Action Project - Heart and Soul - Monday, April 18, 2016 - The Daily Cardinal

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Action Project Issue, April 2016

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“…the great state University of Wisconsin should ever encourage that continual and fearless sifting and winnowing by which alone the truth can be found.”

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Action Project Issue, April 2016

An independent student newspaper, serving the University of Wisconsin-Madison community since 1892 Volume 125, Issue 74

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edit@dailycardinal.com Editor-in-Chief James Dayton

Managing Editor Emily Gerber

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Striving for healthy lifestyles UW-Madison’s academics, environment can hinder positive well-being JIM DAYTON AND EMILY GERBER management team

there’s so much more to be said.

We hope this issue can serve as a jumping off point for our readers in their own personal health quests and help them understand what UW and its surrounding city and state has to offer.

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our years at UW-Madison can be one of the most enjoyable and sociable experiences in a student’s life.

However, these years can also be some of the most stressful and unhealthy ones.

Rigorous academic demands, a prevalence of alcohol and a plethora of delicious (but often not nutritional) off-campus dining options make it hard to stay healthy in college.

In the last installment of this year’s Action Project series, The Daily Cardinal has explored health in Madison, attempting to touch on every facet of the word. While this is a broad topic, our goal with this issue is to delve into both mental and physical health as they relate to both UW-Madison and the city as a whole.

We hope this issue can serve as a jumping off point for our readers in their own personal health quests and help them understand what UW and its surrounding city and state has to offer.

Though we won’t be able to fully tackle health within the confines of a 12-page issue, we wanted to shed light on a variety of ideas and give readers agency

The Daily Cardinal would like to recognize

The Evjue Foundation, Inc.

Rigorous academic demands, a prevalence of alcohol and a plethora of delicious (but often not nutritional) off-campus dining options make it hard to stay healthy in college.

KAITLYN VETO/THE DAILY CARDINAL

to explore these in-depth if they so choose.

Our news features touch issues all across the Badger state. From the increasing presence of trigger warnings in UW-Madison classrooms to bipartisan efforts by Wisconsin legislators to find a cure for Alzheimer’s, we think these stories have relevance and importance to everyone on campus.

The opinion page lends voices to students on campus dealing

with their own challenges and struggles at UW-Madison. Read the account of someone who has been juggling sober life at a party school and another who addresses the stigma associated with mental illness. Turn to our science page to learn more about how music and art can affect one’s brain activity.

We believe this edition tackles a wide variety of health-related issues, but acknowledge that

As this is our final issue of our three-part Action Project series, we would like to reiterate our appreciation for the Evjue Foundation, whose generous grant made this all possible. Starting with college accessibility and moving on to student political advocacy, we hope our stories helped generate reader conversation on three very important topics for UW-Madison students.

What areas of our coverage did you enjoy? Do you think there was an aspect of health in Madison or the UW community that we overlooked? We’d love for our readers to be part of the Action Project conversation. Please send all comments and concerns to Jim and Emily at edit@dailycardinal.com.

This issue will be on stands all week. If you’re looking for our daily coverage, check out dailycardinal.com to stay updated.

Still looking for more coverage?

(the charitable arm of The Capital Times)

for providing the funds to make the Action Project possible.

THANK YOU

Check out dailycardinal.com all week long for updates.

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Action Project Issue, April 2016

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UW-Madison community works to reduce sexual violence on campus

leah voskuil/the daily cardinal

After recent survey results revealed the rate of sexual assaults on campus, UW-Madison launched a new Greek life task force to try to reduce sexual violence.

Story by Sammy Gibbons and Kelsey O’Hara

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n April 9, UW-Madison students received an email briefly describing a firstdegree sexual assault that occurred just after 10 p.m. the previous night.

Unfortunately, the message was similar to dozens of emails sent out earlier this year.

UW-Madison participated in an

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force, creating a plan with six recommendations to curb gender violence issues in the Greek community.

Jimmy Benning, Psi Upsilon vice president and 2016 interfraternity council vice president of risk management, worked as one of 12 members to combat sexual assault in the Greek community.

“The task force has kind of evolved,” Benning said. “Our first priority was to figure out how to make specific trouble areas safer, but now we have a bigger team that’s more involved in implementing what we came up with.”

sexual assault is not exclusively a greek community issue; it is a campuswide problem.

Association of American Universities campus climate survey in the spring of 2015; its results were released the following fall. The findings exposed a statistic students currently know too well: One in four female undergraduate students experiences some form of sexual assault through force or incapacitation while attending UW-Madison.

The survey collected data on the most common locations where assaults occur; on-campus housing and Greek housing were the two most frequently identified.

Sam Johnson, a violence prevention specialist at the End Violence on Campus unit at University Health Services, explains prevention programs that target the two populations.

Calling upon UHS for assistance, Greek leadership became determined to fix the issue, and the Greek Sexual Assault and Gender-Based Violence Task Force was formed.

Students and some professional staff members primarily led the task force.

As the designated violence prevention office for campus, UHS served as consultants for the task

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Benning worked with other members to present the ideas to Chancellor Rebecca Blank, who then approved them.

The first recommendation requires bystander intervention training, administered by UHS, for all new members of Greek life.

Greek students will utilize a program called “Green Dot,” which offers a curriculum for bystander intervention. It will also be used in classrooms and other organizations.

“Rather than teaching people how to prevent their own sexual assaults or teaching how not to hurt people, this is what you as a community member, as a witness, can do to challenge and intervene,” Johnson said.

The second recommendation created a new position in Greek chapters—a safety and wellness chair. This individual will be trained by UHS and be taught to provide assistance to individuals in their Greek houses.

The Go Greek information session, which is open to all new Greek members, is commonly attended by sorority females, but prospective fraternity members rarely make appearances.

The third recommendation involves a fraternity-specific information session to emphasize many topics pertaining to assault.

“When you’re in an organization with lots of men, masculinity adds fuel to the fire,” Benning said. “There’s a lot of competition and guys coming in with misconceptions. That can be stopped with older members instilling values and telling them not to do those things.”

Accountability also plays a role by amending Greek council bylaws and defining sexual assault while emphasizing intervention.

This recommendation will likely be a component in the fifth point,

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der-violence prevention. It encourages that six percent of active members participate in additional organizations related to sexual assault.

Sexual assault is not exclusively a Greek community issue; it is a campuswide problem.

UW-Madison attempts to train students about the situation early on by requiring the completion of the Tonight program by all new students.

The computer program coaches students on bystander intervention techniques. Modifications are made every semester, using suggestions from student focus groups. Their biggest and latest improvement features more information on campus resources for assault witnesses and victims.

“We are planning to increase our victim advocacy service,” Johnson said. “We are becoming aware that it is a needed service and are working on hiring more people to work towards prevention.”

