunburned another member of their party is getting, but the one who is turning into a lobster says that they want to look good while they are still young. Are they crazy? I sure think so. The peak age on the attractiveness scale is from high school to college years because of your skin’s youth. How can you look good at this age if your skin looks like my leather couch at the age of 20? I’ve seen better looking 40-year-old parents than some of the tannest people on campus.
My second piece of advice to offer is to think about your future. I’m not talking about getting a job or saving up money for your future family; think about the future of your health. People our age might not notice how many anti-wrinkle creams are available in stores because we think we are invincible and that the things we do to our bodies now won’t affect us in the future. The reason why such products are on the market is because adults want their skin to look young again. Why not keep your skin naturally young while you still are young? If you don’t tan now, you’ll look so much better now and later on, whereas if you do spend hours outside in direct sunlight you will look old now and as ancient as George Washington would be if he was still alive later on in life.
People also don’t realize that the sunscreen you forget to put on now can cause a fatal disease a few years down the road. One blistering sunburn more than doubles a person’s chances of developing melanoma, the deadliest skin cancer, later in life. If you are one of the people who lay out until you are as red as a hot burner on an electric stove every time you go tanning, then count on multiple visits to the dermatologist in your upcoming years. Let’s hope you have great insurance coverage at your future employer.
Fake sunlight, real risks of cancer.
And if the natural sunlight is too expensive to use as a tanning method, there are salons that can provide artificial sunlight, but with the same real dangers of skin cancer for the future. Case in point: never use a tanning bed. Ever. According to the International Journal of Cancer (2006), the first exposure to tanning beds in youth increases melanoma risk by 75 percent. Laying down in that box for a half hour is equal to the damage of laying out in direct sunlight on the beach for six hours straight, according to an article in CosmoGirl! Magazine. What’s even more ridiculous is that many people, especially ladies, go to tanning salons before going to the beach to tan even more. Why would you let your skin go through that agony? Apparently you can’t show up to the beach for the first time of the season looking like you have been inside all winter. I was always suspicious about girls who are fair one day, and then the next time I see them in class they are three shades darker…in the middle of February. They look fake, and they achieved the “perfect tan” through fake means, but with all the added bonuses of a wrinkly face and cancer. If you want to look like an Oompa Loompa from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, then be my guest and go to the tanning salon, and then to the hair salon to dye your hair green to match.
You could resemble an Oompa Loompa from tanning.
A tanning bed is the first cancer-in-a-box to avoid next to cigarettes when it comes to preventing a fatal disease. Isn’t it ironic how a tanning bed resembles the coffin that you will likely be buried in as a result of your tanning? I think the inventors purposely made it that way to provide a preview for the frequent tanning customer. Sure you might have gotten a good deal at Hollywood Tans, like getting 10 tans for $50, but is it really the best deal? Even though Marist Money can be used at Beach Body Tanning, can it cover the cost of the cancer it can give you? The medical bills for the surgeries to remove precancerous and cancerous cells are astronomical. In 2004, the total direct cost associated with the treatment for non-melanoma skin cancers was more than $1 billion, according to the Journal of American Academy of Dermatology. Would you rather spend $8 on a bottle of suntan lotion or the $5 per tan plus thousands of dollars for treatment later on? I think the lotion is the better investment, and I hope you would soon agree.
Lindsay Lohan is "tanorexic." Which picture looks better to you?
Fair skin is beautiful, and I am not just saying that because I happen to be a fair-skinned redhead who freckles more than tans. In fact, centuries ago fair skin was a sign of beauty and wealth because those who had enough money to hire workers for their farms stayed out of the sun. If you were tan it was assumed that you were not wealthy enough to hire workers for your own farm. Why not bring back an old trend and save your skin as well? Face it: Lindsay Lohan looked so much better with fair skin than how she does now as a “tanorexic” diva. My last piece of advice from a fair-skinned redhead: put some sunblock on. Look for an SPF 15 or greater. What exactly does that mean? SPF stands for Sun Protection Factor, and refers to the product’s ability to screen or block out the sun’s rays, according to MedicineNet. For example, if you usually turn red after spending 10 minutes in the sun without sunscreen, but then you put on an SPF of 2, it would take 20 minutes to reach that same red color without the SPF. In other words, the higher the number on the SPF, the more protected you will be in the sun. Despite the fact that almost all sunscreens are now waterproof, it should be reapplied after swimming or sweating a lot and every hour you spend outside.
