2B
LIFE/ttle Clarlottt $0(1
Thursday August 25, 2005
Chocolate just may be a healthy choice
Continued from page 1B
perfect ways to remove the
pungent flavor.
“Most chocolate, in fact, isn’t
flavanol-rich,” said Norm
HoUenberg, a radiolc^ pro
fessor and flavanol ©qjert at
Harvard Medical School. “But
all chocolate is rich in fat and
calories. Chocolate is a
delight. It can and should be
part of a prudent diet. That
means you limit what you
take.”
Flavanols are found in other
foods, such as red wine,
grapes, apples and green tea,
althougli cocoa beans .are a
particularly rich source.
Mars Inc. developed the
technology to visualize fla
vanols on a computer screen.
Says Harold Schmitz, the
company's chief science offi
cer: “Now we understand
cocoa well enough to start to
do new things with it."
The company is starting
with CocoaVia granola bars,
made with a special cocoa
powder that retains most of
the flavanols The bars also
have plant sterols, which
have been shown to ^lelp
lower cholesterol.
For now, the 80-calorie, 23-
gram snack bars are sold only
on the Internet. The bars
have a satisfyingly rich choco
late flavor, along with a slight
but distinct bitter taste.
Mars says its Dove dark
chocolates —a 1.3 ounce bar
is 200 calories — also contain
flavanols.
Researchers are excited by
the potential of flavanols to
ward off vascular disease,
which can cause heart
attacks, strokes, diabetes,
dementia and hypertension.
Vascular diseases are linked
to the artery’s inability to
make a simple but funda
mental chemical called nitric
oxide. Flavanols appear to
reverse that problem.
“The pharmaceutical indus
try has spent tens, probably
himdreds of millions of dol
lars in search of a chemical
that would reverse that
abnormality,” HoUenberg
said “And God gave us fla-
vanol-rich cocoa, which does
that. So the excitement is
real.”
On the Net:
Mars Inc.: wwwjnarsjrom
USDA’s Jlavanol database:
www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/food'
comp/Data/Flav/flavJinnl
College freshmen, roommates and strangers
Continued from page 1B
have been friends if we’d met
casually” Gordon said, recall
ing an evening he held a
ti'aslican to keep his room
mate from vomiting on the
rug. “But Uving together defi
nitely set up a different rela
tionship.”
In some ways, the room
mate chaUenge may* be
tougher than it used to be.
Particulai’ly at a diverse
school like Brown, room
mates may come from com
pletely difierent backgrounds.
And experts say that in the
past more students arrived at
coU^e accustomed to sharing
a room with siblings. Tbday
more teens grow up having
their own rooms.
Nonetheless, students and
administrators say that even
roonunates with big differ
ences can usuaUy tolerate
ajid even ei^oy living with
each otlier by foUowing a few
guidelines
• Don’t lie on the housing
sheet. After notifying a coUege
tliat they plan to attend, stu
dents typicaUy receive a form
asking questions like
whether they smoke, stay up
late and like to keep their
room neat. The forms are
intended to head off the most
pi'edictable lifest3de clashes.
But administrators say they
never cease to be amazed by
the number of students who
let their parents fill out the
fonn—or who fill it out with
their parents looking over
their shoulder.
“If you are a messy person,
go ahead and indicate that,”
says Carol Casey associate
dean of student affairs at
Rhodes College in Memphis,
Tfenn. “If you don’t and you
happen to get into a room
with a neat fi^ak, that can
cause immediate conflicts
that could have been avoid
ed.”
As for parents, “they’re bet
ter off having their kids tells
us they smoke even if they
don’t want to deal with it,”
said Aaron Fetrow, dean of
campus life at Guilford
College in North Carolina,
and a veteran of residence-
life positions at several other
schcxjls, including the
University of Tennessee.
• Don’t be disappointed if
your roommate doesn’t
become your best friend.
Often, people who aren’t
great friends make great
roommates. Great fiiends
make bad roommates if per
sonal issues get entangled in
roommate issues.
That’s why many colleges
discourage students fix)m liv
ing with a high school fiiend,
though they may offer the
choice. Fetrow says that dis
courages meeting new peo
ple, and often backfires.
• Communicate, early and
often. ‘Tou don’t have to like
the person you’re living with
as long as you can communi
cate what you need and they
need,” said Allison Lombardo,
another Brown student and
author of the book
“Navigating Your Freshman
Year” in a series called
“Students Helping Students”
(Natavi Guides). “Passive
aggressiveness usually does
n’t help.”
Honesty gets problems
dealt with before they become
serious.
“If somebody was doing
something in the bathroom or
Help wanted:
Preservationist for
S.C. black history
WE ASSOCIAI’EO PRESS
CHARLESTON, S.C. —Hoping to do more to preserve and pro
mote South Carolina’s black history a state agency has set out
to hire a specialist to help identify historical sites, structures
and cultures.