Along with the Tonight program and various student organizations raising awareness of

increase safety across UW-Madison.

This is a key component of their current policies after the Association of American Universities found that 23.1 percent undergraduates nationally reported an experience of nonconsensual sexual contact, while 11 percent reported that they were raped, according to a Wisconsin State Journal article.

UWPD, alongside Madison Police Department, believes the bill that gives victims of sexual assault amnesty from drinking tickets will prioritize victims’ concerns over university sanctions for underage drinking.

“We need to do all we can to encourage survivors of sexual assault to come forward to report this crime, so we can do our jobs as law enforcement to hold a perpetrator accountable,” UWPD Assistant Chief Kari Sasso said in a State Journal article.

But for any victims who are not ready to come forward to the police, UWPD and MPD do encourage them to see someone at one of the resources available through UHS or the UW campus.

One in four female undergraduate students experiences some form of sexual assault through force or incapacitation while attending UW-Madison.

which is peer-to-peer discussions that will be made mandatory for all general members.

The final part of the plan promotes chapter involvement in gen-

sexual assault, the UW-Madison Police Department is fighting further sexual assaults on campus through highly trained officers and investigations centered on the victim’s comfortability.

UWPD’s policies support victims’ control of police investigation and move at a pace that is comfortable for the victim, according to its website.

UWPD officers also practice privacy and amnesty for drinking tickets to encourage victims to report against their assaulters and

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Benning and Johnson both said they see a positive change in the Madison community.

According to Benning and Johnson, sexual assault is now being talked about much more freely, which is the first step to stopping the problem.

“At the end of the day when I can actually see a change with my own eyes, when people go out on the weekends and start treating people with more respect in general, I think that’s the ultimate goal,” Benning said. “People need to realize that the survivors and the perpetrators are humans. Treat them like that.”

news Trigger warnings cause divide among mental health, free speech proponents 4

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Action Project Issue, April 2016

Story by Jake Skubish

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he 1960s and 70s were known for progressive activism, and few places better embodied these movements than college campuses.

UW-Madison in particular was known as a center of student involvement in social issues.

When UW System Board of Regent Tim Higgins, a self-described “good conservative” from a parochial school in Appleton, arrived at UW-Madison in the early 1970s, he was in for quite a culture shock.

Higgins said fellow students challenged his viewpoints from the moment he stepped on campus.

“It certainly expanded my horizons,” Higgins said. “Sometimes the learning you get from confrontation is more valuable because it goes beyond the bounds of academic rigor and makes you think about how you live your life.”

The push for trigger warnings, notifications given to students for whom classroom material may bring back past trauma, divides this coalescence of student activism and student freedom.

Many individuals, such as recently retired political science professor Donald Downs, see the movement as a generational shift for student activists.

“I’m from the 60s generation, and we wanted more freedom,” Downs said. “We didn’t want paternalism.

We didn’t want administration trying to protect us.”

Student activists today, however, believe these are inaccurate characterizations.

Emily Buck/the daily cardinal

Trigger warnings may have mental health benefits for students who have experienced trauma.

Some professors, however, are resistant to trigger warning requirements in university policy.

“I think the idea of sheltered or coddled college students is misguided.The intent of trigger warnings is not to shut down discussion,” said Lizzy Schounard, vice chair of UW-Madison College Democrats.

“Trigger warnings aim to help students feel comfortable, safe, and empowered in the classroom.”

Beyond making students comfortable, trigger warnings may also provide tangible mental health benefits.

According to Samantha Johnson, the undergraduate violence prevention specialist for the campus group End Violence On Campus, trigger warnings can help when students are presented with graphic content.

“We know sensory information like that can trigger flashbacks to harm done to them, or even anxiety and panic attacks,” Johnson said. “So having that self-preparation has both a health benefit, and prepares that

person to engage in the dialogue.”

EVOC advises professors and teaching assistants on how best to integrate potentially triggering material in the classroom, Johnson stated.

EVOC also uses trigger warnings at events it hosts on campus, which often concern themes of sexual violence.

“We always like to give a heads-up that people are welcome to participate at their own pace,” Johnson said.

“It’s sort of a challenge-by-choice situation. People may choose to engage, people may choose to just listen.”

While this selective participation may work for EVOC events, many believe it can make the classroom a less academically challenging environment.

“It sort of boils down to what a college education is supposed to be,” Downs said. “It’s supposed to be challenging. It’s supposed to present things that make us uncomfortable

to a point.”

To Higgins, it is not the professor’s responsibility to sort through all potential triggers in class material, nor is it very realistic.

“As a student you have a responsibility to protect yourself. If somebody assigns a book and you’re really concerned about a rape scene, well, you need to find out if that’s going to bother you,” Higgins said.

According to Neil Simpkins, a PhD student in the English department who co-authored a paper on trigger warnings last year, this slippery slope could be avoided by simply talking to students.

“Rather than the professor saying ‘this is what I assume is triggering to my students,’ they could use some kind of anonymous form for students to be able to say ‘this is what I need a trigger warning for in this particular classroom context,’” Simpkins said.

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Schounard also said concerns about trigger warnings damaging the classroom are exaggerated, however their mental health benefits are essential for some students.

“Trigger warnings are just that: a warning,” Schounard said.

“Professors showing highly controversial, graphic, or potentially triggering content should be compelled to provide trigger warnings to the benefit of their entire classroom, and if even one student is made to feel more comfortable, then it has done its job.”

As a professor, Downs says he would object to being subjected to a mandated trigger warning rule.

“We end up encouraging students to feel victimized and to feel offended all the time,” Downs said. “It’s not a sign of mental health in a society when more and more people feel like they don’t have mental health.”

Ultimately, Downs said he believes a school-wide policy isn’t necessary to achieve what student activists are pushing for.

“A lot of it is just common sense respect for your students,” Downs said. “We don’t need a whole trigger warning policy and movement to tell faculty that if you’re dealing with stuff that’s disturbing material, maybe they should prepare their students for it.”

As current student activists fight for trigger warnings as part of their vision of mental health justice and opponents denounce the movement as an attack on free speech, the debate on the issue gets more contentious, and possibly less productive.

“Whether or not [trigger warnings] ultimately get taken up, the discussion around them should be different than what it is,” Simpkins said.

Officials aim to create dementia-friendly Wisconsin Story by Andrew Bahl

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s more and more people nationwide are being diagnosed with dementia and Alzheimer’s, Wisconsin lawmakers, activists and researchers are working to ensure the state remains a leader in supporting families touched by the diseases.

An estimated 115,000 Wisconsinites suffer from some form of dementia, according to the state Department of Health Services, but that number is expected to more than double by 2040 as the state’s population grows.

Because of this, officials are trying to ensure that government offices and local businesses are supporting those suffering from the disease. The issue was one championed by members of both parties in the most recent legislative session.

Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, established a task force on Alzheimer’s and dementia, which traveled the state to hear from Wisconsinites affected by the issue.

State Rep. Dianne Hesselbein, D-Middleton, was one of the members on the committee. For her, the issue is a personal one—her father died of Alzheimer’s in 2011.

“This is a way I can give back and honor my father,” Hesselbein said. “We traveled across the state to hear from everyone and the stories you hear over and over are so similar.

It wasn’t that difficult to come up with legislation.”

Together the committee worked on over a dozen bills.

They ranged in content from providing support and time off for caregivers to offering training for law enforcement on what to do when they encounter someone with dementia.

A bill Hesselbein authored would increase funding for the Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center at UW-Madison by $50,000, which could pave the way for National Institute of Health grant funding.

While the bill passed the Assembly unanimously, it failed to clear the state Senate.

Hesselbein has pledged to reintroduce it next session to help support researchers

attempting to solve the puzzle of Alzheimer’s, which has no known cure.

“Wouldn’t it be great if we found a cure right here on campus?” she said.

The effort is continuing at the local level as well. A group in Watertown is trying to make the city the first in the country to be labeled “dementia friendly.”

The group is trying to get local businesses to support and train employees to aid patrons who may suffer from memory loss or forgetfulness, key symptoms of dementia.

Last month, Jefferson County went one step further by becoming the first county in the state to train its employees to best help residents who may have the disease.

“We all know a family that has been, is or will be touched by dementia,” said Jim Schroeder, chairman of the Jefferson County Board of Supervisors, according to the Daily Jefferson County Union. “So, by committing to providing our services here at the courthouse and other facilities in a dementia-friendly manner, and also by getting the word out in our communities, we’re

really making a difference.”

As more and more families throughout the state face dementia, Hesselbein said the key for caregivers, including students, is to remain patient in helping their elderly family

and friends.

“Be very patient to your loved ones and be patient with yourself.

You can’t take care of anyone else if you can’t take care of yourself,” she said. “It’s a long journey.”

graphic by miller jozwiak

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Center for Healthy Minds researches best ways to improve mental health, well-being Story by Negassi Tesfamichael

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or most people, exercise includes breaking a sweat by lifting weights, going for a run or playing a game of pickup basketball. However, researchers at UW-Madison’s Center for Healthy Minds focus on training the mind in order to seek better health.

UW-Madison neuroscientist Richard Davidson founded the unique research center in 2008 with the goal of studying what establishes a healthy mind.

In a time where research on mental health and well-being has become more prevalent, Davidson and his research teams look for scientific evidence to help people find balance and compassion in their daily lives.

“We’re one of the only facilities of our kind that has contemplative spaces such as meditation rooms as well as imaging equipment,” said Marianne Spoon, a spokesperson for the center. “We can do a lot of different things here. We can look behaviorally at what is going on while at the same time fine tune the biology of what’s actually going on.”

“Science is slow, complex and there is also so much that we don’t know. We are skimming the surface on many fronts.”

Marianne Spoon spokesperson Center for Healthy Minds

The center studies development throughout the lifespan with a focus on certain critical periods when human brain development is more malleable.

One example of the center’s focus on training the mind is its

kindness curriculum, a mindfulness-based curriculum that examines how various practices and teachings can influence social behavior in a classroom.

In a recent study, researchers assessed the learning skills of fourand five-year-olds in the Madison Metropolitan School District.

want to expand the scope of the curriculum to see if these effects can stay with kids as they grow up.”

The longevity of these results can be promising, especially as young adults enter the workforce,

years since, the average funding for a year is nearly $10 million less.

“Even though funding has been pretty flat over the past few years, it hasn’t been just to mental health,” Greenberg said. “Funding for federal research has been greatly reduced across the board.”

They tested how the kids’ attention to ideas such as compassion, kindness and gratitude from simple tasks like giving stickers to peers.

At the end of the curriculum’s trainings, researchers in the study said they found students were more likely to show compassionate behavior to people they previously struggled to get along with.

“We still need to replicate the study since it was the first of its kind, but we suspect the results are more promising,” Spoon s a i d .

“Like physical exercise, mental exercise must be maintained. We

where they will spend most of their lives.

Though much of the center’s research focuses on the basic sciences, Spoon said applications of their research can help people practice mindfulness skills throughout their lives.

Despite the progress, a lack of federal funding for the National Institute of Mental Health has been felt locally. Between 2009 and 2012, the NIMH received an average of $1.47 billion annually. In the

The center receives about 53 percent of its funding through federal grants.

“Across the university we are feeling the scarcity and the competition for these federal research dollars,” Spoon said.

“We’ve been very lucky in that we have been able to secure some large, multipleyear grants.”

Aside from federal research dollars, the center receives about 38 percent of its funding from non-governmental agencies, which Spoon said the center is lucky to have at a time of declining funding.

“These people are philanthropic and are people who want to invest in our science,” Spoon said. “We are benefitting and are very grateful for the support from outside the university and the governmental agencies.”

Despite stagnant funding in recent

years, the field itself has expanded since the early 1990s, according to Associate Vice Chancellor for Social Studies Jan Greenberg.

“It’s definitely changed over time as national priorities change and new discoveries are made,” Greenberg said. “There’s a lot more research being done on campus around mental illness as a brain disorder and understanding how the brain really works.”

Greenberg and his office—the Office of the Vice Chancellor forResearch and Graduate Education— work primarily to help faculty make their research interests a reality by connecting them to funding opportunities as well as other resources, such as adapting research to fit the needs of diverse populations.

“A big change is that a lot of research is being done to try to adapt research for a more diverse population,” Greenberg said. “We can then take treatments that have been used for majority culture and try to adapt them so that they are more appropriate for different groups of people.”

So much of mental health and well-being research is unknown, which Spoon said can sometimes slow down their process. However, she noted the science will eventually catch up.

“Like physical exercise, mental exercise must be maintained.”

Marianne Spoon spokesperson Center for Healthy Minds

“Science is slow, complex and there is also so much that we don’t know. We are skimming the surface on many fronts,” she said. “A lot of people are suffering and part of our mission is to alleviate suffering, and we are trying to get the impact of the science we study out there as best we can.”

BETSEY OSTERBERGER/THE DAILY CARDINAL

The Center for Healthy Minds, founded in 2008 and housed in the Waisman Center, hopes to utilize its research to help schools and workplaces live balanced lives.

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Campus organizations foster awareness of sustainable, affordable food options Community, healthy choices at heart of Slow Food UW Story by Lulu de Vogel

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very Monday night, community members gather in the basement of the Crossing church on University Avenue to enjoy Family Dinner Night hosted by the organization Slow Food UW. The dinner, which costs $5 and is prepared by student interns and a different guest chef every week, is just one part of the organization’s efforts to demonstrate the ways food can bring people together.

