Minutes 12/2

The votes are in and the new officer's of the Psychology Club will be as follows:

President: Erica Yalch
Vice President: Katie O'Dowd
Secretary: Ashleigh Wilcox
Treasurer: Peter Ngauamsanith
Activities Coordinator: Darlene Sanddridge
Historian: Jordann Garlock

Congratulations to all the new officers. We're hoping to have an exciting semester! There will be more positions next semester. So keep checking your email! Have a great and wonderful break! See you next year!

Cotact Pittsburgh

James Doyle came to RMU to discuss Suicide awareness, prevention, and resources. He can be contacted at contactpgh.org or at 412-820-4357.

Contact Pittsburgh is a 24/7, 365 day hotline for those who are considering suicide or something dangerous. It isne a very good practicum or internship opportunity. There is an intense training session to get you prepared for any call that could come your way.

Some services that Contact Pittsburgh provides: Crisis/suicide hotline, student and young adult hotline, veteran hotline, public inquiry hotline, and anti hate hotline. All hotlines are offered 24/7, 365 days a year with no fees and all calls are confidential.

If you are interested, applications are at www.contactpgh.org/training_app.php

November 13th Minutes

Hello all,

At today's meeting we discussed the Western Pennsylvania Undergraduate Psychology Conference that will be held on April 25^th by Robert Morris University. This is a great chance to get your research out there and great to put on your resume. Please email Dr. Paul at paul@rmu.edu for more information. Along with getting your work out there, the Social Science Journal is looking for anyone's works or ideas that want to be published. Email McCarthy@rmu.edu for more information. Tomorrow we will be decorating the Christmas Card in John Jay from 3-7. Please join! Several ideas of community service were discussed in the meeting, and everyone seemed to agree with volunteering at Bradly Center on weekends. By next meeting, more information will be known. For everyone who paid there dues, shirts will be ordered asap.

Nominations were taken for all offices. If you missed today's meeting, we will have another meeting before the year is out. Listed below were the positions as of right now that people were nominated for. If you still want to take a position, please let me know!

October 16th

Hello All!

Darlene Sandridge was voted to become the new SGA Representative. Congratulations. There is a Heavy Metal Magic Show on Saturday November 1st 7pm at the Carnegie Science Center cost is unsure, we were thinking possibly 12$. For all those who went to see Rick Maue last year, this show will be like it. It was also discussed about new Psychology Club T-shirt ideas. It was decided by the members who attended for a Navy Shirt white writing that says " Nature/Nuture ... either way it's your parents fault". It was mentioned that there might be an end of the year bash in Spring for all Psychology Club members. We are currently trying to get someone from Suicide Hotline, Rick Maue Master of Deception, Jung Institute, and possibly someone analyses body language.

Dr Wheeler also mentioned that if anyone would like to come to his Applied Psychology Class to watch the speakers you are able to. To find out when speakers are, you are able to goto APmajor.relaxnow.org. If fou are planning on going to Graduate School, there is an informational meeting about Graduate Schools on October 28th from 11-12 in Sewall Center.

Minutes 9/11

Hello Everyone!

Thank you for all those who attended our FIRST meeting of the year! We had a wonderful turn out! For the meeting today, we nominated people for our open and new positions of the year!

Nominated for Advisor: William Kelly
Nominated for treasurer: Shawn Sweeney
Nominated for SGA representatives: Zack Brockner
Nominated for Community Engagement Chair: Jamie Baker
Nominated for Fundraising Chair: Genevieve Senovich
Nominated for Historian: Jordan Garlock
Nominated for Homecoming Representative: Rachel Ragozzino

Congratulations to ALL!

Meeting!

Helllllo everyone!

Our first meeting of the year will be held on September 11th at 515 in Hale 301. We are excited to have new faces join us for an exciting year! We have a lot to discuss including WPUC, guest speakers, volunteer activities, and new officer positions! So if your interesting in really getting involved this year and making the Psychology Club better than ever, join us on the 11th!

See you then!

Welcome back!

Hello everyone!

Hope everyone had a wonderful summer! Currently we are in the process of figuring out the best monthly meeting time for everyone. I will be sending out an email out as soon as we figure it out. We are looking forward to having an exciting year and I hope to see you at the meetings!

