Sustainability is a widely misunderstood and ambiguous noun, verb, and adjective. The Wikipedia definition of sustainability is “meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” Everyone can do their part to “meet the needs of the present;” and it can be done in many different ways. One of the simplest ways to reduce your ecological footprint is to re-evaluate your eating habits. Eating in a sustainable manner is easy once you train yourself to think about the bigger picture of food production. Before you choose your food, think about where it came from and what went into producing it; then make your choice.

4 Things You Can Do Right Now to Eat More Sustainably

1. Buy Local! Much of the carbon footprint of food production comes from transport. Most food in ordinary supermarkets is grown in far-away regions and has traveled thousands of miles before it ends
up on your plate. The trucks, planes, trains, and boats that are used in transport all burn excessive
amounts of fuel.

2. Buy Organic! The vast majority of food consumed in the U.S. is grown using farming practices that
are intensely harmful to the environment. Erosion and depletion of nutrients in soil, contamination of
soil and watersheds by chemical fertilizers and pesticides, and monocultural cultivation methods all
contribute to the degradation of the environment. Organic farms, which do not use chemical fertilizers
or pesticides and employ more earth-friendly farming methods are better for the environment.
Therefore, while it may be more expensive, buying organic products is a great way to lessen your carbon footprint.

3. Go Veg! Did you know that a large portion of greenhouse gases is methane gas from cow farts? Additionally, producing meat as a food source is a losing proposition energy-wise: far more calories were needed to feed the cow than you actually get by eating meat. If you’re like me and couldn’t dream of not having a cheeseburger once in a while, you can still make a difference by eating less meat- even if you don’t remove it from your diet altogether.

4. Grow your own food! Last summer, my girlfriend and I planted a garden in her backyard. At the end
of the summer, we had more carrots, beans, lettuce, kale, broccoli, and garlic than we knew what to do with! If you have a backyard, or even a pot on a windowsill, you can have fresh produce that is the epitome of local. Besides being extremely sustainable, it saves money. I would estimate that we grew about $200 worth of produce in our 10 x 7 foot square.

Don’t know where to start with all of this? Minneapolis has a good smattering of cooperative natural
food stores that provide a great starting point for eating sustainably. The staff members are usually
quite knowledgeable about low-impact eating and can help you make choices about your food that will
be ecologically responsible. If you’ve got a couple of hours to kill, check out Seward Co-op on Franklin,
which is just a short ride on the 2 from the U of M.

He stands five feet, five inches tall. He weighs just over 100 pounds. His blonde hair is slowly growing back, covering his once-bald head. Clothes that used to fit him now loosely hang on his frame. His eyes become livelier, less sunken with each passing day. He can’t bench press 300 pounds, but he’s one of the toughest guys in Minnesota. He’s thrown down with Death and knocked it out. He’s beaten cancer before. He’s trying to make cancer tap out again. This is 15-year-old Andrew Kippley. He’s tougher than cancer.

Andrew was first diagnosed with neuroblastoma when he was 2 years old. Neuroblastoma is a type of cancerous tumor that grows out of the body’s nerve tissues, usually from the adrenal glands. There are around 650 new cases reported in the U.S. alone each year, and while neuroblastoma cases account for only 5 percent of cancer diagnosed in children, it is the most common cancer found in infants and it is responsible for around 15 percent of childhood cancer-related deaths. Andrew
did the improbable as a toddler, beating an advanced case of the disease when the survival rate for children in his situation dramatically decreases after 18 months of age. He survived after several months of chemotherapy. Unfortunately, he was diagnosed with neuroblastoma again last May.

“It sucked,” Andrew said when asked what he felt when he was told he had cancer again. There wasn’t anything more to it than that. No tears, no existential questions, nothing of the sort.

“They just came in and said that ‘he’s got a mass in his stomach and that’s why he’s having all his problems,’ and I said, ‘that sucks,’” Andrew said. “We joked about it all the way home.”

Andrew’s second battle began when he started having troubles going to the bathroom. After a month of abnormal bathroom breaks, the Kippley family went to the doctors at Children’s Hospital in St. Paul to see what was wrong. It took several scans and appointments before an oncologist found the tumor. Upon informing the family, the doctors made Andrew submit urine, testing it for any hormones the tumor may secrete, as neuroblastoma is one of the few cancers that gives off hormones.

“Relapses can occur many years after apparent cure,” Dr. John Maris said. Maris is one of the top neuroblastoma specialists in the world and practices at Children’s Hospital in Philadelphia. He is one of Andrew’s doctors and is currently directing his treatment. “This is likely due to rare cancer cells sitting quiescent for some time. Why they begin to re-grow and when is unknown.”

Andrew first went into surgery shortly after he was diagnosed, on May 14. It didn’t bode well. Doctors labeled Andrew’s tumor as Stage 4 neuroblastoma. They only took out about 20 percent of the tumor because it attached itself to his bladder, encasing both his ureters, which are ducts that move urine from the kidneys to the bladder. The tumor connected itself to both his kidneys and his colon as well. Worse, it bled on touch, before the doctors made any incision. The doctors were unable to put stents into his kidneys to help him relieve himself, but they were able to put in a port, a small device that among other things can help put chemotherapy drugs into the body. The port is usually connected to a vein by a catheter. It has a septum to store and move injected chemicals during treatment.

Facing such a dangerous tumor, doctors decided to start chemotherapy sessions for Andrew to see if the tumor would shrink away from his internal organs and become operable. By this time, Andrew left school towards the end of his eighth grade year so he could focus on his treatment. Because of his age, and the amount of time he spent in relapse between his first and second bout with cancer, Andrew became a unique medical case.

Maris said that “while rare, neuroblastoma in teenagers and young adults is welldescribed… unfortunately, relapses occur in about half of all cases. His was very late, and this is the unusual aspect [of Andrew’s case].”

It was so unusual that Andrew’s doctor in St. Paul began asking the top specialists around the country for advice on how to treat Andrew, according to Andrew’s mother Amber. The responses each specialist gave varied from giving Andrew new experimental treatments to just monitoring his progress.
Neuroblastoma is often unpredictable and there are documented cases where tumors have simply vanished on their own. Doctors have yet to find the cause behind neuroblastoma’s chaotic nature.

