Stories by
Lety Laurel, Rebecca Luther,
Lorna Stafford, Andrea Archer
and Lesli Hicks

Taking ginkgo biloba every day to keep your mind sharp? Doing sudoku and crossword puzzles regularly to stave off dementia?

There’s no need to put down your pencils, but you should also remember that there’s no magic trick to achieving good health, and that’s also the case when it comes to preventing Alzheimer’s, says College of Sciences Dean George Perry. Perry, who is editor-in-chief of the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease, says all the Alzheimer’s prevention research points to one thing: living a healthy lifestyle.

“The advice that would help the most in your lifestyle is the type of advice you might have gotten from your mother or grandmother when you were growing up, and that is to live a moderate life, eat and sleep at reasonable times,” he says. “A healthy lifestyle protects from a number of degenerative diseases, and it helps stave off Alzheimer’s as well.”

That means getting exercise, eating a nutritious diet, and staying mentally and socially active. “It has been shown that people with little mental activity are at greater risk for developing Alzheimer’s,” he says. But on the flip side, he adds, there’s also no evidence that being exceptionally mentally active will prevent the disease. “University professors develop Alzheimer’s disease,” he says, “All people, if they live long enough, have a high probability of developing the disease.” People who live into their 80s have a one-in-three chance of developing Alzheimer’s, Perry says; by the time you reach your 90s, your risk is 50 percent.

But a healthy lifestyle can cut your risk in half, he adds.

Studies also have shown anti-inflammatories such as aspirin to be beneficial. Vitamin supplements are important for those with deficiencies, but high-level supplementation has not been shown to be helpful and could be detrimental. Always talk to your doctor about what you’re taking, Perry advises.

“Just like you can’t get beauty out of a bottle, you can’t get complete health out of a bottle, either.”

There’s no shortage of illnesses that can be prevented simply by practicing good hand hygiene, including flu, colds, Salmonella, pinkeye, diarrhea, hepatitis A, meningitis and Staphylococcus aureus. Assistant Professor Floyd Wormley, who studies microbial pathogenesis—how organisms cause disease—in the South Texas Center for Emerging Infectious Diseases, knows firsthand from his research the importance of proper hand washing. He also knows that most of us don’t do this simple preventive measure regularly or properly.

“Most people wash their hands for less than 10 seconds,” Wormley says, “whereas what you need to do is wash your hands for 20 seconds, which is about the time it takes you to sing ‘Happy Birthday’ twice.” That’s how long is needed to remove transient bacteria—the bacteria you may pick up from touching a doorknob or shopping cart handle and that’s capable of spreading disease. Don’t worry, he says; even the most vigorous and frequent hand washing won’t disturb the normal flora, the “good” bacteria that are deeply embedded in your skin.

Bar soap is fine, but make sure your soap dish is properly drained, because bacteria can grow in a watery dish. If you use an antimicrobial soap, also use hand lotion if the antimicrobial soap formulation does not contain moisturizers to prevent your skin from drying out. “You can get dermatitis from repeatedly washing your hands” with antimicrobial soap, Wormley says. Take off your rings, lather up and sing Happy Birthday to yourself twice as you scrub your palms, fingers, webbing between your fingers and the back of your hands.

No sink? No problem. “The alcohol-based hand rubs are actually more effective compared to the antimicrobial and bar soaps for killing some of the bacteria and viruses that cause disease,” Wormley says.
The hand sanitizers usually contain moisturizers so they won’t dry out your skin, and, Wormley says, people generally use them properly because they rub until their hands are dry.

On the other hand, antimicrobial wipes or towelettes are not as effective as soap and water. “But in a pinch, it’s OK,” Wormley says. “Anything you can do to reduce spreading harmful bacteria is good.”

Finding a weight-loss program that promises you’ll look good in a swimsuit by summer isn’t hard. But try finding one that provides results that will last.

Abbi Lane, assistant director of fitness and wellness, says the key to long-term weight loss is balance. “People look for quick fixes and think they need to train for a marathon to lose five pounds. It’s not like that. If you look at it simply, it’s calories in versus calories out. You take calories in through eating and they come out through exercising.”

Healthy weight loss is one to two pounds each week, she says. Anything more will likely come right back. And since a pound is equivalent to 3,500 calories, losing those calories requires balancing eating well with exercising.