I know sunscreen can be a hassle sometimes, but it’s really worth spending the time to put the sunscreen on. Think of it as a daily moisturizer. I know that my skin is so much softer at the end of the day at the beach when I apply enough so that I don’t burn. Burns not only cause a pink color to appear on the skin, but it also irritates due to dehydration.
Moh's surgery scar on a patient; wear your sunscreen!
Also think of sunscreen as protection from a disease, because it is one. It will prevent you from getting surgery. My father had the Moh’s surgery, which takes the precancerous cells out of the body, done on his face twice because decades ago people did not know or use sunscreen to protect themselves. Today there is greater knowledge about the harmful effects of the sun’s rays, so we can avoid the scars from surgery that people such as my father have to live with.
Cancer is horrible disease to die from. Though we cannot completely escape from the disease, science has shown us ways to prevent and minimize our chances of contracting it. Step away from the tanning beds, slather on some lotion, and save your skin from future damage. The Oompa Loompas have enough orange people to work in the chocolate factory.
It’s April at Marist College and the students emerged from winter hibernation to go outside to enjoy the sunny weather. Something about the weather makes students either sit around and be lazy, or play a pickup game of Frisbee.
However, if Frisbee, lacrosse, tennis, soccer or baseball aren’t your preferences for outdoor activity, try running around Marist’s hilly campus.
To some, the idea of running for exercise or leisure might seem intimidating or torturous if you are not a member of the cross country team, but it doesn’t have to be. According to the Runner’s Guide website, running regularly can improve cardiovascular health, reduce aging, help you lose weight and boost your mood. Unlike other sports, running can be done alone, with a partner or a group, so running can be both healthy and fun.
Sarah Parsloe, a sophomore distance runner for the Marist Cross Country/Track team, started running in seventh grade as a way to meet people. She still believes that running is a great way to have fun while staying in shape.
“Although I grew to love the sport itself, my major motivation is still a social one. It’s amazing what conversations you can have in between snatched breaths on a ten mile run,” Parsloe said. “Runners are a community, one that doesn’t end with college. We continue to run in our graying years, meeting each other in local road races and sharing the thrill of the run.”
Running is an aerobic activity, meaning it requires oxygen to produce the energy to carry out the activity. According to Articles Base, aerobic exercises lower blood pressure and decrease resting heart rate. It also increases maximal oxygen intake, number of capillaries, fat-burning enzymes and the number of mitochondria. In other words, running can greatly improve cardiovascular health because it lets the body take in more oxygen than a non-aerobic activity.
Looking to lose weight before bathing suit season? Running burns fat quickly because it requires a lot of energy. According to Fitness Programs for Life, in order to lose weight while running, a person has to burn more calories than consumed. This website suggests slowly changing diet and lifestyle while slowly increasing distance. The more distance a person covers while running, the more fat they will burn, and the faster a person runs, the quicker they burn fat. Though fad workouts such as yoga or Pilates may be in vogue, running burns more calories than either of them in a single workout session.
Running not only improves a person’s physical health, but also psychological health. Studies have shown that running can alleviate stress and give a bad mood a boost. According the Runner’s Guide, running releases endorphins, a type of hormone in the body known to make people happy and euphoric, which gives off what many call a “runner’s high.” This natural high can result in an improvement in mood.
Besides turning a frown upside-down, running can reduce stress. One reason is that instead of letting the stressors take over, the act of running allows the individual to focus on the task at hand.
“Running comes with unexpected side effects,” Sarah Parsloe said. “Training teaches you self-discipline, a skill that has helped me in my academic life. Also, I’ve found that the best way to alleviate the frustrations of a bad day is to pound them out on the track.”
