OPINION
WWW.KANSAN.COM
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2005
PAGE 5A
SARA'S STANCE
SARA ZAFAR
szafar@kansan.com
Do your part to prevent obesity live healthy
Obesity is rapidly becoming one of the country's — and even the world's — new health "epidemics." The spread of obesity is often compared to a disease, the rate of obesity rising at epidemic-like proportions. Several years ago, a CDC survey indicated that 64 percent of adults and 15 percent of children in the United States were either overweight or obese. College students are not exempt from this demographic.
The trend has recently made an impact in other countries where drive-thru convenience is appearing in vast numbers. The question is raised, how something as basic as food consumption can lead to a sudden increase in the numbers of overweight and obese people throughout the world, especially when world hunger is still a very real issue in developing countries.
The cause of this is relatively basic, according to the World Health Organization and the Centers for Disease Control. Consuming too many calories without the correct level of activity to effectively burn these calories is considered the most basic reason for overweight and obesity. This happens because most people have a lifestyle that leaves little time for organized exercise and little time for planning a balanced and healthy diet.
In the university culture, long hours, studying, sleeping and socializing make finding the time to make a healthy dinner difficult. All to often, the drive-thru window or restaurant table becomes a familiar sight for people and some families eat fast food more than once a week. While genetics does play a role in the way an individual metabolizes energy and stores fat, bodies were not designed for obesity. Obesity is a preventable condition.
Nutritional education is cited as a cause for the sudden increase in obesity trends. The argument that people are simply not aware of what they are consuming, and the real effects that these products have on a body's function, is prevalent among advocacy groups.
While the push for nutritional education is important, people must consider the common sense factor when regarding food consumption. Fast food, and other high fat, high calorie meals are not marketed as healthful or beneficial to one's physical condition. They are so popular because they are inexpensive, available and easy. Nutritional education could serve a role in relating how these foods actually affect a body's function.
Nearly 10 percent of U.S. health care funds, are allocated for the treatment of overweight and obesity every year. Recently, obesity has been listed as insurable and can be covered by most providers. This new development leaves taxpayers covering obesity treatments as part of the health care system.
The question of personal responsibility comes into play when considering the implications of treating obesity as a clinical disease rather than a preventable condition.
The majority of people who are eating fast food regularly know the food they are consuming is not part of a healthy diet, and is riddled in fat, calories, sugars and other products which, if not burned off through activity, can lead to weight gain.
While it may be difficult to incorporate exercise into most daily routines, it is not impossible and is extremely beneficial in the long run. It also might not be convenient to sit down and plan a healthy diet, but it is well worth the time.
Meal planning and exercise are two small ways to change your lifestyle that will have big results later in life. Obesity is a complex issue with many facets that make a single solution impossible.
Taking responsibility for what you eat, and how much you exercise is an easy way to begin fighting the trends of obesity.
PAIGE'S PERSPECTIVE
- Sara Zafar is a Wichita senior in history.
Paige Higgins/KANSAN
End ideological divide between value of life
EDITORIAL BOARD
"Culture of life". President Bush parrots this phrase to express the importance of protecting the lives of the weak and the unborn.
No one would argue against protecting life. The rhetoric may appeal to all as a noble goal but Bush has solidified his opinion which does not take into account the complexities of the issues.
According to the president, promoting life entails banning certain abortion procedures
embals sabbing and prohibiting federal funding for research that involves the creation or destruction of human embryos.
The implication that there is only one stance that protects life is insulting and a colossal oversimplification.
Everyone values life, but the shared aim is forgotten as people argue over their interpretations of what that exactly constitutes.
Saving lives manifests in
Saving lives manifests in many forms and the "debate" should not stop at the fetus. Those who support using stemcell research to potentially discover cures have life in mind.
Humans on both sides of the political spectrum care about saving lives, but in different ways. We must reach across the aisle and save lives in all stuatoins, not just the ones that suit our interests
As do those from such disparate groups as those against the death penalty and war, those who call for stricter gun control laws and those who fight to combat poverty and hunger.
On the 32nd anniversary of Roe v. Wade, Bush called in to an anti-abortion march offering his support as can be read on whitehouse.gov.
It is unfortunate that issues that are as complicated and significant as abortion have such hardened polarized sides that slogans and hostility replace any sensible debate.
and the nation is in desperate need of finding common ground.
Thus the issue presented in partisan black and white boxes is offensive to women and the rest of society.
A woman who contemplates having an abortion by no means makes such automatic distinctions due to an infinite array of circumstances that she must also consider.
While this received both scrutiny and praise, Hillary Clinton delivered a speech two days later that was well received by those on both sides of the political aisle by her
Bush's prescription only fortifies these opposing sides and it further erodes the environment in which real discussion can take place.
