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The Observer October 20, 2011
Features
19
Dawn To Dusk
The Hopes and Fears of a Fresh Dancer and a Future Doctor By Monica Tyson Staff Writer
The transformation from freshman to senior can be a dramatic. An incoming freshman can go from feeling like the top dog in high school to the new puppy on the block, while a senior prepares to be thrust into the world after finally becoming comfortable in college. Terrence Diable, Fordham College at Lincoln Center (FCLC) ’15, and Claire Michel, FCLC ’12, show us how different the two really can be. So read on, fellow freshmen and seniors, and any of you that fall in between, as the dawn turns to dusk.
Terrence Diable
Year: FCLC’ 15 Major: Dance BFA Hometown: New York City Current Residence: New York
City
Why did you choose Fordham? [It was an] Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre and F.U. culmination. I’ve been with Alvin Ailey for the past three years in their Junior Division Program, an afterschool program for youth. And for their strong academics… Oh! No math! Anything odd about your family or that sets them apart from other families? My family is kind of artsy, we joke around. That’s probably why I got into the arts. They were musicians—I started out in music myself. It’s a positive relationship between my mother and father. I joke around all the time with my mother, but my dad is like a comedian, on the low. Are you close to your family still? Yes, very close, definitely. I’m a commuter so I live with them. Compare being your old senior self in high school to your new freshman self. Well I was like man on top. I worked for something that I thought was hard, but now that I look back it was
Photo courtesy of Terrence diable (left); mario weddell/The Observer
Terrence Diable, FCLC ’15, hopes to pursue a career as a dancer, and Claire Michel, FCLC ’12, plans on going to medical school after graduating from Fordham.
easy. And then I came here and it’s like, oh shit. This is the real deal. At Fordham you’re the newbie and you’re fresh meat. Do you get embarrassed easily? Never been embarrassed, but in dance specifically you’re always in such a rush… I’ll forget my ballet shoes or my tights. And you’ll be like are you serious, now I have to sit out, then you get yelled at by the teacher and they’re like “Oh you should have packed the night before.”That’s kind of embarrassing. Anything that you’ve experienced recently that you wouldn’t have dreamed of doing? I took class led by Alissa Clark and Erika Pujic both graduates of Julliard that was pretty amazing.
What about when your dance career is over? I would love to work with other dance companies just to see what their idea of dance is and different movement. I would love to choreograph, and of course, teach.
Claire Michel
Year: FCLC’ 12 Major: Natural Science Hometown: Brooklyn Current Residence: Brooklyn
Why did you choose Fordham? I chose Fordham mainly because of its reputation and it was the best school I got into. Are you still close, or as close with your family as when you started college? Yes and no. I would say we now
have a different relationship. My brother and I get along now for the first time. We’re five years apart. As for my parents and I, we are getting closer as they let go a little bit. What is the biggest difference, you think, between a freshman and a senior? Besides seniority, I would just say awareness. Freshman year you walk in with such confidence, only the college world is different from high school. The fact that everything you do counts for your professional life—as a freshman you know it, but as a senior it becomes a reality. Most awkward moment in the past four years? My most awkward moment would be freshman year, I was in the cafeteria realized that we had to hand in a health insurance
information sheet in two hours and my class started in 30 minutes. So I took the sheet and bolted out of the cafeteria [and] went through the one of the doors with an alarm. And everyone just stared at me when the alarm went off. My new friends at the time laughed at me for the rest of the day. Anything that you have experienced in the past 5 years that you wouldn’t have done otherwise? Rock climbing—I’m scared of heights. And Pinkberry—I just never liked buying expensive stuff, but this could be a treat once in a while Where do you see yourself in 5 years? Hopefully in medical school.
The Placebo Effect: The Real Power of Positive Thinking By Karen Lo Staff Writer
As another seemingly endless winter of discontent approaches, the promise of being mercilessly coughed and sneezed on during subway rides becomes a common nuisance in New York City. But do not worry, there may be a way to minimize your sniffly winter blues, and it is in your hands or at least, it is in your brain. Earlier this year, scientists at the University of Madison in Wisconsin conducted an experiment in which patients suffering from symptoms of the common cold were observed, and their rates of recovery and response to medication were measured. Scientists divided patients with symptoms of the common cold into four groups, where they were given one of four treatments: a simple sugar pill, an echinacea pill without being informed of the fact, an echinacea pill while informed or no treatment whatsoever. Of the total 719 adults who participated, 120 of them reported that they believed echinacea to have curative properties before undergoing the study. Echinacea, a flowering relative of the daisy, has a long history of medicinal application as a stimulator of the body’s immune system and
as protection against infections. In fact, when subjected to close scrutiny, research on the effects of echinacea on cold symptoms were inconclusive at best, and it was only possible to maintain that taking the supplement had, at least, no measurably negative effects on patients. At the end of the study, those patients who both attributed echinacea with symptom-soothing abilities, and thought, correctly or not, that they were being treated with it, reported that their cold had subsided more than a day before the other participants, and that the symptoms had been less severe overall. This shouldn’t be the case, considering that in reality, colds are caused by a viral infection that must run its course. Aside from a few hours of relief at a time with help from the drugstore, there are no shortcuts that curb the duration of illness or reduce the symptoms. That is, until, we consider the placebo effect, which can often change the game considerably. Dr. David Malcolm a psychology professor at Fordham College at Lincoln Center (FCLC), whose own research includes behavioral analysis and learning in humans and animals, explained the usefulness of the placebo effect in medicine, when we consider that in itself, thinking is a behavior. “The old saying that ‘it’s all in your mind’ is of course
as long lasting,” and therefore less controlled, but in some cases results in “a complete lifting of the depression.” Lastly, Malcolm contends that the most important consideration for the placebo effect is how best to harness its power. Among the most important variables that impact effectiveness is the relationship between a patient and their doctor. For instance, “What differences in the approach and style of physicians leads to stronger results? One thing that is clear is that when the patient views the physician as ‘warm and caring’ they often get relief sooner.”
Katherine Fotinos/The Observer
According to the study with placebo drugs and more positive mindset you can beat the fall flu this season
true—the mind is the brain, and the brain and immune system have been shown to work together. Behaviors can affect the immune system and vice versa,” Malcolm said. Being sick even impacts our social behavior. “Often when you are ill you become less social and wish to be left alone, which is your immune system affecting your brain,” Malcolm said.
The phenomenon of the placebo is certainly not limited to fleeting viruses which make for a few dreary days in the dead of winter, however. In particular, Dr. Malcolm notes, “One area where the effects are very strong is with antidepressants. Estimates have been made that almost half of their effect is a placebo effect. When compared to drugs, however the effect is not
Patients’ trust in their doctors, as well as doctors’ confidence in their own opinions and practice, mutually reinforce each other and bolster treatment. Placebos like echinacea show more prominent results in medicine because when knowledge of home remedies is passed down, perhaps from family elders we trust, they command a certain austere authority. Luckily, this trust only adds to the effect, as placebos rely on our bodies to respond to our minds, and, whether we are the doctor or the patient, we require little more encouragement once in a while to recover from an illness.