Now that final exams are around the corner, a run could relieve the building stress. Never taken a run before? No worries, here are a few things you should know before starting.
First, invest in a good pair of running sneakers. The shoe size, foot shape, weight, extent of foot movement and budget are all factors a runner needs to take into account before purchasing a pair of sneakers. Different types of feet have different needs, so runners should purchase the “shoe that fits” to prevent injury and be comfortable while running. Time-to-Run suggests that beginners buy cheaper shoes to start, because those who are just starting out do not put as much mileage on sneakers as a novice runner.
Sneakers: The only tool needed for running. Buy the shoes that are right for you.
After putting on your new kicks, warm up and stretch out before running to prevent injury. The sudden jerking and movement from running can cause injury to muscles and joints during exercise if they are not prepared for strenuous activity. Stretching increases the muscles’ efficiency during the run and reduces soreness that can occur after running for the first time, according to Marathon Training. Warm up before stretching to help circulate the blood through the muscles. The increased supply of blood makes the muscles warm and more pliable and thereby reduces strain on them when stretching, according to 24 Hour Fitness. The warm up can be jumping jacks or a light jog for 5 to 10 minutes before the stretch. Click here to learn how to stretch properly.
Are you ready to run yet? Slow down there, you are not quite at the finish line yet. A key element to a successful run is to drink lots of water. Hydration is very important to any workout, especially running. The body sweats to cool down the inside, and fluids need to be consumed in order to perform that function. Two to 3 cups of water or more should be consumed up to 2 hours before a workout. Replenish fluids every 15 to 20 minutes of strenuous exercise to stay hydrated, and keep drinking water after running.
You’re all set to go, but where should you run? The good thing about running outdoors is that the possibilities are limitless. Parsloe suggests running on a trail in the woods.
“Woodland trails are the ideal running terrain. They provide beautiful scenery and a variety of hills, flats, sand, gravel, and wood chips. Though they are more physically challenging, they are far less mentally taxing than the repetitive circle of the track,” Parsloe said. “There is a primal feeling to trail running that cannot be found under the fluorescent lights of a stadium or gym.”
Marist’s track team does its distance runs through Poughkeepsie, within some of the local parks such as FDR, and across the Mid-Hudson Bridge. Though Marist does not have a track of its own on campus, Parsloe said that the team would “definitely” like to have one installed.
“A track would prevent injuries that result from running across campus on hard concrete, and would subtract 20-40 minutes from practice time,” Parsloe said.
Now that you have the knowledge and tools, go running past your lazy classmates laying out in the sun. Once you’ve started this new and exciting workout routine, how do you stay motivated?
“The trick to running is consistency. Yes, it will hurt at first. But if you find a place and a time when running works for you, doing it regularly will eliminate the initial aches, and you may find you really enjoy it,” Parsloe said. “Also, find a running partner who will challenge you!”
All the celebrities wear it. Men and women on television news wear it to look professional while delivering the latest tragic news to viewers. Actors and actresses wear it to play a role in a movie. On the Broadway stage, all the performers wear it to not only act like their character, but also look like them too. Everyone worth knowing wears it.
It is not limited to the rich and famous, however. Women of all ages wear it to accentuate certain features and cover up others. Marist ladies dressing up to go out on a Saturday night wear it to grab the attention of young gentlemen at the club, or to at least make them think they are getting more attention.
Little do these people know, they are at a higher risk for conjunctivitis, bacterial infections, acne, and other eye and skin problems.
What are these people wearing? Makeup.
Makeup products have expiration dates that, when used past their shelf life, can cause various health problems. The eyes, nose and mouth are open passageways for bacteria to enter the body, as well as the most common areas makeup is applied. Applying makeup contains risks, but those risks of catching viruses are increased when makeup products are applied incorrectly or too far past their shelf life.
Eye makeup is the cause for most concern. Mascara brushes contain a lot of bacteria because the wand touches the eyelid and bacteria is pushed back into the bottle after each use. Eyeshadows and eyeliners can also irritate the eye itself when applied.
