UMass Pass offers an ‘Off-Campus Advantage’

By Katie Bresnahan

Every year the UMass Pass office looks for new ways to increase the functionality of the UMass Pass in order to better serve the UMass Dartmouth community.

According to Stephanie Gibson, the campus student representative for Off-Campus Advantage, “This year [the UMass Pass office has] upgraded POS terminals, added a rewards program, created a new informational website and added many off-campus businesses to the program.” Off-Campus Advantage is a company through which any member of the UMass Dartmouth community can use the “general account” on their UMass Pass to purchase goods off-campus.

There are many ways to put money into the general account, including getting it from a parent, a credit card, going to the UMass Pass office or going online to add it.

Last fall, UMD changed their list of off-campus vendors and upgraded terminals at all locations. The old terminals (similar to debit machines) were slow and inefficient. Service is much faster now.

“The Off Campus Vending Program, formerly facilitated by SA Cash, has been in place for several years but has met with varying degrees of success. Recently, SA cash was purchased by CBORD, the technology company that provides much of the software and hardware utilized by the UMass Pass and with that came the creation of Off Campus Advantage,” said Sheldon Straker, assistant director of campus services.

Some of the new off-campus locations involved in the Off-Campus Advantage include CVS, Dominos, Quiznos, D’Angelo’s Sandwich Shop, Sun Days Tanning Salon and What’s the Scoop.

Discounts differ from location to location. Most of the vendors involved with this program are based along Route 6. Some locations offer a certain percent off the normal price while others might give someone using their UMass Pass a free drink, for example.

Gibson says that all of these changes are results of student feedback. The UMass Pass office spoke to groups of students in the fall and learned that a lot of them saw no point to using their UMass Passes instead of cash or credit cards when making purchases off campus. “I think some people just don’t know that they can use [their UMass Passes] off campus,” she said. Because of this feedback, the office created an awards program to generate interest in the Off-Campus Advantage program.

According to a press release, “Points are earned for purchasing from participating off-campus locations as well as through referring friends to enroll. The points can be redeemed for prizes from partners that include iTunes, Amazon.com, and Rolling Stone Magazine. To commemorate the launch of the program, 1,000 bonus points will be rewarded to any cardholder who registers their account at umasspass.com. Additional points will be credited retroactively for all [purchases] made since last September.”

Straker says, “The RewardU! Program is intended to give back to the students and encourage them to utilize the UMass Pass as a safe and reliable way of managing their flexible spending while gaining access to a variety of services and vendor specific discounts/promotions off campus.”

Rewards offered through this program include gift certificates to Target, iTunes, Kohl’s and other locations.

The rewardU! Program was launched in January of this year and rewards students who are registered for the program at the new UMass Pass website (www.umasspass.com) whenever they use their UM Dollars at one of the off-campus vendors listed on the site. The new website is both informational and interactive.

Gibson would like students to know that there is a difference between their UM Dollars and meal plan declining balance. The meal plan declining balance is located in their food in what is referred to as “snack money” while UM Dollars are under the “general account” on their UMass Passes. When a student’s snack money runs out, he or she can still purchase goods off campus.

“UM Dollars specifically addresses the needs of the UMD students, many of which don’t live on campus. It is very convenient for students to grab a cup of coffee at Dunkin Donuts and fill up their car with gas at Mobil on their way to class,” said Gibson.

The eventual goal for this program is to expand it so that someday, if a UMass Dartmouth student visits another college or university that uses Off-Campus Advantage, he or she will be able to use their UMass Pass to buy things at or around that school.

Gibson says that she uses her UMass Pass to buy things off-campus at least two to three times each week. She uses it to get coffee at Dunkin Donuts or when she goes out with her friends. She uses it on-campus every day, either to get lunch at the Commuter Café or to buy things at the Campus Store.

