Campus housing rates at NKU are set to increase four percent this fall, pending approval from the Board of Re-gents.

According to the University Housing office, the rate increases are necessary to help recover from the rising costs of utilities, products, service agreements and other fees that may come up. However, the increases don’t come without benefit.

“With any rate increase we want to also make sure that we give our residents some tangible things that they can benefit from,” said University Housing Director Arnie Slaughter, “so they can see that there are some new ma-chines coming in, see that we are doing new flooring and painting projects so that they’re not wondering where their dollars are going.”

The rate proposal was presented to the Student Gov-ernment Association before being sent to the Board of Regents.

SGA President Erik Pederson said housing rate in-creases are normal from year to year. “It’s never fun to look at prices go up,” said Pederson. “Unfortunately that’s how it is.”

However, he said that students are getting “more bang for their buck than they did last year. Last year the prices went up but they didn’t get much.”

The increases will fund new and continuing dorm im-provement projects, as well as unlimited free laundry use for campus housing residents starting this fall.

“It will allow students the opportunity to not have to load money on their All Cards or use quarters,” said Slaughter, “it will be built into their rates and they can utilize any of our facilities to have free laundry.”

The increases will also help fund new environmen-tally friendly laundry machines in Norse Commons and the University Suites, as well as various other improve-ment projects like painting, shower upgrades and floor replacements.

Over the last few years, Norse Hall and Woodcrest Apartments have been updated aggressively, and the increases will help fund more improvements and future updates, according to Slaughter. The housing office plans to perform walkthroughs of dorms to address im-mediate problem areas and replace furniture as needed.

“We’ve done a significant project with replacing many of the floors in those areas, painting rooms and also looking at other things that we need to replace furniture-wise,” said Slaughter, “it won’t be a complete overhaul but we’ll be looking at the areas that need the most.”

Callahan Hall has already benefitted from past im-provement projects to make it look more like a college dorm than the nursing home that it used to be, and fu-ture plans are in the works to continue those upgrades.

“For those that haven’t been there in a while, our facili-ties team has done an amazing job with making it more NKU and student friendly so it doesn’t have the per-ception of the nursing home from five years back,” said Slaughter. “So each year we are adding new elements like the painting of hallways and we’ve added some Greek floors.”

News, p. 4 News, p. 6 Sports, p. 12

Facts on windy campus blowing in New factors impacting stress Athletics launching $6 million campaign

The Northerner The Independent Student-Run Newspaper of NKU Thursday, February 28, 2013 | Ed. 51 Is. 7

Matt HempflingContributing writer

CAMPUS HOUSING RATES INCREASEStudents to pay more, get more ‘bang for their buck’ than previous years

Community-wide breakfast forum offers ideas into policy structure and implementationPh

oto

by K

ody

Kahl

e

TobAcco-FREE PolIcy cloSER To AcTIoNContinued on pg. 2 HoUSING RATE INcREASES

PRoPoSEd RATE INcREASE 2013-2014 Rooms ‘12-’13 ‘13-’14 $IncRease

KY/CW Hall-Double $1,875 $1,950 $75

Callahan-Quad-Full Bath $2,420 $2,520 $100

Norse Hall-Double $2,200 $2,285 $85

Norse Hall-Efficiency $3,270 $3,400 $130

Univ. Suites-Double $2,575 $2,675 $100

Univ. Suites-Single $2,960 $3,080 $120

Woodcrest-Double $2,755 $2,865 $110

Woodcrest-3 Bed $2,855 $2,970 $115

Woodcrest-Efficiency $3,270 $3,400 $130

Callahan-Double-Full Bath Pr. $2,835 $2,950 $115

Callahan-Double-Half Bath Pr. $2,420 $2,520 $100

Callahan-Double-Half Bath St. $2,165 $2,250 $85

Callahan-Double-Full Bath St. $2,525 $2,630 $105

2 | News February 28, 2013

The NorthernerFounders Hall Rm 314Highland Heights, KY 41099Editor-in-Chief: (859) 572-6128Newsroom: (859) 572- 6677 or 5620Advertising: (859) 572-5232Fax: (859) 572-5772Email: northerner@nku.eduWebsite: www.thenortherner.com

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furtherdetailsEntire content is copyright of The North-erner and may not be reprinted without prior consent. Views expressed do not rep-resent those of the administration, faculty or student body.The Northerner is considered a designated public forum. Student editors have author-ity to make all content decisions without censorship or advance approval. The North-erner staff respects the right to a free and open dialogue as allowed under the First Amendment.

ADVERTISING ASSISTANTTyler Eubank[eubankt2@nku.edu]

PHOTO EDITOR Kody Kahle[kahlek1@nku.edu]

BUSINESS MANAGER Kerissa Hicks [hicksk5@nku.edu]

EDITOR-IN-CHIEFClaire Higgins[higginsc1@nku.edu]

MANAGING EDITORStephen Wilder[wilders3@nku.edu]

ADVISERMichele Day[daymi@nku.edu]

STAFF WRITERSKyle Biggs[biggsk1@nku.edu]

Brook Clifford[cliffords1@nku.edu]

Nancy Curtis[curtisn1@nku.edu]

Tara Derington[deringtont1@nku.edu]

Mac Payton[paytonj1@nku.edu]

Matt Popovich[popovichm1@nku.edu]

Maggie Pund[pundm1@nku.edu]

Alyson Schoenung[schoenunga1@nku.edu]

Derek White[whited7@nku.edu]

COPY DESK CHIEFMary-Kate Gnotek[gnotekm1@nku.edu]

NEWS EDITORKevin Schultz[schultzk2@nku.edu]

PRESENTATION EDITOREmily Lindeau[lindeaue1@nku.edu]

HOUSING RATE INCREASES

ARTS & LIFE EDITORCaitlin Centner[centnerc1@nku.edu]

Professor in list of top women of the yearFor the past 45 years the Cincinnati Enquirer has recog-nized its top women of the year based on their contribu-tions to our community. For 2012, Cindy Armstrong Foster, a nursing professor at Northern Kentucky Uni-versity and a former Air Force nurse, has made the list of the top 10 women. Foster is credited with the expan-sion of the Nurse Advocacy Center for the Underserved in the Northern Kentucky area. This year’s “Women of the Year’s class of 2012” will be profiled in a section of the Enquirer on April 14 and honored at a luncheon at the Hyatt Regency April 25. Tickets to the event are $39. Reservations are required.

