Dear Sassy,
I am in an ethical dilemma. A friend of mine has been stealing money from the cash register at his job. His employers haven’t caught on yet. I tell him to stop doing it every time I see him, but I know he hasn’t. Do I take this to the next level and confront his employers about the issue?
Sincerely,
Frustrated Friend

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Diners at the Memorial Union Building on Friday, Jan. 29 may have noticed something new happening in the commons area. Two tables set up buffet style with student servers offered students a chance to taste authentic Indian food. For $6 a plate the price was right for two main dishes, bread, fruit salad, and warm spiced chai tea. For the first Friday, the proceeds for the meal, approximately $3 for each plate, will be sent to the Haiti Relief Effort. This isn’t the last that students have seen of this treat either—the tables will be back every Friday offering students another chance to explore palates from different cultures.
The tables were part of the new Khana Khazaana international food booth that will feature a different international menu every Friday. “Khana Khazaana means ‘Food Treasure’ in Indian,” says Sahil Thakkar, one of the international chefs behind Friday’s menu as well as one of the founding members of Khana Khazaana.

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Welcome back to snow town Huskies! Hope you all had a wonderful holiday. I know break was a little bit short, but we have more ex­citing stuff to do this semes­ter. Are you ready for Winter Carnival? I’m ready for sum­mer already.

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It’s nice to see you guys again! How was your Halloween weekend? Hope you guys didn’t do too many crazy or silly things. However, I did hear some funny stories about my friends. It’s understandable. Halloween is one of the biggest party nights during the whole school year. You guys deserve to have a good break from a stressful college life.
This week, I’m going to talk about some difference in food between America and China.
First of all, we don’t eat raw vegetables. During the first week of my new life here, I couldn’t swallow salads at all. Unfortunately, that’s the only way to import vitamins into my body. Even now, I eat salads only because they are nutritious instead of tasting good.
Secondly, I don’t have too many chances to have fresh water products such as fish and shrimp. My hometown is located close to the downstream of Chang Jiang River, which is the third longest river in the world. This river feeds millions and millions of Chinese people who live along it. The water is used to irrigate farms. Also, it provides hundreds of water species for us to eat. Compared to here, Michigan is famous for her Lake Superior, which is the biggest lake among five great lakes. However, I haven’t seen any fishing boats on the lake yet. Is this a fish-free lake then? Chef Eric from MUB dining service told me that they do have a fresh fish market up the hill over Hancock when I complained about this to him. I think I should take a look sometime. Oh, by the way, cheese is another incredible food for me. I can’t imagine that there are thousands of kinds of cheese. One of my friends even says that he cannot survive without cheese! Hope it doesn’t make you fat pal!
A year of dorm life made me begin getting used to American food. But now I live off campus, which gives me a chance to cook some hometown dishes. In China, our main food is white rice. Cooked vegetables are also a big part of daily food. We separate meat into two kinds: red and white. Red meat is like pork, beef and lamb, while white meat is like fish and shrimp.
I believed everyone knows there are two Chinese restaurants in Houghton. One is Ming and the other is Hunan. One is named after a powerful dynasty in Chinese history and the other is the name of a province. What do you think of the Chinese food there? I can say that food is 90% close to real Chinese food. One of my housemates is working in the Ming restaurant right now. He says they have a pretty good business here. It seems Americans like Chinese food. I wish I could have learned some cooking skills before I came here. Otherwise you could come to my house and have a Chinese dinner with us. I can teach you how to use chopsticks too.

