With more than 32 organizations in the world, like The Elisa Project and Eating Disorders Anonymous, you would think deaths from eating disorders would have gone down. But a recent study shows there are higher mortality rates for eating disorders than traffic accidents, and any other mental illness combined. According to Alliance for Eating Disorders Awareness approximately 42 percent of girls between first and third grade want to be thinner. Weight has overtaken society’s mind and replaced it with a perfect body image, which every “sane” person wants to achieve.

Body image is an obsessive topic in main stream society. Advertisements like magazines, commercials, even shows like “America’s Next Top Model” and “Project Runway” show off the models’ characteristics and body, flaunting her image to perfection. Advertisement agencies don’t seem to realize how much their images affect today’s youth. According to The Eating Disorders Action Group roughly 69 percent of girls in fifth through twelfth grade reported that magazine pictures influenced their idea of a perfect body shape. The average adult female is 5’4” tall and weighs 164 pounds, while the average American model is 5’11” tall and weighs 117 pounds. The body type portrayed in advertising as the ideal is possessed naturally by only 5 percent of American females.

Men are not immune to this disorder, 15 percent of all eating disorder cases are men. But men are less likely to seek treatment for eating disorders because of the perception that they are “woman’s diseases.” Eating disorders affect everyone no matter your ethnicity, gender, or socioeconomic group no one is immune to the dangers of this disease. Fourteen percent of gay men are diagnosed with eating disorders, and up to 24 million people of all ages and genders suffer from an eating disorder (anorexia, bulimia and binge eating disorder) according to Harvard Eating Disorders Center.

In judged sports 13 percent of participants have eating disorders, compared to refereed sports which have 3 percent. There are significantly higher rates in elite athletes, approximately 20 percent. Sports that contain the highest number of diagnosed eating disorder participants are: gymnastics, ballet, figure skating, and wrestling. Male wrestlers are 10 times more likely to develop an eating disorder than the average male.

When six of 10 people diagnosed with an eating disorder die, action must be taken and awareness must become a priority. For a disease to which no one is immune, shouldn’t awareness be a stronger focus in high school?

Cochetel is the United Nations Commissioner for Refugees in North America and the Caribbean. He is based in Washington, D.C., and works closely with refugees entering the country who are fleeing war zones and religious and racial discrimination. Cochetel traveled to Boise to speak at the Idaho Conference for Refugees held at Boise State University Jan. 30-31.

He also visited Borah to observe and address the Bridge program, which assists refugees in adjusting themselves to the English language and customs of their new home. Many states do not have programs like Bridge; instead refugees are placed directly into the public school system and society.

At first, Bridge students were hesitant to respond to Cochetel’s questions about their experiences, but slowly opened up as the conversation progressed. One student said that students in the Bridge program tend to group together according to their country of origin because they miss their home country.

The Bridge students as well as the English Language Learners (ELL) greeted Cochetel with open arms and welcome signs as he walked up the pathway.

The U.N. officer described himself as having a virus, the virus being the desire to assist and improve the lives of refugees. He said this virus infected him when he was a young boy living in a culturally diverse building in western France. “I want to work with foreigners that are not necessarily always welcome in communities,” Cochetel admitted, explaining how he wanted to work with foreigners to help them back on their feet.

Cochetel is married to Nataha Cochetel. They have three children, two daughters, and one son. The oldest daughter, who lives in the United Kingdom, caught the virus from her father. She is in mechanical engineering and wants to implement wind energy in developing countries.

Cochetel recently visited a prison in the Bahamas that holds refugees. “For many Americans, the Bahamas are a beautiful holiday resort,” he said. “For refugees, it’s hell.”

The refugees are typically in the prison because they fled their native countries without a Passport or Visa. After a few months of being held, they are typically released from prison.

Cochetel said the refugees should not have been there in the first place. In other countries, refugees can be held indefinitely until the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) identifies the issue and requests their release.

Cochetel also touched on his aide to refugees crossing political borders to avoid chaos caused by war. In the 1990s, during the war in Bosnia, Cochetel and a group of others were able to assist refugees in crossing front lines into the southern part of Croatia.

