Cookies!

No, we’re not talking about the ever fabulous ever famous West cookies, today we’re talking about Insomnia Cookies. Apparently this is a chain store- I bet the State College one is the best though.

url

Well Insomnia is great because just like Canyon they’re open until super late ( I think 3am) and have delicious cookies for your post Canyon dinner. And the cookies are in fact superrr goodd like if you want a little piece of heaven I’d definitely suggest checking them out. There are many different types of cookies and they’re warm and literally so perfect.

Also, the people who work there are super nice. if you get the chance, talk to the guy behind the counter, he is so friendly and is really funny! Another great think about Insomnia is that it’s not that far away and it’s also really never very packed. I’m sure there are times of the night when it’s busy but I never seem to find any lines.

The only negative thing I’d have to say about Insomnia is that it’s kind of expensive. It’s $1.35 for a single cookie which is about 2/3 the size of a West cookie.

If you’re looking for a great cookie late at night I’d definitely recommend a cookie from Insomnia!

4.1/5

 

You can’t be overweight and healthy…

…It’s impossible-according to a new study on almost 60,000 participants.

Researchers in this study measured the patients’ BMI, past cardiovascular problems, and metabolic healthiness.

They split up and looked at the participants in five different groups

– Metabolically unhealthy and normal weight
– Metabolically unhealthy and overweight
– Metabolically unhealthy and obese
– Overweight but metabolically healthy
– Obese but metabolically healthy

sharma-obesity-exercise

The results were surprising. In the short term, if you are metabolically unhealthy, whether you’re obese or incredibly thin, you will have the same risk for cardiovascular disease.

In addition there was little difference between metabolically unhealthy overweight and metabolically unhealthy normal weight people in relation to risk for heart disease.

The real kick of the study was when they followed all the participants for 10 years, the metabolically unhealthy obese people had a significantly higher chance of cardiovascular problems and death.

So there it is folks, if you’re obese you’re not healthy no matter how much you convince yourself that you are.

Canyon!!

scavhunt_006

Oh Canyon, dear Canyon, how infamous and awesome you are. You’re there through all hours of the night and for the sweet price of $1, you can solve all my hunger needs with a slice of sweet heaven.

If you don’t know what Canyon Pizza is, it’s a pizza shop on East Beaver Ave that boasts a slice of pizza for a$1, and is open from 11am-4am. It’s essentially the go-to place for drunk college kids or even sober ones who just want cheap pizza and a funny show.

Personally, I’ve been to Canyon my fair share of times. The line gets progressively longer throughout the night  which sucks but man, that is some good pizza. A  lot of people say it tastes like cardboard, but having had it at both 2pm and 2am I can officially say, I like Canyon a lot!

It’s pretty much a dive on the outside and inside. There are three picnic tables outside and about 4 chairs next to the window inside. Needless to say, it’s not the nicest place but hey it’s cheap and is always there for you when you’re hungry.

One of my favorite parts about Canyon is the drunk conversations people have at Canyon. Onward State wrote a great article on this: http://onwardstate.com/2013/09/23/overheard-at-canyon-pizza/

Definitely read it if you want a good laugh.

Overall, Canyon has a special place in my heart, 4.2/5

Obesity affects taste buds

A recent study done in the University of Buffalo has shown something surprising about the taste buds of obese mice. According to the researchers, obese mice in this study had “fewer taste cells that responded to sweet stimuli”. In addition, the taste buds that did respond to weakness did so very weakly when compared to those of normal mice. I thought this was interesting because it seems sort of ironic since you would think that they would have an over-sensing of sweetness if it is a major component of their diet.

url

Another interesting thing that came out of this study was that the obese mice also had less of a reaction to bitterness as well. However, cell’s reactions to taste were the same for umami, which is associated with savory and meaty foods.

The researchers are still unsure why this is true. This is a really important find in the study of appetite and how much we consume when we eat. Hopefully researchers in the future are able to take this information and use it to further understand obesity and the epidemic in America.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/11/131121154944.htm

Ice Cream!

The Berkey Creamery- perhaps the most cherished, wonderful, amazing, heavenly place at Penn State. If  you don’t know what the creamery is well then it’s time for you to drop whatever you’re doing and get down there.

The Creamery is Penn State’s personal ice cream shop. What makes it so special is that the ice cream is made with the milk from Penn State cows, so it’s pretty much like you’re eating a bit of Penn State with every lick which is super awesome.

There are over 100 ice cream flavors and you can get them all in milkshakes too which I’ve never had, but I’ve heard are particularly delicious. But don’t even try to mix flavors because it’s not going to happen. The only person to mix flavors was Bill Clinton and that employee has since been fired (actually this person probably just graduated but anyway…). The creamery is always packed after football games and on warm spring/summer nights, which can get kind of annoying, but it’s truly a favorite for alumni and students alike.url

As if the amazing ice cream wasn’t enough, the creamery also has snacks for your pleasure, grilled stickies in a box (check out my previous post on these if you don’t know what they are), and also they have milk, tea and lemonade made by the creamery people. The lemonade is seriously the best I’ve ever had-go get it now.

In addition, if you’re traveling and want to take home a gallon of ice cream or whatever, they will give you dry ice to keep it cold for you because they are the nicest people ever.

I could go on and on about the creamery but instead I’m just going to give it 4.5/5 stars and call it a day.

