Foods to Help Fight Finals Stress

Have you ever noticed that when you’re stressed you prefer ‘comfort foods’ such as chocolate, ice cream, and soft drinks?  While these may make you think that they are helping you, they really are not. It is important that you maintain a healthy diet while trying to study for Finals. The following are some foods/drinks that are beneficial to eat when you’re stressed provided by Medical Blog:

1. Herbal tea

Feel your body becoming lean quickly with a warm cup of herbal tea or a cold. The smell of peppermint, spearmint, and chamomile can reduce the stress in your body, so you will feel calm.




2. Pistachio Nuts
Nerves that are tense in the workplace can be eliminated with a handful of pistachio nuts. The study found the pistachio reduces the body’s response to stress by reducing blood pressure. Interestingly, only 30 grains of pistachio contains about 100 calories, 200 calories less than most snacks.




3. Potatoes or Sweet Potatoes
Sweet potatoes are a good source of magnesium, and reduce excessive water retention and improve mood. While soy milk contains calcium and vitamin B12, which increases serotonin levels, which create a feeling of happiness.




4. Lentil soup
Drink lentil soup or lentils or beans are rich in folic acid to improve memory and reduce levels of homocysteine, an amino acid that potentially damaging. Those who experienced a decrease homocysteine levels tend to be restless and usually weak.

Take A Deep Breath

It's almost the end of the school year, and stress levels are high.  Don't forget to take care of yourself during this crucial time.  It's easy to skip meals, avoid workouts and skimp on sleep during finals week.  Although this may *seem* to give you more time to study, think how difficult your final exams will be if you are fighting off illness. 

In the meantime, here are some library resoures that will (hopefully) help you fight stress.

Library staff. We're here to help make your life easier. Don't hesitate to ask for help.

Individual study carrels.  These are ideal for those times when you "need your space." To find them, go upstairs and take a right past the Information Desk.

Magazines.   If your brain needs a break, check out our "hot titles" in the back of the main floor, in Periodicals.  Titles include Entertainment Weekly, People, and Rolling Stone.

Student Lounge.  Catch up on TV, get a quick snack, or take a nap.

Films & Audiobooks.  Venture downstairs to our audiovisual room to browse our DVD and audiobook collections.
Coffee bar.  Along with the library, the coffee bar will also have extended hours, starting tomorrow.

Fiction.  Upstairs in the stacks (PS-PN) are lots of novels in a variety of genres: mysteries, romances, science fiction and more. 

Preserving Family Archives

Join archivist Gary Spurr tomorrow, Friday 27, in the library classroom room 139 at noon to learn how to preserve your family's memories. How do you preserve family letters, photos, scrapbooks, and other family treasures? You'll learn how by attending this session.

Lessons @ Lunch: Preserving Family Archives

SMU’s Fondren Library Center hosts Titanic exhibit

Everyone knows the story of the Titanic. I've read the books, watched the movies (except the new one, but I will) and the watched the documentaries. It has always interested me.
Smu's Fondren Library is featuering a paper model made by James Pepper. I would love to see the real replica.

http://www.smu.News/2012/titanic-exhibit-16april2012

Tarleton Thursdays: Did You Know?

 
The Library Photocopier

In continuation of National Library Week, which was last week, I am writing a historical tidbit about our Tarleton library.  The library is a source of resources for students to use for class research assignments.  Many students print out their articles each and every day either from the comfort of their home or dorm room, or from the library.

The scenario was much different sixty years ago!  One could not look up articles from offsite – one had to come to the library – one couldn’t come to the library and just hit the print button to get a hardcopy of their article – a student had to actually come to the library, pull the hardcopy of the periodical, find the article, and photocopy it for use outside the library – or hand write notes from the article while in the library.

 

The photo above shows Tarleton students in the library laboriously taking notes from journal articles.  Fifty years ago a December 8, 1962 JTAC headline stated  “Book-Copier Purchased by TSC Library.”  It continued by saying “This fall the Tarleton Library acquired a book-copier, retail value of $300.  This photographic copier can duplicate most material found in the library for the students’ use.  The machine makes an actual-size, contact print of any page desired. The machine has been placed in the library for the students’ benefits.  It will prove most helpful in copying pages of reference, or other 'building use only' materials for research purposes.  The service is available to all students for a rate of ten cents per page, which is the approximate cost of reproduction.”  It even copied colors in graphs and maps.

 

Back then, and for several years, the library only had one copier and NO computers or printers.  Students had to stand in line to use the one copier.  Imagine what it would be like to have to do that today!

My how things have changed in the last fifty years!

