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page 9april 14, 2015

The things I doHad you asked me a

year ago if I would write a profile about a turtle, I would have laughed at you. But Killer, the house turtle during Turtle Der-by, will be a fun character to interview.

—Claire

Jordan SpiethWinning the Masters

at the age of 21. Golf is in good hands with him and 25-year-old Rory McIlroy battling it out each week for years to come.

—Korbin

2016With all of the

recent announcements from Republicans and Democrats running for president, it’s about time I launch my blog where I can put my two loves to-gether: political analysis and writing. 

—Amber

Three of a kindSheesh, now we’ve

got Ted Cruz, Rand Paul and Marco Rubio running for the GOP nomination? That’s almost too good to be true. Here’s hoping Jeb Bush doesn’t run.

—Andrew

Tunnel visionTime to forget about

my social life and put my blinders up. There’s too much stuff to get done this week, but once it’s over with I’ll feel much better. Finals week will be a breeze compared to this. 

—Erin

Dressy dressyI’ve always said I

wanted a career where I can dress up for work. This week is giving me a taste of that.

—Katelyn

Broke college student

It’s getting to that point in the semester again.

—Stephan

SenioritisAs it gets nicer out-

side, and the number of weeks left in school decreases, it’s getting harder to focus on schoolwork. I just need to pay a little more atten — SQUIRREL! 

—Daphne

I'd rather not adult today

Paying my car pay-ment, rent, bills and buy-ing groceries in one day makes me miss simpler times, and my parents.

—Kaitlyn

Game Of ThronesI’m watching it

tonight. Don’t tell me a thing. La, la, la, la. I’m covering my ears. I can’t hear you.

—Ryan

The Hole, part 4Soaring in clouds

and flirting with hens, he thought his life had meaning. The people thought not, but rather, felt, that their truths were worth believing.

—Jack

The

Quick takes on life from our editors

Andrew Jenson argonaut

our view

This time every year students, faculty and staff turn their attention to the Idaho State Board of Education.

This annual interest in the board is focused on the tuition proposals from Idaho’s universi-ties and the outcome of the board’s vote.

In recent years, the board has showed con-cern for the rising price of higher education — an attitude appreciated by students who’ve felt the skyrocketing tuition levels the most.

But as much as students hate to see the price tag on their education increase, the last thing they want is to compromise the quality of the educational experience at their university.

This year, University of Idaho administrators are asking for a modest 3.5 percent increase in annual resident undergraduate tuition and fees.

The $2.7 million in additional revenue

from this proposal would cover the bare min-imum — a state-mandated salary increase for all university employees and the costs associated with library inflation. The board will hear presentations from all universities regarding their tuition requests and make their decision at their meeting this week on UI’s campus.

Students should understand that with en-rollment declines and less-than-adequate state funding, revenue has to come from somewhere to cover the costs of running a university.

The requested increase this year won’t be used to address the university’s nearly $300 mil-lion in deferred maintenance expenses or make any new additions to the university. It truly is a bare minimum request as administrators share the concerns of the board and of students when it comes to the accessibility and affordability of education in the state.

But if UI’s tuition proposal is not approved, administrators will have to take a hard look at

the current budget and find places to make cuts in order to fund the state-mandated Change in Employee Compensation and still cover basic costs. These cuts would likely compromise the current resources available to students and the quality of the university as a whole.

As much as students hate to see yet another tuition increase, it is vital to maintaining the university’s current operations. The state board members should approve this request — which is the lowest requested increase in a decade.

The administration’s effort to keep the in-crease as low as possible, maintain the quality of the university students have come to know and love and provide much-deserved and long overdue salary increases for faculty and staff, is appreciated.

Now it’s up to the state board to do what’s right and approve the increase the university sorely needs.

— KK

Tuition increase necessarySBOE should approve proposed 3.5 percent tuition increase

Maybe you thought you had time between classes to run home and take a nap, since you only got five hours of sleep last night. Then, you realized you had a paper due in your next class, and you haven’t even started it yet.

Stress is something all college students deal with, some of us better than others. But what exactly is stress and how does it affect your ability to perform?

The American Institute of Stress outlines four types of stress. Acute stress sends our bodies into the “fight or flight” response where breathing and heart rate increase and blood is forced out to the muscles, allowing quick reactions to potential threats.