Founded in 1989, Slow Food is an international movement working to prevent the disappearance of local food cultures and traditions.

The organization aims to “combat people’s dwindling interest in the food they eat, where it comes from and how our food choices affect the world around us,” according to its website.

UW’s campus chapter of Slow Food brings

this mission to the Madison community. share a meal.

The organization offers affordable, Slow Food UW also offers a café-style healthy meals to college students, brings lunch Wednesday afternoons, featuring healthy food and information to children seasonal fruits and vegetables and workin South Madison and partners ing to eliminate food waste by sendwith other campus orgaing leftovers down the street to nizations to spread its Porchlight homeless shelter. message. The group’s Besides serving the vision statement says campus community, its events attempt to Slow Food UW also create an inclusive, brings its services to anti-oppressive South Madison to conspace “where comnect with children and munity members their families.

Krista Marshall can bridge cultural The Slow Food differences through a South Madison project intern shared meal.” serves a locally-sourced Slow Food Scott Lawson, a meal once a month at the current Slow Food cook, Boys and Girls Club, as well echoed the welcoming sentias holding cooking workshops to ment. “It’s hard to be mad at people teach children how to prepare healthy when there is food involved,” he said. and affordable food.

Family Dinner Night hosts a diverse “South Madison bridges the gap range of community members each between the rest of Madison and the camweek, where strangers sit side by side to pus community,” said Krista Marshall, a

“Knowledge is power when it comes to your food system.”

UW-Madison student currently interning with Slow Food. “They address specific problems in the food system, and bring knowledge we gain from FDN and Café to economically disparaged areas.”

Through its variety of projects, Slow Food UW tries to provide “good, clean, and fair food for all.”

“Students need to be more aware of what they’re eating and what that means,” Lawson said. “It is easy in our campus bubble to eat healthy, sustainable, local meals all of the time.”

By providing students with access to sustainable food, Slow Food UW attempts to raise student awareness about food injustice and the interconnectedness of food and social injustice.

Marshall said this is something she has learned a lot about since joining the Slow Food team.

“Knowledge is power when it comes to your food system,” Marshall said. “It is important to know where your food comes from.”

MORGAN WINSTON/THE DAILY CARDINAL

KATIE SCHEIDT/THE DAILY CARDINAL

The F.H. King farm aims to bring healthy, affordable food to UW-Madison students and educate them about sustainable options.

Student farm seeks to bridge gap between food production, consumption Story by Martha Morganstein

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MORGAN WINSTON/THE DAILY CARDINAL

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Slow Food UW’s Cafe and Family Dinner Nights allow students and community members to share affordable, healthy and sustainable meals on campus.

ff the path on the way to Picnic Point, in the Eagle Heights garden, a 1.8-acre student-run farm serves as home to a variety of fruits, vegetables, flowers and herbs.

The farm practices sustainable and organic techniques to produce crops enjoyed by the entire UW-Madison community.

Operated by the organization F. H. King Students for Sustainable Agriculture, the farm’s student workers pride themselves in running a space which focuses mostly on sustainable and organic farming.

The students try to minimize the amount of pesticides and herbicides used, as well as the general energy utilized in the production of the crops.

Garden Director Aida Ebrahimi explained the farm is considered a permaculture, meaning there is a wide

variety in the types of crops grown. sive on a college budget, but that is “The diversity of crops will create just not the case,” Daly explained. a healthier environment, so we will The club leads workshops which have a lower amount of pests and center around different topics diseases spreading in the garden,” involving food, used to give students Ebrahimi said. insight into ways to lead a healthier The organization also encour- and more sustainable lifestyle on a ages students to maintain a college budget. more sustainable diet, According to Daly, which Ebrahimi some solutions said has both they suggest to health and students are to environmenfind grocery tal benefits. stores with “It’s a diet a section of that sustains bruised proa person duce which, throughout though still Aida Ebrahimi the day, one healthy and that is healthy fresh, are a garden director and is comcheaper alterF.H. King prised of mostly native to the locally grown and in normal selection. season vegetables,” To ensure that Ebrahimi said. fresh vegetables are F.H. King’s Finance available to more students, the Director Erin Daly said she realizes organization has also developed a many students feel they are unable program called Harvest Handouts, to sustain such a diet. which gives fresh produce out to stu“They think it’s too hard to get dents completely free of charge durthe food or the food is just too expen- ing the months of June to October.

“Lots of students don’t understand how the food they are eating was grown.”

According to the organization’s website, 90 percent of the 4,000-5,500 pounds of vegetables produced on the farm are distributed on Fridays with the Harvest Handout program.

The rest of the produce is usually donated to other events or served at their community dinners, held once a month over the summer.

Daly explained Harvest Handouts and their other events allow for fresh produce to be accessible to more students.

“It’s nice to know we’re reaching a wide number of people,” Daly said.

“It’s cool to see the look on their face and see how grateful they are when they get the vegetables.”

Many of the farm’s events also intend to close the gap between food production and food consumption.

According to Ebrahimi, there is often a disconnect between students and their source of food.

“Lots of students don’t understand how the food they are eating was grown, how it was processed or how it came onto their table,” Ebrahimi said. “It’s a matter of selfcare to really understand what’s going into your body.”

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Madison boasts popular bike trails Story by Jake Powers and Miller Jozwiak

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adison has always been perceived as a biking community, and as the weather has started to turn this spring, that’s all the more evident with thousands of bicyclists hitting the network of trails that connect most of the city.

However, this influx of cyclists zipping throughout the city isn’t a new sight—in Madison, biking is a year-round affair.

During the winter the city plows what it calls “arterial bike lanes,” the most-used lanes by bikers.

Even in major snow storms, when trails cannot be plowed quickly, the city instructs snowplow drivers to minimize windrows.

“Like I said, the infrastructure is great, even in the winter time,” said Madison Downtown Erik’s Bike Shop store manager Kenny Peterson. “Sometimes the bike lanes or bike paths are cleared off before the roads or cleared off better than the roads.”

Peterson, who moved to the Madison area in 2012, has been impressed with the strong bike culture the city boasts, no small compliment given he previously lived in the

Twin Cities, another metropolitan area regularly lauded for its bikefriendly accessibility.

Madison is ranked as one of the top five bike communities in the nation and achieved platinum status as a bike friendly community at the League of American Bicyclists Awards in November.

UW-Madison specifically received gold status as a campus for its work in making biking a foundation of its transportation system.

The cycling ecosystem has a direct impact on day-to-day life of Madisonians that transcends its appeal to hobbyists.

Peterson, who estimated “90-95 percent” of his staffers commute to his shop via bike, believes the ease of transit, especially along the isthmus, has a profound effect on accessibility.

