Missed the election details? Read on Murray’s new mayor (A2) and check out TheNews.org for full coverage.
The Murray State News November 7, 2014
TheNews.org
Vol. 89, No. 12
Enrollment tops more than 11,000 students
The limitless
PILL
Amanda Grau
Assistant News Editor agrau1@murraystate.edu
Photo courtesy of Google
Kate Russell || Staff writer krussell13@murraystate.edu
Mikelle Martin, freshman from Newburgh, Ind., said she never put two and two together. Her brother and sister had it, but neither Martin nor her parents ever thought she had it. It never crossed their minds. Until last summer. Last summer, Martin finally went to the doctor. She was diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, or ADHD, and was prescribed Adderall. Martin said she wishes she would have been diagnosed earlier. She said the Adderall helps her pay attention in lectures, take better notes and get better grades. She feels motivated and driven when she takes her pills, and when she’s not on them, “I’m a couch potato,” she said. According to Attention Deficit Disorder Association, 4 to 6 percent of the U.S. population has ADHD. It lists three common symptoms of the disorder: distractibility, hyperactivity and impulsivity. The association’s site also says ADHD and ADD are interchangeable references. Judy Lyle, associate director of Health Services, said drugs like Adderall and Ritalin work similarly to the methamphetamine speed. She said they’re more controlled and have fewer side effects, but the
drugs are similar. Lyle said she will occasionally have students come to Health Services and self-disclose that they are taking Adderall without a prescription, but it doesn’t happen often. “I know it’s being sold,” Lyle said. “I know it’s an issue on campus.” She said the drug became an issue when students take them with other drugs or with alcohol and that it can be harmful to mix substances. A recent study published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research said Adderall is the most commonly abused prescription stimulant among college students. The study used Twitter to gather mentions of the drug. The study monitored tweets containing the word “Adderall” from November 2011 to May 2012. They collected 213,633 tweets from 132,099 users. It found references to recreational use of Adderall were highest in northeast and southern states and the tweets peaked in December and May – finals weeks. “… which suggests that college students who abuse prescription ADHD stimulants do so primarily during times of high academic stress,” the report said. The report also catalogued the substances that were mentioned along with Adderall in tweets. Most commonly mentioned were alcohol, coffee, Redbull, cocaine and marijuana. “Such poly drug use or co-inges-
tion is known to increase morbidity and mortality risk,” it said. Adderall prescriptions can’t be refilled. If you are prescribed the drug, you have to go to your doctor every month and get a new prescription. That allows your doctor to monitor the amount of pills taken and check for any side effects. According to the Mayo Clinic, possible side effects of Adderall include anxiety, loss of strength and weight loss. Other side effects that are less common and require a doctor’s attention can include bladder pain, fast or irregular heartbeat, lower back or side pain and serious heart or blood vessel problems. For a patient with a family history of heart problems, using Adderall could mean monthly heart and blood pressure checks. Martin said she has scheduled appointments with her doctor every few months so he can make sure her heart isn’t being damaged. “(Adderall) can be dangerous to take if you don’t have ADD,” she said. “It can raise your heart rate.” Martin said she can see why someone would take the drug during finals week, but she thinks it’s a dangerous choice. “They’re trying to stay up and get everything done,” she said. “If you’re staying up that late, it’s unhealthy and it makes you irritable. They’re trying to fit 36 hours in a 24 hour day.”