Reds to host Norse night April 5NKU students, alumni, faculty and staff are invited by the Cincinnati Reds to enjoy the excitement of Reds baseball at a special discounted price. Great American Ball Park is offering tickets in most standard seating locations for half price. All of the Norse community is invited to join the Cincinnati Reds for Norse night on

Friday, April 5 at 7:10 p.m. for the game against the Washington Nationals.

Norse dance team to hold auditionsThe NKU Norse dance team is holding auditions for its 2013-14 team. The dance team aims to effectively execute a school spirit program that supports athletic teams, entertains and promotes the university. The team typically consists of selected men and women who perform at varying events such as basketball games, community functions, etc. Auditions are scheduled for April 21, in the Campus Recreation Center. For more in-formation contact Jennifer Hilvert at hilvertj1@nku.edu or 859-572-6191. You can also visit the team’s website at www.nkunorse.com under FAN ZONE.

Students help develop new mobile appA team from NKU and the Foundation for Ohio River Education (FORE) has developed and released a mobile application called WaterQuality that enables its users to efficiently log water quality data from bodies of

waters from their iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch devices. The app allows users to gain understandings about key parameters that are used to measure the health of waterways. NKU students were involved in the develop-ment and helped pilot test the software. The student development team includes Aaron Corsi, Jason Daniels and Risha Golden from the NKU Center for Applied Informatics; Alexus Rice from NKU biological sciences; and Rosie Santos from the Center for Environmental Education. Team members have presented the app and its development process at the state and national conferences.An updated version of the app is scheduled to be re-leased this week.The app is available at https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/water-quality/id569193509?mt=8.

Callahan Hall has four returning Greek letter repre-sented floors and is adding two new Greek letter floors for Delta Zeta and Phi Sigma Sigma; the rate increases will help fund the upgrades to ready those floors.

Slaughter emphasized that the residents will be briefed at the beginning of the semester that the laun-dry service is a perk that they would like to keep going, so students will be asked to “be respectful” of others that may need to use the laundry, and understand that they “need to be environmentally friendly as well to make sure we aren’t abusing the service.”

Besides the laundry services, Slaughter said the in-creases will help fund projects that are “really making it more aesthetically pleasing to our residents, so they can see where their dollars are going.”

Campus residents had mixed feelings about the in-creases and benefits.

DeSherion McBroom, a sophomore living in Norse,

said the increases are “unappealing because it is al-ready hard for college students to find money with raising tuition,” but he understands that those renova-tions will help bring more people to NKU and make it more popular. He said that the free laundry program will help students, and that he looks at the positives.

“It’s a hassle to put money on your All Card to do laundry, and I do laundry two times a month at about 10 dollars,” said McBroom. “If you take that over the entire time in school, it should balance out.”

Heejin Lee, a junior that lives in Woodcrest, said that her dorm still feels kind of old and that the “rate increase isn’t a bad idea” to help renovate the dorms, though she said that the laundry program could be a bad idea.

“It depends on who uses the laundry,” said Lee. “Some people use it a lot, some don’t use it that much.”

CONTINUED FROM PG. 1

Unlimited Free laundry Use

New laundry Machines• Norse Commons• University Suites

Facility Improvement Projects

Furniture Replacements

continuing Aesthetic Projects• Painting• Floors• Showers

Two New Greek Floors• Delta Zeta• Phi Sigma Sigma

{What’s included

in theHoUSING UPGRAdES?

Northern Kentucky University has officially started the process of making the transition to a tobacco-free cam-pus, as of this morning at the NKU Community Breakfast Forum. The forum, open to the campus and surrounding community, hosted vendors that provided information about tobacco-free products and smoking cessation pro-grams, as well as Ty Patterson, executive director of the National Center for Tobacco Policy.

Patterson presented his key steps to successfully tran-sitioning from a limited smoking campus to a completely tobacco-free one. Since 2010, Patterson has helped more than 700 higher education institutions learn how to im-plement tobacco-free campus policies, including most re-cently, all 23 campuses of the City University of New York.

NKU Board of Regents voted unanimously Jan. 9 to make the campus tobacco-free. Currently, the campus is smoke-free, except in designated smoking areas.

With eight key steps, Patterson outlined a “culture change” approach for NKU to take when making the tran-sition. He suggested a “respect-based” approach that in-volves more educating than punishing violators.

He stressed that institutions need to remember that norms change, and the university should change with

them, but it is still important to provide sufficient and easy-to-access information on why the university decided to go tobacco-free. Patterson’s best option to achieve this was not signage across campus, but through a dynamic website.

NKU recently launched its site, www.tobaccofree.nku.edu for the campus and community to stay updated.

“Communication is crucial,” he said.Support, not necessarily agreement, and understanding

of the policy from administrators and the community will

also play a role in a tobacco-free campus’ success, accord-ing to Patterson.

To continue the timeline of a 12-18 month process, President Geoffrey Mearns announced Dean of Students Jeffrey Waple, Director of Wellness Karen Campbell and communication professor Steven Weiss as co-chairs of the Tobacco-Free Task Force. The task force will be made up of five subcommittees that report to an advisory council.

The co-chairs are currently in the process of appointing members to each of the subcommittees.