Services like Madison B-cycle, a bike-sharing organization consisting of 39 stations with 350 bikes people can “check out” and then return to other stations in the area, make the urban

biking experience all the more smooth for commuters.

“Especially downtown with how crowded it can be, just if you drive a car, how crowded it can be downtown, parking-wise,” Peterson said.

The urban tentacles of Madison’s paths transition seamlessly into the surrounding area, connecting cyclists to the scenic rural trails that make up most of Wisconsin’s geography. This unique feature is a draw for those looking for a multifaceted cycling experience, according to Peterson.

“I know people who come from out of town who rent a bike to go explore and are like ‘wow, we didn’t know there were so many bike paths,’ or they get out into the country and don’t realize we have hills here …

being in this geographical area where you’ve got the city center, but then 10-15 minutes out from the city you’ve got farm roads and country, that is just really unique in that sense.”

Although biking is incredibly popular in Madison, accidents involving bicycles are on the rise, according to the Madison Police Department.

In 2012 there were 75 accidents involving bicycles. Since then every year that number has risen, with 108 in 2014 and 96 through the third quarter of 2015.

In February, Dane County Circuit Court Judge William Foust dismissed felony charges against John Dohm Jr. for allegedly running two bikers off the road.

Foust cited the prosecution had a lack of evidence against Dohm.

Prosecuting cases such as that or even cases in which the cyclists die can be difficult. According to Next City, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration keeps track of cyclists killed, but not charged.

However, MPD is also working to make road users aware of biking safety.

The Wisconsin Department of Transportation gave MPD 53 grants in the third quarter of 2015. MPD deployed officers to over 30 locations to focus on pedestrian safety, bike safety and alcohol and speed enforcement.

“Having that friendly bike infrastructure I think gets more people riding and feeling safer about it for sure. It just gets more people on bikes. If people feel safer about riding bikes, they’re going to ride a bike. There’s a lot of people who work for the university or students that, they don’t have cars, they all just commute.”

Among the several projects in planning, the City of Madison details, is the construction of a cycle track, an “exclusive bike facility that combines the user experience of a separated path with the on-street infrastructure of a conventional bike lane,” that would span Mifflin Street between Pinckney Street and Fairchild Street along the Capitol square.

Mad i s o n’s c ycl i n g infrastructure is constantly in flux, improving on an already well-regarded system.

“I don’t ever really hear anyone gripe or complain about the area because it is super bike friendly,” Peterson said.

Anti-vaccine views persist despite being disproven Story by Miller Jozwiak

T

he anti-vax movement gained traction in the news after the first measles death in 12 years was reported last spring.

The movement spread quickly and dates back years—just like the diseases that are not being vaccinated.

The anti-vax movement specifically refers to opposition against the MMR vaccination, which stands for Measles, Mumps and Rubella.

One dose of the vaccine is 93 percent effective against the disease and two doses are 97 percent effective, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In 1998, two years before measles was declared eliminated from the United States, Dr. Andrew Wakefield published work in The Lancet that suggested there was more investigation needed to determine a possible relationship between bowel disease, autism and the MMR vaccine, according to the College of Physicians of Philadelphia.

After Wakefield’s work received substantial media attention, the public reacted negatively. The Lancet later retracted his articles.

Wakefield was found to have had financial motivations for establishing a link between autism and MMR, but no such link whatsoever has been found and he was struck from the British medical register.

graphic by miller jozwiak

Former doctor Andrew Wakefield published work in the late 1990s suggesting a possible link between the MMR vaccine and autism. It has since been proven false.

Despite the link being debunked, the movement has persisted in the United States.

The Tribeca Film Festival went so far as almost airing a documentary this year that perpetuated the myth and was produced by Andrew Wakefield.

Public Health Madison & Dane County Epidemiologist Amanda Kita-Yarboro said the spread of the debunked claims persists.

“I think even though [people] know that study has been disproven and withdrawn from the journal that it was published in, there’s still people who either don’t know that it’s been discredited or they still believe what was reported in

that study,” Kita-Yarboro said.

In 2014, the number of measles cases in the U.S. peaked at 667, and fell to 189 in 2015, which is still a preliminary estimate, according to the CDC. The majority of those infected were not vaccinated.

Measles is still common around the world, killing as many as 400 people a day, and can spread quickly when an infected person visits the U.S. According to the CDC, vaccines cannot be given to everyone in the U.S. If more people get vaccinated, less people are susceptible to disease.

“Most vaccine-preventable diseases are spread from per-

son to person. If one person in a community gets an infectious disease, he can spread it to others who are not immune,” according to the CDC website.

“But a person who is immune to a disease because she has been vaccinated can’t get that disease and can’t spread it to others.”

This increase in cases has not been limited to the national stage.

Wisconsin saw 53 mumps cases in 2014—up from zero in 2013 and the highest since 54 in 2007.

However, according to other data from the Wisconsin Department of Health Services, immunization percentages of the 24-month MMR vaccine have actu-

ally risen in more urban areas such as Milwaukee, Kenosha and Dane County since 2012.

But more rural counties such as Bayfield and Waushara have dropped substantially. Buffalo County went from 81 percent of 24-month-olds vaccinated with MMR in 2012 to 76 percent last year. Other vaccinations in those counties have dropped off even more substantially.

Not vaccinating children can have effects besides getting sick, according to Kita-Yarboro.

“It helps protect [children] from disease, personally. Vaccines can prevent disease completely, sometimes they don’t prevent completely but they make the disease more mild,” she said. “Getting vaccinated protects people around you. Especially with MMR it’s a live vaccine and so people who are immunocompromised can’t get it. And so then they’re vulnerable to that disease. And they really depend on the people around them to not have the disease.”

Wisconsin has an online immunization registry that offers vaccination information for individuals who provide a name, birthdate and social security number. The website lists all previous vaccinations and ones that are due.

Even if Wakefield’s MMR myth persists in Wisconsin and not everyone takes advantage of the life-saving shots, Public Health Madison & Dane County will ensure everyone has access to vaccines. They offer free vaccines to uninsured children and adults.

opinion Alcohol culture alienates non-drinkers dailycardinal.com

Action Project Issue, April 2016

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JONAH BELECKIS letter to the editor

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ello, my name is Jonah.

Invariably, when I introduce myself at weekly recovery programs I am greeted with a chorus of “Hello Jonah,” from a group united by our challenges coping with friends or family who have alcohol problems.

I go because I am a senior at UW-Madison who is a non-drinker.

Friends old and new ask all the time why I don’t drink.

“It’s just a personal choice,” “I never have,” “I have a bad family history,” I usually respond.

I rarely ever tell people—even my closest friends—what the answer really comes down to.

I’m terrified alcohol would take my life away.