PEEPS RECYCLE @ TSU

The Environmental Advisory Council is promoting Earth Day and the Recycling Initiative at Tarleton State University. There was an informational table today in the Dick Smith Library on the types of recycling Tarleton does. Tarleton recycles many products such as paper, cardboard, plastic and aluminum. You can bring your recyclable products to the Recycle Center located at the University Farm past the horse pens or to the Environmental Services office on Lillian Street. The EAC will return on FRIDAY, April 20th, to the DSL to hand out more info on the recycling initiative. Live GREEN, Breathe PURPLE! http://www.tarleton.edu/livegreen

Earth Day - April 22nd!

Do you care about the environment?  Do you actively try to save the planet?  The Environmental Protection Agency offers many ways you can commit to protect the environment this Earth Day:

• Pick five activities to save the environment.
• Participate in the Environment in a Day photo project or Six Words for the Planet contest.
• Find Earth Day events and activities across the country.

Come by the library to see displays about how the Tarleton recycling program is helping to reduce waste and save the planet!  

You can see all the toner cartridges used in library printers - just since January!  

Earth day is important reminder to think about the environment and our planet and how we need to protect it. 

Top Ten Tuesday: Stay Informed

The following list, in no particular order, offers links to Tarleton resources that will help you stay in the know.

• Tarleton homepage
• Check out news releases, spotlighted announcements, and upcoming events notices.
• Tarleton Libraries: News & Events
• Get notices of upcoming events.
• Learn about about new databases and resources.
• Locate the library's mobile features.
• Email for reference help.
• Check out the library's Facebook, Twitter, blog, and Flickr posts.
• Current Students page
• Find links to the most popular pages: Career Services, departments, financial aid, housing, student employment, etc.
• Learn about services for academic support, health and safety, technology & support, and student life.
• Locate news and event notices, as well as links to the Bleed Purple page and Tarleton's social media sites.
• Bleed Purple page
• Find links to all things purple:
  Tarleton social media listings, audio downloads, photo archives, virtual tour, the Purple Book, and more.
• J-TAC
• Read articles about campus life, sports, and entertainment, along with editorials and letters to the editor.
• Watch videos interviews.
• Post comments and opinions.
• Tarleton Radio KTRL 90.5 FM and The Planet 100.7 FM
• Listen to music, announcements, and live broadcasts.
• Texan News Service, sponsored by Tarleton's Communications Studies Department
• View Texan TV News and read feature, sports, and news stories.
• University News from the Marketing & Communications Department
• Read press releases, submit event information, search for subject experts, and access the Publications Guide.
• University calendar
• Look up events by dates and categories.
• Code Purple
• Enroll in Code Purple to receive notifications about health and safety emergencies, closings or delays due to weather, and crime or other events that pose a threat to those on or coming to campus.

Comics and graphic novels

Those of you who like to read webcomics might want to check out Unshelved, a funny webcomic set at a public library.

If you prefer print comics and graphic novels, try searching for "Graphic novels" or "Comic books, strips, etc." in the library's catalog. A few works we have that I recommend:

• Neil Gaiman's Sandman series - A dark, strange, and interesting series starring the Endless, beings who embody various natural forces. The series' main character is Dream.
• American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang - This book features three seemingly separate stories, one about a boy who is the only Chinese-American student at his school, one about the Monkey King, and one about a high school student named Danny, who is horribly embarrassed by Chin-Kee, his cousin, who is the embodiment of every negative Chinese stereotype.
• The Complete Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi - A memoir of growing up in Iran and of being Iranian.
• Maus by Art Spiegelman - A graphic novel about the Holocaust, as experienced by Spiegelman's parents.

Do you have any favorite graphic novels or webcomics?

Robert M. Gray Doolittle Raider and Tarleton Alumni

Seventy years ago today Robert Gray, a Tarleton alumni, was embarking on the greatest adventure of his life. He was one of 80 aviators who volunteered for the Doolittle raid on Japan. This raid on April 18, 1942 was first time that American forces would attack the Japanese homeland after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor a year earlier. It was a daring plan that used land based B-25 bombers to take off from an aircraft carrier. It was determined if the aircraft were stripped of all armament, armor plate, and non essential equipment it would be possible to take off from an aircraft carrier. The B-25s were fitted with additional fuel tanks including ten five gallon cans for manual refueling in flight. The 16 B-25 bombers were loaded aboard the USS Hornet (CV-8) and the task force set off for Japan. The plan was to launch the aircraft 400 miles from Japan, the aircraft were to bomb their targets and hopefully land at airfields in China and Russia. On April 18, 1942 the ships were spotted by a Japanese patrol boat, a decision was made to launch the mission. the crews took off 600 miles from their targets instead of 400 miles. Colonel Doolittle took the first aircraft off in 40 knot winds with 30 foot wave crests in only 467 feet of deck space.

