Fungal Meningitis Outbreak

          With A total of 25 deaths in the United States, fungal meningitis has people in a whirl. According to the CDC and state health departments estimate that approximately 14,000 patients may have received injections with medication from the three implicated lots of methylprednisolone acetate and nearly 97% have now been contacted for further follow-up. On the bright side fungal meningitis is not contagious and is not spread from person to person. Indiana with 44, Tennessee with 74 and Michigan with 82 cases are leading with the most found.

                For those who don’t quite know what fungal meningitis is, it’s the result of the spread of a fungus through the blood stream to the spinal cord. Some of the symptoms are fever, headache, photophobia, or stiff neck. For updates on the outbreak people can visit the CDC's website. Also for a list of health care facilities follow the link.

College Nightlife

   Weekends in college normally consist of studying, catching up on some sleep, and what parents fear most; partying. As much as parents don't want to accept it, their child is more than likely going out on weekends and drinking. Students view it as just having a little fun and they feel like they want to get the most out of their college experience. In other words they don't want to miss out on the stereotypical idea of college being about partying, sororities, fraternities, and all its correlations. Although it is okay to attend some parties and to have fun; students need to know where to draw the line and fully understand the dangers and consequences.

    In Kasey Gray's article Partying Do's and Don'ts she gives helpful tips to have fun but remain safe. The first tip she's offers is to know when to say no. No one should ever feel forced to do something they don't want to do, therefore if students don't feel comfortable doing something then say no. Another tip Gray offers is to know what you are getting yourself into. When going out parties range from small get togethers to full-fledged raggers, so Gray is saying that it's good to ask questions and figure all of the details out to be prepared.

 A few statistics of college drinking

Excessive and underage drinking is a problem on nearly all college campuses and communities. On average, every year:

1,700 college students die from alcohol-related accidents.
696,000 students are assaulted by another student who's been drinking
97,000 are victims of alcohol-related sexual assault or date rape.
110,000 are arrested for alcohol-related violations.

http://uodos.uoregon.edu/SupportandEducation/SubstanceAbusePreventionandStudentSuccess/CollegeDrinking/tabid/82/Default.aspx

Anxiety Control

    Midterms are right around the corner, and everyone knows what this means. It's crunch time! Students buckle down and spend every waking hour studying. But what else does this time bring, stress, anxiety, and complete and utter disorder of a student’s morality in a sense. Students begin to feel overwhelmed and exhausted, which can lead to more serious problems. Midterms are only one factor that plays into anxiety in college students. So what other components is there that has students in a whirl and how can they be controlled? After reading Stress in College: Common Causes of Stress in College by Elizabeth Scott people can understand the breakdown of the different issues that college students face and how it affects them.

    Some of the things that cause anxiety and or stress in college students that Scott states are regular old academic stress, social stress, and sometimes financial stress. Academic stress included the work overload, finals, midterms, and challenging classes. Social stress pertains to the issues of making friends, balancing your school work, social life, and sometimes a part- time job. Financial stress can range from tuition to having money for going out or fees or for organizations and clubs.Visit Anxiety/ Stress for the complete article by Elizabeth Scott.

   There are many different ways students can deal with anxiety. Many colleges have places dedicated to help students battle anxiety. Other simple task students can do include just taking a short break from everything and they can simply ask for help, there is always someone there to help. For more ways to deal with anxiety visit How To Deal.

Reducing Test Anxiety- Tips For College Students