Artemis

Artemis 5

Therapy myths

BUSTED Everything you never knew

Breaking Down Walls

s u l P

One woman’s journey to travel the world her own way

Catch and Release: a guy’s perspective on love and relationships

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Letter from the editor

Artemis

Contents

The triumphs and the struggles we experience in life make us the people – the women – we see in the mirror every day. They build character and wisdom, teach lessons and tell jokes. They have the power to bring us acceptance and peace in understanding that life doesn’t come with a rulebook, a set of guidelines or without surprises.

There is no perfect life plan, perfect job, perfect thought process…or perfect relationship. And lacking in one or more of these realms doesn’t make you unhealthy. Health holds a perspective meaning for each of us. For me, if I’m happy, I’m healthy.

I’m more than proud to bring you this issue of Artemis, and I hope it will bring you the same joy. For all the surprises that are to come in this often confusing world, I hope looking to women such as Katie Spotz (our cover model – read her powerful story on page 7) and your own role models will be encouragement enough to face the unknown fearlessly.

Every day I strive to become a better woman, friend and daughter, not because I’m unsatisfied with who I am, but because I am excited for who I can become. You should be too!

Maybe Liz’s story on finances (page 21) will give you the boost needed to start saving your hard-earned money, or maybe the myths Erica debunks about therapy (page 3) will open your eyes to new options for problem solving. Or just have fun flipping through our pages, and check us out online at: artemis.kent.edu.

In our lives, we can only anticipate so much. There are only so many lists we can check off, but as long as we are proactive about our health, in every sense of the word, the rest will surely just fall into place.

— Alyssa Sparacino

Departments 3-4 Mental health Take everything you think you know about therapy…and forget it! Find out the truth.

12-13 Nutritional Health Tips and tricks every woman should know to pump up her diet – the right way.

12 Feature 7-11

Managing Editor: Brittany Moffat Photo Editor: Sam Twarek Copy Desk Chief: Anna Duszkiewicz Art Director: Nichole Frye

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Spring 2009

Staff Writers: Kim Brown, Darren D’Altorio, Sarah Steimer, Courtney Kerrigan, Erica Strauss, Liz Laubscher Photographers: Rachel Kilroy Shaye A. Painter Webmaster: Jason Bacher

Production Manager: Evan Bailey Ad Manager: Tami Bongiorni

Sexually active doesn’t necessarily equal sexual understanding and knowledge. Learn more about what it means to be a woman.

Financial Health Wallet feeling a little lighter these days? Worried about your financial life after college?

Physical health

And more...

5-6

Relationship health Artemis’ sole male writer brings a man’s perspective on love, while shining a light on his relationships – and their failures.

Ad Designer: Jake Kellogg Adviser: Jan Leach Cover Art: Rachel Kilroy

21-22

Sexual health

Pushing herself to the limit doesn’t even come close to describing Katie Spotz’s athletic feats, and she’s still pushing.

S p r i n g 2 0 0 9 S ta f f l i s t

Clockwise from left:

14-17

19-20

Q and A Grab some coffee and sit down with Artemis and Heather Adams, KSU Women’s Resource Center director.

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Mental Health

Therapy 101:

: 3 # h t My

This Isn’t Your Grandma’s Therapy

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Story by

Spring 2009

: 1 # h t y M

Erica strauss

“Therapy” used to be a dirty word. It conjured up the classic image of a bemused, wrinkled old man with coke-bottle glasses, lazily drumming his fingers on a clipboard as his desperate patient poured out his or her darkest secrets for a hefty price. Now, celebrities and socialites such as Lindsay Lohan and Britney Spears, with their borderline psychotic episodes and unabashed alcohol and drug use, have twisted the social stigma surrounding therapy. It seems that anyone who is anyone has been to some sort of rehab – more than once. Hollywood has dutifully glamorized therapy, but at what cost?

Many people are clueless about what real therapy is, or what it can do for them.

So what exactly is therapy? To put it simply: “Therapy is about making a positive change in your emotional life,” said Angela Neal-Barnett, a licensed psychologist at Kent State University’s Psychological Clinic. “It gives [college-age women] a safe place to overcome anxiety, depression and fear and reclaim their lives,” she said.

This is a delightfully accurate portrait of modern therapy. However, many inaccurate myths about therapy still permeate our culture. So while the media has glamorized therapy with reality shows such as Celebrity Rehab, it has also helped lessen the social stigma about confessing your secrets to the bemused, wrinkled old man with a clipboard. a

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Once you’re in therapy, you’re in it for life.

Actually, many people in therapy view their weekly sessions as a quick fix to a simple problem rather than a commitment.

Neal-Barnett said there are many effective short-term therapies. In fact, recent research has indicated the average therapy treatment is between six and eight sessions, she said.

Therapy is for people with severe mental illness.

Although persistent, chronic mental illness can be treated with psychotherapy, many people enter therapy to deal with a myriad of mundane issues, such as stress, self-esteem and improving communication skills, according to Karen Fleming, a licensed psychologist at Coleman Professional Services in Kent.

