The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, November 29, 2000 hot m Ulije rb ligrtn tidlg On mental illness and little fat kids ... "420 Maynard Street 'Ann Arbor, MI 48109 aily.letters@umich.edu Edited and managed by .students at the ;-University of Michigan MIKE SPAHN Editor in Chief 'C- -C- II EMILY ACHENBAUM Editorial Page Editor Vnless otherwise noted, unsigned editorials reflect the opinion of the majority of the Daily's editorial board. All other articles, letters and cartoons do not necessarily reflect the opinion of The Michigan Daily. FROMT DIY aEyeon HI V/Al eD TWeek's activities promise to educate 'U' T his morning was pretty typical. I wake up at 8 a.m. to the blaring of my alarm clock, muscles screaming in pain. After jumping out of my beloved queen-size bed to silence the irritat- ing "BEEP! BEEP!" my sore hamstrings carry me -- limping - to the kitchen where I quaff a huge glass of water, some multivitamins, vit- amin C, aspirin andk assorted other goodies' including caffeine and ephedrine., After ten minutes of relaxation and Sports- center, I am off to the gym. By this time the caffeine and ephedrine are kicking in; my heart is racing and I'm start- ing to twitch with ner- Branden vous energy. An hour of Sanz grunting and sweating later, I am exhausted. Half my body feels like Jello, my tank-top is soaking with sweat, my breath is ragged and my eyes are bloodshot from exertion. I drag my ass home and pound down a protein shake along with some dextrose in the form of powdered Gatorade to spike my blood sugar and insulin levels, all in the hope that the extra insulin will help shuttle more protein into my muscle cells. I have time for a quick shower and clothing change. Then I make myself another shake, bot- tle it up for later, grab my backpack and head off to class. I will eat - or drink a protein shake - every three hours for the next twelve hours. I will consume all kinds of stuff you've probably never heard of; creatine, HMB, glucosamine and chondroitin sulfate, ZMA, L-Glutamine and oth- ers. I will drink almost two gallons of water. A scientific experiment, you ask? Some crazy new diet? Naaah ... just another day in the life. You see, I've been doing this for more than six years. On the surface I suppose I would appear the poster child for health. I am strong and fast. I can swim a mile in 40 minutes and run two miles in 11-flat. Despite a ridiculously skinny bone structure (which I curse my parents for almost daily) that makes me appear thin in cloth- ing, I am actually pretty muscular. But it's all a facade. I am definitely one sick individual. And I'm not the only guy on campus like this. I have a little experience with eating disor- ders. You see, I once had a girlfriend that was bulimic. We dated for more than a year and I didn't even realize her condition until we had been going out for three months. Lest you think me merely unobservant, please keep in mind that it was me that informed her parents - whom she lived with - of her condition. So I got to see first-hand the effects of such a baffling and insidious disease. It's not pretty. As I've gotten older, I may not have gotten any smarter, but I've certainly gotten wiser. And I've come to the conclusion that my own version of that neurosis is pretty similar. Although I thank God that the physical effects are more benign than bulimia or anorexia, the driving mental illness behind them is no less malefic, no less baffling and no less insidious. Ifyou're sitting there shaking your head in disbelief at my audacity to draw such a correla- tion, please think for just a moment. For the last six years, over 80 percent of my caloric intake has come in either the form of protein powder, milk or oatmeal. The ephedrine I take so regu- larly as a diet-aid is a mild amphetamine (the same stuff found in Mini-thins or "Trucker Speed") and several people overdose and die on the stuff every year. A few years ago I even did a six-week cycle of steroids. I gained 30 pounds and felt more a King of the World than Leo ever did. Furthermore, if you asked me, "Would you do it again?" my honest answer would be: "In a heartbeat." Sound healthy? I didn't think so. Obsessive; perhaps dangerously obsessive is more like it. But why am I - and other guys like me - in this condition? I can't speak for anyone else. Maybe for some guys it was because they got slighted by a girl or didn't make the cut for the football team. I'm not going to bore you with details of my story, but it was basically a matter of being fat and being taunted and picked-on because of it. The honesty of children can be a cruel thing sometimes. So I made a vow to myself that I was never going to feel ashamed or inadequate because of my physical condition. It almost worked. Almost, but not quite. You see, despite the positive commentary I get from friends and all the athletic accolades I've since accumulated over the years, I can't let that little fat kid go. He's always there - wait- ing - in the back of my mind. And, strangely enough, I need him. When I'm at the gym and running on five hours sleep and I have the squat bar loaded with 400 pounds, it's the little fat kid that surges to the fore. He taunts me, he mocks me, and he enrages me to the point where I can get up the motivation to do what I have to do. On the rare nights when I say "Fuck it," throw the diet to the wind and go out with friends for dinner or a few beers, the little-fat kid is waiting for me the next morning in the mirror. Despite the rational part of my mind telling me my six-pack is still in place, the little fat kid fills me with incalculable self-loathing at the gluttonous sloth I've become. I hate him, but I need him too. For without him I fear I could become him. Rational? No. But I guess