Opinion
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TRUSTEE VIEWPOINT | Self-Care: From an Idea to a Priority

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The first few weeks of the school year is full of new opportunities: classes to take, clubs to join and friends to make. With over 1,000 student groups available and even more courses offered, the options seem endless. Students often find their schedules tightly packed as they try to fit as many classes, work opportunities and extracurriculars into their day. As the semester goes on, students can find themselves burning out as they try to stay on top of all of their responsibilities. It’s therefore not surprising that, in recent years, more and more orientation events encourage students to practice self-care to try and avoid burning out.

The Cornell Health Building in 2017.
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CBD on Campus: Cornell Health Pharmacy to Stock CBD Products, Starting This Semester

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Lack of sleep, headache, stress and anxiety: ask almost any Cornellian and they will tell you that these are the most common ailments plaguing the student population. By coincidence, these same illnesses are purportedly ones which can be treated with cannabidiol, or CBD, a substance extracted from the leaves of the cannabis sativa plant. Until a few months ago, CBD medicines were only available in niche online stores and some alternative medicine shops. But with the passage
of the 2018 Farm Bill and the subsequent passionate embrace of the cannabis industry by farmers, entrepreneurs and investors, one can find CBD everywhere from Wegman’s to GreenStar to CTB, and now, at the Cornell Health Pharmacy. Cornell Health Pharmacy manager Tracey DeNardo told The Sun back in April that the pharmacology team was planning on doing a review over the summer to determine which CBD drug companies’ products, if any, they would sell at the campus pharmacy.

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GUEST ROOM | Cornell Health Improves Access to Mental Health Services

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As the fall semester begins, we at Cornell Health are excited to introduce a new approach to our delivery of mental health services. Our goal is to support undergraduate, graduate and professional students in thriving at Cornell and achieving their academic and life goals. In order to provide increased access to mental health care for our students, we now offer free, 25-minute, in-person counseling appointments that often can be scheduled as soon as the same day. These appointments focus on meeting the student’s immediate needs, and making a plan for next steps, when needed. Students no longer schedule a brief assessment phone appointment as the first step to receiving care and instead can speak with a counselor in person as the need arises.

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GUEST ROOM | Upstream Approaches for Improving Mental Health on Campus

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It goes without saying that mental health is a major conversation on campus. Currently, some of the mental health services offered at Cornell include Let’s Talk and CAPS, which are offered at Cornell Health, and EARS, a student-run organization. While all are extremely important services, all are arguably “downstream” mental health services. Since they are “downstream,” they can only be utilized by individuals who are currently having to address their mental health issues. There are very few specific services in place that attempt to dispel systems that can lead to mental health issues.

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GUEST ROOM | Cornell Needs to Be More Transparent About Mental Health Initiatives

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Last month, the Cornell administration announced a review of our campus’s mental health system. Throughout the last year, Cornell Graduate Students United has campaigned for just such a review. Over 900 graduate students signed our petition asking for an external review of the system, in addition to other demands, and we are glad the administration has finally acknowledged the mental health crisis on campus. Whether or not the proposed mental health review succeeds, however, depends on its structure. As it stands, there is almost no public information on the administration’s proposed mental health review.