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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 16, 1999)
EDITOR Erin Gibson OPINION EDITOR Cliff Hicks EDITORIAL BOARD Nancy Christensen Brad Davis Sam McKewon Jeff Randall Bret Schulte ■ Our , VIEW Smoke signals Proposed ban attacks rights in halls, houses Smoking has been the preferred whip ping boy for politicians for quite some time now, and it appears that the Nebraska Unicameral is about to join the party with LB211. The bill, which initially was intended to prohibit smoking in the State Capitol, has now expanded to cover all state-owned buildings - and that includes residence halls and greek houses on the University of Nebraska-Lincoln campus. The initial intent of this bill is admirable. Saving the inspired architecture and interior beauty of the State Capitol can hardly be faulted. If smoking inside will hurt that building, it is best to move smokers outside. And banning smoking in public buildings is understandable, particularly when consider ing the close working quarters in many offices. But when the Legislature wants to tell UNL freshmen that a set of unreasonable house rules is in effect at their mandatory liv ing quarters, that’s a different story. Sure, smoking isn’t good for people. Sure, smoking in a laundry room or a game room or the hallway isn’t really considerate. But smoking in the privacy of one’s own room should not be considered a crime - it should be a right. Smoke-free floors have already been cre ated to appease those who can’t tolerate the scent of burning-tobacco. Cigarette sales have been ousted from UNLs-campus. No smoking rules have been established in near ly every building we set foot in each and every day. For the smoker, the one safe haven from all of these limitations has always been home. If LB211 passes, there will be no safe place for the smokers to hide - with the obvi ous exception of the wind-chilled sidewalks surrounding their residence halls. Particularly for freshmen, most of whom have no choice but to call a residence hall home, this bill threatens a slice of personal freedom that - depending on the size of one’s habit - might be large and significant. State senators need to look closely at LB211 and acknowledgethe full impact it could have if enacted. The sidewalks outside of Abel, Selleck and Smith will be littered with discarded butts. The air that wafts into the lobby from the entryways will be yellowed with nicotine. Colds will run rampant among the count less students who are forced to loiter outside on the coldest days of winter. And student assistants who thought stop ping the flow of alcohol in residence halls was difficult will be in for an entirely differ ent war. The way it is, LB211 isn’t worth it, it’s not worth the time, the effort or the — oh, excuse us, some of us have to go outside now for a quick smoke break. Edltarfal Policy Unsigned editorials are the opinions of the Spring 1999 Daily Nebraskan. They do not necessarily reflect the views of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, its employees, its student body or the University of Nebraska Board of Regents. A column is solely the opinion of its author. The Board of Regents serves as publisher of the Daily Nebraskan; policy is set by the Daily Nebraskan Editorial Board. The UNL Publications Board, established by the regents, supervises the production of the paper. According to policy set by the regents, responsibility for the editorial content of the newspaper lies solely in the hands of its student employees. laOMMkv The Daily Nebraskan welcomes brief letters to the editor and guest columns, but does not guarantee tneir publication. The Daily Nebraskan retains the right to edit or reject any material submitted. Submitted material becomes property of the Daily Nebraskan and cannot be returned. Anonymous submissions will not be published. Those who submit letters must identify themselves by none, year in school, major and/or group affiliation, if any. Submit material to: Daily Nebraskan, 34 Nebraska Union, 1400 R St Lincoln, NE. 68588-0448. E-mail: letters@unlinfo.unl.edu. 4 ✓ Ritter’s VIEW Stalking celery Plans for a week of healthier eating gone awry AX. FORKNER is a junior news-editorial major and a Daily Nebraskan columnist The following is a case study of sci entific research. In no way should this column be read under the misconcep tion that this is the author’s attempt at weight loss. The writer is quite comfort ablefor a man of his girth. That is all. Honest, I really was going to do it out of curiosity. It all stems from a magazine article. In the latest issue of Maxim, there is a