So, I was going through my advanced fiction notebook from last year and found some gems, I thought.
Here's my favorite. We were supposed to come up with some odd physical description of someone to pass out and write a story about. My friend, Keely, meant to write "inverted penis" but wrote "introverted penis" and I happened to get that card.
I chose to write about a man with an introverted penis.
I call him Jack. I don't usually talk about him much. He's--it's a he, naturally--he's about average in most ways, I guess. But when he decides he likes someone, he's all in, you know? I think some women can appreciate that, it kind of encompasses ultimate fidelity, right? Yeah, we've been over this.
Of course it gets hard sometimes--difficult, I mean--because Jack doesn't really take to strangers. So, like this girl, Stacy, I met last Saturday, he didn't really want anything to do with her. Of course I did. She was hot. But Jack gets shy and uncomfortable. We were pretty hot and heavy, but when she wanted to see Jack, I had to take a breather. Went into the bathroom for a little pep talk, just me and Jack, tried to make him comfortable.
"Jack, buddy," I said. "This'll only last like five minutes, tops." I made sure Stacy didn't hear that part. But he wouldn't budge. Sometimes it works, sometimes not.
Some women totally don't get it. They fly off the handle, call me gay. I think they think it's their fault, like they're not hot enough. Like Cindy, she didn't get it. With Cindy, we were together for six months, but Jack just couldn't get comfortable around her. I don't know why. She finally gave up and left me. I was upset with Jack for a while, but I can't really stay mad at him, you know? I see him like five times a day. You know, at least.
So, sometimes I just stay home. I can tell now when Jack feels like going out and when he doesn't. We watch old movies, order in. We like that AMC channel. good stuff. Last night we stayed in watching a Bogart flick. It was classy, It's always relaxed, you know? Jack and me having a beer.
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
With an hour left, I'm feeling pretty good.
And if you post TLDR, you will meet my fists of fury.
Nutritionomics: Balancing Budget and Health as a College Senior
By Marni Newell
06/10/09
They’re relatively inconspicuous: the two hexagons connected in a diagonal on the shelf sticker labels. NuVal is written in the bottom hexagon and a number, 1-100, is in the top. It wouldn’t be noticeable to someone running in to Meijer just to buy bread or milk every week or so, nor would the pamphlet perched on a clear plastic holder on the shelves be a source of light reading for a college senior cramming for exams.
NuVal is short for Nutritional Value, the nutritional scoring system developed by Dr. David Katz of Yale University/Griffin Hospital. The system gives a score from 1-100 based on the overall nutrition of the food. “Included there,” the loop video of Dr. Katz on the NuVal website assures, “are all the things you would expect. Vitamins, of course, minerals and...macronutrients: the quality of the protein, the quality of the fat.”
The team creating the system was “independent of funding or influence by food or beverage retailers or manufacturers,” which explains why a box of Cap’n Crunch with Berries cereal has a rating of only eight, regardless of the green “Smart Choices Made Easy” label on the bottom corner of the box.
“There are so many different guidelines, people get confused,” said fitness trainer Carrie Brankiewicz while flipping through the NuVal pamphlet. “The buzz is nutrition and eating healthy.”
Eating healthy on a budget can be difficult, especially for a busy college lifestyle. “I know the struggle college students have—they want ready-made macaroni and cheeses where you put it in the microwave and it’s done,” said Megan Hass, nutrition instructor at Kalamazoo College. Hass stresses making small changes in diet toward a healthier lifestyle. “Maybe substitute water for pop for two times a day,” she said.
Kalamazoo College senior Jillian Regal was open to taking the NuVal or other healthy food systems into consideration. “I feel like I need my hand held with stuff like this,” she said. Normally eating mainly breads and pasta, Regal admits she’s “way too lazy to cook—even pasta.” This results in eating out a lot which makes her feel she’s wasting her money and disregarding her health.
Regal regularly shops at Meijer, but sometimes goes to the People’s Food Co-Op, a local grocery store containing mainly organic and local merchandise, but ultimately thinks it’s too expensive.
Hass echoes this sentiment as a Meijer regular, but tries to incorporate local and health foods just as she asks students to incorporate healthier eating habits—just small bits at a time.
Senior Vinny Ricciardi came up with a system of shopping at the People’s Food Co-Op, which costs him about $3-$4 per meal. His diet is “almost all local and almost all sustainably farmed.” Although he sometimes shops at Hardings for cheeses, Ricciardi likes to support local foods by shopping at the Co-Op or farmer’s markets. Ricciardi, who eats “tons of fruits, veggies, and nuts” in stir fries and vegetable dishes seems to be on his own nutritional system. “I try to stay away from processed food and refined sugar,” he said
These processed foods are what annoy Brankiewicz about diet systems. “The biggest problem I have with systems like Weight Watchers and Healthy Choice is it gets people to eat processed foods. It’s way better to teach people to eat whole foods rather than processed crap.”
Processed items sometimes score higher on the NuVal system than fresh foods, as seen in the canned chicken noodle soup shown on the back of the pamphlet with a score of 95 while boneless skinless chicken breast scores only 25. The system tips the scale of nutrients in the soup versus the chicken that packs only protein.
Pointing at the score of 95 on the soup, Hass wondered if it was a typo. “Those soups have a ton of sodium,” she said.
