“It is very important to be direct, express your concern and willingness to help with support because eating disorders can result in death,” Psychology Professor Dr. Sylvia Spencer says. “I would not disguise it or get their consent to be silent and ignore it.”

Eating disorders are a serious, potentially life-threatening problem in the United States. Nearly 10 million females and 1 million males are struggling with anorexia nervosa, bulimia and binge eating, according to the National Eating Disorders Association. Individuals who suffer from these disorders are obsessed with their body shape and weight.

“When they look in the mirror, they really see themselves as much larger than they are,” Spencer says.

Anorexia nervosa is the cycle of self-starvation. The body is denied the essential nutrients it needs function naturally. Slow heart rate, low blood pressure, severe dehydration, body weakness, dry skin and hair loss are some of the health issues associated with anorexia. A layer of hair called lanugo appears from face to feet as the body tries to maintain body heat.

Bulimia is a binge-and-purge cycle. Bulimics eat compulsively and then purge through self induced vomiting, use of laxatives, diuretics, diet pills, strict diets, fasts, chew spitting, vigorous exercise, or other behaviors to prevent weight gain. Bulimia can cause tooth decay and affect an entire digestive system, leading to chemical imbalances that affect the heart and other major organs.

Compulsive overeating is the binge eating and depression cycle. Binge eaters frequently use food as a way to cope with feelings. The stress of these feelings may be temporarily relieved, but is followed by guilt, shame, disgust and depression. Like bulimia, binge eating often occurs in secret and results in health risks linked to clinical obesity.

“Oftentimes, there are multiple things associated with eating disorders, such as depression, social history and past challenges,” City College nurse Jeff Christian says. “They turn to food as form of self-help.

Major causes of eating disorders are genetic, sociological and psychological.

Sociological factors, including the media, universally promote thinness.

“Whether guy or girl, you see what American media places as a standard for what a person should look like,” said Jonathon Carroll, a City College graphic communications major. “Whatever a person feels comfortable looking like should be the standard, not what the media states or portrays.”

Other societal influences for such disorders include dysfunctional families, sexual abuse, physical abuse, domineering coaches and controlling relationships, according to

Psychologically, eating disorders are viewed as a survival mechanism to deal with low self- esteem, feelings of loss of control and worthlessness, identity concerns, family communication problems and an inability to cope with emotions.

Some danger signs of eating disorders include thoughts about “feeling fat”, body image obsession, guilt or shame after eating, repeated attempts at dieting, compulsive exercise, eating to relieve stress and perfectionism.

Eating disorders can be challenging for family and friends to uncover.

“It can be very difficult to detect people who have an eating disorder in the beginning,” Spencer said. “They are very skilled at disguising the symptoms, regularly excuses themselves to the bathroom after eating, claims they already ate or eat very little, excessive weight loss or gain and unhealthy physical appearance.”

If a friend appears to be suffering from an eating disorder, experts recommend offering help.

“It is very important to be direct, express your concern and willingness to help with support because eating disorders can result in death,” Spencer said. “I would not disguise it or get their consent to be silent and ignore it.”

City College Health Services has resources available to assist individuals with treatment. The National Eating Disorder Association has a Web site- http://www.nationaleatingdisorders.org

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Illustration by Dan Curran

Editor’s note: This will be running in the upcoming 3/23 issue of the Express. We are releasing it early in because of the “March in March” protests planned for March 22.

If you want government to do what you want, then the key is to ask. Politics is all about getting what you want and knowing how to ask to get what you want, but the key thing all of us should be considering is how to ask. There are different ways of asking like voting, writing letters and protesting.

When protesting, protesters need to have proper protest etiquette because without it, there’s no chance for the cause to grow. The worst thing anybody can do when trying to protest the government is to act immature and become a beacon of stupidity.

Approximately a thousand students, parents and educators swarmed around outside the Capitol building in Sacramento on March 4 to rally against budget cuts that have caused class sizes to swell and tuition costs to increase almost exponentially. While frustration was visible with these protesters, they offered solutions and aren’t the individuals that acted childishly against the legislature. But not all protesters that day were constructive.

About 10 miles east of the Capitol, a group of about 350 dissatisfied and disgruntled students attempted to block Interstate 80 to stop the transportation flow from Davis to Sacramento. Scores of police officers kept them from walking onto the freeway by swinging batons and shooting pepper balls. According to The Sacramento Bee, demonstrators in Oakland climbed onto the freeway during the evening rush hour and shut down the interchange of I-880 and I-980 for about an hour. Police arrested about 150 people.

