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The Battalion
PINION
at or fiction?
mass index formula ignores major components, falsely defines millions of Americans as obese
'' e defe:M ut down that burrito, pick
ontllSi piup a rice cake and dust off
â– that Richard Simmons
ora hi [eo. The
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aval ,i*er all
slai )se hours
Rec
nter and
trial date
trial ;»ht s with
r deter;Ab Flex. It just does not seem
d violeMtter anymore. With our fast
is easel* society and the ever-chang-
rse arepads, bulimia is now out and
itihgisin.
No matter how hard we try
r “government does not feel it
lovedieneugh. According to the new
finition of overweight, our
kth. Hdent is steadily catching up
I r th (’resident Taft who was our
latelvHiest president. Clinton is
it in the Orient for a social call
organ® is representing our chunky
lownalMtry for the title of Champi-
iceniuHimo Wrestler of the world.
Irianfllie new body mass index
J) has defined a majority of
[professional athletes as
e and Fiona Apple has now
d Weight Watchers. The new
IV Mass Index is calculated by
Itiplying one’s body weight by
nd then dividing that num-
Jr by your height in inches
imred. If the number calculat-
Richard
Paddack
columnist
ed is greater than 25, then you
are overweight if the number is
greater than 30, you are consid
ered obese.
The same formula is used for
men and women. Under the old
BMI, a woman who stands 5 feet
4 inches and weighs 155 pounds
was overweight. The same
woman at 145 pounds is now
considered overweight.
Using the same formula, a
man who is 5 foot 10 inches and
weighs between 174-181 pounds
is now considered overweight.
The weight-loss industry, al
ready a $35 billion a year indus
try, will soon be laughing even
louder all the way to the bank.
Fifty-five percent (97 million
Americans) are now considered
overweight since the new BMI
was released. The old measure
ments showed roughly 60 mil
lion Americans were overweight.
This will cause more problems
with a society that is already ob
sessed with its weight.
Are we running out of food? Is
our mountain of government
cheese melting due to the arrival
of La Nina?
What do we do? Well, a major
ity of Americans will continue to
gorge themselves with the popu
lar new laxative manufactured
by Frito-Lay, while some of us
will realize these new calcula
tions are bunk.
Americans are known for
their eclectic tastes in food, and
we like lots of it.
I am proud to say I live in the
country where all-you-can-eat
buffets were invented, where Mc
Donalds is a household name and
where breakfast, lunch and dinner
are noted on every hard-working
American’s daily planner.
Americans do not just eat for
the purpose of sustenance or sur
vival. For centuries, eating has
brought millions of families to
gether for Sundays after church,
Thanksgiving, Christmas and the
list goes on. If we are hungry, we
will make up a holiday or excuse to
get together with friends and fami
lies and eat.
Americans work hard and
play hard. That is what makes
this country so great. So why
should we take health tips from
a bunch of government em
ployed scientists who probably
lost their jobs once Billy Boy cal
culated his measurements?
We shouldn’t, but a majority of
Americans will. Plastic surgeons
everywhere are warming up their
vacuums, Richard Simmons is
putting the finishing touches on
his “Sweatin’ To the Oldies” sequel,
and super models are checking in
to Jenny Craig.
Put down that frothy glass of
wheat grass and cancel your
lipo sessions — you are not
overweight, America, unless
you think so. Do not take health
tips from a country that is being
run by a man who has collected
all of the Mulan action figures
from McDonalds.
Richard Paddack is a junior
journalism major.
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lepublicans lean too far right
Meredith
Hicht
columnist
he Republican Party has enjoyed considerable suc-
I cess in its campaign to win over mainstream
i Americans from the Democratic Party. Because the
locrats had begun to push
envelope on what moderate
rs found acceptable, leaning
ier and farther to the left,
was not a difficult task,
he Republicans might soon
themselves experiencing
>ame kind of alienation
1 mainstream voters,
J gh, considering the recent
l ments made by several
foment Republican leaders
hmg homosexuals. The Re-
Jtcan agenda has shifted to
a f r r ^ht, embracing an ar-
i staunchly conservative positions on controversial
issues, such as homosexuality.
11 T® early 1990s, when conservatives feared the
" l tty was teetering on the precipice of complete im-
the Republicans began to emphasize “family
•eir promotion of family values was refreshing to
Rcans who were turned off by certain policies
cd by the Democrats, such as gays being open
their sexual orientation in the military.
e Republicans’ denouncement of liberal policies
, e at j Ust the right time politically,
conservatives swept the 1994 congressional elec-
s - For the first time in years, the Senate majority
j 6r the House speaker and majority leader were
. ar e) Republicans. They continued to domi-
]' n sta te politics as well, leaving many pundits to
L e jh e Democratic party practically defunct.
Id h emocrats ma y be revived, though, by what
e a disastrous chain of events involving Republi-
» on homosexuality
l began when Senate majority leader Trent Lott
questioned on “The Armstrong Williams Show”
[th m ^mfs on homosexuality. When he answered
L friid think it was sinful, a slight media frenzy en-
r • owever, he added, “You should still love that
person. You should not try to treat them as outcasts.
You should try to show then a way to deal with that
problem, just like alcohol... or sex addiction... or
kleptomaniacs.” This infuriated many people more
than the fact that he considered homosexuality sinful.
