Friday, November 5, 2004
Campus Ministry
welcomes Bishop
By Maggie Causgrove
On Nov. 12, the Erie Catholic Diocese Campus
Ministry will be holding a dinner for anyone in
terested in meeting and sharing a night with
Bishop Donald Trautman. The event will be held
in the Smith Chapel.
Donald Bishop Trautman is the ninth Bishop of
Erie. He was appointed in 1990 and still serves
our diocese today as a leader of hope and change.
He is very active with the youth of today and is
an excellent candidate for this event held by the
Catholic Campus Ministry on Behrend’s campus.
Sr. Mary Drexler, SSJ, the coordinator of the
Catholic Campus Ministry said, “The purpose of
this function is to provide students with an oppor
tunity to meet informally with the Bishop and to
talk with him about concerns they have.”
Students who are participating in this event can
submit questions or any concerns ahead of time
that they would like the Bishop to address. These
questions can be emailed or brought to the Smith
Chapel anytime before Nov 12.
Sr. Mary Drexler told the Beacon that this is
the second year the event is taking place. Last year
Plan
sneezin
By Michael Precker
The Dallas Morning News
(KRT)
On one hand, it's always allergy season.
Something's always out there to turn some noses
into faucets and spread misery throughout the land.
But for many people, fall and winter are prime
time. Here’s a look at the showdown between nose
and nature, with scouting reports, coaching strat
egies and expert predictions.
YOUR OPPONENT
Seasonal allergic rhinitis, an inflammation of
the nasal passages that causes sneezing, runny
nose, congestion and itchiness in the nose, throat,
eyes and ears. It's also commonly called "hay fe
ver" because 19th-century researchers thought it
coincided with the hay harvest. This is a separate
malady from perennial allergic rhinitis, caused by
such things as dust mites and pet dander that never
go away.
ARE YOU IN THE GAME?
If it's a cold, which is a viral infection, it will
probably be gone in five or seven days, says Dr.
Jeffrey Adelglass, an allergy specialist. Allergies,
on the other hand, go on and on.
Itchiness usually indicates allergies, Adelglass
says, and fever means a cold. And pay attention
to what's coming out of your sinuses. How can
we put this delicately? Green is probably a cold,
the doctor says; yellow is generally an allergy.
OFFENSIVE THREATS
Pollen, a microscopic wind-borne particle nec
essary for fertilization, is produced by many plants
and trees, but only a few types cause serious reac
tions in humans. Some of the main culprits:
Ragweed, a yellow flowering plant that releases
its pollen in late summer and fall.
Mold spores, which grow in damp conditions
and spread through the air.
KEEPING SCORE
The Web site www.pollen.com lists pollen
counts around the country and includes forecasts
for the next few days.
Consider them a simple allergy test. "If the num
bers are high and you're having problems, chances
are you're having allergies," Adelglass says.
DEFENSE I: AVOIDANCE
It's easier said than done and may not always
staff writer
it was held at Saint Mark Catholic Center in the
city, so Behrend is at an advantage this year with
it being held on campus. This opportunity will al
low the convenience of being close to students as
well as providing Behrend students with the fa
miliarity of the surroundings on campus as well
as in the chapel.
Drexler said, “My hope for the night is that any
or all interested students will sign up to come.”
The expected amount of students Drexler hopes
for is between twenty-two and twenty-eight, she
told the Beacon. “This number also includes stu
dents from other campuses,” said Drexler.
Other campuses participating include Allegh
eny, Edinboro, Gannon and Mercyhurst. This is
significant in that students of all religious back
grounds have the chance to come together and
share beliefs and interests in the faith community.
Any student who wants to be involved in this event
can as long as they make a reservation. This is
required. A reservation can be made by emailing
Sister Mary Drexler at mcdl4@psu.edu or by call
ing x 6245. There is no cost for students to attend
this event.
The night will begin at 5:30 p.m. in the Smith
Chapel for all those who have registered to attend.
or the
season
help. But try these tips:
Stay inside on high-pollen days, particularly in
the morning. s!
Wear a mask if you need to mow the lawn or
work outdoors
Use air conditioners and filters. They can lower
pollen counts inside homes and cars.
Avoid irritants such as cigarette smoke, dust and
polluted air that can make pollen allergies worse.
DEFENSE II: MEDICATION
To relieve symptoms, first try over-the-counter
remedies, advises Dr. Mark Millard.
Antihistamines that have been available for
many years, such as Benadryl, make many people
drowsy. Now Claritin and its generic copies, which
are less sedating, are sold without a prescription.
The next step up, Millard says, are nasal sprays
with steroids, such as Flonase, which requires a
prescription.
If those don't work, he says, the next options
would be nonsedating antihistamines such as
Allegra or Zyrtec, or other strong prescriptions.
"There's a billion-dollar industry that wants those
prescriptions written, but the first prescription
should be for a nasal steroid," Millard says.
DEFENSE III: A SEASON TICKET
By this we mean allergy shots, also known as
immunotherapy.
"All the medications control the symptoms but
don't control the allergy itself," says Dr. David
Khan, who specializes in allergy and immunol
ogy. "The shots can make you less allergic."
Millard advises patients who suffer allergies over
three seasons to consider shots. Adelglass focuses
more on the severity than the frequency.
The clearest reason, Khan says, "is that you're
already on good prescription therapy from your
doctor and it's not working."
MORE COACHING TIPS
Wash your eyes (with ocular saline solution) and
nose (with salt water). "That clears some allergens
out and can help," Millard says.
Shower before bed. "If you've been outdoors,
the pollen can stick to your hair and get deposited
on your pillow," Khan says.
