OREGON STATE UNIVERSITY CORVALLIS, OREGON 97331
The Daily Barometer
DAILYBAROMETER.COM • 541-737-3191
Collaboration continues for improved medical aid n
DAILYBAROMETER
The science behind religion, spirituality THE DAILY BAROMETER
By Tori Hittner
THE DAILY BAROMETER
Tori Hittner
Higher education reporter managing@dailybarometer.com
Dacotah-Victoria Splichalova
| THE DAILY BAROMETER
People gather for midday mass at Monistrol de Montserrat in the mountains of Catalunya, Spain. OSU researchers find that spirituality and religion have individual but complementary influences on health.
Researchers at Oregon State University find that spirituality and religion have individual but complementary influences on health. “Religion helps regulate behavior and health habits, while spirituality regulates your emotions,” Carolyn Aldwin, the Jo Anne Leonard endowed director of OSU’s Center for Healthy Aging Research, said in a press release. Aldwin and colleagues have been working to understand and make a distinction of the beneficial connections between health, religion and spirituality. The result is a new theoretical model, which defines two distinct pathways. Aldwin, a gerontology professor in the College of Public Health and Human Sciences at OSU, is co-author with researcher in School of Social and Behavioral Health Science Yu-Jin Jeong, Ph.D. candidate in the human development and family sciences program at OSU, Ritwik Nath and Crystal L. Park of the University of Connecticut. Together, they wrote a paper published in February 2014 in the journal “Psychology of Religion and Spirituality.” The study found that religiousness is strongly associated with better health behavior habits, including lower smoking and alcohol consumption and greater likelihood of medical screenings, but only weakly related to inflammatory biological traits. Measures of spirituality are more strongly linked to biological traits, including blood pressure, cardiac reactivity, immune factors and disease progression, while religious alienation has adverse effects on both pathways. “No one has ever reviewed all of the different models of how religion affects health,” Aldwin said. “We’re trying to impose a structure on a very messy field.” There can be some overlap of the influences of religion and spirituality on health, Aldwin said. The goal of the study is to help researchers develop better measures for analyzing the connections between religion, spirituality and health, and then explore possible clinical interventions. Further research is needed to test the theory and investigate the contrasts between the two pathways. managing@dailybarometer.com
Marijuana abuse program working with individuals IMPACT marijuana program serves students in one-onone basis unlike IMPACT alcohol abuse groups
graduate students reported marijuana use within the last 30 days, according to a spring 2013 National College Health Assessment reference group summary. People at Oregon State University admitted usage was around 23.7 perBy Sean Bassinger cent in 2012, according to Robert Reff, THE DAILY BAROMETER OSU substance abuse coordinator. Primarily for students who have Senate Bill 1556, which would legalize marijuana for anyone 21 and older, been sanctioned due to violations of remains frozen in committee discus- the law, the Student Health Services sions after the 2013 short legislative IMPACT program focuses on substance abuse recovery and awareness. session ended. Around 18.3 percent of underSee Marijuana | page 4 n
Police beat: Spring break in Corvallis
News, page 2
VOL. CXVI, NO. 105
@BARONEWS, @BAROSPORTS, @BAROFORUM
Discussions continue between federal Veterans Affairs, Oregon State University health services
After a collaborative meeting held during spring break, opportunities for improved medical aid appear promising for the nearly 1,100 student veterans who attend Oregon State University. Representatives from regional Veterans Affairs medical centers, OSU health services and the OSU veterans workgroup met March 25 in Plageman Student Health Center to discuss the medical needs of Corvallis’ student veterans. In order to receive VA-provided medical care, OSU student veterans must drive to either Portland or Roseburg. Although no group made any official commitments, VA and OSU representatives agreed to explore additional methods and options for student veterans’ medical aid. OSU Veterans Resources Coordinator Gus Bedwell entered the meeting hoping for the installation of a federal satellite clinic on campus, but the option was ultimately found to be unfeasible. “It was determined that … budgetary restraints would prevent the Student Health Center from having VA medical care on campus,” Bedwell said. A later addition of such aid to the preexisting Student Health Center is highly unlikely, according to Bedwell. Instead of satellite aid, federal VA representatives suggested that both parties look into creating a telehealth system in Corvallis. Telehealth systems allow individuals to connect through a portable video device to regional VA medical centers to receive medical help from a variety of clinics. Bedwell noted that the system would save many students a costly and time-consuming drive. Student panelists at the meeting also suggested additional transportation options be made available for students who cannot drive themselves to the regional medical centers. A recent grant applied for by the Oregon Department of Veterans Affairs may be able to help defray some of the costs associated with such a transit program expansion. The Portland VA medical center will next host OSU representatives, showing them in turn what processes and systems the center employs. OSU Student Health Services and the OSU veterans workgroup also scheduled a professional development event to further foster awareness of the VA medical system. “Our goal here, collectively, is to remove barriers for student veterans (so that they may) be able to access health care,” Bedwell said. “It’s health care in general, a combination of both OSU and VA medical care (that we want to provide).”
TUESDAY APRIL 1, 2014
Women’s basketball set for future Sports, page 5
OSU meet ‘Game of Thrones’
A&E, page 8