While the “loving that person” part goes over well,
the idea that homosexuality is lumped into the same
category as kleptomania seems only to be indicative of
Lott's ignorance on the issue.
Representative Dick Armey, the House majority
leader, made matters worse by citing the Bible the next
day as proof that homosexuality is a sin and that Chris
tians are called “to hate the sin not the sinner.”
Politicians should not open up the Bible to legislate.
There is such a thing as separation of church and state,
and this country was founded on that very notion.
The dilemma facing the Republicans is that many of
the tenets of the far right’s philosophy stem from bibli
cal injunctions. And many Americans are not willing to
accept those kind of politics, just as they were not will
ing to accept the far left wing of the Democratic party.
Furthermore, the backlash to political correctness
has not gone so far as to forgive what comes across as a
blatant misunderstanding of homosexuality.
Even though Lott’s comments were not necessarily
spoken as part of a specific effort by the Republican
Party to bring light to the concept of homosexuality be
ing inherently sinful, it does illustrate how the Republi
cans tend to treat certain divisive social issues.
The Republicans come by their values honestly, at
least. What Lott and Armey see as a compassionate
view about homosexuality, backed by Christian princi
ples, this view is easily twisted into words of hate by
their political opponents.
What they need to be careful of, however, is how
their view will be interpreted by an American public
that favors moderate politics, no matter which party
they claim. If the Republicans begin to stray toward an
uncomfortably far right position, they will lose steam
just as the Democrats did with their far left politics.
Mean-spirited administration
clerks frustrate, anger students
Alison
Lackey
columnist
Meredith Plight is a junior journalism major.
A n afternoon in The Pavil
ion, Heaton Hall or
Koldus Student Services
Building in
volves jump
ing through
the hoops of
paperwork
and juggling
an assort
ment of atti
tude from
administra
tion clerks.
This te
dious
process and
mean-spirited behavior can
prove to be a frustrating event.
The afternoon is not all ponies,
poodles and ice cream when
students step into that office. A
student enters the gates of hell,
the threshold of the dark side . . .
Not so long ago in a galaxy
ever so near here lives a young
Jedi knight named Luke Cam-
puswalker.
Luke protects the A&M
galaxy from the dark side of ad
ministration clerks and paper
work. Luke fights the confu
sion, the anxiety and the
increased blood pressure that
daily mangles students.
Clerkvader, the emperor of
the dark side infests the galaxy
along with legions of adminis
tration workers known as The
Adminitroopers.
Clerkvader’s army assists
students in paperwork associ
ated with registration, degree
audits, change of address, grad
uation and the horrific paying
for ridiculous parking tickets.
These types of student pa
perwork and others generate
employment at the University.
Administration clerks have
jobs at the University because
of the students. They pay for
these precious services and
should receive amiable service.
This may be an unattainable
goal dressed in idealism. Re
gardless, many times students
receive services with an unkind
demeanor. Wickedness and in
consideration have gripped
many administration workers.
Often times, workers resort to
ill treatment of students for
reasons that many times are be
yond the student’s control.
Of course, not all clerks re
sort to this. There are many
helpful, courteous and hard
working administrative clerks
at A&M. Unfortunately, it is the
handfuls of harsh and incon
siderate clerks that overshadow
the kind and helpful clerks.
The entire community of ad
ministration clerks is given a
bad name. This is an unfortu
nate tale of guilt by association.
This should encourage staff
meetings and discussions be
tween clerks to examine the
root of the problem.
One problem is many times
clerks give students the impres
sion their helpfulness depends
upon their moods.
O, the power of clerks to de
stroy students lives with one
click of the computer keyboard.
Students realize this is an ex
treme misuse of power that su
pervisors should control.
However, the clerks do not
have to answer to anyone. Ad
ministrative assistants provide
services that are a necessity to
students making “service with a
smile” a joke.
They have given students
the idea that if they look at
clerks the wrong way, slightly
shuffle their papers in frustra
tion or maybe say the wrong
thing, they can ruin students,
waste their time and make
things extremely difficult for
them.
Understandably, the rage,
disappointment, hassle and
other side affects from admin
istration workers and paper
work could very well be the
fault of students, not adminis
trative clerks. If students enter
unprepared for taking care of
their business, it is their mis
take.
But, to enhance the freakish
frustration, students find visual
commentary posted in these of
fices. In one office, there is a
friendly reminder that reads:
“Poor planning on your part
does not constitute a crisis on
our part.”
What is that, a reminder of
just how obnoxiously witty ad
ministration clerks can be? Stu
dents do not need this snippy
reminder. Here is a suggestion
to clerks, this condescending
tone only infuriates the stu
dents more and enhances the
stereotype of the nasty clerk.
This unfortunate stereotype
describes some of the cruelest,
most incompetent clerks on
campus, the female student
clerks. Now this presents a
paradox.
They also are students pay
ing for an education, working
hard for their futures but con
tributing to a stereotype of bu
reaucracy?
A student would assume this
might change the attitude
clerks give students. A student
can only take so much from a
young clerk who spins in her
chair, rolls her eyes and con
demns students because they
actually expect her to work.
These offices desperately
need to make comment cards
available. This would enable
and encourage interaction be
tween supervisors, clerks and
students.
This is not a session with
Wendy Whiner — it is simply an
attempt to create awareness of
an existing problem.
Communication is the word.
Alison Lackey is a senior \
English major. >