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The Red and Black • Monday, May 26, 1997 • 3
Students observe
national holiday
despite classes
By KRISTEN WYATT
Staff Writer
As the nation celebrates the
unofficial start of summer today,
University students are passing
up Memorial Day festivities to at
tend class. Or at least some of
them are.
The University doesn’t observe
Memorial Day in order to end
spring quarter by Friday, June 6,
giving students the weekend to
prepare for finals.
Some students have found
ways to celebrate the holiday
without skipping class. Others
have opted to forget school all to
gether as they observe Memorial
Day — with or without the
University’s blessing.
Freshman Laura Kurtz of
Athens said she’s ditching class in
favor of spending the afternoon in
Atlanta with friends.
“I hope my teachers are under
standing about students not be
ing in class,” she said. “But I don’t
feel bad about missing school.
Memorial Day is a national holi
day, and we have every right to
celebrate it."
Kent Botchum, a junior from
Columbus, said he isn’t returning
to school until Tuesday in order to
observe the holiday with his fam-
ily.
“My dad fought in Vietnam,
and my uncle died in Korea,”
Botchum said. “Memorial Day i9
very important to my family and
we always spend it together. But
“My dad fought in
Vietnam, and my un
cle died in Korea.
Memorial Day is very
Important to my fam
ily and we always
spend it together.”
- Kent Botchum,
a junior from
Columbus
by staying home on Memorial
Day, I’m going to be penalized in
classes with attendance policies.
“I think it’s unfair for the
University to punish us for cele
brating a national holiday,” he
said. “It’s not like Memorial Day
is just an excuse to drink and
have a cookout. It’s a very special
time for some people."
Ashley Mendenhall of Athens
said she would like to get out of
class, but she’s not going to skip
school.
“I’m going to two classes, and
in the afternoon I’m going to treat
myself by going mountain bik
ing,” she said. “It would be awe
some to get the whole day off, but
I’m not that upset about having
school. At least the quarter will
be over one day sooner. I’m so
ready for summer.”
team members provide
‘student’s perspective’
By AMY WALKER
Contributing Writer
Long before the first football
game, incoming freshmen have an
opportunity to learn about student
life firsthand.
For the last year and a half, the
Admissions Office has had current
students on its information session
panel to help ease incoming stu
dents’ qualms about college life.
The students serving on the
panel are part of the Georgia
Recruitment Team, a student or
ganization out of the Admissions
Office.
The Admissions Office holds
two information sessions a day for
incoming students visiting cam
pus.
At each session there is a panel
of admissions counselors and GRT
members to answer prospective
students' and their parents’ ques
tions.
Parents and students usually
ask very different questions, ac
cording to Eric Johnson, a
University admissions counselor.
Johnson said parents’ most com
mon questions involve campus
safety, the meal plan and the spe
cific costs of college. Students tend
to ask more detailed questions
about which dorms are best, how
important Greek life is on campus
and what the food really tastes
like.
“The admissions counselors
give the parents and students the
facts about what kind of GPA they
need, financial aid, etc.," said
Annie Andrews, one of GRT’s co
coordinators.
“What the GRT person does is
basically give the student’s per
spective,” Andrews said.
GRT members are encouraged
to answer students’ questions
based on their personal college ex
periences without overglorifying
college life, Johnson said.
Having the GRT members on
the panel has met with positive
feedback from the visiting parents
and students, Johnson said.
“I had a father on a spring
break college tour with his son,
and the father came up to me at
the end of the program and said,
‘This is the best presentation on
any college campus we’ve seen be
cause you had current students
there,’” Johnson said.
In addition to serving on infor
mation panels, GRT members staff
special visitation days throughout
the year, like Honors Day and
Minority Day, Andrews said.
GRT members mingle with the
students and parents during the
visitation to answer any questions
they have on a more one-on-one
basis.
“GRT provides a way for incom
ing students to voice those ques
tions they may have but wouldn’t
want to ask an administration of
ficial," said Matthew Ashworth, a
senior in international business
from Carrollton.
The team also holds “phone
blitzes” where members call after
students are accepted to the
University to answer any further
questions they might have,
Ashworth said.
According to Andrews, the in
coming students are really im
pressed they’re getting such per
sonal attention at such a large
school.
“We know that the students
who are coming here really want
to have an idea of what it’s going
to be like to be a college student at
UGA," Johnson said.