Chronic stress impacts us over a long period of time. It can be caused by classes, jobs, relationships, societal pressures, financial burdens and many other factors. We tend to ig-nore chronic stress, which eventually dampens our immune system and makes us vulnerable to infection and disease.

Eustress is what we associate with positive outcomes, for example, finishing a paper for class before it is due. The last kind of stress is distress, which we associate with negative consequences, such as running out

of time to finish an assignment, breaking up with a partner, losing money or various other scenarios.

Not all stress is bad. A fire alarm ignites a stress response in yourself to help you get out of harm’s way. We would consider this an acute

eustress response.Stress is inevitable, but when does

it go from being something helpful to something that ultimately hurts us? This brings us back to chronic stress and distress. According to the American Psychological Association, people who are chronically stressed tend to be more likely to suffer from insomnia, anxiety and depression. Creating a stress-man-agement plan can be vital for coping with

stress in a busy college life.Don’t be discouraged if you are so stressed

you don’t know what to do. Take a deep breath. Take a couple.

Deep breathing has been a proven way to increase the relaxation response, which is the body’s natural cue to calm itself down — de-creased heart rate, blood pressure, rate of breath-ing and muscle tension.

Check out this list for other tips to de-crease stress:

1) Keep a smile and a positive attitude.2) Avoid alcohol and other drugs.3) Exercise regularly.4) Eat a balanced diet with plenty of fruit

and vegetables.5) Take short breaks from studying.6) Communicate with friends, family and

professors about what is causing your stress.In addition to the self-help tools above,

the University of Idaho offers resources for stress management. Campus partners will host various “de-stress” activities during dead week to help students take time for themselves — check uidaho.edu/vandalheal-thed for the complete schedule in the next few weeks.

You can also schedule an appointment at the Counseling & Testing Center to speak with a knowledgeable counselor about your stress. They also offer a 24-hour crisis line at (208) 885-6716.

The Student Recreation Center is a good place to get in a workout and is home to the Vandal Health Ed Resource Room where you can talk with certified peer educators about re-sources and self-help stress management tips.

Samuel Berg is a certified peer educator and can be reached at

vandalhealthed@uidaho.edu

‘Keep calm and carry on’

gueST voiCe

Samuel Berg certified Peer educator

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page 9april 7, 2015

Thankful to be alive

A year ago today, I was in the hospital in critical condition. I’m not in perfect health now, and the last year has been a whirlwind, but I’m so thankful to be where I am today.

—Stephan

TimeHard to believe Eas-

ter has come and gone. But it doesn’t matter, because He’s risen!

—Andrew

Playing catch up

It seems that no matter how much time I devote to doing homework and work, I always have to play catch up. I hope sum-mer comes soon.

—Claire

The perfect thesis

Trying to start my final essays like, “What I learned in boating school is ...”

—Erin

The Hole, part 2For in that little hole,

a people did live, and what wonderful living they did. But the bird didn’t know, that those below, led a much better life than him.

—Jack

Jack Olson I don’t ever under-

stand anything he says but I’m fairly certain he’s funny.

—Kaitlyn

Baseball season

Over the course of about 180 days, each MLB team will play 162 games. Some say the season is too long, but for me, it’s not long enough. Go Ms! 

—Korbin

#designlifeI actually enjoy

homework from non-art classes when it turns into graphic design projects.

—Katelyn

Choices It’s funny to me how

having too many op-tions can be as trouble-some as having none. 

—Daphne

I'm not religious

I’ve only been to church about four times in my entire life but I thoroughly enjoyed the Easter service at the Lake City Community Church on Sunday. The sermon was called “Love never fails,” and it surpris-ingly wasn’t creepy or cultish at all. 

—Amber

ConfirmedThe West Wing is

the best political show ever produced. #Jed-Bartlet2016

—Ryan

The

Quick takes on life from our editors

Andrew Jenson argonaut

When thinking about a peer health educa-tion program, you may ask yourself, “What is a peer?” or “Why should the University of Idaho have peer educators?”

It is proven that people are more recep-tive to health information when it comes from a peer, which is anyone you would consider to be the same “status” as yourself.

This can range from a classmate, friend or a friendly face seen around campus. College is an exciting time in our lives. We are able to experi-ence new things and have the ability to pursue our dreams, but with new experiences can come new ques-tions. Questions about sexual health, nutrition, sleep, tobacco, drugs and alcohol or overall well-being.

