Tuesday, October 14,1986/The Battalicn/Page 3
State and Local
?op/d weight-loss plans called harmful
Experts frown on fad diet promises
I
By Suzanne Shuford
Reporter
The average American resorts
o a quick calorie-reducing diet 10
imes a year and this often leads
o health hazards, a Texas A&M
mtrition specialist says.
“Everybody wants to be sleek in
week, and something is defi-
litely wrong,” says Dr. Alice E.
lunt, nutrition specialist for the
gricultural extension service at
\&M. “Statistics show that people
ire very unsuccessful with these
liets.”
She says many fad diets involve
pedal dietary supplements or
jroducts other than real food.
“Being the social beings that we
ue, we cannot interact socially
ind use a weight control supple-
nent as a food source,” Hunt
lays. “You can’t keep that up and
sea happy, healthy person.”
Rapid weight-loss diets are
physically harmful, Hunt says,
ausing weight to fluctuate up
nddown by 10 or more pounds.
She says the fluctuation causes
n increase in blood lipid levels
which, in turn, increases the
hance of chronic heart disease.
Hunt says this “yo-yo syndro
me” often seen in fad dieting
causes distortion in body compo
sition. A person loses lean tissue
instead of fat and gains back fat
instead of lean tissue, she says.
A person’s percentage of body
fat is more important than his
weight on a scale, Hunt says.
week, dieters must reduce their
calorie intake by 500 calories a
day — 3,500 a week.
Therefore, losing seven
pounds a week requires eliminat
ing 24,500 calories from the di
eter’s weekly intake, Sweeten
says.
The body needs a certain
“Everybody wants to be sleek in a week, and something
is definitely wrong. Statistics show that people are very
unsuccessful with these diets. ”
— Dr. Alice Hunt, nutrition specialist
for the Texas Agricultural Extension Service.
The ideal body fat percentage
for women is 15 percent to 22
percent, while for men it’s 10 per
cent to 22 percent, Hunt says.
Dr. Mary K. Sweeten, an A&M
nutrition specialist, says another
hazard of diets promising a one-
pound loss per day is rapid nutri
tional deficiency.
“Dropping food intake to lose
seven pounds a week threatens to
disturb the dieter’s nutritive bal
ances,” Sweeten says.
She adds that to lose a pound a
amount of calories just for basic
metabolism to work, she says.
Hunt says the basal metabolic
rate is the rate at which the body
burns calories at rest without be
ing engaged in physical activity.
The type of people that are at
tracted to fad diets are those who
are not knowledgeable about the
correct way to lose weight, she
says.
“The best way to diet is to re
duce your portion sizes and make
sure that you have a balanced diet
which includes fruit and vegeta
bles, a source of protein, a source
of dairy products and a source of
whole grains,” Hunt says.
But, she says, it’s not necessary
to have three square meals a day.
Hunt says people now are into
a type of eating called “grazing”
which allows them to get the rec
ommended daily allowances of vi
tamins and minerals. “Grazing” is
basically snacking all day long,
she says.
“In many places you can get
finger foods, foods that people
can graze on that are nutritious,”
Hunt says.
As examples, she cites the fol
lowing: salad bars, cheese and
crackers, fresh fruit and hors
d’oeuvres at bars.
“People don’t realize that just
half a cup equals a serving size,
the size of a tennis ball,” Hunt
says.
So, even dieters with busy life
styles can obtain good nutrition if
they choose the right foods, she
says.
Also, Hunt says it’s important
to increase physical activity while
reducing calorie intake.
State senator says
Texas must offer
drilling incentives
Faculty Senate OKs senior exam schedule
By Craig Renfro
Staff Writer
Texas’ naturaT gas reserves are
running low, and unless measures
are taken to provide drilling incen
tives the state could face a cold win
ter without adequate heating fuel,
state Sen. John Sharp said Monday.
Sharp, D-Victoria, who is cam
paigning for railroad commissioner,
spoke before a small crowd at Eas-
terwood Airport. He said it is ironic
that the state leading the nation in
energy production could be without
the fuel to warm our homes and run
our factories, but the possibility
looms larger each day that no new
wells are drilled.
However, Sharp said, getting
banks to invest in oil and gas explo
ration won’t be easy. Sagging prices
provide less incentive to drill be
cause there is less chance of financial
return, he said.
“Bankers will be skeptical to in
vest,” he said. “They need a reasona
ble assurance that they will make a
profit.”
Sharp, a 1972 graduate of Texas
A&M and state senator since 1982,
said the state must consider several
alternatives to help alleviate this
problem.
Most importantly, Sharp said, an
oil import fee must be implemented.
Most people don’t want the fee be
cause they don’t want government
control, he said. However, he added,
that is already the situation.
“People say they are against an oil
import fee because they don’t want
the government to control the price
of oil,” Sharp said. “But the coun
tries of OPEC already control the oil
price.”
To provide drilling incentives,
Sharp said the Railroad Commission
has several alternatives. Sharp said
the first possibility is to lower the gas
production tax from 7.5 percent to
4.4 percent as already proposed by
state comptroller Bob Bullock.
Another possibility is to grant a
four-year severance tax to oil and
gas producers who drill wells within
six months of the enactment of the
exemption.
