A few weeks ago I was eating breakfast at a little restaurant in Mystic, CT and was surprised at one of the menu headings: "Carbohydrate Haven." It was so refreshing to see an entire section of a menu devoted to the forgotten food group consisting of pancakes, french toast, hash browns, grits, doughnuts and bagels. We can rarely sit down to a meal without being reminded of the high-protein, low-carbohydrate Atkins diet.

How often do you hear "hold the toast" and "can I get that without the bun?" When did pasta and rice become the latest taboo? The Atkins diet is everywhere. Pop-ups advertising the Atkins diet and selling its products, like the new low carbohydrate ice cream, are repeatedly appearing online. You can't even go to a good old American franchise restaurant without seeing the latest "Subway Atkins Wraps," or "T.G.I. Friday's Atkins Menu Debut." Perhaps the most poignant reference to the omnipresent Atkins diet was the heading "Perils of Sugar" on a magazine I saw at the checkout counter in Big Y, as if carbohydrates have finally morphed from the most important foundation on the bottom of the food triangle into something dangerous.

I don't want to give the impression that the Atkins diet is a bad thing, because in many cases it is highly effective and helpful for people who need to lose weight or increase muscle mass. However, I strongly believe it is overused and abused. I've often found that the Atkins diet has become an excuse, especially among women, to unnecessarily eat less, and conversely, an excuse for others to over-eat because protein has become a kind of "unfood." By "unfood," I mean that people get the same satisfaction as if they are eating "normal food," but this "unfood" does not have the same dietary effects, as if it evaporates the second it hits your stomach. I especially love seeing Atkins diehards doing kegstands and playing flip cup at parties only hours after pilling veggies, a side of turkey cold cuts and hard boiled eggs on their plate at Valentine, as if beer doesn't contain any carbohydrates.

What happened to the basic, well-rounded meal? I'm tired of seeing people methodically pick out the inside of a bagel or peel off the crust of a sandwich, as if the accumulation of uneaten bread on the side of the tray is feeding a guilty conscious. We're still very young and have our whole lives to diet.

Ashley Arana '07

Liberal ideals betrayed by race

Last Sunday, I attended the "Color Blind" discussion on race relations at Amherst College. There were about 40 students there, 33 of whom were black. Clearly something was wrong with this picture because other viewpoints were not presented and all those present simply reinforced each other. Only four white students attended. Ironically, they were mostly campus conservatives. Why is it that at a "liberal" school, the very students who are willing to march and protest for national causes do not attend these discussions on issues that effect our community?

So what does it mean to be a "liberal" at Amherst College? Does one simply jump on the bandwagon for media-hyped causes, whether it be affirmative action or gay marriage? Or should liberalism be a belief system that is lived out and actively practiced by its adherents?

For now, it seems that our support for diversity is shallow. We want the administration to continue bringing in politically correct proportions of ethnic minorities, but what do we do with this? We sit in separate places in Valentine, throw separate parties and live in separate housing. Apparently Brown v. Board of Education never made it to the College. Because of their experiences with racism, many students who came to Amherst optimistic leave disillusioned. Can we change this, or will we continue these trends after we graduate? Will we live and associate only with people who look and think like us? Will we educate our children with kids only from their economic bracket? After all, now that the government has stopped implementing integration programs, public schools have re-segregated. Past methods for eradicating racism and prejudice have failed. We can't rely on the government; we must take action ourselves.

Just as we can't rely on the government to promote racial justice in society, we should not leave it up to the admissions office to diversify our campus. Change and progress are always contingent on the masses. It is not enough to give ourselves a pat on the back because we say we're "liberal" and give token support to minorities while our lifestyles perpetuate the very societal trends we claim we want to change. As a student body, we need to move past latching on to whatever the "liberal" cause of the moment is, and actually start working toward making Amherst a better community. Tomorrow, race-relations activist Tim Wise will give a talk entitled, "But Some of My Best Friends Are Black." I hope those black friends aren't the only ones who show up.

Ifeoma Anunkor '04