Block and Bridle club offers agricultural skills
Tony
Watson, a
senior
majoring in
agricultural
engineering
from Jasper,
I ropes a calf
i during the
I April 17th
1 exhibition
| rodeo.
!
I
By TAYLOR MARTIN
Staff Writer
Known mostly for hosting the
Great Southland Stampede Rodeo
every spring, the University’s
Block and Bridle Club’s activities
and membership extend to make it
one of the largest organizations on
South Campus.
The Block and Bridle Club is a
national organization created in
1919. The club was established at
the University in 1923 and exists
on most land grant organizations.
“The mission of the club is to
foster agricultural industry in the
state of Georgia,” said Scott
Williams, a professor in the
College of Agriculture and faculty
advisor to the Block and Bridle
Club. “Our primary goal is to get
students involved with livestock
and horses by studying the indus
try.”
He said the club also hopes to
bring together students and facul
ty in unity by participating in ed
ucational and civic activities.
Membership is open to anyone,
and students must go through a
process once they pledge to become
a member. The process includes
attending meetings and acquiring
signatures from faculty and stu
dent members in the club. This en
ables pledges to meet as many peo
ple as possible.
“The club is open to any major,
if the person is interested in work
ing with livestock,” said Sarah
Simpson, the club’s president.
Students must pay a onetime
fee at initiation to the National
Organization for a lifetime mem
bership.
The club has extensive yearly
activities such as the Little
International Livestock Show,
where students learn to care, work
and show animals to judges. The
students also put on the Great
Southland Stampede Rodeo, which
is the state’s largest professional
rodeo performed by cowboys.
Students also take an educa
tional spring trip to visit farms
and ranches to learn how others
train and care for their own ani
mals.
“Members can get involved as
much as they want to,” Simpson
said. “The club teaches people to
be organized, how to handle re
sponsibility and provides great
friendships and hands on work.”
The club emphasizes involve
ment in civic activities by partici
pating in work at homeless shel
ters and helping families during
Thanksgiving. The club also reach
es out to children with special
needs by hosting a show for them
the day before the official Rodeo
starts.
With 60 to 70 active members,
meetings are held twice a month to
discuss business matters and plan
events.
Speakers also come in to ad
dress the club members about a
variety of topics from time man
agement to animal agriculture.
To get involved, students can£
contact Simpson at 542-2771. •
Marathon helps raise money for leukemia society
By SUMMER DAVIS
Contributing Writer
Running a marathon can be great exercise,
but sometimes it can help save lives.
About 10 people in Athens are preparing to
run a 26.2-mile marathon in San Francisco
this summer and are looking for sponsors to
help raise money for The Leukemia Society of
America, an organization dedicated to the re
search and treatment of leukemia.
Each person wishing to be a part of the
marathon must raise $2,800 before July 13,
and the money goes toward aiding the children
with leukemia, which are sponsored.
Many cities across the country participate
in the fundraising by creating a “team-in
training,” a group of people in each city prepar
ing for the run in San Francisco.
Sara Braxton, a junior from Farmington,
Mo., said she wrote letters asking people for
help. Since March, she has raised about $1,000
but needs $1,800 more to run in San Francisco.
“I always wanted to run a marathon,”
Braxton said.
“I ran into a couple of friends that were do
ing it, and I thought it was neat.”
Braxton said the Leukemia Society has
“Training is tough, and it
drains you ... But it is
completely worth it.”
- Deanna Martin, a Marietta
sophomore who will participate
in the marathon
come a long way in the past 10 years due to
help from fundraisers, and they may even find
a cure for the disease by the year 2000.
Braxton and other participants have per
suaded people in Athens to join their team-in
training and raise money for the society as
well.
Amanda Powell, a sophomore from Shelby,
N.C., said she went jogging one day and ran
into Braxton, who was practicing for the
marathon. Powell said Braxton “conned” her
into running nine miles that day, and it was
then she also decided to participate in the
marathon.
The training to prepare for the run is tough
and vigorous for most of those involved, said
Braxton, who runs up to 38 miles a week.
Powell injured her knee at one time and had to
stop running for almost a month.
“Training is tough, and it drains you,” said
Deanna Martin, a sophomore from Marietta
who also plans to participate in the marathon.
“But it is completely worth it.”
Martin said she learned about the
marathon through the mail and felt it was
something important for her to do sinc£
leukemia runs in her family.
