University of Texas Austin - Cactus Yearbook (Austin, TX)

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Ti LUNCH BREAK: Taking a break, J. P. Van Wol- ske, a member of the utilities engineeri ng staff, purchases a fajita and a soda from the Long Beach Egg Roll stand at 26th and Speedway. THE CO- LA WARS: Teresa Araiza, economics senior, purchases a Pepsi outside the Main Building. Everything from drinks to hot soup were found in virtually every corner and hallway on campus. Die PEPS Freshman 15 55

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The Battle of the Bulge What exactly made the freshman year so hard ... so scary ... so chal- lenging ... or dare to say ... so fun!? The freedom was the fun part, while the responsibility was the hard part. The students who could successfully balance the two were the ones to sur- vive their freshman year, Dayna Dea- ly, international business sophomore, said. Although most students enjoyed the freedom, many found themselves miss- ing parents, family or pets and espe- cially those home-cooked meals. It seemed like I was going home every other weekend ... it was always com- forting to sleep in my own bed. One thing I did learn to appreciate was the home-cooked meals that I used to hate! Sandy Pennington, education sophomore, said. Some rumors that accompanied the freshman year struck terror into the hearts of many students especially the infamous freshman fifteen. It seemed as if the University supported the idea of gaining weight by strate- gically placing inviting vending ma- chines conveniently close to classes. story by Kelly Baldwin photos by Hannes Hacker It ' s not fair there are vending machines everywhere and the Mexican food carts serve hot, tasty food at a very reasonable price. No wonder people warn you about gaining weight it ' s too tempting! Carla Revis, speech freshman, said. The idea of being able to take re- freshments into some classes was new to many freshmen, and often taken ad- vantage of. Sometimes those snacks seemed vital to survive (or stay awake) during 50 minutes of a boring class. If vending machines didn ' t prove to be tempting, then maybe it was that person in the dorm who seemed to have a never-ending supply of homemade cookies. But most of all, it was hard to adjust to the fact that dormitory food service ceased at 7 p.m., much too early for the student who didn ' t pick up a book to study until 10, thus causing an overwhelming desire for pizza at mid- night. And in dorms, no matter what time of the night, it was never a prob- lem to find others to pitch in for that Domino ' s pan pizza. Although many students did become junk food victims, there still was hope. To compensate for all of the tempta- tions offered by vending machines, the University also had a nutrition coun- selor available. Lisa Kessler, the Stu- dent Health Center ' s registered dieti- tion, helped the student who fell into the freshman fifteen trap. Kessler coun- seled in all areas of nutrition, but the most popular topic for the students was weight management. According to Kessler, a common mis- take for some students was trying to solve weight problems by picking up a magazine and following the latest fad diet. Many students don ' t realize that a diet plan needs to be personally con- structed to fit the individual ' s needs. That ' s where I can help, Kessler said. And for the typical student who av- eraged a 16-hour day? Kessler suggest- ed stretching quality meals throughout the day. It ' s more important what you eat than when, Kessler said. Unfortunately, there was no magic spell to ward off the freshman 1 5 ... or the sophomore 15, or the junior 15. Instead, nutrition counselors urged stu- dents to follow a lifetime plan of a bal- anced diet and exercise in short, the same common sense advice that moth- ers have pushed for years. But with mothers (and fathers) far away during that crucial first year of college, this advice was much needed, even if it wasn ' t always followed.

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The freshman fifteen, pizza, mov- ies and ice cream: all enemies of the health-conscious who had not found an active way to be healthy. There was a place where these people could find in- formative, fun and motivated exercise classes of all sorts right on campus. The UT Adult Fitness Program had filled this bill in the past, and despite the name, had accepted people, especially students, from 18 to 70 years of age. Basic classes such as aerobics, swim- ming, walking and jogging had been offered for 12 years, and the program was expanded in 1989. New courses included Boxes, Etc., a fairly station- ary aerobics class that involved the use of boxes to step up and down along with body balls and rubber bands for weight training and variety. A power walking class, water aerobics, the rapid transit running class and the chain reaction cycling program were also added. The most successful program, ac- cording to Nancy Friedrich of the AFP staff, was the Total Conditioning Pro- gram [TCP]. It included stationary bikes, boxes and computerized ma- chines that spoke to and encouraged the user. With the addition of the Total Con- ditioning ' Powercise ' equipment and the bicycles, a whole new segment has been opened up, Friedrich said. She added that attendance had increased for the entire program each semester. The purpose of the Adult Fitness Program was to educate people as to their fitness level, to teach proper tech- niques when exercising and to make exercise a lifetime endeavor. Partici- pants often began with a physical ap- praisal to learn their body composition [percentage of fat and muscle], lung condition, muscular strength and blood profile. All of the tests were state-of- story by Jeannine Caracciolo photos by Patrick Humphries the-art, and even included dipping un- derwater for the most accurate body composition reading. The fitness testing also gave students their exercise heart rate and explained why it was important to work at their own level. Participants agreed that be- ing more informed on exercise and health subjects and understanding the purpose of reaching their heart rate helped them to push harder in their exercise. Friedrich and the staff realized that motivation was an important factor in a lifetime fitness program. Prevention health magazine found that American ' s health was improving but most people were still weekend athletes. AFP members had an advantage be- cause motivation was so important. The talking Powercise machines, for ex- ample, had names such as Coach Harry and Coach Schroeder, and actually en- couraged and amused the user. The AFP also included a Consistency Club for each participant to look at their progress and interact with the oth- er members. The instructors were mainly enthusiastic graduate students in training and had quite a following, ac- cording to Friedrich. Exercise fills a gap in my life, said one participant who did not wish to be identified. Friedrich felt that any exercise was better than none. Climbing stairs, park- ing further from work or class and walking more all contributed to a healthier lifestyle. The AFP was estab- lished to promote health and to make these small exercises regular and safe. According to the rise in enrollment, it seemed to be working. WARMING UP: Before their routine, members of the Adult Fitness Program begin with leg stretches to prepare for exercising. ' 56 Adult Fitness Program