Robert Gray was the pilot of the number 3 aircraft, serial 40-2270 named "Whiskey Pete". Their targets were a steel mill, a chemical company, and a gas company all in Tokyo. Gray bombed all assigned targets and headed for China. Unable to make an airfield, Gray and his crew bailed out over China. All of his crew members survived the bailout and made their way back to United States forces.

Gray was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for the Doolittle raid. He was born in Killeen, Texas and a member of the 1940 class of Tarleton majoring in Civil and Aeronautical Engineering. Robert Gray was killed in action in a B-25 crash during a combat mission six months to the day of the Doolittle raid on October 18, 1942 near Assam India. Robert Gray airfield at Fort Hood Texas is named in his honor. Today there are only five surviving members of the Doolittle raid. We salute them and their comrades for all that they have done. In the image on the right Robert Gray is the second person on the left. (Official USAF photo) Official Doolittle Raider website: http://www.doolittleraider.com/
The James H. Doolittle archives are located at the University of Texas-Dallas http://www.utdallas.edu/library/uniquecoll/speccoll/hac/doolittle/jdlttl.html

Review of the book, Heaven is for Real, by Todd Burpo

Heaven is for Real is a new acquisition in the Dick Smith Library that is quite popular and with good reason. This is an endearing story of a little boy’s journey to heaven and back told from the father’s perspective. As a three-year-old child, Colton Burpo, has to have an emergency appendectomy after suffering for almost a week with symptoms.  The circumstances of the boy’s health are precarious and the parents struggle with the guilt of not recognizing the signs of their son's appendicitis, questioning the divine in their life, taking care of their older child, job responsibilities, and the child's unstable recovery. When the family returns home several weeks later with a healing child, Colton, occasionally pops up with odd phrases or stories that he tells in a matter-of-fact kind of way that slowly lead the parents to begin to add things up and deduce that their son is actually recounting his experiences in heaven. Since young children often waver between reality and imagination, the parents are, at first, leery of the boy’s stories, however, over the course of a few months, they put together the evidence that verifies for them that their son’s encounter is genuine.  The descriptions that the boy gives of angels, relatives that have previously died, and the vivid colors of heaven allow the reader to enjoy his experiences and to see the wonder of life, in this world and beyond, through the eyes of a child.

National Library Week

Did you know that this week, April 8-14^th, is National Library Week? We are celebrating this week by revealing who will be on the next library READ posters. Want to join in on the fun? Come to the Library’s main lobby from 3:00-4:00PM today, April 11^th, to witness the unveiling of the posters. While you’re here, be sure to check out the great displays that our staff has put up for your enjoyment. There's never a dull moment in the Dick Smith Library!

Adolescent Wooly Mammoth found!

A young, strawberry blond Wooly Mammoth was found perfectly preserved in in Siberia. They believe it to be only 3 or 4 years old. It is suspected that "Yuka", named so by the scientists that found her, was born 10,000 years ago.

Check out the article and watch the short video clip.

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/trending-now/perfectly-preserved-woolly-mammoth-discovered-siberia-163507240.html

Tarleton Thursdays: Did You Know?

April Fool’s Day 1952

Some of the April 1, 1952 Tacky-J’s headlines were: Ag Building Collapses, English Staff Goes Too; Shack Burns Down as Crowd Cheers; Atom Bums Plan Poetry Contest; Eager Beaver Cunyus will Dismiss Classes; and President Howell Gets Caught with His Pants Down! All in fun, the Tacky-J “tried to poke fun and do take offs on almost all departments and many of the students”! Some Daffynitions were also given including Agriculture Building: The John Tarleton Mule Barn, and Library: A place where all students go to get rid of their excess meanness – never to study!


Included in the 1952 Tacky-J was the ad: “Service Drug, Pool Hall and Gambling Casino, Dead I d’Arcy Floor Bouncer in Charge”! The photo shown above is from the 1952 Grassburr and shows what the “real” Service Drug looked like. The Tarleton students are all enjoying the Service Drug soda fountain!


In 2009 a Texas Historical Marker was erected on the building on the northwest corner of the square. The daughter of the former proprietor Daniel d’Arcy, was instrumental in obtaining the marker! She is also a Tarleton alum!


Called the Schnabel Building by locals, the service drug was a series of drug stores from 1899 until 1994. F.A.Schnabel, who contracted its building in October 1897, and hauled brick for the building from Thurber, was the original proprietor. He operated the business until 1905, when he sold it to Frank S White. Other owners of the pharmacy were Swan Richardson, Daniel and Louise D’Arcy, Bill Riddick, John Baker, and finally Eckerd Drug. The soda fountain was a very popular meeting place for many years, and was even operating in the 1970s!


So………as you can see above, the Service Drug wasn’t really a pool hall and gambling casino, but a place where Stephenville folks went for real live soda fountain treats!

Hope your April Fool’s Day was the start of a great month!