“If you just count calories or just exercise each day, you will be cranky, so you have to combine them. So say you get rid of your Snickers bar in the afternoon and walk 2 ½ miles a day, you will lose a pound a week.”

If you wish to lose 30 pounds, break that goal into something manageable, like eight pounds in one month. If you know you’re going to indulge in a treat, add an extra workout or two in your day to plan for it.

And the simplest, most effective exercise? Walking. Break a sweat by walking 20 to 60 minutes a day. A two-mile walk will burn approximately 200 calories. Gauge intensity with the talking test: if you can say a whole sentence without being short of breath, you need to walk uphill or at a faster rate.

Above all, don’t seek perfection, because nobody is perfect at anything, she says. “You still have to live your life, go to work and have fun.”

It sounds easy: live within your means. Yet it’s the No. 1 thing people do wrong, says Keith Fairchild, an associate professor of finance.

“We probably all know somebody who is well up in credit card debt that’s $25,000 to $30,000,” he says. “People really get in over their heads.”

To avoid the pitfall of debt, he says, save and save early. That means living within a budget. “There’s a big problem with Baby Boomers who say ‘we’ll start saving later.’ Later is here. Playing catch-up is hard.”

Certificates of deposit, or CDs, offered at banks earn only 3 to 5 percent in interest, but over the course of 30 years, the return is high. “We’d all love to make the 20 to 25 percent that some stocks do, but when those stocks drop 50 percent, we’re kicking ourselves,” Fairchild says.

On average, stocks will outperform bank accounts, but you have to be able to ride out a slumping market. That’s why it’s important to diversify your investments, Fairchild explains. Set money aside in a CD or money market account, even if you are also investing in stocks. When the market goes down, money remains in the bank. If you have CDs, stagger the maturation dates so you have some maturing every year.

“A lot depends on what your needs are and your goals and how much risk are you willing to take. [The stock market] is a gamble, but you can control how much risk you take. And a lot of people don’t know how to do that.”
That’s where education comes in, Fairchild says. Read business periodicals. Watch investment shows. Research online. If you don’t have the time, hire someone to do it for you, but look for a certified financial planner who charges an up-front fee instead of a commission.

“Anywhere there’s money to be made, there are going to be crooks or unethical people,” he says. “That’s why you have to be careful and you have to learn something yourself.”

When defending yourself from an attack, there are no rules. It’s a matter of defend yourself or die, says James R. Clark, a lecturer in the health and kinesiology department and instructor of aikido and self-defense.

Though instinct and the stress response enhance the ability to see and hear in a life-threatening situation, it’s also difficult to focus on what to do next. “You really need to practice techniques over and over again, because when you’re actually in a situation where you’re under extreme duress, you tend to panic,” he says. “Your mind is thinking of all the consequences and not focusing on what you need to do in the next millisecond in order to survive.”

It’s best to know one technique and do it well. For women, the most common life-threatening attack involves a chokehold. So, Clark says, learning how to escape one is a good basic skill.

For a two-handed front choke, Clark suggests the duck and cover technique. First, duck by bending over at the waist. Then cover your head by putting your hands in front of your face to deflect a knee strike by your attacker. Next, move directly to either side to break the choke. Finally, push the attacker’s arms in the opposite direction and run.

And don’t expect to remain calm. “I don’t think anybody does that, no matter how much you practice,” Clark says. “I think the key is to utilize the epinephrine that you’re pumping into your bloodstream, utilizing your increased strength and speed. For that, an automatic response is really the most helpful thing.

“Doing something over and over again kind of sets some pathways in your nervous system so you can automatically use that without even thinking. Because you’re not going to be able to think very readily in a sudden attack.”

When softball coach Lori Cook goes out recruiting, she doesn’t look for players who can knock the ball out of the park, nor does she promise recruits that they’ll turn into home run hitters at UTSA. But the fact is, they do. From 2003 to 2006, the Roadrunners led the NCAA in home runs, and they own the second-best collegiate season on record (105 homers in 2006). “It’s not something we teach. It’s just the way we hit,” Cook says. “We work hard on hitting, obviously … and if you hit it the right way, it’s going to go out.”

Perhaps the most important thing to remember about hitting home runs, says Jessica Rogers ’06, is never to walk up to the plate with that intention. “If you’re trying to swing for the fences, you end up pulling your head out and doing everything wrong,” says Rogers, whose career 69 home runs is a UTSA and Southland Conference record.