Conjunctivitis, otherwise known as “pink eye,” is an inflammation of the thin, clear membrane (conjunctiva) that covers the white of the eye and the inside surface of the eyelids, according to the Illinois Department of Public Health. It is most commonly caused by a virus, bacterial infection or allergies.
Conjunctivitis can spread easily from person to person through hand-to-eye contact. Makeup can cause this eye irritation as well because of the consistent contact with the eye.
Makeup distributors at the mall are a feeding ground for bacteria because of the number of people trying out makeup from the same jars.
“Sharing makeup is a sure way to spread germs,” Nicole Mlendow, makeup artist for Sephora in New Jersey, said. “We use disposable mascara brushes, cotton eyeshadow applicators, and other one-time-use applicators to avoid sharing free trial makeup among customers.”
According to Wisegeek, older cosmetics may harbor bacteria that can lead to breakouts or infections. Because the preservatives in makeup break down over time, the bacteria are more likely to dig into pores and cause pimples.
According to John Bailey, director of FDA’s Office of Cosmetics and Colors, serious injury from makeup is a rare occurrence. However, there are simple ways to prevent health problems caused by makeup.
Out with the old, in with the new. Throw out old makeup and replace with new. Mlendow suggests buying cheaper brands so that buying a new collection of makeup doesn’t cut too deeply into the bank account.
Dr. Peter Pugliese, a skin physiologist, gave simple guidelines toFitness magazine readers. He said that mascara lasts for 3 months, creams and moisturizers should be thrown away after 6 months, and powders and concealers can last for years if stored in a cool, dry place.
A clean face is a happy face. Wash your face at the end of the day and use makeup remover to make skin fresh and clean. Cleaning the skin will kill bacteria and prevent breakouts.
Sharing is not caring. Do not share makeup or applicators. “If you go to a department store or makeup store to buy new products, make sure the artist uses clean applicators,” Mlendow said. “No one wants someone else’s eye problems to become their own.”
Clean brushes monthly. Cosmopolitan magazine suggests cleaning brushes with a mild soap or shampoo and standing them upright to keep the bristles in the right shape.
See a doctor if symptoms develop. If you are diagnosed with conjunctivitis, throw out the makeup you used before diagnosis to prevent getting it again.
Midrise room 208 is a secluded suite in one of Marist College’s sophomore dormitories. The main door to the suite is almost always propped open with a wedge, welcoming all friends and visitors at any hour of the day or night. From the outside, a person would assume that the inhabitants of 208 are quiet because of the location they chose to live during the housing process the previous year, but a simple knock on the door and a “Who goes there?” reflects the personalities of the dwellers within.
The common room of 208 is decorated with a melee of posters and signs, from a Zelda video game cut-out to the movie posters for Cloverfield and Quantum of Solace to the “No Farting” signs hung up sporadically around the room. Lying down on the couch in a black t-shirt, light blue gym shorts, and an ace bandage around his left ankle, is sophomore Chad Connor, a football player for the Marist Red Foxes.
This 20-year-old college student from Staten Island, N.Y., is not just like any player on the football team; he only started playing the sport when he was a freshman in high school and now plays for the Red Foxes on scholarship.
From the outside a bystander would never know that the 6-foot-2 250 pound offensive lineman could possibly not have been born. The young player has survived three strokes at the beginning of his life, a rare occurrence for someone so young.
Strokes are the fourth most common cause of death in all men, according to WebMD. Strokes occur when oxygen is blocked off from the brain, causing brain cells to die. The longer a person goes without stroke treatment, the more cells die and the more damage can be done to the brain. A stroke can leave a patient severely debilitated, paralyzed, an inability to communicate or even lead to death.
“I had a normal pregnancy with Chad,” said Nancy Connor, his mother, on speakerphone on Chad’s cell phone. “I went to the hospital on March 11 and Chad didn’t want to come out, so we waited a week. Then he still didn’t want to come out so my doctor put me on a medication that induces labor, and just like Chad, he had to have his way and didn’t want to come out.”
On March 27th, 1989, was the day Chad Connor began to budge and his mother went into labor.
