This is News in :90 for Friday, Dec. 10, 2010.

Members of the St. Thomas community celebrated the beginning of Advent with the annual tree-lighting ceremony in the quad Tuesday afternoon.

Despite the cold weather, students, faculty and staff bundled up to hear music, scripture and, of course, see the lighting of the trees.

“I really enjoyed seeing the campus light up with all these trees,” freshman Brandon Miranda said. “It reminds me of how jolly you can actually be in the freezing weather.”

Junior Vang Khang said the blistering temperatures couldn’t stop her from taking part in the St. Thomas tradition.

“I haven’t missed one tree lighting since I’ve been here,” she said. “I thought about staying in because of the weather, but I’m definitely glad I came.”

Miranda said the lights bring the St. Thomas campus to life.

“The walkways are a little more lit up, and it really brings out the Christmas spirit,” he said.

Zach Pagano can be reached at Paga7147@stthomas.edu.

The St. Thomas men’s basketball team started the season with a 76-72 win over Concordia – St. Paul at the Gangelhoff Center. It was coach Steve Fritz’s 800th career win as a player, assistant coach and head coach.

Senior Alex Healy led the Tommies in scoring with 16 points. Senior Anders Halvorsen scored 14 points and had seven rebounds.

The team played its home games at Concordia last year because of construction on the Anderson Athletic and Recreation Complex, but this season it was playing at Concordia as the visiting team.

The Tommies will travel to Tacoma, Wash., this weekend to play Pacific Lutheran University and the University of Puget Sound.

Zach Pagano can be reached at Paga7147@stthomas.edu.

The researchers evaluated substances including alcohol, cocaine, heroin and marijuana and ranked them based on how destructive they are to the individual taking them and to society as a whole. Some St. Thomas students weren’t surprised that the study deemed alcohol the most dangerous drug.

“Alcohol is a poison,” junior Joe Cronin said. “Anyone who denies that fact doesn’t realize basic chemistry.”

Student Health Services Director Madonna McDermott said drinking this “poison” in excess can shut your body down.

“Alcohol affects almost every organ system that we have,” she said. “It impacts your brain, it impacts your heart, your lungs, your stomach, even your central nervous system.”

The study found heroin, crystal meth and crack cocaine to be the most lethal to users. Alcohol and heroine were found to be the deadliest when considering wider social effects and harm to others. Overall, alcohol outranked all other substances. The researchers said alcohol scored so high because of the high amount of use and because of the devastating consequences for drinkers and those around them.

But even though alcohol was ranked so high, sophomore Collin Kearney said drinking is more tolerable in society than using drugs.

“More people might only drink because of the long-term effects and addiction that come with taking drugs,” Kearney said. “You think that cocaine, for example, would be worse for you, but it could be because of preconceptions because it isn’t legal.”

McDermott said these preconceptions play a big part in people choosing alcohol over drugs.

“Part of it is cultural,” Mcdermott said. “Alcohol has been around for a very long time, and it’s been legalized as something that we can obtain and use.”

Cronin said alcohol use for college students is directly correlated to the mass media.

“We have cultural norms that portray drinking in a good light,” he said. “There are hilarious beer commercials and vodka commercials that make you think you think you can get a girl because of booze. Some college students drink because they think they are acting in a way that is cool and fun.”

Senior Nadine Brown said the findings wouldn’t deter her from occasionally drinking alcohol.

“It doesn’t make me think twice. My life hasn’t been destroyed because I have drank,” she said. “Hard drugs and alcohol aren’t good for your body, but drugs will have a deteriorating effect on your life in the long run. I don’t drink every day, but even when I do, I can still wake up and feel fine the next day.”

McDermott wants to warn students about the counter-productiveness of alcohol.

“You need to think about the damage to cells. No matter what part of the body, your cells are being damaged,” she said. “Students come to a college, especially like St. Thomas, where academics are a challenge, and they are spending a lot of money to get a great education. But at the same time, you are studying and then might go out and drink in excess and kill the brain cells you need to retain this knowledge.”

Of the 20 drugs graded in the British study, marijuana, ecstasy and LSD were on the low end of the harmful scale.

Zach Pagano can be reached at Paga7147@stthomas.edu.

That’s because the city council has effectively banned the McDonald’s Happy Meal. The council voted earlier this month to require fast food meals with toys to meet certain nutritional guidelines.

What is the reasoning behind the ban? “Happy meals make kids fat.”

My brother and I grew up on Happy Meals. I will never forget our meal of choice: Chicken McNuggets with sweet and sour sauce. What wasn’t there to love? It had everything: a cool box, good food, and of course, a toy. My brother grew up to be a star baseball player in college. And as for me? Let’s just say I could use a few more McDonald’s meals in my diet, because I’m as skinny as a french fry.