EDITION 51, ISSUE 7 News | 3

NEWSClaire HigginsEditor-in-chief

Tobacco-free policy closer to action

Ty PATTERSoN’S KEySTO SUCCESSFUl TOBaCCO-FREE POlICIES:#1 Know the history of tobacco policy (cultural norms have changed)#2 Tobacco-free vs. Smoke-free (the terms are often confused)#3 Obtain active support of university president#4 Develop a plan to sustain the policy

#5 Make sure the policy works

#6 Communication about the policy must be accessible, dynamic

#7 Teach employees about the policy

#8 Know and avoid common mistakes

Whether on or off campus, students often discuss and occasionally joke about how windy it is at NKU. If you were to ask a student why they think it’s so windy, though; you would get a variety of answers, depending on who you talk to. From talk of the campus’ elevation to the rumor of original developers plac-ing buildings in a certain design to cause what many call the “wind tunnel effect” on our campus, answers are quite di-verse.

Though the idea of the original devel-opers creating the wind tunnel effect is a “nice story,” according to Larry Blake, as-sistant vice president of Facilities Man-agement; the story is merely a rumor and nothing more.

“I think it is the nature of where we are,” Blake said.

For students who are looking for an answer as to why it’s so windy, Blake sug-gested to just look around.

“There’s not a lot here to block any-thing,” Blake said.

With an elevation of 853 feet, the city of Highland Heights is on top of a hill, which causes the wind patterns we feel on campus, according to Blake.

Some students, including freshman business informatics major Shawn Ra-venscraft, don’t mind the wind.

“I live up on a hill anyway,” Ravens-craft said. “So I’m kind of used to it.”

Other students describe the wind on campus as “crazy,” like junior physical education major Joey Lay.

“It feels like a blizzard wind on cam-pus, even during the summer,” said Lay.

Blake also explained that the reason that it may feel like the wind is stronger on some parts of campus is the way the wind cycles between the buildings. Blake

compared it to the way the wind moves through the streets in the windy city of Chicago.

“When the wind moves through small-er areas, the velocity goes up,” said Blake.

According to Blake, in the past the campus has talked with Duke Energy about the possibility of putting a wind turbine on campus. A turbine, if possible, would have been able to create clean en-ergy to run at least part of the campus. As it turns out though, the campus just isn’t consistently windy enough to make the turbine possible.

As cited previously the earliest devel-opers of NKU’s campus had no plans of making it windy on campus but, accord-ing to Blake, to keep at least a consistent breeze on campus, could be a project for the future.

“It would be great to have a way to keep it windy. So we can use it,” said Blake.

Student Government Association is seeking to improve the stu-dent meal experience at NKU with its latest resolution which was passed at the group’s Feb. 25 meeting.

The resolution was made after an announced three percent in-crease in the price of student meal plans for the 2013-14 school year. The resolution recommends several different changes that the group would like to see implemented in the student meal ex-perience, in exchange for a slightly higher increase in the price of meal plans.

“The Student Government Association is aware of planned meal plan price increases of approximately 3.0 percent,” the SGA resolution said, “but [we] would be willing to support price in-creases no greater than 5.0 percent if the aforementioned con-cerns were to be addressed in the immediate future.”

SGA has already been working with Business Operations and Auxiliary Services Director Andy Meeks to see what changes are feasible.

According to Meeks, some negotiations are currently being made between SGA, Business Operations and Auxiliary Services and Chartwells, and there are many more to come.

SGA’s newly passed resolution consists of four parts. The first part, or initiative, recommends extending the hours of

Fresh Factor, in the student union, which is currently open from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday- Friday, to match those of Papa John’s and Coyote Jack’s, also in the student union, which are currently open from 10:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Monday- Thursday and 10:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Friday.

The second initiative recommends offering meal plan exchang-es at Einstein Bros Bagels in the library.

The third initiative recommends allowing a weekend food ser-vices option such as Starbucks or Einstein Bros Bagels.

The fourth recommends increasing the meal swipe exchange rate to an amount greater than $5.65.

Having Fresh Factor open later in the day is important, accord-ing to the SGA resolution, because it allows evening students to have a healthier food option available during their time on cam-pus.

Enabling students to have meal plan exchanges at Einstein Bros Bagels is important, according to the SGA resolution, because it “offers food options comparable to full meals,” and because “there is currently no meal exchange privilege allowed at said location.”

Allowing a food service option such as Starbucks or Einstein Bros Bagels is important, according to SGA President Erik Ped-erson, because it is an essential part of transitioning NKU to have more campus life on the weekend.

There are currently no weekend food retail options that exist in the Student Union or Steely Library. Therefore many students, who would normally visit one of the places on campus, are forced to seek food elsewhere.

“If we are going to be on campus, with a lot more campus events on the weekends, we have to have a place that is going to be open for us to eat at,” Pederson said. “And we have to start somewhere.”

Additionally, increasing the meal swipe exchange rate to an amount greater than $5.65 is important, according to SGA, be-cause the current exchange rate of $5.50 does not cover the price of an average meal in the student union and the price of meals in the student union are increasing at a higher rate than the meal plan exchange rate.

Pederson voiced his hope that SGA will be able to get all four of the initiatives negotiated and implemented in some way for the students.

Overall, Meeks said that having this SGA resolution is impor-tant. “It helps to have this resolution so that we can show we really have the support of the students in this process,” Meeks said.

4 | News February 28, 2013

The Student Philanthropy Program at Chase Law School is holding a Monte Carlo night to raise money toward scholarships for students of the college.

Donors can decide where their donations will go within Chase, said Barb Parrish, co-founder of the Student Philanthropy Pro-gram and coordinator of the Monte Carlo night. Students can choose to have their donation go toward scholarships or toward Chase’s Pro Bono Services Program.

According to Parrish, last year’s Student Philanthropy Day saw 46 student donors who raised a total of $680.