Addiction is in my blood. It is the death threat I find etched on my mirror every Friday night.

My great-grandfather is mostly responsible for bringing addiction to the gene pool on my father’s side. Nine of his 13 grandchildren became alcoholics. Most 20th century families descended on my mother’s side have struggled with drugs or alcohol.

Genetics aren’t everything, but they contribute to about 40-to60 percent of somebody’s risk of addiction, according to Joseph Glass, an assistant professor in the School of Social Work.

Luckily, I grew up in a sober household, without having to confront alcohol.

Then I came here.

While UW-Madison’s drinking culture was never a secret, I didn’t know it was celebrated.

Wisconsin is the No. 1 binge drinking state in the country, which for many is a point of pride.

When professors make playful jokes about our wild weekend shenanigans, I smile—uncomfortably. When 14,000 students around me at Camp Randall are saying, “We! Want! More! Beer!”

I close my eyes and wish I could disappear. When people who don’t know me expect high fives at 2:30 a.m., I oblige—there are

Betsy Osterberger/the daily cardinal

The overwhelming nature of UW-Madison’s drinking culture can take a toll on non-drinkers at the university, like Jonah Beleckis. better battles to fight.

My private skirmishes began my first freshman weekend. I went to a house party where a cup of whatever was $5, which I would soon learn is standard in college. My friend and I weren’t drinking, and after we informed the makeshift bouncer, he scoffed as if his bravado were up to peer review and asked me, “Why would you come to a house party and not drink?” I bit my tongue and paid for an empty cup. We all make sacrifices to be accepted, right?

Fifty percent of UW-Madison’s undergrads are labeled as “high-risk drinkers,” according to University Health Services Alcohol and Other Drug Prevention Coordinator Reonda Washington. The American College Health Association defines “high-risk drinkers” as if you have had five or more drinks in one sitting within the last two weeks.

Here come the “it’s college” clichés. Except other UW-System schools reported at 35 percent. The national average was 36 percent.

Washington had a few ideas as to why UW-Madison’s high-risk drinking rate was 14 percentage

points above the national average. One was our drinking culture. She also mentioned access.

According to Washington, as of last July there were 206 places students could get alcohol within a 3-mile radius outside of campus, with one side of that radius being a lake. Eau Claire has 64 in the entire city.

Some nights at Wando’s or Nitty Gritty—where I barely have room to move—are where I feel most alone.

The drinking culture at UW-Madison is, at times, overwhelming to me. It can trigger the worst of my anxieties.

I know I’m not by myself, but some nights at Wando’s or Nitty Gritty—where I barely have room to move—are where I feel most alone.

People tell me I don’t need to drink because I’m fun without getting drunk. This swells my feelings of alienation.

Research into the expectancy effects of alcohol illuminate the role our culture plays in the perceived connection between “drinking” and “fun.” People act more fun with alcohol because they think that’s what should happen, not entirely because the alcohol makes them do it. Diet Sunkist can bring out my most embarrassing dance moves, and it’s probably not due to the Aspartame.

On the other side, to many, the absence of alcohol equals the absence of fun.

“You’re not going out tonight?

Why don’t you try and be fun? Why are you so boring?”

In this environment, and in many others, alcohol is treated as a good. I question that. I in no way aim to condemn everyone who drinks, but I do ask for people to listen and be aware that something that may permeate society is not unequivocally good.

How do we all reconcile that each year more than 600,000 students age 18-24 are assaulted by another student who has been drinking?

That 90 percent of acquaintance rape and sexual assault on campuses involves the use of alcohol by the assailant, victim or both? That many

“I’m happy because I get to leave every day

with my

hands dirty.”

- Eduardo, automotive technician student

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Madison College. Find your Happy Place.

Madison College does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, disability or age in its programs or activities. Inquiries regarding the nondiscrimination policies are handled by the Affirmative Action Officer, 1701 Wright Street, Madison, WI 53704, phone (608) 243-4137.

surveyed UW-Madison students of color reported conscious attempts to avoid State Street and Langdon Street for fear of harassment?

How am I supposed to reconcile that alcoholism wrecks families, that lives are over before they even start?

I know alcohol does not make someone commit these crimes. But can you really say it’s not a factor?

I’ve come to a point where I see there are people, good people, who can control their drinking behavior. And there are other people, also good people, who cannot. Not everyone fits the conception of an addict, someone who is “lying in the street, [who] smells like alcohol and is in the gutter,” as Glass explained.

I’m terrified alcohol would take my life away.

Respect each other’s limits and respect each other’s differences. College life is not all party and bullshit. I’ve said no to a drink many more times than I’ve Jumped Around. I believe there are others on this campus who choose to say no, who might even have a harder time saying no.

For today, I’m not biting my tongue. I’m writing this for those people who may struggle as I do with UW-Madison’s drinking culture, who might want to know they are not alone.

For me, every day is a fight. I have grown toward appreciating the sweet taste of Sunkist instead of the common alternative, one much more bitter in taste.

There will be another note waiting, scrawled on my mirror next Friday, and the one after that. And I don’t know if it will ever get me.

Hello, my name is Jonah. Is anyone else out there?

Jonah is a senior majoring in journalism and psychology. If you have thoughts on UW-Madison’s drinking culture, you can email Jonah at beleckis@wisc.edu. If you or someone you know might have problems with alcohol or the culture, reach out to University Health Services. They also offer 24-hour Mental-Health Crisis Services at (608) 265-5600 (option 9).

opinion

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Action Project Issue, April 2016

dailycardinal.com

Anxiety doesn’t define UW students Talking to someone, regardless of gender, is the way to beat anxiety BOBBY EHRLICH guest columnist

A

s I laid in bed after a particularly rough day, I finally realized something: I’m not crazy.

It took me a while to finally come to this conclusion. In the fall, I went through a brutally difficult semester. I over-extended myself with academics, work and extracurriculars. It led to a downward spiral of constant stress, little sleep and poor eating habits.

This downward spiral eventually took to me to a place that I hope to never reach again. I would lie in bed for hours, unable to fall asleep despite my exhaustion. I would have to call my mom at four in the morning to calm me down just so I could get a few hours of sleep for the next day. I couldn’t sit still in lecture. I worried about everything so much that I would get so sick to my stomach I couldn’t eat.

It got to a point where I seriously considered hurting myself. There were days and nights where I would walk out to my apartment’s balcony and think about how much easier everything would be if I just jumped. It became a solution in my mind, an easy way out of all the suffering. I could end the everyday struggle with just a jump.

Eventually, I started taking medicine for my anxiety. It took me a while, but I did get better. I learned how to better manage the disease and not push myself to unattainable standards. I learned strategies to help with sleep and to navigate stressful times.

