Student Loan Blog : dorm life

As Food Prices Rise, Cost of Campus Meal Plans Going Up

Student Loan Girl — Sat, 10 May 2008 01:05:00 GMT

College students may see a sharp spike in the cost of their on-campus meal plans this fall, due to rising food prices, according to a story this week in The Chronicle of Higher Education (“Soaring Food Prices Have Campus Dining Halls Squeezed,” May 6, 2008).

Several schools have already announced that they intend to increase their meal-plan prices next year, and it’s likely that many more schools will follow:

• Louisiana State University	7.0% increase
• Clemson University	6.0% increase
• University of Miami	4.5% increase
• Ohio University	3.5% increase

In an attempt to avoid huge deficits and stay within their budgets, college food-service operations across the country are getting creative with their meal plans and coming up with unique solutions to contain their costs.

Louisiana State University, for instance, will focus on reducing the portions of its meals.

At Ohio University, the school will focus on marketing meal plans to off-campus students in an attempt to increase overall revenue. In addition, food-service staff will be baking items like cookies, pizza dough, and rolls, from scratch, instead of using premade products.

Rich Neumann, director of dining services at OU, estimates that baking from scratch will save the school almost $100,000 each year alone.

One of the simpler, if more manipulative methods is the one implemented by Western Washington University for one week last month. The school simply removed trays from the dining halls so that students couldn’t carry as much food.

The strategy worked.

According to the director of WWU’s dining services, the dining halls saw a 34-percent reduction in waste when the institution went trayless.

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Gone in a Puff of Smoke: College Campuses Cutting Out Smoking

Student Loan Girl — Fri, 23 Nov 2007 07:31:00 GMT

To smoke or not to smoke? That isn’t so much the question anymore as, Where art thou, Legally Sanctioned Smoking Area? And the answer to that is harder and harder to find as the number of smoking bans increases across both the country and college campuses.

According to the American Nonsmokers’ Rights Foundation, as of October 1, 2007, there are 95 colleges and universities nationwide with campus-wide smoke-free policies, and almost another 300 with partial bans that prohibit smoking in all residential housing (“U.S. Colleges and Universities With Smokefree Air Policies,” Oct. 1, 2007).

The most recent additions to the list include schools in New Jersey, Indiana, and Georgia, and with this November 15^th representing the 31^st anniversary of the national Great American Smokeout, the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network is pushing for more schools to follow suit, reports Judy Fortin for CNN (“Smoke-Free College Trend Growing,” Nov. 12, 2007).

A Battle Against Statistics

Smoking rates in the United States are highest among college-age students, Fortin notes, with college students smoking more even as all other age groups cut down on their tobacco use. But anti-smoking students, administrators, and other advocates continue to push for their cause.

“Students form lifelong habits in college, so reducing their exposure to cigarettes may have a lasting effect,” writes Emily Bazar for USA Today, quoting Besty Foy of the American College Health Association (“More Colleges Banning Smoking,” March 1, 2007).

“If you’re not allowed to smoke on campus, if you can’t buy tobacco products on campus, it will definitely deter some students from smoking,” says Foy.

The Non-Smoking Campus: Healthier But Less Safe?

Advocates for campus smoking bans argue that the average student and especially those students plagued with asthma or other chronic lung problems have the right to a healthful environment at school.

When a campus is smoke-free, “it’s just a healthier place to be,” says Martha Nesbitt, president of Georgia’s Gainesville State College, in Fortin’s article. Gainesville State is in its fourth year of a campus-wide ban on all tobacco products.

“As you go in a building,” says Nesbitt, “you’re not going to have to go through smoke. When you walk out, you don’t see cigarette butts littered around. It’s just a cleaner, healthier campus.”

For college smokers, on the other hand—and according to the 2006 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, that’s 28.4 percent of full-time college students and 43.5 percent of part-time students—school smoking bans don’t just raise an issue of infringement on personal freedom, they could compromise student safety on campus.

New Jersey’s Bergen Community College, which was scheduled to pass its proposed campus-wide smoking ban last month, has a 167-acre campus, meaning students may have quite a long walk for a smoke break.

Michael McFadden, a smokers’ rights advocate in the area, says the proposed ban would create safety issues for the school’s students, forcing them off campus.

“It can put the student in a dangerous situation,” says McFadden, in an article by Patricia Alex in Drexel University’s The Triangle. In McFadden’s view, Alex writes, “the bans amount to social engineering that is more Orwellian than American” (“New Jersey College Passes Campus Wide Smoking Ban,” Oct. 19, 2007).

Student smokers who live on campus find the bans to be particularly unfair, considering these injunctions prohibit them from exercising a personal choice within or near their own residence.

“I can vote for president of the United States. I can go to war,” says Alex Eukmer, a student at Indiana University in Bloomington, in Bazar’s USA Today article. “But I can’t necessarily smoke a cigarette because they’re afraid I’ll make a bad choice?”

