Student Union
'Freshman 15' More Fiction Than Fat
Who can resist a constant stream of French fries, pizza and ice cream?
Not Gunnar Carroll, a freshman at American University in Washington.
“A burger, fries, a slice of pizza and a Coke,” are his meal of choice, says the transplanted resident of New York City's Brooklyn borough.
With piles of dining-hall food to behold and no one dictating the menu, college freshmen dig in and traditionally see a weight gain.
Or do they?
A study in the Journal of College Health a decade ago suggested that freshman weren’t gaining weight like they used to, giving hope to those studying and fighting American obesity, which in 2008, was 66.9 percent of Americans age 20 and older. Today, the percent of overweight and obese Americans has climbed to 71, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control.
That leaves fewer than 30 percent of Americans who were not overweight in 2016.
The study authors, Nicole L Mihalopoulos and fellow researchers, found that most freshmen among the 125 they studied did not gain seven or more kilograms, saw no change, or added only a few kilos. The greatest percentage saw no change (33 percent), gained one-half to two kilograms (30 percent), gained three to six kilos (17 percent), or lost weight (15 percent).
The study also revealed that students from “lower socioeconomic backgrounds gain more weight,” but having a college education “consistently decreases weight.” That only lasts until middle age, however.
While some other studies show varying conclusions, a meta-analysis study in February 2017 found the so-called Freshman 15 to be more fable than fact. The term "Freshman 15" is an expression commonly used in the United States to refer to the amount of weight, arbitrarily set at 15 pounds (7 kilograms) gained during a student's first year at college.
“I find that freshman year college attendance is estimated to cause only about a one-pound increase,” wrote economic professor Charles Baum of Middle Tennessee State University, after studying data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY). That dataset consists of several thousand individuals, many who have been surveyed over several decades.
Amanda Schlink, a registered dietitian at American University in Washington, concurs that the Freshman 15 may be more urban legend than reality.
“I don’t believe that the Freshman 15 exists to the extent today as it might have been in decades past,” says Schlink. “This decrease in weight gain is likely a combination of both healthy food offerings on college campuses and mindfulness around food choices.”
Healthy vegetarian and gluten-free options are more available. Many fast-food restaurants offer garden salads and vegetables as sides. College students are active. Many freshmen walk or bike more than before, helping to burn off calories.
Dining halls and food service strive to make their meal plan more desirable than instant ramen noodles and mac’n’cheese (macaroni and cheeze), classic dorm-room staples. While they are easy and quick, they are full of calories but empty of nutrition. One package of chicken-flavored ramen noodles fills up one-third of the daily recommended sodium (salt) intake, while providing only about a tenth of the 2,000 calories that is used as the standard intake for an adult.
Another pitfall for first-year students can be energy drinks. The drinks jack up students with excess sugar and caffeine. Monster, a popular energy drink has up to 160 mg of caffeine in a 16-fluid ounce container, compared to the average cup of coffee which contains 95 mg. Convenience does not always mean healthy, and students should read nutrition labels to know what they are putting in their bodies.
Most colleges have well-equipped athletic facilities that encourage students like Erika Linke, a freshman at American University, to stay active. She hits the gym about six days a week to burn off the calories.
“I try to do a five mile (8 kilometer) run or workout everyday,” Linke said. “Having a gym so close and free, especially for a college student is really helpful.”
Schlink suggested focusing on the “Fab Four” when it comes to meals and snacks: carbohydrates, protein, healthy fats and fiber.
“If an individual is consuming food choices from these four groups at meals and snacks, they will be eating well, while balancing their energy needs to fuel their bodies in a healthy way,” she said.
And what about freshmen who report the opposite, losing instead of gaining weight? The Freshman -15? There are two main culprits behind this is subversion of expectations, according to Schlink, has two main sources: time management and stress.
“For some, they are so busy with the academic demands that they may forget to enjoy meals or simply don’t have time for a sit-down meal.” says Schlink.
Donal Gannon contributed to this report.
