Balloonatic: The Director’s Cut

When a student mentioned her fear of balloons, an un-sympathetic professor had a field day.

The response was deafening. The requests were overwhelming. The viewers spoke and we listened. Now, here in its un-edited format, is Rodney’s original Balloonatic video. Thanks to a generous grant from the Geliophobia Foundation, the film is completely restored and re-mastered with painstaking, frame-by-frame care.

Here’s what critics are saying:

“Wait, didn’t he just write about this on his blog at www.SpiritualWanderer.com?”

“Yeah, you know, he did. What’s he trying to prove by scaring that Globophobic student again?”

“Let’s find him and kick his @$$“

Risking skin cancer just to get tan; is it worth it?

Society today tells us we must be thin and we must be tan. With spring break coming up students are rushing to the tanning salons to start working on their ‘beach bods.’ They are spending tons of money, and exposing themselves to the dangers of skin cancer just to ‘look good.’

Click the picture below to hear from some Michigan State University students about the reasons they go tanning.

For more information on the effects tanning has on your skin, visit The National Cancer Institute website.

New Years resolutions and upcoming spring break plans inspire students to purchase gym memberships

With the recent passing of New Years and the imminent spring break plans, gyms are seeing a spike in memberships as students try to keep resolutions and work on their ‘beach bod.’

Powerhouse Gym, located on Hagadorn Rd. right off of the Michigan State University campus has seen the trend of eager students rushing in to get their last minute workouts in before heading off on vacation. Karri Hopps, manager of Powerhouse says almost 80% of the students who purchase memberships in that time do not return after the break.

“You can usually tell…It’s just their attitude, Hopps says. “They’ll say ‘Oh spring break is coming up,’ and we are like alright, we will never see them again.”

Along with spring break plans, students seeking to shed a few pounds as their New Years resolution also fail to be consistent. How long does Hopps see them stick around? One month.

“We give them until about the 14th. Then they just stop coming.”

Year after year, resolution after resolution, and beach after beach students continue to try to look their best. However, losing weight is not something that is easy and there’s definitely no ‘quick fix.’ Being able to be consistent and stick with a program will be most beneficial and is the best way to stay healthy.

And, according to Hopps, what is the key thing  people need in order to continue their workout routine? Self-motivation.

Pros and cons of sports drinks; water may be just as beneficial when sweating

Even many athletes who use sports drinks don’t know the nutritional value. We talked to some Michigan State University athletes and told them about a few of the studies we found.

 

 

Sometimes the sound of Lemon-Lime or Gatorade Frost sound better than plain old water. But before you reach for that sports drink to quench your thirst, there are a few things you should know.

Sports Drinks vs. Water

Every commercial for sports drinks emphasizes the benefits of replenishing electrolytes that you sweat out during exercise. If you are the professional athlete in that commercial then that is probably beneficial, but for many others that is not the case.

Studies have shown that the loss of electrolytes is not extremely prevalent unless you are sweating profusely for over 60 minutes. Until that time, water is able to replenish what the body loses in sweat.

No excess weight

Another reason you may not be so eager to grab a sports drink is on the label. A 12-ounce bottle of Gatorade Rain contains 75 calories, 21 grams of sugar and 165 milligrams of sodium. A report from the University of California at Berkeley‘s Robert C. and Veronica Atkins Center for Weight and Health warned that students who drink one 20-ounce sports drink every day for a year may gain about 13 pounds.

Keeping your teeth healthy

One thing many people don’t think about while drinking is their teeth. A study done at the University of Iowa shows that the common sports drink, Gatorade, erodes teeth faster than Coke. Researchers dunked teeth in test tubes filled with regular Coke, Diet Coke, Gatorade, Red Bull, or 100 percent apple juice.

Every five hours, the researchers refreshed the beverages. After 25 hours, they examined the teeth with a microscope. All of the teeth showed erosion, but different beverages had significantly different effects.

On the enamel, Gatorade was significantly more corrosive than Red Bull and Coke. Red Bull and Coke, in turn, were significantly more corrosive than Diet Coke and apple juice.

What is in sports drinks?

After looking at the label on sports drinks a little more, the unsettling fact arises that the three main ingredients they contain are water, high fructose corn syrup, and salt.

High-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) is the number one source of calories in the US. It is the most prevalent sweetener used in foods and beverages today, and has been clearly linked to the rise in obesity and metabolic syndrome.

In addition, a 20-ounce bottle of Gatorade contains approximately 275 milligrams of sodium, almost 12 percent of the recommended daily allowance for people ages 14 to 18. Already, more than 75 percent of children consume more than the recommended 2,300 milligrams of sodium each day, according to the Institute of Medicine.

 

If you are going to drink a sports drink, remember these helpful tips

For exercise or physical exertion lasting less than 1 hour:
• Plain water works just fine and is cost effective.
• If the flavor of a sports drink is more
appealing, that’s fine to drink, too. Just
remember, sports drinks are not calorie- or
cost-free.

For extended periods of exercise or for physical exertion lasting 1 hour or more:
• Sports drinks containing carbohydrates and
electrolytes help prevent dehydration and
restore important minerals lost through
perspiration, and they produce better hydration
than water.