The Battalion
■
tj 1 ¥ 17 17
Hi It I 1: tj
Page 3
Wednesday • April 9, 1997
i
Pins
and
Needles
Acupuncture, an ancient Eastern method of
treating ailments, is stickin' it to modem medicine
By Aaron Meier
The Battalion
W estern medical practition
ers usually use needles, to
inject vaccines into crying
children, draw plasma from poor
college students or sew stitches af
ter surgeries. Eastern medicine,
however, employs the traditionally
fear-inducing needle in a science
known as acupuncture.
Acupuncture attempts to correct
various bodily ailments using nee
dles placed in specific locations on
the body. Dr. Nancy Wang, a state
medical board certified acupunc
turist, practices at the China
Acupuncture Clinic in College Sta
tion. She said the needles are placed
about one-half inch below the sur
face of the skin. A typical session
utilizes 10 to 20 disposable needles.
Wang said most first-time pa
tients are apprehensive.
“The first time most patients
come in, they are very nervous
about the needles,” Wang said.
“There is little to no pain when the
needles are inserted. Most patients
say they don’t feel a thing.”
After inserting the needles, Wang
attaches electrodes to them. A low-
level electrical current is then
passed through the needles. Wang
said the current stimulates the
body’s natural functions such as dn
gestion and hormone production.
The electrical stimulation lasts at
least 20 minutes but can last longer,
depending on the ailment.;
After the needles are removed,
the patient receives an acupres
sure massage. Unlike a traditional
kneading of the entire body, an
acupressure massage involves
rubbing the body and applying
firm and quick slaps to certain
pressure points.
Acupuncture’s
3,000-year-old his
tory began in China.
The science then
made its way across
Asia and arrived in
Europe in the 17th
century. Although
looked upon as
quackery by some
skeptics, acupunc
ture has steadily
gained acceptance
among Western doc
tors as a valid form of treatment
since the ’70s.
The science of acupuncture can
be employed to treat a variety of ail
ments and problems. The ancient
practice helps alleviate chronic
pains such as migraines and back
pain. People suffering from condi
tions such as arthritis, asthma and
hypertension can also benefit from
acupuncture treatments, j Most
commonly though, acupuncture
helps people quit smoking and as
sists in weight loss. j
Wang said using acupuncture to
“There is little
to no pain when
the needles are
inserted. Most
people say they
don't feel a thing."
Dr. Nancy Wang
Certified acupuncturist
quit smoking is often successful.
“Some patients have tried for
years to quit smoking,” Wang said.
“As a final try, they come here.
Sometimes they quit smoking after
one visit, and the rest quit after their
third session. Acupuncture has a 95
percent success rate for smokers.”
The validity of acupuncture
has been con
firmed by not only
the thousands of
years of practice in
Asia but also by
modern science.
"Needling the
acupuncture points
stimulates the ner
vous system to re
lease chemicals in
the muscles, spinal
cord and brain,”
writes The Chinese
Pain Center in Ha
cienda Heights, Calif. “These chemi
cals will either change the experience
of pain, or they will trigger the release
of other chemicals and hormones.”
Acupuncturists prefer to describe
the science they practice in the tradi
tional terms of the Yin and the Yang,
represented by a circle divided into
two parts. The Yin, the dark half of the
circle, represents the negative ener
gy of the body, while the Yang; the
lighter portion of the circle, repre
sents the positive energy.
Wang said The goal of all Chi
nese medicine, including
/
acupuncture, is to bring the Yin
and the Yang into balance. /
“If you have too much Yin, you
are ‘hold’ and likely to get sick,”
Wang said. “If you have to much
Yang, you are ‘hot’ and will have
other problems.”
In order to achieve the Yin-—
Yang balance, traditional
acupuncturists say an energy
called “Qi” flows along pathways
in the body called meridians.
“This Qi is the vital energy, which
gives life to all living matter,” said
Ralph Alan Dale of The Acupunc-
ture Education Center. “In a way,
the Qi conduits resemble those of
the vascular or nervous system.”
