Stress Among Students

A view from the freshman quad

Politics is out, but smoking is up and so is stress among today's students

Newt Gigrich, the former college instructor with a genius for political phrasemaking, will need more than a Contract with America to engage today's college students. The American Council on Education's annual poll of college freshmen found that today only 32 percent of the incoming class considered “keeping up with political affairs” an important goal in life, which was the lowest expression of interest in politics in the 50 years that the survey has been conducted. That was in contrast to 2000 when 42 percent gave politics a high priority, and 1985, when almost 58% did.

In this poll, conducted annually for the Council by the Higher Education Research Institute at the University of California, Los Angeles, only 16 percent said that they frequently “discuss politics.” That was more than a third lower than in 2000 and almost a half lower than in 1985.

If political apathy has been the recent order of the day on campuses, that may be because of all the other things that have students worried. Tuitions, room and board, and fees increased an average of 6 percent in the latest poll, and borrowing heavily to foo the bills has become commonplace.  The share of students who expressed doubt about their ability to pay for college hit in all-time high of almost 19 percent now, that was 1,5 percent higher than in 2000, and more than double what it was in 1985.

Fight the stress, enjoy flowers. Photo by Elena.

Stress among students was pronounced.  The ACE poll found that 24 percent of all incoming freshmen in 2018 reported “feeling frequently overwhelmed by all I have to do.” That was a 50 percent increase over was it was for freshmen in 1985. The share of freshmen reporting that they frequently “felt depressed” also increased for the fourth consecutive year, and student assessment of their of the own emotional as well as physical health hit all-time lows.

On the other hand, beer-drinking among college freshmen dropped to only 53 percent in 2018; in 2000 more than 75 percent of incoming freshmen reported drinking beer at least occasionally. Public health experts attribute at least some of the recent decline to organizations such as Mothers against Drunk Driving, which have raised student awareness of the dangers of drinking while driving. Perhaps taking up the slack, anti-smoking efforts have been less sucessful on campuses. The percentage of freshmen classifying themselves as frequent smokers rose for the sixth time in seven years.

In recent surveys of college freshmen, these objectives were considered to be essential or very important:

• Be very well off financially
• Raise a family
• Become authority in my field
• Help others in difficulty
• Get recognition from colleagues
• Develop philosophy of life
•  Be successful in own business
• Influence social values
• Promote racial understanding
• Keep up to date with politics.

Brilliant College Career

Brilliant College Career

It's not just a four-year hitch now, thanks to many pressures

In the lecture halls and common rooms of America's oldest and most prestigious universities, graduating with a bachelor's degree in four years has long been the tradition. But intellectual snobs might be surprised to find-out that the four-year college degree is more an accident in American History that is academic gospel.

When Harvard opened in 1636, it adopted the four-year system from Cambridge University in England. Little did Harvard know that Cambridge and Oxford Universities would be switching to three-year programs just a few years later. If the higher education system of the United States had been created just a few years later, today's Academic Brahmins would be just as sure it takes three, not four to produce an educated person.

In fact, increasingly, students are taking more than four years to obtain their college diplomas. A few years ago, a study done by the National Institute of Colleges and Universities shows that 43 percent of students graduating from private colleges and 64 percent of students graduating from public colleges took more than four years to obtain their degree.

We tend to see a lot more students stopping to do other things during their college careers. They take five to six years to graduate in first sense, but few are actually enrolled for longer than eight semesters.

The reasons for this trend are both economic and academic. A student may change his field of study, take more time, and end up in a more appropriate career in others, students are taking lighter course per semester, in hopes of improving their chances to get into graduate school. Still others are obtaining dual degrees by taking extra-time.

May be, you'll have a brilliant career College. Photo by Elena.

Taking more time to get a degree and earning money on the side of the economic necessity for some. According to a study by the Bureau of Labor statistics, 51% of full-time college students hold part-time jobs today, compared with only 32% in 1972. What's more, many professional programs now have internship or practical experience requirements. Although taking the extra time to fulfill these can delay date if graduation, such requirements can provide valuable training that will benefit students in the future.

The high cost of tuition has other students rushing to finish their undergraduate degrees in less than four years as well. We are seeing student graduating earlier than later. Students have a lot of AP credits and they are learning there is nothing magic about four years. Some parents offer to pay for three years in Stanford, or four at a state university. People come to college for different reasons and students shouldn't be forced to stay for four years.