Senior Kendra Garchow agrees with this mentality, only buying processed foods like canned mushroom soup as bases for her meals. “I try to make everything from scratch,” Garchow, the self proclaimed “foodie” said. Primarily shopping at farmer’s markets and Hardings, Garchow admitted, “I shop sales, definitely.” Shopping once a week, Garchow tries to only spend around $20 per trip and because she tends to make her own pasta sauces and curries from scratch, she finds little need for the NuVal system. “Most times I try to cook healthy to begin with and it’s not as much as a problem because I buy whole foods.”
Brankiewicz commends healthy eating, but believes in a balance of nutrition and exercise. “People think it’s all food or all exercise, but it’s definitely a combination of both,” she said.
Senior Keely Houghton takes nutrition and exercise seriously, eating carbohydrates before a workout of “max out” weightlifting, and proteins afterward, which she does three-to-five times a week. Houghton, who shops mostly at Meijer, would take the NuVal system into consideration, but quickly added, “I look at nutrition already.” Spending around $50 per trip to Meijer, Houghton buys bread, eggs, vegetables, and frozen veggie burgers and burritoes as staples.
Senior Amel Omari eats a vegetarian diet of eggs, breads, vegetables, and veggie burgers. “I prefer to buy organic milk and eggs, but if I’m hard up on cash, I won’t get it,” Omari said. She tries to spend under $50 each trip to Meijer, which happens about every two weeks. Omari admits to buying processed bread, in contrast to Ricciardi who bakes his own, but said she needs the food to last. Omari said she would not take the NuVal system into much consideration since she buys what healthy food she can afford. Instead, her nutritional system is “based on what my mom fed me and what I learned in school,” she said.
To Hass, a healthy lifestyle isn’t about strictly following food guidelines. “I don’t want students to go from eating a 3,000 calorie diet to 1,200 calories a day because that’s what they read in a magazine,” she said. Small changes, Hass stressed. “You don’t have to eat perfectly, but you can still benefit from good food.”
Although diet systems and guidelines aren’t her preference for healthy eating, Brankiewicz doesn’t see much harm in the NuVal system. “If it makes people aware, it will never hurt.”
Nutritionomics: Balancing Budget and Health as a College Senior
By Marni Newell
06/10/09
They’re relatively inconspicuous: the two hexagons connected in a diagonal on the shelf sticker labels. NuVal is written in the bottom hexagon and a number, 1-100, is in the top. It wouldn’t be noticeable to someone running in to Meijer just to buy bread or milk every week or so, nor would the pamphlet perched on a clear plastic holder on the shelves be a source of light reading for a college senior cramming for exams.
NuVal is short for Nutritional Value, the nutritional scoring system developed by Dr. David Katz of Yale University/Griffin Hospital. The system gives a score from 1-100 based on the overall nutrition of the food. “Included there,” the loop video of Dr. Katz on the NuVal website assures, “are all the things you would expect. Vitamins, of course, minerals and...macronutrients: the quality of the protein, the quality of the fat.”
The team creating the system was “independent of funding or influence by food or beverage retailers or manufacturers,” which explains why a box of Cap’n Crunch with Berries cereal has a rating of only eight, regardless of the green “Smart Choices Made Easy” label on the bottom corner of the box.
“There are so many different guidelines, people get confused,” said fitness trainer Carrie Brankiewicz while flipping through the NuVal pamphlet. “The buzz is nutrition and eating healthy.”
Eating healthy on a budget can be difficult, especially for a busy college lifestyle. “I know the struggle college students have—they want ready-made macaroni and cheeses where you put it in the microwave and it’s done,” said Megan Hass, nutrition instructor at Kalamazoo College. Hass stresses making small changes in diet toward a healthier lifestyle. “Maybe substitute water for pop for two times a day,” she said.
Kalamazoo College senior Jillian Regal was open to taking the NuVal or other healthy food systems into consideration. “I feel like I need my hand held with stuff like this,” she said. Normally eating mainly breads and pasta, Regal admits she’s “way too lazy to cook—even pasta.” This results in eating out a lot which makes her feel she’s wasting her money and disregarding her health.
Regal regularly shops at Meijer, but sometimes goes to the People’s Food Co-Op, a local grocery store containing mainly organic and local merchandise, but ultimately thinks it’s too expensive.
Hass echoes this sentiment as a Meijer regular, but tries to incorporate local and health foods just as she asks students to incorporate healthier eating habits—just small bits at a time.
Senior Vinny Ricciardi came up with a system of shopping at the People’s Food Co-Op, which costs him about $3-$4 per meal. His diet is “almost all local and almost all sustainably farmed.” Although he sometimes shops at Hardings for cheeses, Ricciardi likes to support local foods by shopping at the Co-Op or farmer’s markets. Ricciardi, who eats “tons of fruits, veggies, and nuts” in stir fries and vegetable dishes seems to be on his own nutritional system. “I try to stay away from processed food and refined sugar,” he said
These processed foods are what annoy Brankiewicz about diet systems. “The biggest problem I have with systems like Weight Watchers and Healthy Choice is it gets people to eat processed foods. It’s way better to teach people to eat whole foods rather than processed crap.”
