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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 8, 1988)
stvxci*2r>ts 1 iK.t,*ci eincl dislil<ecl. The students on the menu board represent Sbisa, Duncan and the Commons equally with six students from each cafeteria. Jackson adds that the menu board also has the power to remove foods they disapprove of from the menu by a majority vote. Jackson says to join the menu board, a student must be willing to wake up early in order to make it to the monthly, 6:30 a.m. meetings. He says a student has to be genuinely interested in food service since “it doesn’t make a very good resume item. ” Col. Moore says students are appointed to the board by the food service staff. Generally, he says, to fill an opening on the board, a student need only show interest and willingness to make the morning meetings. “If they want to be on it, we want them to be on it,” he says. Last year, Sbisa also added a dietary analysis computer. Col. Moore says this computer is user friendly and is designed to help students plan their meals to meet RDAs and to be aware of how many calories are in the foods they eat. Col. Moore, a registered dietitian, says help is available for students who want to lose weight. He says students who feel they need to lose weight, especially those in the Corps of Cadets, can come to the Food Services Commissary and get advice from the staff dietitians. He says they will plan with the students the foods they can eat and the foods they should avoid. Students who eat at Sbisa are also given the choice of a regular entree or one from the “lite line. ” Lite entrees are generally baked and have fewer calories. While board dining has come a long way, Col. Moore says there are more plans in the works. In the near future, he says, they hope to publish daily 2,000 and 1,500 calorie diets. These will consist of a list of foods being offered that day that a student can eat and get either 2,000 or 1,500 calories, depending on the plan. These diets will be planned by the nutritionists to meet all the RDA’s. Col. Moore says that the average student will loose weight on the 2,000 calorie plan. On any given day at an on-campus dining hall, Col. Moore says a student can meet the RDA if he chooses his food with that in mind. Basically, Moore says, choosing from the four basic food groups, dairy, meat, bread and cereal, and fruit and vegetables, will generally meet the RDA. With the new surge in healthy eating, Lupton says that not only can a person eat well on campus, but nutritious meals can often even be found at fast-food restaurants. Many of them have handouts on the nutritional values of the food they serve. She says by being selective, a person can eat light and nutritious food at most restaurants in town. wcp ■ s ■ «J& B B. B B By Lawson Reilly Fitness is as mental as it is physical. Reading could be considered a form of mental weight lifting, to keep the mind from atrophying. But most college students get this form of mental excercise whether they want to or not. However, college life can also contribute to problems, worries, stresses and disturbances that adversely affect mental fitness. College means separation from loved ones for most students, and for many it also means the end of close friendships. Ironically, it’s easy to feel lonely in the midst of 40,000 other students. Students may also feel overwhelmed by academic decisions or school work, or they may not get along with their roommates or professors. Although not always the final solution, the first step to solving or alleviating most of these problems is simply talking to someone. Fortunately for Texas A&M students, almost 350 faculty and staff volunteers, or Mentors, are willing to take that first step with them. Marketing professor Dr. James McNeal, coordinator of the Mentors program, says Mentors are not intended to be substitutes or replacements for professional counselors. Mentors, recognizable by a MENTORS plaque on their office door, are there to talk to students and to combat the impersonalization that becomes inevitable at a school as large as A&M. Faculty and staff must apply and meet certain qualifications to become Mentors, McNeal says. Above all else, however, they must be willing to help students in whatever way they can, he says. Mentors must also be able to find a student specialized help, such as counselors or financial aid officers, when necessary, McNeal says. The four most common problems students come to Mentors with are courses, GPRs, study habits and professors, McNeal says. But sometimes those problems are only the symptoms of more serious disturbances, which may only surface after several discussions, he says. In such cases, the Mentors walk the students to the Student Counseling Service on the third floor of the YMCA Building. The Student Counseling Service provides students with free professional counseling on academic skills development, educational and career development and personal development. The service also offers students a library full of self- help resources on a wide variety of subjects. If students want some quick information they can call CounseLine, at 845-2958, and anonymously request to hear one of 65 short tapes on topics such as female homosexuality or Q- dropping courses. Dr. Margaret Olona, an assistant director of the Student Counseling Services, says that after signing up for an appointment in the YMCA Building, a student will usually be seen within two weeks, depending on the length of the waiting list. Even with the 10 senior staff psychologists and four pre-doctoral interns who provide the service’s counseling, the waiting list is usually about 2 weeks long, Olona says. During the first visit, or intake, a counselor evaluates the student’s problem, Olona says. If the student needs long-term help, the service will refer him or her to outside counseling. Otherwise, the counselor and student will decide whether individual or group sessions would be best for the student, if further counseling is necessary. All counseling at the service is confidential, even the fact that the student is attending sessions, except in cases of imminent harm to the student or other people. Although most students feel more comfortable with individual counseling, Olona says, group therapy is the method of choice, when students are willing. It doubles the service’s capacity for helping students and gives students a chance to help one another, she says. The service is organizing a new group this semester for students who feel they’ve been rejected from a close relationship, Olona says. Slightly more students use the counseling service for academic and career related troubles than for personal problems, Olona says. However, relationships, eating disorders and alcoholic parents are also common worries facing students, she says. A&M students, she says, have the same problems as students at other large universities. Olona stresses that no problem is to small to talk about. The Student Counseling Service gets part of its funds through the Student Service Fees, so each student is entitled to at least one counseling session, she says. “I’d rather have them come in and talk,” she says. “It’s something they’ve earned, they’ve paid for- it’s theirs.” Athletes juggle sports, school Continued from page 7. Training is essential to good perfor mance, Kellen says, because volley ball is a game requiring physical strength and coordination. The team has a specific coach to design season and off-season workouts. Continuing training throughout the year does reap performance benefits, junior baseball player Chuck Knob lauch says. “There is a lot of running in base ball,” Knoblauch says. “A lot of hand- eye coordination is involved. You get better if you practice. If you play all year round you will be that much bet ter.” In addition, the health benefits from training may help prevent injuries from the sport, he says. Knoblauch says that the feeling of being able to improve through training can increase the drive to succeed. Fur thermore, this drive can extend into other areas besides athletics. Knob lauch claims that the time consumed by baseball training may actually help improve his grades. “It kind of helps out,” he says. “If you take a non-athlete, he has so much time on his hands. He is going to sit around and not study. On the other hand, being in baseball can help budget your time. When you practice you know that you have to go home and study. That’s the way I look at it. ” Being a college athlete requires much more work than the stereotyped name implies. A&M athletes must de vote time and energy to their health and athletic performance even if it means sacrificing personal time for training. As Knoblauch puts it, “It’s a full time job.” Thursday, Sept. 8,1988/At Ease/Page 11