Keep your eyes on the ball, Rogers advises, and when you make contact, your front knee should be locked. “If your front knee is bent, you’re not going to be able to create as much power,” she says. And when you’re finished swinging, you should still be looking at the pitcher, not the third-base coach.

Cook further explains, “A lot of people, when they rotate, they’ll finish low and around the hips to their back, [but] we want to finish up to our shoulders so that when we’re done, we’re actually looking to be able to see the ball taking off.”

You want to push, then lift the ball, Cook says. “If you lift first before you push, you’re going to pop up or foul off,” she says. “The difference between hitting a home run and popping up is a matter of missing the [right spot on the] ball by an inch.”

Roadrunners coaches actually teach their players a comprehensive hitting system, but it is underscored by one simple thing, Cook says. “Our philosophy is swing as hard as you can, in case you hit it.”

Have you ever left a voicemail message so dreadful that it made you want to crawl through the phone to erase it before it could be heard?

Dave Deering, video writer and producer for UTSA and the voice behind the university’s telephone on-hold system and arts line, says leaving the perfect message doesn’t necessarily come naturally. For some, it’s an issue of anxiety.

“It is performance anxiety, pure and simple,” he says. “And it’s understandable, too. You know you’re leaving a record; whether it’s an announcement or it’s a message, you’re leaving a record. But there are things to do to help overcome that.”

When leaving a message, remember to keep it simple and be organized. Give a one-phrase reason for the recipient to call you back.
“You wouldn’t expect to have to say this, but you really have to be very, very clear with your name and the number you’re having them call back,” Deering says. “I actually make a big deal out of slowing way down with the telephone number, because you don’t have to repeat it if you go slowly.”

And there is a performance aspect, he says. Microphones in phones are poor, so a good message compensates for the quality of the sound.

“To get across, you have to really raise your enthusiasm by one notch,” he says. “You don’t want to overdo it, but what you’re looking for is resonance, the tone in your voice that will record well. And that, with the clarity of your speech, will produce a good message.”

Leaving an outgoing message is easier, he says, because you can always review the recording. To get the perfect message, write a script. For a personal touch on your home line, add a little music to the background.

“If you can record the message near your CD player, pick some nice instrumental music, let it play for a second or two, turn down the volume and read your script,” he says.

Let’s say you and your spouse are fighting over the last brownie. Your victory and subsequent joy come down to the traditional decision-making device: Rock, Paper, Scissors. How can you be assured of winning?

Regine Duau has some pointers. In 2005, when she was a UTSA freshman, Duau defeated 85 competitors to become the National Collegiate Rock, Paper, Scissors Grand Champion.

“She came out of nowhere,” said Shane Jochum, an organizer of the competition. “[Duau] seemed calm, innocent and harmless in the initial matches. Then, in the final rounds she was like an RPS ninja ... the others never saw her coming.”

Serious RPS players, just like chess and poker players, spend a lot of time developing their strategies.

“About 60 percent of it is luck,” says Duau, now a junior majoring in finance, “but if you analyze your competitors, you can see if they kind of do the same thing. So if they do two things in a row, you can change your methods.

“Supposedly rock means you’re an aggressive player, paper means you’re calm, and scissors means you’re not as aggressive as rock.”

There are some guidelines you should follow to make sure the competition is fair and square. “You can’t throw after the other person has thrown, and there are specific ways to do certain ones,” Duau says. “Like paper, your hand has to be completely horizontal; rock, you have to have a fist, and it has to be completely up and down.”

Likewise, horizontal scissors is forbidden in tournament play, as are cutesy moves like throwing dynamite or collegiate hand signs.

As for her winning style, Duau says, “I play mostly scissors, then rock.”

Have you ever begun telling a joke, only for it to flop pitifully as you accidentally gave away the punch line?

Like telling the perfect joke, telling a good story takes forethought, style and rhythm, says Mary Grace Ketner, a retired educational specialist at UTSA’s Institute of Texan Cultures and co-founder of the
San Antonio Storytellers Association. She’s also a board member of the Tejas Storytelling Association and member of the National Storytelling Network.

“The important thing for a good storyteller to do is to find the heart of the story, and that’s that moment, the time of transformation when the main character in the story becomes changed by the events of the story,” she says.