Processed items sometimes score higher on the NuVal system than fresh foods, as seen in the canned chicken noodle soup shown on the back of the pamphlet with a score of 95 while boneless skinless chicken breast scores only 25. The system tips the scale of nutrients in the soup versus the chicken that packs only protein.
Pointing at the score of 95 on the soup, Hass wondered if it was a typo. “Those soups have a ton of sodium,” she said.
Senior Kendra Garchow agrees with this mentality, only buying processed foods like canned mushroom soup as bases for her meals. “I try to make everything from scratch,” Garchow, the self proclaimed “foodie” said. Primarily shopping at farmer’s markets and Hardings, Garchow admitted, “I shop sales, definitely.” Shopping once a week, Garchow tries to only spend around $20 per trip and because she tends to make her own pasta sauces and curries from scratch, she finds little need for the NuVal system. “Most times I try to cook healthy to begin with and it’s not as much as a problem because I buy whole foods.”
Brankiewicz commends healthy eating, but believes in a balance of nutrition and exercise. “People think it’s all food or all exercise, but it’s definitely a combination of both,” she said.
Senior Keely Houghton takes nutrition and exercise seriously, eating carbohydrates before a workout of “max out” weightlifting, and proteins afterward, which she does three-to-five times a week. Houghton, who shops mostly at Meijer, would take the NuVal system into consideration, but quickly added, “I look at nutrition already.” Spending around $50 per trip to Meijer, Houghton buys bread, eggs, vegetables, and frozen veggie burgers and burritoes as staples.
Senior Amel Omari eats a vegetarian diet of eggs, breads, vegetables, and veggie burgers. “I prefer to buy organic milk and eggs, but if I’m hard up on cash, I won’t get it,” Omari said. She tries to spend under $50 each trip to Meijer, which happens about every two weeks. Omari admits to buying processed bread, in contrast to Ricciardi who bakes his own, but said she needs the food to last. Omari said she would not take the NuVal system into much consideration since she buys what healthy food she can afford. Instead, her nutritional system is “based on what my mom fed me and what I learned in school,” she said.
To Hass, a healthy lifestyle isn’t about strictly following food guidelines. “I don’t want students to go from eating a 3,000 calorie diet to 1,200 calories a day because that’s what they read in a magazine,” she said. Small changes, Hass stressed. “You don’t have to eat perfectly, but you can still benefit from good food.”
Although diet systems and guidelines aren’t her preference for healthy eating, Brankiewicz doesn’t see much harm in the NuVal system. “If it makes people aware, it will never hurt.”
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Responses the third
Joseph,
I think the lede with Bardeen is really amusing and it keeps me interested. There are some good details with the scenery. I think I was thrown off when I got to the part about smoking pot so late in the story because I thought that’s what the focus was going to be, but it seems like you had to expand it to a profile of the cemetery altogether. Some parts are a bit repetitive like the first sentence of the fifth paragraph. And there’s one sentence that I read over a few times: the first sentence of the third from last paragraph, you say students from Western and K recite Lil Wayne lyrics and discuss philosophy, but I guess I needed you to give a location. You don’t even have to make it boring like “in the cemetery” you could say something like “among the phallic cement structures” or something. I mean, you probably don’t want to say the tombstones are phallic, but you get the idea. The last paragraph seemed out of place. Maybe introduce the fallen tombstones earlier so you can get back to it by the end?
Emily,
I love where you’re going in your lede, but I want you to show me instead. Consider giving a description of one of the houses at the top of the Fair Arcadian and then transition to the intersection and description of her house overlooking a mini strip mall. Also the second and third paragraph are fantastic, you showed us the gun and then shot it like a pro. Fantastic repetition in the fourth paragraph, I’m a sucker for those kinds of phrases. What happened to the woman she was dating when she married Matthew? I’d also like to hear more about the aggression toward Matthew in Tanzania. I know this draft is temporary, but—though I think the ending is well written—I’m not sold on it, it was mostly about Natalie and you mentioned your admiration a bit in the beginning and then at the end. If you end up making this the complication, I’d like to see it woven throughout the entire story more.
Maureen,
I don’t know if I’m taking it the right way, but I love this section: “Javin stares out his single window. The blinds are closed. ‘There are a lot of weirdos out there.’” It’s an amazing juxtaposition and I think really captures Javin since it seems like he has no specific complaint. He’s upset that he has no friends, but doesn’t seem to look into any reasons why that could be except that everyone else is crazy. In this way, this is a bit unflattering for him, because I see at least one solid reason: he lives in a single dorm room where “his neighbors are the parking lot and the lounge” it sounds like his location requires him to be exceptionally outgoing, which he’s refusing to do. In this way, the addition of Zaide Pixley and Pat Ponto’s comments on loneliness at K make me wonder how I should digest that information. Here, how you’ve put it, I see someone who wants people to come to him to be friends, and then the administration grappling with causes why people are lonely and depressed which definitely includes him but also a group of people who probably aren’t so much in control of the situation. You have some great movement and images in this, but I wonder about the overall theme and whether it all works together.