Quite sadly, this makes people think: “What the hell were they thinking!” This didn’t seem like a protest, but more like an imbecile plan for a suicide mission or revolt promoting anarchy.

Frankly, the behavior of a few hundred immature students almost overshadowed the reasonable protests of thousands more at the Capitol almost irrelevant and undermined the entire purpose of encouraging government change through peaceful protest. This doesn’t get us anywhere. No legislator would want to negotiate with public education representatives because of the rowdy behavior that occurred.

Sure, the argument can be made that extreme measures insure that your cause gets seen and heard. Extreme measures, like when Alice Paul and her branch of the Suffragist Movement did hunger strikes, revolts, and disrespecting the government to get what they desired.

There were others that used nonviolent and gentler methods that hit home and were credited for achieving greater equality, like how Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony promoted the right for women’s suffrage. They both fought for women’s suffrage through lobbying with Congress and ratified the 19th amendment, which gave women the right to vote.

Through dialogue, agreements can be made and understanding can be reached. We encourage protest as a means of political persuasion, but please, do keep it in check.

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Courtesy of Paramount Pictures and DreamWorks

With spring almost here, moviegoers can take their first few hops into the season with the new release “She’s Out Of My League.”

The romantic comedy ranks third in earnings at the box office despite a plotline that’s fairly predictable and moments in the film of absurdity and vulgarity. What saves the film is its strong sense of humor that makes these moments seem less adolescent.

The nerdy guy, Kirk (Jay Baruchel from “Knocked Up”) meets an awesomely hot babe named Molly (Alice Eve, a relative newcomer) who develops an interest in him. The rest of the movie is his struggle to understand why she would be interested him, despite being able to land almost any guy she wanted.

Krysten Ritter (“Confessions of a Shopaholic,” T.V.’s “Breaking Bad”), appears as Patty, Molly’s super man-eating best friend and gives a truly hilarious performance as the bitter female friend. With other roles such as the romantic guy friend of the group, and the stud who finds himself as a wingman, the line-up of characters to bring this story to life was genuinely well thought of.

During the film, the focus on the fact that people rate others along a loopy point system, which governs all relationships, seems too emphasized and loses its authenticity.

Reminiscent of films such as “Pineapple Express,” “The Hangover” and “Superbad,” “League” continues the tradition of raunchy, R-rated comedies that have been so successful in the past few years.

The fact that people spend too much time on personal appearance and material things when going into relationships is revealed and discussed in the last half hour of the film to leave the audience with another nerd-wins-the-hot-girl story.

Although this film falls just short of the complete package of balanced hilarity, plotline and originality, it is definitely worth checking out at the theater. Even if only to convince the super hot special person your with that your at least worth another date.

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Courtesy Summit Entertainment

“The Ghost Writer”, director Roman Polanski’s first feature film in five years, a political dramatic mystery that is a loose allegory to Tony Blair’s Iraq War decisions and resignation, is a film in which little happens, but much is said.

The film’s most famous actors are Ewan McGregor (of the similarly-paced 2008 film “Deception”,) who plays the memoir ghostwriter for Pierce Brosnan (four-time James Bond, “Mamma Mia”), who plays Adam Lang, a resigned British prime minister. Lang is accused of war crimes and his dealings with the U.S., the C.I.A. and its war efforts. The Ghost — he’s never named — is taking over from an aide to Lang, who apparently drowned during a ferry crossing.

Casting for this film seems almost seems random at times — excellent actors such as Tom Wilkinson (“Michael Clayton”) and Olivia Williams (“Rushmore”, “Dollhouse”) as Lang’s wife are, bafflingly, credited next to the likes of Jim Belushi as a book editor and Kim Cattrall as Lang’s assistant and implied mistress. Timothy Hutton also makes a tired but competent appearance as Lang’s attorney. Veteran Eli Wallach, still acting at 95, even gets a brief scene.

Lang’s two main opponents in the film are a former minister under Lang’s regime and a retired British soldier who lost a son in “one of Lang’s secret wars.”

Hounded by political protesters and members of the world news media, Lang, his wife, a bevy of aides and The Ghost hole up in Lang’s Massachusetts home, a blandly modern dwelling. As the film progresses, The Ghost reluctantly becomes emotionally involved in uncovering evidence against Lang.