story about the World’s Strongest Man competitions. In a sidebar, the magazine ran the daily meal plan for the recommended diet for an average person. “ a mere z,«uu caiones. Ur 11 bot tles of our beloved Pepsi. (Hey, how about a grant for columnists?) Next to that ran the daily diet for strongman competitor Henry “Iron Bear'’ Collins - a tad over 10,000 calo ries. Roughly translated into 2 tubs of Crisco with a 24-oz. Nestle’s Quik chaser. As I read this, my innate journalis tic instinct kicked in. I wondered how l would feel if I followed the American Dietary Association’s recommended diet for a week. Thus, my grand experiment began. Day One: I woke up and had a fair breakfast of bran flakes (1 oz.), low-fat yogurt, 2 slices of wheat toast and 6 oz. of coffee. Yum. This was a bit weird for me, 4 considering I never eat breakfast mf I live on the 20-minute schedule # -I get up 20 minutes before I % have to be somewhere 15 minutes 7 away. \ I was feeling pretty good in \ econ that morning. Believe me, that’s a first, for anyone in econ. ' For lunch I had a lean roast beef sandwich on rye with cheese ‘ and alfalfa sprouts, as well as a banana, broccoli and milk. OK, alfalfa is gross. I haven’t eaten anything that nasty since I munched on my 8*- _ grade social science teacher’s fan. Hey, she was a witch and she deserved it Seriously, it’s a long story, I’ll go into later. If you ask nicely. And promise not to tell die authorities. My afternoon snack was a cup of grapes and 1/3 cup of peanuts. All in all, it was going pretty good. Dinner - 4 oz. of broiled chicken, 1 cup of brown rice, carrots, salad, angel food cake and milk. By this time, I was feeling odd. No heartburn. No upset stomach. No feel ing like death warmed over in a Crockpot (No reason for using the term Crockpot other than the great sound of the word.) 1 Hm, let’s see. No vending machine food. No dinner out of a plastic wrap per, nor delivered from a window. Coincidence? Day two: I woke up feeling hungry. Mind you, I missed my usual 2 aan. post-work meal. I was also realty sluggish. No doubt due to the zero grams of caffeine in my system. » A coffee and Dr Pepper (uh, I mean Pepsi - just a little grant?) junkie, I was feeling the effects of no pop. Breakfast was realty similar to the day before, almost OK, I was starving so I had a triple helping of breakfast Mmm... Bran flakes. Since I overdid breakfast, I had to cutback elsewhere to keep under 2,800 calories. Well, there goes lunch. I swear that afternoon took five years. Finally, dinner rolled around. Once again, I had the chicken breast So what if it was smothered in BBQ sauce and cheese? I figured I’d make up for it the next day. I mean, that 2,800-calo • . AmyMartin/DN thing is a weekly average, right? day.... And the next day. Day four: How many calories are there in the average Wednesday DN opinion section? I kinda ate mine. It was much more appealing than those alfalfa things (While you’re at it, look up the calorie count for sports, A&E, news, classifieds and the desk the paper was sitting on.) Day five: Arrggghhh. My room mate baked some chocolate-chip cook ies. I was saving some calories for a cookie after lunch.Unfortunately, I brushed my teeth to get die alfalfa taste out of my mouth. Freaking toothpaste used up die rest of my calories! I’ll show the ADA. Tomorrow I’ll just drag my tongue on the carpet to lose the sprout residue. Day six: Felt weak... strength faded... eyes blurry... speech became ... Shattnered. (Feel free to insert your own “Dammit, A.L., I’m a not a_” joke here. You know you’re already thinking it Never resist peer pressure, especially from a columnist. You will make the joke. Pepsi will give me a grant.) Day seven: Last day. My weekly average was a wee bit (1,100 calories) over the limit. But I figured it had to be several hundreds below my average intake. I will go on. I will survive. I will stop quoting Gloria Gaynor. OK, it’s mid-aflemoon. Emeril Lagasse is doing desserts on The Essence of Emeril. Damn the Food Network. I just know’ I have an unhealthy blood grease content. I needed 30 cc of Wesson, stat! Dinner - too bad I was out of calo ries for tiie week. I could only watch as my roommate ate ' spaghetti and garlic toast. She took too much pleasure in this. ' Suffering isn’t funny. Well, at least my suffer ing isn’t funny. Near midnight. I was counting down minutes and felt like Dick Clark. Ancient and made of plastic. \fes, I made it. I felt like singing. “Should bad ideas be forgot, now let me eat like a swine.” Look out, Hi-Way Diner. I need food. Warm up the chili-cheese fries, daddy Is coming home. For thirds, prob ably.