Mary,
After reading this piece, I want alcohol to be given more time in it. Have you asked the pro-streakers something like “If it’s about liberation, why are many people drunk before they attempt it?” You have LandSea as an interesting contrast, since that’s an alcohol-free zone. I see you’ve put yourself in this piece, and I want to see more of that threaded through it. If you’re so against nudity and you have someone saying to you “nudity is a non-sexual form of expression” I want your reaction, your come-backs to that, or, at least, your bewildered nod. I wonder why you chose not to talk about the Frelon attacking incident, I feel that’s a voice you’re not representing in this piece. You have the nudists (if I may call them that) the faculty who seem to be taking no definite stance, and you who are uncomfortable with nudity. There are people out there who want to watch just for the sake of watching, but never want to streak. That’s a weird thing, what about naked people running around gets that population interested? And what about streaking makes people feel like throwing things and attacking them? I guess I really don’t buy this whole idea that streaking is a form of expression and liberation, because stripping naked in a public place while sober is one thing, but getting drunk and running through a crowd is something completely different. I think it’s more of a dare, a challenge, equivalent to keg stands and beer bongs...and even the gallon challenge. At least, that’s the drunken population’s perspective. They don’t streak at nudist colonies, they just accept nudity as natural.
Camilo,
Rufus sounds amazing. I love the ending scene with the trash can and the president line, that’s pure gold. You did a fantastic job of recreating the plane ride with the woman next to Rufus telling him to relax. I love the line about showing up in Nairobi wearing a safari suit. I think you need to take the word “some” out of the line “The truth is everyone in some of his family wears clothes.” Unless parts of his family don’t wear clothes, in which case you need to explain that more. I’m not sure what you mean “During the opening act on the first day.” Great transition from the laid back Kenyan culture to how diligent Rufus is about working. Does Rufus take classes here? You have some great images: Rufus shopping at Wal Mart and not buying beer, the trash bag scene, the plane scene. I don’t know, I want more and right now I can’t even put my finger on what it is.
I think the lede with Bardeen is really amusing and it keeps me interested. There are some good details with the scenery. I think I was thrown off when I got to the part about smoking pot so late in the story because I thought that’s what the focus was going to be, but it seems like you had to expand it to a profile of the cemetery altogether. Some parts are a bit repetitive like the first sentence of the fifth paragraph. And there’s one sentence that I read over a few times: the first sentence of the third from last paragraph, you say students from Western and K recite Lil Wayne lyrics and discuss philosophy, but I guess I needed you to give a location. You don’t even have to make it boring like “in the cemetery” you could say something like “among the phallic cement structures” or something. I mean, you probably don’t want to say the tombstones are phallic, but you get the idea. The last paragraph seemed out of place. Maybe introduce the fallen tombstones earlier so you can get back to it by the end?
Emily,
I love where you’re going in your lede, but I want you to show me instead. Consider giving a description of one of the houses at the top of the Fair Arcadian and then transition to the intersection and description of her house overlooking a mini strip mall. Also the second and third paragraph are fantastic, you showed us the gun and then shot it like a pro. Fantastic repetition in the fourth paragraph, I’m a sucker for those kinds of phrases. What happened to the woman she was dating when she married Matthew? I’d also like to hear more about the aggression toward Matthew in Tanzania. I know this draft is temporary, but—though I think the ending is well written—I’m not sold on it, it was mostly about Natalie and you mentioned your admiration a bit in the beginning and then at the end. If you end up making this the complication, I’d like to see it woven throughout the entire story more.
Maureen,
I don’t know if I’m taking it the right way, but I love this section: “Javin stares out his single window. The blinds are closed. ‘There are a lot of weirdos out there.’” It’s an amazing juxtaposition and I think really captures Javin since it seems like he has no specific complaint. He’s upset that he has no friends, but doesn’t seem to look into any reasons why that could be except that everyone else is crazy. In this way, this is a bit unflattering for him, because I see at least one solid reason: he lives in a single dorm room where “his neighbors are the parking lot and the lounge” it sounds like his location requires him to be exceptionally outgoing, which he’s refusing to do. In this way, the addition of Zaide Pixley and Pat Ponto’s comments on loneliness at K make me wonder how I should digest that information. Here, how you’ve put it, I see someone who wants people to come to him to be friends, and then the administration grappling with causes why people are lonely and depressed which definitely includes him but also a group of people who probably aren’t so much in control of the situation. You have some great movement and images in this, but I wonder about the overall theme and whether it all works together.
Mary,
After reading this piece, I want alcohol to be given more time in it. Have you asked the pro-streakers something like “If it’s about liberation, why are many people drunk before they attempt it?” You have LandSea as an interesting contrast, since that’s an alcohol-free zone. I see you’ve put yourself in this piece, and I want to see more of that threaded through it. If you’re so against nudity and you have someone saying to you “nudity is a non-sexual form of expression” I want your reaction, your come-backs to that, or, at least, your bewildered nod. I wonder why you chose not to talk about the Frelon attacking incident, I feel that’s a voice you’re not representing in this piece. You have the nudists (if I may call them that) the faculty who seem to be taking no definite stance, and you who are uncomfortable with nudity. There are people out there who want to watch just for the sake of watching, but never want to streak. That’s a weird thing, what about naked people running around gets that population interested? And what about streaking makes people feel like throwing things and attacking them? I guess I really don’t buy this whole idea that streaking is a form of expression and liberation, because stripping naked in a public place while sober is one thing, but getting drunk and running through a crowd is something completely different. I think it’s more of a dare, a challenge, equivalent to keg stands and beer bongs...and even the gallon challenge. At least, that’s the drunken population’s perspective. They don’t streak at nudist colonies, they just accept nudity as natural.