It is essential for animal life. It makes up 60 percent of the human brain. It resides within most of the organs of the body. Why, then, is it frowned upon by so many people in American culture, and thought of as taboo? Fat is what I’m talking
about, and it seems to be that these underestimated lipids are ignored and battered by the American population as an unwanted
part of our bodies.
Fat is a supreme insulator, keeping our bodies warm and comfortable, which allows us to focus on other more important functions. It also supplies us with most of our energy, and does not need water to be stored, making it much lighter than muscle and easier to carry. Fat aids greatly in reproduction, libido, immune functions, eyesight, and makes food taste way better!
In fear of looking like a gelatinous
blob, most people filter the word “fat” out of their diets, consequently
looking like a skeletal corpse. I would not exactly call that attractive, unless that is their natural body form. But today’s media constantly batters us with the image of the “perfect” human
being. Check out the Hane’s commercials, which shame men subconsciously into working out at the gym, or Ralph Lauren ads, giving females the undesired option
to save more money instead of buying food in an epic battle to look like a rail.
Today it seems as though muscle
has become idolized within the male population, giving males wide options for a mate and even job opportunities. Muscle is essential
for life as well, but it is certainly
overly-accentuated compared
to fat. Female models, on the other hand, are very thin and tall. Male and female models, for the most part, are healthy people who naturally have an ideal body image, with the help of healthy eating and exercise, but there are many more people with physical “flaws” as seen through the cold eyes of the media. It is a mystery to why the media focuses on such an image as the “perfect” body for both males and females, but it certainly makes a long lasting statement within the beholder’s psyche, whether subliminally implemented or not.
An excess of fat by no means is healthy, just as an abnormally gargantuan amount of muscle is equally as unhealthy to the kidneys. But we have to realize, as humans, we are not on the same level to judge as a B.M.I. (body mass index) calculator. Our calculating mind is powered by compassion, which should be shown to all people regardless
of their weight or looks. An “excess” amount of healthy fat should not be frowned upon at all, but thought of as beautiful for a change. Unfortunately, we cannot teach the BMI calculator to love. In a new study, people who were either underweight or extremely obese died the earliest,
but those who were slightly overweight lived the longest! For those of you cold, skinny people quick to judge (you are literally cold because you lack insulation), your fat counterparts will be laughing above your grave.

It has been one month and twenty-five days since my last memorable meal. If I close my eyes, I can still recall it: a sizzling New York strip steak coated with marionberry sauce, a salad of fresh mozzarella mixed with tomato and basil from our garden, lightly drizzled in olive oil, and a bed of spaghetti topped with a savory pancetta and onion sauce. The smell of my mother’s French bread is perhaps most memorable. I recall relishing the sound of the crackling crust and the way the poppy seeds dropped off and danced on the plate as you bit into the fluffy, warm loaf. This food was simple, and homemade with fresh, flavorful ingredients. The time away from home makes me deeply appreciate this “real” food.
No insult is intended toward the dining provided on campus. In fact, I am very grateful for the extreme effort at providing the fresh, varying menu they prepare each day. But the challenge of appealing to thousands of college students’ taste buds requires the food to have a certain flavor. The butter and salt that dominates American cuisine is amplified when large groups are served. The extreme of this example are the fast food restaurants.
I admit, I am a food snob. This does not mean I am a picky eater. I am willing to try almost anything once; I even sampled tongue in a deli. I detest people who have never tasted a food but are convinced that they hate it. It astounds me when people run off a list of things they simply will not eat, especially when this list includes basic, delicious ingredients such as: tomatoes, onion, green pepper, and mushrooms. Although vegetables are the least popular among picky eaters, I have heard testaments of hatred towards members of all the food groups: steak, pork, eggs, fish, pasta, shrimp. When asked if these picky eaters have tried these things, the most common reply is, “Ew, never!” followed closely by, “Once. I hated it.” Even one time can rarely warrant hatred of a food. Fish is an excellent example. A fish sandwich at McDonald’s is not a legitimate sample of fish.
If you think you hate fish, I encourage you to go to someone who knows how to cook. Try a maple-glazed salmon, grilled on a cedar plank or a fresh-caught halibut simmered in seafood chowder (best eaten while watching a Cape Cod sunset). Then perhaps you are an appropriate judge of fish. With the right preparation and the right cook behind the stove, any dreaded food can be turned into a favorite.
Sushi is another commonly detested food. If the only sushi you have seen is at a cheesy Chinese buffet or in a cafeteria, you have never eaten sushi. Sushi is not made with tuna from the can or imitation crab. Real sushi (like the kind I enjoyed at a restaurant in D.C.) is perhaps the most flavorful, delicious thing that will ever touch your taste buds.
It never ceases to frustrate me how some people will not eat anything besides peanut-butter and jelly. One friend of mine looked as if she wanted to vomit when I mentioned the lamb I had the previous night. I believe she has been brainwashed, or her taste-buds have. She was mouth-washed (if you will) and would only accept bland and dismal flavors that would not disturb her sheltered taste-buds. She will never know the exciting, complex flavor of curry or the intense rush of a raw oyster. I sincerely believe this is a tragedy.
The problem with eating delicious food is usually the miles between the prospective epicure and the cuisine. I implore you to take a trip to New York City or D.C. and spend your money, not on shows or souvenirs, but on food. Eat at bakeries, cafes, restaurants, and bistros. Buy a loaf of crusty, Italian bread and you will forget the doughy Wonderbread you have consumed your whole life. Try a portabella and smoked salmon sandwich and you’ll never go back to a Hardee’s hamburger.
Some people have never eaten. Yesterday, a fellow student called the penne on my plate spaghetti. All pasta is not just spaghetti. The cappuccinos people love from Marathon or sub-par coffee shops are a disgrace: they are merely a sugary, milky, coffee flavored power drink. A real cappuccino is one half dark espresso and one half light, espresso-infused milk foam.
College amplifies our society’s disturbing dislike of real food. Cooking real food is restricted by shared kitchenettes and the transportation and cost involved in obtaining quality ingredients. The Dining Hall is obligated to appeal to everyone’s palate and only cultural celebrations provide a reprieve from a tasteless existence.
Let me leave you with one of my favorite meal memories. The setting: a long table outside of a restaurant in St. Malo, France. It was about nine or ten at night on a warm July evening. Around me are friends and strangers, most of them in a happy, red-wine-induced daze. In front of me is a plate of incredible, maple-glazed duck nestled beside a large section of baguette. Every mouthful, every waft from the scent of the perfect dish filled my head with happiness. All I thought about was the taste and smell and texture of what I was eating. The way that dish captured all of my senses describes the ideal sample of real food.

