March 27, 2012

Viewfinder:Women’s Lacrosse vs. Gordon

Page 4

Exclusively on highlandernews.net

highlandernews.net

Columnist focuses on healthy eating on campus...P3 SLP professor publishes children’s book...P5

The Week in PhotosSubmit on campus photos to

highlandernews.net to see your work displayed on the web!

Cougars fall against Gordon 12-22 in third game of the season

Twenty-three students and faculty members traveled to Spokane, Washington and help build houses for those who need them the most. Campus Ministry organized the trip with Habitat For Humanity. For four days in a row volunteers spent their time building double hous-ing units with garages from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. with a daily lunch break. One house had already been stable with a roof when the MU crew ar-rived, while another had only a concrete foundation and a few of the outer walls com-pleted. The volunteers split up to work on the individual houses. Most worked on framing houses outside, and a few did interior work, including paint-ing walls and ceilings and installing insulation. The goal of Habitat for Hu-manity is to give low-income families nice and affordable houses to live in. In return each family must do 500 hours of volunteer work: 100 in the Habitat offices and the other 400 to help build houses for others who are in the same situation. The volunteers stayed at the Pilgrim Lutheran Church in Spokane for the week. They were able to explore the city when they weren’t working. One group went for a morn-ing hike along the Columbia River to explore the beauti-ful natures of Spokane. “The weather was very nice that day making it easier to adjust to Washington and strengthen

the bonding among our group,” said junior Ryan Has-sick. Another group explored the shopping centers that down-town Spokane had to offer. “It was very beautiful there and the people there were very helpful with guiding us to the awesome stores,” said sopho-more Shannon Joyce. Volunteers also visited some of the region’s landmarks, including the world’s larg-est Radio Flyer Wagon and Spokane Falls. They also visited Gonzaga University, a school known for its excellence in basketball at the Division I level. Whitworth University opened its cafeteria to the volunteers and provided three nights of complimentary meals. “Whitworth’s food was amazing and we as a group are grateful that they were so courteous and provided us with meals,” said Joyce. One night during the trip, the church hosted a dinner. Families cooked homemade soup and the group of vol-unteers enjoyed dinner and shared stories and experiences with some of the church mem-bers. Afterwards, the pastor offered a church service in ap-preciation for the volunteers’ efforts. By the end of the volunteer trip, MU students and fac-ulty helped Habitat workers complete two week’s worth of construction work, bringing the group ahead of schedule

Invisible Children Presentation

Page 6

Members from Invisible Children educate students, faculty and stafff in Lemmond Theater

Continued on page 5

Volunteers Travel, Make Habitat Into HomeBy Arthur Dowell, Reporter

From the moment the 2012 season started, the Cougars baseball team considered themselves one of the top teams in the nation. According to the latest poll on d3base-ball.com, Head Coach Pete Egbert and his guys aren’t the only ones. The Cougars have stormed out of the gate, winning eleven out their first thirteen games, and are ranked #21 in the country. “It’s good to finally get rec-ognition,” Egbert said. “Guys work hard and they deserve everything they get.” The Cougars were previous-ly an honorable mention, but this is the first time they have officially cracked the top 25.“It was tough for us,” Senior Jeff Slanovec said. “But, now that we finally got there, the rest of the country realizes what we’re doing here.” Senior pitcher Pat Clark along with junior pitchers Evan Robaczewski and Ron Guido have provided quality starts for the Cougars, helping to propel them to early season success. “Guys are playing well,” Egbert said. “We’re getting outstanding pitching every day. Our philosophy is if you have good pitching and good defense you have a shot to win every game, and that’s all I can ask for.” According to Egbert, the competitive nature of the team raises the level of play

among the group. “The guys are fun to watch,” Egbert said. “There’s com-petition amongst the team because no one wants to get outdone by a teammate.” Slanovec believes the camara-derie remains as good as it’s ever been. “Last year we really came together as a team,” Slanovec said. “With almost all of the team coming back, it carried right into this year.” After winning the MAC championship last season, the Cougars aren’t going to be able to sneak up on any team like they did in 2011. “We were picked to finish near the bottom of the confer-ence to start the season last year,” Egbert said. “We were the underdog. ” “As you win, you upset some people,” Egbert said with a laugh. “That’s something we talked about. Coming in we knew we had a target.”The Cougars position has shifted, although their ap-proach hasn’t. “We’re not going to change how we play,” Slanovec said. “We’re still going to try to win the three categories which are defense, pitching, and offense, but since we’re getting every-one’s best we have to come to play every day.” With the recognition that the Cougars have received after last year’s playoff run and current national ranking, scheduling more prestigious

Students take bite out of Apple Maggie Young woke up in the morning to charge her iPad for class only to discover that it was missing. In a panic, she rushed to campus, scoured the Walsh Mezzanine and even asked her professor and classmates if they had seen the device that carried all of the materials for her Tuesday and Thursday class-es. She called her boyfriend to help in the search. With a little help from Apple, he was able to locate and track her missing iPad to its exact location. “He used iCloud, typed it all in and discovered it was on top of my trash can the whole time. I have other Apple products so it’s a good thing to know for the future,” said Young, senior. Many students have been using Apple products for years, and as additional products, including the new iPad are released, many consumers update and upgrade to take a bite out of the new technol-ogy. “It’s easy, it’s conve-nient, it’s lightweight, doesn’t break, but if you do break it you can take it to Apple and they will figure it out. If you lose it they know exactly where it is. They can take a picture of where the device is and will email you the address of where it’s at. It is absolute-ly awesome,” said Young.

Apple’s iPhone 4S contains a program known as Siri that caused many students like Mary Scarpa to choose the phone over the competi-tion. Siri allows anyone to talk and ask questions to the device, and it answers them. She found the program came in handy when she went to Sacramento over spring break with Campus Ministry. “I found myself in the city with two other girls that weren’t familiar with the area

and there were a couple times during the day when I was searching for a Starbucks or ‘what’s the best way to get to here?’ and I really needed that person to talk to me and not necessarily look down

like a complete tourist,” said Scarpa, senior. “It was nice knowing that I had an app on my phone that made me feel human, like I was interacting with somebody real.” Students have various uses for their technology. Many use them on a daily basis to stay organized and have all of their materials in a single device. “I have Kindle and E-books so I have all of my books on my iPad, and I take all my notes through a notepad app. It’s

where my agenda is so liter-ally everything is on there,” said Young. Others have utilized pro-grams and products that can help in the classroom and the workplace. Some I.T. and

communications students are learning how to create an app that can be used on Apple devices in the future. “For my particular industry of communications, I really needed to equate myself with these products. I focus on graphic design and some of the programs I use include Adobe InDesign, Photoshop, Dream Weaver and I am actually taking a class where we are learning how to cre-ate apps that will be used on

Apple products,” said Scarpa. Many universities including MU have begun to incorpo-rate different Apple products into their curriculum. The Mary Kintz Bev-evino Library has even begun loaning out iPads along with laptops to assist students with their studies.“I think iPads should be used in schools. They may seem pricier, but I truly believe that they would help the cost of books and give students an advanced learn-ing on technology,” said senior Michele

Drago. Staying ahead of the compe-tition is one of several rea-sons many believe that being familiar with new technology is essential. “I think at this stage in the

By April Dulsky, Web Editor

Continued on page 5

TEAM SOARS TOHIGH RANKINGBy Dominick Dellos, Reporter

Above, Apple madness hits the Highlander office as web editor April Dulsky and web master Morgan Harding show off their collection during layout night.