People ages 18-24 are presented with a unique set of problems, from establishing their independence to dealing with student loans, Fleming said. It is these issues that push many college-age people to begin therapy. The stress and confusion that comes with leaving your hometown and introducing yourself to an entirely new situation can produce a lot of anxiety.

“Therapy can be important in learning how old beliefs, assumptions, strategies and behaviors that may have worked well through high school, may need to be re-examined and changed,” Fleming said.

You confess your secrets to your therapist - and you’re saved!

Therapy is expensive.

:

:

There are many places, on and off campus, that offer free or affordable therapy on a shoestring budget. More health insurance companies have started to cover mental health in their plans as well.

Myth

If you’re in therapy, you’re crazy/weak/insert adjective here!

Myth #2

“Your therapist does not cure you,” Neal-Barnett said. “Rather, working together with your therapist, you learn the keys and tools to managing and overcoming your particular diagnosis or difficulty.”

So, how does a therapist help you? Fleming equated learning to live with a mental health issue with learning to live with diabetes. Therapists attempt to teach people about their symptoms. Then, patients learn to manage their issues with as few recurring symptoms as possible, she said.

But confessing secrets is still a quintessential ingredient in the therapy recipe.

“Therapy gives people an outlet to express emotions they have kept locked inside,” Neal-Barnett said. “Patients can reveal secrets of sexual assault, incest and trauma that they have never revealed to anyone and work toward healing.”

Myth #4

#5:

In the past, someone who entered therapy was instantly deemed crazy, weak or a menace to society.

Neal-Barnett acknowledged that this painfully false social stigma still exists, but people are beginning to understand the benefits of therapy.

So much so, that in a recent study conducted by the University of Pennsylvania that surveyed university health center directors across the nation, 60 percent of the directors reported that more students were using their university’s mental health services and for longer periods of time than ever before. Another study, released in 2007 by the Anxiety Disorders Association of America, concluded that more students are coming to college with a heightened awareness of mental health than in the past.

This is not only occurring on a national level, but on a local level as well. Fleming said the percentage of counseling clients ages 18-29 in Coleman’s program increased by 3 percent since 2007. Not a huge jump, but a notable trend. The Kent Psychological Clinic, which is part of Kent State’s psychology department, sees 250 students and community members annually.

“Therapy is for anyone who is experiencing life or emotional difficulties,” NealBarnett said. She added, “I think the women-centered media: Oprah, Christian television, women’s magazines, have moved from a place for ‘crazy’ people and ‘tortured’ souls to an action-oriented place for women to deal with life’s problems.”

Mental Health Psychological services on and off campus On-Campus Counseling Services: Psychological Services Where: DeWeese Health Center Cost: Free with student insurance, self-pay fee is $24/session Phone: 330-672-2487 What to expect: Individual, group or couples therapy provided by licensed psychologists. Crisis intervention counseling and psychological testing available Counseling and Human Development Center Where: White Hall Cost: Free to students Phone: 330-672-2208 What to expect: Individual an group counseling provided by masters and doctoral students in the graduate counseling program.

Psychological Clinic Where: Kent Hall Cost: Free Phone: 330-672-2372 What to expect: Psychotherapy and psychological assessments provided by master’s and doctoral students under supervision of licensed psychologists.

Off-Campus: Coleman Behavioral Health Services Where: Rhodes Rd. (across from Gabriel Bros.)

Phone: 330-673-1347

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Relationship Health

love

This is love stupid, sick

Column by

I

t makes me laugh when I see the little red hearts next to peoples’ names on Facebook that keep breaking and grafting back together repeatedly, chronicling their quest for love.

Love is crazy – happens in a way a fisherman embraces glittery lures that glide seductively through the water to catch fish.

Love is a shimmering lure that makes people bite and fight, only to be strung along.

After you are caught there are only two options.

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Darren D’Altorio

Either you’re kept, cleaned and prepared perfectly to nourish and provide sustenance, or you find out you were just for sport—catch and release.

I’ve told four girls in my life that I love them. In all four instances, the words were uttered within the first couple weeks of the relationship. I never said them first.

I simply said them back, not thinking about what they mean. Consequently, I was terrible at loving.

In the case of the first girl, I gave her everything a 15-year-old boy could.

Spring 2009

Graphic by

Alex Krokos

There were the hours on the phone, the weekend visits and my virginity. While I was on vacation with my family, she cheated on me — failure number one.

Girl number two felt like real love. I was 16 with a fresh driver’s license and burned my mom’s gas every weekend driving to Cleveland to see her. We always ended our nights at the playground, sprawled out in the fort-like top section, talking, kissing and staring at the stars through the cracks in the plastic and metal frame. We ended when I met

a beautiful South American girl — failure number two.

Girl number three was like a high tide. She rolled in with the moon, left her mark on the rocks and then it was over. She was my long-distance love. I was almost 17 and had just started my senior year of high school. She lived in New York. I lived in Ohio. For six months we talked on the phone every night until the sun came up.

We said we loved one another because of our emotional connection. There was no touching or kissing her, just the hours of sharing ideas

and breath. We would even fall asleep with the receiver to our ears. In the morning we would listen for the other’s sleeping sounds and whisper “Hey, wake up. It’s time for school.”