4-7-08

Hi Everyone!

For all those who came to our last psychology meeting thanks! We had a good turn out with even a few new members! I hope everyone had a good semester for the psychology club and come back refreshed with ideas how to make the upcoming year even better!
If anyone needs to pay for dues you can email psychology@rmu.edu to receive our cool shirts! If you are a senior you may purchase a shirt for 8$. Also, it was put out there about helping out in the Special Olympics next year at several events.
Rick Maue, the master of deception, is coming April 21st. anyone who wants to come eat with us at 5pm on the 21st in the private dining room your more than welcome to join! The fun, jaw dropping show starts at 7.
We are thinking about selling USB flash drives next year with preloaded Psychology major/minor information on it. There will be interesting sites, practicum opportunities, and much other stuff on it. If you have any ideas, please contact us at psychology@rmu.edu These flash drives will possibly sold at 20 dollars each. Also, on March 26th the Western Pennsylvania Undergraduate Conference is being held. It is a great opportunity to hear presentations and maybe present your own! (we are holding this conference next year!!!) Lastly, check out the new Applied Psychology concentration of Clinical Psychology

Have a great summer! We’ll be seeing you next year!

Pam Turner's Talk

Hey everyone!

Last night was Pam Turners talk with Applied Psychology Majors. Her talk was very informative for those looking for practicum opportunities, test questions, and what field of Psychology to go into. There were several informational handouts that I believe can be useful for all Applied Psychology majors: Internship/Practicum Opportunities, Subfields of Psychology, Graduate School Planning Tip Sheet, GMAT and GRE score reports, and test help for the GMAT and GRE. These pamphlets can be found at the Career Center. The Career Center can be found outside the Nicholson center, it’s the building that looks like it has a green house roof.

Some helpful tips that were presented in the meeting were: participate in activities and organizations that the campus offers and the career center will check your resume for you before you hand it to employers.

The Career Center is more than happy to help anyone. Pam Turners email address is TurnerP@rmu.edu

Office Hours:

Monday-Thursday 830am-6pm

Fridays 830am-5pm

Career Center Number: 412-397-2557

March 3rd Meeting

Hi Everyone!

At the meeting it was discussed that Rick Maue, the Master of Deception, will be speaking on April 21st at 8pm at Massey Hall. Also, we are still looking for any movie ideas about mental health that YOU would like to see. If you have any other suggestions of speakers or anything you would like to see at a movie night, please contact rachel!

For fund raising for our future events having tournaments, raffles, selling candy, and jelly bracelets were mentioned. With the tournaments we could have basketball midnight madness, dodgeball, etc. We could raffle off gift baskets, gift certificates for movies, food, or places at the mall. Candy bars and lollipops were suggested but were not too favorable because other organizations use these techniques for fund raising. If any other ideas, please contact rachel!

For community service opportunities, the Kindercare was suggested for tutoring, mentoring and for after school programs for children. If you are interested please contact Ken at kasst24@rmu.edu with your after classes schedule.

Nominations were taken for the Psychology Faculty Award Recipient. The winner has not been named. The nominations were:
Professor Liss
Doctor Kelly
Professor Kitsko
Mrs Paul
Professor Kulick

Lastly, we are still waiting for the approval of Psi Chi at Robert Morris.

If you have any comments or suggestions please email Rachel at psychology@rmu.edu


Next Meeting: April 7th

Thanks!

Recap and February 3th Meeting

Hey Everyone!

Here is a recap of February's meeting. I know its kinda late with posting it, but I finally had some time to figure out how all this blogging works :-)

Daniel Gittins is starting a woman's support group dealing with eating disorders, abuse, etc. If you are interested in this, email us!

The Psi Chi Chapter at Robert Morris is finally underway! This club is only for those who are in the top 30% in their class.

Some events that were discussed were movie nights. We would chose a psychological movie and have one of the professors discuss the movie more in depth afterwards. If you have any good movies that you are dieing to know more about from the psychological perspective, email us!