When it comes to these questions or con-cerns, it is often easier to ask a peer rather than someone who is older than you or a professor. This is where the importance of peer educators comes into play.

Two years ago, a small student group from the Movement Sciences department had a vision of creating a program with a health educator at UI. The idea consisted of students promoting healthy lifestyle choices on campus, acting as a resource for the student community and creating change by not only being leaders, but also active bystanders.

According to The BACCHUS Network, a collegiate peer education initiative, the five roles of a peer educator are a friend, educator, activist, role model and team member.

When you think of a peer educator, it is important to think of a person who is always willing to listen with an open-mind and who is knowledgeable of resources around the cam-pus or community. Part of what makes being a peer educator empowering is being an active

bystander who works toward creating positive changes on campus.

Not only is being a peer educator rewarding, it is just plain fun. As peer educators, it is our role to build rela-tionships with students on campus with an exciting educational twist.

This can range from monthly Health Huts, planning a Sex Trivia event, Safe Spring Break Fair, providing the “Bear” essentials for safer sex and plenty more. Our goal is to collide education and

enjoyment into all we do. UI offers a Peer Health Education course

for all students. The class offers students from all majors the opportunity to create change on campus and help fellow students live happy and healthy lifestyles. This semester, 20 students became certified peer health educators through the BACCHUS Network certification course, and are ready to help with all of your health needs. Being a peer health educator can lead to many other op-portunities as well.

This year, three peer health educators have the chance to attend The BACCHUS Network Regional Conference April 16-18 in Denver, Colorado. This is an incredible opportunity for peer educators to connect with students from other universities and gain understanding of how our program at UI can even further de-velop as a program to provide the best health education on our campus.

Amy Monroe is a peer health educator.

She can be reached at vandalhealthed@uidaho.edu

Power of the peerCreating change on campus

gueST VoiCe

Amy Monroepeer health educator

As someone who has never had a significant interest or passion for politics, I think it says a lot that I find myself invested in this par-ticular ASUI presidential election to write a public statement on the subject.

Nate Fisher and Katie Cramer’s bid for president and vice pwresident of ASUI has piqued my interest in more ways than one. As a music student, I find it incredibly refresh-ing to see an ASUI president who, not only is a huge supporter of this school’s fantastic marching band, but backs that support up with action. Because of Fisher’s administration, funding for the march-ing band will increase 20 percent next year, most of that towards new instruments.

However, to me, the most appealing aspect of Fisher’s campaign is his support of a medi-cal amnesty initiative for the Moscow Police Department. This initiative would basi-cally allow minors to seek medical help for themselves and friends during an alcohol-relat-

ed emergency without having to worry about criminal charges.

According to Med-ical Amnesty Initia-tive, a study by Cor-nell University found that only 4 percent of college students actually called 911 for a highly intoxicated friend even though 19 percent of those same students admitted that emergency and medi-cal help was necessary.

If students are afraid that getting help for themselves or their friends will get them in trouble with the law, they are much less likely to seek help when it is obviously necessary.

Simply, this puts lives at risk. If Nate Fisher and Katie Cramer are elected, all the work that ASUI has put into medical amnesty can continue until it is finally a reality. All this work that has been done will pay off and make this campus and the City of Moscow a safer place for students.

Natalie Wren

our View

Having a child is a life-changing experience.

It impacts the lives of both parents and is an experience both should have the opportunity to be a part of.

Today, Faculty Senate will vote to amend the University of Idaho’s par-enting leave policy, and if they pass it, they will substantially improve the university’s current policy.

The changes include extending the allowed leave from 12 to 16 weeks and allowing both parents to take leave if they are employed at the university. The proposed policy

would be job-protected and add language to include the continu-ation of group health insurance coverage within 12 months of the birth, adoption or foster placement of a child.

The current policy states that employees are only eligible for shared leave for “routine pregnan-cy-related disability and complica-tions of childbirth and pregnancy,” meaning only one parent can take parenting leave unless there is some sort of emergency or a reason both parents would need time off.

If this policy passes, it will provide much-needed support to new families who deserve to be together in the weeks following the birth or adoption of a new child. Simply having a child should be sufficient reason for taking time

off. Any other reason is unneces-sary justification for parents to be there for each other and for the new member of their family at a time when their life has just been turned upside down, hopefully for the better.