Optimally, the Qi flows freely
along the meridians, feeding the
various body parts. However, the
energy occasionally becomes
blocked, causing body parts, to be —
deprived of the Qi. Representatives
at The Chinese Pain Center said
classical acupuncturists believe the
needles open up the blockages, al
lowing the Qi to flow freely and re
establishing the Yin-Yang balance.
Wang, who has been practicing
in College Station for nine yeafS,
said the therapeutic benefits of
acupuncture offer just as much as
th^ medical ones.
“T he people who use acupunc
ture enjoy many benefits of a long
full life,” Wang said. “They look and
feel younger. They are stronger, and
they stay healthier.”
Artwork by Tim Moog
College years offer best experiences in life
liraT 13
hw#
I
L O''*
C3I#
liSilg
6?8-
i M3#
H igh school—what
a torturous, horri
ble and maniacal
experience. Whoever said
togh school was the best
ie of their life must
ive either been the
Host popular person at
feir school or high on
some type of illegal drug.
There are people out
tee who truly believe
the four years they spent
•nhigh school were the
host years of their entire
Most of those people are 19 or
20 years old and obviously haven’t
experienced much.
These are the guys who can’t
stop talking about how their game-
tening touchdown won the state
championship and what a hero
they were. These are the girls who
Hlive memories of cheering on
their boyfriends scoring the game
"inning touchdown, going to pep
Sports Editor
W'
Kristina Buffin
Senior journalism
major
rallies, buying the latest,
coolest clothes, talking
about all of their great
friends and trying to see
who can be the most
fake and two-faced.
These people must have
been delusional.
High school was a time
where everyone went
through their “awkward”
years together and lived
through the hell of grow
ing up. Guys’ voices
cracked, girls had to go
through developing breasts and deal
ing with “girl problems.” This wasn’t
fun. If it was supposed to be—what a
sick joke.
Sure, there are the people who
talk about high school with great af
fection, still reminisce about all the
great things they did and how popu
lar they were. These people obviously
never experienced college life.
It is in college where people have
the opportunity to branch out, grow
and find out who they really are. It is in
college where people meet the friends
they will keep for the rest of their lives.
It is college memories which will be
shared with children, grandchildren
and even great-grandchildren.
In high school, people’s goals are
to be the most popular person in the
school, accumulate as many friends
as possible, even if you don’t like
them, and aspire to be prom queen
or king. I am not bitter about my
high school experience, but I truly
believe it was the worst time of my
life. While people kept telling me to
cherish the time in high school, I
wanted to yell at them, “Are you
smoking crack?” After all, how good
could high school be?
During the summer before I came
to Texas A&M, I hoped college would
be significantly better— luckily, I was
right. Another bonus, at least for me,
was that I could make a clean break.
After going to high school in Califor
nia, I knew the odds of running into
one of my high school chums at A&M
was slim to none. Unfortunately, some
people on this cam
pus are not as lucky.
College is a time of
freedom. Sure you
have to study, get
good grades and pre
pare for the future. But
these four, five and
sometimes six years
are a time to make
long-lasting friend
ships, do things you
thought you would
never do and discover
who you are.
For example, in
high school, I never did anything that
was exciting. Sure, I went on camping
trips with friends, went to parties and
hung out. But what high school kid
has the opportunity to randomly drop
everything and drive to California on
a whim for spring break?
High school was a
time where
everyone went
through their
'awkward' years
together and
lived through the
hell of growing up.
In college, most people leam that
you have to work to achieve things —
you are not just handed things on a
silver platter. If you
do not have the
money to go out, you
have to sit at home,
or run up your credit
card beyond its limit.
College students
leam the value of
money because if
you don’t have it, you
have to get a job or
take up shoplifting.
It is hard to say
what will be the best
years of your life—it
is different for every
one. But how can someone say that a
certain period of their life, a time be
fore anything interesting happens to
them, is and will be the best years of
their life? Live your entire life first, and
then decide. Your life will be as good
as you make it.