The final count for Murray State enrollment soared past the estimated 11,000 for the fall 2014 semester. Enrollment increased steadily from 10,022 students in 2008 to 11,207 this semester. Fred Dietz, associate vice president for Enrollment Management, said increased enrollment can be attributed to a number of factors, but the cost of attending Murray State tops the list. With the closure of Mid-Continent University in June, Murray State saw the largest transfer enrollment numbers from Mid-Continent recorded, leading to a larger transfer total. Along with a larger transfer student population, Dietz said there were increases in graduate students and international students this year. The Murray State Paducah Campus has seen a 12 percent increase, with approximately 140 additional students. Murray State President Bob Davies said high school graduates of today know the value of higher education. Students are dreaming of better opportunities for tomorrow, he said. “Students are being drawn to higher education as a whole to better themselves and find opportunities that would not exist without the higher education credential,” Davies said. “When we admit students, they’re having that dream.” Wanting to earn a degree encourages high school students to visit Murray State, and the bargain Murray State offers is what brings them back as enrolled students, Dietz said. “Our students continue to realize the value of the (Mur-
‘Catch the Wave’ to help Murray resident’s home explosion provide clean water under investigation Mari-Alice Jasper Staff writer
mjasper1@murraystate.edu
More than 780 million people around the world have no access to clean water, but an emerging organization on campus is determined to remedy that. Catch the Wave is a student organization working with Living Waters for the World, a non-profit focused on providing water to poorer areas. Murray State is the only university working with Living Waters for the World. Catch the Wave serves communities that have available, but contaminated water. It has developed modular clean water systems to address the specific needs of each community. Systems are commonly installed in churches, hospitals, schools or orphanages because they are central institutional settings. Bacteria and other impurities are removed from the water through filtration and disinfection processes. Up to
WHAT’S
INSIDE
300 gallons of water can be processed per hour by the system. R o g e r Weis, professor of education and human services, said Catch the Wave’s main purpose is to generate Weis funds for Living Waters of the World, but students can also volunteer to work with a team. “It’s going to be a lot of work,” he said. “But it is going to be worth it.” Weis said Murray State is the ideal place to start and they plan to spread the program to other universities. Every minute at least one child dies from water-related diseases, according to the World Health Organization. “It irritates me when a student says there is nothing to do,” Weis said. “There’s lots of work to do. We want to have
fun with this, but it has to be taken seriously because people’s lives are being effected.” More than 570 water systems have been installed by the organization, according to the Living Waters for the World 2013 Annual Report. This is the organization’s 20th year of service. Living Waters reported it has trained 1,662 volunteers to properly install the water purification systems. Volunteers are also trained in team leadership, health and hygiene instruction and maintenance of the system. The operating budget of Living Waters for the World is approximately $700,000 according to the 2013 Annual Report and more than half of its budget is used to fund field operations. Josh Hawkins, junior from Mayfield, Ky., said he has always had a desire to serve people because it is a passion. “We’re all on Earth for a reason,” Hawkins said. “We are
see WAVE, 2A
Staff Report A Murray resident is in serious but stable condition at Vanderbilt University Medical Center after his home exploded Sunday night. Jackie Hernden’s home was left completely incinerated. An emergency call came between 10:20 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. Sunday night, and Calloway County Fire Rescue arrived on the scene within two minutes of the call. Calloway County Fire Rescue Chief Thomas Morgan said the house was engulfed in flames and most of the roof was gone when first responders made it to the house on Bethel Road. “There wasn’t a lot of the house left when they got there,” Morgan said. It took firemen nearly 10 minutes to tame the house fire and put out the car also engulfed in flames outside the
ray State) degree in relation to cost,” Dietz said. “We have done a good job of awarding financial aid so that students can afford to attend.” While affordability is important to students, high quality education and a campus that isn’t too big are also important, he said. Davies agrees with students: the size is just right. Physically, the campus can handle the number of students without a problem, Davies said, but culturally, he thinks smaller is better. “We pride ourselves on small classes, we pride ourselves on direct faculty and staff connections with students, we pride ourselves on that student experience in having those small intimate ties,” Davies said. “If we continue to grow rapidly and rapidly, and exponentially, what does that do to the cultural capacity?” Davies said protecting the campus environment students enjoy when visiting is of utmost importance. He said protecting the Murray State reputation and tradition of serving students and being very student focused is imperative. That tradition is what students are buying into when they enroll at Murray State, Davies said. The University needs to put more focus on recruiting non-traditional students, though, he said. He added campus tours after 5 p.m. and offering Saturday classes would create a better environment for non-traditional students working weekdays. Growth is essential to a university. Even so, the university should not grow for growth’s sake, but to reflect successes, Davies said. “More students is not always better,” Davies said. “Bigger is not always better.”
Can’t wait for basketball? We couldn’t either! Read about this season’s predictions, players and Prohm in the tab located inside.
home. Foul play is not suspected and the incident is still under investigation by the State Fire Marshal. Ricki Gardenhire, public information officer for the State Fire Marshal, said the explosion is being investigated as an accident. “Right now it looks like is was just an accident caused by a propane tank,” Gardenhire said. She said propane can easily explode if not hooked up correctly. Calloway County Fire Rescue returned Monday morning to put out hot spots. “Especially when a building or house is under investigation we go back to put out hotspots and make sure nothing rekindles,” Morgan said. The State Fire Marshal began its investigation Tuesday morning and a end date has yet to be determined.
WHAT’S ON THENEWS.ORG VIDEO
Catch all the preseason preparation for basketball at TheNews.org.
SCOTTISH REFERENDUM
A visiting professor from Scotland spoke on last month’s independence referendum. Find the story at TheNews.org.
DRAG SHOW
CAREER SERVICES
OUR VIEW
SOCCER OVC
Career Services offers help, advice to students, 6A
Adderall abuse is just as prevalent at Murray State, 4A
Murray State soccer prepares to Queens, kings perform for student body, 5B face the OVC Tournament, 1B