Trip to Mexico teaches healthy lifestyle

can people were carrying babies up. People were selling lemonade and water at the top and there was only one way to get that ice and.supplies up there, to carry it. If the mountain had been in America, we churches, to palaces and anywhere else we wanted to go. However, being the American I am, I opted for a taxi whenever I could.

Our schedule did not allow

Meals were a little different too. Portions were smaller and when I was done eating I didn't feel like a fattened prizewinning piece of poultry. I was full but not too full. In America, I don't even

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GAIL .KATHERINE ZIEGLER STAFF WRITER GKZ722@CABRINI.EDU

Asa female and a former ballerina, I pay close attention to my weight. It doesn't matter if you are a 4 or a 14, most women are conscious of their number. However, recently I was introduced to a new diet; Stab 200. I had the opportunity to travel to Mexico with a class where I lost 10 pounds a learned a little about another culture's take on weight.

The most memorable experience was somewhat of tortuous experience. We climbed threeand-a-half miles to the top of a mountain to a temple. I could barely carry myself while Mexi- lemonade; I craved water. There • are so many calories and sugars in drinks that I don't even realize that I'm taking in. By switching all of my beverages to water I felt healthier, stayed hydrated and lost weight. am really eating. In Mexico, the meal is more about spending time with your f amity than shoving a meal down your throat before you take the kids to soccer practice."

"In America, I don't even realize how much I would have built an elevator in the middle of it. There were 80-yea,r-old women sandals in and dresses passing me. I thought to myself, while carefully watching the rocks under my feet, how are they doing this?

The culture of this place was very different from America. The suburbs are set up to make Americans fat. We can't go anywhere without jumping into our cars. In Mexico, we walked everywhere, to school, to excursions, to

-Gail Ziegler

for any Sunday walk in the park. We seemed to be walking at break-neck speed where ever we went in order to see everything we could while in Mexico. Walking through the streets of Mexico City, I couldn't appreciate this, but now being back in the States with my car, I can.

realize how much I am really eating. In Mexico, the meal is more about spending time with your family than shoving a meal down your throat before you take the kids to soccer practice. The strict schedule also prevented a million little snacks during the day. The great thing was, I didn't miss all of those chips and cereal bars.

Because of the walking and the heat, water was like gold. At meals, I never wanted soda or

The most important difference with weight in Mexico is that they are honest about what their shape is. The women who are curvy do not feel fat but they admit that they are not runway thin. They don't want to be runway thin. I never heard one woman complain about their size while I was in Mexico. It was more about shape, not weight and they were happy with their shapes.

I think women of the States can take a lesson from our southern neighbors and concentrate on being happy and healthy. When we stop concentrating on our carbs and calories, we might find that we're pretty close to perfect the way we are.

Journalistreleased from Iraqi captivity Glam: RollingStone'sfour-letterword

to regain her freedom. For all she knew, if she refused to be in that video she would have been killed.

MELISSA STEVEN STAFF WRITER Ms727@CABRINI.EDU

Last week Jill Carroll was fmally released from being held captive in Iraq for the past 82 days. It brought a sigh of relief to her family, friends, co-workers and fellow journalists.

Carroll's life seemed to be doomed when she was not released soon after she was kidnapped and when her interpreter was killed. Most people assumed that since the demands were not met for her release that her kidnappers would take her life. Thankfully that did not happen.

She was forced to make a propaganda video in order to finally be released. It is shocking that some people actually believed that she did this on her own free will, speaking her own beliefs. Io the video she criticized President Bush and what the United States was doing in Iraq. These obviously were not her thoughts and it is ridiculous that people are making her feel guilty about the video.

Carroll agreed to make the video in order to save her life~ she should not have to explain her actions. Her life was on the line and all she wanted was to be able to go home. She did everything that was asked of her in order

I think a lot of people can agree that they would do everything possible to save their own life. Carroll already saw her interpreter murdered right in front of her eyes, so she knew that her captors were serious about killing her as well.

In a situation like that, she did the right thing, everyone at the Christian Science Monitor agrees. I feel bad that she did the right thing but now has to actually explain her actions to the public. All the poor girl probably wanted to do was see her family and friends when she was released, but no, she had to first make a statement explaining why she said those things in the video.

Let the girl rest I Who cares what she said, she obviously was not going to speak her own mind on television while being held captive by people who she thought were going to kill her at any moment.

The press was acting as though they were shocked that she lied to them and said •that her captors treated her fairly, when in reality they did not. What did they expect her to say when she was still on their territory?

The people who criticized Carroll should offer her an apology. They should be grateful that we did not lose another journalist in Iraq. A lot of lives have been lost in the Iraq war, and when one person's life is saved everyone should be grateful.

Christineernest Staff Wri1er

CME722@CABRINl.EDU

Everyone is familiar with the plethora of reality television shows invading prime time programming each night.

Don't get kicked off the island. Design an evening dress for a superstar model. Find a nanny to control insanely bratty children.

Now the newest scheme to thrown in with the bunch: write the best story, secure a position with Rolling Stone Magazine. Recently RollingStone.com posted an ironic message that reads, "Respected music maga- • zine seeks dynamic, culture-conscious writers to work at Rolling Stone and be on MTV all at the same time!"

The last time I checked, a "respected" magazine would not fall suspect to mindless reality television, nonetheless on a network like MTV.

I can just visualize Rolling Stone's reality show plopped between "True Life: I Want To Be A Famous Ooe-WheeledMotorcycle-Star" and a marathon of the latest speed-dating series MTV created to follow suit with the trashy "Next" and "Date My Mom" which I would never let my own mother appear on, ever.

Like I said before, not a very "respectable" move on Rolling Stone's part at all.

The sad part is that not so long ago I didn't have such a hate-hate relationship with Rolling Stone Magazine. At one point in my life, I would have

-jumped at the chance to apply for such an opportunity. I can just picture my scribble handwriting trying my best to convince the judges to pick me complete with my audition tape, not even cold from rewinding in the camcorder.

Ever since I was a young girl I wanted to be a writer, and when I hit high school I decided I wanted to do so for Rolling Stone Magazine. I loved its shiny pages and the celebrity rock stars on the cover. I would spend my free time imagining my byline above an intense expose story on whomever the next rags-to-riches rapper would be to rise to the top of the music charts.

I pictured myself in 20 years sitting in the back of a smoky bar, watching the next up-andcoming hyped band with disdain only to write a glowing review, unless I decided to be decidedly creative that day and criticize something that everyone else was loving at that moment.

Then, at some point, that dream died most likely right after

I came to Cabrini College. .I became analytical of the magazine because I wanted to read something that wasn't just telling me about hackneyed trends, I yearned for something fresh and underground. I turned my back on Rolling Stone and turned to my new circle of friends to be my musical informants.

My new friends highlighted politics only in the ways that could harm or help my generation. They taught me to how it was still acceptable to appreciate musical artists that made appearances on MTV, but only if I labeled them as a guilty pleasure.

I realized I was buying into all the glamour and false impressions of a rock star life that could be awaiting me with every turn of the page of the magazine. Shortly after my epiphany of how I outgrew Rolling Stone, I shunned it for life and swore to never drop another four dollars on it again. Now, I'll just have to add never watching the television show onto my personal boycott of the magazine.