Cdff@in@ S(udi~s Professor studies effects of caffeine on children Dr. Ken Turley, director of the well ness program, was disturbed by something he saw on a family vacacion in M innesota. "I was at a soccer tournament when I noticed large Coke ads all over the place," Turley said. "I though t to myself, 'Where is all the water?' That was ve ry unsettl ing." Tu rley was bothered by what he perceived as rhe excessive advertise– ment of caffeine, especially chat which was geared toward young people. Not long afte r, Turley began researching the effects of caffeine on the cardiovascular system. "A lot of [caffeinel research had been done on older people, so I decided co target how [caffeine] was affecting our youth," Turley said . Tu rley set up experiments on a selected number of child parrici– pants. "We had wonderful child ren [0 work with; it was truly a pleasure," graduate studenr Justin Bland said. Results from the research showed th at while the lowest dosages of caffeine did not gread y affect the children's cardiovascular system , the biggest dosages significandy raised the participants' heart rates and blood pressures du ring exercise. Accordi ng co Turley, one of the main motives behind a research project like this one was co get mate rial published. In addi tion to the pride of being published, the research looked great for Harding when it came dme for re-accreditation or recruiting. Bland, a former student ofTurley's, became interested in this research and eventually joined Turley's team. "Just in Bland prese IHed t h e resea rch a t t h e co nfe re n ces we attended, and we won a gram from our p ilot research to be used fo r more biomedical research," Turley said. "We are also unique in that we were allowed to conduct research right here in the Ganus Athletic Center, whereas typically we would have had to use the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences facilities." Bland had nothing bm positive cOp1 ments about the research. "I have always been curious about the phYSiology ofthe human body," Bland said. "So when {Turley] asked me ifl would like to observe some of the research going on, I was excited abom it. I was intrigued by (he possibilities of furcher understanding how the body responds w caffeine during exercise." Even though Turley was mostly responsible for setting up the tests, Bland was in charge of the adm in istration of each tes t in the summer of 2006. "It was just a pure joy to work with these children," Bland said. ''It is funny when the child is sweating on the bike and their nose clip (w monitor breathing] comes off right at a crucial time. My assistant would have to pinch the child's nose with her fin gers while stabilizing their arm while I am taking a blood pressure reading. Trying to do all of that and keeping the child calm while I am trying not to laugh is exciting. We had a blast." -Jordan Dyniewski Helping themselves to food, sophomores Seth Woodason and Cade Caton, freshman Amanda Mattocks and sophomore Jeremy Townsend par– ticipate in the annual cookout Aug. 29 prOVided by the kinesiology department in the Ganus Ath– letic Center. "The cookout was at the beginning of the year so it was a good time to meet [our] professors and other students," Woodason said. -Amber Bazargani kinesiology/exercise sciences 119
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