UVSC College Times, 2006-10-30

              MONDAY OCTOBER 30 2006 THE STUDENT VOICE OF UTAH VALLEY STATE VOLUME XXXVI NO. 14 i .:.. .uawK i. A. if - Board club pulls off race despite obstacles i ""a H . j L SPORTS UVSC Women's Soccer The Women's soccer team wrapped up their home schedule and are preparing for the Independent tournament. See A7. Wrestling preview It's wrestling season. Check out previews for the wrestling team in sports on page A7. LIFE The Prestige Making a good movie for late fall would take some prestigious wizardry, but Hugh Jackman and Christian Bale's new film does the trick. See A4. Happy Hollow Cursive shows supreme songwrit-ing penmanship with Happy Hollow. See A4. Open Mic Poet and performance artist Alex Caldiero will be among those who showcase their talents at Open Mic Night. See A6. f; r u " IT ' k NEWS Congressman on campus Representative Chris Cannon (R) will be visiting campus on Nov. 2. Find out more information see page A3. New hospital building Community members will benefit from hospital expansion. Get all the details on page A2. Winners among us Music demo, recorded, mixed and mastered by UVSC student wins award. Read more about super star on page A3. Jared Magill News Writer "You aren't shutting down the road. We've got a bunch of senators coming right now, you can't shut it down," said a UVSC campus policeman after hearing an announcement broadcast through the loudspeakers which proclaimed that the final three contestants in last Saturday's longboarding contest would race down College Drive all at once, in order to determine a winner. The officer's protest might have made a fitting title to the event, the first UVSC longboarding contest ever, "Sorry we couldn't reserve the road completely, but there are more important people trying to get through, longboard race." Sponsored in part by Red Bull, Jump Mobile and the UVSC board club, the event was, however,, not to be trumped by the arrival of politicians. The host and sponsors of the race, with the aid of campus police, managed to pull it off without incident. The race began around 4:00 p.m. on Sat. Oct. 20, just as daylight was beginning to wane and the biting nip in the fall air was starting to make the spectators throw the hoods on their sweatshirts over their heads for warmth. The course was laid out on the curvy, downhill section of College Drive that spans the institutional residence in the northeast corner of campus, down the hill past the Computer Science building and the LDS Institute of Religion building and ended where the road bends north and levels off by the Institute parking lot. In the early stages of the race, while some of the event officials were setting up orange marking cones to block off both downhill-bound traffic and storage lanes leaving the uphill-bound lane open for through traffic, contestants could be seen hiking or shuttling to the top of the course to (if they were lucky) get in some practice runs and maybe even a powerslide or two at the end of their runs. At that same time, there were also attendees of a republican con- r - Albert MitchellNetXNews A contestant in the Longboarding race rides toward the finishline. vention being held in the Grand into the only open lane of traffic Ballroom trying to honk their way along that stretch of road, through the crowds of spectators who were constantly wandering See BOARD CLUB A3 0. irjMij.jgRiiW.U'JlU- 0 l r Abraham Hernandez News Writer caffeine supplements. The ACEP have said these supplements have become ex- U tremely popular on most college campuses, used as "waker-uppers" among students trying to stay awake to study and take exams. Many young Americans are ending up in hospital emergency rooms because of the abuse of caffeine supplements. According to the ACEP, symptoms of caffeine abuse include insomnia, palpitations, tremors, sweating, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, chest pains and neurological symptoms. The Utah Poison Control Center said almost half its calls on caffeine misuse involve people who were already in the hands of paramedics or health professionals. Researchers from Northwestern University examined nearly 260 caffeine abuse cases at the Illinois Poison Center in Chicago. The study, which Dr. Danielle McCarthy from Northwestern, lead author, called the first step in understanding the problem of caffeine abuse, showed that most patients suffering health complications because of caffeine supplements were in their early twenties. Of these 260, 31 required hospitalization and 20 required admission into intensive-care. Although the study did not include caffeine drinks such as coffee and tea, it did indicate that none of the patients in the study had simply drunk too much coffee or tea but had taken caffeine in the form of a supplement or medication, followed by a caffeine-enhanced beverage, and then by a dietary supplement. McCarthy said that people using caffeine pills and supplements need to know that caffeine is a drug and its overuse is potentially harmful, especially when mixed with other pharmaceuticals to induce euphoria. McCarthy said the trend in the pro-culture, the pro-drug culture toward promoting legal alternatives to illegal drugs, can be very harmful, and young people taking caffeine either to stay awake or for a feeling of euphoria, may actually end up in the emergency room. And young people taken to a hospital for chest pains and heart palpations are rarely asked if they've taken caffeine supplements. US senator speaks on suicide Ashley Robertson News Editor John Ditzler Executive Editor UVSC and the Center for the Study of Ethics hosted Sen. Gordon Smith, R-Ore., Oct. 23 in the Ragan Theater. Smith's speech focused on suicide awareness and prevention. The topic is one he is familiar with as his son Garrett Smith committed suicide while attending UVSC only three years ago. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration recently awarded UVSC a grant that will enable UVSC to hire suicide awareness and prevention director who will educate faculty, staff and students on things such as the red flags of suicide and how to refer friends or family members to get help. The grant will also provide for a funded research team of UVSC students and faculty who will study the reasons for the high suicide attempt and completion rate in Utah and at UVSC. "The Ethics Center was honored to support Smith's good efforts," said David Keller, director of the Center for the Study of Ethics. "The topic of suicide prevention and intervention is crucial for all students, including our own here at UVSC." The grant came from the Garrett Smith Memorial Bill, which Smith created shortly after his son's suicide. The bill gives support for mental and behavioral health services on college campuses, as well as funds for statewide youth early suicide intervention and prevention programs. President George W. Bush signed the act into law in 2004. See SUICIDE A2