ke By RENEE BLISARD Lion’s Eye staff writer REB202@psu.edu No more waiting around for an hour in the morning for the big decision. The time-worn method of receiving school-closing announcements through KYW Newsradio 1060, FOX 29 TV, and NBC 10 TV will soon become fossilized. The future will bring us school announcements sent right to our cell phones and e-mail for free, courtesy of a group of information sciences and technology majors: Gregory Houser, Edward Rich, and Joshua Lyons. "The student notification system, or ‘Mercury,’ was started last year origi- nally as an IST 440 class project,” said The Lion's Eye Eve on Campus School announcements ... on your cell phone March 30, 2004 Delco students’ project ‘Mercury’ is the wave of the future Houser. "Mercury" will allow students to receive notification about school clos- ings or delays as soon as Campus CEO Dr. Edward Tomezsko makes his deci- sion concerning dangerous winter weather. "The old process still exists," said Houser. "There is a joint discussion between Tomezsko and Dr. George Franz and then Tomesko contacts KYW. But now, we will have the ability to have someone contact the system, choose what will happen for the cam- pus from a list of choices, and send stu- dents a notification instantaneously." The "system" Houser referred to is a combination of an SMS . (Short Messaging Service) provided by a com- pany called Simplewire, allowing "very fast communication," and a server right here on campus. "The actual interface is on campus," said Houser. "We can contact everyone in a few minutes using the server on campus. The messages will go out to 2500 students. This is the first IST pro- ject designed and implemented on cam- pus.” "Mercury" won't cost students a penny and will eventually be used for other things as well. "The project was implemented for $1,000 to $2,000, money from a fund that finances student projects,” said Houser. “We are trying to design the system to be modular with increased functionality like being used to send students class cancellation and class- room change messages." One day, maybe our kids will tease us about ye olden days when we had to wait around for a few minutes to receive school closings on our phones. But, that's in the future, too! > Popular diets may not be the healthy choice » By RENEE BLISARD Lion’s Eye staff writer REB202@psu.edu Fats and proteins have overthrown once regal carbs in’ the diet revolutions of the Atkins Diet and South Beach Diet. If you have jumped on the new diet bandwagon, you are not alone. Millions have tried the Atkins Diet, according to BBC News. The South Beach Diet book is a bestseller. But, are these diets as miraculous as they sound? Atkins.com claims that Atkins' diet "allows you to eat satisfying amounts of delicious, nutrient-dense foods, and customize the program to your individual needs and tastes." It then says the diet consists of "restrict(ing) carbohydrate consumption to 20 grams each day, obtaining carbohydrate primarily from salad and other non-starchy vegetables." The dieter "adds carbohydrates, in the form of nutrient-dense and fiber-rich foods, by increasing to 25 grams daily the first week, 30 grams daily the next week and so on until weight loss stops, subtract(ing) five grams of carbohydrate from your daily intake so that you continue sustained, moderate weight loss." The South Beach Diet, according to www.south- beachdiet.com, has the same basic diet plan as Atkins, only it was designed by Dr. Agatston. Both diets involve eating mainly meats, fish, eggs, and cheeses. Are these diets as deliciously healthy as they sound? Good Housekeeping Editor-in-Chief Ellen Levine in an ABC News Web site article said, "If you are count- ing calories, watching cholesterol, or following other popular low-carb diets, like The South Beach Diet, these low-carb meals are not your best bet, you have to watch out for the 'C' word." That's right, many of these so-called diets involve meals full of calories and fat. Nutrition expert Dr. Atkins died recently of heart disease and weighed a whopping 258 pounds, a weight considered obese, at Fats, Olis & Sweets USE SPARINGLY Wilk, Yogurt & Cheese Group 2-3 SERVINGS Vegetable Group 3.5 SERVINGS KEY Fat (naturally occurring and added) Ed Sugars (added) These symbols show fats and adoed sugars in foods. Meat, Poultry, Fish, Dry Beans, Eggs & Nuts Group 2.3 SERVINGS Fruit Group 2-4 SERVINGS Bread, Cereal, Hine & Pasia Group Despite the popularity of programs like the Atkins Diet and the South Beach Diet, a nutritional expert says it’s important to stick to the traditional food pyramid to maintain your health. his death. If you want to lose weight for life, it is wiser to eat low-calorie, low-fat foods while exercising at the same time. "If you follow these diets to the letter," said Penn State fitness instructor Barbara Rostick, "restricting carbs is against everything nutritionally sound. You need to adapt healthy lifestyle eating and exercise for a lifelong change. Atkins helps people lose weight, but it is not lifelong. Fats are full of cholesterol and leads to heart disease. If you eat more than your body needs, it'll build up in your arteries. Proteins, the sta- ple of these diets, are typically high in fat. If you already have high cholesterol or a predisposition to heart disease, you shouldn't go on these diets, unless you do lots of extra exercise." ABC News researched these franchises and found that meals like TGI Fridays' "sizzling chicken with broccoli over onions and peppers with melted American and Mexican cheeses " contains "700 calo- ries, 40 grams of fat and 15 grams of carbohydrates and Subway's "Chicken Bacon Ranch Wrap with Swiss Cheese (contain[ing] white meat, chicken, bacon, red onion, green pepper, olives, shredded Swiss cheese, and ranch dressing)" has "484 calories, 21 grams of fat, and 27 grams of carbohydrates." "My sister is on it," said senior and business man- agement major Danielle Ferro, "and she fainted I think because of the diet. She was on it for two to three weeks." Still, many have found success on these diets. "A couple of my friends are on it," Ferro said, "and one, he lost 40 pounds." "It worked wonderfully," said Gloria Boyd. "I had no results for the first two to three weeks, but once I reached the mark, I got it licked. I lost a significant amount of weight. Your blood sugar eventually evens out and you don't get light-headed." Diet without exercise usually fails. If you want to move your belt over a few notches for good, try diet- ing by counting calories and exercising, instead of fad diets. "If you need to jumpstart your weight loss or are severely obese," said Rostick, "you can try Atkins or South Beach. But, you need to adopt healthy eating and exercise and follow the food pyramid for life to lose weight."
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