APRIL DULSKY/THE HIGHLANDER

Top left, junior Kelly Haberern gets pieces of lumber ready for construction on a Habitat for Humanity site in Spokane Washing-ton. Middle, grad student Alissa Perez measures the distance be-tween wood planks. Middle, junior Sean Vitale hammers a ladder together inside a house in order to work on the roof of a Habitat for Humanity structure. Left, MU volunteers work on the outside of a house in Spokane Washington during a spring break service trip. Above, senior Ashley Marinock and Mary Bimler hose off paint rollers after a day of work on the inside of a home.

STEPH HERBERT FOR THE HIGHLANDER

ARTHUR DOWELL/THE HIGHLANDER

March 27, 2012highlandernews.net2

CONTACT US

STAFFThe Highlander is a free, biweekly publication produced in conjunction with

MU Communications Department. Any full-time student is encouraged to join the staff. We are a member of the American Scholastic Press Association,

Associated Collegiate Press and the Pennsylvania Newspaper Association.

INTEGRITYThe Highlander works to produce up-to-date, clear, accurate reporting. If any information is inaccurate or not covered thor-

oughly, corrections and information will appear in this area. Opinions and views expressed in The Highlander in no way reflect those of Misericordia University or the Sisters of Mercy. The Highlander Staff welcomes students, faculty and reader response.

The Highlander reserves the right to edit submissions for grammatical errors and length. All submissions must be signed. Letters to the Editor and/or materials for publication may be submitted by any reader. Items can be sent via e-mail.

Katlin Bunton - Editor-in-ChiefEllen Hoffman - Print EditorApril Dulsky - Web EditorJulia Truax - Content Manager

Audra Wehner - Business ManagerMorgan Harding - Web Master

Melissa Sgroi - Advisor

Misericordia University301 Lake Street

Dallas, PA 18612

Mary Bove - Photographer

highland@misericordia.edumsgroi@misericorida.edu

570-674-6400570-674-6737

buntonk@misericordia.edudulskya@misericordia.edu

CONTRIBUTORS

News

Nicole BattistaAlexa CholewaDominick DellosArthur DowellMichele DragoSteph HerbertHilary Hoover

Josh Horton Patrick HunterKayla KubbishunJake RakestrawMegan ShererCarissa Stonier

More than 10 teams are signed up for the Relay for Life Event held by Colleges Against Cancer club. Amanda Tomaselli, sopho-more and Co-President of Colleges Against Cancer, said more teams are encouraged to join. The camp-out style event is usually placed in the center of a track. It consists of teams of people who have known some-one with cancer, who has died of cancer, has survived cancer, or anyone interested in rais-ing awareness for the cause. The idea is to stay up all night, because “cancer never sleeps,” while team members take turns walking around the track all night. Proceeds of the Relay for Life fundraiser go to the American Cancer Society, which serves families by pro-viding transportation, helping women to feel more confident about themselves, providing peer support, and even offer-ing scholarships for students with a history of cancer. “During RFL, one can wit-ness that the event is filled with laughter, happiness, sadness, compassion, hope, determination, strength, and so much more,” said Toma-selli. She and her fellow co-president sophomore Kayla Darcey agreed that Relay for Life is a moving experience. “Everyone has a different

story and experience which you should cherish and learn from,” said Tomaselli. Darcey mentioned that during Relay for Life is a place where all different people can love and support each other. With this year’s 1980s theme, the relay is going to have activities to encour-age students to stay awake for the entirety of the event. Members of the CAC team have organized tournaments, games and live music as en-tertainment. The CAC team has been working non-stop since Oc-tober to organize the event. Darcey and Tomaselli keep it under control. “As co-presi-dents, our job is to delegate jobs to other members that hold positions in the club so that everything can run smoothly as possible,” said Tomaselli. The CAC team is raising money, planning activities, getting facilities approval, and gathering food donations. The team even went so far as to go to a conference at Muhlen-berg College to discuss and brainstorm ideas about each of their events. According to Darcey, members plan to make a video advertisement, and they have organized a few events, including a TGI Fridays night and an Easter Egg Hunt. Relay for Life is a 12-hour

event, and students are encouraged to stay through the night, to help to follow through with the slogan that “cancer never sleeps.” To help keep participants at RFL all night, the team will provide coffee and a place for people to take naps and a get away from all of the activity for a little rest. Anyone can register online at the website, www.relayfor-life.com/pamisericordia. The event is scheduled for April 13 - 14 from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. in the Banks Student Life Center.

By Megan Scherer, Reporter

The Colleges Against Cancer club is looking for more student involvement and help with Relay for Life.

Dorming picks go digital Cash 5. Powerball. Megamil-lions. On-campus room selec-tion. For students interested in living on campus in fall 2012, the room selection lot-tery may mean more than any other lottery around. Most rooms, dorms and buildings are up for grabs for any student. “So if you lived in Gildea [this year] there’s no guarantee you are going to get back in Gildea next year. It does not matter where you lived this year,” says A.J. Nudo of Resident Life. The room lottery is a multi-step process that begins with paperwork, and for the first time, some of it is online. This change was made with students in mind, Nudo said. He believes it is much easier for those wanting to take part in the lottery to simply log into their e-MU accounts and print out the necessary forms. “By putting everything online, students who are interested in the room lottery process who currently live on campus, all they have to do is go on the e-MU page, the residence life e-MU page, and print the documents, get everything filled out and done. There is not additional stuff - you don’t have to go to your mailbox. All the information is right there at your fingertips,” Nudo said. The previous hard-copy lottery process resulted in the waste of paper, he said. Nudo credits the green efforts of Cougars for Change with the altered lottery process. “We found that we were wasting a lot of paper because every student who currently lives on campus, including all the seniors and all the stu-dents not interested in coming back to housing would get all the forms,” he says. The modified lottery process also eased the burden for those in charge of it. “Instead of getting all the forms printed out by the print shop, then placing them in the mailboxes, all we did was re-ally cut a step out,” Nudo says. Another change is the ad-dition of a program called R.E.A.C.H aimed at students looking for a certain type of