“The doctor had said that his heart rate had dropped really low, so my husband and I were a bit scared,” Nancy Connor said. “When Chad was born, the doctor said that he was a healthy baby boy 21 inches long and weighed 6 pounds 5 ounces, so I was relieved.”
Nancy and Robert had no trouble with their first-born baby son, Chad, until almost a year and a half later.
“He was a very active and strong child,” Nancy Connor recalled. “I remember he was running around at 19 months and he went over to the fridge, pulled out a gallon of milk like he sometimes did, and then collapsed onto the ground.”
“My husband and I brought him to the pediatrician to get him checked out, and he said that Chad had an ear infection,” Nancy Connor said. “We brought him to the ER because we noticed that he couldn’t move the right side of his body at all.”
Nancy Connor said that she found it unusual for Chad to not be using his right side even though she knew that he was dominant on his left side.
“He was always picking things up with his left hand even though both sides of the family are right-handed, so we knew he was a lefty at such a young age” she said. “We knew something was wrong when he wouldn’t move his right side at all.”
In the emergency room, Chad Connor was diagnosed with a bilateral hernia, a protrusion of an organ or part of an organ wall of the cavity normally containing it.
The results from Chad Connor’s brain CT scan revealed that he had strokes in the left side of the frontal lobe of his brain, which controls the right side of the body as well as language and attention.
Chad Connor went through physical and occupational therapy to learn how to move again. Connor’s therapy inspired Nancy to become an occupational therapist to learn more about her son’s condition.
The Connor family visited many university doctors to find answers as to why he suffered from the strokes as a child. The doctors from Cornell and NYU could not explain what had caused them, but they had taken angiograms and found blood clots where the strokes occurred.
“My mother’s intuition kept telling me that these doctors were wrong, so we went against some of their opinions and we figured out that the drugs that I took to induce labor caused the blood clots in his brain,” Nancy Connor said.
Chad Connor was enrolled in the Jewish Community Center’s swim program to not only learn to swim, but also to strengthen his right side again.
“My husband taught him the sink-or-swim approach,” Nancy Connor laughed. “He let go of Chad and he had to learn to tread water and stay afloat.”
Connor became quite the swimmer at age four. His favorite and strongest race was the backstroke.
“I competed against Michael Phelps and, of course, won,” Chad Connor joked when asked about his swimming abilities.
“He was an early swimmer and he had the height advantage,” Nancy Connor said. “We thought Chad would be a swimmer but then he moved on to other sports.”
Chad Connor tackled many sports before his football career. He started playing baseball in the third grade and basketball in sixth grade. He enjoyed the sports at the time, but quit them both in eighth grade.
“I got bored of baseball and hated the politics of the game,” Chad Connor said. “In that age group, parents were the coaches and only played their sons in the game. It was time to move on.”
Chad Connor did move on; he decided to try out for a sport he had never played on a team. He remembered the day that he told his parents that he wanted to play football in high school.
“They didn’t know until I told them that I was doing football in high school,” Chad Connor said. “They were going to fight me to the nail about it because they tried to prevent me from playing contact sports my whole life.”
“My husband and I were thrilled when he did swimming, baseball, basketball and drama,” Nancy Connor explained, “but when he came up to us and said ‘I’m going to play football’ we were both confused and just asked ‘why?’”
Nancy explained how she thought that Chad was safe from contact sports, but when he became interested in football she got worried because she was unsure of the safety of the sport for Chad’s condition.
“My parents were still worried that the stroke will come back to haunt me,” Chad Connor said. “They were nervous that something else would happen to me.”
Although his parents disagreed with Chad, they let him play after going to doctors and getting enough tests done to clear him to play. So in his freshman year of high school at Curtis, he sat on the bench in his uniform, ready to take on any challenges.
Though Chad Connor did not get playing time his first year, he lifted weights with the varsity team during the off season to prepare for the next fall. The varsity coach saw him bench press 250 lbs as a freshman and told Chad that he wanted him on the varsity team from that point on.
In high school he played on the offensive line as center, tackle and guard. His mother proudly pointed out that he won a few awards and even became the varsity captain his junior and senior year.
