Miami Hurricane, October 20, 1989

              Harvest time
DAVE BERGMAN/Staff Photographer
Jan Bronstein, left, and Niri Gurevitch observe the Jewish holiday Sukkos at the University CenteryRock. The eight-day harvest festival began Oct. 13. Bronstein and Gurevitch stand beneath the ceremonial Sukkah, holding a lulav and an etrog.
Charges of racism surround GPA bill
SG Senate amends its constitution
By ROBERT MILLER
Assistant News Editor
Questions about parliamentary procedure and heated debate on a bill punctuated the University of Miami Student Government Senate meeting Wednesday.
A proposed amendment to the SG Constitution failed to pass by one vote on Oct. 11 and was resubmitted as a new bill and ratified this week. The amendment proposed raising the minimum grade point average necessary to hold an executive office in SG from a 2 0 to a 2.5.
The amendment failed to get the needed two-thirds majority at last week’s meeting, but after resubmission by different authors, it succeeded by a 22-8 vote.
However, the bill, and the entire senate meeting, was shrouded in controversy. Some SG members said they were not pleased with the outcome of the meeting, which ended with little accomplished and charges
of a racist plot.
Adams loses power
By ROBERT MILLER
Assistant News Editor
Student Government Attorney General Max Adams has lost most of the power vested in his office due to a recently discovered change in the SG Constitution that was never incorporated into the present document, sources said.
The change in the constitution was made in 1987, but according to Speaker of the Senate Beth Susi, it was never typed into the document.
Susi said many such missing changes, including deletions and corrections, have not been put into the constitution SG now uses. She said she is unsure why the deletion occurred or why it was not inserted.
According to Susi, the Cabinet Committee for Please see pane 2/A DAMS
"It was a big mess,” said Richard Jones, Stanford Residential College senator and co-author of the re-
I'lease see page 2/SG
Search continues for stabbing victim’s assailant
By AMY ELLIS
Contfitxiting Editor
Police are still searching for cluec
in last week’s stabbing of 20-year-old Christian Brogan, a University of Miami junior who is in critical condition at Jackson Memorial Hospital.
'We’re just hoping that witnesses will come forward,” said Metro-Dade Homicide Detective Lou Alvarez. "That’s our best hope.”
Brogan and his roommate, Sean McCarthy, 21, were attacked in the late evening of Oct. 12 on their way home from the SportsRock Cafe in South Miami’s Bakery Centre. Earlier that evening, they had been at the UM Rathskeller.
Brogan's mother, Noel, who has been staying with her husband, Conlin, at the apartment of one of her son’s friends, said his condition is not promising. He suffered a stab wound to the heart in the attack.
"According to the doctors, the best we can hope for, if he survives, is a vegetative, comatose state,” she said. "The first 24 hours is the
Student’s condition still critical
critical period after a major trauma like this, and there aren t any good
signs.”
McCarthy received several blows to the head and suffered bruised ribs, but was not hospitalized.
Alvarez said witnesses described the attackers as two white males in their 20s, one was wearing cowboy boots and had long, straight, dark hair.
A vehicle, possibly a Ford Bronco or Nissan Pathfinder, pulled up behind the car driven by McCarthy, which was stopped at a red light at the comer of Red and Bird roads. The attackers got out of their vehicle, dragged Brogan and McCarthy from their car and began to beat them, police said.
“We are following up on some leads concerning the vehicle, but we need more information, either subject description or possibly a tag number,” Alvarez said. "I believe
there are people out there that
were there, but haven't come for-
ward.”
Alvarez said he is not sure what prompted the attack but said it could be traffic-related.
"We’ve traced where they [Brogan and McCarthyl were earlier in the evening, and there were no incidents at either location," Alvarez said. “Excluding any previous encounter, it’s possible the attack could have been traffic-related. For example, they might have cut someone off.”
McCarthy said he does not recall any incident on the road that could have prompted the attack.
Friends of Brogan say they are hopeful for his recovery.
“I won’t give up on him. Right now, I’m just hoping and praying,” said Sari Golan, who has known Brogan for two and a half years and was a resident assistant on his floor his freshman year.
“It’s not fair for this to have hap-
pened to someone so young,” she said. "All of his friends are trying to be there for him and lend support to his parents.”
Everyone im hoping unci piaying
that he’s going to make it,” said Brad Cole, a senior who has known Brogan for four years. "He’s an all-around, super-nice guy who would’ve done anything for anyone. He’s the type of guy who would give you the shirt off his back if it were freezing.”
Brogan’s mother said the response of the University community has made the situation “a little more tolerable.”
"The president of the University, Dean [Williaml Sandler, his English professor — they’ve all been so kind and feeling,” she said. “Christian spread love wherever he went, and these beautiful people reflect that.”
She urges anyone who saw anything that night to contact Metro-Dade police. “At this point, every tiny bit is important. These animals are just going to prey on other college students.”
NINA PETROVICH/Statt Phologiaphef
Attack victims Christian Brogan, left, and Sean McCarthy, at a football tailgate party recently.
NOTRE DAME PASSES ALLOTED
it*»
According to University of Miami Athletic Director Sam Jankovich, 7,200 passes have been alloted for Cane Card-carrying students, with 500 guest passes scheduled to go on sale Nov. 20. Story, page 8.