But for a growing number of college administrators, it’s not a question of good or bad student choices, but of the choice the school itself wants to make when it comes to smoking.

“We want our institution to make a statement about doing the right things when it comes to good health,” says Chuck Kupchella, president of the University of North Dakota, in Bazar’s article. He sums up the nationwide college smoking debate bluntly: “Smokers still will have rights, but just not on our campus.”

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College Students Sprawling Out on Bigger Beds

Student Loan Girl — Wed, 03 Oct 2007 20:11:00 GMT

Super-sizing isn’t just for combo meals anymore.

They’ve grown up with SUVs, Hummers, giant plasma TVs and, evidently, bigger beds—Gen Y’s all grown up and in college, and they like their non-digital amenities big.

This fall, colleges and universities across the country are attempting to answer the demands (and generally taller and larger bodies) of the millennial generation by upgrading their bed sizes on campus. Those Gen Y kids used to the comforts of double or queen-sized beds at home haven’t been too thrilled with the skinny singles that have been the dorm standard for decades.

Double beds, writes Valerie Strauss in the Washington Post, are part of schools’ array of tactics aimed at competing with off-campus housing to keep student on campus. Some colleges are even implementing luxuries like maid service, in-room microwaves, and larger, renovated dorm rooms that can better accommodate the wider beds (“Students Can Rest Easy Now,” Sep. 18, 2007).

Size Does Matter

“The trend seems to be that there is more competition among different schools for the student body—I guess literally—with larger beds,” says Ryan Trainer, executive vice president of the nonprofit International Sleep Products Association.

Strauss writes about Elissa Robinson, now a senior at American University, who, “[a]ccustomed to sleeping on a queen-size, 60-by-80-inch water bed at home, … got a rude awakening when she headed off to college: a twin-size bed, somewhere around 38-by-75 inches, with a mattress that had seen better days.”

After three years of dealing with the twin bed, Robinson received a double bed from AU for her senior year. “[T]his is much, much better,” Robinson says. “It’s where I sleep, do my homework and everything else. It’s just more of an adult thing to have a bigger bed.”

Bigger is Better

College campuses have traditionally plagued their dorm denizens with the modest twin mattress that many students these days haven’t seen since elementary school, if at all.

“Many of them are not coming from single beds,” says Rick Treter, director of residence life at AU. “Many come from doubles and queens, so they have to readjust to living on the single bed.”

AU made its move to double beds, Strauss reports, after receiving complaints from students that the twin beds were “too small and too childish.”

The University of North Carolina at Greensboro has also started providing double beds for its on-campus students in response to feedback from focus groups and student requests for larger beds.

UNCG students characterized twin beds as “too small and uncomfortable,” says Mary L. Hummel, the director of housing and residence life. The new doubles “accommodate students more comfortably, especially taller students, and better meet student needs.”

Though college administrators may not know for a few semesters if their efforts to entice students back to on-campus housing will prove successful, initial feedback on the bigger beds has been nothing but positive.

“It’s amazing,” says AU sophomore Matt Valdivia. “Now I can be alive and fit on the bed in every direction.”

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Death by Popcorn

Student Loan Girl — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 14:43:00 GMT

Microwave popcorn “pushers” grossed well over a billion dollars ($1.33 billion to be exact) in the year 2000.

But this popular, ubiquitous snack food may be adversely affecting your health, making you sick and potentially even leading to death.

We’re totally serious: Your microwave popcorn could be killing you.

Smog, Carbon Monoxide, and Now—the Waft of Bogus Butter

Whether you’re settling in on the couch to take a TiVo break or just looking for an easy snack, microwave popcorn has a tantalizing go-to convenience: five minutes and you’re in hot buttered heaven.

But that rich, savory smell is exactly what got one Colorado man seriously sick. “When he broke open the bags, after the steam came out, he would often inhale the fragrance because he liked it so much,” writes Gardiner Harris in a New York Times article (“Doctor Links a Man’s Illness to a Microwave Popcorn Habit,” Sep. 5, 2007).

That fragrance comes from diacetyl, a chemical added to microwave popcorn to give it its buttery flavor and smell. Although eating foods that contain diacetyl hasn’t previously been found to pose health risks, inhalation of the fumes produced when diacetyl is heated has been linked to “popcorn lung,” a respiratory disease found in workers at food-flavoring factories and popcorn plants.

The Colorado man, Wayne Watson, went to his doctor, plagued by a worsening cough and deteriorating shortness of breath.

A self-confessed “Mr. Popcorn,” Watson told his personal physician, Dr. Cecile Rose, that he had been eating at least two bags of microwave popcorn every day for over 10 years. Rose discovered the popcorn link on a hunch, asking Watson about his popcorn consumption after noticing similarities between Watson’s symptoms and those of popcorn factory workers afflicted with popcorn lung.