A fund raising/volunteering committee was established:
-Rachel Hauser
- Nicole Knestrick
- Paige Bronson
-Greg Gray
-Scott Miklos
-Scott Cross

Doctor Paul mentioned that the Western Pennsylvania Undergraduate Psychological Conference is coming to RMU in 2009. This year the WPUPC will be held at Penn State Barron. If you are interested in going please email us!

Psychology T-Shirts are in and looking awesome! If you have paid your dues of $15 then you are eligible to receive this awesome t-shirt.

Email us! psychology@rmu.edu

Recap of October meeting and upcoming events

Rachel's post:

Hey everyone!

Thanks to all of you who attended our October meeting! As you know, we held our officer elections, and the results are as follows:

President: Rachel Ragozzino
Vice President: Ashley Wagers
Secretary: Erica Yalch
Treasurer: Nicole Knestrick
Activities Coordinator: Ken Snyder
Advisor: Dr. Paul

Those newly elected officers who have not served a previous term will begin training with the current officers soon! Congratulations to all!

In other news, health and media psychologist Dr. Nancy Mramor will be speaking this Thursday, November 7, at 7:00 p.m. in the Jefferson T.V. lounge. Nancy will be focusing on being aware of our bodies and bodily responses, and she will give us advice for combating stress (which is something will can all benefit from!). So bring a few friends and hear what she has to say - remember, you DON'T have to be a psych major to take part in these events!

Also, we are planning a trip to the Carnegie Science Center to see the "Bodies" exhibit on Friday, December 7 around 4:30 p.m. We will discuss this at greater length at our next meeting.

If you have any questions or comments, you can respond to this blog any time you'd like (just hit the "add comment" icon). I also have a personal blog that I am working on as part of my psychology practicum, so I would love to hear your comments and get your ideas for future posts, it would really help me out if you guys got involved a bit! It's posted at thenibreathe.blogspot.com. Thanks everyone!

~Rachel

Nancy Mramor

Rachel's Post:

Last Thursday, November 8, health and media psychologist Dr. Nancy Mramor spoke in the Jefferson T.V. lounge. Nancy started out studying educational psychology but moved into the field of health, clinical and media psychology, eventually going on to teach at several universities. Nancy stated that "if you're in the field of psychology long enough, you'll be asked to speak, write, and possibly lead a training session" at some point in your career. She gave a few basic tips to keep in mind that are useful in all areas of psychology.

First, Nancy stressed the importance of having a general knowledge of medications that are commonly prescribed to those with psychological disorders or complications. Having a basic knowledge of possible side effects, appropriate dosage, and whether your client is adhering to taking their medication is sufficient. Nancy said it is not necessary to memorize these things in detail because you can always refer to books, journals, or even the internet (i.e., webMD), but a basic understanding of what your client is taking is helpful.

Next, Nancy said that one definition of a psychologist is a "trained observer." Everything that a person does gives you information, such as their breathing patterns or eye movements. All of the nonverbal cues you pick up in your client are telling a "story" that will lead you to a conclusion about their condition or disability. Also, she said it is important to observe a lot of people because "the more you see, the more you know." Furthermore, Nancy said to trust your "gut" instinct; if something doesn't feel right, it probably isn't right.

Next, Nancy discussed "the brain gym," which consists of a few exercises (that she had us try out!) you can do to help you get neurologically reorganized so that you learn better. She also told us to drink plenty of water because it keeps your brain moving.

Finally, Nancy talked about the purpose of health psychology. She said that the mind, body, and spirit interact, so you have to treat the whole person and not just prescribe medication. She said that when you are treating a client, the goal is to get him or her to be as functional as possible so that they do not need you anymore; therefore, teach your client techniques that he or she can use without you. She also talked a bit about natural remedies. She said that natural remedies shift the brain chemistry just as medications do. The drawback is that it may take longer, but the benefits include less side effects, lower addiction or dependency rates, and empowering the client (because they can buy the supplements on their own without having to have a prescription from a doctor).

Dr. Mramor's presentation was not only informative, but interactive as well (we got to watch Dr. Paul and Dr. Wheeler test each other's "neurological correctness"!). My fellow officers and I were disappointed with the attendance - you guys really need to start stepping up your participation in club events. Hopefully our next speaker will fit into your schedule. Thanks to all of those who did make it!

