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KRISTIN ELVES/Arizona Daily Wildcat
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Anthropology freshman Craig Fertelmes explores the therapeutic benefits of laughter with business freshman Kelly Barceloux and nursing freshman Gabriele Landis.
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By Lauren Eichenauer
Arizona Daily Wildcat
Thursday Jan. 17, 2002
Most students can relate to moments when they have turned to comedic material to escape the stress of work, classes, studies and personal problems.
University of Arizona students say they value the importance of humor in their busy lives.
But what drives each human mind to find a piece of material plausibly funny is vastly different. College students, for example, tend to tolerate questionable humor.
Most students take no real offenses when it comes to humor.
"Not much offends me; When it comes to comedy, I tend to go for the darker stuff anyway," said media arts senior Laurel Bullington. "If I really want to laugh, I put in a movie with dumb humor."
Bullington and media arts senior Sarah Kamin agree in their way of finding a good laugh.
"I like mindless humor like Austin Powers," Kamin said.
Media arts senior Dov Diamond finds that while it takes a lot to offend him, he defends his tastes against brainless humor. "Guys like Tom Green piss me off, (for) capitalizing on stupidity, like Jerry Springer."
This may explain why many comedies such as the "American Pie" movies and the new "Orange County" are aimed at college students. Some students find the brainlessness in movie-making an escape from reality based in the mentality of their environment.
"Laughter is the cornerstone of happiness; happiness is important in anyone's life," Diamond said.
Do students receive from the laughter the beneficial properties many believe it provides?
"Laughter is part of everyone's personality, from the way they laugh or what they laugh at," Bullington said. "I had a friend in high school record my famous cackle and put it on a CD."
"Usually people laugh the hardest with close friends because it usually means we are on the same level in some way," Diamond said. "We all meet up on the same level for that brief period in time; we are in sync."
