ASUHERALD.COM
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THURSDAY, NOV. 29, 2012
Patients use horses for physical therapy CAITLIN LAFARLETTE STAFF WRITER
Roy Aldridge, professor of physical therapy, is the head of the hippotherapy program at ASU. He became involved with hippotherapy, which uses horses for physical therapy, while working with a graduate student who had an interest in it. The most rewarding aspect of the ASU hippotherapy program is “to see patients accomplish things that folks never thought they could do,” said its director. The program at ASU began in 2002 and has been at the equine center since 2005. Aldridge works not only with adult patients, but with children as well. Some patients who receive therapy are autistic, and sensory stimuli such as the sound of the horses, different smells and other outside sounds add to their therapy. War veterans also come in to participate. Some of these veterans
have post-traumatic stress disorder. The program helps them reconnect with society. “I’ve seen some great personality changes,” Aldridge said. One patient, 35-year-old Maurice Watson, said he enjoys getting to ride as part of therapy. “How else would I get to ride a horse for free?” he asked. Watson is in the hippotherapy program for lower back pain. He said riding has helped his range of motion and gets his back more limber. Before entering physical therapy, Watson had no experience riding horses. “This is new and it is good,” he said. The actual therapy portion of the program comes from the movement of the horse. The change of positions of the rider and the speed of the horse also contribute to the therapy. Different saddles, Western and English, are used depending on the type of injury. For
Caitlin LaFarlette | Staff Photographer For his physical therapy, Jeff Keich rides his horse around the ASU Equine Center with the help of a group of students.
example, Western saddles are used for veterans, and those
AHEAD OF THE PACK
Staci Vandagriff | Photo Editor Zachary Marsh, a senior biological sciences major of Hot Springs, was chosen as the best of the Who’s Who awardees Monday evening in the ASU auditorium. The award is based on academic achievement, university and community service, leadership in extracurricular activities, and potential for continued success. Marsh applied to the Peace Corps, and plans to work in the health sector after graduation in 2013. He hopes to work with malaria and HIV/AIDS awareness.
Campus Crime Nov. 15 On Thursday, Officer Ryan Crawford was dispatched to Kays Hall to take a theft report from Mallory Frank. Frank said while she was in the shower, someone had come into the shared bathroom. According to the report, after she got out of the shower, she noticed her phone was missing. She had her roommate call the phone several times, but there was no answer. Frank had a suspect in mind that might have taken her phone, however, the person in mind denied she had taken it. According to the report, the phone was not recovered.
Nov. 17 On Saturday Officer Floyd Layne was on foot patrol in Arkansas Hall and smelled marijuana coming from one of the rooms. He called Officer Robert Peevey for assistance with the situation. The officers confirmed which room the smell was coming
from and asked the resident if they could enter the room, according to the report. The peephole to the room was missing, so both officers could see inside the room. Peevey saw Ashley Scrape place a silver bag into another bag and cover it up with a jacket, according to the report. After knocking again, the occupants granted the officers entry to the room, where Scrape, Patric Moore and Quentin Rose were. Peevey asked about the bag Scrape had hidden and asked if it was marijuana. She retrieved the plastic bag, which contained two green buds of marijuana. Moore and Scrape said they had smoked the marijuana outside, according to the report. Scrape was issued a persona non grata since she was not a student. Layne then flushed the two marijuana buds down the toilet.
Nov. 18 While on patrol Sunday, Officer Ron Smith observed Preston Bradley walking near
the residences on Faculty Drive. When Bradley saw the patrol car, he began to quickly walk away. Then he began running away carrying a white plastic bag in his right hand, according to the report. Bradley began running toward the railroad tracks and wooded area and was followed by Smith. Smith called other officers in for backup. Sgt. Bobby Duff and some other officers arrived to help locate Bradley. According to the report, Bradley came out of a heavily wooded area. When Smith told him to stop he ran away again, according to the report. With the aid of Jonesboro officers, Smith located Bradley and placed him under arrest. He was issued a citation for criminal trespass, fleeing.
