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A Cheesy Perspective

-Sam Bouchat

I love cheese. It’s a journey to deliciousness–pizza, burritos, sandwiches, lasagna. All of these delicacies require cheese. But NPR recently reported on a campaign by the nonprofit group Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, against my beloved cheese.

The group posted billboards in New York, Wisconsin and other locations slandering the tasty dairy product. These billboards, hosting less-than-savory shots of overweight individuals along with messages like “Your Abs on Cheese” or “Your Thighs on Cheese,” are getting almost entirely negative feedback–even by the not-so-objective media covering the campaign.

NPR writer Allison Aubrey wrote in an article, “Wow. This is a long way from the ‘everything-in-moderation’ message.” Forbes contributor Michelle Maisto commented, “It seems odd that PCRM should choose to go after cheese, when sugar, soda and meat seem perhaps more likely targets.” Maisto questioned the PCRM’s stance that cheese should not be consumed at all by anyone, asking “But what about that of my toddler, who for the time being has her pediatrician’s blessing to consume whole milk and whole-fat yogurt?”

The Huffington Post food section mentioned that it “doesn’t hide its love of cheese,”  and that it is “fairly aghast at this new ad campaign.”

My curiosity was piqued when I realized that the majority of the main media sites covering this–of the few that did–chose to include it not as news, but as opinion, and an overwhelmingly negative one at that.

The Wall Street Journal covered the story with a straight news angle and the reason this topic was covered as an opinion story becomes obvious upon reading. The Journal’s story is a mere 123 words, and boring to boot. Such a story doesn’t inspire much reader debate and, in fact, has only two reader comments (compared to NPR’s 198 or HuffPost’s 881).

To be publicly anti-cheese is pretty risky; people love it, people are passionate about it, and some of those passionate people happen to be journalists. But some of those people are also bloggers. Jezebel, a popular culture blog for women, picked up the story and ran with the headline “New Anti-Cheese Ad Campaign is Pure Evil,” while African-American culture blog, Bossip simply asked, “Tell the truth, would these ads keep you away from your favorite pizza???” That’s for you decide.

Follow Sam at @sambouchat

Neskowin, Oregon: A Coastal Gem

-Diana Roure

Week six has finally come to an end.  Midterms are over and finals are still a ways away.  It’s the perfect time to escape your dull routine and give yourself a much-deserved break!  So why not head out to Neskowin, the most picturesque coastal community Oregon has to offer?

Neskowin, located in unincorporated Tillamook County, is home to only 170 residents.  It’s nearly a three-hour drive from Eugene, so I would recommend staying for at least a few days.  In my opinion, Neskowin is absolutely Oregon’s best-kept secret.

Neskowin is famous for its stunning beach containing remains of an ancient forest, and is also where Slab Creek meets the Pacific Ocean. In the middle of the beach, there are giant prehistoric trees atop a massive basalt sea-stack called Proposal Rock. Honestly, pictures don’t do it justice–you really have to see it for yourself.

In terms of where to stay, there are many options.  There are numerous rental homes and condos–big or small, expensive or cheap–all of them have unforgettable views.  There are a few charming bed and breakfasts in the area as well.

You may want to plan your trip in advance since space is limited as the city of Neskowin is actually only 1.4 miles wide.  Prices are reasonable–less than you’ll pay in Sunriver or Portland–but more than other coastal cities like Florence. Booking in advance will help save you money, and the beach is large enough that even on popular weekends you’ll never feel cramped.

There is only one restaurant and one general store in Neskowin, although Lincoln City, another coastal community with several restaurants, is just thirteen miles south.  I would recommend picking up the necessary supplies on the drive to Neskowin (I did in Corvallis). Most rental homes and condos come with a fully-stocked kitchen, so utensils are not an issue.

Regarding activities, plan on being outdoors for the duration of your trip.  If you just want to relax, bring a blanket or chair and some reading material and enjoy the pristine views and calming sound of the waves crashing. The Cascade Head bike and hiking trail is opportunely close to most beach properties as well.

Those brave enough can take a plunge into the Pacific or settle for the less freezing and not-so-rough creek. More adventurous visitors can kayak or canoe in the Nestucca Bay estuary, which is just five minutes away.  Come evening, it is impossible to miss the gorgeous sunsets. As the moon comes out of hiding, feel free to stargaze by the warmth of a bonfire.

I went to Neskowin last Memorial Day weekend for my twenty-first birthday.  I stayed in a condo on the beach and had the time of my life.  I strongly encourage you to make the trip for an experience that will forever be etched in your mind.

Follow Diana at @dianaroure

Flux Playlist: Procrastination

-Flux Blog Staff

Procrastination. We’re all guilty of it. We’ve all had those late nights when we spend hours on Youtube instead of studying for our midterms and finals. Those endless evenings when we camp out in the Knight Library only to put on our Sherlock Holmes hats to become Facebook detectives. We’ve all been there, and we all know how much it sucks. So we here at the Flux blog decided to give a shout out to the weekend warriors who were partying when they should’ve been hitting the books. We probably would have had this playlist up sooner, but we kind of put it together at the last minute.