She reminds, “[Off-Campus Advantage] is safe, secure, and a great alternative for a credit card since there is no chance of accruing debt… UMass Pass becomes your complete passport to the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth. There is no need to carry around cash, checks, ATM cards, and credit cards.”

SIFE educates New Bedford youth

By Ashley Chard

Many students who pass through the campus center on weekday afternoons prepare themselves to be pursued by vendors and various student groups, all raising student awareness for their group’s interests. However, many were not prepared for what they found as they walked through the campus center on Valentines Day.

In an effort to give the young generation first hand lessons about how the United States economy works, the UMass Dartmouth Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE) team worked with teachers at the Sgt. William H. Carney Memorial Academy, an elementary school in New Bedford, to offer the students there a chance to try their hands at free market action.

A total of 40 fourth and fifth grade students set up their own individual storefronts in the campus center last Thursday, selling products of their choice from homemade Valentine’s Day treats and cards, to bouquets and unique jewelry. Each student was given $10 seed money by the UMass Dartmouth SIFE team to learn about market economics by developing products to sell.

Each student had his or her own sales strategy and learned quickly to make deals and provide incentives when demand was low. These elementary school students forced their neighboring tables of undergraduate competitors to step up and use more aggressive sales strategies themselves. Overall, the day was a success. The students learned a lot and enjoyed taking in the bustling campus atmosphere while any member of the campus community had a chance to purchase one-of-a-kind valentines for loved ones in their lives.

During the preceding two weeks SIFE students, directed by their project leader, Gilce Gomes, visited the classrooms of Ms. Annette Morton (fourth grade) and Ms. Patricia Holmstrom (fifth grade), to help the students organize and learn about entrepreneurship and market economics. With the money they have earned each class will use half the money for a class pizza party and a donation will be made to a local charity(s) voted on by the students on behalf of the students at Carney Academy and the UMass Dartmouth SIFE team. At the end of the day, lessons were learned and goals were met by two groups of very different students.

“As a TEAM we can change the world by bringing passion and enthusiasm to what we do,” said Godwin Ariguzo, SIFE’s advisor and Sam Walton Fellow.

UMass Dartmouth senior spends summer designing for Boston firm

BOSTON, Mass. — It is the classic student essay waiting to happen: “What I Did over Summer Vacation.” But Stacey Sarber, a UMass Dartmouth senior studying Graphic Design, can offer a response that is anything but cliché. Rather than scooping ice cream or hanging out by the pool, she traveled to Boston to conduct product research, update websites, and support clients as an intern at THEREdesign, a contemporary architecture and interior design firm. The highlight of her time at THEREdesign was producing her own design concepts as part of a pro bono project to revitalize Allston Village, one of Boston’s neighborhoods. Sarber created a new logo and storefront graphic for a small Asian grocery store.

“In a way, my future as a designer was on the line this summer,” said Sarber. “As a rising senior I knew I had to get an internship. Gaining exposure to interior design practices and materials has really complimented my knowledge of graphic design. Ideally, I would like to be able to design a space visually in its entirety.”

Her full-time internship with THEREdesign was part of Boston University’s Summer Study Internship Program, which offers visiting students like Sarber a unique opportunity to complete coursework relevant to their future careers before putting their new skills and knowledge directly to work in a related internship. In total, participants earn twelve academic credits—and gain an invaluable dose of real-world experience. “I absolutely chose this program because it gave me the chance to get ahead in my classes as well as gain experience outside of the classroom,” said Sarber. “My history of graphic design course was amazing, and through my internship I gained a better idea of day-to-day operations in an actual firm.”

Sarber is one of 35 students who gathered from across the U.S. to attend the BU program. The program operates in two separate six-week phases. In the Core Phase, students take two BU courses selected from the career track of their choice. Sarber took Graphic Design and History of Graphic Design from the Graphic and Web Design track. Courses are also available in Arts and Culture, Business and Management, Film and Media Studies, International Studies, Politics and Public Policy, and Psychology and Social Policy.