Booklet collects seniors’ resumes
By BETH VAINA
Statf Writer
Graduating students may not always get their foot in the door, but they can get that extra boot needed to start their careers by registering for the University of Miami department of Career Planning and Placement’s first resume booklet for undergraduate business students.
The booklet will be a collection of 100 resumes from graduating business majors. Copies will be mailed to corporate employers and Fortune 500 companies, according to Elina Artigas, director of CPP.
The booklets will be sent to most employers by the end of April, Artigas said, “to take advantage of peak hiring season.”
The idea for a resume booklet for business students was generated from the 1989 Minority Resume Booklet, produced for the first time last spring. Artigas explained that, due to affirmative action, companies are aggressively seeking out
minorities.
“It’s difficult to find minorities with college degrees," she noted.
The minority resume booklet was a pilot program to see how well the idea would be received by the business community, Artigas said.
According to several students who were included in the minority student booklet, the publication was worth their effort.
"[The booklet] definitely opened up doors for me,” said Olga Mesa, a 1988 UM graduate with a bachelor’s degree in biology. She is currently working on an internship at Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami.
”[11 got a lot of correspondence,” said Micheál Brown, a 1988 UM graduate with a bachelor’s degree in international business. Brown is now seeking a master’s degree in finance at UM.
Ellen Storm, a manager at Lady Foot Locker, said, "Anybody I felt
Please see page 2/RESUME
Midterm stress takes physical toll
Health Center offers services to students
By CHRISTINE THOMPSON
Staff Writer
The University of Miami Health Center offers a variety of medical services, many provided at little or no charge, to domestic and international students, although UM students may not be aware of the resource.
The health service is an on-campus, student-oriented outpatient medical program. Licensed professionals are able to take care of most of the minor injuries and llinesses which are common to college students.
. According to Dr. Eugene Flipse, director of the UM Health Center, students are encouraged to use this facility first for health problems. It is more convenient, less expensive and professionally equal to area hospitals and medical services, he said.
"Students should come here. Otherwise, they face more out-of-pocket expenses,” Flipse said.
Flipse added students should go to Doctors’ Hospital on the edge of the UM Coral Gables campus if their health need is urgent and
Please see page .'(/HEALTH
By CHRISTINE THOMPSON
Staff Writer
Midterm papers, projects and exams have arrived, and so has the stress that often accompanies them. Students are affected by stress in a variety of ways, but some of the most common stress-related problems are physical.
According to Director of the University of Miami Health Center Dr. Eugene Flipse, too much stress can influence an individual’s entire metabolism, and stress predominantly affects the nervous system, which in turn affects all bixiily functions.
"Everyone needs some stress in order to maintain some sort of motivation, but distress is too much,” Flipse said.
If students allow stress to accumulate, it can produce tensions serious enough to interfere with normal daily activities, Flipse added.
Flipse noted students frequently come to the Health Center complaining about a recurring physical ailment, only to find out their condition is stress-related.
“Many of the cases we see here at the Health Center are due to stress or are aggravated by stress,” he said.
Some of these physical symptoms include increased blood pressure, stomach irritation, migraines, fatigue, fever blisters and disturbed sleeping patterns.
Flipse also said students sometimes describe their condition as a "general uncomfortable feeling” they cannot relieve.
According to Dr. Lynn Durel, a professor in the UM psychology department and a behavioral medicine researcher, the natural v
response the human body makes to stress is called the fight or flight response.
"However, during midterms, our body can’t do either of these, and instead we feel physical effects like a faster heart rate, an increase in blood pressure or stomach upset,” Durel said.
Flipse said the causes and degrees of stress are different for each individual, but the most common source of stress for college students is the adjustment to a new environment. A demanding course load and exams also test students’ endurance and stress management abilities. Finding the right balance between academics and extracurricular activities is difficult, he said.
Rob Abowitz, a junior business
major, said his physical reactions to stress are obvious to other people, yet he is not aware of them. He explained he has a nervous twitch that centralizes in a particular area, such as his eyes or hands. He cannot stop the unconscious movement unless someone tells him he is doing it.
“I also went to the doctor once to have him check what I thought were tumors at the back of my neck,” Abowitz said. "Instead, I found out that the bumps were muscle knots that resulted from stress.”
According to Flipse, some people are more likely to feel the physical effects of stress than others due to their inadequate ability to cope with pressure. He suggested these people do not know how to
effectively manage stressful situations.
Flipse said several simple steps can be followed in order to keep tensions within reasonable limits.
Daily exercise, regular check-ups by a physician, short breaks during the day, realistic goals and organization are a few of the key elements of successful stress management, Flipse said.
“As students learn to cope with stress and pressures, they begin to physically, as well as mentally, feel better,” he said.
Durel said some individuals may be predisposed to stress-related physical effects or they have learned certain reactions to stressful situations. She also said researchers do not know enough about the physical effects of stress in order to prescribe the best methods of stress management.
"Different things work for different people," Durel said. "Students should try to find something they enjoy and that relaxes them.’
Some students play sports or get involved in other forms of physical activity to release tension. Others read, watch television or spend time alone to relieve stress.
According to Lorrie Baumle, a freshman majoring in English, stress always affects her physically. She said she frequently gets hives and a stiff neck when she is under a lot of pressure from too many sources.
”1 usually end up screaming,” she said, describing her own personal method of stress management.
For more information regarding stress management seminars, students can call the Health Center at 284-5927 between 8:30 a.m. and 5 p.m.
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