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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (July 16, 2003)
i Wednesday, July 16,2(i| )00 or less (price mus offering personal possessim large. If item doesn’t sell, end to qualify for the 5 d is cancelled early, REAL ESTATE !2 home, buy or lease $89,9 )0, Bryan. Mark, 846-6827. ROOMMATES 2.5 new house, $350/nio, in Bryan. 7 1 3-724-7072. ile, $462/mo., all bills paid# an bus route. Kim 774-5168. ite. 2/1 Apartment. 1-yr +1/2bills, W/D, bkr, Call ASAP! 220-0195. 2/1 house. College Sta» ) TAMU. $270/mo.+1/2bills. 1-3120. moking f-roommate needed ew house, starting asap. Be ery nice size bedroom, large» t. $350/mo +1/3bills. 324-9369 rand new 3/3/2 brick has 3., $375/deposit. 832-642-OOSi le roommates needed, M, Furnished on bus-route, no ps 3, +deposit, +1/3utilities. fi 3ommates needed, 3/2 house e, no pets, S320/mo. +1/3uft O. New 3bdrm/2ba/2gar Im om TAMU. W/D. $4005110.01 -4227; 281-388-0519. non-smoking, quiet roomraa 3bdrm/2ba duplex. $306 •. ies. W/D, parking, shuttle as ) 8/15. 2403 Brittain Court. (J 1-4054. noking female roommates wart! a new 3bdrm/2bth townlm move-in, year lease, $3751 minutes from campus. (36I|W Opinion The Battalion 5 • Wednesday, July 16, 2( The perils of the Atkins diet Atkins diet is more expensive than conventional diets, yet no more effective ales needed. Own bdrmtc . +1/4bills. 680-8747. smoking roommates n< 5ba starting 8/15/03. Ife , 3yr. old home close to caiitu : ully furnished, except b Cindy® 694-7647; 469-441® 8/1 or earlier, non-srffl'i as for 4/3 new home, illea, w/d, $400/mo. +1/<ufW ; at 512-396-0766. late needed, 3bdrm/2blh» logins 8/15/03, $400/mJ on shuttle. Call Nikkiil# T he Atkins diet is in fashion once again. Dr. Robert Atkins, the man behind the diet, died in April of an accidental I fall, giving new life to his book, “Dr. Atkins’ New Diet Revolution,” which currently holds the number one spot on USA Today’s best-seller list. The book is also No. 1 on the New York Times’ best-seller list of paperback advice books. This is disappointing, considering that the Atkins’ diet is expensive and no more effec tive than a conventional diet in the long term. The diet’s revival can be attributed to the pub lication of recent scientific studies supporting it. The New England Journal of Medicine published one such prominent study in May. Since then, supporters of the diet have used it to claim that Atkins was correct all along: restricting carbohy drates and eating only fat and protein makes a good diet. They claim that this is the way to eat now and for life. However, the study does not completely vindicate the Atkins diet: the results, though promising, were only collected over the short term, and they may be deceptively higher due to incomplete analysis. As it turns out, this is not the way to eat, now or ever. The study involved 63 obese men and women who were assigned to either a low-carbohydrate, high-protein and high-fat diet — namely, Atkins — or a low-calorie, low-fat and high-carbohy drate diet — the more conventional dieting approach. The researchers then measured weight loss at three, six and 12 months. The study was a controlled trial — meaning that various other factors, which could influence the results, were minimized, such as the subjects taking weight-altering drugs. The study assigned the 63 participants to either diet at random, fur ther reducing the likelihood of bias, and profes sional contact was minimal to imitate the approach used by most dieters. The study showed that the Atkins diet pro duced greater weight loss than the conventional diet for the first six months. Those on Atkins lost? percent of their body weight, while those on the conventional diet lost 3.2 percent. MIDHAT FAROOQI However, at 12 months, there was no significant difference in the amount of weight loss produced by the Atkins’ diet as compared to the conventional diet. This point is the key, as it sug gests that the long-term efficacy of the Atkins’ diet is similar to that of a conven tional diet. But because the conventional diet is cheaper — fruits, vegetables and low-fat prod ucts are generally less expensive than excessive amounts of meat and low-carbohydrate products — why follow the Atkins diet? There are two results of a good diet: one is losing weight initially, and the other is keeping it off. In the study, people on the Atkins diet gained weight they lost in the first six months off the diet, much more than those on the low- fat diet. The Atkins diet may have produced more weight loss but it also resulted in a larger weight rebound. The authors of the experiment state that this rebound may be due to the small sample size: the smaller the sample, the larger the sampling error. But this applies to all the results: they may not represent the larger pop ulation. This problem is further exacerbated by the