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Get Fit Now
by Brian Nelson.
Collegian Staff Writer
Have you ever noticed how quickly your life can change
through just a simple twist of fate?
If someone would have told me six years ago that I'd be
I
writing this column, would have told them they were crazy.
Back then, my idea of staying in shape was spending a half
hour at the Nautilus doing little more than socializing. My eyes
got more exercise than the rest of my body from watching
women run around the track.
My how things can change.
Six years_ later, Fm still watching the women, but I also
own a health store, work out six days a week, and I'm
preparing to enter my first body building competition.
You might ask how someone could change that drastically.
Well, being as brief as I can, let me tell you how I came to be
enlightened.
It all began around 1983, when a buddy of mine dragged
me, practically kicking and screaming, into some dingy hole in
the wall known as Great Lakes Gym. It was there that I was
introduced to the fascinating world of free-weights and
bodybuilding. Since then, life has not been the same. I started
at a beginner's pace, but soon found myself devoting more and
more of my free time to working out. I eventually consulted
an herbalist, who put me on a vitamin and supplement
program, and helped me to construct a proper diet. In the
meantime, I read as many books and articles, and talked with
as many knowledgeable people as I could. It seemed that I
could never learn enough about health and fitness. In a short
period of time, I realized I'd stumbled across a lifestyle I knew
would be a part of me for the rest of my life.
Looking back, many things have changed in those six
years. It hasn't always been easy sticking to this strict type of
lifestyle. Especially when it seems as though the things you
enjoy the most are usually hazardous to your health. But then
tell me, what is easy? When I see a lot of my old friends, now
sporting huge beer guts, constantly lament about the glory
days, and complain about how old they I can hardly
believe that I could have been there too.
As far as I'm concerned the glory days have only just
begun. At the age of 29, I feel great. I look forward to
constantly improving myself through health and fitness, rather
than gradually deteriorating with age. Aside form bodily
deficiencies, mental attitude plays a big role in the age issue. If
you think you are old, you're going to be old.
It seems senseless that so many people neglect their bodies
to such an extent, that they are in fact, becoming old before
their time. Life is too much of a precious thing to just waste
away. Most of us have cars, right? It stands as simple fact that
if we never put maintenance into that car, we'll be lucky if it
lasts very long. Our bodies, like the car, are such intricate
machines that if we were to neglect even a small part of its
maintenance, the body as a whole would eventually break
down.
Being young and energetic as most of you are, it's hard to
imagine ever getting old. That's something that's not going to
happen for a long time, Right? Well, that's the way i: should
be, but sorry to say, it isn't. Many of us, simply by not taking
care of ourselves, will be old before our time. Just think for a
minute what type of life ypu would like to be leading, say ten
years form now. Would you like to still be full of life and
energy, or would you rather be miseiable, viewing life form an
easy chair? i hope•you chose the first alternative. Believe it or
not, it is attainable.
The biggest excuse that I hear from people is that they don't
have the time. Baloney. Make time. In reality, all that staying.
in shape involves is the following of a few simple steps. You
don't need to be a fanatic about it. If you just eat at least three
balanced meals a day, get some form of exercise 3 or 4 times a
week, and get proper sleep, that's all it takes. I'm sure you can
all sacrifice a few hours of TV time. You wouldn't be missing,
that much anyway.
There are many surprising benefits to be gained through a
health and fitness lifestyle. In future articles, I plan to share
some of those benefits with you. You've probably all labeled
me as just another one of those health freaks. Right? Well,
that's OK, but who knows? Maybe through future columns, I
can turn you on, like a good friend once did for me, to a
happier and much fuller life through health and fitness.
ed v . et
Inidana
CPS -- Indiana University
rolled out a new prepaid tuition
plan with much fanfare in
December, but a month later IU
student said the school was
unwilling to honor a similar plan
it had unveiled 132 years ago.
The old plan would get
student Scott Raper through IU
for free.
The new one, like scores of
others adopted by colleges around
the country, is designed to help
parents "buy" credit hours for
their young kids at current prices,
and then redeem them in five to
20 years. Students would be able
to use the credit hours without
paying any more money.
lU's regents, who adopted the
plan in December, said the idea
was to help parents beat the
rising cost of tuition at state
schools. But Raper's family was
offered a good deal by the
university once before, one the
school now may not want to
honor.
In 1856, IU fund raisers-told
potential donors that if they
contributed $lOO, tuition would
be waived for them, their sons,
grandsons, great grandsons, and
PMIIIMEME
456 E. Beaver Ave
500 E. College A,
222 W. Beaver Ave
The Collegian Wednesday, February 1
Ignores -Cg4tract
so on in perpetuity.
Sixty-eight people took the
offer, including state Rep. Elias
Abel, Raper's great-great-great
great grandfather. Raper is now
trying to benefit from the deal.
However, Indiana residents
pay about $l,lOO a semester, not
$8 as in 1856, and the university
is studying how it will handle the
family's claim.
James Green, 11J's director of
news services, said university
counsel Cliff K. Travis received
copies of wills and documents
Jan. 18 that establish a line of
succession for the scholarship,
and the university will decide
whether to honor the 1856 offer
soon.
"We weren't able to make a
decision without them," Green
said. " A person needs to show
eligibility before it will be
honored."
Raper's mother, Nancy Raper,
said she has known about the
scholarship since she was a little
girl, but considered the piece of
paper as a curiosity until a year
ago. Previous generations of
Abel's male descendants --- the
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scholarship applied only to males
because women were not admitted
toile school in 1856 -- didn't go
to college.
Mrs. Raper said when her
mother died' a year ago and her
son began making plans to attend
Indiana, the significance of the
scholarship occurred to her.
"It's something that my great
great-great grandfather purchased
in the belief that his heirs would
be taken care of," she said. "He
was a supporter of the university,
and I'm sure $lOO helped
tremendously at that time."
IU attorney Travis said similar
requests have come up a few
times in decades, but have been
rejected for in-state students on
the basis of a university ruling
that, technically, Indiana residents
pay "fees," not tuition.
Out-of-state residents are
eligible for partial scholarships
that make up the difference
between in-state "fees" and the
total charged to out-of- state
residents.
Now IU officials say they
may let Raper, an Indiana
resident, use the benefit to cover
the difference, too.
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