The "freshman 15" has become as much a part of college lexicon as the "keg party" and the "all-nighter." What most incoming students don't hear about, however, is that eating disorders are not limited to those students who guzzle beer or eat pizza every night at 3 a.m. Rather, at college in general and at Amherst especially, eating disorders are a particularly pernicious problem.

While eating disorders may be discussed casually among friends (how could they not be, when we eat three meals a day with one another in the same place every single day?) and help is readily available for those with eating disorders, we don't think the College is doing enough to address this campus-wide problem as just that.

We don't want to short-change the options that are already available. The Health Services Web site provides excellent information, as do the occasional fliers we see posted in the bathrooms, and the resident counselors are certainly equipped to help residents with problems. Help is also available for friends of those who suffer. We also know, from personal experience, that help is extremely accessible for people with eating disorders.

However, for many people whose friends, roommates or partners are suffering (or who suspect that someone has an eating disorder), the path is murkier. We also fear that the campus as a whole isn't sufficiently aware of the magnitude of the problem.

There's no easy solution, but we have suggestions that we think will raise awareness of distorted body image and eating disorder problems on campus. We want those who have eating disorders to know more about their options, and we want those who don't have eating disorders to know more about helping their friends and keeping themselves healthy.

We think that a discussion or lecture on eating disorders should be incorporated into Freshman Orientation. We think there should be more discussion panels (or better-advertised panels) about eating disorders in general and at Amherst in particular throughout the year. We would like to see workshops on healthy eating. We want to see stigmas and taboos and stereotypes erased, or at least discussed formally.

Eating disorders are not limited to women. You can also be considered overweight (or normal) and still have an eating disorder. Anorexia nervosa and bulimia are just the tip of the iceberg. We'd like to see this type of information not only disseminated but discussed, and not just in a general sense but in particular how eating disorders rear their ugly head on our campus.

Even among our editorial board, we were unable to agree upon a clear-cut definition of an eating disorder or who suffers from them. What we all agreed upon, however, was that we each have at least one friend who we're worried about. And we think that's a good enough reason to call for a change.