Camilo,
Rufus sounds amazing. I love the ending scene with the trash can and the president line, that’s pure gold. You did a fantastic job of recreating the plane ride with the woman next to Rufus telling him to relax. I love the line about showing up in Nairobi wearing a safari suit. I think you need to take the word “some” out of the line “The truth is everyone in some of his family wears clothes.” Unless parts of his family don’t wear clothes, in which case you need to explain that more. I’m not sure what you mean “During the opening act on the first day.” Great transition from the laid back Kenyan culture to how diligent Rufus is about working. Does Rufus take classes here? You have some great images: Rufus shopping at Wal Mart and not buying beer, the trash bag scene, the plane scene. I don’t know, I want more and right now I can’t even put my finger on what it is.
Monday, June 1, 2009
Nutritionomics: College seniors sum up their grocery buying habits
By Marni Newell
They’re relatively inconspicuous: the two hexagons connected in a diagonal on the shelf sticker labels. NuVal is written in the bottom hexagon and a number, 1-100 is in the top. It wouldn’t be noticeable to someone running in to Meijer just to buy bread or milk every week or so, nor would the pamphlet perched on a clear plastic holder on the shelves, apparently, because no one so far seems to have heard of it.
NuVal is short for Nutritional Value, the nutritional scoring system developed by the tan Dr. David Katz of Yale University/Griffin Hospital. The system gives a score from 1-100 based on the overall nutrition of the food “Included there,” the loop video of Dr. Katz on the NuVal website assures, “are all the things you would expect. Vitamins, of course, minerals and...macronutrients: the quality of the protein, the quality of the fat.”
The team creating the system was “independent of funding or influence by food or beverage retailers or manufacturers,” which explains why a box of Cap’n Crunch with Berries has a rating of only eight, regardless of the green “Smart Choices Made Easy” label on the bottom corner.
“There are so many different guidelines, people get confused,” says fitness trainer Carrie Brankiewicz as she flips through the NuVal pamphlet. “The buzz is nutrition and eating healthy.” But, she’s afraid “companies are trying to prey on people trying to lose weight.”
Not only people trying to lose weight, but since the system is supported at Meijer, it seems the system is targeting price-conscious food shoppers.
Kalamazoo College senior Jillian Regal was open to taking the NuVal system into consideration. “I feel like I need my hand held with stuff like this,” she says. Normally eating mainly carbohydrates like breads and pasta, Regal admits she’s “Way too lazy to cook—even pasta.” This results in eating out a lot which makes her feel she’s wasting her money and disregarding her health.
Regal shops at Meijer, mostly, but sometimes goes to the People’s Food Co-Op, a local grocery store containing mainly organic or local merchandise, but ultimately thinks it’s too expensive.
Senior Vinny Ricciardi came up with a system of shopping at the People’s Food Co-Op, but only spending about $3-$4 per meal. His diet is “almost all local and almost all sustainably farmed.” Although he sometimes shops at Hardings for cheeses, Ricciardi likes to support local foods by shopping at the Co-Op or farmer’s markets. Ricciardi, who eats “tons of fruits, veggies, and nuts” in stir fries and vegetable dishes seems to be on his own nutritional system, “I try to stay away from processed food and refined sugar,” he says.
These processed foods are what annoy Brankiewicz about diet systems. “The biggest problem I have with systems like Weight Watchers and Healthy Choice is it gets people to eat processed foods. It’s way better to teach people to eat whole foods rather than processed crap.”
These processed items tend to score higher on the NuVal system than fresh foods, as seen in the canned chicken noodle soup score of 95 while boneless skinless chicken breast scores only 25. The system tips the scale of nutrients in the soup versus the chicken that only packs protein and nothing else.
Senior Kendra Garchow agrees with this mentality, only buying processed foods like canned mushroom soup as bases for her meals. “I try to make everything from scratch,” Garchow, the self proclaimed “foodie” says. Primarily shopping at farmer’s markets and Hardings, Garchow admits, “I shop sales, definitely.” Shopping once a week, Garchow tries to only spend around $20 per trip and because she tends to make her own pasta sauces and curries from scratch, she finds little need for the NuVal system. “Most times I try to cook healthy to begin with and it’s not as much as a problem because I buy whole foods.”
Garchow and Ricciardi’s whole food decisions fit into Brankiewizc’s guidelines of eating healthy, but she adds exercise in the mix for overall health. “People think it’s all food or all exercise, but it’s definitely a combination of both,” she says.
Senior Keely Houghton takes nutrition and exercise seriously, eating carbohydrates before a workout of “max out” weightlifting, and proteins afterward, which she does three-to-five times a week. Houghton, who shops mostly at Meijer, would take the NuVal system into consideration, but quickly adds, “I look at nutrition already.” Spending around $50 per trip to Meijer, Houghton buys bread, eggs, vegetables, and frozen veggie burgers and burritoes as staples.
Senior Amel Omari eats a vegetarian diet of eggs, breads, vegetables, and veggie burgers. “I prefer to buy organic milk and eggs, but if I’m hard up on cash, I won’t get it,” Omari says. She tries to spend under $50 each trip to Meijer, which happens about every two weeks. Omari admits to buying processed bread, in contrast to Ricciardi who bakes his own, but claims she needs the food to last. Saying she would not take the NuVal system into much consideration since she buys simply the healthy food she can afford, Omari says her nutritional system is “based on what my mom fed me and what I learned in school.”