housing situation. Students interested in R.E.A.C.H can now go through the same room lottery process. “It stands for Residents Excelling in Academics, Com-munity, and Health. And it’s a substance-free academically conducive type of environment that we’re establishing. It’s students that want to abstain from alcohol, or they want to live with people that are going to abstain from alcohol, to-bacco, drugs,” Nudo explains. To complete required forms, students must visit the health center and student financial services. “They need to take care of printing the documents, going to the health center which just involve them making a new copy of their health insurance card and then go to student financial services to pay the $100 nonrefundable deposit for next year’s room, get their paper stamped and bring it back to us,” Nudo said. After completing this first step, Resident Life staff begins grouping students based on their academic year. Nudo states that this is based on how many credits taken or earned by the fall of the previ-ous semester. “So fall of 2011, in this case, whatever the registrar says you are, that is what group you’ll be classified in. So if the registrar says you are a junior, we put a 3 on your paper and that is what you would select, in a group of other juniors,” he said. Once all interested students are grouped by their credit and grade levels, the process enters the number selection phase. Nudo explains that anyone with 90 credits or above and is classified as a senior will pick numbers first. Juniors are second, and the process follows the descending order according to academic year. “We’ll trickle down to the first year students until we’ve completed the process. Instead of assigning every-one a number, students will physically come on a day and time assigned and pick a number from a bin - that will

be their number for the lottery process.” The room lottery will take place April 13 from 4 to 9 p.m. in Sandy and Marlene Insalaco Hall. Although it is a five-hour process, Resident Life tries to ease the burden. “We place a time of when you should arrive. So we’ll say numbers one to 25 show up at five, so we’re not making any-one sit and wait for five hours we’ll give you a specific time frame to show up,” Nudo said. Although seniors are the first group to pick rooms, they can include students with higher numbers to room with them. “Last year we had 35 seniors and they were numbered one through 35. Say I was number one and I want a town house. I can pull five friends in with me and they have numbers 25, 36, whatever. But they would go under my number because I was first. It’s not a matter of you have to wait for your spe-cific number to come out. It’s the best number of the group.” Nudo thinks the lottery system works, and in his four years of running it, he said he hasn’t heard any serious complaints. He does offer some suggestions for inexperienced students. “We always tell first year students to have multiple plans set up for yourself. Have a backup plan. If you’re a senior you’re probably going to get what you are looking for because you are going to be one of the first of so many go-ing. The further you are down the list, have a backup plan. So if you don’t get X you have your Y.” Students must submit pa-perwork by March 29 at 4 p.m. Nudo doesn’t suggest waiting until the last minute.“If everybody waits for the last second, you’re going to put a rush at the Health Center and you’re going to have long lines waiting there, or at Financial Services, to get it done. It’s better off if you know you’re coming back, get it done as soon as possible.” Information on the lottery process is on the Resident Life page on eMU.

By Jake Rakestraw, Reporter

Students make online dorm selections for the 2012-2013 school year.

CAC hosting Relay for Life

MARY BOVE / THE HIGHLANDERAbove, sophomore Josh Horton, and seniors April Dulsky, Julia Traux and Amber Gulla pose for a photograph after receiving their 2012 Keystone awards at the Hershey Lodge and Convention Center in Hershey, Pennsyl-vania on March 14, 2012. Horton, Dulsky and Traux were honored with a second place recognition in their on-going news coverage for a series. Gulla received honorable mention for her public service/enterprise package.

Highlander Takes Keystones

RELAY FOR LIFE:

Register online at: www.relayforlife.

com/pamisericordia

April 13-147 a.m. to 7p.m.

in Banks Student Life Center

Come out and sup-port the American

Cancer Society and MU’s College’s Against Cancer

VIEWFINDER: Cue Springtime

APRIL DULSKY/THE HIGHLANDERTop, Cherry blossoms bloom on March 22, 2012.Bottom, junior Becca Fagnano catches up on her reading outside on March 23, 2012 in front of Banks Student Life Center.

MARY BOVE/THE HIGHLANDER

March 27, 2012highlandernews.net 3Arts & Entertainment

CAPSCORNER

At The Counseling & Psychological Services Center (CAPS), support is available and no concern is too big or too small.

Counselors are available to support you in a non-judgmental way using a holistic perspective - attending to mind, body and

spirit. Our hope is that through counseling services you are able to create more balance, peace and serenity in your life.

We invite all students to utilize CAPS Center services includ-ing individual therapy, group therapy, consultation services, referral services, psycho-educational programs and/or crisis

intervention. Services are free and available to all full-time matriculated students. For more information about the CAPS Center and resources visit us on the e-MU tab “Campus Life.”

Awareness FairApril 11th from 11am to 1pm

Expand your awareness about organizations and opportunities that support our global interconnectedness by stopping by the

tables that will be set up in the dining hall on this date. 

CAPS Day TuesdayApril 17th 11-1:30 pm

Join the Peer Advocates, Sexual Assault Facts & Education (SAFE) Peer Educators, Healthy Options Peer Educators

(HOPE), Substance Abuse Peer Educators and Active Minds in Banks Lobby on CAPS Day

STOP BY in The CAPS Center OPEN HOUSE for food, beverages and some special surprises. Students who stop by the CAPS Center will be entered in a drawing to win 2 Round Trip

Tickets to NYC courtesy of Martz Trailways.

3rd Annual Active Minds ScreamfestApril 18 at noon - National Stress Out Day!

Join Active Minds at Noon in Rosenn Plaza (near McGowan Hall) for this 3rd annual screamfest. All faculty, students and staff are encouraged to come out and scream for 10 seconds.

Also stop by Banks Lobby from 11-1:30 pm to get information on National Stress Out Day and Active Minds! This is a fun

event covered by local media so stop by and have a SCREAM!

Sexual Assault Awareness WeekStarting Sunday, April 22-Friday, April 27

The Sexual Assault Facts & Education (SAFE) Peer Educa-tors & Peer Advocates will be working together to promote Sex-ual Assault Awareness on campus throughout this week. Please

show your support by attending events that affect so many people. Statistics highlight 1 in 4 college women are sexually assaulted during their college career; 1 in 33 men are sexually

assault during their lifetime and 80% of Sexual Assaults involve alcohol.  A list of Sexual Assault Awareness events will be avail-able on Channel 10 and other campus media. Please attend and show your support for sexual assault survivors and loved ones.

Mercy Kids Spring Day April 22nd

Peer Advocates will host 20 to 25 children (from Mercy Services in Wilkes-Barre) on campus for a day of fun. This yearly event

also exposes disadvantaged children to the idea that college could be a possibility for them in their future. The children

also are exposed to some positive role modeling from the Peer Advocates as well. (Some of these same children were recipients of the gifts from the Wish Upon A Star program in December).

