U. Texas study shows exercise helps fight depression
One 30-minute exercise session - which could be as simple as a walk on the treadmill - boosts mood and elevates well-being, according to a recent study conducted by a University of Texas professor and two UT graduate students.
The study, a former graduate student's thesis project, found that exercise could be the new weapon for fighting depression and elevating mood.
Forty participants, all diagnosed with depression, were split into two groups to test the theory that exercise helps alleviate their condition.
John Bartholomew, a University Of Texas associate professor of kinesiology and health education who led the study, said the results illustrated that exercise can be a tool to help cope with depression. Previous studies showed it took anywhere from eight to 10 weeks to see a positive change, Bartholomew said.
"Our expectation was that exercise was going to provide a benefit for them," Bartholomew said. Exercise is normally considered beneficial and essential to being a healthy individual, he added.
-THE DAILY TEXAN
U. South Carolina offers students chance to blow up an ex
The University of South Carolina is giving the public an opportunity to do something cathartic with those unwanted pictures of exes and rejection letters from first choice schools.
The Carolina Plaza, the university's former visitor's center, is being imploded on Feb. 5, and for $20 any items too good for the paper shredder can be blown up along with the building.
Only paper items can be submitted, and the money raised will go towards the Norman J Arnold Educational Foundation, which supports the School of Public Health.
Lucy Hollingsworth, public information director for the Arnold School of Public Health, said that this was not simply a money ploy but a way to get people more involved in the campus.
- THE GAMECOCK
Site allows U. Virginia students to outsource homework
Some computer science students across the country have been taking advantage of new Web sites offering students the opportunity to outsource their homework to computer programmers worldwide.
The Web site, rentacoder.com, functions like other auction Web sites, where students can put their homework assignments up for bidding alongside businesses and others in need of computer programming code. It can connect people who need programs to programmers in places like India and China without having to pay an outsourcing company, computer science Professor Aaron Bloomfield said.
Computer science students across the country already have started to utilize the service to avoid doing their school work, an issue highlighted by a Jan. 18 Wall Street Journal article.
"This is a homework I did not have time to study for. I have a lot of knowledge in programming but I simply was pressed for time, that's where I need your guy's help," wrote one user identified as "LoverOfNightLife."
There is some concern among computer science professors that this will be a particularly difficult form of cheating to detect. Some University of Virginia professors have responded to the threat by opening accounts at the site in order to check if homework assignments from their classes have been posted, Bloomfield said.
- CAVALIER DAILY