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Mike

  • Time is Running Out -Muse
  • Who Cares? -Gnarls Barkley
  • White Blank Page -Mumford and Sons

Tamara

  • Under Pressure -Queen ft. David Bowie
  • Trying to Find a Balance -Atmosphere
  • Sitting, Waiting, Wishing -Jack Johnson

Callie

  • Paradise -Coldplay
  • Lucky -Jason Mraz ft. Colbie Caillat

Tiana

  • I Hate College -Samuel Adams
  • Young, Wild and Free -Wiz Khalifa ft. Snoop Dogg
  •  Billionaire -Travie McCoy ft. Bruno Mars

Sam

  • The Lazy Song -Bruno Mars
  • Handlebars -Flobots
  • Threw it on the Ground -The Lonely Island

Jessica

  • Waste -Foster the People
  • Teenage Dirtbag -Wheatus
  • We’re Going to be Friends -The White Stripes

Boycotting Girl Scout Cookies

-Laura Lundberg

Nearly every college student eagerly anticipates the beginning of Girl Scout cookie season. While some wonder what kind of new flavors there will be this year, and if the Girl Scouts will be dropping some of the less desired flavors, I wonder one thing – Why has Girl Scouts not made it apparent that palm oil is one of the main ingredients used in all of the popular Girl Scout cookies such as Tagalongs, Thin Mints, and Samoa’s?

The Girl Scout cookie funds many things, including teaching girls about money management, helping to fund summer camps, Planned Parenthood, and welcoming transgender children into the Girl Scout ranks, but there is one incredibly negative thing that the Girl Scout cookies do – help the destruction of Orangutan populations and their native habitat.

Palm oil, a plant that is used in many products, is one of the leading causes of deforestation in countries such as Indonesia and Malaysia. Thousands of acres in the Southeast Asian rainforests are destroyed to make way for palm oil plantations, and the Borneo Orangutans that reside in the rainforests have been pushed to the brink of extinction due to the overwhelming amount of deforestation.

An article on MongaBay says that, “Relegated to ever smaller fragments of forest, wild orangutans began to face starvation as their food sources were depleted, forcing them to venture into newly established oil palm plantations where they feed on the young shoots of palms, destroying the tree before it produces any oil seeds. Viewing the wild orangutans as pests, plantation managers started paying $10 to $20 for each dead orangutan — a strong incentive for a migrant worker who may earn just $10 per day.”

For the most part, Girl Scouts USA kept the use of palm oil in their products under wraps; however, two senior Girl Scout members, Madison Vorva and Rhiannon Tomtishen, discovered this tragedy and brought the issue to the masses, as well as the members of Girl Scouts USA. The two girls began campaigning to try and get the Girl Scouts USA to stop using palm oil in their products and after months of being ignored and even being censored on Facebook, Girl Scouts USA finally addressed the issue by initiating a policy.

The policy says that beginning this cookie season (2012 – 2013), Girl Scouts USA will be purchasing Green Palm certificates to offset the use of the palm oil in the cookies. Girl Scouts USA also says that they will be letting their customers know that they are purchasing these certificates by telling them on the box.

Girl Scouts USA also has a plan to get their licensed cookie bakers to pledge to use certified, sustainable palm oil by 2015, and Girl Scouts USA has also told their bakers to “use as little palm oil as possible, and only in recipes where there is no alternative.”

All of these policy ideas will certainly help the orangutans and their native habitat, but this doesn’t make up for the continual loss of the old-growth rainforest that orangutans used to live in, nor does it help any of the new growth rainforest that still has the potential to be destroyed to make room for more palm oil plantations. However, anything helps, and Madison Vorva and Rhiannon Tomtishen have started a petition to help get palm oil out of the Girl Scout cookie recipes as quickly as possible, and they have also started a Facebook page where those interested can join together. Boycotting the cookies, which is what I will be doing until at least 2015, is another way to help support making Girl Scout cookies a palm-oil-free reality.

Follow Laura at @LMLundberg

Getting Beer-ducated

-Jessica Ridgway

Before I tasted my first sip of alcohol (at the legal age of 21, of course) I was told that my first drink should be a beer. Inevitably, my new-to-alcohol self ignored that suggestion and reached for the harder stuff. I learned that gin, vodka, and rum are fun. Tequila and Jaegermeister are not. Beer was never my drink of choice because I never wanted it to be.

Time passed, however, and my palate changed. I decided to give beer a chance, starting with the cheap, canned beer and later moving to the nicer bottles. I started to enjoy the taste of beer so much that I went to my first Beer Festival and gave as many beers as I could a try. After sampling a few flavors I realized that I could drink as much beer as I wanted, but without some background education of the beverage I might as well be drinking PBR for the rest of my life.

So, if you’re clueless about beer and you’re about to grab some “brewskis” with beer connoisseurs, here’s a few basic things to know so you’re not a total newbie.

There are four main ingredients to beer: water, yeast, fermentable sugars, and hops. Other ingredients, like spices, sugars, syrups, grains, chocolate, fruits, vegetables, and even coffee can be added for taste.

According to my best friend, Wikipedia, hops are the female flower clusters of the species Humulus lupulus. Brandon Walcott-Ayers, who brews his own beer at home, explains that hops “give a beer its floral qualities and bitterness.”

All beers (with a few exceptions) fall into two categories: ales or lagers. The main differences between the two are the type of yeast and the process used to ferment the brew.

  • Ales are fermented with yeast that first gathers at the top of the brew. They are fermented at warmer temperatures between 55 to 75 degrees Fahrenheit. They are also brewed for a shorter duration, no more than a few weeks.
  • Lagers are fermented with yeast that gathers at the bottom of the brew. They are fermented at colder temperatures between 32 to 55 degrees Fahrenheit. Lagers are brewed for long durations, sometimes more than several months.

Pretty simple, right? Well, here is where beer gets tricky. There are several “styles” of beer, and style is used loosely to categorize beers based on various factors like appearance, flavor, ingredients, origin, history, brewing method, etcetera, etcetera. There is no definitive guide to beer styles and the ratings vary from person to person. Fortunately, the only way to learn the different styles is to give them all a try! Cheers to education! I’ll always drink to that.

Follow Jessica at @jcridgway