UPCOMING EVENTS This week’s Recipe for Di-saster deals with my greatest challenge yet: seeing how oth-ers eat healthfully at the Din-ing Hall. Certainly, an ongoing Recipe for Disaster! My day began at 7:15 a.m. when I swiped in for break-fast. A handful of students stared at their meals attempt-ing to multitask by studying, eating, and sleeping. Not try-ing to be nosy, I took a peek at their plates. The trend was a meat, a form of egg, and a but-tered carbohydrate—more of a comfort meal rather than a green plate. However, one stu-dent caught my eye. She got an apple and some peanut but-ter, an egg white, and a small bowl of yogurt with granola. A huge kudos for filling the food groups! I copied her apple and peanut butter and got myself a bowl of Raisin Bran with soy milk. I was impressed by Metz’ efforts to put more fruits on display with the gigantic fruit basket on the salad bar and the fruit bar with strawber-ries, grapes, and my favor-ite- pink grapefruit. I grabbed a pear for later, washed it off at the soda fountain and wrapped it in a paper towel to go. When farms ship their produce, they often cover it in a waxy film to keep bugs and excess moisture from penetrat-ing the surface. At 11:30 a.m., I sought to beat the noon rush of students getting out of classes. Setting my bags down, I made my way back to the main line and in-spected the choices- fajitas and a carved meat. As I pondered, my eyes followed the line down past the steamed veggies, freshly sliced animal, and the taco fixings at the end. I asked for just a fajita shell with some of the veggies then made my way out to the salad bar to grab some dark green leaves, kidney beans, and some hummus. I topped my wrap off with some salsa—et voila! Veggie wrap. A coffee cup filled with soy milk por-tions one cup, and some peach slices for dessert finished my meal. As I made my way back and forth, I noticed other stu-dents finding creative ways to eat healthy. Peanut butter and banana sandwiches, a salad topped with fajita chicken, and a sandwich made from whole wheat bread, fajita chicken, and leafy greens were some dishes of note that I applauded as I made my way over to my lunch partner. Sophomore Dina Boyer has many food allergies. She sticks to the greener options at the salad bar, but because of the cross contamination she sometimes has a limited choice. Cross-contamination in its simplest form is when one food is mixed accidentally with another. For example, when you use the tongs to grab some shredded cheese then use the same tongs to grab some cucumbers and some of that cheese falls into the cucumbers. Now, those with a dairy allergy can no longer eat the cucumbers that are out. If they ingest even part of the allergen, they can become ill – even going into anaphylactic shock. That means that they have trouble breathing. Boyer has become frustrated with the new changes. “In-stead of jacking up the prices, use better quality ingredients. Have more fresh fruits and vegetables involved in the sandwiches and salads at the Den and in the salad bar.Have beans and chickpeas

more often and include more variety in the veggies- bell peppers, darker greens. I would love spinach on the salad bar.” When asked about what Metz can change Boyer said, “It’s not more of what they can add; it’s what they can take off. Have more spices and few-er sauces. Grilled chicken with a nice rub of spices instead of chicken that is drenched in a creamy sauce, now that would be delicious!” I was surprised by a visit from Joi, a Metz employee, when she came by with a container of their vegetable base. A week previous, I had posted on the Metz Facebook Page about the lack of vegan soups, especially during the Lenten season. Last year, they had used a vegetable base that contained gelatin, an animal by-product, and I was upset that I couldn’t partake in the delicious soups. However, this year, they made a change to a different base that does not contain gelatin. Needless to say, I was ecstatic. 3:00 p.m. came with my mid-day craving for caffeine. You know you’re a coffee addict when the Den names a coffee special after you. That’s right. You can order a “Hilary” in the Den – a soy cappuccino with vanilla and hazelnut syrups. They know me too well. Adele is a phenomenal barista and always tops off my cup with a bit of extra foam. By 5:00 p.m., I wasn’t particularly hungry, but I dragged myself for food before night class. Rather than be-ing creative with the staple steamed veggies and the pasta station or flagging down a Metz employee to have them make something for me in the back, in lieu of time I stuck to my guns at the salad bar with a dark green salad, chick-peas, red beets, sunflower seeds, black olives, mandarin oranges, and a dab of oil and vinegar. A small plate of hum-mus and carrots was a won-derfully refreshing appetizer and a thin slice of toast with raspberry jam satisfied my sweet tooth. I saw a varying array of dinners that definitely correlated with the amount of time that they had to eat. Those who were in a rush seemed to pick up something from the grill or speed past the main line. Those with a little bit more time took a more careful choice in planning their meals. Here is where the light bulb goes on. In order for MU students to eat healthy, they need to have healthier to-go options. This can be ac-complished with more baking and grilling and less frying. Vegetables are best in their raw state or slightly steamed without any salt. With the change to continuous dining, I hope Metz takes into consider-ation the fact that students de-pend on them for a nutritious meal. I also hope that students take the initiative to educate themselves about their food choices. I would never push anyone to be vegan, but I would push them to learn more about where their food comes from. You really are what you eat. The moral of the story: Be kind and cooperative with your food service. They feed you. Offer constructive criti-cism, recipes, and suggestions rather than complaining. You are in charge of how you eat and you have a right to a deli-cious and healthy meal. Na Zdrowie!

A Collegiate

By Hilary HooverCulinary Columnist

Recipe for Disaster:

ColumnCulinary

TALK

By Michele DragoFashion Columnist

FASHION

Having an immense inter-est in fashion at a young age, I’ve always wondered how companies decided what’s “in” and what’s “out” for the season ahead. I’ve glanced the glossy pages of Vogue to glimpse the latest styles, but by the time fashion followers are given their season preview, it’s already too late to plan your purchases. It’s obvious most would say Fashion Week is the ultimate deciding factor on this issue, but after the experi-ence I had, I‘d beg to differ. Through one of my intern-ships I was given the oppor-tunity to experience fashion forecasting first-hand. Walk-ing into a giant building with colorfully designed stations lined with premium clothing, endless amounts of shoes, elegant gowns, and accessories that could last a lifetime was a little breathtaking. Seeing a few of my favorite lines like House of Harlow, Dolce Vita and Sanctuary all in one area? It was a place a Fashionista could only dream of - but it became reality as well. This magical place I speak of is Coterie, an exclusive three-day trunk show event in New York City. It’s the prime time to get a real hands-on look at the seasons trends and I definitely had a greater purpose for attending this event: to bring back all of my favorite trends in a feature insider report for all of my lovely readers. I was amazed as I walked into the Javitts Center and saw all of the booths set up for business showing all of fall’s must-haves. I got to attend meetings with some well-known brands includ-ing Michael Stars, Adriano Goldschmeid, Rich & Skinny, and Citizen’s of Humanity and learn a little more about the buying side of the fashion industry. But what really surprised me were the trends I saw for fall – from pleather wax-coated pants in all colors to unexpected leather ac-cessorized pieces. I passed the booths of Elizabeth and James, House of Harlow and even Whitney Eve, the line de-signed by Whitney Port from The Hills. (And yes she was at the booth, and yes I was probably the only star-struck person who wanted to ap-proach her from a mile away, making me look like a total Coterie first-timer.) Straight from fashion’s front lines, here is what you need for fall. This season ahead is full of denim. But not just any denim: skinnies of all textures, patterns and colors. Skinny jeans have been on the rise over the past few years and their sophisticated yet com-fortable style will be staying on the fashion hotlist for quite some time. In one of my new favorite lines dedicated to the skinny jean, Rich & Skinny, the style came in over 75 dif-ferent variations. Some of my favorites and some that you may have an interest in for September include the classic cord and the Gray variation series (different gray tones on the skinny collection). Rich & Skinny is a brand owned by Michael Stars and I definitely think they’ve got their style act together. Skinny jeans are a Fashionista’s staple item and theirs are priced higher yet just right if you want a pair to last forever. Let’s talk patterned skin-nies. If you already don’t own a pair because either you find them over the top or you didn’t realize their popularity, it’s time to start purchasing,