I learned a lot from this experience, but I think the most important lesson I learned was that it’s impossible to fight anxiety alone. Outside of a select group of people, I kept everything that was going on to myself.

I didn’t want to look weak. I didn’t want people to think I was crazy. I didn’t want people to think I couldn’t handle stress. I didn’t want people to think less of me.

Sadly, this reality is far too common for people struggling with mental illness. As a male, I didn’t feel I could comfortably talk to other guys about my anxiety because of the idea

that men must be tough. It wasn’t right for me to be so weak. I shouldn’t be calling my mom in the middle of the night. I just need to be stronger.

It’s time for these narratives to come to an end. My difficult semester could have been made easier had I been more willing to open up to people. But this starts with changing society’s perceptions on males dealing with anxiety. We aren’t crazy. We certainly aren’t weak. In fact, our ability to continually push through the disease makes us pretty damn strong.

It’s also important to remember that there are resources for help with mental diseases. Outside of UHS counseling services, the McBurney Center is a little-known resource for students with mental health issues.

The center helps accommodate students by potentially giving them more time on tests and with assignments.

They also have students take exams in smaller classrooms with less people as a means to ease the effects of anxiety or other disorders. They open up a conversation with the professors to help reach a reasonable accommodation for the students.

Students with mental illnesses now make up the largest population, 30 percent, of people registered in the McBurney Center program, according to data from the 2014-2015 academic year. This population has also grown in the last three years. 413 students with mental illnesses were in the program in 2014-15, up from 334 and 288 students the previous two years. McBurney Center Director Cathy Trueba viewed this as a positive because more and more students are registering for the program and receiving the help they need. This is hopefully a sign that students are more willing to come forward with their diseases, and that the societal stereotypes about mental illness are beginning to break down.

“With some relatively small adjustments, that feel small on the outside looking in, they’re really big adjustments to the students and they make a huge difference,” Trueba said. “We want to continue to get the word out to the students that we may be your resource.”

Dealing with anxiety has made me the person I am today JENNY RECKTENWALD guest columnist

B

efore I even opened my eyes to begin the day, I was already running through a list of all the things I had to, and determining whether or not to panic because they weren’t done yet. Almost immediately, I began to schedule my day down to the very last minute in order to make sure I would have time to accomplish it all.

Then, I would get up out of bed and start to feel the hysteria creeping up on me because time was already running out. Pretty soon, the tears welled up in my eyes and the feeling of nausea began to sink in.

On the outside, you would think nothing was wrong. On the inside I was drowning. Drowning in anxiety without any chance of getting enough air.

This was how I started every single day of freshman year. Overwhelmed and not knowing why. While kids were having the time of their lives, I spent the majority of nights crying on the phone to my mom and dad begging them to take me home.

I have always been a perfectionist, but I had never experienced anything quite like that feeling. I remember telling my parents that I thought I was losing my mind when it came to school.

I just felt so much pressure to do so many things, get good grades and to keep my GPA up, all while deciding my majors, making new friends and adjusting to a new environment. I was trying to do it all, but all of it was just too much. I spent countless hours before exams not eating; throwing up because I couldn’t handle the anxiety of what grade I could receive or how hard the test may be.

The girl who always had everything together didn’t want anyone to know that everything was falling apart.

Finally, I did the best thing I have ever done. I asked for help. I told my parents I couldn’t do it anymore. All the uneasiness about school took over my life for long enough. After consulting my doctor, she told me that what I had really wasn’t all that uncommon.

In fact, she said that she heard the exact same thing that I was experiencing from so many other college kids that

she didn’t even know where to begin.

What was “wrong” with me?

Nothing. Absolutely nothing. What I had to overcome? Anxiety. See, that’s what people don’t understand. Talking about a mental illness isn’t “taboo.”

Having a mental illness doesn’t alter the person you have always been. And most certainly, having a mental illness does not make you crazy. In today’s day, I have found that many people try and sweep any forms of mental illness under the rug whether that be anxiety, depression or bipolar disorder.

Society says that people with mental illness just need to “chill” and “deal with it,” or just need to “toughen up” and stop being so “weak.”

Unfortunately, society is completely wrong. People with mental illness don’t need to do any of those things.

In fact, people with mental illness just need to keep being the incredible and beautiful people that they are today.

They are not “crazy,” and they are not “weak.” They just have different battles to fight.

Although I am no longer anxious about school, I have learned from my battle with anxiety that mental illness is nothing to be ashamed of. I have learned that anxiety has actually made me the successful person that I am today. This mental illness had made me, me. In fact, my anxiety is awesome. Why? Because I’m awesome, and that wasn’t going to change because I struggled with something like anxiety.

Today, I am challenging every single one of you to stop looking at mental illness like a curse. Look at it like a disease.

People can’t help how their brains are chemically balanced. There is one way, however, that you can look at people with mental illness. You can look at them with the open hearts and open minds you would use to look at everyone else.

Why? Because we are all just people, and that’s all we will ever be.

Bobby is a sophomore majoring in journalism and political science. Jenny is a sophomore majoring in legal studies and English. Have you had any similar experiences to these two? Please send all comments, questions and concerns to opinion@dailycardinal.com.

BETSY OSTERBERGER/CARDINAL FILE PHOTO

The McBurney Disability Resource Center is a little-known campus resource for students who suffer from mental health issues, like anxiety.

opinion dailycardinal.com

Action Project Issue, April 2016

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Take the stigma away from mental illness OLIVIA HUGHES opinion columnist

I

t is not breaking news that college years are filled with wild emotions.

From the moment we step on campus, we are overwhelmed with new feelings and experiences we never knew existed. Feelings of anxiety and stress are almost inevitable.

For a lot of students, the highs and lows that arise in the teenageturned college years are a culmination that turn life into a rollercoaster, one that is action-packed and exhilarating. But for a notable number of others, the dips in the rollercoaster can last too long, leading to severe depression and related mental health disorders.

About 11.4 percent or about 2.8 million U.S. adolescents have had at least one “major depressive episode” in a 12-month period, according to the 2014 National Survey on Drug Use and Health. Subsequently, this report adds that this number has grown in recent years. Statistics offer undeniable proof of the significance of depression in college students, and the only sensible solution is that every person enduring mental health issues deserves to receive both help and respect. But is this always the case?

Last summer, I worked in the women’s unit at New YorkPresbyterian Psychiatric Hospital.

To say the least, my perspective on the human condition transformed.

A study by the Pew Research Center

states that teen girls are most likely to experience depression, with 16 percent experiencing a major depressive episode in the past 12 months. I had always been aware of these unsettling numbers, but not until I stepped onto the psychiatric ward did numbers become truth.

I met women my age, women who were in combat with the monster that is a chemical imbalance in the brain. They struggled with every type of illness from chronic depression to schizophrenia. I helped these women. Fetching the shampoo they requested, changing their sheets, opening the doors for their visitors.

