INSIDE Students should take advantage of offered health resources to improve overall well-being OPINIONS 4A
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A scare of a good time ripe with suspense Tattoo arts and horror festival hits Champaign this weekend LIFE & CULTURE 6A
Top recruit Elijah Thomas sets college decision date
SPORTS, 1B
THE DAILY ILLINI 5he independent student newspaper at the University of Illinois since 1871
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Survey reveals higher ed trends
100
80
14%
23%
86%
8% 92%
77%
Inability to function
People with Panic Disorder and depression have increases in
TOREY BUTNER THE DAILY ILLINI
SOURCE: Anxiety Disorder Association of Canada
No
40
20
0
Does your institution have agents who are paid in part/full on commission to recruit international undergraduates?
All
Public
Private/ Nonprofit
Staff writer
81%
no
INSIDE
Editor’s note: This is the final segment of a three-part series on one writer’s battle with panic disorder. y doctor thought my fi rst panic attack might have been an isolated incident and would pass on its own, but he gave me a prescription for Xanax in case it didn’t. Two weeks later, I went back for a follow-up appointment. I explained to my doctor that I had still been having bad panic attacks almost every day. He basically told me “too bad” and refi lled my Xanax prescription, which was rapidly depleting. It helped, but it wasn’t enough. I was miserable all the time, and my panic attacks were getting worse. I breathed in brown bags. I went for walks. I cried. I prayed. I called my parents and boyfriend, but all the while, I never really felt any better. I kept my Xanax with me at all times, and it was a constant struggle deciding whether to take it. I always wanted to, but I read it was as addictive as heroin, so I was afraid of what it could do to me. I didn’t need an addiction to prescription drugs on top of everything else. The medicine bottle sat on my night stand and reminded me when I woke up in the middle of the night or early morning that my chest pains were not a heart attack, but symptoms of my illness. I would start every day
M
19% yes
Ill. House candidates debate taxes, education a priority and generating revenue for schooling. “Students in Champaign should receive the same value of education as the students in the suburbs,” Williamson said in regards to the importance of equity for Illinois public education. Ammons held similar beliefs regarding education and views against drug testing for community members who receive state monetary support. “I would not support any such law that would require people who are seeking support for their family to have to take any kind of test, in the same way that they require for you to take poll tests, literacy tests, or any kind of test to be able to vote,” Ammons said. Both candidates shared bipartisan values with prochoice stances on abortion, stances in favor of wom-
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The symptoms of mental illness can be treated CLAIRE HETTINGER
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Candidates for 103rd district of the Illinois House of Representatives, Carol Ammons (D) and Kristin Williamson (R), went head to head Wednesday night in a debate held at the Champaign City Council Chambers. The two held similar policy opinions toward women’s rights, collective bargaining and voter ID laws, which showed the strong possibility of a bipartisan approach toward governance and legislature in the ChampaignUrbana communities. A focal point of both candidates’ policy plans was their initiatives for restructuring Illinois’ public education funding. Williamson said her three-point plan for education includes: equitable funding throughout the state, making the budget
An average episode of depression lasts 3 months. An average episode of Panic Disorder lasts 7 years.
60
Yes
Will President Obama’s proposed college rating system help applicants understand institutions they apply to?
International recruitment
CONTRIBUTING WRITER
FREE
Panic Disorder and depression morbidity
Obama’s rating system
BY TEA LOJANICA
|
OUT OF THE PANIC
Insider Higher Ed teamed with Gallup to interview 406 college and university admissions directors nationwide and gathered a census of where higher education in the U.S. stands. Scott Jaschik, editor and co-founder of Inside Higher Ed, gave his insight on the data.
International students remain central to the enrollment goals of multiple colleges, according to this study. Approximately 32 percent of admissions directors stated that they would push recruitment for international students. “Financial aid for international students is not necessarily going up with the enrollment,” Jaschik said. Jaschik said that there has been a significant growth of students in middle and upper classes in China, India and South Korea, as well as countries that have difficulty keeping up with the demand for higher education spots. Jaschik said that students from these countries are the top providers for most American colleges. According to the survey, 19 percent of admissions directors from both private, nonprofit and public institutions retain agents who are paid in part or full commission to recruit international undergraduates.
Vol. 144 Issue 028
About 67 percent of 19 to 23-year-olds with Panic Disorder also have depression.
BY WALBERT CASTILLO | CONTRIBUTING WRITER
In mid-2013, President Barack Obama proposed a new ranking system for colleges nationwide that looked at college performance and federal financial aid rankings. The system is based on a wide variety of conclusions, such as graduation rates and post-graduate earnings. The ranking system was created to help students select the best college or university for them. However, based on a survey conducted by Inside Higher Ed and Gallup, they found that only 14 percent of admissions directors believe that Obama’s new system will help college applicants understand the institution they are applying to. Scott Jaschik, editor and co-founder of Inside Higher Ed, said the rankings have received a great deal of skepticism. Additionally, he said that admissions directors felt a number of institutions have given false information to U.S. News and World Report, which conducts its own college ranking.
58˚ | 47˚
Suicide attempts
October 9, 2014
Duration of illness
THURSDAY
SONNY AN THE DAILY ILLINI
Illinois House candidates for the 103rd district debated Wednesday night. Democratic candidate Carol Ammons (left) and Republican candidate Kristin Williamson spoke about women’s rights, education and progressive income taxes. en’s rights in health care and stances in support of stricter environmental regulation in instances such as the dumping of PCBs in Clinton Landfi ll, which resides over the Mahomet Aquifer. The candidates also showed a similar vision for the future of the Champaign-Urbana community, although their opinions differed on how a progressive income tax would affect the
cities. Williamson said she would allow the progressive income tax to expire in Urbana, while Ammons said she would vote to continue the tax. The candidates also discussed their qualifications for the seat. Ammons talked about her legislative experience in the community, such as her role as a
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strong, telling myself that I could get through the day on my own. I started feeling the symptoms of addiction coming on when I didn’t take it — headache, dizziness, stomach pains. So I decided that I was done with Xanax, telling myself that I was strong enough on my own, that I could make it without the help. But the cycle would start. Pain. Breaths. Craze. Fear. Terror. Thoughts. All of it unwanted — the cause, the relief, the side effects of taking it and of not taking it. How could three inches of orange plastic hold such pain and such relief? Who knew that such a blessing could become such a curse? A constant battle between self-reliance and constant terror or sweet bliss, followed by dizziness, headache, inability to sleep and loss of appetite. But in the end, sometimes strength does come from a bottle of pills. I gave up on myself. I thought I was done being a happy person. I thought the awfulness that my life had become was permanent. I thought that all the people I met for the rest of my life wouldn’t know the kind, happy person I used to be. I faked everything because that was the best I could do. The worst part was, I forgot what true happiness felt like. I let myself get to the point of deep depression, which I thought was my new reality. But after two months of almost constant panic attacks, I decided to try again. I convinced myself that my happiness meant
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