-Compiled by Chelsea Weaver, News Editor
with lower back pain do not require a lot of motion from
the horse. Other variables include feet in or out of the stirrups and hands on or off of the saddle horn. Aldridge also positions riders in different ways, including sitting sideways, backwards, and for one patient, on hands and knees without a saddle. Aldridge doesn’t choose just any horse for the program. He said a horse has to have the right kind of personality and is also evaluated for soundness. Each horse moves differently, and the range of motion a patient needs determines which horse is chosen. Students can also benefit from the program. MacKenzie Dow, a graduate student of Jonesboro, is a physical therapy student volunteering for Aldridge. “This is part of my class now,” Dow said about how the hippotherapy relates to physical therapy. Dow said she started volunteering when Aldridge asked for help. She began working with kids first and
is now volunteering with the veterans’ program. For Dow the best part of volunteering is seeing the patients improve and asking about their day. “You really get a bond and connection with them,” she said. Chelsey Moser, a senior exercise science major of Melbourne, said she enjoyed gaining experience through volunteering. She became involved with hippotherapy after talking to her adviser about opportunities for volunteer experience. She said the best part of the program is knowing there are no set guidelines. “It’s a lot of fun seeing the patients’ reactions to the horses,” she said. There are six volunteers and 12 graduate students working with the hippotherapy program. Aldridge has collected data on 25 veterans since the program began. For those interested in volunteering, contact Aldridge at raldridge@astate.
when she doesn’t have access to it. The longest Burton has been without using a form of social media is two days. Her usage does interfere with school, however. “When class is boring I get on Twitter or tumble (post) about dumb people,” she said. However, using Twitter and Tumblr have helped Burton. She said it helps her deal with stress because she can get things off her mind. Will Blair, a junior premed major of Pine Bluff, uses Twitter but doesn’t think it has affected him that much. “I can go without it,” he said. He added that when he was younger he would go camping often and therefore didn’t have access to the Internet. “I adapted to it, putting the phone and Internet away,” he continued. Blair admits he uses Twitter often in the summer, especially when he has nothing else to do. Like many college students he also spends time in class on social media. “I took a few pictures of people sleeping,” he said. Blair also said he normally only browses Twitter when
he knows he isn’t missing any information. For Hayley Lewis, a junior psychology major of Jonesboro, Facebook is a way to keep up with friends that live in different time zones. “I’m a Navy brat,” Lewis, who has lived in 15 different cities, said. She said while she checks Facebook every day, it hasn’t become a problem for her. “It’s going to be there when I get back,” she said. Lewis added she often becomes too addicted to social media, but then it gets boring. She also doesn’t use it enough to where it interferes with class time. Another study conducted by the University of Maryland’s International Center for Media and the Public Affairs followed college students across five continents and found after 24 hours without social media, they felt irritable, tense, restless and anxious. According to www.kait8. com, the study consisted of 1,000 college students in countries that included China, Argentina, Mexico, the U.K., and the U.S. During the study several students were unable to go the entire 24 hours without using social media.
Social media relieves stress CAITLIN LAFARLETTE STAFF WRITER
It seems almost every college student uses social media of some form, and studies are showing it is something they struggle to live without. Is this struggle relevant to students at ASU? A recent study by Anxiety UK found participants became troubled when they didn’t have access to their social media outlets. According to www.anxietyuk. org.uk, those who were a part of the study found the only way to stay away from social media was to turn off the device they accessed it from; it wasn’t enough to simply ignore it. ASU students can frequently be seen walking to class with their heads buried into their phones as they text, tweet, and post on Facebook. Sheneathia Burton, a sophomore psychology major of Memphis, believes she is addicted to social media. “All day I’ll be on Tumblr,” she said. Burton mainly uses Tumblr and Twitter and estimates she spends about eight hours a day using the sites. She said she uses social media as an outlet for her feelings and becomes angry