Free pizza and pop in Fisher 135 tonight! It doesn’t matter what the content of the meeting is, there is free, highly-processed food available for consumption. Even the Honors Institute advertises to its members that free pizza and pop will be available at the meetings in high dosages. Talk about brain food. Let’s pump up the levels of high fructose corn syrup and bleached flour.
Processed foods are created to have long shelf life, advertising appeal and cost efficiency, but not nutritional value. Ingredients like high fructose corn syrup (HFCS), bleached flour, and partially or fully hydrogenated oils have been considered as evil for a long time but they are still being consumed at alarming rates and viewed as food. Just one example, the refined fats and oils are stripped of essential fatty acids necessary for optimal mood and memory as well as other bodily functions. Of course I would settle to say these ingredients degrade your body and make you feel and look like crap, but the average person wants some sort of scientifically proved fact. These are the last things stressed students should be eating.
Besides the fact that HFCS obviously leads to a plethora of health problems including the promotion of obesity and diabetes, it has often been found to contain Mercury. Instead of considering not using HFCS at all or greatly lessening the use of fructose, it is sought out that only mercury free HFCS be used. Great, let’s complicate things further.
Not only does the food industry care more about money than it does the well being and quality of life of consumers, the same goes for school systems. We are in a vicious cycle of paying for cheaply made, unhealthy products and not considering paying even one dollar more for better produce and grains. So, when all these pizza eating, pop guzzling college students finally score the job they’ve been wanting and start making big bucks, what are they going to spend their money on? Well it most probably will not be high quality, pure food. In fact about three quarters of health care dollars are being spent on “preventable chronic disease”. And when this generation starts having kids they’re going to feed their children what they eat.
Many people discuss the need for a change in health care, but few even think about food reform in the United States. Prevention is key. If we prevent all the illnesses we can through our diet, we will feel a lot better physically, emotionally and mentally. Then we can spend health care dollars more effectively.
But the atmosphere of the college eating scene is grab-and-go. The foods that are sold in this genre of food are hardly acceptable to my standards, which are considered high. That being said, it is in my opinion that the food standards need to be raised and that can start in the college community. Instead of Health 101 and free pizza and pop we need real, useful health knowledge. There is no need to read a bunch of health articles but we do need the repetition of basic, common-sense ideas. Here is all you need to know: eat foods that are not highly processed (i.e. not from a box or cooked all to hell). Eat a balance of the natural food groups: greens, fruits, nuts, seeds, mushrooms, grains, etc. and drink a lot of water, for God’s sake. It’s as simple as that. It is important to get the idea out of your head that a good meal is a highly complex cooked meal or an expensive meal. Expensive meals can still be nutritionally worthless.
So, I have a question for staff, student organization leaders and everyone who ingests (I hope that includes everyone): when will we stop caring more about money and advertising and start caring more about health and well-being? When will we start to feed our bodies effectively so we can think effectively?
Will we ever see signs boasting free refreshments that actually provide body and mind empowering foods? Well, I guess water and celery isn’t as cool or awesome as pop and pizza.
A school system should promote health, not promote the bad eating habits adopted by so many Americans often called S.A.D. (Standard American Diet not Seasonal Affective Disorder) by many health-nuts. It IS sad that so many people, specifically a majority of college students, are eating so poorly and that “preventable chronic diseases” are becoming so common and at younger and younger ages.
Look, they’re even making a movie about it : www.imdb.com and hey, there is a wiki page: en.wikipedia.org. It is scary that the Wikipedia page for “Healthy Diet” states: ”A healthy diet is one that helps maintain or improve health. It is important for the prevention of many chronic diseases, such as: obesity, heart disease, diabetes, and cancer”. So, the crappy American diet has defined what a good diet should be.
The solution is awareness, enlightening yourself and taking small steps away from what has been ingrained as your current eating habits. The solution is to not promote eating poorly whenever possible. Perhaps it shouldn’t be the norm to have pizza and pop unless we drastically change how they are produced. Perhaps we should learn to feed ourselves and others.
As always, I complain about health and food a lot, but that only because I care so much about your health.

