Thursday April 24, 2008
59th Year No. 28
THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER
CAMPUS LIFE
Prevalence of student stress often self-inflicted, counselors say By J.R. ORTEGA The Pan American
THIS WEEK
Countless studies have been conducted over the years about how stressed college and university students are, and it seems every one has the same general finding: most college students are anxious. But what these studies fail to examine is the source of the problem. How is it that past generations have graduated from college with little to no dramatics? Maria Cristina Quilantán, a licensed professional counselor at the Counseling Center of South Texas, said a large part of the stress and strife students today experience is, in fact, self-inflicted. The real tension students face is trying to find a balance between the social and academic life, not exclusively one or the other, she suggested. “It’s harder for students to have control over relationships than it is to have over academics.” Quilantán added students who face stress solely because of academics need to re-evaluate priorities. Most of the time it is poor time management and study habits that cause them to feel pressure and the counselor said such anxiety is more controllable. “Some students don’t have the time management and don’t understand proper studying skills,” she said. Juggling four sculptures, two paintings and numerous other projects due by the end of the week, Arturo Hernandez, senior studio art major, will spend much of the end of his semester in the art studio with little sleep and all work.
Hernandez, a native of Hidalgo, said he understands why so many people stress out toward the end of the semester, but feels he and many other students bring it upon themselves. “I’m one of those people that doesn’t stress until the end of the semester,” he said. “That’s because I wait until the very end.” According to Hernandez, being an art major makes deadlines much more flexible. He added that he has always relaxed all semester and then spends the last weeks finishing a full semester’s worth of work. Despite Hernandez’s procrastination, he said he still receives A’s and B’s in classes and says he works better under duress, which is why he continues the habit. Hernandez believes students fall into two categories, those who have a reason to be stressed, and those who don’t. “There are those who have time and just wait until the last minute to do every assignment,” he said. “Then there are those who don’t have the time and don’t procrastinate but are still under a lot of stress.” Although Hernandez did not have to take the UNIV college-skills course, he said professors in that course help better prepare students. But he admits it is a two-way process. “I think the university can show students how to study better and better manage their time, but it is up the student to actually use what they’ve been taught,” he claimed.
See STRESS page 11
NATIONAL
NEWS Renovations spur mixed reactions See Page 3
A&E Earth Day festival spreads awareness See Page 8 & 9
SPORTS Athletes look back on the past year See Page 16
Group prepares for Day of Silence By ABBY MUNIZ The Pan American In silent protest, Polo Gutierrez plans to not speak the entire day Friday. Along with over 500,000 other students across the United States, he will participate in this year’s Day of Silence. In years past, hundreds of thousands of students at nearly 4,000 K-12 schools, colleges and universities have participated in the event.
“It’s to bring awareness to that... the harassment, it does have a side effect whether or not people see it.” -Polo Gutierrez President Gamma Lambda Beta For Polo Gutierrez, president of The University of Texas-Pan American’s Gamma Lambda Beta, the day will repli-
cate the silence most lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered students have to face everyday. “It’s to bring awareness to that… the harassment, it does have a side effect whether or not people see it,” said Gutierrez, a junior English major. “It forces people to be silent about who they are.” Day of Silence, a project of the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network, began in 1996 at The University of Virginia in response to a
class assignment on non-violent protests. The now national event is student-led, with participants taking a vow of silence to bring attention to alleged bullying and harassment experienced by the LGBT community on a daily basis. Friday will mark Gutierrez’s second year of participation. For him, it has been difficult to suppress speech for a whole day, but the message he is trying to communicate is far more important
See SILENCE page 11