College Health Service and the Fast-Food Value System

Abstract

Objective: To estimate and compare the prevalence of overweight and obesity among self-identified lesbian, bisexual, and heterosexual college age women. Methods: A secondary analysis of the Spring 2006 National College Health Assessment was conducted with 31,500 female college students (aged 18 to 25 years) to compare body mass index (calculated from self-reported height and weight) among lesbian, bisexual and heterosexual college women. Results: Compared to heterosexuals female college students, lesbians and bisexual women were both significantly more likely to be overweight or obese. Lesbians were also less likely to be underweight compared to heterosexual college women. Conclusions: Self-identified lesbian and bisexual college women were more likely to be overweight or obese than their heterosexual counterparts. Health care professionals and educators should target these high-risk populations for obesity prevention programs. This study highlights the need for additional research examining the potential risk factors for overweight and obesity among young sexual minority women.     

Campus-Based College Health Services Before the Amherst Program (1860): Military Academies Lead the Way

Abstract

Over the past 70 years a legend has evolved that the first college health program in the United States was established at Amherst College in 1861. Although the program at Amherst was innovative in its day and served as a model for the field of college health, several other institutions prior to 1860 appropriated funds, hired staff, and established on-campus programs to improve the health of their students. The military academies led the way, and the first of these early programs to become operational was located at the US Military Academy at West Point, New York, in 1830.     

Walking the tightrope: directing a student health center at a research institution with an academic medical center

Reporting lines for directors of student health centers (SHCs) at colleges and universities are a matter of continuing interest for those of us who must follow them. SHC directors at institutions with academic medical centers face a greater number of reporting choices that also have the potential of being more politically charged. The author describes his experience at 2 such institutions and offers some cautious advice.     

Weathering the Recession in College Health

Abstract

The current global recession has increased personal stress levels throughout our society. With dwindling resources, institutions of higher learning are especially prone to budgetary cutbacks during such periods. Based on 22 years of experience as a health service director, the author offers some personal insights in the hope that they will help colleagues cope with the current situation.     

Youth Civic Engagement in the Twenty‐First Century

We enter the 21st century contending with the end of the Cold War's legacy of political uncertainty, expecting youth to play a significant part in the search for new principles that will bring about stability in the world political order. In forging the future, youth will have to collaborate with adults, but on terms more fitting of the historical circumstances that lie ahead than those of the past. This was the framework adopted by a group of social scientists who held several discussions to reflect on the issues and opportunities that bear on youth's civic engagement and development in the century that has just opened. The present article describes the results of those conversations, starting with the issue of defining civic competence, and the finding that an expansive definition is needed to match the real‐world circumstances that affect its development for youth internationally. Specific conditions, such as globalization, information – communication technology, and immigration, are emphasized as forces that affect youth and need to be taken into account by educators and policy makers. In this regard, responsibilities of schools, government, the commercial sector, and community organizations are outlined. Each is viewed as a potential constructive force for promoting engagement insofar as youth's strengths are recognized and focus is placed on building on youth's proven capacities. As always, it is youth’s task to make history in the future and society's obligation to provide youth with sufficient resources and an honest basis for hope in carrying out this task. The authors' policy recommendations are founded on this reciprocal relation that binds the youth generation with its elders in the common task of preserving, while transforming, society for the good of humanity.     

The history of sections in the American College Health Association.

The founders of the American College Health Association (ACHA) recognized the importance of regional groups (affiliates) and worked actively to foster their formation and continued existence. In 1932, D. F. Smiley, MD, described the concept of establishing ACHA regions and suggested combining institutional membership in both the national and regional organizations. Significant affiliate representation in the association's governance structure finally became a reality in 1987, when regional representatives became permanent members of the board of directors. Standing committees of the association were transformed into the present ACHA sections in 1957, and a new category for individual membership established for college health professionals interested in participating in educational activities of the new sections. In many ways, the changes in the association's governance that occurred in 1987 are reminiscent of the original structure of the 1920-1970 era, when the organization was much smaller and essentially an association of college health center directors.     

Urging College Alcohol and Drug Policies That Target Adverse Behavior,Not Use

Abstract

Although “zero tolerance” policies are being enacted on campuses nationwide, these policies may not be the most effective means of creating safer and healthier environments for students. Many historical precedents illustrate the value of moderation over prohibition College drug and alcohol policies should focus primarily on dysfunctional and disruptive student behaviors, not on student drug and alcohol use only.     

So you want to earn a Ph.D. in economics: how much do you think you'll make?

Using data from individuals who earned a Ph.D. in economics in 1996-97, this study identifies factors associated with securing full-time permanent positions and determinants of starting salaries for new Ph.D. economists. Where individuals attend graduate school and factors including the field of specialization and work as a teaching/research assistant impact whether graduates obtain full-time permanent jobs. Choice of graduate program and amount of time spent in the program influence starting salary, as does obtaining a position outside academia or in a research-oriented academic institution, both of which entail higher salaries relative to employment at a B.A.-level academic institution.     

College health 2050.

On May 31, 2040, Kunta Kinte Sanchez O'Shaunessey-Chan, MOND, president of the North American College Health Association (NACHA), gave the keynote address at the opening session of the annual meeting held in the Marriott Conference Center, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. He recounted important events of the past 50 years that have shaped the college health field of today, and he predicted important trends for the next decade. Although his speech was given in Spanish, it was simultaneously translated into English, French, and 15 other languages requested by attendees. The English version follows.