No one can present a valid argument to someone who has already made up their mind.
appeal to reason and compassion.
She addressed the common goal of reducing abortions by preventing unwanted pregnancies in the first place. She simultaneously opposes government control over a woman's body and recognizes the need for keeping abortion "safe, legal, and rare."
Her entire speech can be viewed at friendsofhillary.com.
"Crossfire"-esque attacks accomplish zilch
She gives respect to the pro-life community for their moral reasoning and opens the doors for the traditional rival camps of "pro-life" and "pro-choice" to begin civilized discourse and work towards agreeable approaches for protecting lives.
She has also taken action in accordance to her words by co-sponsoring the Putting Prevention First Act.
She states the act would "increase support for family planning, ensure that heath care plans that cover prescription drugs also cover contraceptives, and expand access to emergency contraception, including for victims of sexual assault."
The lesson to be learned from Hillary's approach on abortion is that this nation needs to drop the dualistic mentality of right versus wrong and appreciate the complexities that each issue presents.
It is critical for people in the United States to unite in our collective values to form a political culture where citizens can have valid debates that are not judged on verbal wit but instead on objective truth.
Sarah Stacy writing for the editorial board.
TWO WOMEN. ONE VOICE
MAUREEN WARREN
ALISON HANSEN
opinion@hansan.com
Gay marriage ban won't end loving couples
On the morning following the upcoming city commission and school board general elections, your neighbors will go about their business almost exactly as the day before. The Kansas bill, SCR1601, more commonly known as the "marriage amendment," will likely pass on April 5.
If the 11 states that have voted on this issue are any indicator of the future, the odds are almost inescapable that the marriage amendment will pass. This will codify in our state constitution the second-class status of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender citizens.
Are there same-sex unions being legally recognized in Kansas? The answer is no, or perhaps more accurately, not yet. Presently, there are no "activist" judges plotting to impose a "homosexual agenda" in Kansas. Furthermore, there isn't even an effort on behalf of the LBGT community to lobby for marriage or civil union benefits.
Sure, we might call them "commitment ceremonies," "public declarations," "holy unions" or some other watered-down term, but in essence, same-sex couples are saying "I do" with or without the government's blessing. Gay marriages will continue to happen regardless of the April 5 outcome.
But are same-sex marriages happening in Kansas? Much to the right wing's dismay, the answer is a resounding yes. Not only are they happening in Kansas, they're happening in Kansas churches.
We are planning one right now. In the midst of this political warfare, I'm picking out flowers, selecting a cake and debating color schemes.
We're also consulting a lawyer so we can each draft a living will and power of attorney. We shouldn't have to spend the time and money to secure a mere fraction of the 1,049 rights heterosexual couples gain with a $75 license. We shouldn't have to fight for access to a spouse who is in the hospital. We shouldn't have to worry about our employers recognizing our future children on a family health insurance plan.
We shouldn't have to struggle for these things, but we will. The bottom line is whether there are difficulties or not, we will be together. No matter how many laws are passed reinforcing homophobia, we're still enamored with one another. On April 6, we will be just as head-over-heels in love as we were on April 5.
Perhaps there is a small silver lining to the marriage amendment. While it would be an embarrassment to our state and a step backward for civil rights, perhaps the legislature will finally stop neglecting issues like education and health care. After all, it seems strange that they chose to begin with such a politically inert issue, even while a mandate from the Kansas Supreme Court emphasized the urgency of education funding.
In the end, the dismal reality is that SCR1601 is going to make a place for discrimination in the most important document in Kansas. It will foster hate-mongering, shame and resentment in the hearts of those taking opposing sides.
But no matter how bitter we may be tempted to feel after the balloons are counted, one factor reigns supreme. The two of us, like many LBGT Kansans, will form life-long, committed relationships that are marriages in every sense but the formal name. Love refuses to submit to lawmakers or the ballot box.
- Warren is a Garden City senior in art history and oil painting. Hansen is a Spring Hill graduate student in social work.
Free All for
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February 6, 1945, a date which will live in infamy. Let us have a moment of silence to remember Bob Marley's birthday.
I just rejected my own roommate as my friend on The Facebook.
Casual sex is the best sex ever.
My roommate just rejected me on The Facebook. I'm transferring.
Ch-ch-ch-moustache!
I am scared of the barbacoa at Chipotle.
♦
So what's the girl I'm dating's excuse for not wanting to have sex with me last night or today? "You
Someone stole my baby Jesus
take too long, Mr. Two-and-a-Half- Hours!" Who the hell complains about having sex for too long?
You don't think shows like "The Bacheloratte" and "Who Wants To Marry A Millionaire?" ruin the sanctity of marriage?
Sonic Youth is underrated.
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