APRIL 7 - APRIL 13, 2020
UNIVERSITY OF ALASKA ANCHORAGE
FEATURES PAGE 2 Books can provide students with an escape from the rigors of quarantine cabin fever.
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OPINION PAGE 6 Nontraditional students at UAA have experienced the journey to a degree in different ways.
Students and UAA community can manage pandemic stress with online resources By Christina Swayney features2@thenorthernlight.org
Finding ways to cope with stress during these trying times, even if it isn’t done in person, can help the UAA community improve its mental health. Due to social distancing, face-to-face mental health services are not as readily available. There are services available through email, Skype, phone call or text. The UAA Department of Psychology operates the Psychological Services Center, or PSC, which provides mental health services to UAA students and the community. The department made its services available remotely during the COVID-19 crisis. Dr. Eric S. Murphy, a professor and the director of the Department of Psychology, shares how they are able to do this at this time. “We have converted entirely to telehealth services, so clients can be treated by a therapist without leaving their homes,” Murphy said. Students and the community are able to make appointments at the PSC
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Dr. Grant Sasse, director of UAA’s Psychological Services Center, and clinical psychology master’s student Amber Frasure help students from their homes through the PSC’s new telehealth services.
via telehealth services by calling (907) 786-1795 to make an appointment. The department offers counseling services provided by UAA clinicians who are graduate master and doctoral students supervised by licensed psychologists. Clients at the PSC do not need to be affiliated with UAA to receive services. Dr. Sara Buckingham is an assistant professor of psychology at UAA. She
recommended following the Commit, Accept, Relax, Exercise, Schedule Model, or CARES, model, developed by Dr. Joel Hughes of Kent State University in Ohio. The model focuses on simple tasks those under stress can do daily to manage anxiety and worry. CARES has coping exercises such as breathing techniques, journaling and advice on how to create a routine
that will break up the endless quarantine days. Dr. Buckingham also suggested a podcast provided by the American Psychological Association called “Speaking of Psychology: Managing Your Mental Health During COVID-19 with Lynn Bufka, Ph.D.” The podcast provides practical information related to COVID-19, like insurance issues and ways to manage stress. Dr.
Bufka is the associate executive director for practice research and policy at the American Psychological Association. The National Alliance on Mental Illness also has a thorough online COVID-19 Resource and Information Guide that Dr. Buckingham suggests. The guide has advice at length and numerous other resources related to COVID-19.
The UAA Student Health and Counseling Center, or SHCC, is also available for mental health sessions via telehealth. Students can make appointments by calling (907) 786-4052. Their hours of operation right now are 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Students should call the SHCC phone number to make an appointment and not go to the clinic in person, as it is closed due to health mandates. Mary Woodring is a family nurse practitioner at the SHCC and encourages students to contact the clinic if they need to talk with someone about mental or physical health. “We want to get the word out to students that we are still operating. We are just doing most of our sessions using telehealth, using programs like Zoom,” Woodring said. There is also a Crisis Text Line for COVID-19. Text HOME to 741741 to reach a counselor. Help is also available on Facebook Messenger. Crisis Text Line offers free, confidential crisis support over text in the U.S. 24 hours, seven days a week.
Stimulus bill checks could take up to 20 weeks to arrive By Gabby Vance arts1@thenorthernlight.org
President Trump signed a $2 trillion stimulus package to aid the economy during the COVID-19 pandemic. The stimulus, signed on March 27, is the largest emergency aid package in U.S. history. “Democrats initially took issue with the package, which was crafted by Senate Republicans at the outset, arguing that it put corporations ahead of workers,” Manu Raju’s April 2 CNN article said. Voting to pass the legislation began on March 2, when the
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Senate had a unanimous vote of 96-0. The bill was then passed by the House of Representatives on March 27 and signed by the president. The key factor of the stimulus package is the financial provisions it will provide to Americans. Citizens will receive a check with an amount based on their income. Individuals earning $75,000 or less in gross income will receive $1,200 and married couples who earn a combined income of up to $150,000 will get a check for $2,400 with an additional $500 per child. For individuals making more than $75,000, their checks will be reduced by $5 for
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every additional $100 and people making more than $99,000 will not receive a check at all. These income thresholds will be doubled for couples, according to Katie Lobosco’s April 2 CNN article. The IRS has said that payments will go out automatically for people who authorized direct deposit of their 2018 and 2019 tax returns. Those who haven’t filed their taxes yet are encouraged to do so as soon as possible. The Treasury Department stated that people who receive Social Security will also receive payments automatically, according to CNN. Paper checks are expected to start being issued
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the week of May 4 for people who have not authorized direct deposit on their tax forms. The checks will be issued at about 5 million per week, with checks for low-income individuals going out first, according to a House Democratic memo obtained by CNN. The treasury is planning to develop a web portal in the coming weeks that will allow people to update their direct deposit information. “Congressional aides were told last week when they were briefed by the IRS that roughly 150 million taxpayers will be eligible for the payments, but of those, the IRS estimated they only had about 70 million peo-
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ple’s direct deposit information on file,” according to Manu Raju’s April 2 CNN article. “That means for roughly 80 million Americans, the IRS will have to rely on mailing checks.” Americans aren’t expected to start receiving payments until mid-April and it could take up to 20 weeks for all checks to be mailed. In addition to the payments made to Americans, the stimulus package will provide billions of dollars to hospitals and state and local governments. For more information and updates on the stimulus package, visit CNN.com.
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