Purdue Best Bets
Purdue Best Bets
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December 10, 1999 JOURNALISTS: Here are three story ideas and a list of selected Purdue events during the next two weeks. Cancer survivor to earn education degreeWhen Cathy Borrelli of Lafayette receives her degree in elementary education on Dec. 19, she will have completed a difficult journey that might have been deadly. Borrelli, a 1988 graduate of North White High School, was not able to attend college after she finished her senior year and worked at several jobs. When her father died from a brain tumor in 1992, she noticed an increase in the headaches she suffered since high school. The cause was a cancerous brain tumor. While undergoing treatment and trying to find work, a employee of Indiana Vocational Rehabilitation Services heard Borrelli's story and determined that she qualified for the program. "I had reached the bottom of the barrel," Borrelli said. "He was an angel sent to give me hope." During her five-and-a-half years at Purdue, Borrelli has maintained a "B+" average and has been inducted into Kappa Delta Pi, a honor society for education majors. Contact: Borrelli, (765) 474-6894; cathyb@purdue.edu Post-holiday depression up each JanuaryResearch suggests that people at risk for clinical depression have very little to fear from the holiday season. Purdue psychology professor David Rollock says it's the let-down after all the festivities end that causes problems. "There is a much higher incidence of clinical depression after the party is over and the lights are taken down," Rollock said. The director of the depression clinic within Purdue's Psychology Treatment and Research Clinics, Rollock can comment extensively on both post-holiday depression and the extra stress and anxiety often associated with the holiday season. Contact: Rollock, (765) 494-6996; rollock@psych.purdue.edu Gifts should reflect a child's interestsA gift should tell a child 'I know you, and I know what is important to you,' according to Purdue child development and family studies associate professor Judith Myers-Walls. "It's important to know what the child is interested in and to buy presents you know the child will use," Myers-Walls says. She stresses that grandparents who don't have regular contact with their grandchildren should take the time to talk to the child's parents before buying gifts. "I've actually heard of a case where a grandparent mailed a monogrammed sweater to a grandchild that had the wrong initials. Another woman gave her granddaughter a doll every year for Christmas but the child didn't like dolls and never played with them. More importantly, she was hurt every year that her grandmother didn't seem to care enough to find out what she liked." Contact Myers-Walls, (765) 494-2959; jmyerswa@purdue.edu EventsSaturday, Dec. 18. Board of Trustees meeting. 10 a.m. Room 304 (Anniversary Drawing Room), Purdue Memorial Union. CONTACTS: Jeanne V. Norberg, director, Purdue News Service, (765) 494-2084; jeanne_norberg@purdue.edu, or Joseph L. Bennett, vice president for university relations, (765) 494-2082; joe_bennett@purdue.edu Sunday, Dec. 19. Fall Commencement. 9:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. Elliott Hall of Music. Morning ceremony is for Schools of Agriculture, Education, Liberal Arts, Management, Pharmacy, Nursing and Health Sciences, and Science. Afternoon ceremony is for Schools of Consumer and Family Sciences, Engineering, Technology, and Veterinary Medicine. Journalists who want to cover either ceremony will need tickets for admission. CONTACTS: Mike Willis, (765) 494-0371, mike_willis@purdue.edu, or Jesica Webb, (765) 494-2079, jesica_webb@purdue.edu, both at the Purdue News Service.
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