About two dozen people have applied for the job, which was
posted Aug. 5, at the Departm^t of Archives and History The
agency is conducting a regional search.
Ihe state has done little to preserve South Carolina’s black
legacy said agency director Rodger Stroup.
Of tlie state’s 1,000 official markers, about 60 designate black
historical sites, he said.
“We haven’t had anyone with a specialty in that area,” he said.
“There's a need for more detailed information about the history
of Afiican Americans than anybody on our staff has.”
The department has worked for about seven years to get state
legislators to fund money for the position, but budget fOTecast
had been bleak imtil this year, Stroup said.
The hill-time position vriU pay $30,000. Stroup said the heritage
coordinate will help communities imderstand and record their
histories Much of black history has been oral, rather than writ
ten. Prior to the Civil War. it was filial to teach blacks to read
and write in South Carolina, he said.
“As older folks pass away, we need to capture that history now
car it’s lost,” Stroup said.
The coordinator also will woik with the Afiican-American
Heritage Commission, a 15-member group that tries to raise
awareness of the state’s black history Stroup said the coordina
tor will keep that all-volunteer group moving forward.
Wlien he saw the job posting, Michael Allen, an education spe
cialist with the National Paik Service who also has served as
commission chair, said he immediately sent it to his fiiends and
colleagues.
Commiaaion chairwoman Jannie I^arriot said she wanted for
years to have a black heritage expert in Columbia. With the
ccmmissioners serving as volunteers, a full-time worker is
needed to focus on saving a big piece of state history that’s been
overiooked, she said. ,
Clic Cjarlotte ^ost
one of the common areas that
didn’t work well (for the other
suitemates), we had to make
the issue public right off the
bat,” said Emily
Christianson, a recent
University of North Carolina
graduate who says she made
a difficult relationship with
one roommate fi:eshman year
work tolerably well.
“Otherwise it would fester.”
• It’s possible to be too nice.
‘T think a lot of times people
tend to be really overly cour
teous,” Christianson said.
‘You have to be very realistic
with this person. It’s not like
a r^ular fiiend.”
(jordon remembers a period
of artificial civility before
things got bad with his room
mate.
“We were probably too
respectful of one anoth^, not
doing anything without ask
ing each oth^,” he said. “Tley
can I turn on the TV? Can I
turn on the radio? Does this
light bother you?”’ But
beneath the surface, bigger
issues were lurking. Best to
get them out.
When roommates can’t
work out problems them
selves, resident advisers or
residence life deans may try
to help with some kind of con
tract, so that at least both
parties know what the other
expects.
‘Tt usually involves a trade
off I’ll stop burning incmse if
you stop leaving dirty under
wear on the floor,”’ Fetrow
said.
But sometimes it’s just oil
and water. While most schools
discourage the practice, there
are always a few cases that
require a mid-year room
switch.
“There’s a point where it’s
just so different it’s not going
to happ^,” he said.
WOHDOP oon HROArx;ASTlN(^ Nf- fWORK
'y
WAD
O/v,
-AM
Nc
1340
wadesboro, nc
-xHtk ‘ht- “Koknh Cjool,
f'aiU'l ^ktlip 'ZXlWS.
'Jchniffn, '/5t. 'TWt'od. )/u«tA T^Adio.
'Zkmimxl i>»i f4f And much mw/
in And jit IdiAiid!
150! N. l-fiS SERVICE Road • Charlotte, NC 2fl2l6
704-393-1540
Get The Lead Out!
Of the houses in the United States built before
1978, 85% have lead hazard reduction needs.
One in five children in the United Stales is at risk
for lead poisoning. Its effects can irxrlude brain
damage, kidney disease, heart disease, stroke
and death.
LeadSafe Charlotte is leading the way in
protecting children from the dangers of lead.
As part of our commitment of creating safe,
lead-free environments for families, we provide
a wide range of services, including:
• Information and educ:ation on the hazards
of lead exposure
• Free lead inspections at your home
• Free testing of children
• Free dean up, painting, repair and
rehabilitating your home or’rental property.
LeadSafe Charlotte offers all of these services
at no charge to families who qualify.
LeadSafe Charlotte.
Keeping our aiABLOTTE
children lead safe. SSS?
“Recommended daily dosage”
doesn’t mean
“only take what you can afford.”
mt
Find out if you qualify for assistance with your prescription drug bills.
If you are a Medicare beneficiary with an annual income below $14,355 an individual or $19,245 for
a married couple, you may be able to get extra help paying for prescription drugs. Even if your
annual income is higher, you still may be able to get some help with your monthly premiums, annual
deductibles and prescription co-payments. Ifyou have not receivedyourMedicare Prescription Drug
Plan application in the mail or have questions regarding Medicare’s prescription drug benefit, call
Social Security at 1-800-772-1213 or visit wwwsocialsecuritygov.
AARP Nortti Caolina
IftapowarlD
Callus at 1-866-389-5650 or visit our website atwwwaarp.org/nc.