my fashionable friends. I’ve opened my mind to buying a pair yet can’t find any that meet my style standards. Printed denim at Coterie ranged from feminine floral pants featuring lush hot pink roses and light colors perfect for the typical girl who loves “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” to a pair of purple plaid velvet skinnies with green and black tones for the all-around edgier Fashionista. Patterned pants are definitely a statement piece no matter what they are paired with. It’s quite dar-ing to pull off, but I could tell they’re universally compli-mentary. Another trend I was shocked to see was the amount of leather-inspired looks. Whether it is real leather, faux leather, leather trim, or waxed coating made to look like leather…it’s time to own some leather. I like that brands are going the animal-friendly route and using faux leather and items made to look like the real thing. Rich & Skinny offers a pant with waxed-coating, a cheaper and friendlier way to wear this style. Sanctuary clothing is featuring mesh button-downs of all colors with leather trim and collars – a nice touch to a classic shirt. Surprisingly, leather jackets were one of the only pieces I expected to see but didn’t – guess they won’t be making an appearance in September. Being a girl of a more refined feminine style, I tend to go for more pinks, beiges, blacks, and basically any color that reminds me of an old school Coco Chanel look. These colors, to my amazement, are definitely in for fall. The color that stood out the most was a light rose pink in pants, shirts and jackets. The biggest clothing change I’ve noticed was the amount of brands going from a bohemian look to a city look. After sitting in on a meeting with Sanctu-ary clothing staffers, I noticed their brand style completely changed. The brand’s past season’s focused on whimsi-cal tops with flow, with bright colors and a hippie undertone that perfects a carefree style. Fall for Sanctuary is all about business and a style that only a city girl could pull off with a topknot hairstyle for the com-plete look. Most of the bright colors from past seasons faded to the monochromatic black with collared, loose blouses, black skinnies, loose shirts with city girl sayings, and a Coco Chanel-inspired street jacket. The new city girl style is definitely more business casual, but I think it gives a Fashionista serious style. Coterie was a trend eye-opener. It looks like seasons to come focus on a refined style. So leave the furs, wide legs, and basically every-thing bohemian behind and get ready for structured, fun pieces. Oh yeah, if your hair is not Ombré, topknotted, or you have yet to get bangs, I suggest you start on that. For shoes, hit up anything Jeffrey Campbell (Litas are amaze) or any oxford style. Congrats Fashionistas, you’ve mastered the Coterie style. As the semester dwindles down, reality is setting in that so is Let’s Talk Fashion and one of my favorite fashion insider interviews is yet to be done. You’ll hopefully find out who I’m talking about…next time.

LET’S

Interested in public relations?Creating valuable business contacts?

Gaining hands on experience?

Then come to PR Club, MU’s own chapter of PRSSA!

March 27, 2012highlandernews.net4 Sports

BOILINGPOINTS

By Josh HortonSports Columnist

Last Monday Peyton Manning picked the Denver Broncos as his next football destination. It was an at-tractive place for Manning, considering John Elway calls most of the shots in the front office these days. Elway want-ed Manning and he wanted him bad. Well he got him, but now there is just one question. What’s next for Tim Tebow? You remember, the guy who pretty much single-handedly took the Broncos to the play-offs last season? The man El-way praised for his leadership qualities and his will to win in January? Well, now Tebow finds himself unofficially in the back seat staring at the newest member of the Broncos in Manning. Although I do not blame Elway for making this move, I do question how he handled it. Shortly following the 2011-2012 NFL season, Elway went out of his way to say Tebow would be the starting quarter-back for his Denver Broncos. But it didn’t take him long to break his promise. As soon as Manning came on the market Elway was like a dog staring at a piece of steak. He knew what Man-ning could do for the Broncos and he abandoned his loyalty to Tebow to go after an MVP and Super Bowl-winning quarterback. My problem lies not in Elway pursuing Manning, but going back on his word to one of his players. Is Manning a better quarterback than Tebow? Well, of course. How-ever, trust is a big thing to some people and I am sure it is even bigger to professional

athletes. Tebow has been loyal to the Broncos, but when it came down to it the Broncos weren’t loyal to Tebow. One would like to think loyalty is a two way street, especially Elway, a man who won a Super Bowl and retired shortly after. But the unfortu-nate thing for Tebow and the followers of “Tebow Mania” is that professional sports do not work like real life. In fact, not even real life works like we imagine it to. I am pretty sure Tebow’s financial security is not in danger, but this man loves football and is one of the few people fortunate enough to play professional sports at the highest level. He deserved to be kept in the loop by his own team and not by ESPN. One may say, “Wow Josh you’re pretty upset over this.” To be honest with you, I am. I will be the first to tell you Tebow is one of my favorite athletes and it has nothing to do with what he does on the field. So, Elway won a Super Bowl? How many hospitals has he built? How many prisoners on death row has he spoken with? How many times has he brought a different person with a terminal illness to a game and made sure they had enough spending money and had dinner with them? Do I know either Elway or Tebow personally? No. But I think of Elway as a football player. When I think of Tebow I think of a man who does things the right way, and also happens to play football.

By Alexa Cholewa, Reporter

Football coaches have high hopes for their recruits and expect them to not only keep up with academic skills but also performance.

