Despression increases among college students Nursing homes trading care for cash

JONATHAN BARNETT STAFF WRITER JEB724@CABRINI EDU

Private investors who are looking to make a profit have bought out many nursing homes. These profits are earned by making the choice to cut expenses and staff, sometimes below the minimum requirement. By cutting all of the expenses the investors are able to resell the homes for a huge profit. One home was said to have less than half the number of clinical registered nurses than a few months prior when private investors first bought the nursing home. Usually when a private investor steps in to make a profit it is the patients and their families who pay for it.

Human trafficking proves hard to find

College health has found that approximately 10 percent of students overall have been diagnosed with depression. College counseling centers are encouraging students to talk to someone they feel comfortable with right away.

DANIELLE FEOLE STAFF WRITER DF727@CABRINI EDU

Depression can be characterized by the symptoms of sadness, anxiety, decreased energy and loss of interest in usual activities. Studies show that over the past five years there has been an increase in depression amongst college students.

According to Psychology Today, “College counseling centers used to be the backwaters of the mental health care system, now they are the front line.”

Massachusetts General Hospital has confirmed that in many cases these mental problems have been with the student in earlier years.

According to Robert Gallagher of the University of Pittsburgh, his 2001 survey of counseling centers shows that 85 percent of colleges reported an increase during the past five years in students with severe psychological problems.

What are the main causes for depression in a college student’s life? Depression can range anywhere from psychological causes to physical causes.

Psychological causes are losses, break-ups, feelings of loneliness or academic problems. Physical causes can also occur with illness or chemical imbalances. College students are given many new responsibilities and have to therefore take on much more new stressors coming into a new environment.

Dr. Melissa Terlecki, a psychology professor, said, “College is a tumultuous time, leaving home, friends and relationships. Circumstances may trigger the depression or illness that was already there through adolescence.”

Dr. Byrony Kay, a psychology professor, said, “It depends on a student’s coping mechanisms. Some students have more adaptive coping mechanisms than others.”

College students are entering a transition period. They are changing from the high school students they were and becoming adults who are branching off to different colleges, usually in different areas, in or out-of-state.

Students are then forced to think about their future and what they would like to become. College makes students realize that the future is not as far away as they thought and they need to do well and succeed to obtain their future goals.

Joe Johnson, a junior history and political science major, said, “Freshman year a lot of people are caught up in high school standards when first arriving, they feel they need to conform to be accepted.”

Sara Maggitti, Psy.D., the director of Counseling Services, said, “Research on Cabrini College health has found that approximately 10 percent of students overall have been diagnosed with depression.”

Depression is more common in women than in men. When depression is not treated it can of- ten lead to suicide, which is more common in college-aged students.

According to USA Today, about 30 percent of colleges report one suicide in the previous year.

Students feeling any signs of depression should talk to someone right away, such as someone they feel comfortable with, a psychology professor on campus, health counseling services or even an actual psychologist.

Cabrini’s main Web page contains a link to counseling services, which gives tons of information and links to resources of mental illnesses. Also, students are encouraged to come into their office for a self evaluation.

Cabrini has three licensed mental health professionals and one consulting psychiatrist, who will work with troubled students. They provide free and completely confidential counseling.

Cabrini’s counseling services will be holding free screenings for depression for National Depression Screening Day on Thursday, Oct. 4th from 12 p.m.2 p.m. outside of Founder’s Hall.

The government has spent over $150 million thus far to locate and assist what has been estimated as hundreds of thousands of victims of human trafficking. When brought to the eye of the government, they were outraged, but now they have found it hard to bring anyone to justice for these crimes. According to government studies, it was projected that human trafficking would become a “major domestic issue,” but there has been no evidence of this within the seven years since the law was created to make it illegal. Much of the evidence has shown that it is more of an overseas issue than an issue here. 1,362 victims of human trafficking have been identified, but that is nowhere near the projected number of 50,000 the agency believed they would find.

Nuclear warheads flown across country unknowingly

Incorrect steps were taken with warheads flown from a bunker located on North Dakota’s Minot Air Force Base across the country to a Louisiana air base. It was done without the slightest idea of the pilot. The nuclear warheads were loaded on the wings of a B-52 bomber. The actual cargo was supposed to be a dozen unarmed AGM-129 missiles but 6 of these contained nuclear warheads, “each with the destructive power of up to 10 Hiroshima bombs.” Never, in history, has there been a known flight by a nuclear-armed bomber over United States airspace without the proper authorization in almost 40 years, until this incident on Aug. 29.

Blackwater USA to be referred to Iraqi court system

Shirwan al-Waili, the state minister for national security affairs in Iraq said, “The shots fired on the Iraqis were unjustifiable.” An incident involving a private American security company that left at least eight Iraqis dead is seen as an act of terrorism according to Iraq’s Interior, National Security and Defense Ministries in a preliminary report of their findings. The Iraqi government plans to defer criminal charges to its courts regarding this case. Those employees of the security company involved in the case are being referred to as criminals by the Iraqi government.