We are creatures of our environments, reacting to the stimuli that surround us. Now that so much of our time is spent within man-made environments, we have a unique dilemma. Not only must we make a multitude of decisions about how we will react to our environment; we must actually create the environment we will respond to. As students, we have a great opportunity to play out this basic game. We gather in new groups, make decisions about how organizations will be run, and clamor for parking spaces.

However, there are some pieces on our game board, the school campus, that we do not have control over. One of these is our access to food. Students have very limited access to nutritious food. Most of the restaurants on campus provide a mass of food at a cheap price, exactly what the budget-conscious student wants. As previously reported in The State Hornet, a student would get 758 more calories than they need, twice as much fat and three times as much sodium and cholesterol if she ate three meals on campus. Plus, we know that this stuff packaged as “food” is really just some sort of combination of elements that tickle our taste buds while not actually nourishing the body.

This begins to show us that obesity, which now kills 325,000 people a year, is a social issue, more than just the individual?s lack of resistance. That is eight times the number of deaths as a result of AIDS, and more than the combined deaths from alcohol, drugs, firearms and motor vehicles. Sac State students have to virtually bring all their own food to school in order to eat normally. David Schlosser?s book, “Fast Food Nation,” reports that annual health care costs stemming from obesity are $240 billion. On top of that, Americans spend more than $33 billion on various weight-loss schemes and diet products. What if the University taxed every non-nutritious item — soda, burger, fries, etc. — and gave that money directly to the Student Health Center? Really, it is the Health Center that carries the burden of poor nutrition.

This would send a clear message that student health is seen as important, and that the University holistically values its students.According to a University of Toronto study, overweight and obese people reported slower cognitive abilities. By providing students with food that diminishes their health, leading to obesity, the University is sending a subconscious message that it doesn?t care. If the University monitored food consumption, similarly to monitoring the quality of water, or the accessibility of firearms, it would create a change in eating behavior. By placing a value on realistic eating, the University would clarify a value on students? mental growth.

Lack of exercise is another means to an unhealthy lifestyle. Those who walk and ride their bicycles to school are the coolest. If a student drives for 20 minutes a day instead of walking, they gain five pounds in a year. That?s 20-30 pounds gained during the average student?s time in college. Some days, I want to let the air out of all the non-handicapped vehicle tires just so people remember they can walk.

But we are not simple lazy students; we are encouraged to drive. There is an interesting correlation between how areas are built, and the level of weight gain. Tulane University Professor Tom Farley and scientist Deborah Cohen state, “People who lived in neighborhoods built before 1947 went out on foot or bike more than three times every two days. People in developments created after 1977 (just about the time the obesity epidemic took off) dispensed with their cars just one-third as often.”

I loved a previous idea by columnist Ryan Flatley to increasing parking fees: We could put that money into a student-run advertising campaign for bicycle awareness. Cholera was an epidemic that killed tens of thousands, and at the time blame fell on the poor for not taking care of themselves. Once societies made clean water and sanitation a priority, death rates fell by 55 percent. It?s time to take care of our current epidemic.

Contact Samantha Hinrichs at [email protected].

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