Andrew began the first of his two chemotherapy rounds in the last days of May. For most people, chemotherapy is a terrible experience. In some ways it was worse for Andrew as he has a higher-than-average resistance to drugs and medication. When he had his epidural catheter removed after his
first surgery, doctors gave Andrew pain medication that proved to be ineffective. It took seven hours before doctors found pain meds that worked. Andrew experienced the same difficulties when it came to chemotherapy.

“They kind of mixed and matched chemos and gave him a double dose,” Andrew’s father Don said. “One of the chemos that he had taken the first time gave him hearing loss, so they took that one out of the equation.”

According to Andrew, chemotherapy is long and boring. Andrew was admitted into the hospital and put into a room where he waited for a while. Doctors put Andrew on an IV, through the port in his chest. He waited more while doctors prepared the radioactive chemicals they were going to use.

“[The chemo] is just like normal looking liquid in a bag that goes into an IV,” Andrew said. “You’d think they’d be weird looking but it’s not.”

Andrew spent four days in the hospital the first time, mainly just waiting for the therapy to be done. He described the therapy as “nauseating,” especially since he wasn’t able to eat regular food. Instead, he ate tons of Skittles and drank a lot of Mountain Dew Livewire. Andrew still lost weight because of the chemotherapy. Another side effect of the chemo was a fever Andrew would develop while undergoing treatment. Doctors had to give him Tylenol over other medicine like Ibuprofin because Tylenol wouldn’t react with the drugs pumped into Andrew’s body. For reasons doctors couldn’t immediately explain, Andrew’s legs ballooned when he was undergoing chemotherapy. Doctors later found out this problem stemmed from blood clots in Andrew’s legs.

One of the worst effects of the chemo was the failure of one of Andrew’s kidneys. It stopped retracting, and as Andrew had only one good kidney at that point, he had “over twice the amount of what you should have in your bladder.” Doctors removed a liter of urine before they put in a catheter, removing another liter afterwards.

“They said the tumor was so big, it was blocking every which way,” Don said. “They ended up doing a lot of smaller surgeries to put a lot of stents in. That’s when he stayed in the hospital the longest.”

Andrew went through another round of chemotherapy three weeks after he was released from the hospital. In between his chemo treatments and other visits to the hospital, Andrew managed to find some enjoyment in his summer. Whether it was attending benefits to raise money for his treatment or
walking late at night around his neighborhood, Andrew kept busy. He also spent time with the Andrew Kippley Krew, a group of eighth-grade girls comprised of his friends who dedicated their entire summer to raise money for Andrew.

“We just kind of came up with an idea to raise money for Andrew,” said Abbey Nelson, one of the founding members of the Kippley Krew and one of Andrew’s closest friends. “It was initially going to be a surprise for him, but then a lot of people found out. And then we let Andrew know, and then obviously he became part of the group.”

Andrew soon learned he didn’t have much to be happy about. His tumor had actually grown during the chemotherapy process. It expanded two centimeters towards his stomach, as it had nowhere else to invade. The cancer by this time was pushing his organs out of position, making the tumor more life threatening than ever before. With Andrew’s survival on the line, doctors decided they must try and remove the tumor through surgery again. Whereas before they thought the tumor was too risky to operate on, this time there was no other choice.

“It was not an option,” Andrew said. “It was a last resort, it was not an option.”

The Kippleys had to choose which doctor would perform surgery on Andrew. While there was a doctor in New York who only did surgery on neuroblastoma patients, the doctor who first performed surgery on Andrew when he was two was available as well. The Kippleys felt more comfortable with the doctor who had previously seen Andrew and after meeting with him decided to go ahead with the surgery.

Andrew went into surgery on July 29, risking his life to be free of his cancer.

Read Part 2 of Tougher Than Cancer to find out more on Andrew Kippley’s fight with Cancer

The University of Minnesota is one of the largest campuses in the country. With an area spanning 21.2 million square feet and reaching into two separate cities, getting around is no walk in the park. Luckily, Minneapolis has a booming bicycle community famed as the second largest in the country next to Portland. This means there are plenty of bike paths and routes to get students and other green travelers where they need to go. The city is a perfect place for a good bike ride. So perfect in fact, that many people rely exclusively on their bicycles to get around. Unfortunately, bicycles have a nasty habit of breaking at the most crucial of moments.

Learning the ins and outs of bicycle maintenance is intimidating. Luckily, there are plenty of places around campus to get your bike fixed up and ready to go. From corporate franchises to cooperatives, finding a shop within walking distance is never a problem. Here is a list of a few bike shops in the area:

The Hub West Bank
http://thehubbikecoop.org/
301 Cedar Ave S.

Located just around the corner from Hard Times Café, by Midwest Mountaineering and May Day Books.
The Hub is a bicycle cooperative that offers new and used parts, tune-ups, repairs, and courses in bicycle maintenance. The Hub is a worker-run cooperative and is highly involved in the Minneapolis community. They frequently donate to local organizations and offer the occasional free education seminar. Their West Bank location is one of two shops – the other Hub is located on 3020 Minnehaha Ave.

The Varsity Bike Shop
http://www.varsitybike.com/
1316 SE 4th Street

Located down the main drag in Dinkytown, across from Hideaway. Varsity Bike Shop has been open for just over 13 years. They have recently expanded their store size and are one of the premiere suppliers of electric bikes in the area. They offer plenty of competitively priced tune-ups and have a large selection of bicyclesfor sale.

Erik’s Bike Store
http://www.eriksbikeshop.com/
1312 4th Street S.E.

Located in Dinkytown, a few doors away from The Varsity Bike Shop Erik opened his first bike store in his hometown of Richfield, Minnesota at the age of 18. Since then, Erik’s Bike Shop has grown by leaps and bounds. Today, Erik’s employs over 200 workers in 15 stores around Minnesota and Wisconsin. While it’s more of a corporate franchise than a local bike shop, they offer plenty of great deals to students in the fall.

