Blood screening Nov. 18
The final blood screening will be Thursday, Nov. 18. Any questions call ext. 5227. Sponsored by the Health Service and Wellness Committee.

Lynnville-Sully breakfast
Central College graduates and current and past parents employed by the Lynnville-Sully school district are welcome to a free breakfast in Tara Conover’s art classroom, Tuesday, Nov. 30, at 7:30 a.m. RSVP to the alumni office by Wednesday, Nov. 24. Call ext. 5154 or e-mail alumni@central.edu.

Fall home cleanup
The Central student chapter of Habitat for Humanity is available for yard work, home cleaning or other fall cleanup tasks in exchange for a free will donation. This service will be available until Wednesday, Nov. 24. To schedule or to receive more information, please contact Luke Baehr at ext. 7180.

GOLD at Rock Bottom
You’re invited to take a break and unwind with GOLD (graduates of the last decade) before the holidays. The appetizers are on Central. Join us Thursday, Dec. 2, from 5:30 – 8 p.m. by the pool tables at Rock Bottom Restaurant & Brewery, 4508 University Ave., West Des Moines. RSVP by Monday, Nov. 29, to alumni@central.edu or ext. 5154. 

Library and Media Center hours for Thanksgiving break: Wednesday, Nov. 24 Close at 5 p.m.
Thursday, Nov. 25 Closed
Friday, Nov. 26 Closed
Saturday, Nov. 27 Closed
Sunday, Nov. 28 Open at 5 p.m.

The Café will close at 3 p.m., Wednesday, Nov. 24, and reopen Monday, Nov. 29.

Depression/anxiety screening results
On Oct. 26 and 27, the counseling center participated in the college component of National Depression/Anxiety Screening Month. Screening attempts to measure level of concern regarding the possible diagnosis of depression, bipolar depression or manic-depression, generalized anxiety disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder. 

The screening is meant to be used as an educational tool to assist those who take it regarding the possible need for further evaluation by a qualified practitioner. The screening itself IS NOT meant to offer or confirm any particular diagnosis. All students were given feedback and information on the options with regard to further evaluation in the Pella area.

There is no way for us to know how many screenings resulted in false positives nor how many resulted in false negatives. However, the results do seem to confirm what we have known for nearly a decade about the mental health of college students in general, and Central students specifically.

Overall Results:
957 different students ate lunch in the Central Market on the two screening days

190 (20%) of those students completed the instrument on site or in the days following

 92 (50%) of the students who completed the instrument scored "diagnosis likely, further evaluation needed" or higher on at least one of the scales. This represents 10% of the students who ate lunch in the Central Market on those two days.

Of the 50% screened "diagnosis likely" on one or more of the diagnosis the breakdown is:
67% depression

22% bipolar depression (manic-depression)

58% generalized anxiety disorder

27% post traumatic stress disorder

Also:
23% indicated previous treatment for mental health issues

12.5% indicated a history of at least one previous suicide attempt

Trash and Art
"Seeing is Believing: Trash and Art," a project as part of the freshmen Intersections class is on display in the Mills Gallery in the Lubbers Center for Visual Arts until Friday, Dec. 17.

The exhibit forms one piece of art from 18,000 pieces of trash collected by 442 freshmen to encourage everyone to think about trash, about our consumption as human beings, and the effect we have on the environment. For example, the nation’s annual generation of municipal solid waste rose steadily from 88 million tons in 1960 to 232 millions tons in 2000. The average person generated 2.7 pounds of waste each day in 1960, but the rate rose to 4.5 pounds-per-person each day in 2000.

A reception for the artists is scheduled for Tuesday, Nov. 23, from 11 a.m. to noon. Gallery hours are Monday-Friday from 8 a.m. – 5 p.m., Saturday 8 a.m. – noon.

Eighmy attended alumni directors conference
Sunny Eighmy (alumni office) attended the Iowa Association of Independent College and Universities (IAICU) Alumni Directors Conference at Luther College in Decorah Nov. 3-4.