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Pro-Palestinian protesters break through barricades to retake MIT encampment
Pro-Palestinian protesters who had been blocked by police from accessing an encampment at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology on Monday broke through fencing, linked arms and encircled tents that remained there, as Columbia University canceled its university-wide commencement ceremony following weeks of pro-Palestinian protests.
Sam Ihns, a graduate student at MIT studying mechanical engineering and a member of MIT Jews for a Ceasefire, said the group has been at the encampment for the past two weeks and that they were calling for an end to the killing of thousands of people in Gaza.
"Specifically, our encampment is protesting MIT's direct research ties to the Israeli Ministry of Defense," he said.
Protesters also sat in the middle of Massachusetts Avenue, blocking the street during rush hour in the Boston area.
The demonstrations at Columbia have roiled its campus and officials said Monday that while it won't hold it's main ceremony, students will be able to celebrate at a series of smaller, school-based ceremonies this week and next.
The decision comes as universities around the country wrangle with how to handle commencements for students whose high school graduations were derailed by COVID-19 in 2020. Another campus shaken by protests, Emory University, announced Monday that it would move its commencement from its Atlanta campus to a suburban arena. Others, including the University of Michigan, Indiana University and Northeastern, have pulled off ceremonies with few disruptions.
Columbia's decision to cancel its main ceremonies scheduled for May 15 saves its president, Minouche Shafik, from having to deliver a commencement address in the same part of campus where police dismantled a protest encampment last week. The Ivy League school in upper Manhattan said it made the decision after discussions with students.
"Our students emphasized that these smaller-scale, school-based celebrations are most meaningful to them and their families," officials said.
Most of the ceremonies that had been scheduled for the south lawn of the main campus, where encampments were taken down last week, will take place about 8 kilometers (5 miles) north at Columbia's sports complex, officials said.
Speakers at some of Columbia's still-scheduled graduation ceremonies include Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright James Ijames and Dr. Monica Bertagnolli, director of the National Institutes of Health.
Columbia had already canceled in-person classes. More than 200 pro-Palestinian demonstrators who had camped out on Columbia's green or occupied an academic building were arrested in recent weeks.
Similar encampments sprouted up elsewhere as universities struggled with where to draw the line between allowing free expression while maintaining safe and inclusive campuses.
The University of Southern California earlier canceled its main graduation ceremony. Students abandoned their camp at USC on Sunday after being surrounded by police and threatened with arrest.
Other universities have held graduation ceremonies with beefed-up security. The University of Michigan's ceremony was interrupted by chanting a few times Saturday. In Boston on Sunday, some students waved small Palestinian or Israeli flags at Northeastern University's commencement in Fenway Park.
Emory's ceremonies scheduled for May 13 will be held at the GasSouth Arena and Convocation Center in Duluth, almost 20 miles (30 kilometers) northeast of the university's Atlanta campus, President Gregory Fenves said in an open letter.
"Please know that this decision was not taken lightly," Fenves wrote. "It was made in close consultation with the Emory Police Department, security advisors and other agencies — each of which advised against holding commencement events on our campuses."
The 16,000-student university is one of many that has seen repeated protests stemming from the conflict that started Oct. 7 when Hamas militants attacked southern Israel, killing about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking roughly 250 hostages. Student protesters are calling on their schools to divest from companies that do business with Israel or otherwise contribute to the war effort.
Vowing to destroy Hamas, Israel launched an offensive in Gaza that has killed more than 34,500 Palestinians, about two-thirds of them women and children, according to the Health Ministry in the Hamas-ruled territory. Israeli strikes have devastated the enclave and displaced most of its inhabitants.
Hamas on Monday announced its acceptance of an Egyptian-Qatari cease-fire proposal, but Israel said the deal did not meet its "core demands" and that it was pushing ahead with an assault on the southern Gaza town of Rafah.
"Cease-fires are temporary," said Selina Al-Shihabi, a Georgetown University sophomore who was taking part in a protest at George Washington. "There can be a cease-fire, but the U.S. government will continue to arm the Israeli military. We plan to be here until the university divests or until they drag us out of here."
