Final Project

Weekly Wellness

Column by: Morgan Forester

Congratulations! You have made it through hell week! Everyone knows that exam week is stressful but this past week has been a whirl wind of projects and final papers which I think is worse so give yourself a pat on the back for making it through. Now the pressure isn’t off by any means. Exams are next week and although you can take a small breather it’s right back to the grind. Try to make time to decompress. Watch a movie this weekend in ASAC 100 or go to the talent show. Remember that grades are important but it’s also important to know when to take a break, get food, move around and do something for you. Hope these ideas help get you through the week so you can enjoy your well deserved Christmas Break!

Exercise of the Week: Hill Climbers

Courtesy of Brad Collins, Exercise Science

Get down into a push-up position then raise butt so that you form more a “V” shape with your body. Staying in this position bring your right knee into your chest then return to starting position. Repeat this motion for your left leg. Alternate bringing your knees in. The faster you do these the more cardio you get. I like to use these as quick study breaks, 20 minutes of work, 2 minutes of hill climbers.

Recipe of the Week: Microwave Chicken Casserole

Ingredients:

1 bag of Fresh Steamers Mixed Veggies

1 bag of Uncle Ben’s Brown Ready Rice

1 can of Campbell’s Broccoli Cheddar Soup

1 box of Tyson’s Chicken Tenders

Directions:

1. Open Chicken Tenders and place on a microwavable plate

2. Microwave Tenders for 3:15 minutes then turn over the Tenders and continue heating for another 3:15 minutes.

3. Place Veggies in microwave and heat for 5-7 minutes. (It helps to take out in the middle of heating and shake the veggies to get more evenly steamed veggies)

4. Squeeze Ready Rice bag to break up the rice inside then tear open top 2 inches and place in microwave. Cook for 1:30 minutes

5. Open can of soup and empty contents into a microwavable bowl. Place bowl into microwave and heat for 2:15 minutes. (Stirring the soup half way through cooking time heats the soup more evenly.)

6. In a medium bowl or serving dish combine soup, veggies and rice and stir together until everything is coated with the soup.

7. Place chicken tenders on top of rice and veggie mixture.

8. Grab your roommate or suitmates and enjoy dinner!

Activity of the Week: Jam Out

With so much going on this week it is necessary to just take a breath and do something simple to break up the hours of studying. Make a playlist! It can be calm chill out music, raging get-all-my-frustration-out music or a dance mix so you can have a mini dance party in your suit. Have fun making it. Share it with friends or make them together. Most of all use your playlist this week when you need a study break.

Story for Video Project

Survey Shows College Equals Weight Gain

By: Morgan Forester

Wake up after three hours of sleep. Grab whatever is closest and easy to eat on-the- go. Sit in class for hours. Grab another quick bite and a soda to keep you awake for another round of classes. Head back home for even more hours of homework and studying, perhaps a part time job, and finally go to sleep just hours before you have to be in class again. That’s a typical college student’s schedule. It’s long and chaotic only to get worse on the weekends when partying takes the place of classes and alcohol adds to a junk food diet. With an obesity epidemic occurring throughout America it’s time to take a serious look at how college life can lead to weight issues, poor nutrition and overall health issues.

When there are classes to get to and piles of homework to do, college students often forego the sleep they need and opt for a sugary coffee or energy drink. Whatever food is fastest and most likely to immediately boost their energy is a prime choice. Pizza, fried foods, chips, soda and candy tend to be staples in a college student’s diet. They are fast foods that can often be taken to go without much hassle and candies and soda allow for an almost instant sugar high to wake you up.

“…eating habits in this group are not great. Most don't eat five fruits and vegetables per day, and many don't get enough exercise," says Susan S. Deusinger, Ph.D., professor and director of the Program in Physical Therapy at the School of Medicine at Washington University.

Dr. Deusinger did a survey of students between the start of college and the end of sophomore year to see if the myth of the “Freshman 15” had any truth to it. The surveyed showed that “70 percent of students gained a significant amount of weight.”

The weight gain seems to be directly linked to the poor eating and exercising habits of college students. "We were dismayed a bit that these young people didn't change much in terms of their habits," Deusinger says. "They grew a little taller, but they also tended to remain sedentary, high-fat, fast-food people."

The lifestyle often lead by college students is not helping their health and with the rise of obesity in our country it is time to make healthier living a bigger focus on college campuses.