The time after a child is brought into a family should be one of joy and celebration, not one of stress and anxiety because one parent is forced to miss out on the joys — and sleep-deprived days — of new-parenthood, placing the burden entirely on their counterpart.

The current policy places lower priority on families not expanded by natural means. It ignores fami-lies who choose adoption or foster care, when these family situations may require the presence of both parents more than any other.

Bringing a child into a new fam-ily can take some serious adjustments and have substantial psychological repercussions for everyone involved, so having both parents at home can positively impact the family and their future relationship.

Finally, extending the allowed leave from 12 to 16 weeks is a good thing for families, as it gives them an extra month to adjust to their new family structure, establish a routine and prepare to return to work.

The proposed changes to UI’s parenting policy are positive, and show the university places value in the importance of family. Pass-ing this new policy would only solidify this stance.

— KK

positive for parentsFaculty Senate should vote to amend parenting leave policy

More infoto find out more information about becoming a peer health educator, swing by the Vandal Health ed resource room or email vandalheal-thed@uidaho.edu

Fisher, music and medical amnesty

mailbox

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arg-opinion@uidaho.edu

page 9april 24, 2015

Ha. Ha. Ha.What do you get when

you mix a joke with a rhetorical question?

—Ryan

KrokodilReading about 30

articles on one drug takes a while. Writing a 12-page paper will take longer.

—Claire

Bobby JindalI’m glad to see at least

one governor refuse to stand down in the same-sex marriage debate. Governor Jindal, you are awesome. Stand strong.

—Andrew

Time to killI’ll be spending this

summer in Moscow. I’m gonna need to get some hobbies ... and some friends.

—Jack

Boise boundLooking forward to

spending the weekend in Boise with my family and eating all the free home-made meals I can!

—Erin

Technology is coolI can now text my fam-

ily that lives on the other side of the globe the same as I can text my friend sitting next to me. If that’s not pretty neat then I don’t know what is.

—Kaitlyn

3s for daysThe NBA might kind of

be a joke at times, but the playoffs are the last chance we get to watch basketball for a while. Let’s go Steph Curry and Golden State!

—Stephan

Spring footballIt comes to an end

Friday night, and as much fun as I’ve had covering it, I’m pretty thrilled to not have it on my schedule for the rest of the school year.

—Korbin

One Tree HillI have watched so

many episodes since my surgery on Monday. Here’s to feeling better so I can find more productive ways to spend my time these last few weeks.

—Amber

Positive vibesSending happy

thoughts to everyone go-ing through rough times right now. 

—Katelyn

One day at a timeIt’s a little overwhelm-

ing, but at this point, I’m just going to do my best to enjoy the next three weeks in between the tests, proj-ects and presentations. 

—Daphne

The

Quick takes on life from our editors

Moscow has spunk. As prospec-tive students visit the cozy univer-sity community for the first time, it’s hard not to be sucked in by the town’s charisma.

Even though a huge chunk of the city’s popula-tion changes every four years, there’s a reason Van-dal alumni look back on their time here so fondly.

Moscow is a tight-knit community and the town’s larger-than-life personality and off-the-wall quirk-iness give the city the feeling of an old friend. The people who live here are colorful, and the history is rich — anyone who has ever been curious enough to venture into the heart of Moscow’s identity knows the town has plenty of interesting stories to tell. Here are a few of the most notable stories that still circulate around town today.

People disagree where the name Moscow originally came from, but one popular story says

a Russian Muscovite founded a trading post here in the mid-1800s and someone creative decided to name the city after him. The name was changed and re-changed, but before it settled back to Moscow in 1875, it was called Paradise Valley and Hog Heaven by early settlers.

While no one would ar-gue the area isn’t beautiful, many southern Idahoans wonder why the state’s land-grant university lies so far away from the rest of the state’s cultural hubs.

The answer to that ques-tion is Lewiston. Still sore after losing the capital to Boise in 1865, they were

happy to learn that Congress had voted to give the Idaho panhandle back to Washington.

When President Grover Cleve-land vetoed the bill, lawmakers created the University of Idaho as a kind of peace offering for North-ern Idaho. Idaho received state-hood one year later.

After the original UI Admin-istration Building burned down in 1906, the university regents commissioned Boise architect John Tourtellotte to design a new one.