Then I met a girl in Ohio who sparked some physical reactions in me. Proximity took hold, and I stopped calling the girl in New York.

She cried herself to sleep for months, waiting for my call — failure number three.

Girl number four entered my life around high school graduation. After two weeks of hanging out, we shared a hug and kiss in her driveway under a muggy red moon. She slipped up and said “I love you.” Then she freaked out and turned to run into her house. I grabbed her hand and turned her back to face me. I told her I loved her too. I looked her right in the eyes and said it. I describe her as similar to fire. She provided warmth and light.

She was entrancing. She was her same self, but was always shifting into something new.

We eventually put one another through hell.

Now, almost five years after that kiss and exchange of words, I sit across the table from girl number four when we meet randomly for lunch. We talk, we laugh and we share stories and

tears over mid-afternoon drinks. A hug goodbye always happens. We linger but inevitably let go, retreating back to our separate lives. I spent four years with her, making memories that will last a lifetime, both good and horrid. — She was unforgettable failure number four.

I’ve never been as crazy and unstable as I was in the four years I spent with her.

But I’ve never been happier either. It’s ridiculous to look back on it. It’s amazing how much failure teaches you.

Of those four girls, number four was the only one whom I truly loved. She was the only one who took me over completely, controlling my mind, body and soul.

And from these instances in my life, I digress: Love makes people crazy because they try to be in it, like it’s a group of popular kids, instead of letting it consume and welcome them.

Love is not some flimsy notion like people treat it these days.

Love is a learning process. It’s a meditation.

Love is the painful gasping breath after a threemile run.

Love is a mental disease.

Love is stupid.

Love is a dialogue.

Love is uncontrollable.

This is love.

This is progress. a

Artemis

Web exclusives: • A woman’s journey during a Triatholon • Not your average ROTC • Suzie Orman talks finance • One girls story about breast cancer • Politics from a local woman’s view

artemis.kent.edu

feature story

Physical Health Story by

A woman’s

drive to endure Former Kent State student Katie Spotz finds fulfillment in physically taxing adventures Photoillustration by Nichole Frye and Rachel Kilroy Photography courtesy of Katie Spotz

Anna Duszkiewicz

S

he decided to pedal across the country before she even had a bike. She swam the Alleghany River after not swimming for a year. In December, 21-yearold Katie Spotz plans to row across the Atlantic Ocean from Africa to South America by herself, despite the fact that she has never rowed before.

“It’s always been like that,” she says. “I see something and say I want to do it. I guess I put the cart in front of the horse.”

Katie, a former Kent State student currently living in Mentor, earned a degree in business and economics in the spring of 2008, but she has no interest in pursuing a career in either field. She’s honest in saying she used school to travel abroad and see the world. She doesn’t know where life is taking her, and that’s OK with her. For now, Katie finds fulfillment in endurance challenges.

Mind over matter Katie refers to herself as a benchwarmer. She played sports in high school, but she didn’t consider herself particularly athletic.

“I was the slowest on my swim

team and one of the slowest on my track team,” she says.

But she has always been determined, and that she says, is what endurance is all about. For Katie, the real challenge is in the mind. Overcoming her thoughts makes it easier for her to push her body to the limit.

“We have so many mental walls,” she says. “We tell ourselves we can and can’t do things. We build it up over the years.”

She tore down her wall when she ran her first marathon at age 18.

“You don’t run a marathon unless your body is telling you to keep going,” she says. “There’s no way. If you’re saying ‘I can’t do this,’ you’re not going to be able to do it.”

After the marathon, Katie pursued other endurance challenges. She rode a bike 3,300 miles during a period of 40

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Physical Health cycling 56 miles and running 13 miles.

She also ran a 62-mile race that benefited the nonprofit organization Oxfam International, which works to end poverty and injustice.

you forget that there’s more. I go very far so that I can rely on my personal strength. I don’t think we have that opportunity often. As humans we are strong.”

A personal journey A mother’s worries Katie likes being part of a worthy Katie’s mother Mary Spotz, decause, but that’s not why she partici- scribes her daughter as passionate, pates in endurance challenges. Her rea- goal-oriented and stubborn. The mom son is more personal in her is concerned – even spiritual. about Katie, but “Deeper than she is proud of her wanting to challenge daughter’s accomI feel like we live a very myself or wanting plishments. . to fundraise, deeper “I’m happy for than all of that, enher, because I see There’s something durance is my way that she accomof feeling present,” plishes whatever peaceful and powerful she says. “I feel like she sets her mind about being so much of our life to do,” Mary says. is spent trying to get “I know all the from all those there. And when I’m hardships that things we fill our lives enduring, I’m already she has had to go there. I don’t worry through to reach a with.” about the future or lot of these goals. the past. I feel. I’m - Katie Spotz It hasn’t been an alive. There’s not that easy road. She nevEdurance athlete er gives up. She’s nagging voice telling me all the things I like the Energizer need to do. It’s peaceBunny.” ful. I love it.”