“There are very few universities offering an opportunity like this,” said Assistant Dean of Summer Term Donna Shea. “Students are drawn to our program because they can take courses that are highly relevant to their majors and their career goals. And as for future employment, it is impressive to see a student who has both coursework and job experience in a specific area. This is about knowledge combined with experience, and our students gain a real advantage.”

During the Core Phase, students meet with representatives of EUSA, the firm that partners with BU to provide customized internship placement. Students work directly with EUSA to determine their goals and to identify appropriate internship opportunities. In the program’s two-year history, EUSA has placed students as interns in government offices, private companies, prominent arts organizations, and nationally-recognized non-profit groups. EUSA also holds workshops on resume-writing, interviewing, and self-assessment.

The Internship Phase constitutes the second six-weeks of the program, during which students work an average of 32 hours a week for their organization in addition to completing a third Boston University course that focuses on workplace culture and professional development.

In between work and class, students enjoy the energy of the BU campus—and its close proximity to everything the city of Boston has to offer. Program Administrator Yolanta Kovalko frequently organizes group activities, from weekend retreats in the New Hampshire woods to day outings at Fenway Park, Martha’s Vineyard, and Six Flags. “This program is about learning and internships, but it’s also about having fun,” said Kovalko. “We see it as central to the program’s vitality to foster a close-knit student community.”

“Surviving the city was one of my biggest accomplishments,” said Sarber. “I really enjoyed the contrast to the rural atmosphere at home; there’s always something to do, and people are always out and about. Fenway was only two blocks from my apartment!”

Learn more about Boston University and the Summer Study Internship Program at www.bu.edu/summer/internship.

Learn more about Boston University at www.bu.edu.

TOPICS IN MENTAL HEALTH

A how-to guide for ending relationships

The old song reminds us, “Breaking up is hard to do...” While this song was popular for its simply stated message, it minimizes the depth of pain and complexity involved in the ending of a relationship. Breaking up is hard to do, but what makes it so hard? Are there ways to make the process easier?

When a relationship ends, it is nearly universal that people experience one or more of the following emotions: denial, anger, fear, self-blame, guilt, disorientation, or relief. Your feelings may depend on whether or not you or your partner made the decision to end the relationship. Moving through the tumultuous post-break-up time can be facilitated by understanding the unique challenges of both sides.

For the break-ee, the good news is that you can turn on any radio station and hear about 12 songs (in a row) that speak to some aspect of the pain you are feeling right now. While you may be without your ex, you are definitely not alone. Many people’s first response to hearing that their partner would like to end the relationship is disbelief. Once you get over your shock and realize what your partner is saying, you might find yourself trying to convince him or her that it’s a bad idea, or that you belong together. Maybe you will bring up past positive times you’ve shared and wonder how your partner could forget them.

Following the denial phase, you might become angry, sad, vengeful or despairing. During this phase people often cry, talk about their partners to friends or make efforts to seek out their partners despite the break-up. You might wonder if you will ever feel the way you felt about your ex again or if you will ever trust anyone again.

People also frequently feel disoriented after a break-up. Usually break-ups lead to changes in your daily routine that can throw you off balance. For example, if you talked to your partner four times a day and always before going to bed, there will now feel like a lot of free time and going to sleep might be difficult. If you ate every meal with your partner, you might wonder who you will sit with at lunch. These kinds of changes might sound insignificant, but in the period immediately following a break-up they can feel extremely important and disorienting.

For the break-er, the challenges you face at the end of your relationship are often overlooked or minimized by others. Making the decision to end a relationship can be agonizing. Maybe you really love your partner but just didn’t see the relationship going anywhere long-term. Or maybe you ended the relationship because you don’t feel you are able to put the time and energy into it that it deserves. Maybe you just weren’t happy in the relationship, or have decided that you want alone time, to date someone else or to move away.