“Last year, we did a corn hole tournament and it started raining, so we had to move everything indoors. It was just a crazy day,” said Parrish. “Because it rained, it definitely dwindled our participation rate, but so many students wanted our T-shirts that they came back after the event and made donations. Our goal for this year is to have 50 students show up at this event.”

According to Parrish, everything for the event has been donated.

“Our alumni have stepped up and they sponsored each of the food tables, they spon-sored our T-shirt costs, so 100 percent of ev-ery donation will go where the donor wants it,” said Parrish. “That was definitely a goal of mine and we blew that one out of the park.”

According to Dan Shephard, the founder of the Student Philanthropy Program, Stu-dent Philanthropy Day is meant to allow Chase students a chance to give back to their college.

“We want our students to learn that those who preceded them have contributed to their legal education,” he said. “What better way to introduce that message while they are still students? We hope to foster a spirit of giv-ing back before they graduate and join the alumni association.”

The Monte Carlo night will be held on Mar. 1 from 3-7 p.m. in SU 109. A raffle will be held to give away prizes and whoever has the most chips at the end of the events will win a grand prize. There will be Black-jack, Texas Hold Em’ and Roulette, and the minimum contribution of $10 will receive a T-shirt, sunglasses and food. The election re-sults of Chase’s Student Bar Association will also be announced during the event.

Richard CracchioloContributing writer

Derek WhiteStaff writer

Kevin SchultzNews editor

chase gives students a chance to give back to law school

Facts on campus wind are blowing in

Student Senate asks for changes in meal experience

Over 440 students had already checked into the Spring 2013 Job Expo by 4:20 p.m. Wednesday afternoon, with the event wrapping up at 6 p.m. The 106 employers in attendance were spread out through two rooms of the Student Union Ballroom.

“The crowd looked dense,” said Shirl Short, associate director for Student Services and Programs in Career Services.

The students in attendance varied from

seniors nearing graduation to those still a few years away. Alumni from NKU were also there interviewing hopefuls for potential jobs. Phil Cobb graduated in May 2011 and is working for dbaDIRECT, an infrastructure services company, as a marketing associate. He got an internship at the company when they were still on campus and was offered a full-time job.

Cobb said his first suggestion for people who are looking to meet potential employers is to simply “introduce yourself.”

“Be prepared,” he said. “You’re selling yourself.”

Cobb said he had spoken to several stu-dents who were well dressed and had done their research.

Students were looking to stand out from the competition at the event.

“Be confident,” said Kierra Hughes, a computer science major who plans to gradu-ate in spring 2014. “I’m outgoing and look forward to challenges.”

Abraham Zaki is a senior and business informatics major. He believes his involve-ment in the honor society and other groups will help him when meeting employers at Kroger and Wal-Mart.

Bill Froude, director of Career Services, would still encourage students to take ad-vantage of all the job fairs offered. He said employers may be looking for students to hire in the spring and will start looking in the fall.

Those looking for more opportunities to meet employers should keep an eye on the Career Services website and Norse Recruit-ing. A list will be posted soon of other em-ployers visiting the campus throughout the semester. Check this link for details in the upcoming weeks. www.careerservices.nku.edu/students/norserecruiting.html.

Skater boy by day and a mustache-donning cardboard am-bulance driver by night, Sto Strouss, an NKU alum, took a few minutes to give the NKU community an update on his acting career.

Strouss, originally from Lexington, Ky., received a Bachelor of Arts degree in theatre from NKU in 2011. He currently re-sides in Los Angeles, Calif., where he is auditioning and work-ing on acting jobs regularly. Strouss decided on acting as a ca-reer path early on in high school after being in a drama class.

Strouss was a member of Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity as an NKU student and also lived on campus.

Strouss attributes his main support system for his acting as his mom, dad and sister.

When asked how his education from NKU has influenced his acting success, Strouss said “Having the degree means a lot because there’s a lot of people that don’t. It means that, you know, I worked for something.”

He complimented NKU’s small class sizes as one of his fa-vorite aspects of having attended the university.

What he misses most about NKU: “Hanging out in the caf-

eteria with my friends.”As far as acting jobs go, Strouss has appeared in LMFAO’s

music video, “Sorry for Party Rocking,” in which he is a goofy ambulance driver.

“They called me, asked if I was available, and I showed up,” Strouss said.

He also appeared in a re-enactment on Spike TV’s popular show, “1,000 Ways To Die.”

Strouss’ favorite job so far, however; was not a re-enact-ment or a music video. “It was a short film in San Diego where I was a sock puppet and a character in a movie,” he said.

Strouss revealed that his dream job is landing a role on a TV sitcom. This goal is based on his primary acting interest in comedy.

Adjusting to life in California versus Northern Kentucky has proven more expensive for Strouss.

“Balancing work and time to audition [and] be social is harder,” he said.

According to Strouss, being in Los Angeles does have its advantages.

“I like that it’s the main spot for entertainment and skate-boarding,” he said.

Strouss’ advice for other aspiring actors: “It’s 90 percent

drive and only 10 percent talent, if you want it, you only have to come out here and get it.”

Strouss plans to come back to NKU at some point to visit, but is currently awaiting an upcoming project in March, when he will be working on a short horror film.

EDITION 51, ISSUE 7 Arts & Life | 5

ARTS & LIFE

Matt SpauldingContributing writer

Alyson SchoenungStaff writer

Alum pursues acting in Los Angeles

Job Expo brings ‘dense’ crowd of hopeful students

Sto Strouss (pictured) graduated in 2011 and is pursuing an acting career in Los Angeles. He has landed roles in music videos and TV shows.

Photo courtesy of Sto Strouss

| 98 | News

STUdENTS FAcE THE STRESSNew factors impact stress in college students

College students across the country are experiencing record lev-els of low mental health. Recent national studies indicate top stress factors for college students are beginning to shift as new factors are introduced. Exceeding the national average for all age groups, this millennial generation is reporting the highest average level of stress.