Mary sighs as she says she can’t She says she doesn’t like being dis- watch anything with an ocean in it betracted by material things. cause she’s nervous about Katie’s up“I would be just as happy living in coming ocean row. Still, she says she a closet as in a five-star-whatever,” she doesn’t worry as much as she used to. says. “That doesn’t mean anything to “Initially, when she started her adme. This is kind of like my source of ful- ventures I would worry more than I fillment.” do now,” she says. “As a mom I still Katie isn’t one for comfort zones. worry, but every time she comes back “I think a lot of us live a sheltered, it gives me more confidence that she bubble-wrapped life,” she says. “I like knows what’s she’s doing. As a parbreaking away from that. I’m very un- ent, sometimes you just have to let comfortable with being in my comfort them go do what they want to do and zone too much. You get stagnant, and pray for the best.”

“

distracted lifestyle

Katie Spotz riding her bike during the Big Ride Across America challenge

days from Seattle to Washington, D.C., as part of the Big Ride Across America benefiting the American Lung Association. She did this for her grandmother, who passed away from lung disease.

In the summer of 2008, she became the first person in the world to swim the Alleghany River in Pennsylvania. She swam a total of 325 miles in one month.

“The first three days were killer,” she says. “I had nothing left. I remember writing in my journal saying, ‘Oh my God, I don’t know how I’m going to be able to go through this another day.’”

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Spring 2009

The next fall, Katie got the urge to run in the desert.

“There’s something about deserts and oceans for me, something about that vastness,” she says. “I feel complete. I love being a speck on the horizon. I feel like we live a very distracted lifestyle.

There’s something peaceful and powerful about being stripped away from all those things we fill our lives with.”

Using a baby stroller to hold her water and gear, she took off across the Mohave and Colorado deserts. She ran 150 miles.

“I had planned a 500-mile run, but the weather got bad,” she says. “I started in sunny 80-degree weather and ended in a snowy 30 degrees.”

She still wants to run those 500 miles, and then some.

“I think it would be fun to run 1,000 miles, maybe 2,000,” she says with a giggle. “But I’d need someone to carry my gear because I didn’t get good miles running with that stroller.”

In addition to these feats, Katie has completed a half Ironman triathlon, which includes swimming 1.2 miles,

away

stripped

ter

Wa Row for

This December Katie will row across the Atlantic Ocean from Africa to South America.

That’s 2,500 miles and about 100 days by herself in the middle of the ocean. If successful, she will become:

•

The youngest person in the world to row the Atlantic Ocean solo

•

The youngest person to row an ocean mainland to mainland

•

First American to row the Atlantic Ocean solo mainland to mainland

•

First American to row the Atlantic Ocean from Africa to South America For more information or to sponsor Katie, visit www.rowforwater.com

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Girl power Katie finds it strange that some people are shocked about what she does as a woman.

“People think rowing an ocean, no matter your sex, is crazy, but for some reason being a girl makes it even crazier,” she says.

She acknowledges that women and men are built differently, but she thinks endurance is more about the mind than about the body.

Katie’s Atlantic Ocean rowing endeavor will raise awareness and funds for the Blue Planet Run Foundation, an organization that helps communities around the world gain access to clean drinking water.

She knows the dangers, but she is driven.

“I feel like there’s something beyond fear,” she says. “Yeah, something may go wrong. But for me, not doing this would be worse than doing it and having something bad happen.”

Katie’s ultimate goal is to circumnavigate the planet by human power. After rowing across the ocean, she wants to ride a bike back to North America. From there she’d like to row to Russia and then bike through Asia and into Africa.

Despite her accomplishments, Katie insists she’s average.

“I really want people to know that they’re just as capable as me,” she says.

“I was a little benchwarmer. I’m just a punk kid. Anyone can do the things I have done. There are 70-year-olds who run marathons. A paraplegic woman rowed across an ocean. A blind guy climbed Mount Everest. The things our bodies can do are amazing.” a

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Spring 2009

Nutritional Health

Katie’s past adventures

Nitty-Gritty

Big Ride Across America: Cycled 3,300 miles across the United States from Seattle to D.C., averaging 85 miles a day for forty days

The

Physical Health

Details of a Healthy Diet

Half Ironman Triathlon: First in age group (1.2 mi swim, 56 mi bike, 13.1 mi run). Cycled over 1,000 miles of solo bike tours within the United States, with her longest distance cycling +230 miles in a day Desert Run: Ran 150 miles across the Mojave and Colorado Desert, solo and self-supported

Oxfam Trail Run: Competed in 62-mile ultra marathon in Melbourne, Australia

Essential vitamins and nutrients every woman needs to feel great and stay that way

E

Story by Courtney Kerrigan

ating a balanced diet and exercising three to five days a week is said to be the recommended regimen for a healthy lifestyle. But does anyone actually meet these guidelines on a daily basis? Are those who do in the minority?

What many women seem to forget as they suffer through another crash diet is that they may not be receiving the nutrients and vitamins they need. Nutri-

ents such as calcium, iron and fiber, and vitamins such as D and C make sure your body is ready for anything during the week’s workouts. If a woman’s body is lacking these essentials, several diseases and health problems common in women can occur. Sorry ladies, simply eating your fruits and veggies just doesn’t cut it anymore.