That’s true whether you’re sitting around the dinner table or standing on stage. She calls it the ‘ah-ha’ moment. Once identified, the storyteller must build an arc around it by gently leading the listener to the peak moment, then gradually bringing the story to a close.

Though the use of gestures and expressions is solely up to each storyteller and depends on the story itself, rhythm always plays an important role. “Like when people repeat a punch line and you go, ‘OK, right, I got it.’ You don’t want to do that,” she says. “You want to build it up to that moment of the story’s strongest power and then turn it over to the listener to have their own ah-ha moment.”

Regardless of the size of the audience, telling stories is always intimate and personal, Ketner adds. Because with any good story, there’s room for listeners to create their own imagery.

“Even if there are 100 people in the room, each person is creating their own image,” she says. “You’re talking to one person at a time—it just so happens there might be 99 other people in that room.”

The sound was unlike anything Thomas Harper had heard before. The bagpipe’s haunting melody captivated the then-19-year-old trumpet player, leading him to want to learn more about the instrument, which some say dates back to Roman times.

 The bagpipe, with its chanter, drones and familiar bag, has been a favorite of Harper’s ever since. Currently a supervisor with UTSA’s Parking and Transportation department, he has played the instrument with the San Antonio Symphony and the University of Texas Longhorn band, and also for various events.

Playing the bagpipes isn’t hard to do, he says, but there are a few key things that make learning a lot easier.

“It helps to have a music background,” he says, and playing a brass or woodwind instrument is a big plus.

The first step in learning to play the bagpipes is to use a practice chanter, an instrument that looks a lot like a recorder (a pipe-shaped woodwind with eight finger holes, normally used to teach beginning music). This is how you get familiar with notes and finger positions.

“Without musical training, the practice chanter will probably have to be played a year before picking up the bagpipes; with brass or woodwind training, six months is enough time,” Harper says.

It’s also important to have good breath control and to be physically fit. “Fitness is crucial to developing the stamina that is necessary for the diaphragm to support the pressure. Those who are already fit have
little trouble adapting their diaphragm to what is required to play the pipes,” he says.

And although playing the bagpipes is not hard once you get the hang of it, getting to that point takes many hours of practice, so dedication is key. Finally, Harper says, knowing the history of the instrument is valuable, because the more you know about the bagpipes, once known as the instrument of war, the richer your experience will be.

Have you ever watched a movie made in Poland, Brazil or Iran and felt like you got lost in the translation?

Watching a foreign film may require a little more effort on the part of movie-goers than watching a plot-centric Hollywood blockbuster, but the reward can be greater, too, says Professor Steven Kellman, who has reviewed movies for the San Antonio Current for more than 20 years.

“We tend to get the best of the films from other nations,” he says.
“It might be that the average Argentine film is as mediocre as the average American film, but we don’t get to see it.”

Having to read subtitles is often cited as an excuse for avoiding foreign films, but with Hollywood’s own increasing use of subtitles (Think Dances With Wolves, Letters From Iwo Jima, and on the small screen, Lost and Heroes), that argument is becoming invalid.

And subtitles are only one aspect of a film’s levels of meaning. While you’re reading along, listen to the music, voices and other sounds, Kellman advises. “Even when I don’t know the language … I like to
hear the voice of the actual actor, and I think just the intonation can
tell you a lot.”

Also, listen to the silences in the film; some of the best films use silence for greater emotional impact. Kellman recommends watching Ingmar Bergman’s The Silence for a crash course.

It’s also important to keep in mind that foreign films often place more emphasis on character development and thematic development. “American audiences have been conditioned to look for what happens next and are looking for a gunshot every 30 seconds,” Kellman quips. “There are more subtle pleasures to find in film than just that.”

So take time to observe the set design, landscapes, colors, moods, pace and editing, he advises.

Ready to watch? Netflix or Blockbuster Online are likely to offer
a better selection than your neighborhood video store, but Kellman suggests seeing films in the theater to get the full cinematic experience and to send a message to theater owners that American audiences
are sophisticated enough for foreign films.

The table is set, the food is ready, and the guests will arrive shortly. There is one problem: what wine to serve?

Kolleen Guy, associate professor of history and author of When Champagne Became French: Wine and the Making of a National Identity, suggests a champagne or sparkling wine for salads and other light meals.
“It goes very well with sushi, for example, and egg dishes,” she says.