Stress is having an increasing impact on academic performance in college. Americans consistently report living with unhealthy stress levels — 39 percent of adults ages 18 to 33 report that their stress has increased in the last year, according to the American Psychological Association. Younger Americans are reporting the most stress with the least relief.

Recognizing the significance of current college students’ stress, universities in Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky are exploring new ways to help students cope with the stressors they encounter. Although stress is an inevitable part of a college degree, the factors contributing to student stress can evolve and change.

“Stress is perceived as normal in the United States, on campuses especially, but that doesn’t make it okay because it can be very harm-ful for your health and for your success,” Rachel Bishop, NKU Stu-dent Wellness manager, said.

Student health centers at Northern Kentucky University, Xavier University and University of Cincinnati are acknowledging the re-cord low levels of student mental health and working to help students counter diverse stressors in innovative ways.

The latest National College Health Assessment study conducted by the American College Health Association shows stress is the lead-ing factor impacting college students’ academic performance. College health directors across the nation are reporting increased demand for mental health services and noting changes in leading stressors.

Along with academic stress, financial stress is increasingly becom-ing a top factor impacting college students’ mental health, according to a May 2012 study conducted by Inceptia, a division of the nonprofit National Student Loan Program. Of the 11 sources of stress Inceptia analyzed, four of the top five factors for stress in college were money related. The cost of education, the need to find a job, college money management and the need to repay loans are students’ top reasons for financial stress.

Technology has progressively become a leading stress factor affect-ing students’ academic performance. Xavier, UC and NKU’s student health centers also identify average amount of sleep as a major factor related to college students’ mental health and academic performance. Colleges are developing new programs and procedures to target the main areas impacting students’ stress today.

“A lot of the financial stressors [are] a trickle down effect from the United States economy, but also a worldwide economic plight that is

going on,” Erica Forrest, University of Cincinnati Student Wellness Center assistant director, said. “If each student makes a plan they have a better chance of becoming less stressed when dealing with the economic hardships that are facing everybody right now.”

Financial stress is an emerging issue within the trend of higher lev-els of poor mental health in college. Based on this fact, the UC Well-ness Center started a new financial wellness division for students. NKU created a Financial Fitness 101 webpage that offers areas to test financial literacy and links to help manage money and connections to other financial health resources.

Current college students have new financial obligations they have not experienced in the past. According to the latest Inceptia study, one third of students said financial stressors impact their academic performance. Across the country, 65 percent of higher education in-stitutions recognize that financial stress is a major factor for college students today and provide financial education programs on cam-pus. Of the universities without financial programs, 43 percent are in the process of starting a program for students within the next 12 months.

“Sometimes [students] feel like they need to quit or cut back on hours so they can work more in order to pay for their education,” Mi-chael Meier, director of assessment and research at Xavier Univer-sity’s Health and Wellness Center, said. “A lot of people’s parents are losing their jobs, so students are having to do more and more on their own to fund their education.”

Xavier is one of a growing number of schools in the US trying a new method of emailing out stress screenings or anxiety and depression assessments every week to a different group of 400 students, accord-ing to Meier. The results of the test are anonymously sent back to the Health and Wellness Center to score and analyze. The Wellness Cen-ter returns the results and suggests counseling based on the screening scores.

In addition, Xavier offers a method of anonymous counseling online for students. Students have claimed they would have never received counseling without these opportunities the university pro-vides, according to Meier.

Colleges are creating and experimenting with new stress programs that can fit a student budget. NKU is exploring the effects of massage therapy.

“Many people might say a massage is a luxury or unneeded ex-pense, but when you are stressed out and overwhelmed you need to physically take care of yourself,” Bishop said.

Massages can help with stress, anxiety and sleep, according to the Mayo Clinic. Colleges are experimenting with the use of massages to aid academic performance and reduce pressure.

The Wellness Center at NKU is offering various types of affordable massages on campus. Students are offered options ranging from full-body treatments priced between $45-$60 to chair massages priced$1 per minute.

Universities help students battle stressors affecting the mind and body, but other growing factors are creating new contemporary chal-lenges.

“[Technology] is an area we are becoming more and more inter-ested in for a lot of reasons within the mental health field,” Barbara Sween, NKU director of Health, Counseling and Prevention Services, said.

Technology’s effect on college stress is gaining interest from uni-versity health centers. Academic demands have increased as technol-ogy continues to make tasks for students easier, such as researching and instant communication. Advances that make life easier in some ways are introducing new problems in other areas.

The prevalence of the Internet is also beginning to affect college student stress. Students become stressed when they are continuously connected to the virtual world. A recent American College Health As-sociation study showed that each year Internet and computer use are continuing to become factors affecting academic performance and creating stress in students.

“We tend to think [technology has] made our lives easier, but all it’s really done is made things so much more accessible that the demands have increased,” Meier said.

Advanced technology has resulted in a higher amount of students with preexisting mental health issues entering college, according to Meier. Medicine has become “more and more evolved” allowing a greater diversity of people to enter college. Effective drugs allow stu-dents with mental health issues to attend college who might not have functioned in a university setting in the past. This trend is a change from the past and could be impacting levels of student stress in col-lege.

Maggie PundStaff writer The latest National College Health Assessment study

shows stress is the leading factor impacting college students’ academic performance.

AdvIcE To MANAGE STRESS FROM NKU’S WELLNESS CENTER:

• Try your best to identify you are overwhelmed before you get to the point where you need counseling, get behind in class or decide to stay up all night.

• Value your health and be proactive about it.

• Eat a nutritious diet.• Prioritize your sleep.• Manage your time so that your social

life can be enjoyed.• Build meaningful relationships.