Lyndon State College is known for offering a community based college experience in ecologically aware Northern Vermont, but is also very accommodating to health and exercise needs. The college offers healthy food choices at both the Dining Hall and at the Hornet’s Nest on the second floor of the main building, Vail. There are fried food options and pizza offered at both, but there is a hot meal prepared for each meal in the Dining Hall and there is a salad and sandwich station in the Hornet’s Nest as well as fresh fruit and healthy snacks like cut veggies or hummus and pita chips for on-the-go. If you are an off-campus student and you do not have a meal plan, the cost of these meals may be concern you. However, at the Hornet’s Nest it is almost the same cost to order a sandwich as it is to get chicken nuggets and fries so choosing the healthier option won’t break the bank as it often does in supermarkets.

Finding time to exercise is not easy to come by as a college student, but Lyndon State has a multitude of ways for students to get in the suggested 30 minutes a day or more should they choose. Not only do we have a Fitness Center on campus, but we also have personal trainers available for specialized workout plans and individualized attention to help achieve better results.

Weight rooms have typically been male oriented in the past but according to Brad Collins, a personal trainer in the Fitness Center, women are taking over.

“I typically see more guys taking advantage of the LSC fitness facility, although in the past year I have notice a dramatic increase in women utilizing the facilities,” says Collins.

He also says that all of his clients so far have been women so if you are a woman thinking “I don’t want o be the only girl down there,” chances are you won’t be the only lady so get up and get the exercise you need. Not to mention, the program as well as the access to the Fitness Center is free for students and faculty and is a great way to continue exercising during winter months.

If you prefer outdoors exercise there are tons of trails to hike on both on campus and around the area. Intramural sports are pretty big at Lyndon too, and are always welcoming new members. Or go for a swim in the indoor pool and make your workout fun.

It is still up to the individual to be healthy but having these options available seems to be half the battle in fighting obesity at the collegiate level.

"There's literature that suggests if exercise options are in good proximity to work or home, people are more likely to use them," says Dr. Deusinger who also suggests that people will tend to eat what is readily available for them so rather than junk food, making healthy food more available could have an effect on college students’ eating habits. This seems to be what Lyndon State College has been working on by providing the services it does.

It’s not easy staying healthy as a college student. There are plenty of obstacles that get in the way of maintaining a healthy weight and a balanced nutrition but your health is not something to mess with. Once you gain the weight and begin to make unhealthy decisions, it is much harder to break the habit and get healthy again. Take advantage of what your college has to offer.

Final Project

I want to do an interactive map with video and slideshow work. I'm thinking of doing a day in my life. I think it may be on a saturday so I can get both of my jobs into the slideshow. Just about every saturday I am at work by 8am, am at teh college until 3:30pm. My shift is scheduled until 4pm but I use my lunch break to skip out early so I can get ready for my job at elements and get to st. j by 4pm. Then I work at elements until about 9 or 9:30pm. I get out of work and go home for a bit and decided whether or not I'm going out. I'm thinking I can use a google map of the area and trace a route. each stop will have a different slideshow or video. The one for the college will obviously be longer but I want to capture the time passing over my 8hr shift so...

Anyway I think its the best way for me to incorporate all of these mediums.

Video Project Ideas

So I haven't finalized my idea but I do know that all that keeps coming to mind is a black and white or at least antiqued video. Maybe grab one of my friends and take them on a walk through fields and forests around the area. I also thought of asking one of my friends if we could take the puppies out f or a day and just have that be the video. I've found a lot of music I like on creative commons websites so the only issue would be sound. pretty sure it would be nat sound because I really want the black and white aspect where the image and music overlay are the main focus. I'm seeing something really artsy and I can't get away from it so I'm hoping that in talking to some friends I can get a better feel for what this is really going to be. I had also thought about doing a video for the Packing House taking video while I'm oout on saturday but I figured there would be a lot to deal with permission wise.

I've got some thinking to do.

Audio Slideshow

These are the recipes used for the slideshow.

SPINACH SALAD

INGREDIENTS:

1 bag of fresh baby spinach

1 cup of dried cranberries

¾ cup sliced almonds

Goat cheese to taste

CIDER VINAIGRETTE

2/3 cup vegetable or salad oil

1/3 cup cider vinegar

1 tsp. honey mustard

½ tsp. honey

¼ tsp. cilantro

¼ tsp. marjoram

Fresh ground salt and pepper

Blend well and shake before use.