The series begins with Wes, a bull headed independent fighter, who is trying to make it big while at the same time supporting his son Jaxon, with on again, off again girlfriend Red. The show not only displays his life as a MMA fighter without a trainer, but also it teaches that having a child when one is young and in an unstable relationship can be difficult. He struggles to make money and reach his goals, while at the same time makes time to be a great dad.

The next fighter is Matt “Danger” Schnell, 21-year-old fighter who has been dealt a stressful hand. He gave up his job and moved back in with his mom so he could dedicate more time to achieve his dream of going pro. His maturity and dedication to his training result in the owner of Karate Mafia (the place he trains) asking him to take over as manager while the owner serves jail time for mistakes he made when he was younger. So he is handed a shovel full of stress upon his need to train. He also is struggling with having divorced parents, and saddening family problems, but his relationship with his sister, Bri, seems to help him through a lot.

The last fighter that is spotlighted is the most perfect, yet seems to have the most sorrows. Daniel Payne is that typical blonde hair, tall, dreamboat, and the most well-known kid in Minden, but he also struggles with so many internal demons. He is known as the Golden Boy, the one who never loses. In the past few episodes, he has been dealing with his problems though, resulting in a lost fight. Two years ago, his girlfriend was killed in a car accident and the series definitely fixates on his struggle to recover from this loss. He has become very sheltered and afraid of love. Once he steps in that cage, every outside problem subsides and the world becomes an isolated bubble of just him and his opponent.

The show does a great job of portraying the struggles MMA fighters must go through, especially cutting weight. It shows how horrible it actually is, running in sauna bags, three sweatshirts, with the AC off and actually sweating off a whole 30 pounds in three days to make weight. It shows the drastic emotions each fighter goes through, how they often times psych themselves out, and how they mentally prepare for a fight. But the absolutely best part of this show is that, after the fight, whether win or lose, each fighter talks with their opponent and congratulates them for an amazing round. They complement their strengths and sincerely demonstrate what it means to be a good sport. This great series shows how hard some work to reach their goals.

One new addition is the installation of a public school system, but despite the fact that these schools are public, many children are unable to attend because their families can’t afford the $30 uniforms for students. Borah’s Key Club wants to change this.

On Jan. 28, Key Club hosted a fundraiser at Applebee’s called Clothed for Hope to help raise money for the need in Kenya.

Students and their families paid $5 to get in the door, and were treated to all-you-can-eat pancakes and sausages, and entertainment including a raffle for prizes.

Each $5 ticket went toward buying a uniform for a child in Kenya, which allows the child to attend school.

“For $30, each student receives a school uniform, new shoes, food, and the ability to get an education,” said Key Club president Jocelyn Schelske.

Schleske continued, “We’re focusing on getting people in the door, and hoping to raise about $3,000.”

Key Club also tried to encourage other clubs to participate in the fundraising by calling for a club competition.

At the door, Corissa Allen, a senior Key Club representative, recorded club attendance as participants entered, and the club with the greatest attendance will be treated to one of two catered lunches.

Allen explained, “Along with the catered lunch, the club with the most representatives in attendance might be interviewed by one of the most popular TV stations in Kenya.”

After the feed was over and the club tallies were all recorded and finalized, the club in the most attendance was Key Club, closely followed by Tactus and GSA.

“We just want Borah to come together to raise some money,” Schelske said.

Many clubs were represented at the feed. Pancakes poured from the kitchen, managed by senior Ali Clapier, to be devoured by students, teachers, parents of students and Borah alumn alike.

Amanda Kent, senior, has attended the past three pancake feeds Borah has organized.

“At the last feed, there was a raffle and prizes and stuff, but this year they replaced the raffle with the club competition. I think the competition was a great idea, and a great way to get more of Borah involved,” said Kent.

Entertainment at the feed included the musical stylings of Tactus, who sang at 9 a.m., an hour into the feed.

Kylie Christensen, Key Club advisor and Social Studies teacher, said, “Key Club made $630 at the feed, including donations and all the tickets sold.

