| More Than Food
If you build it, they will come. Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Don Mills said the university has received two renovation proposals for the Student Center and the Rickel Building. At nearby universities, the student centers are truly the center of student activity. Students at the University of Texas at Dallas can play air hockey and pool at their student center, and the University of North Texas offers the One O'Clock Lounge for students to meet and watch TV. Northwestern State University in Louisiana offers a hair salon and The Alley, a night club-atmosphere in the basement. Mills said TCU's Student Center is lacking in its attraction to students. "The way it's designed makes it easier to go around it than in it," he said. "There is no real reason to go in except to eat." But Mills said it is more likely that extensive renovations and additions will be done, even though WTW said the size needs to be increased by 75 percent. Rather than the construction of entirely new buildings, he said the locations of the Rickel Building and the Student Center are convenient to all students. Regardless of location, these two buildings see high student traffic every day. It is imperative that these buildings remain modern and useful for students. If this means demolishing the current Student Center in favor of the construction of a bigger, better building, then it should be done. The Student Center should offer students more than a place to study, eat and make copies: It should be a place where students want to gather for fun. While considering the options for improving these buildings, students' needs - both present and future - should be top priority before deciding on the exact renovations that will be made.
Depression goes unnoticed
About 18 million Americans are stricken by this horrible disease each year. Some get it only once. Others suffer relapses throughout their lives. This disease is not cancer, diabetes or AIDS. We're talking about depression. And, chances are, you or someone you know will one day become affected. The symptoms of this disease are as real as any other disease. Symptoms may include feelings of sadness or irritability, loss of interest in activities once enjoyed, changes in weight, appetite or sleeping patterns and feelings of guilt, hopelessness or worthlessness. Others may be the inability to concentrate or make decisions, fatigue or loss of energy, restlessness or decreased activity and thoughts of death or suicide. If five or more of these symptoms have persisted for more than two weeks, it may indicate depression. Sufferers may think their problems are just in their head - something they can work through on their own. Many feel ashamed, as though this disease is a personal weakness. Depression has nothing to do with weakness or personal defect. In fact, some of our best and brightest minds suffered from depression: Abraham Lincoln, Ernest Hemingway and Georgia O'Keeffe. Depression can strike anyone at any age. Women are twice as likely as men to experience depression. The first onset of depression usually occurs between the ages of 22 and 44. People with a family history of depression, heart disease or alcoholism are more likely to experience itthan others. Sometimes a stressful life event can trigger an episode, but normally, there is no particular cause. Depression is serious and those affected need treatment. Help is available. Up to 80 percent of people who seek treatment show improvement in a matter of weeks. Putting off diagnosis and treatment only makes the situation worse. The leading cause of suicide in the United States is untreated depression. These statistics are shocking and scary. If you recognize these symptoms in a friend or in yourself, you have a responsibility to offer or to seek help.I have been putting off that responsibility. I haven't wanted to face the fact that one of my best friends may be suffering from depression. But it's unavoidable because the signs are all there. She began to withdraw after her mother was diagnosed with cancer. This was quite a blow for her, considering her father died only a couple of years ago. She quit calling me, and when I would call she seemed very distant, almost cold. I assumed she just needed time to herself in order to deal with the situation. Her mother died about two weeks ago. My friend is now an orphan at the age of 21. After almost two months without speaking, we finally talked at her mother's wake. Obviously, she was overwhelmed with grief, but it seemed to be more than that. Maybe it's just grief. Maybe it's not depression. But, then again, maybe it is. I have a responsibility to my friend to assist her in finding help. She might brush me off, or she might even become angry with me for suggesting she's depressed. I have to take that chance or risk her well-being. The best time to do this is now. October 7 is National Depression Screening Day. TCU's Mental Health Services will have a table set up in the Student Center distributing information about depression. Depression screenings will be performed throughout the day in the Health Center. Take advantage of this if you suspect you might be suffering from depression. Encourage your friends to drop by if they exhibit symptoms. Seeking out help is taking the first step toward enjoying life again.
