Spring Break
Ask the Doctors
Issue date: 10/20/06 Section: Life & Style
- Page 1 of 1
Dear Doc,
I have a friend who was raped and I am wondering what resources are available to help her.
STAR Central is a program of the Pat Walker Health Center that offers support, training, advocacy and resources related to sexual assault and relationship violence. After a sexual assault, a person experiences a wide range of emotions because trauma that persists beyond the incident itself. At STAR Central, trained advocates assist victims of sexual assault by providing advocacy and referrals to appropriate campus and community groups that can be of help during recovery from the incident and becomes the survivor, no longer the victim.
Individual advocacy is provided to assist students with identifying specific needs and resources. Additionally, students who have been victimized by sexual assault are welcome to join the Survivor's Chat Group. This group is a peer-based support network that empowers students as they support each other through various stages of the healing process. The group meets weekly and is currently open to female students only. Individual services are available to males. All advocacy services are strictly confidential.
In addition to direct services for those who have been violated by sexual violence or relationship violence, STAR Central offers a variety of education programs for the campus community. A peer education group known as RESPECT (Rape Education Services by Peers Encouraging Conscious Thought) and professional staff provide educational programs and presentations that focus on awareness, risk reduction and resources. More information about any of STAR Central's Services may be obtained by calling 575-7252 or 575-7722.
Mary A. Wyandt-Hiebert, Ph.D., CHES
Director, STAR Central
Dear Doc,
Why do we yawn?
It has long been thought that a yawn is a reflex response to increased levels of carbon dioxide in the body. According to this theory, when activity levels decrease and breathing slows, less oxygen makes it to the lungs and carbon dioxide builds up in the blood. This would then be a message to the brain that results in signals sent back to the lungs to take a deep breath. However, this theory might not hold true. Experiments with subjects breathing increase carbon dioxide did not result in increased yawning.
Students have been studied comparing the number of yawns during 30 minutes of watching MTV versus 30 minutes of watching a color pattern. Interestingly, those watching MTV yawned significantly less than those watching a color pattern. So it's true when you are bored, you yawn more. It was suggested that yawning is like stretching: with both, there is a stretching of the muscles. With yawning, the jaw muscles are stretched. The act of stretching and yawning is called pandiculation.
It does make sense that yawning is a fairly rudimentary reflex. Some neurotransmitters injected into the hypothalamus increase yawning. In humans, the earliest yawn is about 11 weeks after conception. Some birds, reptiles and most mammals yawn. We might not know what the exact trigger is, but we do know that the six seconds it takes for the average yawn feels pretty good.
Susan Raben-Taylor, MD
Pat Walker Health Center
I have a friend who was raped and I am wondering what resources are available to help her.
STAR Central is a program of the Pat Walker Health Center that offers support, training, advocacy and resources related to sexual assault and relationship violence. After a sexual assault, a person experiences a wide range of emotions because trauma that persists beyond the incident itself. At STAR Central, trained advocates assist victims of sexual assault by providing advocacy and referrals to appropriate campus and community groups that can be of help during recovery from the incident and becomes the survivor, no longer the victim.
Individual advocacy is provided to assist students with identifying specific needs and resources. Additionally, students who have been victimized by sexual assault are welcome to join the Survivor's Chat Group. This group is a peer-based support network that empowers students as they support each other through various stages of the healing process. The group meets weekly and is currently open to female students only. Individual services are available to males. All advocacy services are strictly confidential.
In addition to direct services for those who have been violated by sexual violence or relationship violence, STAR Central offers a variety of education programs for the campus community. A peer education group known as RESPECT (Rape Education Services by Peers Encouraging Conscious Thought) and professional staff provide educational programs and presentations that focus on awareness, risk reduction and resources. More information about any of STAR Central's Services may be obtained by calling 575-7252 or 575-7722.
Mary A. Wyandt-Hiebert, Ph.D., CHES
Director, STAR Central
Dear Doc,
Why do we yawn?
It has long been thought that a yawn is a reflex response to increased levels of carbon dioxide in the body. According to this theory, when activity levels decrease and breathing slows, less oxygen makes it to the lungs and carbon dioxide builds up in the blood. This would then be a message to the brain that results in signals sent back to the lungs to take a deep breath. However, this theory might not hold true. Experiments with subjects breathing increase carbon dioxide did not result in increased yawning.
Students have been studied comparing the number of yawns during 30 minutes of watching MTV versus 30 minutes of watching a color pattern. Interestingly, those watching MTV yawned significantly less than those watching a color pattern. So it's true when you are bored, you yawn more. It was suggested that yawning is like stretching: with both, there is a stretching of the muscles. With yawning, the jaw muscles are stretched. The act of stretching and yawning is called pandiculation.
It does make sense that yawning is a fairly rudimentary reflex. Some neurotransmitters injected into the hypothalamus increase yawning. In humans, the earliest yawn is about 11 weeks after conception. Some birds, reptiles and most mammals yawn. We might not know what the exact trigger is, but we do know that the six seconds it takes for the average yawn feels pretty good.
Susan Raben-Taylor, MD
Pat Walker Health Center
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