Following her theory, Rose measured levels of diacetyl in Watson’s home after he made popcorn and found levels of the chemical were comparable to those in microwave popcorn plants. Naturally, she encouraged Watson to kick his popcorn habit.

Six months later, Watson’s lung condition has improved. But that hasn’t alleviated concerns among the medical community and industry officials: Until Watson, popcorn lung had only been found only in flood-flavoring and popcorn plant workers, not in everyday consumers.

Professional Poppers Plagued by “Popcorn Lung”

Popcorn lung, medically referred to as bronchiolitis obliterans, is the obliteration of tiny airways in the lungs and can be fatal. When the vapors from heated diacetyl are inhaled over a long period of time, Harris explains, “the small airways in the lungs [can] become swollen and scarred. Sufferers can breathe in deeply, but they have difficulty exhaling.”

Flavoring manufacturers have so far paid out over $100 million as a result of lawsuits brought by affected workers, according to ABC News (“Could Microwave Popcorn Be Toxic?,” May 16, 2007).

ABC recounts the case of Jerry Blaylock, a 53-year-old employee for a flavoring company in St. Louis, Mo. After just 10 months at the plant, Blaylock developed the condition and his lungs now only function at 45 percent capacity. Blaylock says he can no longer take his grandchildren to amusement parks or the zoo.

ConAgra Foods, manufacturer of Orville Redenbacher popcorn, has acknowledged a concern for “workplace exposure” to diacetyl, but told ABC News that “everyday use of its popcorn was safe for consumers.”

Despite ConAgra’s and other manufacturers’ assurances that the disease is isolated to plant workers, Watson’s case—which, according to Daniel DeNoon at WebMD, led Rose to fire off a letter on July 18 to the Food and Drug Administration, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration—has raised concerns about the risks to consumers (“Microwave Popcorn Linked to Lung Harm,” Sep. 5, 2007).

Stopping the Pop, at Least for Now

So what does this mean for those of us who love our microwave popcorn and refuse to part with it, in spite of all the evidence that those delicious buttery aromas could be harming us?

You could continue eating it, but with some precautions. Here are some suggestions for dealing with the deadly fumes when your bag is fresh from the microwave:

§ Open it underneath your stove’s fan in the kitchen while holding your breath.

§ Have your least favorite roommate open it for you, then pretend you never read this article.

§ Open the bag and eat as much as you can as quickly as possible without breathing. Hope you don’t burn yourself.

For those of you who have the willpower to stay away from your five-minute snack that’s loaded with deadly diacetyl, you won’t have to deny yourselves forever.

Pop Weaver has already eliminated diacetyl from its products. And makers of major-league brands Orville Redenbacher, Act II, Pop Secret and Jolly Time have announced they’ll also be releasing diacetyl-free versions of their microwave popcorn.

Waiting until then to indulge your craving for a whiff of bagged imitation butter may be the wisest and healthiest move you can make.

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Gaming Industry Giving Back to Its Girl Gamers

Student Loan Girl — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 03:51:00 GMT

As big-name video game companies in the multibillion dollar gaming industry search for ways to expand their market share and find new audiences in an increasingly saturated marketplace, some of them are turning to a segment that’s oft-ignored in the gaming world: Females. Working moms and stay-at-home moms, college girls and school girls are poised to embrace this technology-as-entertainment trend, and gaming companies want to find ways to tailor their products and services to this up-and-coming demographic.

Christa Phillips, one of Microsoft’s “goodwill ambassadors” who monitor player behavior in the corporate giant’s Xbox Live online gaming communities, estimates that females already comprise about 10 to 20 percent of their seven-million-strong audience, according to an L.A. Times article by Alex Pham (“A Refuge for Women in a Hostile Game Space,” Sep. 3, 2007).

And Microsoft is looking for more.

Some hardcore male gamers, flocking to the online worlds of popular, male-dominated games like BioShock, World of Warcraft and Halo, have raised their controllers in objection to female intrusion, engaging in sexually charged greetings and hostile game play.

“American society has evolved since the advancement of women’s rights in the 1960s,” writes Pham. “But the world of video gaming has been largely stuck in a time warp with its frat house culture of sexual insults and put-downs.”

Despite some male gamers' negative reception of their female counterparts, gaming executives are beginning to recognize the benefits of welcoming more women into the traditionally male industry and of creating a supportive environment for female participation.

Changing the Face of Gaming

Whereas male gamers will spend hours immersed in virtual combat zones and first-person shooting expeditions, female players tend to be drawn to games that involve puzzles, social interaction and strong story lines.

At a panel at the 2005 Game Developers Conference focusing on female gamers, a British researcher unveiled a study that found that

more so than men, women in the UK like strong plots, rich characterizations, choices in goal-attainment strategies, freedom of self-expression, novelty, immersion in atmospheric environments, games they can immediately pick up and play, flexibility, and social interaction.