Sarah Mullen is a senior advertising/public relations major from Fort Worth. She can be reached at (sarah92978@aol.com). Senior Frog advises casual attire for football games With Fall Break rapidly approaching, the end of midterms not as close as we'd like and another home football game just around the corner, I put off studying (again) to sit in complete disbelief that my time at this school is almost over. As a senior, I have spent a lot of time lately asking myself the question, "Where did all the time go?" It seems that only yesterday the bookstore was in the Student Center, you couldn't tailgate before a football game and we had a different chancellor. But there are definitely things that have not changed at TCU since I got here way back in '96. I have found no real improvements in the food on campus, and you still can't get a parking place even with the bus system. But worst of all - much worse than any of the above - is that the students at TCU dress up way too much. I understand that we are in a type of training for the real world. The world where we will get up and actually shower and put on a suit before going to sit for eight hours behind a desk. But I think we should take it easy while we can. It really is not necessary to look as if we are going to a cocktail party at a Horned Frog football game. I mean, it's football for Pete's sake. Black dresses and pearls are funeral attire, not something you wear to cheer on the home team. I must say that I love football. I think using a game as a fashion show is an insult to the sport itself. You should wear things you don't mind spilling mustard, relish and beer on. It gives you a sort of freedom. One could see this lack of freedom at the Arizona game. I saw so many people leaving just because it was raining and God forbid their mascara would run or their Gucci loafers would get soggy. Students actually left the game so they wouldn't get waterlogged. This is ridiculous. Quite frankly, I wasn't winning any beauty contests at the game. It was liberating. I had a blast, rain and all. I cheered and yelled and screamed and generally made a fool of myself. I wasn't worried about my appearance; I was worried about winning the game. The time has come, my friends, to start being comfortable and start having fun. I have dressed up for games before and all I do is worry that I will tumble down the bleachers in my heels. Granted, most of us haven't done the Riff-Ram cheer since Frog Camp, but I think we could at least show some school spirit by being more worried about the boys out on the field than the boys that could be checking out our cute Prada skirt in the stands. I am personally vowing not to dress up in anything more than jeans for a sporting event for the rest of my career at TCU. I will cheer with abandon when we get a touchdown, not when I make it through the half without getting a run in my pantyhose. If it's raining, I'll wear a slicker, and if it's cold I'll wear a coat. I will not resign myself to watching the game on TV just because I won't look that good due to inclement weather or a bad hair day. I certainly hope I don't offend anyone who feels the compulsive urge to don the latest couture and parade around Amon Carter. Let me tell you though, you can dress up any other time at TCU. It's expected. Just let the football games be the one time in your week that you are more worried about your school than your wardrobe ensemble. And if you absolutely, positively must be dashing at the games, at least wear something purple.
Kim Hinkle is a senior advertising and public relations major from Overland Park, Kan. She can be reached at (parottthed@aol.com). Prevalence of casual sex masks its power, consequences Someone else I know is pregnant. And while I'm astonished, I'm not disturbed. As a matter of fact, when I first learned of her pregnancy, I offered the customary gasp of shock and then quite easily put it out of my mind. I didn't stop to wonder how a woman so intent on waiting until she was married to have sex could have gotten herself into such a situation. I never wondered what caused her to momentarily abandon something she believed in with her whole heart. Instead, I casually went to the refrigerator, grabbed a Coke and sat down to watch reruns on TV. It seems premarital sex does not bother me anymore. My attitude about it, however, does. In today's society, we've become very casual about premarital sex. Once seen as the physical expression of an inner commitment, sex has become a common pastime. We see thousands of teenagers with children, and instead of offering our reproach, we offer them condoms and a "better luck next time." We watch our friends hop from bed to bed and pat them on the back for "scoring" twice as much this weekend as they did the last. We are living in a time when kissing is not enough when it's not enough to lie in his arms, and it's not enough to hold her hand. Her skirt must be above her head. His pants must be around his ankles. This view of sex is commonly accepted and encouraged. We watch movies where people jump into bed with one another on the first date and call it romance. We watch television shows where characters commit adultery in the name of love and call it beautiful. What we fail to realize, however, is that sex is powerful. It's powerful enough to bring down a presidency. It's powerful enough to make a person forget about their faith. It can wreck marriages. It can break up families. It can create life, and it can end it. Sex can emotionally bind people to one another or tear them apart. Sadly, however, these consequences are mere afterthoughts. It isn't until after he contracts herpes that he reconsiders the one-night stand. And it isn't until she has to drop out of school to have the baby that she thinks there could have been another way to be intimate with her clothes on. In short, we seem to look upon the act favorably while calling the product a mistake. When one engages in premarital sex without incident, it's passion. When one has sex and contracts a disease or becomes pregnant, it's profligate. But the act cannot be separated from the consequences. Just as we do not praise the thief because he managed not to get caught, we should not condone promiscuous behavior because no ill has come of it. I'm not condemning the act of sex, however. I'm quite sure that sex with the right person at the right time can be very beautiful. What I want to stress is that sex is not something to enter into lightly. It should not be thought of as such. We must realize that sex matters and not only in the eyes of God. It matters because people are not conquests. It matters because babies are real. It matters because condoms don't always work. Then again, I could be wrong. Maybe sex is worth sacrificing your health, lifestyle or moral beliefs. Being a 20-year-old virgin, I may just not realize that it's that good.
Shavahn Dorris is a junior English major from Joliet, Ill. She can be reached at (msvon19@aol.com). |
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