Edition 3

...Marian Goes National...


Going Green
By: Megan Hodges

Everyone knows that the environment is important. It is so important that most people regularly hear or see advertisements that encourage going green. However that message can be kind of confusing when you look at the world around us. Going green seems great but so many aspects of everyday life contradict the concept of going green. Taking the green campaign seriously is important because so many benefits exist to become more environmentally conscious.

Many people wonder why our society should go green. Whether or not any two people agree on the causes, everyone can agree that our planet is important. It gives us a place to exist and sustain life and for that we should protect the planet. By becoming more environmentally friendly people can ensure that wildlife can maintain their natural habitats, forests can continue to grow and air quality will be high, giving us a better quality of life. Keeping natural habitats helps the natural living cycle continue to thrive.

People can go green in many different ways and if everyone takes small steps, we can help the planet. One way is to recycle. By recycling old newspapers, magazines, and even papers from classes the number of trees that humans consume can be reduced. Recycling soda cans and water bottles are also things that can reduce the destruction of the natural habitat.

Another aspect of going green is to consume less energy. By turning of lights, televisions, and other electrical items every person can reduce his or her negative impact on the environment by making a positive one! These steps are simple and easy, but can be huge benefits to the planet.

The final step is to reduce pollution that comes from driving. While everyone driving hybrids cars would be a great, less expensive steps do exist that people can take. Obviously public transportation is a great way to reduce impact, but most people are heavily dependant on cars. The obvious step is to reduce the number of cars on the road. According to the Environmental Protection Agency’s website by not using a car two days a week people can reduce greenhouse gas by over a thousand pounds per year (www.epa.gov). When using a car the EPA recommends having a well-tuned car that has good tire pressure. Even these simple steps can help the environment.

While helping the environment may not seem exciting it is essential to maintaining the quality of the planet. By reducing how much each person consumes, everyone can contribute to a better quality of environment. Going green is not always easy, but it is helpful to the entire planet.








Prescribing Adderall
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
By:C. Jordan Brown

Thirteen-year-old Drew is definitely “that guy” in his class. He’s constantly blurting outlandish terms, getting out of his assigned seat, antagonizing other students, simply seeking attention. He can’t focus on anything in class unless it requires adrenaline (which at thirteen-years-old can be something as simple as ‘Heads Up, Seven Up’) and homework is out of the question unless someone is forcing him. However, Drew also crashes hard at night: around 9 pm, sleep is inevitable and he won’t be awake until someone forces him out of bed.

I, Jordan Brown, am 20 years old and a full-time student at Marian studying vocal music education. I commute here from Noblesville every day, work a part-time job there four or five days a week, and have a relatively active social life.

What Drew and myself have in common (aside from mothers, he’s my brother) is that we are prescribed to medicines used to treat ADD, respectively Adderall and Vyvanse. Drew was diagnosed at eleven and myself this past summer (per my professors’ suggestion J). After numerous visits with a psychiatrist, I’m prescribed to 25 mg of Adderall per day, which is 10 mg over the suggested beginning dose. Sounds ideal.

Vyvanse is a slightly more concentrated drug than Adderall, so dosages are usually a little higher. Freshman Nick Demetrides, 20, has been diagnosed with ADD for a little over two years. “I began at 30mg, and now I’m taking 50mg which is good for me in college,” says Nick.

My motivation for this story is this: Drew, at age 13, is taking 75mg of Vyvanse every day, which is more than twice the recommended dosage for an adult (30mg) and 25 mg more than Nick, who is actually an adult. His dosage was increased from 50mg to 75mg when his teachers reported he was still acting out.

This brings worries because Adderall-type drugs are made from amphetamine salt. “Basically, it’s an upper,” says psychiatrist Susan Anderson. It is directly related to methamphetamine and when abused can cause “meth-like” addiction and withdrawl. According to rxlist.com, isolated reports of cardiomyopathy associated with chronic amphetamine use do exist. Tolerance, extreme psychological dependence, and severe social disability have occurred. Reports exist of patients who have increased the dosage to levels many times higher than recommended. Abrupt cessation following prolonged high dosage administration results in extreme fatigue and mental depression; changes are also noted on the sleep EEG. Manifestations of chronic intoxication with amphetamines include severe dermatoses, marked insomnia, irritability, hyperactivity, and personality changes. The most severe manifestation of chronic intoxication is psychosis, often clinically indistinguishable from schizophrenia. The maximum recommended dose is 70 mg/day

Again, Drew is taking 75mg a day at 13. It’ll only go up from here. My question for his doctor is, what comes next?