He presented them with plans for what would become the Adminis-tration Building that stands today — a fireproof building, Tourtellotte assured the regents.

Around the same time in 1908, the iconic Administration Lawn was designed by the Olmsted brothers, whose family-owned firm had also designed the U.S. Capitol grounds and Central Park in New York City, as well as the grounds of other American universities such as Stanford and Notre Dame.

In the 1930s, Moscow pharma-cist Frank “Doc” Robinson started a New Thought religion called Psychiana.The mail-order religion — $20 for 20 lessons, money back guaranteed — was so successful the Moscow post office received a Class A Rating.

Robinson died of a heart attack several years later, but not before using his wealth to become a com-munity philanthropist and building two more buildings in downtown Moscow. He liked white brick.

Until 1987, the drinking age in Idaho was 19, but in Washington it was 21. This meant every weekend, WSU students would pile into

their cars, come to Moscow to get drunk and then drive home. The Moscow-Pullman Highway wasn’t widened from a two-lane road until 2007, and the frigid Palouse winters often left it icy at night.

Because of this, the eight miles between Moscow and Pullman became known as one of the most dangerous stretches of highway in the nation. When the Idaho drinking age was adjusted, the number of deaths on U.S. High-way 95 plummeted.

Many students are familiar with the TabiKat Drag Show produc-tions that are held once a month. The drag shows are put on by the couple who owns local comic book store Safari Pearl, Tabitha Sim-mons and Kathy Sprague.

Sprague and friends put on the first drag show in Moscow in February 1995 for her birthday to honor a close friend who had died of AIDS. The first show attracted about 50 people. Today, the pro-ductions have grown to bring a full house every month.

Hannah Shirleyargonaut

Sharing Moscow storiesMoscow has a rich history and a story on every corner

Aly Sotoargonaut

It’s no secret the University of Idaho has been bleeding highly qualified, competent employees

at all levels for several years now.It’s not that UI isn’t a great place

to be, but when the majority of employees can drive 10 minutes to Washington State University and increase their salary by thousands of dollars without having to move, it’s a bit of a no-brainer.

But people aren’t just leaving for the higher salaries eight miles away. Employees are leaving for better paying jobs all over the country, and many of them are leaving for places where employee morale — and pay — is substan-tially higher.

Although not much in the grand scheme of things, a state-mandated 3 percent Change in Employee Compensation was

expected to suppress the bleeding, at least for a little bit. At the very least, the 3 percent CEC would improve morale across the board.

But university administrators recently announced that instead of a 3 percent increase for all of its employees, they hope to divide a portion of the $3.1 million among three initiatives that will give some employees higher raises than oth-ers and provide a way to persuade those threatening to leave to reconsider UI.

The initiatives, which include raising the university minimum wage to $12.02 and provid-ing longevity and distinguished employee raises, are great. No one would argue UI shouldn’t give its employees livable wages or reward people for exemplary work. These are good things the university is trying to do.

But the purpose of CEC is to provide all employees with a long-overdue 3 percent raise that

doesn’t even compare to the rate at which living expenses have increased since the economic recession six years ago.

As the cost of living increases, employees have essentially taken annual pay cuts when their sala-ries haven’t risen proportional to — or even in conjunction with — inflation.

Now skilled employees at all levels could take the hit and receive less of a wage increase because the university needs to be able to offer more money to skilled employees threatening to leave.

While this is certainly a useful tool for the university in retaining those highly skilled and neces-sary employees, it caters to those who have the ability and desire to threaten to leave.

UI is filled with employees who love the university and want to work here for that reason alone. They don’t want to leave for WSU or any other university

because they are dedicated and passionate about this university.

So a miniscule 3 percent raise that was intended to boost, or at least maintain, employee morale might not actually be used to help those most dedicated employees feel appreciated — the ones that have no intention of leaving — and that’s a shame.

The university has to make a choice, to no fault of their own, as to whether they want to achieve the salary goals they’ve set or give a raise across the board, and that’s a hard place for decision makers to be when there’s no realistic way to do both things.

In a state that doesn’t seem to understand the value of highly qualified employees in higher education, or even the value of higher education in general, it’s left up to the universities to find ways to increase pay for employees, and it’s simply not feasible.

— KK

our view

an unfair distributionProposed CEC initiatives leave some employees behind

Hannah Shirleycan be reached at

arg-opinion@uidaho.edu