Although Brankiewicz is cautious the NuVal system favors some foods and labels, she ultimately doesn’t see it doing much harm. “This is an economy” she says holding up the pamphlet. “It’s trying to make money.” Brankiewicz closes the pamphlet decidedly and sums up her feelings, “If it makes people aware, it will never hurt.”
They’re relatively inconspicuous: the two hexagons connected in a diagonal on the shelf sticker labels. NuVal is written in the bottom hexagon and a number, 1-100 is in the top. It wouldn’t be noticeable to someone running in to Meijer just to buy bread or milk every week or so, nor would the pamphlet perched on a clear plastic holder on the shelves, apparently, because no one so far seems to have heard of it.
NuVal is short for Nutritional Value, the nutritional scoring system developed by the tan Dr. David Katz of Yale University/Griffin Hospital. The system gives a score from 1-100 based on the overall nutrition of the food “Included there,” the loop video of Dr. Katz on the NuVal website assures, “are all the things you would expect. Vitamins, of course, minerals and...macronutrients: the quality of the protein, the quality of the fat.”
The team creating the system was “independent of funding or influence by food or beverage retailers or manufacturers,” which explains why a box of Cap’n Crunch with Berries has a rating of only eight, regardless of the green “Smart Choices Made Easy” label on the bottom corner.
“There are so many different guidelines, people get confused,” says fitness trainer Carrie Brankiewicz as she flips through the NuVal pamphlet. “The buzz is nutrition and eating healthy.” But, she’s afraid “companies are trying to prey on people trying to lose weight.”
Not only people trying to lose weight, but since the system is supported at Meijer, it seems the system is targeting price-conscious food shoppers.
Kalamazoo College senior Jillian Regal was open to taking the NuVal system into consideration. “I feel like I need my hand held with stuff like this,” she says. Normally eating mainly carbohydrates like breads and pasta, Regal admits she’s “Way too lazy to cook—even pasta.” This results in eating out a lot which makes her feel she’s wasting her money and disregarding her health.
Regal shops at Meijer, mostly, but sometimes goes to the People’s Food Co-Op, a local grocery store containing mainly organic or local merchandise, but ultimately thinks it’s too expensive.
Senior Vinny Ricciardi came up with a system of shopping at the People’s Food Co-Op, but only spending about $3-$4 per meal. His diet is “almost all local and almost all sustainably farmed.” Although he sometimes shops at Hardings for cheeses, Ricciardi likes to support local foods by shopping at the Co-Op or farmer’s markets. Ricciardi, who eats “tons of fruits, veggies, and nuts” in stir fries and vegetable dishes seems to be on his own nutritional system, “I try to stay away from processed food and refined sugar,” he says.
These processed foods are what annoy Brankiewicz about diet systems. “The biggest problem I have with systems like Weight Watchers and Healthy Choice is it gets people to eat processed foods. It’s way better to teach people to eat whole foods rather than processed crap.”
These processed items tend to score higher on the NuVal system than fresh foods, as seen in the canned chicken noodle soup score of 95 while boneless skinless chicken breast scores only 25. The system tips the scale of nutrients in the soup versus the chicken that only packs protein and nothing else.
Senior Kendra Garchow agrees with this mentality, only buying processed foods like canned mushroom soup as bases for her meals. “I try to make everything from scratch,” Garchow, the self proclaimed “foodie” says. Primarily shopping at farmer’s markets and Hardings, Garchow admits, “I shop sales, definitely.” Shopping once a week, Garchow tries to only spend around $20 per trip and because she tends to make her own pasta sauces and curries from scratch, she finds little need for the NuVal system. “Most times I try to cook healthy to begin with and it’s not as much as a problem because I buy whole foods.”
Garchow and Ricciardi’s whole food decisions fit into Brankiewizc’s guidelines of eating healthy, but she adds exercise in the mix for overall health. “People think it’s all food or all exercise, but it’s definitely a combination of both,” she says.
Senior Keely Houghton takes nutrition and exercise seriously, eating carbohydrates before a workout of “max out” weightlifting, and proteins afterward, which she does three-to-five times a week. Houghton, who shops mostly at Meijer, would take the NuVal system into consideration, but quickly adds, “I look at nutrition already.” Spending around $50 per trip to Meijer, Houghton buys bread, eggs, vegetables, and frozen veggie burgers and burritoes as staples.
Senior Amel Omari eats a vegetarian diet of eggs, breads, vegetables, and veggie burgers. “I prefer to buy organic milk and eggs, but if I’m hard up on cash, I won’t get it,” Omari says. She tries to spend under $50 each trip to Meijer, which happens about every two weeks. Omari admits to buying processed bread, in contrast to Ricciardi who bakes his own, but claims she needs the food to last. Saying she would not take the NuVal system into much consideration since she buys simply the healthy food she can afford, Omari says her nutritional system is “based on what my mom fed me and what I learned in school.”
Although Brankiewicz is cautious the NuVal system favors some foods and labels, she ultimately doesn’t see it doing much harm. “This is an economy” she says holding up the pamphlet. “It’s trying to make money.” Brankiewicz closes the pamphlet decidedly and sums up her feelings, “If it makes people aware, it will never hurt.”