Common effects of stress:on your body:• Headache• Muscle tension or pain• Chest pain• Fatigue• Change in sex drive• Upset stomach• Sleep problems

on your mood:• anxiety• Restlessness• lack of motivation or focus• Irritability or anger• Sadness or depression

on your behavior:• Overeating or undereating• angry outbursts• Drug or alcohol abuse• Tobacco use• Social withdrawal

*Source: american Psychological association’s “Stress in america”

report, 2010

Photo by Maggie Pund

8 | Arts & Life February 28, 2013

After placing first in the three previous rounds, NKU student Joe Schutzman’s band, Rio & The Ramblers, has made it to the final round of the 2012-13 Madison Theater Band Challenge.

In a competition that started with 65 local bands, Rio & The Ramblers is one of seven bands that will be competing for the top prize of $2,500, three days of re-cording time at Moonlight Studios and an opening spot for a national act at Madison Theater.

Winners from each round were deter-mined by a 50/50 voting split between judges and fans, with two bands each from the Feb. 15 and Feb. 21 nights, and three bands from the Feb. 22 night of the semifinals round set to move forward to the finale, which takes place at Madison Theater in Covington, Ky. on March 23.

Rio & The Ramblers’ success comes just months after the creation of the band which was formed this past December by lead guitarist Ryan Snyder, 20, and drum-mer Alex Miller, 18.

The band soon asked Rio Van, 21, a se-nior at Xavier University to be their lead singer. Van, who has worked as a live performer for King’s Island Amusement Park, became the band’s frontwoman af-

ter a successful jam session with other band members.

Bassist Eric Torres, 19, a friend of Sny-der’s from high school, was asked to join the band after filling in for several shows. When the band needed a rhythm guitarist, Torres asked Schutzman, 19, to play, com-pleting the band’s current lineup.

“We still have a pretty small fan base,” Schutzman said, referring to the new band’s relative success. “We’re trying to build that up. We’ve had great support from our friends and our family.”

Schutzman is optimistic that winning the Madison Theater Band Challenge could introduce Rio & The Ramblers to a whole new audience.

“Hopefully it will help spread the word to new people who wouldn’t have heard of us otherwise,” said Schutzman about how the competition would affect his band’s popularity. “We really want to build up a fan base in this area and start looking to-ward regional touring.”

Rio & The Ramblers have been actively performing around the Greater Cincin-nati area since they premiered at the Southgate House Revival in Newport, Ky. this past January. They will return to the Thompson House in Newport on March 2, which is their final scheduled perfor-mance before the finale of the Madison Theater Band Challenge on March 23. Fu-ture gigs include sets in Latonia, Ky. and

Richmond, Ind. The band is hoping to record an album

in May, when they head to Nashville, where they have booked time in a record-ing studio. Schutzman said eight songs have been written for the LP so far, with the band adding cover songs to fill out their live sets. Schutzman credits him-self, bassist Torres and guitarist Snyder for writing most of Rio & The Ramblers’

original blues and rock material, but em-phasizes the collective group’s talent for “feeling out” a song.

The band has several demos that show-case their brand of “blues-rock with a little twist on it,” which can be found at reverb-nation.com/riotheramblers. For more in-formation or to contact the band, Rio & The Ramblers can be found on Facebook and Twitter.

With warmer weather and spring just around the corner, the grounds and horticulture teams have big plans to make campus look welcoming. A large variety of plants will start blooming as early as late February, according to Roger Mc-Culley, horticulture supervisor for NKU. One new install-ment is the “Votruba Garden.”

Named after former NKU President James C. Votruba and his wife Rachel M. Votruba, the garden, which can be found outside the Student Union, will display a collection of all yellow flowers this season. Rachel Votruba was in-vited to be part of the decision process of choosing flowers for this garden, according to the grounds team.

This is just one of many newer gardens sprouting up around campus, according to Bill Moulton, superintendent of grounds, horticulture and transportation on campus. According to Moulton, it’s often hard to thank one indi-

vidual for the horticultural feats accomplished each year; everyone works as a team and is supported from the top to bottom by Facilities Management.

“We have so many creative individuals and it’s nice to have an area for them to express themselves,” Moulton said.

They try to keep students in mind while choosing the pallet of plants and the colors are picked as “something interesting to look at for students,” according to Moulton. The grounds team often uses bulbs with the most blooming capability possible for “continuous blooms” throughout the whole season.

Senior Marina Schneider is one of the students who “loves the plants” on campus.

“Anything that will add color to the campus is great,” Schneider said.

The grounds team also likes to support organizations like the “Go Green” program to help limit the carbon foot-print on campus.

“We need to be on the cutting edge of sustainability,”

said McCulley.One way the grounds team plans to help the effort to go

green is by becoming more aware of the products they use. Starting this spring, for example; the grounds team is using more environmentally friendly products such as Holganix. According to McCulley, Holganix is an organic soil condi-tioner that allows for more nutrients to be available and the grounds team is “very optimistic“ about its use.

According to the Holganix official website, North Caro-lina State University, Pennsylvania State University and Purdue University have all tested the use of the product and all three saw improvement including control of weeds and substantially less nitrogen in the soil, making for a more environmentally friendly area.

The grounds and horticulture teams would also like to encourage students to be involved with Arbor Week, which will be included with Earth Week. Starting April 22, there will be environmentally friendly programs each day of the week for all students to get involved in, such as planting and maintaining trees and flowers on campus.

Photo courtesy of Joe SchutzmanJoe Schutzman (left), Eric Torres (center) and Rio Van (right) of Rio & The Ramblers performed as part of the Madison Theater’s annual band challenge. The band will compete in the finals March 23.

John FlahertyContributing writer

Derek WhiteStaff writer

Blues rock takes band to battle finals

Campus plans to get blooming in spring

NKU student’s band will compete for top honors at Madison Theater

New garden, environmentally friendly products to increase sustainability

EDITION 51, ISSUE 7 Views | 9

Kudret UresinJunior

International business

“I am going to Miami.”