Freewheel Bike Shop
http://freewheelbike.com/
1812 S 6th St

Take the 16 or campus connector to the West Bank; 6th street is a few blocks behind Hard Times Café. With a new store recently opened along the Greenway, Freewheel has become a respected local bike shop. Freewheel offers both maintenance and repairs and full on new bicycles. The bike shop also hosts cheap maintenance seminars and rents a workshop by the hour at a low rate.

Apparently, it takes 400 years for a drop of water to travel from the headwaters of Lake Superior to the tip of Lake Huron. That’s a long time, but not so long if you look at the history of the North American Great Lakes. This film, “Mysteries of the Great Lakes,” produced and directed by David Lickley, explores myths, legends, and the great impact humans have had on the Great Lakes environment.Despite being a film with strong conservationist messages, it has managed to avoid the attitude of a stalwart tree hugger.

There is definitely something that Lickley wants to say. Humans and animals alike depend on the Great Lakes for many things: Food, homes, and especially water. The Great Lakes hold one-fifth of the world’s fresh water. That water has to serve 40 million Canadians and Americans, and the number is growing every day, month, and year. With the way things are now in the world, the Great Lakes ecosystem is in danger of being damaged beyond repair. All species are endangered here.

I was surprised, to say the least, at seeing the amazing photography and shots of the lakes that have been so familiar to me. I never saw Superior as a graveyard for over 300 ships, nor did I ever think that the bald eagle would be in great peril, again. The real shocker is the history of some wild caribou inhabiting a remote island on one of the lakes. You will be thinking, is this evolution? Evolution, happening in the last few hundred years.

The most prominent story was that of the sturgeon, a gigantic fish that can grow up to seven feet in length. A native species to the Great Lakes, 99% of the sturgeon population has been wiped out by
intense fishing. This is the film’s highlight. A group of scientists use simple methods to help the sturgeon, but their efforts may be futile. You wouldn’t expect a fish story to be so gripping, but the consequences of yet another species disappearing is pressed hard into the viewer’s mind. I haven’t
been so moved since “Finding Nemo.”

But seriously, the film presents some tough questions. How much longer will we allow the lakes to
be polluted? How many more native species will we let perish into oblivion? Humans have made efforts
to preserve the lakes, but is it enough? Will it last for a hundred more years? The film makes you
look at the lakes, not a little, but a lot closer. What has always been a pleasant backdrop to Midwestern life is now something that needs to be fiercely protected, and Lickley won’t let you forget it, not even after you leave the theatre.

Go see “Mysteries of the Great Lakes” at the Science Museum of Minnesota Omnitheater. It’s running until Jan. 8th, so you really don’t have an excuse. Trust me, you’ll never think of the Great Lakes the same way again. Besides, there is always fun to be had on the musical stairs; I spent fifteen minutes making musical mayhem.

“IT AIN’T EASY BEING GREEN.” Kermit the Frog may have struggled with living in a world devoid of green, but he’d be quite fashionable today. Increased environmental awareness is everywhere–from the “Tree Hugger, Planet Lover” canvas bags at Target to the stainless steel water bottles that reduce plastic consumption.

Popular culture reflects the Green Movement—or one might argue, culture encourages an eco-friendly lifestyle. Al Gore’s “An Inconvenient Truth” opened in 2006 and won an Academy Award for best documentary. The film sparked worldwide awareness about global warming and the human impact on the environment, and attention has been focused on humans versus nature ever since. Jack Johnson promotes eco-friendly concerts, Ludacris and Tommy Lee star on Planet Green’s Battle Ground Earth, and Leonardo DiCaprio pushes the importance of global warming in his movie “The 11th Hour.”

However, celebrities and the media aren’t the only ones outside the scientific world focusing on the environment.

Businesses and politicians have adopted eco-friendly stances to market themselves to the environmentally aware culture. Many new construction projects strive for LEED certification, a sustainability approval stamp given by the U.S. Green Building Council. Retail giant Target now includes a “shop eco-friendly” link on its website, listing reusable shopping bags, recycled and pre-owned products, and organic items. Politicians—including John McCain and Barack Obama—pledge to reduce greenhouse gas emissions (although one pledges slightly more than the other).

Environmental awareness isn’t unique to the 21st century. In 1962 Rachel Carson published Silent Spring, a novel documenting the impact of DDT, a powerful pesticide, on animals and humans. In 1970 the Environmental Protection Agency was created and the first Earth Day was celebrated. Greenpeace, an organization of activists dedicated to saving the planet, was formed in 1971. Is today’s heightened interest in environmentalism more than just another trend?

“[The green movement has had] a big surge but it’ll die down,” says Lara Singh, a fourth year student at the U of M. Darrin Salzmann, a senior in Cinema and Media Culture, disagrees. “I think it’s here to stay. The movement is making its way into politics and other forms of media…It’s becoming less of an underground thing.” Salzmann cited both Gore’s and DiCaprio’s films as successful means of bringing the message from the subculture to popular culture.

Others postulate that consumers who purchase popular eco-friendly products and wear “Go Green!”
apparel are merely adhering to the laws of style. “They don’t care,” says Adam Herron, a first year student. Herron believes the Green Movement will last, but he argues that buying “eco-friendly” products will die down while more important things like saving gas and driving hybrids will continue. To find the frightening implications of a failed Green Movement all one needs to do is read the newspaper. Without protection, polar bears (officially a threatened species as of May) will lose the polar ice cap, they call home.

As the ice melts, coastal areas will flood with ocean water made acidic by the surging greenhouse gas emissions. While some areas will receive too much rainfall, creating a warm, wet environment for disease to flourish, others will face droughts as increased temperatures scorch the land. The food we eat will become continually more distant from the organic, unrefined products our ancestors ate and instead become genetically modified carriers of pesticides. A toxic planet will be unable to sustain
anything but toxin-laden life.

