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Show Carma Has A New Cause She had - still has actually - a smile that could light up a room. Michele Bartmess While other college campuses were a hotbed of unrest in the mid-Sixtie- s, things remained relatively calm at Brigham Young University. The War in Vietnam raged on and undoubtedly some BYU students must have had deep feelings. But there were no demonstrations. Which to my roommate Carma made life seem just a little bit dull. After all, she reasoned, how were we going to be prepared for life on the outside if we didnt get involved in a sitdown or some other demonstration. Carma was a freshman and it would be a good long time before she was ready for life on the outside. But that didn't stop her. she needed was a cause, she felt. Then she could organize. All She stumbled upon that cause quite by accident. Somewhere in her university literature she came across the fact that while the school bore the name of the second president of the LDS church, it had been established by a learned German immigrant named Karl G. Maeser. When she was excited, Carma tended to talk a little bit fast. She rushed in one afternoon almost raving about the injustice that bad been done to Dr. Maeser. Weve got to do something about it, she concluded her diatribe, We? I asked ruefully. After all, I was a sophomore and sophomores must be careful what they become involved in. We, she stated firmly. Then she set about organizing her friends in a protest. Since the university still bears Brother Brighams name, you can imagine how successful she was. duckbilled platypus. Years seem to have dimmed my memory. At any rate, for several days running there was Carma, touting her cause to anyone would listen. I doubt that very many people took her seriously. But there was something about that smile and accompanying twinkle in her eye that made it impossible to write Carma off as a nut. She of course finally tired of her cause, though she always maintained that it was a worthy one. I think she secretly wishes she had a diploma from Karl Maeser University- After years of reflecting fondly on those memories, I encountered Carma again recently. She has a new cause. But her failure certainly wasnt from any lack of effort. This was back in the days when copy machines were not located on every corner. Still somehow Carma was able to make a whole lot of copies of her proposal to change the name of the school to better honor its founder. After all, she felt, there were enough things bearing President Youngs name. She donned a sweatshirt with the letters KMU stenciled on it and took a spot on the southwest end of the quad near - you guessed it - the Maeser building where she could try to influence a lot of other students as they made their way across campus. She proposed that the university also have a new mascot - the duck. It didnt seem to bother her that the University of Oregon used that mascot. She pointed out that Houston and Washington State use the Cougar. She hau a good reason for choosing the duck, though it escapes me now. Actually it may have been a Even though a whole lot of years have passed, I knew it was Carma the moment she walked through the door. I had occasion to be at an you elementary school program know, the kind that draws lots of - parents. It so happened that it was also time to install new PTA leadership. Carma and her young family walked through the door and that smile literally lit up the room. Not too many moments later she spotted me. Clearly she recognized me, as I did her. Just a few minutes later, she was installed as PTA president. Of course when the meeting was over, we talked. While I didnt bring up KMU, when I told my present roommate that she and her schools new PTA president had something in common, it didnt take Janet long to guess which roommate Carma was. You see the KMU tale has been repeated often over the years. It was pretty clear to me that although that particular crusade failed, Carma has done all right on the outside. Not Much Is Right With Beer Dear John: Im concerned about my drinking. My wife and I argue because she thinks I drink too much, but all I drink is beer. Whats wrong with beer? JOHN WATERBURY Dear John Letters ( Alleged Dypsomaniac Dear A.D.s Based on information obtained from the South Suburban Council on Alcoholism in the Chicago area, the following article may answer your question and at the same time, make you want to give up beer all together. So read at your own risk. If Ive heard it once, Ive heard it a thousand times. I dont have to worry! I only drink beer. Whats wrong with beer? The question should more accurately be stated, Whats right with beer? Besides the fact that it allows alcoholism to develop there are a number of dangers concerning its ingredients that most people are totally unaware of. The most conspicuous fact is that there are few regulations which control the content of beer. You have no way of knowing for certain what you are taking into your body when you drink beer, and theres a variety of potentially dangerous chemicals in beer. If beer were just discovered, it is questionable whether the Food and Drug Administration would ap- prove it for sale or distribution. Its too dangerous. Ethyl alcohol which is the intoxicating agent in beer, has been classified as an anesthetic, a hypnotic, an analgesic, a poison, a depressant and an irritant. It dulls the senses, induces sleep, and with prolonged use it becomes addictive. It numbs, soothes and induces an insensitive state. Its interesting to note that this is the same