Professor Delbanco

While I did not have the privilege to see Professor Delbanco when he came to Penn State, after reading this article in the journal, Inside Higher Ed, I’m sure his talk was amazing.

One of the things that really stood out to me in this article is his response to a question posed concerning college forming character rather than just tasks. Here is an excerpt of what he said: “Questions of justice and responsibility and the meaning of citizenship should be front and center in every college curriculum, and should not be quarantined in the philosophy or religion department”.

I never really thought about it too much before, but I think Dr. Delbanco is totally right. Even in fields of science or engineering, questions that simply question our morality should be encouraged in all aspects of life. These questions are truly the heart of life and avoiding them just because you’re not studying philosophy or religion per say is no excuse to avoid these essential questions all together.

This relates to Penn State because I think a  lot of times, people can get caught up in the stress of school, getting a job after they graduate and trying to graduate in 4 years. Sometimes the stress gets to us all and we can lose focus on the answers to these life questions which should be the focus for our lives and our work in the future.

Overall, I think Delbanco had a lot of relevant points and they definitely apply to the Penn State community.

Roxy’s

 

imgres

Today I made the long venture up to East  to eat at Roxy’s. And well it was an experience. I don’t spend that much time up in East commons so I got very lost. There’s like three different entrances but they weren’t all open and they don’t all lead to the same place so it was just a big complicated mess. Don’t worry, it only took me 10 minutes to find the place…

Upon entrance, Roxy’s looks nice, fast, easy and cheap. But if you look at the menu, it’s really small. They have breakfast sandwiches which are fine but not for lunch! Then they have like 4 actual options (burgers, burgers and more burgers). In addition, they have 1-2 specials on each day. But if you want a special from another day don’t even try it’s just not going to happen.

The whole experience was kind of sketchy. I got the grilled chicken and the cook took it out of a metal box and had it on the grill for maybe 15 seconds and threw on some lettuce and gave it to me. Also, there were no chips so like that was really disappointing.

Honestly, I can’t say I’d really recommend Roxy’s. If you haven’t tried it, don’t worry you’re not missing anything. 1.5/5

 

Girls- watch out!

About 17% of American children are obese. This is a horrible statistic and is way too high for what it should be in this day and age. But it’s about to get worse. A new study done has just shown that girls who are overweight or obese as children are going through puberty earlier than ever before. How early you ask? Some of these girls have breast development in as early as 2nd grade!! While this varies between races, the general trend has shown that obesity has caused premature puberty in girls. Other studies are being conducted for boys but there has been no significant findings as of yet.

obese_child2

What are some effects of this? Well one of the main problems with this is that girls who go through puberty earlier are more likely to suffer from depression, low self-esteem, and being viewed negatively by their peers. There are lots of reasons this obesity epidemic is happening, including inactivity and chemicals which can affect certain hormones. Whatever the reason, this needs to stop and it is up to the parents to make sure their children are active and eat healthy so we can stop this epidemic!

http://www.nbcnews.com/health/obesity-linked-early-puberty-us-girls-study-finds-8C11514727

The Mix!!

We’ve all been there. It’s 8:30 and it’s just that awkward time between dinner and late night snacking time and you’re starving. You get the bright idea- oh The Mix is fast, easy, and cheap I’ll just head over there and get a quick sandwich. Well my friend, you’re wrong on so many levels. 8:30 is that prime time when EVERY SINGLE PERSON in Pollock goes to The Mix for food. It’s not uncommon to wait 45 minutes to an hour for a sandwich. And if you ordered a cheesesteak or hamburger well you might as well bring some homework to do because  you will be there for a while. You could have had that microwave mac and cheese done in 3 minutes but no, you had to go to the mix.

Don’t get me wrong, The Mix is awesome. It’s super cheap and customizable. And their mozzarella sticks and smoothies are super delicious. But that line though, the constant line, is it even worth it? And you will never want to go to The Mix when there is no line because it will either be at 7am (I know I don’t get up that early) or like noon time when you’re either in class or eating regular food in the dining commons.

I’m giving The Mix a 2.5/5 . For how long it takes and how boring the selection can get over time, I don’t think it’s really worth it. However if you happen to go at a non-busy time and need food on the go- The Mix is your place!

DSC_0064-1

Kevin Breel is Awesome

kevin

This is Kevin Breel. He is a 20 year old comedian, author, and advocate for mental health. He came to Penn State on October 25th to speak as part of Mental Health Awareness Week and he was awesome. He gave two different talks and from what I saw the room was completely full for both!

Kevin was hilarious, I was absolutely keeling over in laughter from his stand up comedy at the beginning of the talk. As we progressed through, he started to talk about the more serious topics. He talked about his struggle with depression and his suicide attempt. It was really inspirational to hear about his recovery process and his occasional jokes kept everybody involved

Kevin is famous for his TED talk which went viral on the Internet and currently has about 1.3 million views on Youtube. He told the audience an amazing story when he came to talk at Penn State. The people who ran the TED talk originally did not like the idea of him talking about depression. They thought it was too sad of a topic. So Breel told them he was going to talk about Social Media. When Kevin went on stage, he didn’t talk about social media, he talked instead about depression. He fooled the TED talk board and the talk was so popular it went viral in a matter of days.

If you haven’t heard his TED talk- it is incredible, definitely check it out from the link below!

Overall, Kevin’s talk at PSU was amazing. It was funny, inspirational, and just really real. It was an awesome experience!