In the face of such overwhelming consequences, the Green Movement is spreading across the nation. Will it last? Many think that governmental and corporate policies protecting the environment are most likely to continue, although purchases of “ecofriendly goods” will decrease. These products are trendy,
just as poodle skirts and shoulder pads once were. Then again, environmentally friendly goods reflect years of activism to save the planet. Products like the “Tree Hugger, Planet Lover” bag at Target may become dated, but steel canteens that reduce plastic consumption are part of a lifestyle dedicated to reducing, reusing, and recycling.

As information regarding global warming, toxic chemicals, and waning resources builds in the consciousness of humanity, few can deny the earth needs protection. The superficial marks of the Green Movement may fade from sight, but a wake-up call has been issued. Our society needs to shift
from the bloated, polluting nation it has become into a clean, minimalist unit—and buying cutesy “green” apparel won’t cut it. Memo to the world: take a look at how you interact with your environment. Polar bears aren’t the only ones who face a sink or swim situation.

It’s 8:15 a.m. and the only thing that makes waking up worth it at this hour is that one guy or girl who sits next to you in class. As you talk to him, his face is pointed towards you, but his body is facing away. Or, as you casually joke about how nerdy the professor looks today, she stares down at her notes rather than you and leans back in her chair as far as she can. What does this all mean??

As a new school year begins, students will meet new people, create new relationships, and drunkenly fornicate with random strangers after doing six keg stands. Last year, there were 28,703 undergrads attending our fine institution, according to University statistics. With a school that large, it’s unlikely to see the same person more than a few times.

Concentrating on their body language could help students create more lasting relationships score a last-minute desperate hook-up, or at least a booty call for the future.

The Numbers Lie
There is this common rule of thumb that about 93 percent of communication is non-verbal. Lately, we have begun to notice this type of communication more and more in our every day lives. We’re no longer simply analyzing stats from a 1970s study in our Psych 1001 classes. The world has changed since then.

Business consultant Ian Brodie writes in an essay, “Debunking the Myths of Non-Verbal Communication,” that the study focused on specific areas of communication, not communicating in general. He goes on to say that there is no real “percentage” of communication that is non-verbal.

Dr. Susanne Jones, a communications studies professor who specializes in non-verbal communication
at the University of Minnesota, agrees and disagrees. She says that 93 percent is too high, but the standard that the communication studies community uses is about 65-75 percent.

“Numbers are numbers so who the hell cares,” Jones says. “The point is the majority of the entire human interaction spectrum is taken up by nonverbal exchanges, which is logical. Verbal communication only has one channel and that’s the mouth. Nonverbal communication is 50,000 different channels and they all work together.”

What Does It All Mean?
Larry Rodrigues was an electronic communications professor at a California community college for 27 years and now is the director of the EastWest Institute for Self-Understanding, which he founded in 1980. He holds a Master of Science in education from the University of Southern California, but more
recently he has gone into a less traditional science – hand analysis – and has written two books on the subject.

Even with his unorthodox new interest, his website, learnbodylanguage.com, is pretty interesting. He has dumbed down his scientific communications research to be easily digested by the uneducated heathens that surf the interweb. Two interesting sections are called “Five Ways Males Flirt” and “Five Ways Females Flirt,” which describe what people should look for to tell if someone is interested in them.

Dr. Jones, however, says that concentrating on only one nonverbal cue is a huge mistake. She gives the example of trying to tell if someone is lying. Usually, we assume that if someone is not making eye contact or has shifty eyes, they must be lying, which is a terrible way to read a liar, Jones says.

“All nonverbal cues are multifunctional,” Jones says. “Me touching your shoulder can have 50,000 million meanings depending on the context and all kinds of nonverbal communication cues that happen at the same time.” (She really did touch my shoulder.)

Men are from Mars and so are Women
What you may find surprising is that men and women do not differ extensively in how they communicate nonverbally. Jones says that in all behavioral research, the sex differences are small, and they vary by only about 10 to 15 percent. We think we are so different because interpersonal relationships dominate our lives, which she says causes us to speculate about the other sex; we all know this can cause a lot of problems.

“It will always be like that,” Jones says. “That’s why all the self-help literature out there is so damaging, because they perpetuate our stereotypical thinking of how women are and how men are.”

The one major difference, Jones says, is that women are, for the most part, better at receiving and sending nonverbal cues than men. On the flip side, she also says that women are worse at reading negative emotions compared to men. A speculation is that women are socialized to withhold showing
their anger.

There are a couple of other speculations for why women can read everyone’s poker faces. One evolutionary approach is that women give birth and have to read the facial expressions of an infant that cannot speak, Jones says. Another is that women are socialized to express emotions, unlike men who are pussies if they shed a tear.

Let’s Get It On
Since men and women are so alike, it should not come as a surprise that we are attracted to the same nonverbal cues. Jones lists three important cues people should look for to tell if someone is interested in doing the no-pants-dance: 1) attention 2) closeness 3) prolonged touch. People will also seek out the person they are interested in and talk to them more.

When one first spots that hottie across the room, these cues may come in a series. First, Jones says, attention and eye contact is the key thing; next is how their body is facing. Depending on how they are facing will be a cue if they are available and interested. These two lovebirds will try to separate
themselves from the groups they were a part of to show they are single.

They will get close and begin to talk and sometimes engage in “blocking cues” like putting their hand on their head and sticking their elbow out or placing their head on both hands and moving closer to block others from distracting their future mate or soon to be defendant in a sexual assault trial.

After that, however, it is up to one’s intuition to make the big move. There are subtle cues one might pick up on that both Jones and Rodrigues give, but he puts more emphasis on them than she does. The most common cue, according to Rodrigues’ site, is preening.

Tossing the hair, stroking it, petting it or anything that moves hair away from the face and shoulders to expose bare skin is a good sign, according to the site. Also drawing attention to the mouth, like licking her lips or rubbing an ice cube around them and then sucking on it is also a plus. Crossing and uncrossing of the legs and adjusting loose clothing are also listed because it draws attention to her body.

Women engage in preening more than men, Jones says. Men try to focus on their posture, straighten their appearance subtly and show off their muscle tone. Like most people probably already know, this all could happen in 10 minutes or a couple of years if the future mate is a prude.