fact that all of the subjects were obese. Some people have metabolic differences, such as a decreased sensitivity to insulin. Thus, the results might not apply to peo- J pie who are merely overweight or not fat at all. More importantly, the results might have been different if normal and overweight people were included in the survey. Not only was the sample size of 63 people too small, only 37 participants finished all 12 months. Forty-one per cent of the participants did not complete the study, which further reduces the sample size, hence, increasing the sampling error. Furthermore, the results do not include the weight loss (or gain) of these individuals as produced by the two diets. Since the researchers measured only the compliant subjects, this is a potential source of bias. The results may be misleading. The outcome would be more convincing if an intent-to-treat analysis, one that includes data from all the participants regardless of whether they dropped out of the study, was performed. A larger sample size comprised of all people, not just those who are obese, would further strength en the results. But, experiments are needed to determine the long-term safety and effectiveness of the Atkins diet. Until then, it remains a fad diet that works questionably at best and is an expensive eating habit at worst. Midhat Farooqi is a senior genetics major. Graphic by Angelique Ford oommate needed, $475 aW I 210-215-6072. Dommate needed. Forfcgz a mobile home. $275/mo. in 696-2119. /anted for 3/3 townhouse*: parking, blocks from TM +1/3util. 979-694-0952, dent wanted. Share 4M® th other Grad. Own lx® /ard, shuttle, $400/mo. W or 1 -2 female roommates t i 3bdrm house in Bryan. ^ 414. imate needed, nice 3f. i* se. 3bd/2ba, fenced f +l/3utilities, available August' 0-5166. roommate to share brand» house w/garage in C.S.ati 214-957-7712. mmate ASAP. 4bdm# oors, big house, li* od, great roomn# +1 futilities. 281-684-1® mates for a house In W it tub, pool table, on busrf 27. needed fall and spring, all Wes 2 1 4-886-4061. > wanted, $216/mo. +1® £ 5-9823, SERVICES Defensive Driving. Lois augh-a-lotl! W [! surance discount. M-T^' i/-Th(6pm-9pm), Fri.JSal i) &Sal(10am-2:: lOpm). Inside BankolAmeS elcome. $25/cash. ed by law. 111-Univ, D 1 146-6117. Show-up 30/i« Conservative media outlets on the rise Fox News Corporation, Clear Channel Communications are worst offenders F or the past few decades, the word media was rarely heard without the adjective “liberal.” Still to this day, anytime there is any news that is contrary to the conservative viewpoint it is passed off as liberal bias. At one time this asser tion was probably accurate, but, with a run through the channels, anyone can see that the sup posed liberal media is now overpowered by the sensationalism and frenzy of the conservative media. The fantasy of a liberal media is dead, and fairness, civility and trust have gone down along with it. It is perplexing to hear people cry bias when one takes a look at who the media are. Many owners of the supposed lib eral media are big contributors to Republican campaigns. Lowry Mays — the owner of Clear Channel Communications and more than 1,200 radio and 17 television stations in the United States — gave more than $58,000 to the Bush guberna torial campaign in 1998 and facilitated the transfer of more than $130,000 in soft money from Clear Channel to the Republican National Committee during the 2000 presidential election, according to the L.A. Times. Fox News Corporation gave more than $420,000 to Republicans in the form of soft money in the 2001-2002 elec tion cycle, which stands in stark contrast to the $95,000 donat ed to Democrats, according to opensecrets.org. The tilt is not limited to those two companies, as General Electric, parent company of NBC, also gave $400,000 in soft money in the 2000 election cycle with 75 percent going to Republicans. JUSTIN HILL From the owners to those reporting the news, the bias is far from left-leaning. Fox News has become what seems to be a breeding ground for crazy right screamers. Bill O’Reilly, Sean Hannity and Neil Cavuto could never be confused as leftist. Fox News has become the pride and joy of the right all the while proclaiming they are “fair and balanced.” Having one dissenting voice, Allen Colmes, does not make the network balanced. MSNBC has been following Fox’s lead by hiring Joe Scarborough, a former Republican congressman, Ann Coulter and Michael Savage. MSNBC also fired Phil Donahue and his top-rated show for what many said were dangerous views of dissent against the war. In place of Donahue, MSNBC hired right-winger Savage, who was rightly fired last week for call ing a homosexual caller a “sodomite.” As reported by the Washington Post, this was not the first time MSNBC went too far on trying to court the right. MSNBC also had to fire the compassionate conservative Coulter