The Kept-Up Academic Librarian

College Libraries Offer Puppies, Massages, Yoga And More To Help Students Cope With Finals Week Stress

Anyone who's suffered through finals week knows just how stressful it can be. But bring puppies into the mix and, at least for a moment, the stress evaporates. The library brought in the puppies to help students ease their stress as they prepare for finals next week. Organizers also are offering yoga classes, free 10-minute massages and a paper airplane contest today. "Working in the library, you can feel the anxiety level leap," librarian Jennifer Petersen said. "This is a real stressful week for them." Read more at:
http://www.vcstar.com/news/2012/may/03/college-brings-in-puppies-to-ease-students/

 

More Colleges Establishing Smoke-Free Campuses

From banning tobacco companies from advertising to kicking cigarettes off school grounds altogether, colleges are making it harder or even impossible to smoke on campus. The American Nonsmokers' Rights Foundation estimates there are about 700 smoke-free campuses around the country. One of the pioneers in Alabama, Troy University, will go 100 percent smoke-free -- that means no smoking anywhere, indoors or out. Others are taking steps, if not quite going that far. Read more at:
http://blog.al.com/spotnews/2012/04/alabama_colleges_take_more_ste.html

Sex Week Spreads To Other Campuses And Brings Tension With It

It was Sex Week at Harvard, a student-run program of lectures, panel discussions and blush-inducing conversations about all things sexual. The event was Harvard’s first, though the tradition started at Yale in 2002 and has since spread to colleges around the country: Brown, Northeastern, the University of Kentucky, Indiana University and Washington University have all held some version of Sex Week in recent years. As Sex Week has spread to more campuses, it has maintained a balancing act between matters of sexual health and pleasure. Read more at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/17/science/college-students-opening-up-conversations-about-sex.html?src=recg

The Challenge Of Helping Disabled College Students Is Getting Them To Ask

The former soldier is among the ranks of college students with disabilities who prefer to make their own way. Experts have a hard time tracking their numbers because the students prefer to fly under the radar. In high school and elementary school, educators are obligated by law to identify and assist students diagnosed with disabilities — so they get help whether they want it or not. But once students enter college, it's up to them to seek help through the school's disabilities office.No formal study has tracked how many students with disabilities earn college degrees without assistance. Read more at:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/ct-x-disabled-college-20120411,0,3380325.story?page=1

Spring Rush At Fraternities Depends Less On Alcohol

Fraternity rush is sobering up at a number of universities, including Maryland, where administrators ordered the student organizations to overhaul their recruiting — or risk having the university do it for them. Following incidents at the University of South Carolina and Yale and Cornell universities over the past two years, debate has arisen about the role of fraternities in higher education and whether they should continue to exist. Spring rush often meant house parties that raged out of control, an increased number of students taken to emergency rooms for alcohol-related problems and the university investigating suspected cases of hazing. Read more at:
http://www.wausaudailyherald.com/usatoday/article/38800317?odyssey=mod%7Cnewswell%7Ctext%7CFRONTPAGE%7Cs

Training RAs As First Responders For Student Mental Health Crises

As a growing number of college students suffer from anxiety and depression, universities increasingly are training resident advisers in "mental health first aid." The university was among about three dozen nationally that participated in a study showing the effects of mental health training among RAs, who can be first responders in student crises. The study, "Mental Health First Aid: Outcomes Evaluation Strategies," found that RAs who were trained reported increased confidence in recognizing and responding to developing mental health problems and crisis situations. Read more at:
http://www.dailycamera.com/cu-news/ci_19995896

College Student's Murder Trial Reveals Dangers Of Binge Drinking

There's little question that George Huguely V, the former University of Virginia student on trial for murder, had a problem with alcohol. He had been arrested twice for drinking-related infractions, one of them violent, in his early 20s. But trial testimony over the past two weeks from witnesses, most of them former U.Va. students, has repeatedly shown that Huguely, now 24, was part of a college culture where some young people drink before working on papers, "pregame" before going to bars and drink to get drunk almost every time. Roughly 80 percent of college students drink, and half of them "engage in heavy episodic consumption," also known as binge drinking. Read more at:
http://articles.baltimoresun.com/2012-02-18/health/bs-md-student-drinking-20120216_1_binge-drinking-huguely-college-students

Catholic IHEs Seek To Resist Ruling On Prescribing Birth Control

Many Catholic colleges decline to prescribe or cover birth control, citing religious reasons. Now they are under pressure to change. This month the Obama administration, citing the medical case for birth control, made a politically charged decision that the new health care law requires insurance plans at Catholic institutions to cover birth control without co-payments for employees, and that may be extended to students. But Catholic organizations are resisting the rule, saying it would force them to violate their beliefs and finance behavior that betrays Catholic teachings. Read more at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/30/health/policy/law-fuels-contraception-controversy-on-catholic-campuses.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=tha23

More Common For Colleges To Help Students Recover From Addiction

In 1988, Rutgers started what is believed to be the first residential recovery program on a college campus, according to Lisa Laitman, director of its Alcohol and Other Drug Assistance Program. Back then, there was little talk about helping students transition to college after treatment for their drug and alcohol problems. But over the past several years recovery programs have been popping up at colleges, large and small, public and private. Now there are more than 20 programs, with more in the pipeline. Texas Tech University has used some $900,000 in federal grants to help campuses build programs. Read more at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/22/education/edlife/a-bridge-to-recovery-on-campus.html?_r=1

College Students Average Nine Drinks When Getting Drunk

College-age drinkers average nine drinks when they get drunk, government health officials said Tuesday. That surprising statistic is part of a new report highlighting the dangers of binge drinking, which usually means four to five drinks at a time. "I know this sounds astounding, but I think the numbers we're reporting are really an underestimate," said Dr. Robert Brewer, who leads the alcohol program at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Read more at:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/10/cdc-young-adults-down-9-d_n_1197129.html