The Real World
Now it’s my turn to try out what I’ve learned and see if it helps me at all. I have been interested in a girl in one of my classes; I won’t say which class, though, so I can to give myself some anonymity. On most days, I can’t tell if we’re flirting or if I’m just acting like an idiot and she’s laughing at me. I usually never look for nonverbal cues, which is probably why I’m in this situation to being with.

Dr. Jones told me something that I found a little creepy. She says that the best way to pick up on someone’s interest in you is to bring them to a casual spot, and bring a friend to watch so they can spot subtleties that you might not see because you are too preoccupied on how you look or are acting.

I’m not quite into the ménage à trois territory yet, so I tried to wing it and see if I could cue in to this shorty myself. After class, we went to The Tea Garden while we waited for our buses. One thing that makes me think she’s interested is that I can make her laugh. Of course, that never came up in my discussion with Dr. Jones, so that’s pretty useless.

I noticed she would laugh, move her chair closer in sometimes or move it back, but I never noticed any preening or taking a banana and swallowing it whole. She told me a funny anecdote about one of her family members and about how her brother made a fool of himself with his fake British accent in London.

This may sound corny, but I realized something later: I was actually listening to what she was saying!! Honestly, I couldn’t really concentrate on what she was doing. Paramore and other crappy pop-punk blared while we talked about London, which is where I’m studying abroad in the spring, so the cues were whizzing past me.

This small experiment, to me, proves Dr. Jones is right; nonverbal communication is fucking complicated. So much goes on when you’re talking to someone, it’s crazy that people communicate using movement and can read what others are saying. Why can’t people just use their mouths and say what’s on their goddamn mind? I guess nonverbal communication is something that makes us human.

Genius: Jeffrey Hahn, Assistant Extension Entomologist in Urban Entomology

Motto: “No Jitters from Critters”

The Wake: When I hear the word “entomologist,” I think of butterflies being pinned into glass cases. What is the field of entomology really about?

The Prof: There is actually a lot going on in entomology. There is a lot of applied research; People research crop pests, bed bugs, pests of landscape plants, and so on. We also have basic research, which is not necessarily going after a specific problem but can often lead to helpful information for us.

Our faculty and staff are divided into one of three areas: teaching, research and extension, which may not be as clear to people. I am 100 percent in extension. It’s basically outreach and education. Extension is kind of a third arm at the University, but not everyone interacts with people in extension.

I submit information in several different fashions. One would be to actually go out and put on a program, which I actually did this past Monday night, and talked to master gardeners. But it’s not practical to get to every group that could use the information in this way.

The media is another group I interact with. As topics arise, I try to get the message out. But right now, the biggest way to do that is through our website <www.extension.umn.edu/gardeninfo>.

It’s pretty new, since last Thanksgiving. It is a Horticulture oriented website, but there is a link for insects. The site allows people to self-diagnose their pest problems. There are still a lot of features that are ‘Coming soon,’ because it is a work in progress, but the common stuff is fairly easy to get. People may still have other questions, and that’s fine.

The website also has a newsletter that I contribute articles to regularly. And I am actually in the process of writing a field guide of insects.

The Wake: What is it that differentiates an Urban Entomologist?

The Prof: In the broad sense I deal with insects in and around homes, in gardens and landscapes. I do most anything except agricultural insects.

The Wake: What made you want to study entomology?

The Prof: I actually remember, I was in my junior or senior year thinking, “What am I going to do after I graduate?” At the time I was pursuing a BS in Biology. I remember seeing a poster for grad work in Entomology and thought that sounded like something I could do. I’ve always liked insects. So off to grad school I went and basically from there to this job.

The Wake: I noticed that you also have an undergraduate degree in Geography.

The Prof:Originally I was a biology major and geography minor, but I just needed a few more credits for the second major. The double major hasn’t really helped. It doesn’t really have much impact on what I am doing now, but it was fun at the time.

The Wake: If you were not an entomologist, what do you think you would be doing today?

The Prof: That’s a scary question actually. I’m really not sure. Searching for a job after grad school, I saw this job and thought, “If I don’t get this job, what am I going to do?” Fortunately, I did get this job.

The Wake: Do you have any favorite insects?

The Prof: One of the things I like to do as kind of a hobby, but that fits with my job is insect photography. So, some of my favorite insects to photograph are Scorpion Flies. Tiger Beatles are a challenge to photograph, but also one of my favorites. Essentially, nothing is mundane. Especially when you get behind a camera, you see things that you wouldn’t otherwise.

The Wake: Have you had any bad experiences dealing with pest control?

The Prof: You kind of have to take those experiences in stride. I do remember photographing yellow jackets and getting stung, or going into an apartment that had cockroaches and later wondering if I had brought them home with me. And I don’t go to hotels anymore without thinking about Bed bugs. Mostly pests get tolerated, but if they get to be too much of a pest, they won’t survive long in my house.

You’re chain-smoking outside a cocktail party on a Saturday night and the conversation turns to politics. Chances are at least 90 percent of the well-spoken socialites around you are pulling their information straight out of their asses. Today, The Wake will help you become a part of that other 10 percent. I know, I know – making opinions based on actual facts is a fresh and dangerous idea. But that’s what we’re all about here – fresh and dangerous.

On Conservation and Energy

John McCain (R): “I believe climate change is real,” said McCain. “Americans and Europeans need to get serious about substantially reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the coming years or we will hand over a much-diminished world to our grandchildren.” He has developed a set of five principles to reduce emissions and combat climate change:

• Climate Policy Should Be Built On Scientifically-Sound, Mandatory Emission Reduction Targets and Timetables.

• Climate Policy Should Utilize a Market-Based Cap and Trade System.

• Climate Policy Must Include Mechanisms to Minimize Costs and Work Effectively With Other Markets.

• Climate Policy Must Spur The Development and Deployment of Advanced Technology.

• Climate Policy Must Facilitate International Efforts To Solve The Problem.

