Muncie Times, Muncie, Delaware County, 1 June 2000 — Page 10

The Muncie.Times, May 4, 2000, page 10 Greene continued from page 1 Some of these new have been able to get larger campus. They want degree in social sciences for diversity before they students are getting into students to understand the to become a part of it. and elementary education leave the university and leadership positions across nature of their future as it They are appreciative of from Spelman College in enter the real world. . the campus. I will miss relates to diversity and their own cultures but they Atlanta; a 1978 master’s “The students are having an impact on these multiculturalism. I have also want to achieve their degree in counseling and upscale. The university is a students’ lives and been able to appreciate goals of becoming a part of guidance from Xavier somewhat selective state mentoring them. They are - differences, cultural and the larger campus. They University in New Orleans, institution. It is a good an exciting bunch, otherwise. It has been a know they can operate La.; and a 1987 doctorate university with a good “Diversity here has pleasure to see the African beyond the walls of OMA. in higher education faculty. It attracts good to go where it’s going American, Asian American, “Students are our administration and student people from around the across the country. Latino and Native Amer- future. But we’re re- personnel from Iowa, country who are interested Institutions will have to pay ican students appreciating sponsible for getting them Over the years, she in a small school, more attention to biracial their own cultures, while ready for the future. The has been an instructor, a “I met some of the who are refusing to be also supporting each sooner we can get them fifth grade teacher, a students of color at the forced to take the lineage other,” she said. “I have felt ready to operate in a counselor, a program university. Although they of their mothers or fathers, good seeing this happen, diverse and multicultural coordinator, an assistant are a very small number They don’t want to be seeing them cooperate and world the sooner they will director of special proand they are centered in forced to choose one or get beyond the rhetoric, be able to reach their grams at Xavier University their own cultures, they the other. This issue is One evening, just as I was personal goals. “I think the and OMA director at Ball also want to make their likely to continue having an leaving to go home, I administration at Ball State State. Although she would presence felt on the impact in the years to peeked in and saw an is still committed to not disclose her salary, campus. I expect to be come,” Greene said. African American woman diversity and multicu- Greene said she will make asked to help with the She said she on the computer, an Asian Ituralism. But I also think more money in North recruitment of more thought she had made a American woman on the they want to take a look at Carolina than she did at students of color and to difference during her stay couch and a Hispanic what has happened, where Ball State. Greene besee how they will impact at Ball State. When she American woman in the we havb been on the comes the second prothe campus.” Greene started, African Americans, room. They were talking to issues of diversity and minent African American although she is somewhat Asian Americans, Hispanic each other and relating to multiculturalism, before to leave Ball State in less sad about leaving Ball Americans and Native each other. That made me they start looking for my than 2 months. In April, State, she thinks 13 years Americans tended to stick feel good. I wanted to see successor and deciding men’s basketball coach at one school is long pretty much to their own the students of color where they want to go.” Ray McCallum left Ball enough. “My biggest regret comfort zones within their working together and also Greene said she State to accept a similar is that I will not be able to own cultures or cliques, becoming involved with the sees the North Carolina job but much better paying impact some of the very She worked to change larger campus. “I see that as another opportunity for position at the University of bright students who are that. “One of my greatest the students of color are no her to grow and develop. Houston, entering the university, accomplishments is that I longer intimidated by the She has a 1966 bachelor’s Social support increases survival for heart attack victims

DALLAS—By counting on friends and family, heart attack survivors may be better able to fight depression during that critical first year following a heart attack, according to Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association. Depression is common among individuals recovering from a heart attack. According to the study’s lead author, Nancy Frasure-Smith, Ph.D., of the department of psychiatry at McGill University in Montreal and the Montreal Heart Institutes, “The most striking finding was the association between strong social support and improvements in the symptoms of depression among these patients, finis suggests that high levels of support may protect patients from the negative effects

of depression and positively influence their prognosis.” Social support and depression have been shown in other studies to influence survival from heart disease. However, this is the first study to examine the effects of these variables in combination after a heart attack, the researchers report Strong social support is defined as having a number of dose friends, as well as having regular contact either by phone or in person, with friends and family members. People who are married or live with others are also more likely to have strong social support, Frasure-Smith said. “It’s important to remember that we’re talking about how the patient perceives the support. Sometimes, even when the

support is there, depressed people have a hard time seeing it, so providing that support can be a difficult job for family and friends,” she said. Researchers surveyed 887 individuals who had previously suffered a heart attack. About a third of them were diagnosed with mild to moderate depression. During a one-year follow-up, 7.5 percent of the depressed patients died of cardiovascular diseases, compared to 2.5 percent in the patients who were not depressed. The study also underscores the prevalence of long-term depression in heart attack survivors, Frasure-Smith says. “Perhaps more worrisome than the mortality risk assodated with depression is that about 50 percent of depressed heart

attack patients are still depressed after one year.” Depressionfighting strategies include maintaining the key social contact enjoyed by patients prior to their heart attacks. “If the patient withdraws from these contacts, this can be an important danger signal,” Frasure-Smith said. For many patients, the study’s findings indicate a need for professional intervention, such as counseling, beyond naturally occurring social support. Many heart attack patients experience some short-term depression, but if symptoms linger fa more than three or four weeks, it’s wise to seek medical attention,” Frasure-Smith said. Physicians should ask patients how they feel about the level of support from friends and family to assess the

effects of post-heart attack depression,” she said. “The answers to these questions could provide important dues to a patient's state of mind that could have a direct impact on his a her future survival. ‘We know from previous research that depression is common following a heart attack, but it definitely isn’t normal,” said Frasure-Smith. “Our findings show that depressed patients are about three times more likely to die compared to heart patients who aren’t depressed.” Co-authors were Francois Lesperance, M.D.; Ginette Gravel, M.S.c.; Aline Masson, M.S.c.; Marin Juneau, M.D.; Mario Talajic, M.D. and Martial G. Bourassa, M.D.