Team requires academic, athletic skills

With the inaugural foot-ball season right around the corner, the coaching staff is working hard during the recruitment process to maxi-mize the team’s potential—on and off the field. Head Football Coach Mark Ross described the qualities that he looks for during the recruitment for prospective athletes. He stressed that the aca-demic record of the student is most important. “If they are not acceptable into the university, then we are wast-ing their time and ours,” he explained. The next thing recruit-ers look for is athletic abil-ity. Coaches are watching prospective students on film to decide whether their talent would be beneficial to the team. “If those things are where we would like to see them, we find out as much about them as we can.” Ross said. Not only does the coaching staff talk to the athletes who are interested in the univer-sity, but they talk to those who have worked with them as well. It is very important during the recruitment pro-cess to get in contact with the prospective players’ coaches,

Ross said. “This is how we will get a complete picture of them,” Ross explained. “You want to know what you’re dealing with from a character stand point.” The football program started this year with almost 1,000 students’ names. Over 200 prospects have visited the university since August. Three hundred and fifty-three have expressed an interest in playing football, and so far 225 of those students have been accepted. Ross compared the recruit-ment process to a funnel. Every year starts with a very large number, but throughout the recruitment process that number decreases because the coaching staff wants to choose applicants based on specific criteria. Because this is the first year of the program, Ross said the university will recruit more players than it likely will in the future. The team needs time to grow and mature for coaches to know the specific athletic abilities they need. Most athletes looking to play sports in college usually initiate the recruitment pro-cess. Many incoming players have introduced themselves

and shown what they have to offer to the team’s first season. Also coaches research and to locate talent. Coaches use a service called Collegiate Sports Data or CSD to collect information on high school seniors who hope to continue to play football in college. This service will also be beneficial in the future once the coaching staff has specific desires for the team, Ross said. Another method coaches use to generate names of players is talking to high school foot-ball coaches. They will also put their name out to training camps during the spring and summer in hope of attracting a larger number of upcoming high school seniors. Ross said the top three majors that football recruits choose are sports manage-ment, business, and gov-ernment law and national security. He also said many are undecided. What really surprised him was that there are quite a few athletes who are interested in majoring in the nursing field. High school senior Trevor Davis traveled nearly four hours to explore what the new football program had to offer.

During his overnight visit, he was able to experience first-hand what a typical night on campus would be like. He said he had a lot of fun during his visit and became very famil-iar with the campus. The size of the school, the ability to study his selected major and the university’s distance from home brought MU to the top of his list. He also finds being a member of the school’s first football team attractive. “The combination of the aca-demics and football was too much to pass up.” Davis said. “The coaches and players already on campus are great. They seem so exited for the future of both the school and the team. It felt like a great fit.” Davis, who is from Gaith-ersburg, Maryland, will attend as a freshman in 2012, majoring in Sports Manage-ment and the doctorate of physical therapy program. He plays left tackle on the offen-sive line and. About 50 other incoming freshmen will make history by playing football on the first MU football team.

VIEWFINDER: Women’s Lacrosse vs. Gordon

Above, Emily Foley, 21, senior, faces off against Steph Fitzgerald, 10, Gordon sophomore, at the women’s lacrosse game on March 13.

Top right, Foley scrambles for the ball against Fitzgerald at the women’s lacrosse game at Mangelsdorf Field.

Middle right, first year Brooke North, 11, prepares for her free shot against on goal against Gordon. The team lost 12-22.

Right, first year Melina Juliano, 24, defends against Fitzger-ald during the second half of the women’s lacrosse game.

PATRICK HUNTER/THE HIGHLANDER

Wilkes-Barre Scranton Night Out is THE premiere website for planning your evening

out on the town in Northeastern Pennsylvania.

Whether you want to hit the clubs, catch a concert, see a movie, or just chill at a bar:

Check out WBSnighout.com for a full copy of entertainment listings!

Don’t forget to browse our weekly contests! By entering our contests you have chances to

win dinners, trips, concert and sport tickets and more!

Coupons and promotions are also available!

Also, check out the column, How to Survive College Life by Misericordia’s April Dulsky.

The column features college tips and tricks that

every college student would need to know!

March 27, 2012highlandernews.net 5News

programs and tougher op-ponents has been easier than ever. The Cougars opened the sea-son sweeping a double header against then ranked #21 Shenandoah, and then took two games from #10 ranked Alvernia.“We’re getting calls from teams we weren’t getting calls from before,” Egbert said. “I want to play the best teams to see how good we really are.”The national recognition pro-vides a promising future for the program for years to come in terms of recruiting.“The fact we’ve had success definitely helps,” Egbert says. “We can advertise that we’re a top 25 team and everyone

wants to come to a winning program.” Looking forward in the season, the Cougars need to improve a few aspects of their game in order to keep their winning ways, and in turn stay in the national spotlight. “We need to work on manu-facturing runs,” Egbert said. “We have to keep getting bet-ter, there’s always room. But, I am very pleased with where we are.”Egbert believes the team can reach even higher goals. “We enjoy working together toward a common goal, and that’s winning the MAC champion-ship again, getting back to regionals, and do even better than last year,” he said.

Continued from page 1Team soars to ranking, cont’d

game being familiar with Apple products is important. Apple seems to be ahead of the game by being more compatible with sharing material back and forth,” said Scarpa. “With iCloud you can take things that are on your iPad and take things that are on your Mac and completely combine them together.”Others have grown depen-dent upon their technology. Some use three or four Apple products per day and show no signs of letting them go. “I am definitely dependent on my Apple products. My entire family is obsessed with them. I don’t think I would be able to get half of my work done if I didn’t have my

iPhone with me at all times or my MacBook around,” said Drago. Some did not wait until the iPhone’s release date and went with a competing phone instead. A few are now wait-ing for their cellular contracts to be up in order to switch over to Apple’s iPhone that they believe is well worth the wait. “I wanted a Blackberry be-cause I thought it was the best thing in the world and I got it, but then the iPhone came out. I tried out the iPhone and I loved it so I was miserable and hated everything about my phone and I still do,” said Audra Wehner, senior. Drago said her first Apple

product was a hot pink iPod. While she loved it, she didn’t fall right into the Apple craze. “It took awhile for me. I don’t really like things when ev-eryone else likes them. I still have it to this day and I think that’s why Apple is so reliable, their products last forever,” said Drago. Many believe that the im-mense growth of Apple Inc. over the years is an indication that the company will contin-ue to release popular gadgets and change the way people use technology. “Apple’s definitely going to run the world in the future, and I’m okay with that,” said Drago.