With a lack of exposure to the sun and the regular use of sun block, a Vitamin

Photography by Sam Twarek D deficiency becomes a major problem for women.

Everyone knows women love to bask in the sunshine, often with as little sun block as needed. While we are warned of the dangerous outcomes of this pastime such as skin cancer or premature aging, it turns out a little sunshine may be just what we need.

Christin Seher, a Kent State health education and promotion professor, says the sun gives women Vita-

min D, which is necessary for the prevention of health problems such as breast cancer, ovarian cancer, colon cancer and osteoporosis.

Breast cancer rates in the northeastern part of the United States are higher than in the south and southwest, and osteoporosis has become a leading disease in women. Seher said the lack of sunlight in the northeast may be to blame.

Vitamin D plays a leading role in our body’s pro-

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feature Quick andstory healthy meals: Yogurt parfait Combine frozen, unsweetened berries, light vanilla yogurt and granola cereal • Good source of Vitamin C, calcium and fiber • Berries are a good source of antioxidants, which help the body fight cancer-causing agents, heart disease and effects of aging.

Pyramid servings: ¾ yogurt, ½ fruit, ½ grain Nutrition facts: 180 calories, 1g total fat, 0g saturated fat, 5mg cholesterol, 35g carbohydrates, 3g dietary fiber, 7g protein, 110mg sodium

duction of calcium. With a diet rich in this vitamin, the body is able to absorb calcium and prevent women from having to tackle the bone-crushing effect of osteoporosis, says Tiffany Fagert, a dietetic intern at the Nutrition Outreach Program and Kent State graduate student. A Vitamin D deficiency causes a decrease in calcium, which causes the body to steal nutrients from bones, leaving them weak and frail.

Luckily, 10 to 15 min-

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Spring 2009

Baked Pita wedges with parsley Hummus • Hummus contains fiber, which reduces cholesterol levels and decreases the risk of cardiovascular disease. Fiber-rich foods also keep you full longer.

Nutrition facts: 175 calories, 4g total fat, 0g saturated fat, 24g carbohydrates, 10g protein, 7g fiber, 41mg sodium

utes of unprotected exposure to the sun two to three times a week, along with a Vitamin D supplement or a multivitamin can fulfill the recommended intake amount for this vitamin, Seher said. And Fagert said eating a cup of low-fat or fat-free dairy product with every meal begins the production of calcium.

We know all about our monthly friend Mother Nature, but she doesn’t just sap our energy and consistent moods. Women

Sexual Health

Healthy Salad • 2 cups of any combination of romaine lettuce, spring lettuce, fresh spinach, white or red cabbage • I cup of your favorite veggies ½ cup of your choice of turkey, chicken, beef, tuna, salmon, pinto, garbanzo beans (chick peas), black beans or tofu • ¼ cup of any combination of croutons, tortilla chips, roasted soy nuts, or low fat shredded cheese • 2 tbsp. of light or fat-free salad dressing

lose an abundant amount of iron during menstruation, but they can easily get it back. “In order to prevent iron deficiency, it is recommended for women to have an intake of 15 to 30 milligrams of iron per day,” Fagert said.

Vitamin C can also help absorb iron. This crucial vitamin is well-known for its power in strengthening the immune system, but it also allows the body to absorb iron more efficiently. Fagert said iron can be found in

Living Healthy in a

Sexual World Uncovering the truth behind sexual health and living well

most animal and plant products, and Vitamin C can be obtained through fruits and veggies.

The latest fad diet may help you shed a few pounds, but may also result in nutrient deficiencies. It is important to actively protect your body against future health problems. In the midst of other life issues that may seem out of your hands, this is something you can control, and might very well enjoy. a

S

Story by Kim Brown Photograph by

he never realized how important it was to take care of her body physically and mentally after she became sexually active. Her responsibilities to herself and her partner increased, and the health risks were higher, but she credits her own experiences and trust to learning how to have a healthy sexual life.

Alexandria Berens, junior fashion merchandising

major, isn’t necessarily the model image of what we’ve been taught in school. She doesn’t practice abstinence, but she’s loyal to one partner and relies on herself to make safe decisions.

Our Barbies tell us we’re not a plastic mold of perfection inside or out, and we’re constantly pressured into becoming a societal image of a well-behaved lady. All of this occurs while the media forces

shaye Painter

us to question own bodies and emotions when confronting our sexual lifestyles.

Many misconceptions are buried within the truth of what it means to be sexually healthy. It’s time to reveal the importance of taking care of ourselves by balancing body and mind.

Age of Reason

It is evident women today are changing the sexual

norm. Speaking up and seeking information about being sexually active is encouraged in young adult women to help bridge the gap between adolescence and adulthood.

“The sexual peak is getting younger,” Dr. Laurie Wagner, assistant professor of health education and promotion, said. She added that younger generations continue to redefine the age at which sexual development and

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Sexual Health behavior occurs, leading to an increased sexual acceptance and experience.