SWEET POTATO BISQUE

INGREDIENTS:

6 sweet potatoes, peeled and diced
3 3/4 cups chicken stock
small pinch ground nutmeg
1 1/2 sticks cinnamon, crushed
1 1/2 cloves
3/4 tablespoon maple syrup (or more to taste)
3/8 cup heavy cream
3/8 cup Dry Sack sherry
salt and pepper, to taste
whipped cream for garnish

PREPARATION:

Bring chicken stock, sweet potatoes, maple syrup and spices to a simmer. Simmer until sweet potatoes can be easily crushed. Puree and return to simmer. Add cream and sherry, return just barely to a simmer. Adjust seasonings with salt, pepper and more maple syrup to taste. Strain and serve, garnished with whipped cream and dash of cinnamon.

PORK ROAST (3 lbs)

RUB

3 Tbsp maple syrup

1/8 cup minced garlic

2 Tbsp. cumin

2 Tbsp. cayenne

Fresh ground salt and pepper to taste

VEGGIES FOR ROAST

1 sweet potato

1 small butternut squash

Half a bag of baby carrots

3 stalks of celery

2 medium onions

Baby carrots stay whole, everything else cut in large pieces

You will need 2/3 cup vegetable stalk for roasting

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Take pork out of packaging, rinse with water and pat dry. After mixing together the ingredients for the rub, generously cover the outside of the roast leaving the netting on. Once covered to your liking, set roast in a roasting pan and cook in uncovered for 20 mins. Take roast out of the oven and reduce temperature to 350 degrees. Place veggies in roasting pan around pork add vegetable stalk. Cover with tinfoil and place back in the oven for 45mins-1hr. Use a meat thermometer to check that meat is thoroughly cooked (at least 160 degrees in middle for pork). When ready let meat sit outside of the oven for 5-10 mins to allow settling.

Libbys Pumpkin Roll

Ingredients

· 1/4 cup powdered sugar (to sprinkle on towel)

· 3/4 cup all-purpose flour

· 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

· 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

· 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

· 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

· 1/4 teaspoon salt

· 3 large eggs

· 1 cup granulated sugar

· 2/3 cup LIBBY'S® 100% Pure Pumpkin

· 1 cup walnuts, chopped (optional)

· 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened

· 1 cup powdered sugar, sifted

· 6 tablespoons butter or margarine, softened

· 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

· 1/4 cup powdered sugar (optional)

Directions

1. PREHEAT oven to 375 degrees F. Grease 15 x 10-inch jelly-roll pan; line with wax paper. Grease and flour paper. Sprinkle towel with powdered sugar.

2. COMBINE flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves and salt in small bowl. Beat eggs and sugar in large mixer bowl until thick. Beat in pumpkin. Stir in flour mixture. Spread evenly into prepared pan. Sprinkle with nuts.

3. BAKE for 13 to 15 minutes or until top of cake springs back when touched. Immediately loosen and turn cake onto prepared towel. Carefully peel off paper. Roll up cake and towel together, starting with narrow end. Cool on wire rack.

4. BEAT cream cheese, powdered sugar, butter and vanilla extract in small mixer bowl until smooth. Carefully unroll cake; remove towel. Spread cream cheese mixture over cake. Reroll cake. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least one hour. Sprinkle with powdered sugar before serving, if desired.

APPLE SAUCE

5 medium Cortland apples

1/3 cup water

1 Tbsp. cinnamon

1 or 2 tsp. maple syrup

Peel and cut apples. Reduce apple pieces in medium pot on stove with water cinnamon and maple syrup until apples have been cooked all the way through and can be easily mashed. Allow to cool for a few minutes before serving with the pork.

iReports critique

First one I looked at was simply a picture of carved pumpkins that lead into the shortest story I think I've ever seen. Basically this guy wants better results from Occupy Wallstreet. Wasn't very informative and didn't do him justice.

The second was a video about a voodoo ritual in Haiti. It had a viewers discretion block on it but I'm not sure I understand why. It was interesting trying to figure out what was happening because no one is narrating. A 14 year-old girl is leading the reporter through the ritual but its hard to tell what its about.

The third I watched was a music video apparently created to raise awareness to African people that they are not receiving good medication. It didn't describe which medications or what they are being used for but it the message was to make sure you are getting good medicine and not bad.

Menu Ideas

Cranberry Spinach Salad with homemade cider vinaigrette

Baby spinach, cranberries, sliced almonds and goat cheese.

looking for a vinaigrette recipe

Maple Sweet potato Bisque

Looking for a recipe

Autumn Pork Loin Roast with apples, sweet potatoes and cubed butternut squash

adding carrots, onions and maybe celery.

Rub for pork

coarse salt and pepper, cayenne, cumin, garlic maybe some ginger possibly maple. mixed with olive oil.

Pumpkin Roll with maple cream cheese filling