Under the Cap and Trade program, companies would be allotted a limited amount of greenhouse gas emissions. If companies are able to develop technologies to cut emissions even more, they can sell their rights to emit greenhouse gas to other companies. Like the Acid Rain Trading program of the early 90’s, the Cap and Trade program should give companies an incentive to develop clean technologies. In McCain’s version of the program, today’s biggest polluters would start with the biggest share of allotted emissions.

Putting his five policies into action, McCain plans to reduce emission to 2005 levels by 2012 and to 1990 levels by 2020. The League of Conservation Voters gave McCain a score of zero percent based on his senatorial votes on issues of environmental significance during the past year.

Barack Obama (D):Obama, on the other hand, is endorsed by the LCV, having received a 67 percent on their scorecard. Like McCain, Obama supports a Cap and Trade program, but in his version, companies would obtain greenhouse gas emission rights by auction, creating an incentive to develop clean technologies right from the start.

Obama also stresses revolutionizing the automobile industry to make fuel-efficient cars affordable to the general public.

Unlike McCain, Obama is vehemently opposed to drilling in the NAWR “I strongly reject drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge because it would irreversibly damage a protected national wildlife refuge without creating sufficient oil supplies to meaningfully affect the global market price or have a discernable impact on U.S. energy security,” he said. “We should be cherishing our natural treasures, not defiling them for no good reason.”

Al Franken (D): Franken has spoken out vaguely in support of alternative energy. He does not have an LCV rating because he does not have a legislative record to base it on. However, he is the candidate endorsed by the LCV for the Minnesota senatorial elections.

Norm Coleman (R): Coleman, with a rating of 21 percent, is not endorsed by the LCV. He supports increased domestic drilling on the grounds that most Americans can’t afford alternative energy. On the other hand, Coleman is the champion of wetland protection, having proposed the 2007 Wetlands Loan.

On Stem Cell Research

John McCain (R): McCain is painted as a staunch conservative so this may surprise you, but he actually supports stem cell research. Throughout McCain’s senatorial career, he has voted for bills in support of stem cell research several times, provided the embryos are left over from fertility treatments, not created specifically to be destroyed. “I believe that we need to fund this. This is a tough issue for those of us in the pro-life community. I would remind you that these stem cells are either going to be discarded or perpetually frozen,” he said in 2007. “We need to do what we can to relieve human suffering. It’s a tough issue. I support federal funding.” On the other hand, McCain voted in support of a bill to outlaw human cloning.

Barack Obama (D): Obama has also voted to outlaw human cloning and to allow stem cell research on embryos left over from fertility treatments. He also strongly supports lifting a ban that prohibits federal funding for stem cell research. “I strongly support expanding research on stem cells,” he said. “I believe that the restrictions that President Bush has placed on funding of human embryonic stem cell research have handcuffed our scientists and hindered our ability to compete with other nations.”

Al Franken (D): Because writer and comedian Franken has previously never held public office, he does not have a history of legislation to look back upon. Therefore, Franken’s views are somewhat less transparent than his opponent’s. Health reform is a major part of Franken’s political platform, and the expansion of stem cell research is a part of that reform. “We should look for cures for deadly diseases by harnessing the full potential of stem cell research,” he said on the subject.

Norm Coleman (R): As a Minnesota senator, Coleman has voted against expanding federal funding for stem cell research from discarded embryos from fertility clinics. However, he personally introduced an alternative plan. Called the Hope Offered through Principles, Ethically-Sound Stem Cell Research (HOPE) Act, Coleman proposed offering $5 billion dollars in federal funding to methods of stem cell research that do not harm or destroy human embryos. These methods include Altered Nuclear Transfer – in which an unfertilized egg cell is programmed to develop stem cells, and using stem cells from embryos that have died naturally. “The President’s current policy does not provide enough federal funding for embryonic stem cell research. I believe we can do more – without crossing the ethical line of using taxpayer dollars for the destruction of human embryos,” Coleman said. “This approach builds on common ground which both sides of this debate can agree on and is our best option for moving forward on this divisive issue.” His bill passed in 2007.

On Abortion

John McCain (R): McCain is against abortion except in cases of rape and incest, and in cases where the mother’s life is in danger, and he has consistently voted in accordance with this philosophy. He has also voted against partial-birth abortions. However, he makes the distinction that if abortion is criminalized, abortion doctors, not women who have had abortions, will be prosecuted under the law.

McCain emphasizes encouraging social change to prevent unwanted pregnancy in the first place. “At its core, abortion is a human tragedy,” he said. “To effect meaningful change, we must engage the debate at a human level.” However, he voted against a bill to grant federal funding to non-abstinence sex education programs.

Last year, The NRLC gave McCain a 75% score based on his pro-life legislation. On the other hand, the National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League has consistently rated him 0% based on his pro-choice standings.

Barack Obama (D): Obama has consistently voted against federal regulation of abortion. “I think that most Americans recognize that this is a profoundly difficult issue for the women and families who make these decisions. They don’t make them casually,” he said. “And I trust women to make these decisions in conjunction with their doctors and their families and their clergy.”

Obama voted in support of the bill to grant federal funds to sex education. “We can certainly agree on the fact that we should be doing everything we can to avoid unwanted pregnancies that might even lead somebody to consider having an abortion,” he said.

The Natural Rights to Life Committee (NRLC) has consistently given Obama a zero percent rating, and the NARRAL has consistently given him a 100 percent rating.

Al Franken (D): In his book, The Truth (With Jokes), Franken expressed his perhaps unfortunately worded view that “Nobody likes getting an abortion. Except, perhaps, rape victims. It’s just that pro-choice people know that sometimes women get pregnant when they aren’t ready to have a child.”

Franken has had a tumultuous relationship with Planned Parenthood. At one point, the organization spoke out against Franken when an article he wrote for Playboy Magazine resurfaced. Planned Parenthood said that the sexually explicit, satirical article titled “Porn-O-Rama” was sexist and offensive to women. Now Franken and Planned Parenthood have kissed and made up, as he is currently endorsed by the Planned Parenthood of Minnesota, North Dakota, and South Dakota Action Fund.