Interesting is the fact that no scene, save for an opener wherein the dead aide’s BMW is found abandoned on a ferry, takes place without The Ghost being present. This means that some plot points only come to him as secondhand knowledge.

McGregor lives up to his character’s name; he’s more than characteristically bland and mostly treated as a piece of furniture by the other characters. Lang, as might befit a retired head of state, doesn’t spend a lot of time on screen as he’s whisked away in his private jet to various global destinations.

Without giving anything away, The Ghost eventually digs into Lang’s past in cooperation with some of Lang’s opponents until he seemingly uncovers the conspiracy. Of course, there’s a twist, one that seems rushed in its delivery at the very end of the film.

Most of the film is devoid of action shots. Refreshingly, the plot is advanced mainly through conversation and investigation with The Ghost. The pacing is reminiscent of a similar film, 2007’s “Breach,” in which a young FBI agent secretly investigates a senior agent.

The book on which the film was based was written by Robert Harris, a UK-based author, as a fictional parallel to Tony Blair’s decisions regarding relations with President Bush, decisions Harris disagreed with, and subsequent resignation. The film also reflects attitudes about the news media. Thankfully, those political views don’t eclipse the film.

Putting aside Polanski’s criminal exploits (Polanski has an outstanding warrant for his arrest for the sexual assault of a 13-year-old girl, with a US judge saying Polanski has to return to the US to be sentenced) and the author’s political sentiments, “The Ghost Writer,” for the first three-quarters of its length, is excellently if slowly paced, well-shot and with quite a few fine performances. However, it suffers from a logically weak ending and a lack of investment in its characters.

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Courtesy of American Recordings

A posthumous album consisting of covers is not usually expected to be great or even good, however Johnny Cash’s latest, and final studio offering “American VI” bucks the trend.

It’s not that Cash has reinvented the wheel with this album which was recorded in 2003, not too long before he died. Upon an initial listen, it becomes very apparent that musically, “American VI” treads the same waters as Cash’s earlier American recordings. In this case however, redundancy in formula couldn’t possibly sound better.

Fans of Cash’s rockabilly sensibility will instead find a more diverse sound rooted in the traditional sounds of Americana based music. Whereas Cash’s earliest recordings could be traced to the ‘50s or ‘60s just by ear, the sound of this album (and all other American recordings) is timeless and musically based on a broader range than his early works thanks to Rick Rubin’s production (though some die-hard Cash fans may disagree) and appearances by Scott and Seth Avett among other guest musicians.

Just like Cash’s other American albums, the bulk of “American VI” consists of  covers of a wide range of artists like Kris Kristofferson, Sheryl Crow, as well as more obscure artists. Cash himself only contributes one original composition for the album, “I Corinthians 15:55″.

As a whole, the album is a curious mix of somber themes such as loss, death, uncertainty, and frailty, typical Cash fare preceding his death in 2003 . Yet, the lyrics and music do not brood. Cash instills a sense of optimism, hopefulness and even determination not to be overcome by the darker aspects of such themes.

Virtually every song is exceptional, with some standing out a little more than others.

The first track, “Ain’t No Grave” immediately imbues the album with a ghostly feel as Cash continuously sings “There ain’t no grave that can hold my body down” over the sounds of rattling chains, chiming funeral bells and other worldly instrumentation, a logical choice for the opening of this posthumous release.

Another standout track is the Kris Kristofferson penned “For the Good Times.” Despite the fact that the melody is reminiscent of every Jimmy Buffet song ever made, its actually an endearing, romantic and even uplifting piece of music. This is an astonishing fact given that it’s a breakup song, and judging by the lyrics alone, a pretty damn sad one.

Though all the songs aren’t great, the Sheryl Crow written “Redemption Day” immediately comes to mind sounding more like filler compared to other standout tracks, most of the songs are and the ones that aren’t are still decent.

For die hard and casual Cash fans alike, “American VI” would make a great listen and is proof that even up to his finals days, despite the evident frailty in his advanced years, Cash was still on the very top of his game.

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City College player Jamie Lowery on second base leaning to 3rd. Photo by Susanne Shirley

The City College softball team continued to perform well finishing off their week with two victories on Sunday, March 13.

After playing eight of the past nine days and losing only once in the stint to current conference leader Sierra College, they continued to play to their expectations: To win.