However, what was paramount was the wonderful, intelligent, powerful conversations I held with them. This being said, I could discuss my experience for pages, but if I could compress those six weeks down into one word, “stigma” is the one that comes to mind.

When we hear “schizophrenia,” many associate the word with homelessness or volatility. But people with mental illness are not simply the man portrayed in Alfred Hitchcock’s “Psycho.” The people who don’t grab headlines are those like Elyn Saks, a renowned professor of law at the University of Southern California, and the author of a brilliant and critically acclaimed memoir. For me, this book, “The Center Cannot Hold,” sparked a sort of love for psychology and fascination with the stigma that comes along with imperfection of the brain. Saks puts it beautifully, “No

one would ever say that someone with a broken arm or a broken leg is less than a whole person, but people say that or imply that all the time about people with mental illness.”

To answer the question posed earlier, no this is not always the case. College students and others suffering from mental illness do not readily receive the intervention they need.

This is not only a public health concern but a crisis. There is a lack of appreciation for any mental illness that presents itself. The alarming thing is that it is 2016, and here at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, when an appointment for a counselor is made, it takes 3-4 weeks for the student to meet with a counselor. The harsh reality is that there is a deficit of psychiatric resources and funding to serve people with depression. In a country like the United States and at a university like UW-Madison with all its wealth and resources, it is a tragic commentary.

Stigma precludes people from seeking help or even identifying as needing help. In order to receive attention and help, they wait until a crisis hits. This is not an issue of those with mental illnesses but of an emergency that is the shortage of attention, money and resources involved in treating mental health issues. I have had close friends here that reach out to their parents when they think they are having mental problems, only to be told to wait until it gets worse. Would they be told the

KAITLYN VETO/THE DAILY CARDINAL

Across many college campuses, mental illness is a serious issue. same thing if they had an infected wound on their arm?

On their website, UHS acknowledges the delay in mental health appointments, but they declare, “If you are having a crisis or feeling suicidal, call us…You’ll be connected with a counselor through our crisis intervention services.” The true drawback here is the use of the word “crisis.” Why must people wait until they have a mental breakdown or crisis to receive the adequate help they should have gotten in the first place? Do not get me wrong; I was lucky to have had the experience I did. Working with mental health issues first-hand forces a sense of understanding and empathy. But

collectively, we need a heightened vigilance to recognize people’s needs, and to reach out before things get to the point of crisis.

We need to look around and be sensitive to those we care about. We have a civil responsibility to help each other, to not be afraid of discussing illnesses that cannot always be seen.

When writing this piece, I was deciding between discussing either mental health or physical health, but the two are inherently intertwined.

We don’t wait to call the doctor when we can’t get out of bed from a burning fever, why wait when we can’t get out of bed from a burning mind?

Send all comments or questions to opinion@dailycardinal.com.

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Action Project Issue, April 2016

dailycardinal.com

Music benefits the mind and health

Graphic by john joutras

A neurological basis in areas associated with mood, reward and stress exists for health benefits from listening to music.

By Margaret Liu The Daily Cardinal

Music is a universal language.

It can make you laugh or cry.

It can soothe you after a stressful day, or get your blood pumping for a competition. Even more remarkably, music can help you heal. Why do you feel so many emotions when listening to music? How does it affect your health? The answer lies in your brain and the neurochemicals it produces. Listening to music affects brain activity and chemistry, which control moods and physiological responses, suggesting that listening to music could improve your health.

There is a growing interest

in music therapy and intervention for patients of physical and mental diseases. According to a review in the American Journal of Public Health, listening to music decreases anxiety and stress and lowers heart and respiration rates.

For cancer patients, music reduced their pain and improved their immune systems, while bolstering their sense of control. Another study also found significant decreases of depression in patients. Victims of posttraumatic stress disorder also experienced improvement while playing instruments or singing, which helped regulate their breathing and heart rates.

The range of health benefits afforded by listening to music all have a strong neurological basis.

Listening to music chiefly affects the areas in the brain associated with mood, reward and stress.

In a study by neuropsychologist Daniel Levitin, they found that areas related to the emotional and reward centers of the brain activated while people listened to music. For example, the amygdala and the temporal lobe, both of which play a central role in recognizing and processing emotions, are highly active when music is played. This suggests that music is closely linked to emotional experiences.

Pleasant music activates the ventral tegmental area, which helps control the release of dopamine, a well-known neurochemical that induces feelings of reward and satisfaction.

In addition, listening to pleasant music increases the amount of serotonin and natural opioids in the brain, causing feelings of happiness, relaxation and pain relief. A lack of sufficient serotonin often correlates to depression, which explains why listening to pleasant music has helped alleviate symptoms of depression for patients.

Listening to sad music regulates mood as well. When you experience sad emotions, prolactin is released, which is a hor-

mone that has a tranquilizing and comforting effect on mood. Sad music has a similar effect on you; It “tricks” your brain into recognizing emotions of sadness and releasing prolactin as a response, which suggests why we often turn to sad music to console ourselves during tough times.

Music’s impact on stress cannot be understated either.

Listening to music lessens stress by decreasing your body’s levels of cortisol, a primary stress hormone. Additionally, music decreases the arousal levels of the central nervous system, reducing anxiety.

Research has also suggested that the firing of neurons sometimes synchronizes with the beat of the music. Incredibly, the sedating effect of music can be so strong that patients may sometimes require less anesthesia before medical procedures. This effect is also why patients often feel less anxious and less pain during their period of treatment.

On the other hand, music can also excite the body. While pleasant music usually calms the body down, fast and stimulating music produces adrenaline, which increases blood circulation and breathing.

The benefits of this effect are perhaps best seen in athletics. Nearly everyone plugs in their headphones when they go

out for their daily jog, and for good reason; The same study by Levitin suggests that stamina, motivation and anaerobic power can all be improved by listening to music while exercising.

The health benefits of music are incredible and plentiful.

What is really exciting is that research concerning music therapy and intervention has only just begun to gain momentum within the past decade. There is so much more to discover and learn about the power and ability of music to improve our mental and physical well-being.

And what can you do with this knowledge? Perhaps you’ve already been using music to feel better, but now you know the effects aren’t because of luck, but because of science. So, if you’re feeling harried and stressed by midterms, take a moment, breathe and let some music calm your mind down.

After your classes, take some time to reward yourself by playing some of your favorite tunes.

Feeling down because of a bad breakup? It just might be the best idea to blast that one sad Adele song. Music is always there with you, through the good and the bad. While listening to music is not and should not be treated as a cure for mental and physical ill76130 nesses, it is certainly reassuring to have it as a helping hand.

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BUILT TO PERFORM. CREATED TO SERVE.

C28789