A games analyst for market researcher NPD Group presented his findings that 93.9 percent of Nintendo’s female base “prefers card, puzzle, arcade, or word games” (“GDC Panel Charts Trajectory of the Female Gamer,” March 10, 2005).

Gaming companies trying to build their female player demographic are striving to recruit more female programmers and writers to create games like these, with more female appeal.

But these companies find themselves in a catch-22: They want more female developers in order to design games that entice more female players, but they need more games that appeal to female players in order to entice females into the gaming industry. Considering that women working in the gaming industry dropped to 11.5 percent in 2005 from 17 percent the previous year, according to Gamasutra.com, the companies might be facing an uphill battle (“Soapbox: ARGs and How to Appeal to Female Gamers,” Nov. 29, 2005).

Yet not all industry analysts attribute the fledgling female gaming market to a lack of females in the business. Some cite greater competition among entertainment sources for female attention.

A panelist at the 2005 GDC, for example, “hypothesized that the explanation for why women don’t prefer games as strongly as men may be the result of men watching less television (as they shift to interactive entertainment), and television programs more aggressively recruiting female viewers.”

Another panelist suggested that gaming companies should take these entertainment preferences into account and focus on cultivating the status of many female gamers as “secondary” or “nondominant” gamers instead of trying to recruit or convert women to become primary gamers, who tend to be mostly male.

Females Virtually “Go to the Mattresses”

Besides custom-tailoring their game design and marketing approach, gaming companies working to expand their female customer base are beginning to realize they must show care for their female gamers who venture into male-dominated virtual worlds.

This realization has led to strategies like Microsoft’s recruitment of monitors like Phillips, to help defuse the sometimes heated environment stirred up by veteran gamers in some Xbox Live communities.

Phillips has run her online group, GamerchiX, since June 2006 and drew her inspiration from PMS Clan—that’s Pandora’s Mighty Soldiers—an online gaming group of female competitive players.

GamerchiX, Pham explains, “functions as a virtual Grand Central Terminal for women and girls who tread into the testosterone-steeped world of console gaming.”

Phillips says she wanted her fellow gamers to have a place to turn and feel supported when they experience the trash-talking, the naysaying, and the come-ons.

“I wanted to create a safe place for all women gamers,” Phillips says in Pham’s article. “It’s a place where you can go to socialize and not have to worry about being harassed or hit on.”

Phillips’ role as TriXie in the gaming world mirrors her role as a mother of two in the real world, as she oversees her GamerchiX like a mother hen. She holds the power to revoke Xbox Live playing rights from male gaming bullies when and if she receives complaints from one of her girls of stalking or harassment.

And the hassling female gamers experience can run the gamut.

“I’ve heard it all,” says PMS Clan founder Amber Dalton in Pham’s article. “They tell you to go to the kitchen and get them a sandwich. Or they ask you if you’re hot. You can also be targeted just because you’re a girl. They all just start shooting at you the second they find out you’re a girl.”

But GamerchiX doesn’t protect its members just from male badgering; the girls must also abide by a code of ethics Phillips calls a “manifesta,” which prohibits them from engaging in virtual cat fights or trash-talking each other.

Gaming Doesn’t Make the Grade

With gaming and gaming recruitment on the rise, concerns may surface about what effect gaming will have on college students, their study habits and their grades.

A study conducted in 2001 by Todd Stinebrickner, an econometrics professor at the University of Western Ontario, and Ralph Stinebrickner, a math and computer science professor at Berea College, found that the presence of video game consoles in dorm rooms can have a detrimental effect on study habits and grade point averages (“The Causal Effect of Studying on Academic Performance”).

The Stinebrickners analyzed a randomly chosen sample of two groups of college freshmen comparable in academic ability, preparation and motivation, but separated by whether or not their roommate brought a video game console to school.

Of those with roommates who brought game consoles, 24 percent were female and 53 percent were male. On average, the group of female students with access to their roommate’s game console studied about 46 percent less and finished their first semester with a statistically significant 0.128 lower GPA than those female students whose roommates didn’t bring a game console. The male students with console-toting roommates studied 66 percent less and finished their semester with a 0.239 lower GPA.

The study was initially designed to measure how study time affects grades, but in the process resulted in these significant findings on how much distraction video games can cause for those students just beginning to develop their college study habits.

The gaming industry may be starting to exhibit more responsibility for its female players as it becomes more cognizant of their needs, but young female—and male—gamers have a similar responsibility to themselves when it comes to their gaming practices.

As the Stinebrickners’ study shows, student gamers must be careful not to let themselves get too carried away in their virtual worlds and risk throwing away their opportunities for education.

Like mom and dad always said, study hard, and then play hard.

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