“Chad is a very motivated football player, student and individual,” Nancy Connor said. “He cheered louder than the cheerleaders.”
When it came time to look for colleges, Chad Connor looked for schools that offered him scholarships or grants to play football, and Marist offered the highest grant of $20,000 a year.
Chad Connor is currently an offensive lineman for the Red Foxes and sports the number 60 on his red jersey. He and his family are very proud of his accomplishments.
“When Chad was younger, one doctor came up to me and said ‘I’m sorry Mom, he could be in a wheelchair for the rest of his life’” Nancy said. “And I told him, ‘You’re gonna eat your words.’”
Chad Connor had never been in a wheelchair in his life. His health condition has not stopped Connor from playing football or any other sport. As Connor laid on the couch in the Midrise 208 common room, he told us about how he sprained his ankle, which was accessorized by a bag of ice, while playing basketball with some friends. Ironically, football was not the sport that caused him injury like his parents feared.
Chad Connor is not only an athlete; he has many other interests to add to his profile besides sports. In fact, he enjoys theatre and the performing arts. He became interested in the performing arts in the sixth grade at Intermediate School 61 in Staten Island. His school had a “magnet program,” which introduced students to the variety of creative outlets available. He chose drama and dance as his fields of study for the program and participated in many musical productions as a villain because of his tall stature and typecast appearance for the parts. His acting career, however, is not limited to the Intermediate School 61 stage.
“I played an abused child on Law and Order when I was 2 or 3,” Chad Connor said. “That’s the extent of my professional acting career.”
Connor enjoys theatre almost as much as football. He is an avid New England Patriots football fan who has also seen The Phantom of the Opera on Broadway eight times.
“I saw Phantom for the first time with the original cast and I absolutely adored it,” Connor said. “I have gone seven times after that. If I didn’t play football I definitely would have continued with the performing arts.”
Chad Connor is a psychology/special education major and plans on teaching at the elementary level and coach football for the high school level when he graduates from Marist in 2011.
“We were afraid to let Chad play contact sports,” Nancy Connor said. “He overcame such challenges and had such determination that we just had to let him go. Now he’s healthy and happy and doing what he loves best.”
David Cook stopped in Poughkeepsie on his Declaration tour.
Marist College sophomore Katie Hauge is a fan of rock music. Like many college students, she often purchases tickets to concerts as soon as they are available to try to get good seats to shows such as Metallica or Flogging Molly concerts. When flyers were hung up around the Marist College campus announcing an exclusive concert to be held at the Bardavon Opera House on March 10, the bold print and photograph of David Cook caught Hauge’s attention. An avid American Idol and David Cook fan, Hauge was determined not to miss this opportunity to see one of her favorite musical artists for only $10 a ticket.
Marist Student Programming Council booked David Cook for a night of rock music and entertainment, just in time for students to take a study break from midterms. David Cook, the season 7 winner of Fox’s most popular reality show, American Idol, came to Poughkeepsie on his 2009 Declaration Tour . Up-and-coming artist Ryan Star opened for Cook on the drizzly night in March.
The concert quickly became the talk of the town among Marist students, as evident by the throng of fans lined up in along the alcoves next to College Activities hours before the tickets were sold at 7:00 p.m. Hauge was seated in the first alcove next to the office at 12:30 p.m. after she ate her lunch.
“I waited 6 hours for tickets because I wanted to be sure to get a front row seat,” Hauge said. Tickets were sold on a first-come-first-serve basis, so Hauge got one of the best seats in the house: the center of the front row. “I’m a huge fan and I’ve followed him from the beginning of American Idol,”
Students unfamiliar with David Cook waited in line for lengths of time and received tickets in the first few rows just like Hauge. Marist HuMarist Mike Vogel waited with friends for 4 hours even though he was unfamiliar with Cook’s music.
On the night of the concert, SPC provided bus transportation from the Midrise parking lot to the venue in downtown Poughkeepsie. The Bardavon Opera House, located in the heart of Poughkeepsie on Market St., is the oldest opera house in New York. Built in 1869, this venue has seen hosted a variety of performers such as Frank Sinatra, Martha Graham, Patti Smith, and even the Marist College Singers. On March 10, the marquee of the opera house showed Cook and Star’s names brightly in the cool and humid night.