“We have more access to information and are being more encouraged. We have a long way to go, but it’s getting better,” Wagner said.

Berens said she never doubted turning to her mother for sexual advice, and honesty was what worked best for their relationship.

“I always knew that I could go to her with any questions,” she said. “We have a very open relationship in the sense where I was never afraid to ask her questions

Sexual Health

“

If it was just more about pleasuring ourselves and the other, it would work a lot easier for both men and women.

painful. There are other ways you can learn without having to get your heart broken or make mistakes.”

Dr. Laurie Wagner Assistant professor of health education and promotion

Battle of the Sexes With the appearance of a widening sexuality gap between men and women, associate professor of sociology Richard Adams relates these differences to the idea that men give love in order to receive sex, while women give sex in order to get love.

“This kind of plays into the myth of men and women seeing sex differently, and that’s because we learn about sex

that most daughters would.

The way I learned about my sexual health was by asking questions and doing what was right for me.”

Wagner said women are becoming more comfortable with their bodies and exploring their sexuality, and she emphasized the importance of

gaining understanding.

“I think that both men and women are under a lot of pressure to conform to this idea of what sexual health should be and what sex should be,” she said. “I think young people now are learning so much by experience, and the experience can be so

differently. It certainly impacts how we think about ourselves as a sexual person,” he said.

Adams explained responsibility for actions and societal female standards lead to more traumatic and vulnerable difficulties for women.

He said women may tend to be more depressed or emotional because they feel they have to deal with the concern of pregnancy, “sleeping around” and making clear decisions.

“She’s allowing the myth to guide her rather than her intellect,” he said Adams said poor mental health is a consequence of an imbalance in sexual responsibility between a man and a woman. “Men need to take more responsibility for their own health and the health of the woman,” he said.

This isn’t a far reach from what Berens has learned either.

“My mom always told me that you better watch after yourself, because nobody else is going to,” she said.

“It’s so true.”

Berens said it’s important to take care of yourself and make sure you’re safe, because sometimes, that’s all you can rely on.

Wagner said discouraging female sexuality and encouraging male sexuality in society leads to unnatural develop-

ment. She said research has shown male and female sexual response is more similar than not, but timing is off during intercourse and relationships.

Women should look more at the physiology of sex rather than just the emotional components, Wagner said. She believes women often blame themselves for their “wrong” sexual actions when a lack of basic sexual knowledge could be the cause.

Connect the Dots

“Negative events, traumatic events and stressful events with sex are all associated with poor mental health,” Adams said.

Adjusting to our bodies and to sexuality is just as important as being comfortable with everyday habits, Wagner said. We question our individuality and self-image only because society has trained us to do so.

The result? A lack of awareness.

“Honestly, the thing that frustrates me the most as a sexuality educator is the lack of basic anatomy and physiology knowledge,” Wagner said.

“I really find it shocking and disturbing how little education we get about our bodies.”

Berens said her mother taught her about sexual health, and believes other young adults would benefit if

Sex Humor and Advice

g sex, rs of havin with e g n a d e th x rn you of ot have se orities wa be learned. Do n th u a e th “When portant lesson to n im re e th is a ties.” producer ri o th the au writer and n e e cr s t, oonis ening, cart -Matt Gro

“My love inside a wo life is terrible. The la m of Liberty.” an was when I visite st time I was d the Statu e -Woody Alle n writer, acto , film director, r and come dian my poor sex life. All she “I blame my mother for top and the woman goes on told me was, ‘the man ars my husband and I slept ye ee thr r Fo ’. ath underne ” ds. be nk bu on and actress -Joan Rivers, comedian

“Late relations r that day I got to h up to som ips. There are th thinking about old and fa ething new and ose that open yo u question miliar, those thaexotic, those that s, those th are t b r in gu expected , those th at bring you som p lots of you starte at bring ewhere the most d and those tha you far from wh unt e relations exciting, challeng bring you back. re h yourself. ip of all is the o ing and significa But n you, you And if you find s e you have with nt omeone love, well to lo , that’s ju st fabulo ve the us.”

-Carrie B “Sex and radshaw, the City”

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Sexual Health they had a more open relationship with their parents.

“I think parents should be more open to talking about sex,” she said. “I believe that children will make the right decisions all on how their parents raise them.”

Wagner said women might be self-conscious, confused and hesitant to inquire about their sexual health because they lack effective understanding.

“No one ever talks to us about sex in a healthy way,” she said. “Pretty much the only message we get as young people from

authorities is ‘don’t do it,’ and from the media, ‘it’s so much fun and everyone’s doing it; it’s so great.’ And when you don’t get that middle step of instruction, how do you do it?”

Wagner said that middle step refers to what every woman needs to become comfortable with: her body and sexual lifestyle. She said we spend a lot of time learning on our own, but we need better guidance in understanding how our body and our partner’s body work together. And it’s often more important to a man or woman to achieve

the act of sex or to follow set guidelines rather than to enjoy the sexual experience, she said.

“If it was just more about pleasuring ourselves and the other, it would work a lot easier for both men and women,” Wagner said.