Norm Coleman (R): Coleman’s voting record has been consistently pro-life. He voted against partial-birth abortions and also against federal funding for contraception-based sex education. He has been assigned a zero percent rating by the NARRAL and a 100 percent rating by the NRLC.

Well there you have it – go out and spread your newfound knowledge of black, white, and all shades of gray in between. Democracy will thank you.

Soap. Shampoo. Toothpaste. Lotion. Foundation. Deodorant. Almost everyone uses at least one, if not all, of these products on a daily basis, but do we ever think about what they are made out of? It is surprising how little we know about these familiar bottles and tubes. According to the Green Guide Web site, which is hosted by the National Geographic Society, the average adult uses nine personal care products a day, with roughly 120 chemicals spread among them, many of which are incompletely tested for toxicity.

The cosmetics industry is possibly one of the most unregulated industries. Major loopholes in federal law allows chemicals to be put into personal care products without any monitoring of health effects, almost no labeling requirements and no required testing.

According to the Food and Drug Administration’s Office of Cosmetics and Colors, “the regulatory requirements governing the sale of cosmetics are not as stringent as those that apply to other FDA-regulated products… manufacturers may use any ingredient or raw material, except for color additives and a few prohibited substances, to market a product without a government review or approval.”

It then becomes the responsibility of the manufacturers to voluntarily validate the safety of their
products. Unfortunately, the decision between safety and profit doesn’t seem to register for many manufacturers, leaving many personal care product ingredients completely untested.

A report from the Environmental Working Group (EWG), an environmental watchdog agency, revealed that 89 percent of the 10,500 ingredients used in personal care products had not been evaluated for safety by the FDA. Furthermore, the FDA does not enforce recalls of products found to be hazardous or defective, leaving it in the hands of manufacturers to take dangerous products off of the market.

The chemicals in any one product alone are unlikely to cause harm, but daily exposure to the industrial chemicals in cosmetics and personal care products can take its toll. According to the Good Housekeeping Institute, 60 percent of what you put on your skin is absorbed into the bloodstream, and some of these products’ chemicals are linked to birth defects, cancer and other health problems that are increasing in the human population.

Health risks posed by cosmetics can include anything from allergic reactions to cancer, and the lack of safety standards allows manufacturers to use some very harmful ingredients, including coal tar and paraben preservatives.

Parabens are common preservatives that appear in a wide array of toiletries. Parabens break down in the body into p-hydroxybenzoic acid, which has estrogenic activity in human breast-cancer cell cultures. Nine out of ten liquid foundations sold at Target contain parabens, including most name brands and several claiming to be “natural” products. Revlon, Cover Girl, Mineral Wear, and Botanics all contain parabens.

You can also find carcinogenic coal tar, used in artificial dyes such as FD&C Blue 1 and FD&C Green 3, in your everyday moisturizers. “Fragrance,” which is usually a conglomeration of chemicals, is another common ingredient in moisturizers and personal care products. Fragrance masks chemical smells, but may also mask phthalates. Scientists have shown that phthalates can damage the female reproductive system, but it is the male reproductive system that appears to be more sensitive.

Phthalate exposure damages the testes, prostate gland, epididymus, penis, and seminal vesicles in laboratory animals, according to a report done by EWG in 2002. A study conducted by the University of Minnesota, published in the May 2005 Environmental Health Perspectives, found a connection between phthalates and genital abnormalities in baby boys.

Neurotoxic lead may appear in personal care products as a naturally occurring contaminant of hydrated silica, one of the ingredients in toothpaste. Every brand of toothpaste sold at Target that The Wake examined, including Aquafresh, Colgate, and Crest, had hydrated silica listed as an ingredient.

Possible human carcinogens, petroleum distillates, (often labeled as “liquid paraffin”) are prohibited or restricted for use in cosmetics in Europe but are found in several U.S. brands of mascara. Five out of eight mascara labels read “liquid paraffin” at Target, including Rimmel and Cover Girl.

Many conventional bath and shower products contain the foaming agent sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS), and propylene glycol – ingredients also found in anti-freeze, engine degreasers and solvents. According to the American College of Toxicology, SLS is a “potent class of carcinogen.” About 60 percent of soaps sold at Target contained SLS, including name brands Aveno, Dial, Pure and Natural, and Old Spice.

With so many harmful chemicals being used in personal care products today, it comes as no surprise that there has been increasing interest in organic alternatives. Sales of organic personal care products in the U.S. increased by 15 percent annually to almost $9 billion in 2007, according to the Nutrition Business Journal.

“If it falls under the organic umbrella it must be certified by the organic certification organization,” said Kathryn Lawrence, the manager of personal care products at the Seward Co-op, an organic grocery and deli located on 2111 East Franklin Avenue. Certech Registration Inc. is the independent accredited certifying body that has developed North America’s first system certification standard for organic and natural cosmetics.

In order to be certified as “natural” under the IOS Cosmetics Standard, a minimum of 95 percent of the product must be of natural origin and must also use certified organic ingredients which have been grown, cultivated, and stored without the use of chemical fertilizers, herbicides, pesticides, fumigants or other toxins, according to the Certech Registration Web site.

Yet many of the self-proclaimed “pure” products lining the Target shelves, such as Tom’s, Pure and Natural, Botanics and Mineral Wear, all contain chemicals such as hydrated silica, parabens, and sodium lauryl sulfate.

While newfound standards allow personal care products to be certified organic, they have not set any regulations against the use of the word “organic” on product labels. Many manufacturers still use the term in the product’s name or on the labeling. Products with at least one organic ingredient can be deemed “organic,” in spite of the other ingredients used.

“Regulation is just starting to filter into the cosmetics and personal care industry, but Europe has been doing it for years,” Lawrence said. “I think the FDA is going to jump on the band wagon and realize that organics is a big money making industry.”

Lawrence said she hopes for a future of organic personal care products that “keep true to their course,” and are not falsely labeled.

But organic products also pose a conundrum. What exactly are “organic” cosmetics? Do they work as well as their chemical laden counterparts? And why do they cost so much more?

