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3 * The Sweet Facts About Juvenile Diabetes Taylor Wade Staff Writer r Ihe misconception of one of the most rapidly growing diseases in America can come from numerous factors including advertisements on television, friends and family, or false myths. Diabetes is quickly becoming a disease that is spreading all over America and is now affecting our youth. When one thinks of a diabetic, the image of either a senior citizen or an obese person comes to mind. Although this may be true in some cases where eating unhealthy and being obese can lead to diabe tes, many people do not know about the 5% of diabetics who suffer from Type 1 diabetes or Juvenile Diabetes. Juvenile Diabetes is usually diagnosed in children or young adults and is caused when the body does not produce any insulin at all. The Beta cells in our body that produce insulin are attacked for unknown reasons in Type 1 diabetics, which causes the glucose to stay in the blood stream, which can lead to serious damage of all the bodies’ organs if not treated accordingly. These dia betics depend solely on the insulin they give themselves in the form of shots, insulin pens, or insulin pumps. This means that young kids have to endure multiple shots a day and prick their fingers up to ten times a day to treat their disease. Many people generally know about the ob jects that are associated with diabetes such as insulin, shots, and glucose meters, but the most common misconception about diabetes is sugar. As a Type 1 Diabetic myself, I do not know how many times I have been told that I could not eat something because it has too much sugar in it. Yes, it is good to watch what you eat when you are a Juvenile Diabetic, but you are free to eat what you want. In order to give the right dosage of insulin, Juvenile Diabetics have to count the carbs they are go ing to consume and match it up the amount of insulin they will give themselves. This is called an insulin-to-carb ratio. Every Juvenile Diabetic has its own insulin-to-carb ratio and it may take up to months after being diag nosed to find a ratio that fits. This method of counting carbs can be extremely difficult when there is no nutritional menu given and you have to basically guess the amount of carbs in your food. It is important that people know there is a method to taking insulin and being able to eat without constraint. An organization such as JDRF (Juvenile Dia betes Research Foundation) is in the forefront of helping fund medical research to find a cure for the disease. JDRF hosts many events throughout the year, including the most pub licized one, “Walk to Cure Diabetes”. Public figures like Brett Michaels and Nick Jonas have brought immense attention and public ity to Juvenile Diabetes and through their efforts, have spread more awareness to others that wouldn’t have known about the disease otherwise. Even though the Juvenile Dia betic community is small, it is passionate and dedicated about finding different treatments and ultimately a cure for Type 1 Diabetes. Through awareness, support, and education to others, I am confident that a cure can be found in the future. Five Financial Mistakes of College Graduates Chelsea Williams Golden Purse Group Let’s be honest. Being financially savvy in college is hard. On top of taking the steps necessary to plan for loan repayment, pay ing bills, and spending money on trips, clothes, organizations, and health and beauty, financial fitness takes a lot of dis cipline. In a recent article in the Christian Science Monitor ‘College Grads: Top 5 fi nancial mistakes - and how to avoid them’, Justine Rivero lays out the top 5 mistakes A Lethal Mantra Kamron Taylor Staff Writer The embrace of full-figured bodies has become a significant trademark among the African-American culture. Black media personalities use film, television, music, and print to endorse a positive image of the Af rican-American race. As the “Black is Beau tiful” campaign can lay testament to, these efforts possess good intentions of reassuring the masses that the black image will never again be considered inferior. Black society has been the primary supporter of thick, curvy bodies. However, recent commentary from mass communicators leads people to believe that these endorsements have taken their message to an extreme end. Hip-hop culture in particular has been the main facilitator for this misleading mes sage of “the bigger the better” in regards to black body image. Rap artists such as Rick Ross, who recently suffered health complica tions due to obesity, can almost always be seen with his shirt off showing off his mas sive belly and tattoos. This “Boss” status he possesses has become a goal for many black people, with his weight being one of the main reasons he maintains such a powerful image. With the primary viewers of hip-hop videos being African-American, it raises the question of whether African-American acceptance of this image has gone too far in promoting what could be considered a dangerous ideal. It seems as if black society has become exceedingly comfortable with thick and voluptuous physiques to the point where one’s health and obesity are no longer of concern. Celebrities can be seen promoting obesity to an increasingly drastic degree. Comedian and actress Monique, one of the ‘Phat Girls’, has been seen on the cover of Essence flaunt ing her size 20-figure body. Notorious B.I.G., Jennifer Hudson, Queen Latifah, Missy fine line between being full figured and being dangerously overweight. The fact that these people are proud to be in their skin is beauti ful. But when their