~Rachel

Meeting 11-14-07

Rachel's Post:

Here is a re-cap of last night's meeting:

On Monday, December 3, a representative from Contact Pittsburgh will be speaking in the Rogal Chapel at 8 p.m.

We are going to Carnegie Science Center to view the Bodies exhibit on Friday, December 7 around 4-4:30 p.m.

Club dues have been pushed to January; we'll give you the exact date in December.

Some ideas for future speakers include Dr. Kelly, Rick Maue, and someone from Moon's Sleep Lab.

We now have our own fundraising committee: Krystal, Ashlea (Wiegand), Nicole, Karin, Erica (Balm) and Erica (Yalch). Thanks for volunteering, girls! Some fundraising ideas mentioned at the meeting included a baked goods sale and something for Valentine's Day.

Krystal and Erica B. will also be working on finding some volunteering opportunities for us!

Ideas for future field trip destinations were the Mattress Factory, the aviary, and the zoo.

Finally, Mrs. Paul gave us a great suggestion: the officers are going to start e-mailing all psych professors (both full- and part-time) so they can make announcements to their classes about upcoming meetings, speakers, and other events.

Thanks to all who braved the pouring rain to come to the meeting!

Rachel H.

Contact Pittsburgh

Rachel's post:
On Monday, December 3, Elizabeth Zinno (LSW, MPH) gave a presentation at 8:00 p.m. in the Rogal Chapel. Elizabeth is the Director of Outreach and Volunteer Recruitment at Contact Pittsburgh, a 24-hour crisis and suicide hotline. She attended the University of Pittsburgh and received a dual undergraduate degree in psychology and biology. After taking a 6-year hiatus, she went on to receive her Master's degree in social work and public health. She was inspired to take the job at Contact Pittsburgh because of her interest in mental health and also by her sister, who suffers from clinical depression. She feels that depression and suicide are not discussed enough in our society, and has made it her personal mission to see that change.

Elizabeth showed us a very informative, very real film titled "The Truth About Suicide." The film dealt with college students, featuring interviews with students who have attempted suicide as well as interviews with the siblings and friends of those who died from suicide.

I am actually writing an article for The Sentry about Elizabeth's presentation, so I am not going to include a lot of information in this blog because I don't want people to read the same thing twice, but here are a few warning signs and solutions for those with suicidal feelings or for those who suspect that someone they know may be suicidal:

Suicidal Warning Signs:
*sudden change in personality
*giving away possessions
*previous suicide attempt
*withdrawal from people, especially close family or friends
*change in eating and sleeping patterns
*restlessness and inability to concentrate

When You Fear Someone May Take Their Own Life:
*take it seriously
*be willing to listen
*seek professional help
*follow up with the person to see how their treatment is going

If You Are Suicidal:
*tell an adult that you trust; if they don't take you seriously, tell someone else
*call a 24-hour crisis counseling line
*go to a mental health clinic or hospital emergency room
*call 911
(source: American Foundation for Suicide Prevention)

Contact Pittsburgh is staffed by volunteers who undergo training, a 12-hour internship, and work 4-hour shifts at the hotline as often as they choose. The hotline receives about 20,000 calls a year (50 calls a day). Out of those calls, 60% are suicidal. Most crisis calls come from the person experiencing the actual crisis, but most suicide calls come from family or friends who are concerned that someone they know may be suicidal. The hotline is free and anonymous, and the number is 412-820-HELP (4357). If you are a psych major looking for a Practicum I project, consider becoming a Contact Pittsburgh volunteer. You must be 18 years of age, have your own transportation, work two 4-hour shifts per month, and commit to volunteering at the hotline for one year. Visit www.contactpgh.org for more information.

Just a heads-up for Friday: if you are planning on going to the Bodies Exhibit at the Carnegie Science Center, keep on checking your e-mail for an update on where and when we'll be meeting and who will be riding with who. Thanks to everyone who attended the presentation last night!

~Rachel

Finally up and running

Hi Everyone!

Welcome to my wonderful blog page for Robert Morris University Psychology Club. Sorry it took me so long to get it up and working. I am going to post what I can of Rachel's old blogs from her blog page just so we have everything all together. Enjoy!