Since then, Paluzzi writes often, both in and out of the creative sanctity of the classroom. With a notebook to write in when she gets bored, Paluzzi produces a multitude of little stories she can draw from in Creative Writing class, using ideas that she claims “just pop into being”.

According to Chuck McHenry, English and Creative Writing teacher, Paluzzi’s writing takes on a ‘snarky’ tone occasionally, but he likes that about her stories. “Her syntax is scintillating,” McHenry laughed, meaning her wording has great animation.

Paluzzi’s favorite story contained hobos and cre-bos (creepy hobos), a concept she and her friend came up with. “I like the fact that you can be creative and add your own voice to your writing,” Paluzzi said, smiling.

“Maria is going to go far with her writing. I mean, everyone has room for improvement, but we can all tell that she’s going far,” commented fellow classmate Dona Ochoa, senior.

Ochoa continued, “Mystery and suspense are her favorite genres, and it’s easy to tell. She writes them really well.”

As well as taking Creative Writing, Paluzzi is taking Beginning Journalism, and said she has always wanted to be a writer, specifically a journalist, and sees herself taking the writing skills she’s learning now into her future career.

Music lasts a lifetime. It inspires and impacts people’s lives. There have been songs that were popular in their time and are still popular now.

Let’s begin in the 1950’s. . . with the jukebox. On the jukebox was “Love Me Tender” by Elvis Presley, which was released in 1956. An interesting fact about the song “Love Me Tender” is that it was set to the tune of “Aura Lee,” a Civil War ballad. “Love Me Tender” hit number one on the Billboard Hot 100 on Nov. 3, 1956 and kept the number one title for five weeks.

According to vinylsurrender.com, “Respect” by Aretha Franklin was one of the top songs in the 1960’s. The song was originally written by Otis Redding in 1965. Franklin released the song in 1967. However, when others sing along with the song, they may get the lyrics wrong. In Franklin’s version it goes like this: “R-E-S-P-E-C-T/find out what it means to me/R-E-S-P-E-C-T/ take care. . . TCB”. When most people sing along, they say  “Take out. . . TCP”.

One word to describe the 1970’s is “psychedelic” for more than one reason. “Imagine” by John Lennon, yes, one of the dudes from the Beatles, was released in 1971.  The song peaked at number three in the same year at its release. Rolling Stone also ranked “Imagine” at number three on “The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time” in 2004.

Biology and chemistry teacher Ben Ott said that of all his favorite songs,“I have to go with ‘Imagine’ by John Lennon” is his favorite.

The song was inspired by a poem by Yoko Ono. In the book Lennon in America by Geoffrey Guiliano, Lennon commented on his song, “[It is an] anti-religious, anti-nationalistic, anti-conventional, anti-capitalistic [song], but because it’s sugar coated, it’s accepted.”

An 80’s hit was “Sweet Child o’ Mine” by Guns N’ Roses was released in 1988. The song topped the Billboard Hot 100 the same year and it also reached number six on the UK Singles Chart. Axl Rose, also known as Steven Adler, heard his bandmates messing around downstairs and had to write a song. He based it on his girlfriend at the time, Erin Everly. The song was the only number one single for the band in the U.S.

Math teacher Bill Donaldson said  “Sweet Child O’ Mine” is his favorite song from the list.  Why?  “. . . because I like it,” he chuckled.

A top song of the 90’s was “Bittersweet Symphony” by The Verve from the album Urban Hymns, released in 1997. By 1998, the song hit number 12 on the Billboard Hot 100. “Bittersweet Symphony” became famous over the controversial plagiarism charges with  ABKCO Records. The band had a sample of the song from the Oldham recording. However, it was thought they had too much of the sample. The song had the original lyrics and was partially based on the Oldham recording. The lawsuit was settled with the copyright given to ABKCO Redcords and the songwriting credits given to Mick Jagger and Kieth Richards.

Released in 2004, “American Idiot” by Green Day includes the song “Wake Me Up When September Ends,” the second top song of the decade. The song peaked at number six in the U.S.

According to greendayauthority.com “American Idiot” has sold over 15 million copies worldwide, making it the band’s second most profitable album. “Green Day is my favorite band,” said sophomore Abby Whiffen. “I have almost all of their songs”.