For the Long Run

With sexuality comes barriers that throw criticism in front of us, but it’s our challenge to reveal the misconceptions and align them with the truth.

“I personally believe that our sexual response and drive is an additional

body system that we need to attend to,” Wagner said.

“We have this puritan idea that sex is for procreation, and it’s a man and woman, and it’s during marriage, that it almost strips [sex] of everything it means to the individual.”

All signs point toward familiarity of healthy sexual knowledge in both the physical and mental areas.

Finding a balance between the two is the ultimate goal with no boundaries.

Barbie can’t handle that kind of empowerment, now can she? a

Sex and You Sex, menstruation, masturbation, climaxing…spark your attention yet? Many misconceptions still remain about women and their sexual health.

It’s time to uncover the truth about some of these pressing issues.

• During the female orgasm,

endorphins are released, which are powerful painkillers. So headaches are a bad excuse not to have sex. www.funshun.com

• An estimated 24 to 37 percent 17 Artemis

of women can’t climax. Smoking, drinking, emotional disorders, medications and menopause can make this even more difficult.

•

Some researchers believe that having an orgasm during sex increases the chance of conception. The theory: Oxytocin, a hormone released in peak levels during orgasm, causes uterine contractions that coax sperm toward the egg.

• Masturbating is good for

your health. Studies show that an orgasm can reduce sensitivity to pain, relieve menstrual cramps and alleviate stress

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— possibly due to a surge in oxytocin and dopamine.

•

From ancient Greece to Freud’s time, doctors stimulated orgasms in women via “medical massage” to treat the female ailment known as hysteria. In the late 1800s, the vibrator was designed for the same purpose.

The Science of Orgasm (Johns Hopkins University Press) by Barry R. Komisaruk, Carlos Beyer-Flores and Beverly Whipple Reported by Lauren Dzubow www.oprah.com

•

A big difference between male and female orgasm: After

the first climax, many women can ‘come’ again, often within a minute or two. www.netdoctor.com

•

It takes a man between 30 seconds and two minutes to become sexually aroused to the point of plateau and orgasm.

For a woman to get to the same point, it takes 15 to 30 minutes.

•

Once a woman ovulates, there is a 24-hour time frame during which she can get pregnant. A male’s sperm can live inside a woman’s vagina five to seven days.

Laurie Wagner

feature story

Q&A

Coffee talk with Heather Adams Story by

Sarah Steimer

A

rtemis talks with Heather Adams, director of the Kent State University Women’s Resource Center, about where it will go in the future, and why having such a center is important.

Q: What is the Women’s Resource Center? Why is it here, and what does it do for people?

A: There are kind of three large areas that you can use to try and kind of define what’s going on here. It’s providing resources, education and advocacy for women, faculty, staff and students. The focus here is women but certainly there are men who come in here for services, resources or to take part in our programming. The focus is not an exclusionary thing.

Q: Why do you find that 19 Artemis

Photography by Shaye painter

students come to the WRC?

A: Students come here the

most often because they’re not quite sure where to go and there is some crisis going on.

And it can be really a very serious crisis from a sexual assault or feeling suicidal or very, very depressed — down to ‘I just need some information on a topic. I’m writing a paper and I hear you’ve got a lot of resources here.’ People come for crisis counseling or counseling in general. They’re in need of something or in need of resources, or they’ve heard about some programming.

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Heather Adams (right) sits down with Yu-Hui Chou during a brown bag lunch.

photo courtesy of stock.xchang

Q: Can you tell me about some of your programs?

A: One cool thing we do is we facilitate mammograms, not so much as a program but a service. We bring a van here twice a year, once in the fall and once in the spring, so faculty and staff can sign up for their mammograms on an annual basis. We also set those up for some of the regional campuses.

This semester we really have a pretty broad range of things that are going on. I do “Brown Bags” (lunchtime informal discussions held every Thursdays) or sometimes

evening programs. I do try to stay with some kind of cohesiveness around women’s issues awareness.

One of the cool things about doing the “Brown Bags” or doing things around the talent that’s already here is that I can give people — women — opportunities to talk about their academic work, talk about things they’re about to publish, talk about projects they’ve been working on – whether its creative work or purely academic.

Q: If the WRC wasn’t

here, do you think more

women on campus would have a tough time going elsewhere for help? Has it made women more comfortable finding the information they’re looking for?

A: I would certainly hope so. I think that if you’re in the middle of a health crisis, if you’ve been sexually assaulted, that first contacts are really important whether it’s the police or your first friend who you tell or whether you call or come to a women’s resource centertype place. I think the first

contact when people are in crisis is important because it helps you frame how you’re going to heal and helps you frame how you’re going to move through the situation, through the crisis.

So, yes. I think it’s really important that there is a place like this on campus and hopefully we’re well-known enough so that if somebody is in need that someone can say, ‘Oh I know where you can go and it’s a safe place.’ And then we can get them to the Health Center or the police or

the hospital. I’d worry if we weren’t here.

Q: What is so special about

women’s issues? Why should women have their own center?