Continued from page 1Students take bite out of Apple, cont’d

SLP professor teaches children how to stay safe Speech Language Pathology Professor Hunter Manasco wrote a book to fight child abuse, especially among spe-cial needs children. “It is a book that is a series of little short stories that introduces touching in a way that kids with special needs can understand and intro-duces material to help them recognize appropriate and in-appropriate ways of touching other people,” said Manasco. The book, titled “An Ex-ceptional Children’s Guide to Touch: Teaching Social and Physical Boundaries to Kids” provides instruction about ap-propriate touching and actions people can take if something seems inappropriate. The children’s book is designed for caregivers and teachers to read to three and four-year-olds. It is in the form of a storybook, and it teaches important subjects that some parents do not cover when their children are growing up, he said. Manasco first thought of the book when he worked with very aggressive children with autism who had no knowledge of social boundaries. “If you

work with kids with special needs for any period of time at any age level, then the possi-bility of abuse is going to sort of start coming to the fore-front of your mind,” Manasco said. Children with special needs are 3.8 times more likely to be neglected, 3.8 times more likely to be physically abused, 3.1 times more likely to be sexually abused and 3.9 more likely to be emotionally abused, he said. Overall, 31% of disabled children studied by the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children have been abused. Manasco believes that the rate of child abuse among all children is sky-rocketing due to a lack of discussion of the subject. Child abuse is not the only subject Manasco has in mind with this story book. “Let’s coach this child to make sure that they know it is not ap-propriate to have his hands down his pants in the middle of the gym or his fingers in his nose in the middle of class, or strangling his teacher. All of these things are bad things,” he explained.

Surprisingly, this book was not Manasco’s first priority over the past few years. “I barely actually remember even writing it,” he said. “I did another children’s book back in 2006 and immediately put this one together thinking that I was going to have time to follow up on it, and then I started doing my doctoral education and didn’t really get back around to it until just recently.” But he faced problems try-ing to get the book published. He said some people do not readily talk about abuse because it is such a sensi-tive subject, and publishing a book about it is not something many publishers want to do. Fortunately enough, he narrowed his choice to one publisher, Jessica Kingsley. “They were the publishers in the U.K. that produce a lot of books on big problems, like serious problems, and I was like if these guys don’t like it then I am the crazy one,” Manasco said. He first met with Jessica Kingsley and her crew while at a conference in Philadel-phia.

“I explained it to the guy and he’s like ‘oh yeah that totally sounds like something we would publish’ so the ball got rolling,” he explained. The only thing left for the book was the illustrations, and conveniently, Manasco’s wife did the honors. The pictures shed a little bit of light on the serious subject matter. Various illustrations point out when and where certain behaviors are appro-priate, and when they are not. The book confronts everyday things that parents may not discuss, but should. “How many kids with Downs syndrome have I been hugged by that I did not want to be hugged by in my life?” said Manasco. He explained that behavior may be fine when children are young, but as children grow into adulthood this type of contact can be-come inappropriate, he said. Manasco hopes that the book will help to prevent such problems and, more impor-tantly, child abuse. The book will be available in stores and online in July.

By Megan Scherer, ReporterSLP professor wrote a book for families of children with special needs to teach valuable life lessons.

Above, the cover of Manasco’s work, ‘An Exceptional Children’s Guide to Touch’ a storybook used to teach children life lessons.

Upcoming Games:

3/27 at Moravian

3/30 at FDU

3/31 home vs FDU

4/4 home vs Wilkes

4/10 home vs PSU

All home games are played at Roosevelt Park in Swoyersville.

March 27, 2012highlandernews.net6 News

Students have mixed feel-ings about Invisible Children, an advocacy organization attempting to raise awareness about atrocities in Uganda. KONY 2012, a video about how Joseph Kony and the Lord’s Resistance Army has abducted and killed Ugandan children and their families for decades has spread like wildfire on social media. Twitter and Facebook buzzes with the horrific accounts. The 30-minute video created by Jason Russell, filmmaker and cofounder of Invisible Chil-dren, seemed to hit home with many people. The film was shown in Lemmond Theater to bring attention to college students. “After seeing this movie I knew I wanted to do some-thing, to take action,” first year student Kerrin McKeever said. “This movie actually moved me to tears.” This is the reaction that the creator was looking for, as stated in the video. The campaign is meant to raise awareness and encourage in-dividuals to take action, which many students have already begun to do. This film is the second Invis-ible Children presentation to come to campus in the last year. The first one was infor-mational while the showing of the Kony 2012 video caused a more emotional reaction. “I saw the first movie for extra credit,” McKeever said. “This movie made me want to go arrest Kony himself.” As much passion as the campaign created in some viewers, it also received nega-tive reactions. Some people say students should be more

concerned with that’s going on in the United States. “I mean I don’t disagree with it, but more important things happen here [in the US],” said first year student Erin Maughan. “I just wish people could take care of what’s happening here before they move overseas.” Another criticisms of the ac-tivism is that Kony has moved on to other parts of Africa. Also that by making Kony “famous” he is going to rebel more and kill more people, and this concerns students.

“I think its great people are trying to stop Kony. I just think it should be done dif-ferently,” said (year?) Kel-lyann Gough, “He’s going to feel threaten and kill more people.” While that may happen the creators of KONY 2012 hope differently. They want the support of people like the students at MU to take a mo-ment out of their day already spent using multiple social media platforms and share the information and spread the message.

By Kayla Kubbishun, ReporterStudents and staff give KONY 2012 organization mixed reviews.

KONY 2012 spillout

Culture club members ‘cast on’ for babiesBy Carissa Stonier, Reporter

Culture Club members take to knitting to create blankets for hospitalized children and hope to expand for the future.

Culture Club members are boasting about their new knitting skills, which they acquired so they could make blankets for hospitalized infants. English professor and Cul-ture Club advisor Dr. Patrick Hamilton joined in on the knitting project, and while he admits that he had never before considered taking up the hobby, he enjoyed learning the craft. “I managed to get thread from one needle to another fairly well,” said Hamilton. “I got very good at knitting the blanket.” Culture Club started this project last semester when experienced member Noel Sidorek taught members how to knit. The idea for the project came from Secretary/Treasurer Sydney Stamatis. Sidorek has been knitting since she was 15 and is an excellent teacher, according to members. Some of her stu-dents admit to having trouble during the first session, such as having holes and knots in the blankets or yarn begin-ning to fray. “I sort of had various problems and started over at least two or three times during that one session

because I wasn’t really all that good with the needles,” said Hamilton. Sidorek said these difficul-ties are normal. “Everyone gets frustrated the first time they learn how to knit, so as you teach them you have to try to think of a different way to explain it,” she said. Sidorek admitted that she didn’t like knitting at first, but she grew to love it over time, a thought that echoes for some members of Culture Club. “I actually enjoy it,” said Hamilton. “It’s something to do while I’m watching TV.” Knitting is not an easy task, say Sidorek and Hamilton. The yarn must be threaded from one needle to another in a precise manner or the knitter could “drop a stitch,” something that would cause holes in the blanket and force the knitter to either undo a few rows to fix the problem or start over. Mastering use of the needles seem to be the most difficult part of the knitting process because of their length and bulk, members say. “I found that as I did more and more knitting, I don’t know if I was holding them really, re-ally tight or something, but