Though the weather was dreary, the atmosphere heated up indoors as the concert started.
SPC President Jesseca Carroll welcomed the crowd to the show and introduced the performers for the night’s show. The ticking sound of a metronome over the speakers suggested the start of the first musical segment as blue lights illuminated the stage enough to create silhouettes of singer-songwriter Ryan Star and his band as they entered from stage left.
Ryan Star joins David Cook on tour
Star competed on the second season of CBS reality show Rockstar, where famous guitarist and judge of the singing contest Dave Navarro called him “the Dark Horse.” Though contestant Lukas Rossi won on the show, a producer signed Star for a record deal to jumpstart his music career.
Star’s band, consisting of a backup guitarist, a bassist with shaggy hair, a drummer with a glistening gold drumset, and a woman playing the piano keyboard, joined Cook’s Revolution tour to promote his upcoming album, “11:59.”
When the first chord was strummed on the electric guitars, the band was illuminated by the orange lights that replaced the blue. Star stood in front of the audience wearing a red screen t-shirt under a black hoodie, and tight black jeans accented by a studded belt. Star’s main accessory was the black electric guitar he held in his hands, strumming and singing original tunes from “11:59.”
The audience “opened their eyes to a brand new day,” to get psyched for the music. Star got the crowd to clap to the drumbeat of his songs as he stood on speakers and amplifiers. Star told the crowd that he was excited to be in Poughkeepsie because he is a local New Yorker from Long Island.
Star put a capo on the second fret of his acoustic guitar to put it in a higher key, and with a pick in his black nail-polished right hand, belted out a song called “Breathe” in a rough rocker voice full of passion.
Star adjusted his capo to the sixth fret, and spoke to the crowd, “We put a lot of heart into this, but this song is one of my favorites.”
He announced to the crowd the name of the song, “Psycho Suicidal Girls,” and dedicated to the guys in the crowd who might have had to deal with horrible girls. It started off slow, as a solo, and then the band accompanied him halfway through, with bright yellow lights shining on each of the performers and their instruments, including Star’s electric wooden Gibson guitar.
Star encouraged the audience to participate in his chatroom after the show by texting “RYAN” to “50505.” He also announced that his new single was going to appear on Good Day New York the next day.
Immediately following the announcements, the percussion and backup guitar instruments prominently interluded into a cover of the Beatles song “I Want You So Bad.” The crowd clapped along to the popular song as Star sang in a falsetto. He ended his segment by swinging the mic, jumping high in the air, and then exiting the stage.
“For a guy I’ve never heard of, he made a good impression,” Vogel said. “I would consider downloading his songs.”
Hauge agreed with Vogel. “I didn’t know of Ryan Star but I thought he did a really good job too.”
A quick intermission gave fans time to buy merchandise from the vendors outside in the lobby and for the stage crew to remove Ryan Star’s instruments and do a soundcheck on David Cook’s guitars.
The theatre house lights grew dim until the audience was seated in complete darkness. Eerie horizontal lights glowed on stage as the crowd’s cheering, clapping and whistling increased in volume as 5 dark figures walked toward center stage. Spotlights pointed at the figures, and David Cook and his band magically appeared.
Cook’s band is made up of himself, 2 backup guitarists, a bassist, and a drummer. His guitarists Neal “The Doctor” Tiemann and Andy Skib are friends from Midwest Kings, his former band he had in Oklahoma before he competed on American Idol.
Cook opened his show segment with “Heroes,” a song from his self-titled debut album. Front-row fans attempt to stand up against the stage, but security guards ask them to stay seated in their chairs. The fans were cooperative and watched the performance from their seats, where they could still see Cook’s plaid button-down shirt and faded jeans from about 10 feet away.
Guitar-playing alternated between members of the band when they played “We’re Only Honest When We’re Sleeping.” Heads from the stage and heads from the crowd bobbed to the sounds of the cymbals on the drum set.