Many schools now offer formal three-year programs leading to bachelor's degrees. Indiana's Valparaiso University, Vermont's Middlebury College, Upper Iowa University are among them. They are not doing that for internal financial reasons. It's an accelerated three-years international course. At Valparaiso, financial considerations are readily acknowledged These programs were first marketed as a way to save a year tuition. But the university marks it as a way for the student to gain a year's earnings. It is mostly for highly motivated students, not something for everyone. But it should be an option. We need as many options as possible. Some students come in the door knowing it will take them eight years to graduate.

Americorps: Earning Tuition Credits

Earning Tuition Credits

Doing Well by Doing Good

The national service program lets students earn tuition credits

AmeriCorps is a national service organization established by an Act of Congress in September 1994. Its members participate in a variety of programs from tutoring at-risk youth to counselling crime victimes, to building affordable housing. In exchange for service, members receive an array of benefits, including tuition assistance.

We explain here what a student needs to know to participate:

What is AmeriCorps?

It is a national initiative that allows members to serve full or part-time in more than 350 public service programs nationwide. In exchange for a year or two of service, members receive a modest living allowance, health coverage, and free education awards. Any American citizen or permanent resident of the United States who is 17-years old or older, is eligible, regardless of income.

How does it help pay tuition bills?

Participants receive living allowance, roughly equal to minimum wage, while earning an education award for up to two years for completing 1,700 hours of service. The award is less for part-time service. Students can use this credit within five years of completion of service to help pay for college, graduate school, or vocational training, or to repay a loan if they have already been to school.

Does the program have and other benefits?

In addition to the post-service award, participants will be gaining skills that will be useful in later life. They are developing the ability to make change in their communities and nurturing a life-time commitment to service. The program is not that different from the Peace Corps, which many say is the most important experience in their life.

Earning Tuition Credits. Photo by Elena.

What kind of programs can participants be involved in?

There are hundreds of programs nationwide. They include Habitat for Humanity, the I Have a Dream Foundation, the American Red Cross, the Community on AIDS Partnership, the New York Police Department and more. In 2003, for example, a team of 88 members put together an outreach campaign that helped immunize 104.000 infants in  Texas. In the summer of 2014, a group of Kansas City, Mo. working with the local police department, helped to close down 12 crack houses.

Depending on the program, your child serve for nine months or up to three years, full- our part-time, and before, during or after college or job training. The AmeriCorps tries to give individuals the maximum amount of choices.

Are some programs more popular and more difficult to get into than others?

So far, there has been a strong demand for all the programs. But each individual program has its own screening process. Some programs have a limited number of slots which they want to fill with some local people, and with some people from outside the area. In addition, some applications require essays. The number of people selected to participate in the AmeriCorps is increasing.

What is the application procedure?

Each program has a different answer. But if you are interested you should go to their website. When you receive a referral form, it will ask whether you want to receive more information (literature on the programs available in your area, or from all over the United States. The form will also ask about your interests, so the experts can tell what kind of programs you might like. Programs that start in early fall begin recruiting in spring. Programs that start In January recruit in early fall or winter.

Up-Close Look at American History

An Up-Close Look at American History

Historian James M. McPherson, whose Civil War History Battle cry of Freedom won the 1989 Pulitzer Prize, considers these the nation's most interesting sites:

Antietam National Battlefield : Sharpsburg, Md. The first invasion of the North was stopped here in 1862. At the battle's end, more men had been killed or wounded than on any other day of the Civil War.

Appomattox Court House National Historical Park: Appomattox. On April 9, 1865, General Robert E.Lee surrendered to General Ulysses S. Grant here. Although it would be several weeks before the Confederacy fell, the surrender in effect ended the war.

Boston National Historical Park: Boston, Mass. The birth of the American Revolution is commemorated here. The 2.5-mile Freedom Trail connects 16 National Historic Park sites, including the Old North Church and the Paul Revere House.

Colonial Williamsburg, Va.: From 1699 to 1766, Williamsburg was the capital of England's oldest, largest, richest, and most populous colony. Today the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation preserves 173 acres of the original 220-acre town just as it was on the eve of the Revolution.

Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania County Battlefields Memorial National Military Park: Te site of four major battles of the Civil War. Notable sites include the Jackson Shrine, the house where stonewall Jackson died.

Spring flowers. Photo by Elena.

Gettysburg National Military Park : The greatest battle of the Civil War was fought here from July 1 to July 3, 1863 – a repulse of the second attempted Confederate invasion of the North and the turning point in the war.

Hagley Museum and Library: Wilmington, Del. Part of the original du Pont Mills Estate and Gardens, built on 240 acres along the Brandywine River. Sights include a restored workers' community and the Potterworks, where some of the first power tools were used.

Lowell National Historic Park, Lowell, Mass: America's first large-scale planned industrial community was founded here in 1826, introducing high-volume manufacturing to the United States. McPherson notes the town belongs to the time before industrialization turned ugly.

Shiloh National Military Park, Shiloh, Tenn.: The site of the daring surprise attack by the Confederates and the massive counteroffensive by the Union Army. The park and National Cemetery overlook the Tennessee River.

Vicksburg National Military Park, Vicksburg, Miss.” A 47-day siege here ended July 4, 1863, with the surrender of Vicksburg, giving the North control of the Mississippi River. Sites include the USS Cairo, an ironclad Civil War gunboat.

National Historic Trails

National Historic Trails

National historic trails are somewhat more coceptual than national scenic trails. Their objective is to preserve any historic remnants of the trail rather than provide a continuous footpath across its entire length. The “trails” often are no more than a series or roadside signs that direct travelers to historic sites or markers, though foot trails do appear from time to time at the roadside stops. The main exception to this description is the Iditarod in Alaska.

Iditarod National Historic Trail

Iditarod Trail Committee, Wasilla, Ak.

Length: 2,450 miles. The trail was made famous by prospectors and their dog teams during the Alaska gold rush at the turn of the 20th century. Most of the trail is usable only during Alaska's six-month winter, when rivers and tundra are frozen. Each year, the 1,150-mile Iditarod sled dog race is run along the trail from Anchorage to Nome. Other events include the 210-mil Ididasport race for skiers, mountain bikers, and snow-shoers, and the Alaska Gold Rush Classic Snowmachine Race. A network of shelters is being installed by the Bureau of Land Management and the Iditarod Trail Committee.

Juan Bautista de Anza National Historic Trail

National Park Service, Western Region Division of Planning, San-Francisco, Ca.

Length: 1,200 miles. In 1775, a party of 200 Spanish colonists led by Col. Juan Bautista de Anza set out to establish an overland route to California. The band of 30 families, a dozen soldiers, and 1,000 head of cattle, horse and mule spent three months traversing the deserts of the South west before reaching the California coast and another three months traveling up the coast to what is now San Francisco. There they established a presidio, or military headquarters, that is still in use today.

Make sure to bring a hat, sun screen and water bottle and wear sturdy shoes for your adventure. Photo by Elena.

Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail

National Park Service.

Length : 3,700 miles. President Thomas Jefferson in 1803 doubled the area of the United States by purchasing from France 885,000 square miles of land west of the Mississippi. The following year he commissioned Meriwether Lewis and William Clark to explore and map his $125 million ”Louisiana Purchase.” They took the Missouri River upstream from what is today Wood River, Ill., crossed over several other rivers, and reached the Pacific Ocean at the mouth of the Columbia River in 1805. State, local, and private interests have established motor routes, roadside markers, and museum exhibits telling the Lewis and Clark story along the route.

Mormon Pioneer National Historic Trail

National Park Service.

Length: 1,300 miles. Mormon emigration was one of the principal forces of settlement of the West. Seeking refuge from religious persecution, thousands of Mormons in 1846 left their settlement in Nauvoo, Ill. Where church-founder Joseph Smith had lived. They spent the next winter in the Council Bluffs, Iowas, and Omaha, Nebraska areas. Early in 1847, Brigham Young led an advance party west along the Platte River to Fort Bridger, Wyoming, where they turned southwest and eventually came to the Great Salt Lake. The 1,624-mile route through five states generally is marked with a logo and closely follows the trail's historic route.

Nez Perce (Nee-Me-Poo) National Historic Trail

U.S. Forest Service, Nex Perce National Historic Trail Coordinator.

