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Parent
E-mail—November 16, 2007
—Emergency Notification
—Stamp Out Stigma
—Thanksgiving Plans
—Recipes from Home
—Miscellaneous
For those who live an hour or more away from campus: If you're
picking up your student for Thanksgiving break next week and expect
a long, pleasant conversation on the ride home, please be aware
that your student may be more inclined to sleep than chat. Students
are staying up late, studying, and working on major projects,
and they are likely to just want to doze off when they get in
the car. Parents earn extra points when they bring along a blanket
and pillow and offer their student the option of talking or napping.
—Emergency Notification
Today the University of Minnesota announced a new campus emergency
notification system called TXT-U. With this system, students,
faculty, and staff can receive text messages about critical campus
safety information. Although only University of Minnesota students,
faculty, and staff can register for TXT-U, students can sign up
their parents, other family members, or friends by designating
more than one mobile device to their account. For information
on how students can register for TXT-U, see www.TXT-U.umn.edu.
Please encourage your student to register for this service, and
if you would also like to receive the messages, ask them to add
your cell phone number to the list.
TXT-U is one of many ways the University will provide notification
about emergencies to faculty, staff, and students. Other notification
includes tone alert radios, on-the-ground public safety personnel,
e-mail, and the University home page. The goal is to communicate
emergency information in many different ways to ensure that the
most people receive notification as quickly as possible.
—Stamp Out Stigma
It's not unusual for college-aged students to experience stress,
anxiety, and depression at some point during their academic career.
When that happens, the important step is for the student to seek
help. The common barrier to seeking help, however, is a concern
that mental health conditions may be seen as a weakness, an illness,
or a problem. A number of campus offices are working on an effort
to Stamp Out Stigma (SOS) related to mental health conditions
by encouraging students to ask for help early and to follow through
with any needed treatment or support. This week an online contest
is drawing students to the SOS Pop Quiz with the chance of winning
$500. Check out the Web page and listen to a video message from
President Bob Bruininks and a message from two U of M students:
www.mentalhealth.umn.edu/sos/.
And please encourage your student to enter the contest before
November 19.
—Thanksgiving Plans
The Thanksgiving break officially begins at the end of the academic
day on Wednesday, November 21. Evening classes will be held on
that Wednesday, and students are responsible for material presented
in their classes, whether they attend class or not. Some instructors
may cancel classes that night, but that is done at the instructor's
discretion. Evening classes tend to be held only once a week,
and with the limited number of class days during the semester,
it is difficult to present all the course material for the semester
when one week's worth of a class is cancelled. Students who want
to leave early for Thanksgiving break should talk over their options
with the instructor.
In addition, as you're preparing for Thanksgiving weekend, please
take a look at the holiday season suggestions posted on our Web
site at www.parent.umn.edu/holiday.html.
Some parents find that their expectations about the holiday break
don't turn out
as planned. Students also have their own ideas about Thanksgiving
break, and the opposing expectations can result in a clash. It's
a good idea to ask your student if anything about them has changed
since you last saw one another. It's also good to tell your student
if there's anything different about you or about the house. Surprises
aren't always viewed as positive, even if it's just the color
of the living room walls or Mom with a new hair style. A word
of warning: students who have been without a car for nearly three
months will want nothing more than the chance to get in the car
and drive. Many of them will not want to be explaining where they're
going or when they'll be back.
—Recipes from Home
University Dining Services is looking for the best soup and entree
recipes from home. Students who live in the residence halls or
have a University Dining Services meal plan can ask their parents
to submit their favorite recipe. The recipes that are chosen will
be served in UDS residence hall dining centers next semester,
and the student will receive $50 in FlexDine. As you're thinking
about fixing those "favorite dishes" for your student
over the upcoming holiday breaks, consider submitting the recipe,
along with your student's name and residence hall information,
to dining@umn.edu before December 15.
—Miscellaneous
The 46th annual Marching Band Indoor Concert will be at 7 p.m.,
Saturday, December 1, and 3 p.m., Sunday, December 2, in Northrop
Auditorium. Information on tickets is available at www.music.umn.edu.
Please check the November Question of the Month at www.parent.umn.edu.
Our October question asked, "Recent reports suggest that
college students are incurring increasingly greater levels of
debt. Who do you think should be primarily responsible for teaching
financial management?" Overwhelmingly, parents said financial
education is the family's responsibility (84.5 percent), but many
also noted that financial training should be a joint effort between
family, junior high schools, and high schools. Comments on the
topic suggested that some families are not good role models for
their student's financial education, and sometimes students put
more credibility in sources other than their parents. The results
are posted here: www.parent.umn.edu/previous.html.
Also check out the November
Timely Issues and the Winter
Update.
Sincerely,
Marjorie Savage
Parent Program Director
University of Minnesota
www.parent.umn.edu
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