Often the break-er is worried about hurting their partner, and/or feels guilty, scared and alone. What if you are making a mistake? What if others think you made a mistake? What if you’re not happy with the break and want your ex back? Is it fair to go back and forth? What if your ex is really hurt and angry? What if you don’t find anyone who loves you as much as your ex did? These are all common concerns for people who decide to end relationships.

The other issue, which is equally important, is determining exactly how you’re going to make the break. What will you actually say? Will you do it in person or on the phone? What will happen if you see your ex out socially? It is frequently assumed that break-ups are easier for the person who makes the decision to end things, but given this complicated set of questions and issues, this is not necessarily true.

For both break-ees and break-ers knowing how to cope with mutual friends can be difficult. Chances are, you could use some support in coping with the break-up and would like to talk to your friends—but what if all of your friends are friends with your ex too? Is this unfair to your friends? Is it unfair to your ex?

Below are some tips on how to cope with a break-up and how to deal with mutual friends. One thing that can help is allowing yourself the time and space to really feel whatever you feel. Fully experiencing sadness, anger, fear and guilt can help validate the importance of the relationship. Acknowledging that the relationship was significant in terms of who you are today can help you move forward without it—there are changes that happened within you that you will carry with you even without your partner.

A second way to cope with the break-up is to surround yourself with supportive people. This might be family, friends, counselors, religious leaders, professors—anyone who you feel listens and cares. You may need to tell the story of what happened, what you thought, what you felt and what your fears are many times before it feels real. If you (or those around you) get tired of this story, you can simply say, “I’m still feeling sad about things,” “I still miss him or her,” or “I’m still wondering if I did the right thing.” Letting others know what’s going on for you, can help you feel less alone.

If it feels like all of your friends are also friends with your ex, you might decide not to talk to them in much detail. Involving your friends in all the painful details of the break-up can be difficult and complicated for both you and them. They may feel they have to “take sides” and you might wonder which side they’ve picked. You can still socialize with mutual friends and can even let them know that you’re having a hard time, but if you need to get the whole story out, consider talking to a family member or counselor instead.

A third tip for coping with break-ups is to refocus on yourself. Oftentimes in relationships we get focused on our partner or on “couple” issues rather than focusing on our own individual wants and needs. The post-break-up period is a great time to reconnect with yourself. What can you do to pamper yourself? What’s your favorite food? Have you been neglecting school work? Can you go visit a friend at another school? Maybe go home for the weekend?

Part of refocusing on yourself means taking care of yourself physically. Eating well and exercising regularly are common ways to manage stress. Making sure you get enough sleep and avoiding alcohol and drugs are also helpful. Using alcohol or drugs can amplify any existing emotions, making whatever painful feelings you have more intense and upsetting.

Fourth, sometimes it helps to think about the things you learned from your relationship and the ways that these things might help you in the future. People tend to grow and learn from all relationships, even bad ones, and focusing on these positive experiences can help to counterbalance the pain of the break-up. Maybe you learned about true intimacy and trust, how to fight fairly, what you want sexually, what you would do differently in another relationship or how to take care of yourself while being part of a couple. Maybe you got a very clear lesson about what you don’t want in future partners. These are all valuable lessons that you can take with you even if you never talk to your ex again.

Finally, it is important to pay attention to your level of distress. If you feel desperately sad or angry for weeks on end, feel that you are unable to attend to daily aspects of your life, or find that your sleep patterns have changed, your appetite has changed, or you’re feeling nauseous or dizzy, it is time to seek help. Sometimes normal grief over a break-up can become a long-standing depression that requires professional help. This may be more likely to happen if you are someone who has experienced unresolved loss, trauma or serious relationship stress in the past, as old wounds may be re-opened by the pain of your break-up. Your grief might also be more likely to turn into depression if you’re someone who has struggled with depression in the past or has a family history of depression. If you feel that your distress over the break-up might be depression, seek the help of a mental health professional.