in 1997 for telling a dis abled war Veteran on the program News Chat that, “People like you caused us to lose that war.” With the media’s move to the right, the civility and ability to view the media as a serious and credible news source has been tarnished. The right has taken up the role of attack dog instead of reporter. O’Reilly would rather yell at you and cut your microphone than be challenged to an open, honest debate. Savage and Coulter would rather scream and call names than open an arena for ideas. Hannity, a Fox News anchor and radio talk show host, has written a book called “Let Freedom Ring, Winning the War of Liberty Over Liberalism.” The title alone accuses those who are not conservative to be against freedom. Rush Limbaugh screams at you on your way home in the car about the bad left, O’Reilly screams at you at night while flip ping through channels and a look at the bookstore portrays a collection of memorable one-liners against the left such as, “Why the Left Hates America and Treason: Liberal Treachery from the Cold War to the War on Terrorism.” Even CNN’s Lou Dobbs has taken on a brash right stance. If the liberal media is still so prevalent, where are they? When Reagan decided the Fairness Doctrine was no longer needed, he opened up Pandora’s Box. Now, the screaming heads on television are not held accountable for what they say and have no incentive to give other views. The dissolution of the Fairness Doctrine coupled with the recent media deregulation from the Federal Communications Commision spells big trouble for the consumer who depends on mainstream media to get fair and objective news. Currently, media outlets run the risk of becoming carefully crafted ideolo gy machines for hire. Look at Fox News and the other ideolo gy-driven news outlets; this is the future of mainstream media if things do not change. Justin Hill is a junior management major. BATTALION Classifieds ace an ad, phone (45-0569 MAIL CALL Loss of journalism makes A&M hard to recommend The decision to get rid of the journal ism program is short-sighted and ridiculous. For a school that craves a diverse-thinking population, getting rid of a department that tends to lean more to the left is obviously not well thought out. As a journalism department graduate, lam appalled that Dr. Charles Johnson has decided to get rid of the depart ment. And since when does addressing students' need in journalism include getting rid of the program? That is some twisted thinking and will only add to Aggie jokes everywhere. I am currently a journalism teacher/newspaper adviser for a large high school near Dallas and 1 find myself actually (gag) encouraging my students not to go to A&M and attend t-u. Dr. Douglas Starr taught me a lot about journalism, which I now teach my students. Other high school journal ism people I talk to all say wonderful things about him and the department. However, those same advisers also rec ommend to the students other schools and do not recommend A&M. Does the school really care? I don't think they do. They turn down so many students each year who want to be Aggies, so it's no loss to them. But this is one Aggie who is now ashamed to say she has a degree in journalism from A&M. Abby White Class of 2000 The Battalion will suffer from journalism closure Mr. Swanick, I'm not denying the fact that the jour nalism program has problems, because it does. And I know about these prob lems because I have a journalism degree. I experienced first-hand the short comings of the department. But I cur rently have a great job and will contin ue at a top-notch communications graduate school this fall. And my degree did not hurt me at all in these endeavors. You claim that the students who write for The Battalion are journalism students that should know better. Not every student employed by The Battalion is a journalism major. For that matter, at other papers, not every person has a journalism degree, which is a good reason to have jour nalism programs at universities like A&M. And The Battalion is not going anywhere, even though the depart ment will be cut. Do you realize what that means? With the journalism department gone, the number of students who work for The Battalion who know how to write in a journalistic way will drop even lower which means The Battalion will get even worse. Too many people rely on newspapers, radio, TV and the Internet for their news. How can we expect the news to be written accurately and correctly if we don't educate people who are interest ed in journalism. I don't think the department being cut is an insult. I do think it is an easy way out. I'm not going to be arrogant and claim that I have the solution, because I don't. I'm just glad I graduated before I had to see the department cut and put up with arrogant fools like you. Becky Speer Class of 2003 YOU TVilNK m U.S. fAlllTARYS SPREAD TOO THIR