DAILY LOBO new mexico
friday
April 1, 2011
The Independent Voice of UNM since 1895
FEWER STUDENTS, MORE ADVICE Athletes reap the benefits of improved advisement
Undergraduate studentto-adviser ratio for degree-granting colleges at UNM*
by Hunter Riley hriley@unm.edu
Anderson School of Business and Management:
The Athletics Department has almost four times more advisers per student than UNM undergraduate degree-granting colleges, and athletes enjoy access to clinical psychologists, learning specialists and student services. Compared to the College of Education’s 350-to-1 undergraduate student-to-adviser ratio, student-athletes have a 90-to-1 ratio. Because of this, said Henry Villegas, manager of Academic Advising, student-athletes get more one-onone time with advisers compared to traditional students. “They get a chance to work with students from their freshman year till the end,” he said. “I think that’s critical to developing relationships. They know a lot more about the students’ lives.” Teams are an assigned an adviser, and those advisers have copies of student-athletes’ syllabi to make sure he or she is on top of assignments,
500:1
see Gun Control page 3
College of Arts and Sciences:
600:1 College of Education:
350:1 School of Engineering:
650:1** College of Fine Arts:
725: 1 University College:
1400 : 1 Athletic Student Advisement: Sasha Evangulouva / Daily Lobo UNM Basketball player Tony Snell studies at the Student Advisement Center on South Campus. Athletics Advisement has nearly four times more advisers per student than any other nonprofessional college at UNM. Student-athletes also enjoy easier access to a number of student services.
Expect tests for ADHD meds SHAC combats recreational use with evaluations, policies, waits by Barron Jones
Student Health and Counseling on main campus provides ADHD evaluations for students, but, due to high demand, students generally have to wait months to get an evaluation. SHAC representatives said they are worried about students abusing the drugs.
bjones36@unm.edu Students may have to wait nearly three months to get an attention deficit hyperactivity disorder diagnosis and prescription from Student Health and Counseling. Counseling Director Harry Linneman said that the center has seen a spike in students wanting ADHD evaluations, but the center does not have the resources to see every student immediately. He said the media plays a role in increasing evaluation demands. “Television documentaries and other publicity about adult ADHD is increasing the awareness of this as a possible issue,” Linneman said. Linneman said SHAC does not compile data for the prescriptions it writes. He said SHAC takes precautionary measures when diagnosing the disorder. Students must undergo a battery of examinations before getting a diagnosis, Linneman said, and SHAC is careful not to over-prescribe for ADHD because students can misuse the medication. “We don’t pretend that our system at SHAC is perfect, but we try to provide a reasonably thoughtful and thorough diagnostic process and limit our prescription of stimulants,” Linneman said. SHAC’s policy, Linneman said, differs from many colleges and
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Daily Lobo volume 115
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Terrence Siemon
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universities. The University of Arizona, for example, does not diagnose ADHD, according to its health care website, because evaluations are time consuming. Health officials will, however, treat students if they can prove they were previously treated for the disorder. The University of Colorado in Boulder’s system is similar to UNM’s. CU’s student health center has a maximum three-week wait time for evaluations, according to its website, and evaluations cost $661, more than double what SHAC charges. Barbara Krause, a family nurse practitioner at SHAC, said Ritalin and Adderall fall under the Control Substance Act, a federal drug policy that regulates the use of substances and medications. She said that on a five-
point scale, ADHD stimulants are level-III controlled substances. Krause said doctors can prescribe only a month’s worth of ADHD drugs. “Like other controlled substances, if they are taken as prescribed and at appropriate doses, this usually can be avoided,” she said. “We also do not want these medications to get into the hands of those they have not been prescribed.” Linneman said if students can’t wait for an evaluation, other community resources offer costlier treatment methods. “It is our goal at SHAC not to make them available for parties, all-night study sessions, or last-minute cramming for students who do not meet the diagnostic criteria for ADHD,” he said.
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Ain’t no party like a tea party
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90:1 *Each department within each college may or may not have its own adviser(s). **The School of Engineering has one adviser who splits his time between graduate and undergraduate students.
Memorial set for student, mother by Shaun Griswold shaun24@unm.edu
UNM community members will remember student Beatrice DominguezMeiers’ life at a memorial service Saturday morning. Her son, James Meiers, said his mother was dedicated to serving people until the very end. “It wasn’t until the last couple of months where she really got so sick that she couldn’t help people,” he said. “She wanted to go back to work until the very end. The doctors told her, ‘You can’t go back to work. You’re sick.’ But that was her life — helping other people.” The rosary and Mass service begins at 9:30 a.m. Dominguez-Meiers, 65, died of liver failure Saturday. She served as the GPSA Lobby Committee Chair in 2007-08. Friend Louis Martinez said Dominguez-Meiers treated everyone with kindness. “She always helped you, and that was why people liked her so much,” he said. “When I was getting discouraged working on my master’s degree, she came to my side and encouraged me to finish.” Dominguez-Meiers is survived by her two sons, Steve and James. She graduated from UNM in 2009 with a master’s degree in public adminis-
tration. A lifelong activist with the Democratic Party, she was working on her doctorate, even through 18 months of chemotherapy. “She was involved with the party for a long, long time,” friend Danny Hernandez said “She always gave me sage advice, and she took sides on just about every political issue.” GPSA President Lissa Knudsen said Dominguez-Meiers’ passage is a loss to the graduate student community. “She was a dedicated student and public servant who contributed in many ways to improving the academic experience for graduate and professional students at the University of New Mexico,” she said. Donations will be accepted in lieu of flowers, with the proceeds going toward establishing a scholarship fund in her name. “She was such a good friend to so many people,” said Martinez, who knew her for 35 years. “Students, adults, children — she is one of those persons everyone seems to like and talk to. She was a really good listener. That’s why so many people also had a good relationship with her.”
MEMORIAL SERVICE Saturday Aquinas Newman Center Rosary and Mass Service begin at 9:30 a.m.
TODAY
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