Eating McDonald’s as a kid didn’t implant a craving for the food into my mind. It didn’t make me want to overindulge in fatty foods later in life.

Joe Eskenazi at the San Francisco Weekly hits the nail on the head. “It seems the San Francisco Board of Supervisors has accomplished what the Hamburglar never could. They’ve made off with McDonald’s fare,” he wrote.

But are toys really the only thing the city council has taken away?

Who are they to mandate how parents should feed their kids? Where is the personal responsibility? If you don’t want them to eat the food, take them someplace else. If they still nag you enough to take them to Micky D’s, choose healthier options, like apple dippers.

If a city can tell McDonald’s that they can’t put toys in Happy Meals, what could be next? Will they take away our gelato in Scooters? If they deem bacon unhealthy, will they tell Mary how to make her sandwiches in the Binz? The government can’t even effectively run the DMV or the post office, so why should we trust it to make decisions about our food?

Is getting rid of toys really the best way to fight childhood obesity? The city officials in San Francisco seem to think so. It’s as if they think people are incapable of making personal decisions. Parents can always swap for healthier food options, and kids can get plenty of exercise outside. There’s no need to take the “happy” out of the Happy Meal.

Long before the golden arches, our founding fathers wrote the Constitution. They didn’t mean for the government to micromanage our lives. The document was only four pages long, and mainly described what the government can’t do to the people, not the reverse.

So city, state and national officials: can you please get your priorities in order? College students are graduating and unable to find jobs. Stop the witch hunt of Happy Meal toys and set your sights on the economy.

In the meantime, I’m going to McDonald’s to get a Happy Meal. They still have toys here in St. Paul.

Zach Pagano can be reached at paga7147@stthomas.edu.

This is News in :90 for Friday, Nov. 5, 2010.

This is News in :90 for Wednesday, Oct. 27, 2010.

Students voiced their questions and concerns to a panel of student leaders at the first-ever Undergraduate Student Government Town Hall Meeting Tuesday night.

Topics discussed included sustainability, the possibility of moving toward a smoke-free campus, and the new food purchasing policy. Students also talked about bike racks, the new student center and sustainability.

USG President Dwight Anderson said the open forum was a great way to hear what is on students’ minds.

“The Undergraduate Student Government is a small group of students on campus, so this event was meant to hear directly from students on campus about the pressing issues,” he said.

Anderson said concerns raised at the meeting will be the subject of discussion at a November forum with top university administrators.

Zach Pagano can be reached at Paga7147@stthomas.edu.

The St. Thomas Gospel Choir and Active Minds put on a night of music, dance and poetry Friday in front of a packed BEC auditorium for the “Ending the Silence” event.

But this wasn’t a run-of-the-mill talent show. The performances were designed to raise awareness about suicide in the aftermath of teen suicides across the nation.

“I feel like the darkness and deepness of the event represented what some people are going through every day of their lives,” said senior Anna Bailey.

For sophomore Nick Yannarelly, the event served as an eye-opening experience.

“You hear about this stuff on the news, but you don’t always think about it,” he said. “The show made me think about how I should be treating everyone, and to look for the warning signs of suicide.”

Junior Kiana Williams was an “Ending the Silence” organizer. She said the show was a great step toward a stronger community.

“We can be open, we can talk to each other and let each other know what is going on in our lives and not feel like we’re alone in our struggles,” she said.

Sophomore Danny Lindsey said he was pleasantly surprised at the high turnout.

“When events happen on a Friday night, you never know how many people are going to come out,” he said. “It was really good to see this many people show up to support suicide awareness.”

Speakers from the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention highlighted the resources that are available to students in need.

“They had a great message that people should seek help if they need it,” said senior Marcy Warren. “It should never be a bad thing to ask for help.”

Williams said the hard work paid off.

“It was breathtaking. It’s been nice seeing the reactions people have, and some have even thanked us that the show was put on,” she said. “I give all the glory to God, because it’s not by us at all, and I’m just so thankful.”

Zach Pagano can be reached at paga7147@stthomas.edu.

The St. Thomas woman’s soccer team ended its four-game winning streak with a loss against Carleton Tuesday afternoon.

The two teams battled out a near-scoreless game. Freshman midfielder Jaclyn Glaser almost scored for the Tommies early, but her shot hit the post. Sophomore forward Marlena Hartman-Filson’s goal in the 85th minute gave the Knights a 1-0 victory.

The loss moves the Tommies to 8-5 for the season, and 5-3 in the MIAC. They will play Saturday, Oct. 16 at UW-Stevens Point.

Zach Pagano can be reached at paga7147@stthomas.edu.