January 21, 2020 - Living Guide Volume 5

Created by the Business Division

MN Daily Media Staff An Independent Student Newspaper, Founded in 1900.

2221 University Ave. SE, Suite 450 Minneapolis, MN 55414 Phone: (612) 627-4080 Fax: (612) 435-5865 Copyright 2019 The Minnesota Daily This newspaper, its design and its contents are copyrighted

Office of the Publisher Cleo Krejci Editor-in-Chief ckrejci@mndaily.com (612) 435-1575 Kyle Stumpf Business Operations Officer kstumpf@mndaily.com (612) 435-2761 Charlie Weaver General Manager gm@mndaily.com (612) 435-5657

Business Jacob Kenyon Sales Manager jkenyon@mndaily.com Tiffany Welty Assistant Sales Manager twelty@mndaily.com Dineen Graff Account Executive dgraff@mndaily.com Meryum Syeda Account Executive msyeda@mndaily.com Zach Warfel Account Executive zwarfel@mndaily.com

Madison Romain New Business Intern mromain@mndaily.com Nick Cambio New Business Intern ncambio@mndaily.com Sofie Garduno New Business Intern sgarduno@mndaily.com David Keane Controller dkeane@mndaily.com Minh Phan Digital Media Strategist mphan@mndaily.com Cammi Bartyzal Director of Marketing Communications cbartyzal@mndaily.com Genevieve Benson Director of Marketing Strategy gbenson@mndaily.com

Creative Mykenzie Henriksen Creative Designer mhenriksen@mndaily.com Emma Dalenberg Creative Designer edalenberg@mndaily.com

Editorial Emily Martens Copy Desk Chief emartens@mndaily.com Desmond Kamas Managing Production Editor dkamas@mndaily.com

Issue five Table of Contents

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Roommate Conflict-Resolution

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Achieve Your Resolutions With On-Campus Resources

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It’s Okay To Be SAD

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Sustainable Hacks

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3 Productive Goals For The New Year

Roommate Conflict-Resolution Genevieve Benson Living with others is not always rainbows and sunshine. Whether it be your guardians or peers, roommates can be difficult to deal with at times. Here are a few steps on how to navigate conflict while keeping the peace and respectfully speaking your truth.

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1. The Written: Often times, a passive aggressive text or sticky note invites more tension among roommates. However, when dealing with drama, it is best to remove yourself from the situation at hand and take a moment to remain calm. Writing out your thoughts and emotions before communicating them with others is effective in avoiding outbursts and hurtful language. You can then evaluate what the issue is, why it makes the living situation uncomfortable, and how to best solve the problem.

2. The Verbal: After solidifying the rationale behind your argument and identifying what you hope to get out of the interaction, ask the individual(s) to have an in-person conversation about the grievance. Through open and honest communication, and a lot of maturity, you should be able to reach an action plan on how to avoid future issues by outlining the areas of weakness and steps to improve them. There are endless interpersonal resources online, including using “I statements.” By explaining how the problem makes you feel, the person being addressed should feel more empathy instead of getting defensive. If the conversation does result in further arguments, try again or look into finding a new home. As always, return to future Living Guide issues for housing solutions and more.

3. The Make-Up: If all goes well, there may be some crying, hopefully some hugging. Overall, thanking the person for being open to change and working out a solution is crucial to maintain the relationship. Always focus on yourself and try not to point fingers. Although you may continuously feel “in the right,” directing blame solves nothing and often aggravates the situation. Keep calm and conflict-resolution on!

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Achieve Your Resolutions With On-Campus Resources Caroline Pritchard

Financial Wellness

With the start of a new decade, many of us have thought

One Stop Student Services has counselors on all

of New Year’s resolutions for ourselves. If managing your

campuses that are available to answer students’

overall wellness is one of your priorities, then this is

finance questions and concerns. These topics could

the article for you. The University of Minnesota offers

include: budgeting, loans, banking, understanding

many wellness resources that are free to students. Take

credit scores, and more. In order to be prepared for an

your resolutions to the next step and find the correct

appointment, make a list of questions you have for the

resource to help you follow through with your goals.

counselor prior to the appointment. To schedule an appointment, visit the One Stop Student Services

Alcohol/Substance Wellness

website and look for Financial Wellness Counseling to schedule an appointment nearest to you.

Boynton offers both substance use assessments and

Physical Wellness

health promotion consultations. The assessment is done through an interview and evaluation of your current substance habits. You can then use this

All students paying the Student Services Fee have free

to help make a plan and recommendations for

access to the Recreation Center and Wellness

treatment options. The consultation is used to help

Facilities, St. Paul Gym, Cooke Hall, URW Sports

generate healthier alternatives to substance usage.

Complex, West Bank and St. Paul Fields, Les Bolstad

These appointments can be scheduled by calling

Golf Course, and Aquatics Center. If you’re interested

612-624-1444.

in being active with friends, the Recreation Center offers 20 different intramural sports and 25 club sports.

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Mental Wellness Whether you’re feeling stressed about a new semester, job, family, friends or more, Boynton Health offers Student Stress Check-Ins. The checkins include confidential conversations with trained volunteer students that offer advice and action plans.

These appointments can be scheduled through the Boynton website under the Stress Management tab.

Nutritional Wellness Moving to college can alter different aspects of your life, including your diet. If you would like to learn how to eat healthier on a college student budget, Student Nutrition Advocacy Collaborative (SNAC) is the right choice for you. By scheduling a Nutrition Check-Up through the Boynton website, you can connect with different peers to plan a new diet option that is practical for your lifestyle.