If you or someone you know is struggling to manage difficulties associated with a break-up, please feel free to contact the Counseling Center (x8650) for support. If you have questions or comments about the information presented in this article, please direct emails to rachel.lively@umassd.edu.

Rachel Lively, Psy.D.
Counseling Center

STATE OF THE QUEER NATION

MD attorney general backs gay marriage bill

In the midst of this same-sex marriage war, numbers are rising for the liberal side. An article by Laura Smitherman in last Friday’s Baltimore Sun brings some news of a push for Maryland to follow in Massachusetts’ footsteps legalizing gay marriage.

Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler told state legislators last Thursday that “it would be hard for me to have this job knowing there is something so wrong in our society. I just think it’s wrong to discriminate against any people because they think differently or because of their sexual orientation.” Gansler said that law makers might not have the “political courage” to legalize gay marriage, but they would probably “settle” for civil unions.

Maryland State Senator Janet Greenip, an Anne Arundel County Republican and sponsor of the constitutional measure says, “The issue keeps coming up again and again and again. Let the people decide whether we should have marriage the way we know it, or if it should be changed.”

Gansler refuted this claim with a reference to the 1967 Supreme Court decision declaring Virginia’s law against interracial marriage unconstitutional. “If that law had been put to the voters in that state then, he said, they likely would have supported it.”

In the United States, Massachusetts is the only state that legalizes gay marriage. Nine states allow domestic partnerships or civil unions (California, Connecticut, New Hampshire, Vermont, Hawaii, Washington, Maine, Oregon and New Jersey). This is not a strictly nationwide battle, however. Canada, Belgium, Netherlands, South Africa and Spain all have legalized gay marriages whereas there are presently over 15 countries that allow civil unions or domestic partnerships. These countries include Denmark, Sweden, Mexico, New Zealand, Portugal, United Kingdom, France and, as of late last year, Uruguay.

All over the world this battle is raging. As of late there is political debate in Spain. Spain has granted gay marriage since 2005 and is in the midst of elections. The conservative Popular Party in Spain said that, if elected into power on March 9, they will overturn adoption rights and downgrade gay marriage to civil union.

Until discrimination of any sort, whether it be of same-sex marriages/civil unions/domestic partnerships or anything else, comes to an end there will always be a debate. Perhaps that’s what makes living worth it. As someone once told me, it’s good to have enemies – it means you’ve stood up for something that you believe.

For further information, go to http://www.sovo.com/thelatest/thelatest.cfm?blog_id=16668.

Source: The Baltimore Sun (baltimoresun.com)

Melanie Correia
Secretary
Pride Alliance

science of the now

Leukemia and diagnosis

By Nathan Yetton

Leukemia is one of the most studied and prevalent forms of cancer in humans. This disease is part of a category of blood related diseases known as hematological malignancies. The group of diseases encompassed by leukemia also incorporates lymphoma, multiple myeloma, myelodisplastic syndrome and myelofibroses.

These cancers have a multitude of symptoms which range from fever and chills, to sensitive gums and shortness of breath. Many of these problems are noticed when blood pressure becomes unbalanced or the leukemia begins to interfere with normal blood cell production. For example, dizziness, headaches, and lethargy can be linked to blood pressure problems whereas immune deficiency, enlarged and painful liver, and bone and joint pain can result from either the overproduction of cancer cells or underproduction of healthy blood cells.

Leukemias are classified in two ways. First, they are assigned names according to symptomatic behavior, acute or chronic. Second, the disease is classified by cell type: myelogenous or lymphoblastic. Myelogenous blood cells are the typical red blood cell or related varieties. Lymphoblastic leukemia involves white B or T blood cells and strains of cells with related functions.

Long lasting and painful, chronic leukemias most often affect older patients. These diseases are the result of years of accumulating mishaps in blood-cell generation. It can take even decades to develop, and at some point may become an acute malignity. The generation of acute leukemia from a chronic patient is called the blast crisis, when the cancer cell load in the blood increases dramatically and causes the change in symptoms.