that's why they call it a neurosis. - Branden Sanz can be reached via e-mail at hamrhead@umich.edu. he 13th AIDS Awareness Week 2000 is already underway. For - any, the word AIDS is just another alsease some people are unfortunate :enough to contract. But for the 34.3 v illion people with AIDS or HIV, the 44ronyms mean a shorter lifespan and lifetime of pain and suffering. Uni- ,ersity students and staff and Ann rbor citizens should honor the spirit World AIDS Day on pating in the activities set up by awareness organizations can help spread the word and help AIDS patients. Despite advances in AIDS cock- tails and years of research, the disease remains fatal and unchecked. Also, despite years of education, many peo- ple still have misconceptions about HIV and AIDS. zlcember 1 and unite :M educate one another about AIDS, its costs ""and its nnssible cures Last year alone, 54 million people SI NIm i mi mr Ae/ pll LL VOUGU . Wti f~ Last year alone, 5.4 HlV/AD million people were infected with region O1 W HIV/AIDS, according k to the Website HIV AIDS has InSite, a global report deadly to on AIDS. More than 70 percent of AIDS patients live in sub-Saharan Africa, an area where bt;:,IDS is spreading at alarming rates. 4Azwhole generation is affected by the tbreak, yet their voices often do not reach the United States. Still, a full ,.00,000 live on our continent. In ,.,vecry region of the world, AIDS has , 1eft its deadly mark. Groups are making an effort to educate, handing out red ribbons, dis- playing films, readings and art to the public to make the aftershocks of the disease vivid. A monetary donation to Simon House, a Detroit based organization for mothers with AIDS, could win you a dinner gift certifi- cate and other prizes via a condom raffle. The contest runs Wednesday through Friday in the Union. Partici- CS. In every f the world, left its lark. It is their responsibil- ity to learn and to protect themselves from the disease. University Health Services estimates that around one half of one percent of University students have contacted AIDS or the HIV virus. This number can eas- ily be reduced by 'She was a beacon of light for the ANC Women's League, one of several key movements in the African liberation struggle." - School ofInformation Prof Derrick Cogburn on WinnieMadikizela-Mandela, ex-wife of Nelson Mandela, who cancelled a Thursday visit to the University. I "W safe sex and through testing. On Wednesday, anyone can be tested in the Pond Room of the Union from 10 a.m. until 1 p.m. Provided by UHS, it is free and anonymous. This is the most significant event of the week and could save lives. All in all, it will be difficult to miss all of the events happening campus-wide this week. By the end of the charity ball on Saturday, the Golden Key Honor Society and many other organizations campus-wide and around the world hope to educate more people about HIV/AIDS and perhaps raise money for a cure. Money from the dance will go to a summer camp for AIDS patients. Give them your support and help combat the disease at multiple levels. I Supreme Court's decision protects rights Economic status-quo perpetuates injustice, ecological destruction TO THE DAILY: Emily Achenbaum's defense of corporate consumer capitalism ("Capitalism and con- science face off," 11/27/00) is a frustrating and disturbing ramble of fuzzy and circular logic. I think most people agree with her summation that "no one should be penalized for success," but her column defines success as being born into a middle-class, white American family in good (physical and men- tal) health. According to Achenbaum, "suc- cess" can be identified by excessive and conspicuous consumption. She acknowledges that in our economical- ly stratified society people do suffer unjustly while others, including herself, have more than enough. She acknowledges that wanton consumerism can be a hollow attempt "to fill an emotional void" and a waste of environ- mental resources - but she can only tell us who or what not to blame. Don't blame Ray Kroc and McDonald's. They only "succeeded" (success defined as being wealthy and omnipresent) because they have the "best" product and marketing. She ignores the fact that they have also been the "best" at externalizing costs to maximize profits. So what if the rainforests burn, the cows are raised in torturous factories, ecosys- tems are imperiled by factory farms, landfills overflow and rates of cancer and heart dis- ease skyrocket? Who cares if workers at McDonald's don't earn a decent wage (or at least health benefits)? As long as McDon- ald's (and Meijer and Microsoft) is "success- ful," why should they be penalized? And she's right. Don't blame Kroc, don't blame McDonald's, and don't blame Meijer or Microsoftor even Bill Gates. Blame the system that rewards destruction of our envi- ronment and compromises of justice. Blame the apathetic attitudes that refuse to even con- sider that a solution might require change. Achenbaum attempts to justify apathy in order to assuage her "privileged white guilt." Instead, perhaps, she should ask us to consid- er fundamental, progressive change to create a more just, ecological and sane society. Scon TRUDEAU LSA SENIOR Capitalism's critics use 'smoke screen rhetoric' TO THE DAILY: I'd like to thank Emily Achenbaum for writing something honest and straightforward in her column ("Capitalism and conscience face off," 11/27/00). Many people on this CHIP CULLEN GRINDING THENI[B a~t BUT AS 06 1HEMATFOS 'L PfU 3(ON ITMNHSR W tOR O)EPIWE FA&#MJ AS A BAWSISl*1 AM~ A DI$NALRECOR AS GOW RhOR]J WH(ATDOES GICORGC U BO SQ$ 1 0 PAN?