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Here's my favorite Peace tip to be a good woman
"Beauty is one of the ways the adulteress draws her prey...[but] it is all right to have some external adornment, because stripping oneself of all makeup and wearing only plain, drab clothing does not make a woman more pleasing to God."
Friday, May 22, 2009
Profile: Revisited
Well, here it is. I attempted to have a theme and I think it's apparent throughout but not totally punch-you-in-the-face obvious, but I like how it turned out with what I had.
Learning for the fun of it: Akiko Kunii
By Marni Newell
Between white Grecian statues and reprinted art pieces, Akiko Kunii bustles in near the end of the alter-ego themed party for the 2009 graduating class of Kalamazoo College. She grabs a plate of hummus and vegetables in between posing for pictures with Vanna White, what looks like a female mob boss, and an 80’s prom queen, chatting with a man in a fedora by the table of food.
Later, the 80’s prom queen and mob boss admit they don’t know much about Kunii. Senior Julia Anderle De Sylor, the Vanna White of the party, knows her from a common extracurricular activity, the Business Guild, but says she still doesn’t know her well.
“I feel like I’d have to know her for years to really understand her,” Anderle De Sylor says. She contributes this to the culture difference: Kunii is from Japan. “Americans are more direct,” she says.
Kunii, a tall, slim, thirty-something Japanese woman is a familiar face on Kalamazoo College’s campus, noticed for her attendance at most campus-sponsored events. With a backpack perpetually slung over her shoulder and sporting sensible running shoes, Kunii finds time to attend meetings, lectures, and classes both as a student and a professor. As a teaching fellow for the Japanese department, Kunii teaches Japanese 203, a job she’s wanted since she was a teenager, and is enrolled in Anthropology, Teaching Foreign Language, and Mind Body.
When asked about spare time, Kunii draws a blank. “When do I have spare time?” she muses. “Sleeping?” She asks for a definition of ‘spare time’ and reconsiders. “You can see me in the library or office, any other place I’m just running.” She pauses, rethinking her interests. “Yeah, running.”
Through a program in Japan, Kunii was placed to teach at Kalamazoo College, a college she was excited to be a part of because of its prestige. Other members of the program were placed throughout the Midwest. Although life as an international student at Kalamazoo is hard enough—not to mention being a professor as well-- Kunii’s interests in learning outweigh the side affects: her full schedule. But, Kunni says it’s a “good busy…because I can see so many things and participate, but difficult because I have to choose.”
Because of the tight schedule, Kunii says she isn’t a member of many clubs—if you don’t count the Business Guild, Eyes for Sight, and dance lessons.
Anderle De Sylor, a fellow Business Guild member, sees her contributing a lot to the group when she is able to show up for meetings. “She sometimes has class conflicts,” Anderle De Sylor says. But this doesn’t stop her from trying. Even though she had a lab during the Guild’s international business conference, Anderle De Sylor says she “dashed in” as soon as she could.
Kunii knows about moving fast. During the winter, she broke her arm while jogging outside. “I hit the ground and it was terrible,” she says. After meeting many doctors at Bronson hospital and waiting longer than she’d like for an x-ray (“I’m always hungry so I didn’t like waiting to take x-ray” she says) Kunii was left with a broken arm, a card, and a bag of animal crackers from her Japanese class, her favorite. Kunii cites this as one of her favorite aspects of Kalamazoo College. “I’m so happy and lucky to have nice students” Kunii says.
The broken arm has slowed Kunii down, but not much. She may not be able to have her fifteen minute runs every day, but she can still dash from classes to meetings to events.
That’s another down side of being busy for Kunii, when you’re busy “You only say ‘Hi, how are you doing?’” without stopping for an actual conversation. What’s worse, when she would run, she would only be able to shout a salutation on her way by. “In Japan we,” Kunii pauses and bows and proceeds to say she feels “very rude” when she can’t bow.
That’s one of the first things Anderle De Sylor noted about Kunii. “Whenever she sees me she asks how I’m doing,” she says. But, more than that, she asks for specific updates in Anderle De Sylor’s life that she has spoken with her about. “Not many people do that,” she says. “You know—follow up.”
Manners are important to Kunii, who thinks the biggest difference between American and Japanese cultures is the lack of respect for elders, saying “In America, equality is more important than politeness.”
Kunii’s politeness is far-reaching, Senior Amel Omari met Kunii once at a women’s awareness group meeting. “I had to explain to her what ‘bitch’ meant,” Omari said, smiling. “Now she says ‘Hi’ when she sees me.”
One of Kunii’s obstacles in America has been to overcome the stereotype that because she’s not American, she can’t understand English. “People think because of the language we don’t understand. But I understand the concepts,” she says, drawing a fraction on a pad of paper. “You call this a fourth, right?” she asks and then points to the four. “In Japanese, we say the bottom number first.”
Although she already has received a bachelor’s degree and teaching certificate in Japan, taken classes at Northwestern University in Chicago, and teaches a class at Kalamazoo College Kunii identifies herself with the international students more than the professors. She describes having the moments when she realizes she’s Japanese. “I’m Akiko, but still I’m part of Asia, part of Japan,” she says.