Academic Wellness Academic Skills Coaching allows students to make appointments to sit down one-on-one with a coach to help talk through course planning and study habits. Popular topics covered in these sessions include study skills, reading/note taking strategies, test preparation, time/stress management, and test anxiety coping mechanisms. To make an appointment, contact 612-624-3323 or visit the office in 340 Appleby Hall.

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It’s Okay To Be SAD Genevieve Benson

As the temperature continues to drop and winter seems to never end, taking care of your mental, emotional and physical health is vital. It’s not uncommon to experience increased stress and fatigue during the colder months; However, seeking out resources to mitigate anxiety and depression is important to survive the season.

According to the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI), 14 percent of Americans identify as having mild to severe Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), commonly known as the “winter blues.” SAD results from a lack of sunlight during the winter. Symptoms include having difficulty in waking up in the morning, with decreased energy and concentration levels. Sometimes, work and/ or school production, and interpersonal relationships can suffer, which can further depression and isolation.

There are numerous potential treatment methods, including light therapy, medication, psychotherapy, and more. Tools such as salt lamps and electronproducing light sources have been proven to help some individuals affected by SAD. The University’s Boynton Health also offers stress management and mental health resources, which can be found on their website.

It’s okay to be SAD, but it’s not okay to let it completely take over your life. Seek help or campus resources to make sure you’re receiving all the support you need.

If you are in a crisis or need to reach out to a hotline urgently, call 612-301-4673 or 911.

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IN THE

KNOW a podcast by the

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3 Productive Goals for the New Year Socheata Mok

Happy new year, Gophers! It is now the time to start thinking about your New Year's resolutions for Spring 2020 and prepare to achieve your objectives. Here are three ideas for your new year:

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1. Stop Procrastinating If your grades aren’t where you hoped they would be, then work on your study habits.

This resolution can help you improve your grades by becoming more productive and managing your school work more effectively. Then, you will have more time to relax by completing tasks early (instead of doing things last-minute).

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Set strict deadlines and stick to them.

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Make a poster, or set your laptop to a wallpaper that says, “stop

2. Gain Professional Experience If you’re feeling dissatisfied with your lack of practical, real work experience, then a New Year's resolution could be to find a job or an internship. Having a job or internship is valuable for college students because it allows them to unlock new knowledge and skills outside of the classroom. Achieve this by following these steps: •

Visit the career services office. If you need resources for jobs such as where

procrastinating!” to serve as a helpful

to find student jobs, resume, or cover

reminder not to leave things until they

letter writing tips, this will be your one-

are due.

stop-shop for everything career development-related.

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Visit GoldPass, student jobs openings and other online job coaching/seeking resources.

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Sign up for a networking event such as the Job and Internship Career Fair, held in February 2020. This will allow you to network with professionals from diverse organizations and companies all in one location.

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3. Find a new home Finally, if living with your parents bothers you or you have roommates that you can’t tolerate anymore, then find yourself a new home. This resolution can alleviate stress from living with others and can help you gain a more independent lifestyle.

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Use the Minnesota Daily’s Living Guide to begin searching for your new home.

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Explore the University of Minnesota’s subleasing Facebook page.

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Sustainable Hacks Genevieve Benson Change is inevitable. As consumers, it is our responsibility to be aware of what we purchase and the impact it has on the environment. Fair labor practices and sustainable production methods are crucial when evaluating your next big purchase. Learn more about environmentally-friendly resources and helpful hacks so you can contribute to the green movement.

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Reusable Containers.

Organics. Recycling. Trash.

Whether it be your metal straw or reusable thermos,

The University has rolled out its organics recycling

abstaining from single-use plastic is key to avoid

(i.e. compost) in all on-campus buildings. The

adding more trash to the landfills. Organizations such

organics waste bins are located at all trash stations,

as Caribou Coffee even offer discounts for bringing

with the consolidation of newspaper plus and office

your own mug. Additionally, the St. Paul campus

paper containers. Organics recycling includes food

Natural Resources building offers free coffee and tea

scraps, non-recyclable paper, coffee grounds and

if you bring your own cup. If the monetary reward

filters, pizza boxes and paper towels, napkins and

isn’t enough, think about all the sea life, including

more. To learn more about certified compostable

turtles, you will be saving by reducing your plastic

products, visit the UMN’s Facilities website. The

consumption.

University also offers Zero Waste Events, which feature a student recycling coordinator who recommends compostable service ware, drops off

Drive Less. Walk More.

extra bins for the event and monitors the bins on the day-of. That’s what I call a zero-waste win.

As I walk past endless vehicles with one person in the car, I think to myself, what a wasteful world. Although many commuter-students use personal vehicles to

Research is Knowledge, and Knowledge is Power.

get to class, those that live close should prioritize walking and biking as modes of transportation even when it’s chilly! Bundle-up with layers and brace for the cold while knowing you’re reducing carbon

A large component of the issue is the lack of

emissions and being active. Public transportation is

knowledge about what we buy and where it comes

also a viable option for longer distances, and with the

from. If you truly think about what’s in your food,

light rail, Twin Cities bus system and University

lotion, notebooks and everyday supplies, you

circulators at many of our fingertips, save the gas by

would likely be shocked at the ingredients and

hopping on a bus instead. Eco-warrior mode on!

the carbon footprint they possess. Strive to buy local with an emphasis on clean ingredients and fair labor initiatives. Certified B Corporations are socially responsible enterprises focused on valuing employees, stakeholders and the environment.

For the full list of organizations, check out the B Corporation list online.

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