Organic products are made exclusively from organically grown plant material without industrial chemicals, pesticides, or genetic manipulation. They replace chemical substances with natural equivalents, for example preservatives such as rose extract for parabens, or jojoba oil for liquid paraffin. These natural ingredients are much more expensive, hence the high cost of organic products.

But scientific purists claim that natural products aren’t necessarily safer. Some organic products can become toxic when they degrade “Products that contain natural preservatives have much shorter shelve lives,” said Lawrence. “Just like with food, you can usually tell they have molded by the smell.”

“If you are someone who likes to keep a tube of mascara for two years, which is bad anyway, organic products may not be the best for you,” she said.

But do they work? Research on the efficacy and safety of organic products has been minimal. Small studies have been conducted into the effects of certain ingredients. Pine bark and blueberry, for example, have shown that they may combat skin ageing, and chamomile and aloe vera have been shown to have anti-inflammatory effects. But the combination of these ingredients in a product is seldom tested.

However, Lawrence says that organic products are the way to go. “They are so much better in so many ways,” she said. “You use these products so close to your mouth, eyes, and on your skin, and organic personal care products are not going to have chemicals like parabens, which are known to cause cancer.”

Awareness is the key. The Safe Cosmetics Act, passed in California in 2005, and companies like Certech are some of the first steps being taken in the U.S. against poor regulation and safety evaluation in the beauty industry. But consumers can take the issue into their own hands as well.

“Lately there are so many different Web sites that tell you how clean a certain product is,” Lawrence said. “Consumers are becoming educated and more aware of what they are putting on their skin.”

With Web sites like National Geographic’s Green Guide and the campaign for safe cosmetics, consumers can have lists of hazardous chemicals, scientific studies and shopping tips right at their fingertips. Some sites even give recipes for consumers to create their own personal care products, chemical-free. As the FDA sits on the decision on whether or not to regulate the cosmetics industry, our health is at risk, and it is up to consumers to make the choice between a cheap chemical bath and their well being.

Chocolate is everywhere! Holidays such as Halloween and Valentine’s Day make it a staple in everyone’s diet for at least two weeks surrounding the actual day. Songs, such as the infamous YouTube classic “Chocolate Rain,” have wormed their way into our brains. Chocolate is so popular that unsavory creatures, like ants and grasshoppers, covered in the creamy goodness are considered a fine delicacy. It seems like chocolate surrounds us and is something we are all familiar with, but do we really know what it is?

Doctor Gary Reineccius does! He is a food chemist and professor in the College of Food Sciences and Nutrition at the University of Minnesota and has been studying chocolate and its flavors for over 40 years. His job consists of chemically breaking down food and detecting which chemicals produce smells and tastes. According to Reineccius, there are 800 aroma compounds in chocolate which give it a rich flavor.

“Of the foods in life, I truly like chocolate better than anything else,” Reineccius said. In his lecture at the annual Classes Without Quizzes presentation held by the College of Food and Natural Science, Reineccius explained the life process of chocolate.

Chocolate begins its life as a cacao plant in the warm climate in the region 20 degrees north or south of the equator. It is most commonly found in Central America, the Ivory Coast of Africa and Malaysia. The small tree grows cocoa pods, which hold approximately 30 beans, on its lower branches. The pods are harvested to undergo a fermentation process.

Fermentation entails laying the beans out either on banana leaves or in fermentation boxes, while being rotated for up to six days. Next, the beans must dry to prevent molding.

“Moldiness is not a pleasant additive to chocolate flavor,” Reineccius joked.

To ensure that the chocolate will be delicious and fungi-free, the beans are placed in the sun to bake and dry. Warmer weather results in a better quality bean. Another drying technique used during bad climates is artificial drying, which is done with wood and fire. However, there is danger of having an off flavor due to wood smoke, Reineccius said.

Once the beans are dried, they are sent overseas to be processed, which includes roasting, grinding, pressing and smoothing out the beans. The beans reach a temperature anywhere between 130 and 150 degrees Celsius for thirty minutes in order to develop flavor and lose any moisture that may have been regained since the drying process.

Once roasted, the beans are ground, creating a chocolate “liquor,” which boasts a fat content of 50 percent. This fat must be removed, to prevent the world’s population from becoming large, unshapely blobs, so the liquor is sent through hydraulic presses. With some of the fat removed, cocoa powder, one of the main ingredients in chocolate is created.

The final steps en route to the perfect chocolate involve the concept of smoothing. The chocolate particles must first be refined all the way down to a size between 25 and 65 micrometers. The more refined a piece of chocolate is, the smoother texture it has, which means it is more valuable and costly. Finally, the chocolate is conched, or stirred within a giant tub for 30 days, to enhance richness. After all of these steps, chocolate becomes what the consumer puts into their belly.

With 3.1 billion pounds of chocolate eaten each year around the globe, it would be devastating if the cacao tree were to ever become endangered. In attempts to keep chocolate thriving forever and to possibly lower fat intake as well as cost, scientists have been researching the possibility of using different fat ingredients in the recipe, but still calling it chocolate. This has received mixed reactions within the food industry and Reineccius believes that this new product would not be categorized as chocolate if it were to be available on the market.

“It may make it cheaper, but in the end it won’t be a better product,” he said. “It won’t taste better. It will probably taste worse.”

Let’s review the ingredients. Chocolate is comprised of chocolate “liquor,” cocoa butter, sugar, vanilla, emulsifiers and milk. What? No crack? Then why is this magical, silky brown material beyond addicting? Reineccius prefers to use the word craving instead of addiction.

“You’re never addicted to chocolate. An addiction is more along the lines of what happens with cigarettes and drugs. We don’t want to put chocolate in that category. You have a craving for it. People don’t attempt to hold up banks for chocolate,” he explained.

There are many theories regarding the craving based off of dietary reasons or enhancement of serotonin or endorphins in the brain, but according to Reineccius, people crave chocolate simply because they like it and they want to treat themselves.

The mystery is solved. Chocolate is derived from beans in a tree, which undergo an intense processing procedure to become one of the world’s most precious and beloved desserts.