Sunday morning’s opening game featured the highly anticipated game against the College of Sequioas (20-5), a highly regarded ball club in the state.

City College Coach Robert Maglione, couldn’t help but give the utmost praise to his team.

“The Sequioas, are a very good team with a lot of talent. They gave us all we could handle, but the team came out and started hitting well and our pitchers came in and closed it out for us,” Maglione said.

With the Panthers behind going into the bottom of the 5th inning, 4-3, the Panthers scored two runs to take the lead going into the sixth where they added one more run and then used pitching to close out the game for the victory.

“I felt that we didn’t play to our best ability but good enough to win. We got hits when needed to,” said City College right fielder Lauren Liming.

Game 2 of the double header was against De Anza College and featured a dominant performance by the Panthers as Brittany Schwieger improved her pitching record to 5 – 0 for the season.

In the opening inning, Shannon Donovan of De Anza reached base on an error by Panthers first baseman Victoria Sendejas.

The next batter Ashley Velez, hit a line drive back to Schwieger’s face who turned it into a double play by throwing it back to first to get out the unsuspecting Donovan.

Schwieger finished off the first inning with her first of 8 strikeouts on the day in her 4 innings of work.

In the bottom of the 2nd inning, Katie Campbell put the Panthers up 2-0 with a solo homerun over the left field wall.

The 3rd inning featured the best hitting performance of the day for the Panthers as they delivered 4 runs on their way to an 8-0 victory in only 5 innings.

“Today, those were two different types of ball games with one team playing at our level and one up and coming team in De Anza. The team did what they were supposed to do out there (against De Anza), go out and dominate,” said Maglione.

One parent had plenty to say about the number 2 Ranked Big 8 Conference team. Rich Campbell, “I got to see my daughter hit her first homerun today,” referring to Katie Campbell’s second inning shot to left field.

He went on to comment, “Overall their doing really good. I think it’s all a work in progress trying to make it to the playoffs.”

Sacramento City College’s next game will be Tuesday, March 16, at Modesto Junior College at 3pm. With their next home game being Thursday, March 18 at 3pm against San Joaquin Delta College, a team currently tied for second place with the Panthers in the Big 8 Conference.

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Brooke Brooks watches the direction of the ball that he just hit. Photo by Terri M. Venesio

City College Panthers breezed by the Diablo Valley Vikings 7-2 Saturday in a baseball matchup at Union Stadium.

The top of the first inning began with the Panthers’ starting pitcher striking out the first two Vikings . The third batter was thrown at first base. The bottom of the inning ended with the Panthers getting two hits and scoring a run, cluing game fans to the pace of a competitive game.

“It was team effort,” Panther catcher Lucas Kephart said.

En route to victory, the Panthers earned 11 hits, while the Diablo Vikings only had four.

“We beat a quality opponent and feel good about it,” Panthers coach Andy McKay said.

Stay tuned to SacCityExpress.com for an in-depth review of the game

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The City College light rail station. Photo by Josselin Basaldu

In response to a $13 million deficit in the 2010 fiscal year and an expected $25 million deficit for the 2011 fiscal year, Sacramento Regional Transit District is considering making some changes to public transportation.

A public hearing was held Monday, March 8 at the Regional Transit Auditorium, located at 1400 29th Street. More than 250 public transportation users showed up to address their concerns.

Based on the current state of the economy and decrease in public transportation use, RT fare revenues have declined, said Alane Matsui, RT media representative.

Service changes have been proposed by RT for this summer to help alleviate fiscal deficit. RT is planning a Board of Directors meeting that will be open to the public to discuss possible scenarios.

“One of the scenarios is reducing service to 8 p.m. or eliminating some routes completely,” Masui said.

Option A2 in the Regional Transit Issue Paper Feb. 23 proposed limiting services to route 62 – Freeport Blvd on Saturday.

City College students depend on public transportation to get back and forth from school. If services are cut back students may not have any other option for traveling accommodations. Many RT operators, mechanics and other personnel are at risk of losing their jobs.

If adopted by the RT Board of Directors, changes will begin Sunday, June 20, 2010. The meeting to determine which changes are made, if any, will be held Monday, March 22, 2010.

The location of the meeting is currently being decided. For more information visit www.sacrt.com

Check out http://www.sacrt.com/documents/Board%20Documents/ServiceIssuePaper.pdf for the full report on route shortages.

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