Martin hosted Iowa librarians
Robin Martin (library) hosted 32 Iowa librarians on campus Aug. 3-6 for the Iowa Library Association’s inaugural Leadership Institute. As a member of ILA’s Leadership Institute task force, Martin helped plan and also participated in the three-day intensive workshop led by nationally acclaimed library consultant Maureen Sullivan.

Jennings honored with Silver Award
Colleen Jennings (music) won the Silver "Tour de Force" Award at the Vera Scammon S.O.S. (Supporting Our Singers) International Vocal Competition held in Denver, Colo., Oct. 17. Participants in the world-wide event included 40 semi-finalists from across the United States and four foreign countries competing for over $20,000 in awards. Jennings’s prize includes a cash award and a solo performance with the Jackson (Mich.) Symphony Orchestra.

Freed attended higher education conference,
spoke at parents meeting
Jann Freed (economics/accounting/management) attended the Association for the Study of Higher Education (ASHE) conference in Kansas City Nov. 4-6. Freed was a discussant for a session, and she organized and moderated a panel titled "Where has the field of Higher Education been? Where is it going? The Perspectives of Women Sages." The panel included Janet Lawrence, University of Michigan; Kathryn Moore, North Carolina State University; Ann Morey, San Diego State University; Joan Stark, University of Michigan and Yvonna Lincoln, Texas A & M University.

"Finding the Right College is an Art" was the title of Freed’s talk at the fall meeting for the Gifted and Talented parents at Central Academy of the Des Moines school system.

Chiarella, Schultze and Wallace attended Latino/a
communities conference
Maria Carla Chiarella and Jim Schulze (both psychology) and Carol Wallace (modern languages) attended the 6 th Annual Strengthening and Valuing Latino/a Communities in Iowa Conference: "Our Voice, Our Vision," which was held in Des Moines on Saturday, Oct. 30. Five students also attended: Jessica Fernandez ’07, Jessica Klyn ’05, Megan Reinders ’07, Amy Riherd ’05 and Ryan Smiley ’07. In addition, Central College alumni included Sofia Aguilera ’03, Lisa Rock ’87 and Paula Wood ’94. The conference included keynote speeches by well-known Chicana artist Yolanda Lopez and public health specialist Dr. America Bracho.

We express our sympathy to Anne Williamson (facilities management)in the passing of her father-in-law Ralph Williamson Nov. 9.

Greg Mausser has joined facilities management as a custodian.

No update available this week

Foundations of education help with child care
Students in foundations of education provide child care every week for Families First parenting classes. They also provided child care for Parent University activities Tuesday, Nov. 16.

Speech team fifth
The Central College speech team finished fifth this month at the Twin Cities Forensics League Novice Tournament in Bloomington, Minn. Catie Conway ’07 was a finalist in prose and finished fourth overall. Maria Schumacher ’08 (poetry) and James Graeve ’08 (extemporaneous speaking) both finished in the top six, and Megan Reinders ’07 placed ninth in prose.

Professional Activities
Health insurance enrollment
Open enrollment for health insurance will be held Monday and Tuesday, Nov. 29-30, and Wednesday, Dec. 1, in Maytag’s Boat, Moore and Weller rooms. Meetings will be held on these three days but no times have been arranged yet. More details will be announced later.

Christmas/New Year Holiday Schedule
The campus will be closed Thursday–Tuesday, Dec. 23-28. Offices will be open Wednesday-Thursday, Dec. 29-30, and again be closed on Friday, Dec. 31.

Sexual harassment information
Sexual harassment can take many forms. It may be:

Verbal

• threats or insults
• propositions or pressure for date
• jokes, teasing, or spreading rumors
• comments about sexual orientation
• remarks about looks, clothing, etc.
• messages over email, phone, in graffiti, etc.

Nonverbal

• suggestive gestures
• staring or leering
• pornographic pictures

Physical

• unnecessary touching or brushing against a person’s body
• grabbing, pinching, slapping or patting
• cornering or trapping
• kissing or hugging
• rape or attempted rape