► People in
the News
Mitchell, daughter
reunite and rebond
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Joni
Mitchell, who recently reunited with
her daughter, says she gave the child
up for adoption 32 years ago be
cause being single, poor and preg
nant in ‘60s Canada was tantamount
to being a killer.
“The main thing at the time was to
conceal it,” the folk singer said Tues
day in the Los Angeles Times. “The
scandal was so intense. A daughter
could do nothing more disgraceful. It
ruined you in a social sense. You
have no idea what the stigma was. It
was like you murdered somebody.”
Mitchell, who was a 20-year-old
unwed art student at the time, re
united earlier this month with Ki-
lauren Gibb.
Now mother and daughter are dis
covering their similarities — both shoot
pool and married musicians, though
Gibb is separated from her husband.
“There’s a definite umbilical cord
that was never cut,” Gibb said.
MacDowell says
no to oil pipeline
FRENCHTOWN, Mont. (AP) —
Andie MacDowell and 300 neigh
bors jammed a public hearing to
protest plans to run an oil and gas
pipeline through their pristine Nine-
mile Valley community.
MacDowell, known locally by her
real name, Rose Qualley, said at
Monday’s hearing it was “difficult to
comprehend how you could even
contemplate” running the pipeline
over a mountain pass inaccessible
for six to eight months each year,
even by snowmobile.
A leak could go undetected for all of
those months, the actress said. And
that does not consider the 91 streams
and creeks to be crossed in the Nine-
mile, or the risk to habitats for wolves,
grizzly bears and bald eagles.
Yellowstone Pipe Line executives
say they will use the power of eminent
domain — condemnation of land —
if private landowners refuse to allow
the pipeline to cross their property.
The line is planned from refineries in
Billings to Moses Lake, Wash.
Students know
Madonna has class
AMSTERDAM, Netherlands (AP) —
The Dutch must love Madonna —
they are lining up by the dozens to get
into Madonna 101.
Fifty students signed up Monday
at the University of Amsterdam for
the pop culture course examining
Madonna's lyrics, voice and films.
“As a media phenomenon, she’s
really intriguing,” 28-year-old Monique
Tolk, who’s doing her doctorate on the
entertainer, said in Tuesday’s De
Telegraaf newspaper.
The four-credit course also exam
ines Madonna’s persona as a sex
symbol, her religious beliefs and her
media presence.
“Even a college course about this
megastar attracts massive press,”
music professor Hannah Bosma said
as Dutch television crews packed a
hall for the debut lecture.
“In her genre she’s good,” said
Mario Licht, 25, a third-year stu
dent. “Most of all it’s something to
dance to.”
Ex-wife Kennedy
rejects annulment
BOSTON (AP) — The ex-wife of
Rep. Joseph P Kennedy says she has
appealed the Catholic Church’s deci
sion to grant them an annulment.
Sheila Rauch Kennedy wrote in her
upcoming book that she cannot accept
the annulment because she took their
12-year marriage seriously, The Boston
Globe reported Tuesday.
yCOt**
BryaivColtege Station’s Newest •
Rock & Roll DANCE CLUB. ^
No Cover for Anyone Tues-Wed
H 00 Frozen Margaritas all the time
$ T'° Domestic Longneck & $ 1 00 Bar Drinks
EVERY NIGHT 8-11PM
■m
103
FRIDAY & SATURDAY
Ladies Free ‘til la.m.
Men over 21 V 00 , Men under 21 L3 00
OPEN AT 8 p.m.
OPEN TUES- SAT NIGHT
CALL 846-3195 For Info.
Boyett across form E-Z MART in Northgate
wants YOU!
...for summer and fall semesters.
Need some excitement in your life?
Be a Battalion reporter! Writing three pieces a week gives you
the opportunity to meet people from all areas of campus life as
well as a chance to develop your communication skills.
No experience required. All majors welcome.
Please apply at 013 Reed McDonald.
Take Back the Night
A time to bring an end to sexual violence.
A time to understand how sexual violence affects all of us.
A time for each of us to take a stand.
Ttiesday, April 15th, 7:00 p.m., 292B MSG
Rally and march immediately following