my hands really, really hurt after,” said Hamilton. Members say they, too, struggled to hold the needles properly. “I sit on the couch and have them braced against my legs because I’m always convinced that I’m going to drop one,” said Stamatis. Most of the members’ designs are simple, with Sidorek’s being the only one with a shell pattern made of glittering purple and white yarn. “I am a beginning sort of knitter so I think a design is way beyond my capabilities,” said Hamilton. “I would say blue and rectangular is about the design I managed.” Members used yarn that was appro-priate for baby blankets, a variety of light colors includ-ing blue, yellow, purple and green. Club members will donate the baby blankets to local hospitals to benefit prema-ture babies in intensive care units. Members are still in the process of deciding which hospitals would benefit the most from the blankets.Culture Club will most likely continue knitting as a service project because there seems to be enthusiasm to continue it. Members have been talking

about knitting hats for people in chemotherapy, according to Hamilton. Hamilton said that while he did not find the idea of knit-ting as comical, others did. “My friends found it very hu-morous when they discovered that I was knitting, because apparently, though I thought I had revealed this to them, I had not,” he said. “I think I was over at a colleague’s house and mentioned that I had been knitting for the Cul-ture Club, and that friend and another colleague were like ‘whoa whoa whoa, you knit?.’” Knitting may become a regular part of members’ lives. Hamilton said his family has requested that he knit different items, such as scarves, and Sidorek said that she finds it relaxing. “I don’t watch TV or movies without knitting now,” she said.Culture Club members include President Carissa Stonier, Vice President Nicole Mostik, Secretary/Treasurer Sydney Stamatis, Caitlin Hails for public relations, and Noel Sidorek, Kelly Rogan, Claire Cellary, Erin Mills, Amber Gulla, and Andrew Corbett.

NICOLE BATTISTA/THE HIGHLANDER

Tuesday- April 10Boolean Bowling- 2nd floor, 11:30am-1:30pm

iPads Belong @ the libary!-Noon, group sessionBasket Raffle to Banks- Lunchtime

Wedensday- April 11MU Clubs’ “Trick My Book Cart” Contest- 4pm

Libary Club Secret Cinema presents MILK-3rd floor, 9pmBook Swap- 9am to 4pm

Cupcake Social-TBA

Thursday- April 12Hot Dog Cart- 11:15am-1:30pm

Friends of the MKB Libary Bake Sale- 11:15-1:30pm“Baubles for Books” Jewerly Flea Market- 11:15am-1:30pm

Golf Contest- 11:30am-1:30pmBasket Raffle- 11:30am-1:30pmBook Swap- 1st floor, 9am-4pm

Guest Libarian- TBA

Friday-April 13Airplane Contest- 11:30am-1:30pm

Book Swap- 1st floor, starting at 9amBasket Raffle- Drawing at 3pm

Above, a student drawing in McHale Hall before the KONY film.

Confidence is key Nineteen-year-old sopho-more Elizabeth Graeber wakes up each Thursday morning, gets dressed, and heads to the gym for her workout. She steps onto the treadmill and pumps the incline and speed levels to a “4,” which she maintains for 45 minutes before going to the mat for a 15-minute abdominal work-out. When she is finished, she returns to her room to prepare for a day full of classes, work study, and club meetings. Later in the day, she gets in her car and drives to the local Weight Watchers chapter for her weekly consultation and weigh in. Graeber, who has been attending Weight Watchers meetings for six months, at-tributes her successful weight loss of 38.5 pounds to her membership, regular exercise, and proportioned eating. “I felt incredible the day I joined because I grew up in a family who always motivated me and really helped me out.” The program makes it easier to manage what she eats be-cause of what she calls a daily “points” system. All food is granted a point value, and members must try to eat in a healthier fashion while stay-ing within the “point” window that they were granted, ac-cording to Graeber. That win-dow is determined by weight. As members lose that weight, their daily points decrease. The point system teaches members portion control while promoting conscious eating and healthy habits, which include the regular consump-tion of fruits, vegetables, and water – all items with a 0 point value. “Prior to this, I was trying to track my calories, track my fat. Do I think there’s 150 or 180 calories? That 30 calories could throw you off for the day,” she said. Graeber said she tries to stay within her 26 daily point window although she has 49 “flex points” to consume dur-ing the week. To stay within her point window, however, she makes several health-conscious choices throughout the day, beginning with a breakfast of three egg whites, an English muffin, and coffee. “Breakfast is a huge part of my day. It’s weird, but I love eating breakfast. I feel so good and it jumpstarts my entire day,” she said. “I definitely would suggest anyone who doesn’t to eat breakfast. I definitely can see that it has helped with my weight loss because prior to this, I never ate breakfast.” In the afternoons, she will pack a small lunch of fat free

yogurt, two pieces of fruit, and cheese because her job in the Insalaco Center for Career Development often limits her from eating in the cafeteria during the week. Her dinners are typically more lenient with food choices. This is because Graeber acknowledges that other food groups that are

considered unhealthy, such as fat, are still necessary for a healthy diet. “I eat regular mayonnaise. I eat all of that regular stuff. I mean, it all has a pretty high fat content to it but you just have to know how much to eat of it,” she said. She also drinks five or six bottles of water a day and eats healthy snacks like fruit. This and tracking her daily point allotments allowed her to drop four pant sizes and two shirt sizes, she said. “I just have never been super comfortable with myself but am finally becoming more comfortable because of my newer appearance.” Her academic performance has also improved, she said. “My GPA has boosted a lot. I’m going to be honest with you. Since I started becom-ing more healthy, I feel better about myself so I have more motivation,” said Graeber. Graeber believes she wouldn’t be as successful without the support of her friends and family even with proper nutrition, exercise, and

personal motivation. “Support is a big thing. It’s like your family when you’re there [at Weight Watchers]. You’re all going towards some kind of goal whether it’s the same pound goal. I mean, someone next to me could be looking to lose 200 pounds so. You’re all going for the same

reason.” It has been difficult for Grae-ber to try and meet her weight loss goal of 45 pounds, but she remains as motivated as she when she joined the program last May. “Even if I gain, I know I have to go [to weigh in]. I know it’s my mistake. I know that maybe I did something wrong, and you got to go.” Graeber urges anyone involved in a healthy weight loss program to stay with it, particularly when it feels as though they aren’t making any improvements. “When I started going to gym like heavily, like every day, I didn’t see weight loss for two weeks. Then the next week I lost five pounds. It’s going to catch up to you. You know, at some point it’s go-ing to come off. I lost a lot of my shoulders, my butt, and my thighs so it’s coming off somewhere on the scale. I mean, maybe if you don’t see it in the mirror, your shoulders could have gotten a centimeter smaller, you know?”

By Alexandria Smith, ReporterPopular weight loss program helped one student increase self confidence and lose weight.

ALEXANDRIA SMITH/THE HIGHLANDERAbove, sophomore Liz Graeber poses outside of Alumnae Hall.

MARY BOVE/THE HIGHLANDERAbove, Jonathan Wieland and Sharon Proscovia present in Lemmond Theater on March 16.