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FROM BIKE PAGE B4
Contributed Photo A completed bike, the first product designed by Lance Rake for HERO.
Contributed Photo
pushbikes whose design Rake had been developing.
shop designing, developing and improving upon bamboo bicycles and the other products made by HEROBike.
Senior Jake Hoard went with Rake, Herstowski and 20 other students to Greensboro over winter break last year. Their mission was to build children's
For the next 12 days, the students "worked [their] asses off," according to Hoard. After waking up in a bunkhouse located around the corner from the shop, they worked the whole day, only stopping for meals and sleep. The trip had a trial-and-error format. Rake
had provided them with a rough outline of what the bike should be, but it was up to them to make a working product.
Students were broken up into teams that each produced their own prototype. At least one of them broke. When something went wrong, they simply went back to the drawing board.
Hoard said they left Greensboro having produced five working pushbikes, three paddle boards and with "tons of experience."
"We were kind of a part of that larger goal of creating a place where people could work and build these bikes and make products for themselves," Hoard said. "I think a sense of place is really important."
How to maintain healthy eating habits in college
▶ LARA KORTE
@lara_korte
"My Plate" is a nutritional guide to help you create balanced meals.
From soda and Pop-Tarts to Ramen and pizza, the average college student's diet is known for being a mixed bag of unhealthy options. A new study published this March in the BMJ, an online medical journal, shows that students' fast-and-easy mentality when it comes to food might not be too far removed from the rest of the country.
Foods like frozen meals, pizza, soft drinks, cookies, cakes and salty snacks comprise nearly 57.8 percent of the standard American diet, according to the study. To put it in perspective, the study also found that only 0.7 percent of the average American's diet is vegetables.
Kelsey Fortin, a Health Educator at Watkins Health Services, specializes in educating students to be more conscious about the food they put in their bodies.
Fortin said ultra-processed foods, in addition to being high in salts, fats and additives, are also low cost and high in convenience, making college students prime candidates for consumption.
The main problem with processed items, Fortin said, is that the consumer lacks control over what goes into the food they are eating. As a result, a diet of mostly readymade products will include extra unwanted fats, sugars and salts.
Fortin said there are other day-to-day effects and greater health risks, beside weight management, when people continually choose things like frozen meals over those made from scratch.
Fortin said she likes to explain the short-term and long-term effects of processed foods by comparing the body to a car.
"So, if I put the wrong type of gasoline in my car, it might run, but it's not going to run as efficiently, and that could be damaging things on the inside and eventually, it's not going to run very well," Fortin said.
Missy Minear/KANSAN
While students might be able to grasp the short-term effects, problems like disease are not always on their radar. Fortin said many students do not realize that processed grains, foods high in salt, sugar, saturated fats and trans fats can contribute to
major health problems.
"I think it's hard with the population that we're working with because it's kind of the idea that, 'Oh those are the things that affect people when they're older,'" Fortin said.
Heart disease and diabetes might not seem like threats to young college students, but Fortin said prevention is key.
Eating nutrient-dense foods like whole grains, fruits and vegetables can ward off health problems later on in life, Fortin said.
"We know that there's a strong correlation between vitamins and minerals that we receive in nutrient-dense foods and disease prevention." Fortin said.
For the best prevention, Fortin recommended foods with whole grains, fruits, vegetables and lean proteins.
comes to food.
Trevor Bashaw, a freshman from Manhattan, Kan., is a member of the Lawrence group "Food Not Bombs," which focuses on providing healthy, vegetarian-based food to people in need. Bashaw said he thinks it is easy for college students to pick up bad habits when it
"A lot of times you're not thinking about where the food is coming from or how good it is for you. You're just trying to get some caloric intake by being quick and easy with Ramen or microwavable meals or ultra processed foods, or just going through a drive-through," Bashaw said.
The best way to avoid instant gratification — and processed foods — is to be proactive about eating habits and emphasize things like
nutrition-label literacy and meal planning, Fortin said.
"I think that is the biggest thing, because what happens is, with any busy lifestyle, all of a sudden it's Monday night and it's dinner time and I need to go to the grocery store and I don't have time to go to the grocery store, and I don't have anything at home I don't have time to cook, because I have to do x,y or z, and I'm going to go grab whatever," Fortin said, "So had I taken that extra time on Sunday to go to
the grocery store, and proactively plan, then I would have already known what I was going to do."
Although some students might find it daunting to take control of their diet, Fortin said a few proactive changes can make all the difference.
"Getting back to the basics and planning things out is the biggest thing you can do," Fortin said.
- Edited by Deanna Ambrose