definition for a narcotic. For hundreds of years, hops have been used to flavor beer and malt liquor. It's interesting to note that the hop plant and the hemp plant (from which marijuana is produced) are closely related. The active principle in hops is a fine yellow powder called lupulin. It has been classified as a narcotic because in moderate dosage it causes a dulling of the senses and in larger doses, it can cuase stupor or coma. Besides the natural ingredients in beer, a variety of chemical ingredients have been used over the years. Gum arabic is commonly used to stabilize the beverage and to give beer the foaming quality. According to medical literature it also is a potential cause of liver and kidney damage. Cobalt, which has been used to prevent overfoaming in different kinds of beer, has been implicated in heart disease. Tannic acid is used in tanning leather and in manufacturing of ink. It has been linked to gastric irritation and liver damage, but it eliminates cloudiness in beer. Ammonium phosphate has many uses. Its used in fertilizers, fireproofing materials and flux used in soldering. Breweries have used it to make America water taste like water used by European breweries. Tartaric acid is used in photography and for silvering mirrors and metals. Its also a laxative. Brewers have used it to take away the cloudiness of beer and to make it more appetizing. Papain is used as a solvent for warts and external skin growths. It carries a warning that it may cause severe gastrointestinal symptoms yet its widely used by brewers to prevent clotting. Magnesium sulfate, better known as Epsom Salts, is used in altering the water for beer. The fact that it may cause respiratory failure and kidney impairment doesnt seem to matter. Dextrin is a white powder used to insure a frothy head on the beer. Its also used in the manufacture of matches and explosives. Now this information isnt meant to discourage you from drinking beer. And it isnt meant to scare you either. Ive heard a lot of people say you have to die of something, so why worry. What it is meant to do is to give you a better idea of what youre Continued on last page. Bright Colors Replace Old Gray - Sweats Just Aren't What They Used To Be By Dennis Hinkamp Consumer Information Writer Utah State University SALT LAKE. The old gray mare aint what she used to be and neither are those old gray sweat shirts and sweat pants we used to wear. Whether it is just a fashion trend or a statement that exercise is now fun instead of drudgery, you cant help but notice that exercise clothing is considerably more flamboyant than it used to be. According to Ruth Clayton, clothing and textiles instructor at Utah State University, there doesnt seem to be any particular reason why sweat clothes were generally made of gray material. Gray is not the natural color of the fiber. The reasoning may have been that gray did not show dirt as easily as other colors. According to LaJean Lawson, a USU graduate student in clothing and textiles, the move toward a variety of colors is an indication of people wanting to feel good about themselves when they exercise. Possibly, they want to show off the results of those long hours of hard work in the gym or weight room. There also is a whole seocnd market for active wear opening up. Many people like to dress like athletes whether or not they acutally participate in sports, she says. Examples of this are the infant jogging suits you see a lot of babies wearing these days. Obviously, babies cannot jog, but their parents like to dress them up like little athletes. She says the new athletic clothes are attractive enough to allow people to go from activity to activity without feeling embarassed about what they are wearing. For instance, you can go from an aerobics class to the store and out to lunch in the same outfit without feeling out of place. Lawson says that although much of the change in athletic clothing can be attributed to changing attitudes about exercise, many of the innova- Continued on last page. Teacher to Parent Helping your child succeed by Betty Condie President, Utah Education Association After a Japanese teen-ag- e singing idol killed herself earlier this year, several of her fans imitated her and committed suicide in the weeks following her death. These desperate children are victims of a growing problem - teenage suicide. It is ironic that the group which should be most robust and healthy en-agers - has a soaring death rate. Suicide has become the second leading cause of death among teenagers. The number one cause is acci- -te- dent. Last year Utah ranked 14th from the top nationally in the number of suicides per 100,000 population. Health care professionals tell us many of the children who attempt suicide seek help at some point prior to killing themselves. Some of the early warning signs are drepression, anti social behavior, and deteriorating school work. Most young victims come from a family with a history of depression and alcohol or drug abuse. Many of them use drugs and alcohol in attempts to mask their despair and depression. Dr. Dennis Cantwell of UCLA Medical School makes these observations: Children living in the Western States are more likely to attempt suicide than those in the South or the East. Boys attempt suicide five times more often than girls. Children tend to pick an anniversary date of some sort on which to attempt to kill themselves. Children under age 12 rarely attempt sucide. Suicides can be prevented if those of us who live and work with teenagers tune in to the signs which show they are calling for help. |