Kunii’s visa runs out in June, when she’ll return to Tokyo to her family and her mom’s food, which is the first thing she’ll ask for when she’s home.
Learning for the fun of it: Akiko Kunii
By Marni Newell
Between white Grecian statues and reprinted art pieces, Akiko Kunii bustles in near the end of the alter-ego themed party for the 2009 graduating class of Kalamazoo College. She grabs a plate of hummus and vegetables in between posing for pictures with Vanna White, what looks like a female mob boss, and an 80’s prom queen, chatting with a man in a fedora by the table of food.
Later, the 80’s prom queen and mob boss admit they don’t know much about Kunii. Senior Julia Anderle De Sylor, the Vanna White of the party, knows her from a common extracurricular activity, the Business Guild, but says she still doesn’t know her well.
“I feel like I’d have to know her for years to really understand her,” Anderle De Sylor says. She contributes this to the culture difference: Kunii is from Japan. “Americans are more direct,” she says.
Kunii, a tall, slim, thirty-something Japanese woman is a familiar face on Kalamazoo College’s campus, noticed for her attendance at most campus-sponsored events. With a backpack perpetually slung over her shoulder and sporting sensible running shoes, Kunii finds time to attend meetings, lectures, and classes both as a student and a professor. As a teaching fellow for the Japanese department, Kunii teaches Japanese 203, a job she’s wanted since she was a teenager, and is enrolled in Anthropology, Teaching Foreign Language, and Mind Body.
When asked about spare time, Kunii draws a blank. “When do I have spare time?” she muses. “Sleeping?” She asks for a definition of ‘spare time’ and reconsiders. “You can see me in the library or office, any other place I’m just running.” She pauses, rethinking her interests. “Yeah, running.”
Through a program in Japan, Kunii was placed to teach at Kalamazoo College, a college she was excited to be a part of because of its prestige. Other members of the program were placed throughout the Midwest. Although life as an international student at Kalamazoo is hard enough—not to mention being a professor as well-- Kunii’s interests in learning outweigh the side affects: her full schedule. But, Kunni says it’s a “good busy…because I can see so many things and participate, but difficult because I have to choose.”
Because of the tight schedule, Kunii says she isn’t a member of many clubs—if you don’t count the Business Guild, Eyes for Sight, and dance lessons.
Anderle De Sylor, a fellow Business Guild member, sees her contributing a lot to the group when she is able to show up for meetings. “She sometimes has class conflicts,” Anderle De Sylor says. But this doesn’t stop her from trying. Even though she had a lab during the Guild’s international business conference, Anderle De Sylor says she “dashed in” as soon as she could.
Kunii knows about moving fast. During the winter, she broke her arm while jogging outside. “I hit the ground and it was terrible,” she says. After meeting many doctors at Bronson hospital and waiting longer than she’d like for an x-ray (“I’m always hungry so I didn’t like waiting to take x-ray” she says) Kunii was left with a broken arm, a card, and a bag of animal crackers from her Japanese class, her favorite. Kunii cites this as one of her favorite aspects of Kalamazoo College. “I’m so happy and lucky to have nice students” Kunii says.
The broken arm has slowed Kunii down, but not much. She may not be able to have her fifteen minute runs every day, but she can still dash from classes to meetings to events.
That’s another down side of being busy for Kunii, when you’re busy “You only say ‘Hi, how are you doing?’” without stopping for an actual conversation. What’s worse, when she would run, she would only be able to shout a salutation on her way by. “In Japan we,” Kunii pauses and bows and proceeds to say she feels “very rude” when she can’t bow.
That’s one of the first things Anderle De Sylor noted about Kunii. “Whenever she sees me she asks how I’m doing,” she says. But, more than that, she asks for specific updates in Anderle De Sylor’s life that she has spoken with her about. “Not many people do that,” she says. “You know—follow up.”
Manners are important to Kunii, who thinks the biggest difference between American and Japanese cultures is the lack of respect for elders, saying “In America, equality is more important than politeness.”
Kunii’s politeness is far-reaching, Senior Amel Omari met Kunii once at a women’s awareness group meeting. “I had to explain to her what ‘bitch’ meant,” Omari said, smiling. “Now she says ‘Hi’ when she sees me.”
One of Kunii’s obstacles in America has been to overcome the stereotype that because she’s not American, she can’t understand English. “People think because of the language we don’t understand. But I understand the concepts,” she says, drawing a fraction on a pad of paper. “You call this a fourth, right?” she asks and then points to the four. “In Japanese, we say the bottom number first.”
Although she already has received a bachelor’s degree and teaching certificate in Japan, taken classes at Northwestern University in Chicago, and teaches a class at Kalamazoo College Kunii identifies herself with the international students more than the professors. She describes having the moments when she realizes she’s Japanese. “I’m Akiko, but still I’m part of Asia, part of Japan,” she says.
Kunii’s visa runs out in June, when she’ll return to Tokyo to her family and her mom’s food, which is the first thing she’ll ask for when she’s home.
Sunday, May 17, 2009
The only thing better than an article about crazy anti-feminists is a short article about crazy anti-feminists
Here you go...
http://www.motherjones.com/media/2009/03/books-purpose-driven-wife
http://www.motherjones.com/media/2009/03/books-purpose-driven-wife
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