Cook performed songs from both his album and cover songs he performed on the show that made him a celebrity. His own songs such as “Bar-Ba-Sol,” “I Did It For You,” “Mr. Sensitive,” “Life On the Moon,” and “Come Back to Me,” (his single due out this month) had die-hard Cook fans singing along. Cook held out the microphone for the audience to participate in the choruses.
Between sets, Cook interacted with the crowd. A stereotypical female fan screamed “I love you” to Cook while he prepared for a song, in which he replied, “I love you too,” receiving even more screams from fans from that simple reply. He told the crowd that all he had to do to get the crowd to cheer is to tell them “I love you too” and he demonstrated by saying the statement again, and the crowd roared.
“I thought he did a really good job interacting with the crowd,” Hauge said. “I made a sign for him asking him to marry me, and the other side said ‘I love Word Nerds’ and he commented on it.”
Cook saw Hauge’s carefully crafted posterboard and said, “Hey, I love Word Nerds too.” American Idol fanatics know that David Cook enjoys solving word puzzles, which qualified him for the status of being called a “Word Nerd.”
Cook also thanked a fan that threw a bouquet of roses onto the stage. To boost the egos of all the young ladies in the audience, he said to the crowd, “Since Idol the crowds have become way more attractive.”
Cook continued his concert with two cover songs. He sang “The World I Know” by Collective Soul as a solo act, accompanied by swoons from the crowd. Immediately following was “Man in the Box” by Alice in Chains, which fans contributed the sounds for the chorus.
“I was really excited when he covered Man in the Box because it really got the crowd to rock out,” said Hauge.
The final prepared song of the night was Cook’s current single, “Light On.” The audience helped to sing the song, filling up the auditorium with sound. The singing was loud enough to hear without a microphone.
Applause and screaming occurred after the band played the last chord and exited the stage. For nearly 10 minutes, the cheering reached volumes so loud that the band could not ignore it. The drummer came back on the stage to show off his improvisation skills while the crowd kept cheering. The rest of the band appeared and finished off the show with two more cover songs and throwing guitar picks into the crowd for fans to keep as souvenirs.
Hauge grabbed her coat and sign and headed toward the bus back to Marist, content and satisfied with the concert.
“I’ve always wanted to go see David Cook in concert, and it was a dream of mine to get front row seats to it,” said Hauge. “I guess I’m pretty lucky to have both of those dreams come true by only spending $10.”
African American women represent the largest demographic of HIV infected women.
”It is certainly true that HIV/AIDS is a disease that younger people are more likely to acquire than older people,” reported Dr. George Schmid, a medical officer with the World Health Organization, about the unexplored story of HIV and aging.
However, scientists have developed a topical preventive method for women, in hopes of reducing these startling statistics.
A microbicide gel has for the first time shown some promise to prevent HIV infection in women in a clinical trial involving more than 3,000 subjects in the U.S. and southern Africa, according to Global Coalition on Women and AIDS.
The high prevelance of AIDS in South Africa makes is a prime location for clinical microbicide testing.
Microbicides are substances intended to reduce or prevent the sexual transmission of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections when applied topically.
According to HealthNews.com, a clinical trial of 3,099 HIV-uninfected women conducted between February 2005 and September 2008 in South Africa, Zimbabwe and the United States, PRO 2000, a gel made by Massachusetts-based Indevus Pharmaceuticals, reduced the rate of HIV infection in women by 30 percent, compared to those using no gel.
Further research is needed; however, development of such a product will undoubtedly reduce the number of infected women worldwide.
“This microbicide gel would change the lives of women. Decreasing the risk of spreading HIV is the first measure scientists and doctors can take to fight this deadly disease,” said bio-med major Abby Ketner.
Currently, there are 13 microbicide candidates are in various stages of clinical development, and over 50 products are being tested pre-clinically.
“With the issue of domestic violence at the forefront of many individual’s minds after the highly publicized domestic violence occurrence between celebrities Chris Brown and Rihanna, this speech was very appropriate,” said Marist crew captain Janet Mathes.