Go away. "If you know you have problems ev
ery January, schedule an ocean cruise," Adelglass
says.
STUDBNT LJF£
Wheat allergies can
severely limit diet
Above, a waiter serves a customer a specially made meal that will not trigger her allergies
"Peppy's in the Gables," located in South Florida, is one restaurant that specializes to
customers allergies.
By Howard Cohen
Knight Ridder Newspapers
MIAMI - If there is any doubt that food aller
gies have hit the mainstream, one need look no
further than the season's new, top-rated series,
ABC's Sunday night soap "Desperate House -
wives."
Neatnik nag Bree (Marcia Cross) reacts to her
henpecked husband's declaration that he wants
a divorce by (accidentally?) poisoning him us
ing salad tongs as her weapon. He's allergic to
onions, she conveniently forgets that at the salad
bar, he collapses and the audience chuckles.
But for people like Susan Corrigan, who's al
lergic to wheat, milk and some vegetables and
spices, it's no laughing matter.
Corrigan's wheat allergy is particularly prob
lematic.
"Wheat is difficult to keep out of the diet. It's
one of the predominant proteins," explains Dr.
Kathryn Eisermann-Rogers of Memorial Re
gional Hospital in Hollywood, Fla. People who
are allergic to wheat are "severely limited" in
the selection of foods they can eat, she says. "You
can have alternatives from health food stores but
most taste like crap."
Corrigan, 41, says eating a serving of bread
or pasta any larger than a Lean Cuisine leads to
sneezing, watery eyes and coughing. When she
dines out, she has to ask the waitstaff questions.
"My father gets annoyed, I can't take you any
where!’" she says of her father, George.
Growing up, Corrigan sometimes felt like an
outsider when she had to take her own lunch to
school as she couldn't eat a regular sandwich. "I
can eat all the chocolate in the world. Give me
junk food and I'm not allergic. Give me some
thing healthy and I'm allergic."
There are no accurate figures for the preva
lence of wheat allergies but it's more common
in children than adults. An allergy is an immune
system response to something the body perceives
to be an intruder - in this case, wheat. Those who
‘How to Be President’
By Daina Klimanis
Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service
(KRT)
In this election season, anyone can run as a
write-in candidate but not everyone knows
where to go or how to order breakfast if they
win. Now those who need a cheat sheet for
their first day in the White House can pull
out "How to Be President: What to Do and
Where to Go Once You're in Office."
The slim book is almost pocket-sized, but
it's full of information vital to a commander
in-chief. It lets you know, for example, that
as president you will not have to make your
bed or do your laundry (housekeepers are on
hand for this), but will have to foot the dry
cleaning bill yourself.
The stuffy politics that weigh down debates
and civics textbooks are absent, leaving a
breezy volume that looks at the details of the
life and routine of the most powerful politi
cian in the world. That's not to say the book
isn't well researched - references are listed
(KRT)
The Behrend Beacon | 7
are wheat allergic may experience hives, eczema,
abdominal cramping, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea,
allergic rhinitis and sometimes life-threatening ana
phylaxis if they eat the wrong thing.
And who knew Play-Doh and glue had wheat
products in them?
"What do we buy that doesn't have wheat in it
and how's this kid gonna live?" Michael Kesti of
South Miami-Dade's Community Health Founda
tion once said of his son Andrew, who suffered a
wheat allergy.
"This allergy significantly restricted his diet and
his ability to enjoy many foods, in addition to cre
ating problems ordering at restaurants and buying
groceries." Andrew, now 15 and living with his
mother in Philadelphia, outgrew his wheat allergy
a couple years ago.
Though not considered an allergy, celiac disease
is another disorder that limits the amount of wheat
and other grains some people can eat. The disease
hits about one out of every 133 Americans and tends
to run in families.
The presence of gluten, a component of wheat,
barley and rye, prevents the small intestine from
absorbing the nutrients in digested food. This can
lead to diarrhea, malnutrition and, in the long term,
osteoporosis.
"It's rarely fatal," says Mary Schluckebier, ex
ecutive director of the Celiac Sprue Association.
A problem with wheat doesn’t have to be a com
plete downer, however.
"We have become dependent on all-purpose
flour, but you can thicken a soup by mashing some
potatoes in it," Schluckebier says. For meatloaf,
instead of oat meal or bread crumbs, grind up a
carrot and potato.
"It opens creative thinking to your foods
ITEMS TO AVOID
Bypass most cereals, breads, pastas, crackers,
cookies and cakes but be mindful of food labels.
Persons with celiac disease should avoid products
with ingredients such as gluten, semolina, gelati
nized starch, cracker meal, farina, spelt, vegetable
gum, kamut or hydrolyzed vegetable protein.
in the back. But it keeps history to a minimum,
limited to things like a list of exotic White House
pets, such as the alligator presented to John
Quincy Adams by the Marquis de Lafayette.
Brought to you by Chronicle Books, the com
pany behind "The Worst-Case Scenario Survival
Handbook" series, "How to Be President"
(www.chroniclebooks.com. $9.95) has the fa
miliar matter-of-fact explanation of what to do
in situations most citizens will never face.
Though the book does not deal with situations
as exotic and dire as those in the "Worst-Case"
handbooks, it does offer a few contingency
plans. Not only does the book explain how to
read a teleprompter, it tells you what to do if
the teleprompter suddenly fails. Another portion
gives tips on breaking bad news to the country,
suggesting that Friday evening is a good time
because people pay the least attention to the
news on Saturday.
"How to Be President" is the perfect guide for
those wondering what the next president will
face his first day in the Oval Office or for any
one who thinks they could do a better job.
PATRICK FARRELL/KRT