Ngamta KirachaiwanichFreshman

Computer information technology

“I have no plans, but maybe I will go to Chi-

cago.”

Daniel DavidSophomore

Communication

“No plans yet, but I might just relax and

work at my job. Maybe I will go to the new ca-sino that just opened.”

What are your plans for spring break?

Compiled byKevin Schultz and Tara

Derington

Norse Poll Responses

Amara GigliaFreshman

Social work

“I am going to Vegas. My mom is getting

married there.”

POll RESPONSESNORSE

VIEWSLook around in your classes. And then look around on

campus. You may have noticed that, more often than not, you are likely to see more female than male students. In fact, more than half of NKU’s student population is comprised of women, according to the NKU website. This trend is mirrored nationally as several sources, including the U.S. Census, point to the growth of women entering and graduating from college – including a sharp increase of female graduates from gradu-ate and professional schools.

Yet while this progress is reflective of decades worth of an effective Women’s Right Movement, it may be surprising that the U.S. Census also found the most common job for women is the same today as it was in the 1950s – most women are working as secretaries – or in today’s speak, administrative assistants.

Honest work of any kind is often necessary and commend-able, but a glaring disconnect seems to be in place during a time when more women are visible as university presidents, CEOs and just four years ago, as serious U.S. presidential and vice presidential candidates.

Perhaps even more curious to the ironic work reality for women is that the data coincides with the explosion of tech-nology – in a time when more services are automated from checkout lanes at the grocery store to self-service kiosks in

cell phone retail stores. The technological revolution would seem to suggest that fewer administrative assistant positions would be available, thus directing women to other kinds of work.

However, “every time a major new technology showed up, there were always predictions that this would spell the end of secretaries,” said Ray Weikel, a spokesman for the Interna-tional Association of Administrative Professionals.

In spite of advancements over time including “electric typewriters, the personal computer and the internet” busi-ness still “increases” even though “technology gets more ef-ficient,” Weikel added.

While Weikel’s insights may make sense in practical terms, suggesting that historical patterns are deeply ingrained and tend not to dissipate easily along with growing business de-mands, even in the face of marked progress and efficiency.

However, others believe that more challenging factors are at play in the imbalance between women’s education and en-try level employment.

The Glass Ceiling “still exists” said Mary Bucklin, NKU professor and co-director of Women’s and Gender Studies Program. The Glass Ceiling has long served as a metaphor to indicate that women are restricted to certain kinds of posi-tions – often times preventing women to advance to the most senior level positions of authority and prestige because of structural sexism.

Bucklin believes the ceiling is even more important to recognize today than in the past because “[the ceiling] is not

valid across the board and so people can say that we don’t have [the ceiling] anymore because we have a woman CEO or university president.”

Bucklin’s thoughts may reflect the downside of progress, where in this scenario; a relative select few of high profile, highly successful women become reflective of an entire de-mographic, which eventually reinforces structural sexism limiting access to transformative opportunities.

Meredith Smith, professor and also co-director of the Women’s and Gender Studies Program, echoes similar views citing journalist and author Ann Crittenden’s “mommy tax,” an idea highlighting the consequences mothers face for man-aging domestic responsibilities, including raising children during prime working years within their careers.

These phenomena help provide an additional context to what seems to be a stagnant career trajectory for women. This is perhaps especially noteworthy in a time when a number of executive level leadership positions need to be filled on NKU’s campus. The vacant positions may present themselves as an opportunity for more qualified women candidates to ascend the ranks as a hedge against deep seated oppressive frame-works that thwarted the advancement of women.

In this way, the student body may be poised to benefit from additional perspectives and implementations, which are more likely to occur from women. These acts may be espe-cially important and significant to the female student popula-tion as they continue to prepare for work and life beyond the campus.

R.L. GladdenContributing writer

Glass ceiling still exists for women in workplace

10 | Sports February 28, 2013

SPORTS

Five NKU softball players have been honored ac-ademically and were named All-American Scholar Athletes by the National Fastpitch Coaches Associa-tion. It is awarded to student athletes who earned a 3.5 or higher GPA for the 2011-2012 school year.

Brook CliffordStaff writer

dANA JARboE #17Major: Social WorkPosition: Outfield Year: JuniorFun Fact: “I sing the national anthem at some NKU sporting events.”

“It’s pretty cool because I wasn’t the best student in high school and to have recognition for this now is great.”

dEEdEE dAvIS #11Major: Math EducationPosition: Second baseYear: JuniorFun Fact: “My favorite movie is The Lion King.”

“It feels really good. A lot of times we don’t get recognized for our hard work in the class-room and it shows that working hard really does pay off.”

AllIE coNNER #12Major: Athletic TrainingPosition: Catcher Year: SophomoreFun Fact: “I have four kidneys.”

“It’s pretty cool because it’s hard to balance softball and school and to have a 4.0 is pretty awesome.”

EMIly ScHWAEblE #21Major: Math EducationPosition: Pitcher and outfielderYear: SeniorFun Fact: “I can make all kinds of animal noises.”

“I mean it’s kind of cool, because it’s hard to be an athlete and a student, you have to work hard on and off the field with sports and academics.”

AlEx cAUdIll #13Major: NursingPosition: Pitcher Year: SophomoreFun Fact: “I talk in a lisp and a Borat accent some-times.”

“I’m really excited. I worked really hard and it was hard to balance school and softball.”

Softball players recognized for academic success

EDITION 51, ISSUE 7 Sports | 11

Interested in joining a team that shares similar interests as you? If you’re looking for a way to be involved and develop a new connection with other people, the women’s basketball club is looking for new players for next year’s season.

The Northern Kentucky University women’s basketball club team has been a club for five years after being started in 2007 by former President Heather Bellew. The club is currently led by shooting guard and President Nicole Lauterbach.