Length: 1,170 miles. The Nez Perce in 1877 were forced to leave their ancestral homelands in the Wallowa Valley of the Oregon Territory and move to the Lapwai Reservation in Idaho. Hostilities broke out between white settlers and some of the Nez Perce during the journey. Three of the settlers were killed. The U.S. Army was called in, and five bands of the Nez Perce, one of them led by Chief Joseph, headed north across the Rocky Mountains hoping to find refuge in Canada. They eluded capture for months, but just short of reaching the Canadian border in Montana, they were captured by the army and forced to settle in Oklahoma. Within two years, they were returned to Idaho and Washington. Joseph became an eloquent spokesman for peace until his death in 1904.

Oregon National Historic Trail

U.S. Forest Service Outdoor recreation Center.

Length: 2,170 miles. As the harbinger of America's westward expansion, the Oregon Trail was the pathway to the Pacific for fur traders, gold seekers, missionaries, and emigrants of every stripe. Beginning in 1841 and over a span of two decades, an estimated 300,000 emigrants undertook the five-month journey from Kansas to Oregon. The trail corridor still contains some 300 miles of discernible wagon ruts and 125 historic sites. The approximate route can be followed by automobile, and opportunities are available to travel by foot, horse, or mountain bike in many places.

Overmountain Victory National Historic Trail

Contact : Sycamore Shoals Historical Park.

Length : 300 miles. In the fall of 1780, citizens of Virginia, Tennessee, and North Carolina formed a militia to drive the British from the southern colonies. This trail marks their 14-day trek across the Appalachians to the Piedmont region of the Carolinas. There they defeated British troops at the battle of King Mountain, setting in motion events that led to the British surrender at Yorktown and the end of the Revolutionary War. Much of the trail has become road and highway; only a 20-mile portion remains as a foot trail across the mountains. In most places roadside signs indicate proximity to the trail. A guide to the seven walking sections of the trail is available.

Santa Fe National Historic Trail

Contact: National Park Service, Long Distance Trails Groups Office.

Length: 1,203 miles. After Mexican independence in 1821, U.S. And Mexican traders developed the Santa Fe Trail using American Indian travel and trade routes. It quickly became a commercial and cultural link between the two countries. It also became a road of conquest during the Mexican and Civil wars. With the building of the railroad to Santa Fe in 1880, the trail was largely abandoned. Of the 1,203 miles of the trail route between Old Franklin, Mo., and Santa Fe, N.M., more than 200 miles of wagon ruts remain visible; 30 miles of them are protected on federal lands.

Trail of Tears Historic Trail

Contact: National Park Service, Long Distance Trails Group Office.

Length: 2,200 miles. After many years of pressure from white settlers, 16,000 Cherokees from the southestearn states were moved by the U.S. Army in the late 1830s to lands west of the Mississippi River. Various detachments followed different routes west to the Oklahoma Territory. Thousands died along the way. Today the designated trail follows two of the principal routes: a water trail (1,226 miles) along the Tennessee, Ohio, Mississippi, and Arkansas rivers; and an overland route (826 miles) from Chattanooga, Tenn. to Tablequah, Okla.

California National Historic Trail

Contact: Oregon-California Trails Association.

Length: 5,665 miles. The California Trail has been aptly described as a great rope stretching from the Missouri River to the California gold fields. One would have to describe the rope as quite frayed, though, both at the ends and in the middle. The trail is commonly thought of a single and direct line across the western United States that was trampled by fortune seekers during the gold rush of 1849. In fact, it was a collection of competing routes developed in the decade prior to the gold-rush by land-seeking emigrants. Officially opened in 1992 and awesome in length, the entire system includes an estimated 320 historical sites, including forts, trading posts, and the natural landmarks that guided emigrants.

The Pony Express Trail

Contact: National Park Service, Western Region Division of Planning.

Length: 1,665 miles. During its 18 months of operation, riders for the privately owned Pony Express carried mail between St.Joseph, Mo., and San Francisco in an unprecedented 10 days. The horse-and-rider relay system became the nation's most direct and practical means of east-west communications before the telegraph. The trail proved the feasibility of a central overland transportation route that could be used year-round, paving the way for the construction of a cross-country railroad. Approximately one-third of the 150 relay stations, where the Pony Express riders were allowed exactly two minutes to exchange mail with the station master, show identifiable remains and are historical sites along the trail.

Big pink flower. Photo by Elena.