Sharp also said the 1971 National
Fuel Use Act should be repealed. It
stated that natural gas can’t be used
as a fuel in hew power generators,
which decreased the demand for
natural gas and caused a downfall in
drilling production, he said.
By Sondra Pickard
Senior Staff Writer
[The Faculty Senate Monday reaffirmed its po-
Ition on final exams for graduating seniors by
pproving a resolution requiring seniors to take
ieir finals at the same time as other students.
In January 1984, the Faculty Senate voted for
Iresolution which will require degree candidates
to take final exams beginning in Spring 1988.
I Final details on the policy’s implementation
haven't been finalized by the administration yet,
ijuid as the policy is written now, seniors coula be
[ven final exams at a different time than the rest
if the students.
By doing this, graduation could be held at its
gular time and students could determine
lead of time whether they had fulfilled gradua-
on requirements.
This procedure, however, would place a heavy
burden on professors, who would have to sched
ule special exams for graduating seniors and
process their grades in time for graduation.
If graduating seniors take finals during the
regular test week, some may have to receive a
case without a diploma because their final grades
may not be ready.
The 1984 Senate resolution stated that appro
priate changes should be made to provide for re
porting of semester grades for seniors at the
same time as for other students.
According to the resolution, efforts were to be
made to maintain graduation and commissioning
ceremonies, although “in no case should these
administrative matters prevent implementation
of the new policy.”
In its action Monday, the Senate in effect re
stated its objection to exempting seniors from fi
nals, as well as its objection to requiring special
exams and early reporting of grades.
Sen. Jon Bond, associate professor of political
science, introduced the resolution.
“We have a traditional ceremony and I recog
nize this,” Bond said, “but when symbol comes
into conflict with what it symbolizes, the faculty
prerogative should prevail.
“Commencement is important, but compro
mise with a symbol and not what it symbolizes
falls short of what the faculty at this University
want,” he said.
Sen. Murray Milford, professor of soil and
crop sciences, expressed concern over whether
the Senate should dictate the details of a policy in
which the Senate’s stance already had been made
clear.
A roll call vote showed 48 senators for the res
olution and 9 against it.
A&M student still in coma
after horse-riding accident
A Texas A&M student who was roommate, confirmed Monday
injured Thursday night in a
horse-riding accident is in a coma
and listed in stable condition in
the intensive care unit at St. Jo
seph Hospital in Bryan, a hospital
official said Monday.
Gabrielle Bradfield, 21, a ju
nior animal science major, suf
fered head injuries anti under
went surgery for brain
hemorrhages Friday morning.
Shelley Germany, Bradfield’s
roommate,
that the accident happened when
Bradfield fell from a horse that
tripped while being led on the
grounds of University stables,
maintained by Parsons’ Mounted
Cavalry.
Bradfield is an employee at the
Meat Science and Technology
Center and is a member of the
livestockjudging team.
Germany said no visitors are
being admitted to the ICU.
WISC (,RKAT IS
ISSUES]
PRESENTS
GRAMM-RUDMAN,
BUREAUCRATIC INERTIA,
AND
THE U.S. TAXPAYER
FEATURED SPEAKERS
JAMES C. MILLER III - DIRECTOR, OFFICE OF
MANAGEMENTAND
BUDGET
PHIL GRAMM - UNITED STATES SENATOR
JOHN ANDERSON - FORMER PRESIDENTIAL
CANDIDATE
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 22,1986
7:30 P.M. RUDDER AUDITORIUM
RESERVE TICKETS AVAILABLE AT THE MSC BOX OFFICE
AND DILLARDS, OR BY PHONE AT 845-1234
$3. 50 TAMU STUDENTS $6. 00 PUBLIC
★ ★★★★★★★★★★
2 SuperStars
for the
price of 1!
★ ★★★★★★★★★★
The 1986-87
4rMSC Town Hall/Broadway season!
Town Hall/Broadway is back at Texas A&M with the Super season at a super student
discount. Buy TWO student season tickets (Zone 3) for the price of ONE! TWO for
ONE for “Jesus Christ SuperStar”, “Romeo and Juliet”, Cole Porter’s “Can-Can”
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way bargain like TWO for ONE! Order yours today!
“Jesus Christ Superstar’’
November 6, 1986
The greatest rock musical of all time, based on the life of the greatest man of all time.
This is classic musical theatre that rises above the rock genre to universal greatness.
Ingenious staging and high tech lighting make this a dazzling achievement. You owe
it to yourself one time in your life.
“Romeo and Juliet”
February 14, 1987
The National Shakespeare Company creates the timeless love story in a special Valen
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with someone you love.
Cole Porter’s “Can-Can”
March 1, 1987
A sassy, saucy and sexy musical celebration of romantic turn-of- the-century Paris. Porter
created some of his most rousing and delightful tunes for Can-Can including “I Love
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spectacular can-can. “C’est Magnifique!”
William Windom as “Thurber”
April 23, 1987
Windom is one of America’s best loved television actors. For 15 years he has been
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as seen from a cartoonist’s pad.
ZONE 1 ZONE 2 ZONE 3
REGULAR S59.25 $47.50 $38.00
STUDENT $50.50 $41.00 $35.00 (2 for 1)
A&M student discount
Tickets: MSC Box Office 845-1234 • MasterCard/VISA
BIHI