Guy says there really isn’t an art to choosing the perfect bubbly; it’s a matter of taste. To learn how to select a sparkling wine, you have to drink it, and over time you will know what you like.

Also, in the champagne industry, labels matter.

“Long-standing brands, particularly in French champagnes such as Veuve Clicquot, Krug and Moët & Chandon, get their reputation by making wines that are pretty consistent year after year,” Guy says. “If you’re looking for something that is very French champagne-like for less money, you could buy an American sparkling wine. They generally use the same blend of three grapes that French manufacturers use.”

And don’t be surprised if American brands have French names. While the term champagne can be used only for French wines, Guy explains, “There is only one country in the world that never signed on to the international accord that protects the name champagne as something that is exclusively French, and that’s the Americans.” She said the French, tired of fighting America in international courts over the name usage, bought vineyards in California to produce French wines there. But don’t shy away from wines made in other places.

“Spain makes a sparkling wine that’s called Cava—an excellent wine,” Guy says. “Australia is an up-and-coming sparkling wine manufacturer, Texas has a few, [as does] New Mexico, and Italy has a spumante.”

Whatever your selection, serve it in flutes.

“Champagnes and sparkling wines have very, very subtle smells to them. If you put them in big goblets [used] for a full wine, it dissipates, and you lose that smell.”

Dinner can now be served.

Feeling stressed out? You’re not alone. In fact, there’s no such thing as a stress-free life, says Mary McNaughton-Cassill, associate professor in the Department of Psychology.

And you probably wouldn’t guess it, but technology is the main culprit, she says. Because electricity allows homes to be illuminated after dark, people sleep an average of 90 minutes less a day than they did at the turn of the century. Cell phones, MP3 players, radios, computers and televisions also add to a lack of quiet time.

“I know for a fact that UTSA students spend less than one hour out of 24 awake by themselves without electronic input,” McNaughton-Cassill says. “They basically have the alarm go off in the morning, listen to the radio in the shower, they have every iPod and thing they can have, so there is no quiet time in their lives, no meditation or thought. And that is a strain on our nervous system.”

With technology, the world has become very small, so news travels fast, and it’s often bad news. This adds to the strain. “Part of what I’m arguing for stress management is consciously realizing that we’re more aware of the bad things in the world than people have ever been,” she says. “Nobody can fix them all. But if you decide then that it’s hopeless, that’s the path for depression.” The key to coping, she adds, is deciding what you can and can’t change.

So to manage your stress, take a three-pronged approach, she says. Stay physically healthy—get enough sleep and exercise. Avoid sensory overload by limiting negative input, or at least being aware of the media’s impact. Be realistic about your expectations. McNaughton-Cassill advises using the ACT formula: Accept reality, Create a vision for coping and Take action. “As long as you’re hoping for a miracle that’s just going to change it, you’ll find yourself all worked up,” she says.

Whether applying for a first job or making a career change, most people will have to go through an interview process. To make the most of it, Robert L. Cardy, chair of the Department of Management, offers a few tips.

“Employers these days want to see how a potential hire can get along with people and whether he or she will be a good fit for the company. They are going to be looking at ability and motivational issues,” he says. He advises familiarizing yourself with the organization’s core values and culture, and assessing whether you are well suited for that environment.

To showcase ability, Cardy advises describing what value—education, experience and training—you have to offer. Interviewers will often ask job requirement questions, such as whether you are willing to work overtime or travel. Think about your answer, because saying “no” could cost you the job.

Situational questions measure your ability to make decisions. “They might describe a realistic workplace situation and say, ‘What would you do?’” Cardy says. Briefly describe how you would handle the situation. The interviewer will look to see how your answer fits with their company culture.

As for motivational issues, Cardy says that’s where interpersonal abilities are measured. Because technical skills change with technological advances, companies are putting more emphasis on something they can’t teach, and that’s how to get along with others. It’s important to emphasize how you’ve worked in team situations. Overall, Cardy says, remember you are in the interview to sell yourself, so don’t attempt to make the interviewer sell the company to you. First impressions do matter, so dress well and arrive early.

And practice. Ask people who have gone through the experience recently to hold a mock interview with you. This will help you determine your strengths and weaknesses. Before the actual interview, visualize yourself being calm, looking the interviewer in the eye and offering a confident handshake.

“The more you play that positive script, the more likely that’s the way it is going to go,” Cardy says.