At the University of California, San Diego, police cleared an encampment and arrested more than 64 people, including 40 students.
The University of California, Los Angeles, moved all classes online for the entire week due to ongoing disruptions following the dismantling of an encampment last week. The university police force reported 44 arrests but there were no specific details, UCLA spokesperson Eddie North-Hager said in an email to The Associated Press.
Schools are trying various tactics from appeasement to threats of disciplinary action to get protestors to take down encampments or move to campus areas where demonstrations would be less intrusive.
The School of the Art Institute of Chicago said in a Facebook post Sunday that it offered protesters "amnesty from academic sanction and trespassing charges" if they moved.
"Many protesters left the premises of their own accord after being notified by the police that they were trespassing and subject to arrest," the school said. "Those that remained were arrested after multiple warnings to leave, including some of whom we recognized as SAIC students."
A group of faculty and staff members at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill asked the administration for amnesty for any students who were arrested and suspended during recent protests. UNC Faculty and Staff for Justice in Palestine said in a media advisory that it would deliver a letter on behalf of more than 500 faculty who support the student activists.
Other universities took a different approach.
Harvard University's interim president, Alan Garber, warned students that those participating in a pro-Palestinian encampment in Harvard Yard could face "involuntary leave." That means they would not be allowed on campus, could lose their student housing and may not be able to take exams, Garber said.
Columbia University cancels main commencement after protests that roiled campus for weeks
Columbia University is canceling its large university-wide commencement ceremony amid ongoing pro-Palestinian protests but will hold smaller school-based ceremonies this week and next, the university announced Monday.
"Based on feedback from our students, we have decided to focus attention on our Class Days and school-level graduation ceremonies, where students are honored individually alongside their peers, and to forego the university-wide ceremony that is scheduled for May 15," Columbia officials said in a statement.
The protests stem from the conflict that started Oct. 7 when Hamas militants attacked southern Israel, killing about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking roughly 250 hostages. Vowing to destroy Hamas, Israel launched an offensive in Gaza that has killed more than 34,500 Palestinians, about two-thirds of them women and children, according to the Health Ministry in the Hamas-ruled territory. Israeli strikes have devastated the enclave and displaced most of its inhabitants.
The University of Southern California earlier canceled its main graduation ceremony while allowing other commencement activities to continue.
- By VOA News
Where Are Pro-Palestinian Campus Protests Happening?
Colleges in the U.S. have been rocked by a wave of campus protests calling for an end to the war in Gaza, and for U.S. colleges to divest from Israel.
The Wall Street Journal’s Steven Russolillo rounds up some of the most important ones. (April 2024)
Pro-Palestinian protests in US could impact 2024 election
Despite the fact that many of their encampments at university campuses have been dismantled, pro-Palestinian demonstrators in the United States are standing their ground. If the protests continue, some analysts say they could have an impact on the 2024 presidential election. VOA’s Veronica Balderas Iglesias explains.
- By VOA News
Pro-Palestinian protest ends quietly at University of Southern California
Pro-Palestinian protesters at an encampment at the University of Southern California, one of the focal points of anti-Israel protests across U.S. college campuses, left the scene early Sunday after authorities warned them that they could be arrested.
Their departure came after university safety officers and Los Angeles police began clearing the center of campus, where police had arrested 93 people on April 24.
"If you are in the center of campus, please leave,” the university warned the protesters on the social media platform X, saying they could be arrested if they stayed.
Elsewhere, pro-Palestinian protests continued at several college graduation ceremonies on Saturday.
At the University of Virginia, 25 people were arrested for trespassing after police clashed with pro-Palestinian protesters who refused to remove tents from the campus.
At the University of Michigan, demonstrators chanted anti-war messages and waved flags during graduation ceremonies. More protests occurred at Indiana University, Ohio State University, Princeton University in New Jersey and Northeastern University in Massachusetts.