It is merely a test to see how much the other person cares. Regardless, we must remain traditional to the holiday and (if it does not come naturally) act like we really care about our valentine.

As Alfred Hitchcock once said, “Give them pleasure – the same pleasure they have when they wake up from a nightmare.” (He may not have been talking about a significant other, but the point is still gathered.)

My advice is to have a ritualistic agenda in which, annually, we do the same thing. That’ll show ‘em. Everyone loves repetition. Following this basic tip guarantees a shot at the respectable reward we deserve for our drudging work.

One way to avoid having to do anything for Valentine’s Day is to become overwhelmingly attractive. Attractive means one doesn’t have to lower oneself to showing affection. Yes, it is a choice that can be made. People say that it’s impossible to change what a person is born with, but I hastily disagree.

Hide the flaws and accentuate the normal. There’s also plastic surgery, but my point is that an overwhelmingly attractive person doesn’t need to do anything in this life. That’s the way the world works. Either comply to nature’s law (only the attractive survive), or continue your Valentine’s Day tradition.

The similarities between the two games went beyond having the same teams playing. The seasons for both teams seemed familiar to that of the 2007.

The Patriots, although not unbeaten in the regular season like four years ago, cruised to a 13-3 record and home field advantage. Quarterback Tom Brady had another stellar season, leading the Patriots to the league’s third-best scoring offense.

The only difference between these two teams was in their defensive play. New England, during the 2011 regular season, fielded the 31st worst defense in the league, better than only the Green Bay Packers.

The Giants also saw many striking similarities to its 2007 Championship team.

The strength of these teams, a dominant defensive line, was what ultimately got them into the Super Bowl, with players like Jason Pierre-Paul, Justin Tuck, and Osi Umenyiora leading the way.

Both seasons saw quarterback Eli Manning “step out of his big brother’s shadow,” and play increasingly well. Even the way in which the Giants got to the Super Bowl was reminiscent of its 2007 team.

Both teams overcame the heavily favored Packers on the road, and won overtime games behind the leg of kicker Lawrence Tynes in horrific weather conditions (-4 gametime temperature in 2007 game at Green Bay and a torrential downpour in this year’s game at San Francisco.)

Even the game itself was a scaled-down version of its 2007 counterpart, ending with a late drive led by Manning to take the lead 21-17. The game in 2007 was full of suspense, especially on receiver David Tyree’s dramatic helmet catch. This year’s drive, however, seemed too easy for the Giants, as only one play, receiver Mario Manningham’s tightrope catch along the sideline, seeming even the least bit difficult.

Even the game winning touchdown by running back Ahmad Bradshaw seemed far too easy for the Giants, as it appeared the Patriots front seven let Bradshaw through, which resulted in a touchdown that will always be remembered for Bradshaw’s indecision as to whether he should score or fall down to let the clock run out.

Eli Manning once again won the MVP trophy, this time in less heroic fashion, however. He finished the game completing 30 of his 40 passes for 296 yards and one touchdown pass to receiver Victor Cruz.

The Super Bowl, however, is not only about the game, as many watch it to see the halftime show and commercials. Sadly, many were disappointed, as most of the commercials were a letdown. The most buzz was created by Chevrolet’s “Apocalypse,” Volkswagen’s “The Dog Strikes Back,” and Chrysler’s “Halftime in America” ad, starring Clint Eastwood. Controversy over Eastwood’s ad resulted, as many saw it as a pro-Obama ad.

The halftime show by Madonna put on a show that far exceeded the more recent shows of The Black Eyed Peas and The Who. Performing her more popular songs including “Music” and “Vogue,” she brought along popular performers such as LMFAO, Nicki Minaj, and Cee Lo Green. It was her least well known accompaniment, M.I.A. that created the biggest buzz, as she flipped off the camera with her finger during her brief cameo.

Super Bowl XLVI was virtually a mirror image of XLII, without the drama and intrigue. It was a game with a lot of hype, based purely on previous meetings between the Giants and Patriots and didn’t live up to it.