~ campus echo the sentiment of pity and show their outrage at the dominance of a few indi- viduals in the capitalist economy, all whilel talking on their own cell phones and making plans for their own socioeconomic flight to the upper ranks. How many back up their words with action? How many would sacrifice their comfy cappuccino Ann Arbor lives for the sake of another "less fortunate" individual? None, and little is done for their predicament. The only thing that is more repulsive than this fact is that people try to hide behind 0 smoke screen rhetoric of socialist idealism - a plan that does not include action. Saints are hard to find but sanctimony abounds; thank you for not falling prey to this hypocrisy. DAVE HODGE LSA SENIOR he Supreme Court upheld private citizens' rights yesterday in an important ruling against the City of Indi- anapolis. In a 6-3 decision, the Court struck down the practice of random police roadblocks designed to hamper drug trafficking. The Indianapolis City Police have, since 1998, set up six ran- dom drug checkpoints and With th stopped over a thousand lndianaj people. The stops last about five minutes and the interpre police officers try to make sure that no more than six or seven vehicles are police stopped at one time. James able to Edmund, who felt his rights were violated by these anyone stops, sued the city withI the help of the Indiana Civil Liberties Union. A USindg tl federal trial court found in favor of the program, the progra' United States Seventh Cir- actviity cuit Court of Appeals found the program unconstitutional. The City of Indianapolis then asked the Supreme Court to reverse the ruling. Yes- terday, they were wisely denied. Checkpoints along the border U.S. border with Mexico for the purpose of curbing illegal immigration are legal, as are checkpoints that ensure immediate safety (such as sobriety checkpoints and roadblocks in response to a bomb threat). However, the Circuit Court ruling likened the drug checkpoints to setting up "a ,e t e Fd metal detector outside each person's home ... in order to determine whether he was carrying a gun for which he lacked a permit." The drug roadblock system was an extreme measure that violated citizens' Fourth Amendment rights. Probable cause was discarded under this program, as the police were City Of able to stop cars for oohs'no reason other than the suspicion that aton of anyone may be trans- porting drugs. The police needed no ould be search warrants or even suspicion of wrongdoing: The pro- vith gram treats everyone as a suspect. ss of If the police could Dir e-mail legally do this at roadblocks, why would they not have probable cause to sus- pect any person walk- ing down the street of criminal activity? Probable cause touches many issues. With the City of Indianapolis' interpreta- tion of probable cause, the police would be able to suspect anyone with Internet access of using their e-mail program for illegal activity. A ruling in favor of the drug road- blocks would have perverted the meaning of probable cause, discarding everyone's rights so that the police can catch a few more criminals. - - AT, f w w ~ -. '- VR11 ,. 4WN -7 i - S As an Eagle Scout, a current scout leader and gay rights supporter I am disappointed with the Boy Scouts of America's exclusion- ary policy regarding openly gay leaders. I do not, however, think that this is reason to give up on the largest youth organization in the country. The millions of boys who have previ- ously benefited from scouting, the millions more in scouting now, and the countless more boys who will benefit from scouting in the future deserve more than a token dismissal. There were a number of inaccuracies in the Daily's Nov. 20th editorial ("Deny discrimina- tion"). First, James Dale's membership as an adult leader in the Boy Scouts of America was revoked, not his standing as an Eagle Scout. Second, while the national office of the Boy Scouts of America is run by adults, individual troops are run by the boys themselves. This opportunity to lead one's peers is part of what because they do not allow openly gay leaders some feel that the entire organization should be tossed to the curb. How does that help the boys? Being a Boy Scout is difficult for a junior high or high school student. There are so many other activities and interests compet- ing for young people's attentions. Camping and character education have a hard time com- peting with sports, clubs, dating, driving and just hanging out with friends. Athletes are seen by their peers as cool, Boy Scouts are simply not. Do we want to make it even more difficult for boys to join and stick with scouting? The boys who persevere with scouting should be commended, not asked to meet elsewhere. Just who is hurt by excluding the Boys Scouts from public schools? Certainly not the national headquarters - they have a place to meet. It also isn't the leaders themselves. It is, of course, the boys. But not all boys are hurt h. h- Azz_:_ Tnc h_ ref2:_ _:Yr;.n+ Getting the national organization to change it's views on openly gay leaders has to come from within. After all, the Boy Scouts were founded partially to promote diversity. Lord Baden-Powell had the boys wear uniforms to show them that they were more alike than dif- ferent. A sad truth of today's society is that school-aged children don't have many oppor- tunities to interact with people of different races and backgrounds. One of the few places that they do is in an organization like the Boy Scouts of America where eating lunch depends on working with the boy next to you regardles. of what color he is, what his father does, o even if he is gay. The Boy Scouts will change with time and insistence from those involved inside the organization. They now allow female leaders, all religions and even female scouts in programs like Venture Crew and Explorers. I hope that integration with the Girl G'rt of Amt :nnie_,.far ff ,A _2ibp s i