She said she had an older sister who died of
the disease at age 7, and never had the chance
to meet her.
“There is a list of things to do in my life,”
she said. “And this is one of them." •
All of the participants in the marathon need
more sponsors. Kate McCusker, a sophomore
from Marietta, has raised about $1,300.
“I am overwhelmed by the financial support
I’ve gotten,” she said. “I am really encouraged
by that."
To contribute to individuals who are rum
ning to raise money for The Leukemia Society
of America, contact 227-0334. Checks can be
made out to The Leukemia Society.
Self-help books on protein not telling the whole truth
A flurry of self-help books have
hit the bookshelves recently es
pousing the virtues of protein. The
authors of these books have creat
ed a new protein craze, and people
are clearing out the bookstores in
the hope of finally finding the true
way to better health.
The protein gurus claim eating
more protein will promote weight
loss and longevity, prevent dis
ease, boost your energy level and
lessen cravings. One author even
claims his high-protein diet can
“reset your genetic code."
So, what’s the lowdown on pro
tein? First of all, don’t waste your
money on protein power books.
There is nothing magical about
steak, peanut butter or protein
bars. You can eat nutritiously, live
longer and improve your health
without the help of these self-ap
pointed nutrition experts.
Although our bodies need a cer
tain amount of protein, it isn’t a
panacea for poor health.
Protein is made of amino acids.
Our bodies break down the protein
we eat and use the amino acids to
make things like hormones, neuro-
transmitters and enzymes and to
repair tissue. Protein is not nor
mally used for energy in people
eating adequate calories balanced
with carbohydrates and fats.
However, you can make your
body do strange things by manipu
lating the amount of protein, fat
and carbohydrates in your diet.
Making drastic cuts in carbohy
drate intake and replacing these
foods with high protein and extra
fat causes your body to go into ke
tosis.
If caloric intake is below ade
quate, muscle and fat loss occur to
keep the body operating. To the
body, low carbohydrate consump
tion equals semi-starvation.
Yet the protein gurus tell us
carbohydrates are bad. They cause
us to secrete the dreaded hormone
insulin, seemingly the source of all
health problems in the free world,
especially weight gain. They advo
cate limiting the amount of carbo
hydrates you eat to 40 percent of
your total calories. This includes
limiting foods like grains, fruits
and vegetables.
This advice contradicts every
reputable organization like the
American Heart Association, the
American Diabetic Association
and the National Cancer Institute.
These groups advocate eating
more — not less — carbohydrates.
Nearly all current recommenda
tions are 55 to 60 percent of calo
ries from carbohydrates, 30 per
cent from fat and the rest from
protein. Some of the best research
on nutrition and health shows a
strong correlation between high
intakes of carbohydrate foods like
fruits and vegetables and low risks
of cancer.
The hard part about debating
the claims made by protein advo
cates is they begin with a grain of
truth. Insulin will tell your body to
store calories as fat, but only when
you consistently eat excess calo
ries. Think about it — how can you
store extra calories you don’t have?
There is no scientific research
showing carbohydrates or insulin
cause disease or promote weight
gain. There is no scientific re
search that shows simply eating
more protein promotes better
health and prevents disease.
Beefing up on protein certainly
won’t change your genes. The pro
tein gurus are simply wrong. Their
“evidence" is anecdotal and often
pure conjecture. Because we live in
a free society, we have to live with
people who sell such advice with
out the backing of the scientific
community.
Legitimate nutrition experts
will keep telling you the same old
thing. The basic message hasn’t
changed for 30 years. If you want
to improve your health, simply ex
ercise more, eat a variety of foods
including lots of grains, fruits and
vegetables and reach a desirable,’
healthy body weight. Sure, it’s bor J
ing, it’s not easy and it requires
work and commitment.
The protein gurus won’t admit
it, but what they are really selling
is another low-calorie diet
wrapped up in a flashy new book
jacket. If they really wanted to tell
the whole truth about weight loss,
they’d simply advise us to eat few
er calories. But they can’t make a
million dollars telling us some
thing we already know.
- Kelly Wheeles is a Peer
Nutrition Educator and a senior
majoring in dietetics.
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The Red and Black Is lookins for student and faculty columnists to
sound oft on the issues of the day. Columns can deal with campus,
national and international events. No previous experience necessary.
• • • •
If interested, contact Geonte Whitehurst. Opinions Editor, at
543-1809. Or e-mail him at
opinionerandb.com
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