University of California Berkeley - Blue and Gold Yearbook (Berkeley, CA)

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BE Having moved into the age of organic living. ' product label reading in the late- 1980s has become an art, if not a sci- ence, completely out of necessity. It is estimated that every American con- sumes five to ten pounds of artificial ingredients annually. If you were to eat a Pillsbury Microwave Cake and Frost- ing, not only would you be eating sugar and flour, the time-worn ingredients, but you would also be getting helpings of sodium silicoaluminate, mono and diglycerides. sodium stearoyl lactylate. xanthan gum, and propylene glycol monoesters BHT and BHA. Such ingredients can confuse even the most knowledgable ' labelician. But before you bite into anything, you should have some idea of what you are eating. Some common ingredients found in nu- merous products today include propyl gallate (which comes from tea leaves and prevents fat and oil from becoming rancid), sodium nitrite (the salt of ni- trous acid and a suspected carcinogen permeating bacon, ham, and cold cuts), and carrageenan (extracted from sea- weed Irish moss and added to pro- cessed milk products). For the more discriminating palate we find locust bean gum (coming from the bean of the carob tree and used to thicken bar- becue sauce and salad dressing) and disodium guanylate (found in mush- rooms and certain species of fish and added to soup mixes, canned veget- ables, and sandwich spreads to restore flavor lost during manufac- turing). Remarkably, the United States Depart- ment of Agriculture only began requir- ing companies to list all the major in- gredients included in processed food products as recently as 1983. Many facts and figures are not mentioned on product labels, however, as current FDA regulations do not require mate- rials such as solvents, adhesives. lu- bricating oils, and detergents which seep into food during packing to be mentioned. If labels were to include all the ingre- dients plus all the antibiotics, fertilizers, insecticides, and herbicides used in the early stages of food production, the number of additives under consider- ation would top 3,000. Take heart, though. The body completely eliminates these materials if consumed in mod- eration and, as such, these ingredients pose no greater threat to your health than do ultraviolet rays from the sun. Andy Dong The nuclear android. you probably know one or hen ! i; i n on titling hit overdeveloped biceps. Whet suctif i nuclear in?- roid? 4 character from Star War ? Mo. 4 mulanr from Chtrnottfl? Mot exactly. Nkidear android I In nick- name Brian Bosworth coined in his autobiography to de- scribe parson who Is o jufcad up on sJerotd that h cant aran touch hi back. He or aha (Yes, woman also do ' roid . Han you looked a( a ' - ' E t German shotputtar late y?) to the prod- uct of a society that says you can never be too skinny, rich, or strong. Anabolic staroM us has baan on In upswing for th past several jraara aa profession ! athlete and weekend warrior have baan shooting themselves up toe- tor pumping themse ve up. We hay reached sad state where many athlete believe they need the extra edge that steroids seem to provide not only to mat themaelres stronger but to allow tor long- er, more strenuous workouts wftr) less need tor rest time In The piece where the smallest edge can make the biggest JBteeme between million of competition. Desiring the ex- tra something which could have made him hero to hi country nd a vary wealthy man, Canadian track star Ban Johnson alleged y turned to steroids to become the fastest man In the world. The glimmer of Olympic gold drives many athletes to athletic wonder drug us In their attempt to get s leg up on their compe- tition. The cost of winning may al- ready have gotten too high for moat of us to handle. Sur th short term goal might be mor easily achieved with the aid of trie winner ' panacea steroid appear to be, but look at the big picture should b enough to deter most high school and college athlete from taking a stroll down Ster- oid Boulevard. Coaches should In tlate educational di cus ions about th dan- gers of steroid use to keep their athlete from ever going near the entrance to the eser- oldcvcle. Som may hav sympathy for an athlete ' ascent to king of th ' raid mountain status, but as for the average Joe Week- end Wtrrlor nvho shoots up usf to look good at th beach In his speedo gimme ' break. H who turns to ste- roids for any reason Including vanlry ' i sake needs to have his heed eiemined end need to get help to break free from the substance h Is ebuslng. Stev Miller

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EVEN IF YOU ' RE FEELING LIKE SUPERMAN, YOU NEED TO KNOW YOUR CHOLESTEROL NUMBER. 28 FALL

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O, utstanding professors are se- lected each year on the Berkeley campus to receive the Distinguished Teaching Award. Winners are se- lected based on ratings by their stu- dents, their selection of course ma- terials, and a personal statement. There were four well-deserving re- cipients of this year ' s awards. One such recipient was Assistant Pro- fessor of English Susan Schweik. Characterized by her students as supportive, insightful, and funny, Schweik is an shining example of the quality of Gal ' s English depart- ment. Her specialty is contemporary women poets, and she is currently at work on a book entitled A Gulf So Deeply Cut: American Women Poets in the Second World War. Schweik ' s background includes a bachelor ' s degree from Sarah Law- rence College in New York and doc- torate work at Yale. As far as her teaching is concerned, Schweik ad- mits that she enjoys actual class time but dislikes giving. grades. Julie Friedman Mi fc to; evi 4 30 FALL