Lauterbach said the club sport competes at a more competitive level, traveling to other univer-sities to play against the other schools’ club teams, separating them from the intramural teams who compete against each other on campus. They have traveled to play against Ohio University, Miami University Oxford and Ohio State University.

“Many people think it’s an intramural level team,” said vice president and point guard Tay-lor Steckman. “It’s actually a level above the in-tramural and level below the NKU collegiate girls’ basketball team.”

The team currently has six players playing be-

cause of other teammates’ class schedules. Dur-ing the semester, they have strived to win games while developing a bond with each other, accord-ing to Steckman.

The women’s basketball club teaches more than basketball fundamentals. It’s also a learning expe-rience for some players of the team. Twice every semester, the assistant director holds a meeting with the president of the team to discuss facility use, money and training on how to run a club.

The president and vice president are respon-sible for notifying directors about new events to get more people to recognize the team and be able to join.

Not many people are familiar with the club, ac-cording to Steckman. The players have attended events to promote the club both inside and out-side the recreation gym including Fresh Fusion; informing students on the reasons why they should join and why it is important for the team.

Jill Wood, assistant director for recreational sport clubs, sent a survey to students who partici-pated in active club teams to find out why people join these organizations.

Wood said it gives students social involvement and is important for a student’s social life in col-

lege, giving them a chance to communi-cate with others.

“Students have the opportunity to play the sport they love and be part of a team,” Wood said. “Meeting new friends and being able to in-teract with people of the same interests is good because they don’t have that connection at other universities.”

The women of the club have shown that they are dedicated to the sport and willing to put time into practice and games.

“We work hard and play hard,” said point guard Ebony Inskeep. “The season is almost over and we would like [to find] some other people who can do the same next year.”

The season begins in November and ends in mid-March.

The women’s basketball club will be playing on March 22 at Ohio State Uni-versity in a tournament. If it wins, the team will qualify and go to nationals in Florida.

Dejoira PhillipsContributing writer

Students are encouraged to physically get involved on campus Women’s club basketball in rebuilding phase

12 | Sports February 28, 2013

NKU ATHLETICS TO LAUNCH $6 MILLION CAMPAIGN aT laST HOME GaME OF THE SEaSON

Stephen WilderManaging/Sports editor

Photo by Kody KahleNorse junior guard Chad Jackson landed on ESPN Sports Center’s Top 10 plays with a put-back dunk against Kennesaw State at the Jan. 26 game at the Bank of Kentucky Center.

WHAT: NKU Athletics will formally announce

the public phase of its Go Gold: NKU’s Division I Campaign.

WHEN ANd WHERE: At the final men’s (7:30 p.m.) and

women’s (5 p.m.) home basketball dou-bleheader against Jacksonville University on March 2 at the Bank of Kentucky Cen-ter.

GOAL: To raise $6 million to support NKU’s

transition into Division I and the Atlantic Sun Conference.

BONUS: A reception for basketball season ticket

holders, Norse Athletics Club donors and guests will be held in the Bank of Ken-tucky Center Vault at approximately 7 p.m. as part of the formal announcement.

FOUR PRIORITIES: Supplementing athletic scholarships

($3 million), enhancing and renovating facilities ($1.5 million), academic support ($1 million) and the Go Gold Excellence Fund ($500,000).

REASONS:Source: www.nkugogold.nku.edu• Recruiting top talent relies on being

able to award attractive scholarship pack-ages to student athletes.

• Investments in facilities will provide an exceptional competition space for student athletes and for community use, which helps increase recruitment and university engagement.

• Meeting students’ academic needs by providing athletes with portable electron-ic devices and Internet connections to help with schoolwork while on the road.

• The need to hire more full-time and part-time academic advisers, providing

the Thomas J. Kearns Student-Athlete Academic Center with additional com-puters and expanded hours.

• Recruiting and travel expenses to equipment purchases and other needs.

• The Go Gold Excellence Fund will give NKU Athletics the flexibility to ad-dress needs as they arise and to assist with strategic planning to help the Norse succeed in the future.

EARLy OUTCOmES: “We are leading the Atlantic Sun Con-

ference in home basketball attendance,

we have had successful alumni events in cities across the country and we have al-ready raised nearly half of our campaign goal.” –Scott Eaton, Athletic Director

FOCUS ON ACAdEmICS ANd GROWTH AS A WHOLE:

NKU student athletes achieved a re-cord-high cumulative GPA of 3.11 last fall.

“NKU athletics has seen tremendous

success this year on the playing field and in the classroom. Our programs are rep-resenting the university and our com-munity on a whole new level. With the continued support of our campus and our community, our future has never been brighter.” –Scott Eaton, Athletic Director

NEEdS: Supporting the cause by attending

sporting events, spreading the word about the academic opportunities NKU has to offer, offering financial assistance and partnering with NKU to provide students internships and opportunities, according to www.nkugogold.nku.edu/.

mESSAGE FROm NKU PRESIdENT GEOFFREy mEARNS:

“Until NKU joined the Division I At-lantic Sun Conference, we were on an uneven playing field. NKU students rou-tinely outperformed others locally and nationally in business, education, infor-matics and law competitions. We were a national model for student philanthro-py. Our athletic teams won conference, regional and national championships. But in terms of public perception, we were not in the same league as our state and regional peers.”

mESSAGE FROm ALICE SPARKS, CO-CHAIR OF THE GO GOLd CAmPAIGN:

“Collectively, we have the opportunity to invest in a university and an athletics

department that has been extremely suc-cessful at the Division II level. With stra-tegic investments, we look to bring the university-enhanced prestige by increas-ing local, state and national exposure to our region. Consequent results of our support are an increase in applications, bringing higher student quality, im-proved graduation rates and heightened school spirit. There are very few invest-ment opportunities that have the poten-tial to have such a transformative impact as this one.”