Acute leukemias are highly dangerous diseases. They are quick to cause painful symptoms and can quickly lead to the generation of other cancers within the body. Because leukemia produces cancerous blood cells, an acute lymphoblastic or myelogenous leukemia (ALL/AML) enables a speedy spread of cancer throughout the body. The vascular system is a cellular superhighway, and acute leukemias are bound to find other tissues and organs and begin novel tumors throughout the body. Fortunately, ALL is often locked in the glands which produce white blood cells, and the blood-brain barrier helps hold back an onslaught of brain tumors. The body isn’t entirely defenseless.

Children form the largest group of people diagnosed with leukemia, and ALL is the foremost cause of child death in the United States. This is the reason why no other disease has been studied and fought quite as much as Leukemia. It is the most studied form of cancer in existence, and in many cases is curable. If caught early enough, many cases of leukemia go into remission and the afflicted people live healthy lives. The battle can be rough and diagnosis can be tricky. To catch leukemia early on is of the utmost importance and people must be educated about the disease.

GREENING THE CAMPUS

Living in the historical moment

This week we celebrate the birth of two presidents who guided us through revolutionary times. Each rose to a historical moment and was able to shepherd his compatriots into a new world. While leaders, they were not singular—they represented a widespread awakening to the radical notions of democracy and equality.

We likewise live in a historical moment where millions of human beings worldwide are awakening to the fact that we are on an unsustainable course and that we need to dramatically alter our relationship to the Earth and to each other if we are not to permanently damage our planet and tens of thousands of species that inhabit it, including our own.

Like George Washington, who helped to create a nation, and Abraham Lincoln, who held that union together through dark times, our task seems insurmountable. The ecological, financial, and social crises we live within are daunting. They include species extinction, topsoil depletion, overpopulation, water scarcity and pollution, persistent toxins in our environment and in us, huge economic disparities, fossil fuel depletion, war and climate change.

But like our earlier revolutionary periods, these crises hold within them the seeds of hope of a new way of being: sustainability. Sustainability involves altering our notions of who we are in relation to the earth and to each other. It involves seeing us as connected rather than disconnected to the environment we live within. It sees us as powerful creators rather than relentless destroyers. Alan Atkisson, sustainability guru and author of “Believing Cassandra: An Optimist Looks at a Pessimist’s World,” writes, “Sustainability may seem unrealistic, but in 1750, so did democracy.”

Atkisson and many, many others are visioning a post-revolutionary world that involves renewable energies, regional governance, re-localized economies, healthy food systems, reengineered water systems, fossil-fuel free transportation systems and vibrant families and communities. Such a world may seem illusory, but much work has already been done.

Atkisson writes: “‘Transformation’ is the name we give to the extremely accelerated adoption of existing innovations, together with the acceleration of innovation itself. Understanding transformation in these terms gives, to those who seek to create one, a reason for hope.

“An enormous amount of design work, preliminary to a transformation of the kind envisioned here, has already been done. Inventions, policies, models, scenarios, alternatives…innovations of all kinds have been developed by thoughtful and committed people over a generation, and the speed of innovation is increasing. One generation of intensely focused investment, research, and redevelopment—redesigning our energy systems, overhauling our chemical industries, rebuilding our cities, finding substitutes for wood and replanting lost forests, and so much more—could transform the world as we know it into something far more beautiful, satisfying, and sustainable. This I believe: Sustainability is possible. Sustainability is desirable. Sustainability is a goal worthy of one’s life’s work. Sustainability is the great task of the next century. Sustainability is the next challenge on the road to our destiny.”

The generation currently in colleges and universities has the opportunity to preside over this revolution and to build the new world that follows. It is a profoundly exciting and awesome task.

Susan Jenkins
Interim Director
Office of Campus and Community Sustainability