image is exposed to their impressionable fan base, a problem arises. These fans and supporters run the risk of empowering an unhealthy message. Support ers of this mantra indirectly influence and contribute to the unhealthy obesity levels. With the primary supporters of Hip-Hop being African-American, children in their most impressionable stages can easily con sider Rick Ross’s body standard and an ac ceptable one to emulate. This is exceedingly dangerous, as African Americans exhibit some of the most staggering weight statis tics compared to any other cultural group. In fact, according to the Office of Minority Health, “African American women have the highest rates of being overweight or obese compared to other groups in the U.S. About four out of five African American women are overweight or obese.” The research goes on to say, “In 2009, African Americans were 1.5 times as likely to be obese as Non- Hispanic Whites.” Ross, while a considerable example of how African-American media has played a significant part in promoting large body types, is not the only celebrity who bordered the line between curvaceous and obese. Black women have come to glorify big behinds and breasts in light of the attention such physiques receive from men and music. This can be seen when Monique said that she “doesn’t care if you call her 200 plus pounds as long as you include fabulous,” in an NPR interview facilitated by Farai Chideya. Mo nique goes on to explain that “Our society has put this message out there that fat is bad, fat is wrong.. .Everywhere people are dying and I promise you all of them are not fat.” While not all deaths concern obesity, her message is relaying the idea that obesity is not only problematic in African-American society but should serve as a source of pride for all women to embrace. For the African- American society in particular, these state ments can be considered as granting latitude to overweight individuals because it down plays the severity of the problem at hand. Her words undermine a cultural epidemic present in African-American society, there fore trivializing the issue to those who are at the highest risk for health complications. While in some ways the promotion of vo luptuous bodies can greatly contribute to African-American self-esteem, overweight celebrities are encouraging large bodies to the point where health is a concern. With Af rican-American health statistics being where they are, messages that are put out in the media can easily be misconstrued and pose as an enabler of African-American obesity. V A Elliot, among others, have all straddled the college graduates make. greater return in the future. Rivero These mistakes are real and really should be addressed to current college students so they can keep these issues in mind BEFORE graduating. It is easy to tell someone they’ve done something wrong after the fact, but addressing circumstances early are critical in de veloping more financially literate young people. The top 5 Financial Mistakes include: 1. Living for today not tomorrow 2. Skipping the fine print 3. Ignoring due dates 4. Neglecting saving 5. Being blase about your credit Focusing on two of the five key mis takes, ‘living for today and not tomor row’ and ‘neglecting saving’ are critical foundations of financial literacy Let’s face it, we’ve all had those Saturday afternoons hanging out with a group of girlfriends shopping and heading out for a fancy dinner. Often times we end up splurging what we really don’t have and acting like we’ve got it made. This is a major issue for young women who are often emotional buyers and tend to purchase on impulse. “College life tells you to “live in the moment” but in money, that attitude lands you in debt, bad credit, and limited financial oppor tunities”, says Rivero. College students must begin evaluating their budgets and understanding what it means to live within their means and take their financial futures seriously. One tip Rivero shares when shopping is to go through your shopping cart and take out impulse buys that aren’t on your pre-written shopping list and those you can’t afford. Another major topic in financial man agement is the time value of money where a dollar saved today yields recommends setting up a monthly au tomatic transfer from your checking to your savings to move you towards your goal. It is critical to decide between short-term and long-term savings goal. While saving for the holidays or spring break may be a short-term goal, saving for a car or your first condo post gradu ation may be long-term. Additionally, an important factor that young people often ignore is the importance of emer gency saving. Emergencies will come and there is nothing worst than having an emergency coming up and having to revert to credit cards to make pay ments. If you can set a goal of saving x dollars or x percentage of your sum mer internship payments or biweekly paychecks towards emergencies, many students would find themselves in more positive financial situations. With high unemployment and an average debt load of more than $29,000, students need to begin taking steps towards building financial free dom and exploring rewarding careers through meaningful internships and networking opportunities. Our finan cial futures matter and affect how we live our lives and our ability to obtain jobs, buy homes, and even date as many people are beginning to put credit his tory and financial stability as a major factor on the compatibility test. Will you make the cut? Want advertise Spelman Spotlight? Contact our Public Relations Chair at nnwaobi@scmail. spelman.edu THE SPELMAN SPOT LIGHT