A: Part of it is that women are always in the forefront when policies are being made and when programs are being set up. Things have changed sure, but not totally.

It makes sense.

Q: Where do you hope to

take the center in the future?

A: I would really like to see

this and it already is (doing this); I would like to see this be a place where people felt was really comfortable, where people could come here for what they needed.

Whether they were in the midst of a crisis or just needed information or they need to talk to one of the staff members to help make a decision or for programming or education – and just have lots of traffic, very full and dynamic. I think it has the bones to do that. a

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Financial Health

Financial Health

Think of the

future your money is at stake Story by

liz laubscher

Photography by rachel kilroy

D

o you ever feel like you could make some confessions as a shopaholic? Either way, your personal finances are something you should be concerned about. Not only do you need to be thinking about your present economic situation, you should also be planning for the future.

Dale Atkins, a New York psychologist and author of “Sanity Savers”, said times are changing because women have to think about their own finances. In previous generations, it was the man’s job to

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take care of the women.

“A lot of older women who are, say, left widowed or divorced, don’t have a clue what is going on with how to spend money and how to save money, how to invest money,” Atkins said. “Basically, because they never learned, they never had to. Men were supposed to do all of that and take care of them.”

Think before you spend Atkins said women need to start thinking more

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consciously about their dayto-day spending and about things they will need in the future. She said women are more likely to spend money on themselves, so they should consider alternatives to their current habits.

“If you are used to getting manicures and pedicures, see if you can find a cheaper place,” Atkins said, “or get a bunch of girlfriends together, give each other manicures and pedicures and make it a fun time.”

She also suggested shopping in bulk and having potluck dinners with friends instead of going out to eat.

“I think that it’s very important to look for bargains,” Atkins said. “The real key is to understand everybody likes nice things. That’s not the issue, the issue is to be able to feel that you can live within your means and feel good about yourself.”

Atkins said women often go on shopping sprees and buy more than they need.

Once they get the credit card statement, they feel guilty about their purchases. She said when this happens women sometimes don’t want to wear what they bought because it makes them feel guilty.

Window shop with a buddy

Set Goals for Yourself

Atkins said women should do more window shopping and see what they want to buy. Once you have a budget and adhere to that budget, you can give yourself a little reward, she said. Don’t go on a shopping spree, but buy one really great something to coordinate with your wardrobe, she added.

“That is sensible,” Atkins said, “but people shouldn’t go without a sense of what they are really buying and going out and spending a fortune, especially if they don’t have it.”

Atkins said it’s a good idea to deal with finances with a buddy. You can take that buddy with you when you go window shopping so he or she can stop you from making impulse purchases, she said.

Atkins said you have to motivate yourself to make budgets. She said you have to say ‘I’m going to do this because I have a goal, and my goal is…’

Finance Professor Ron Stolle from Kent State University agrees with Atkins when it comes to making budgets and setting goals.

“A budget gives you that starting point and you have to give yourself some goals,” Stolle said. ``You have to say, `That is what I want. Now how do I get there?’”

Stolle said you need to be able to distinguish between wants and needs. “`Do I want those Manolo shoes?’ Or, `Could I get away with another pair of shoes?

Instead of spending $500, I can spend $50. What could I do with that $450 difference?’” Stolle said. “Every

time you make a decision there are consequences.”

Put it in writing

Stolle said a great way to see where your finances are going month-to-month is to write everything down on paper.

“When you write down what you expect to spend one month and then what you actually spend that month it allows you to look at what you have spent and ask yourself `Did I really need that, or was it simply a want?’” Stolle said.

Atkins also suggested writing plans down. She said you should make lists for everything and stick to them. You are less likely to buy items not on your list, and you are less likely to go out of your way while running errands if you have a list, she said.

Books to read The Money Book for the Young, Fabulous & Broke

by Suze Orman $10.88 on Amazon.com

Personal Finance For Dummies, 5th edition

by Eric Tyson $14.95 on Amazon.com

The Wall Street Journal. Complete Personal Finance Guidebook (The the Power to Control Your Destiny Wall Street Journal Guidebooks)

by Suze Orman

by Jeff D. Opdyke $10.17 on Amazon.com $16.47 on Amazon.com Women & Money: Owning

Educate yourself

Stolle said credit cards are a great way to get in trouble.

All you really need are two credit cards, he said. He recommended making sure the cards have low interest rates and are widely accepted, such as MasterCard or Visa.

He said you really don’t need a Macy’s card or another store credit card, which are most likely to put you in debt.

Both Atkins and Stolle recommended educating yourself about finances, whether it is through courses offered on campus or self-educating by reading books and looking at Web sites.

So ladies, do yourselves a favor: pay attention to where your money is going. Have fun with your friends, spoil each other and enjoy some of the simpler, less expensive but by no means less enjoyable things in life. a

Course to take on campus Me and My Money: Professor Ron Stolle Special Topic Finance 46295 Catalog Entry: Deal with special topics in finance. New subjects not covered in other existing courses.

Prerequisite: cumulative 2.50 GPA; and MATH 10005; or MATH 10032 and 10033 and 10034.

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