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I certainly do not look like I am one month shy of twenty-years old. Anyone who knows me could tell you that. In my previous job, I had customers approach me warily, not sure I could handle alcohol merely because they thought I was not of age. Every day, youth are discriminated against in hundreds of different ways. I like to think I am an older soul, but because of my youthful appearance, I am not always taken seriously. The discrimination, whether blunt or extremely subtle, has got to stop.

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Everything in the world contains or uses energy. We find it in the makeup of our bodies, the production of new goods and in the use of electrical applications. We are constantly looking for new ways to harvest energy to benefit our uses or change our world. Though energy is necessary for basic life, we may be changing the frontier on energy usage. As the world begins to combat global warming and changing environments, people have begun looking in the direction of sustainability and conservation. These ideas don’t just apply to waste production and the emissions of greenhouse gases, but encompass many of the normal daily functions we take for granted.

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Dear Sally,
I’m graduating at the end of the semester and have found a job across the country. I don’t have a house yet nor do I know where to look to find one. I’m preparing to enter into the “adult world” but I’m completely unsure how to do this—I don’t pay my own bills, I hardly make my own food, and I’m not sure I’ll be able to cross the threshold into real adulthood easily. Do you have any suggestions that could help?
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College is supposed to be that time during which young adults practice the “art” of becoming an adult: your responsibility is limited, you have ample time to get the hang of paying bills, cooking meals and taking care of yourself, and chances are, if you make a mistake, the outcome will be minimal. Therefore, you might want to take advantage of the next five weeks and get your head in the game.
I would first talk to whoever handles your bills. Find out your monthly budget and how much money gets allocated to what bill. Then, find out how they pay your bills, for example, do they have bill pay where money gets automatically taken out of their bank account to go to the company, do they pay online or do they use snail mail? Next, figure out which payment option best fits you and your needs and make it so that bill paying is your new job. Make sure to keep track of your money so you don’t overdraft your account and you can manage your money responsibly.

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