Something slightly twisted

They are salty,plain,hard,soft, seasoned,sweet,an all-aroundtreat. Here'sa closerlookat the pretz~I.

The pretzel has been doing the twist for almost 1400 years. Around 610 A. 0., a European monk had some leftover dough after making bread. Not wanting to be wasteful, the monk took a strip of dough and folded it to resemble arms in prayer. He gave these little breads to children who had successfully learned their prayers for church. The monk christened his creation as "pretiola," which means "reward" in Latin.

The pretiola managed to travel around, where in Austria and Germany it became known as "bretzel," or the today's version, "pretzel."

The pretzel has been used for other things, besides being sold and eaten. A wood cut from 1614 A.O. taken from a stained glass window in a cathedral at Berne, Switzerland, depicts two royal families at a wedding, using a pretzel to "tie the knot."

The pretzel was used the way a wishbone is, each recipient pulling on a half and making a wish. Whoever got the biggest half gets the wish.

Pret- played the role of h e r o when Vienna was attacked by the Turks in 1510 A.O.

When the Turks tried to dig tunnels under the walls of Vienna, pretzel bakers awake late at night baking their bundles of dough, heard them, alert- ed the Viennese people and everyone massed together, attacked the Turks and saved their city. To reward the in- and satisfying, the pretzel in its most famous form, that of a soft and salty consistency. Philly's famous somniac pretzel men, the king gave them a special coat of arms decorated with a charging lion and a pretzel. This became the bakers emblem and is still used today.

The pretzel found its way to America with a hobo, who in his travels stopped at a bakery in Lititz, PA and traded the pretzel recipe for a free meal!

Since then, pretzels have evolved. The dough is slightly different than the original one the monk used many years ago and they are usually not hand twisted, unless of course it's an "Auntie Anne's" pretzel.

Pretzels come in all shapes (rods, sticks, circles, twists, squares and nuggets) and sizes. They also are available in tons of flavors, like chocolate covered, honey mustard, barbecue, ranch, peanut butter and yogurt dipped.

The pretzel is also a nutritious snack, without a lot of the grease and fat associated with other snack items.

Editorial

Things are changing, but ;J sexism i-nsports continues

Our first-year seminar students were asked by their instructors to examine the role that participation in athletics plays in the identity of college students. How are athletes viewed, and how do they view themselves?

Sadly, we found that female athletes are still viewed as second string athletes. True, women have made great strides in attaining more recognition and respect as hard-working athletes. The WNBA is slowly starting to attract some attention, and the U.S. women's soccer team are legitimate celebrities.

However, women's sports in college still get less attention, and seemingly less funding from their colleges. Title IX was a stride in achieving equality between men's and women's sports, but the results of that are still questionable, considering the reports from the seminar students.

More telling still was the view expressed by the group that Title IX was not important. There is a commonly held view that because they draw a larger audience, women's sports merit their larger expenses.

There is also still a double standard when it comes to male and female athletes. Men who excel in sports seem to be held to a higher standard, while successful women athletes are too often seen as tomboys or brutes. On the other end of the spectrum, many women athletes end up endorsing products such as shampoo and makeup as opposed to traditional athletic products.

Steps have to be taken before the college level. Sexism in sports often starts as early as grade school, and seems to continue throughout high school. When girls are not allowed or supposed to participate in the same athletic activities as their male counterparts, this sends a negative message that men are athletic, and women are fragile.

The obvious steps to take are to support our - women's teams as we would support our men's. Because although athletes' sexes may be different, their hearts are all the same, so long as they love the game.

Now I get to find out what beer tastes like!

year of college as my "crackhead days." During that time period I somehow managed to pass as 21 more often than not. I have lots of great memories of making repeated trips in and out of Xavier Hall with all my "books."

By the time you are reading this commentary, I will be a fully legal adult. The days of going to shady college bars or clubs where I happen to know the bouncer are over. I miss them already.

This past weekend it really hit home how old I am. As has happened before, I experienced this revelation in the midst of a "Pete's Wicked Beer Haze." "Pete" is a troublemaker.

So I'm at this party up at University of Scranton, and all of a sudden I realize that I might be the oldest guy there. Even though I am only two years older than most of the hundred-plus people in the basement, I felt like I was now "the shady older guy at the party." Luckily I maneuvered my way to become "the guy who is working the keg," who is usually much much more popular. He who controls the tap has all the power.

Despite all of this silliness, I am still technically an adult now. I can and do look back at freshman

Now here is where this all gets scary. My father was a married homeowner just before his 22nd birthday. His father was a married war veteran by his 22nd. I am approaching 22 and I don't think that I will be getting married or buying a house (or much of anything) any time soon.

Forget all that stuff about our generation being forced to grow up too early. As long as the terms "beer bong," "beer pong" and "Natty Ice" are still in your vocabulary, you are not really an adult yet.

The thing is, there is not that much college left. It really does go by fast, especially when you are having fun. And I am pretty sure that despite how often we are all "screwed by the administration" most of us are still having fun.

I hate the question "So what are you going to do when you graduate from college?" with a passion. The reason is because I do not have a concrete answer. I usually just respond that I am beginning my campaign for president, but I can't be elected until 2016.

I don't want to work in public

OOPS!

•In issue 18 we misspelled Nancy Hutchison's name. Again.

•We also misspelled Chris Nielsen's name. Again.

•And we misspelled Michael Colahan's name, for the first time.

•The price of movies tickets went up to $5.25.

relations, because I think that most of p.r. is just finding creative ways to neither lie nor tell the truth. I don't want to get into advertising because of the Billy Crystal breakdown scene in "City Slickers" when he describes his job, "I sell air." And my portrayal of Stanley Kowalski for acting class pretty much established that I will not be an actor. "STELLA, DUDE!" just didn't fly.

Given a choice, I think I would like to write for Loquitur as my career. Or maybe I could find some other small town paper that would take on ''The Nielsen Ratings." But chances are neither of these ideas will pan out, and that frightens me.

So now my sister is the party girl up at Scranton, and she can party harder than I can. I told her that 18 is the best age to be. When you are 18 you are just about expected to be a crackhead. You can do stupid things on a weekly basis and almost nobody gives it a second thought.

I am now an adult, legally speaking anyway. Maybe it is time for me to start acting like one.

Nab.

Chris Nielsen is the perspectives editor of Loquitur. His commentary is not intended as an endorsement of underage drinking, which is the absolutely worst thing in the world to ever do.