Kaylyn Shibata

Say hello to the uncooked, the unprocessed, the unadulterated, the newest trend in healthy eating: the raw food diet. Advocating that raw or living foods have natural enzymes, which are critical in building proteins and rebuilding the body, raw foodistas only consume food cooked under 104 degrees Fahrenheit. Heat has the potential to kill digestive enzymes available in the food you consume, and changes the pH of food, thus making it more acidic.

This cooking method has proven to preserve the vitamins that heat kills, therefore giving you more energy and an improvement in general overall health. New trendy gourmet raw food restaurants, such as Pure Food and Wine and Quintessence, which have both made the Time Out Magazine Top 50 Best Restaurants into NY, have been popping up and delivering rare and exotic dinning experiences.

First established in Switzerland by a medical doctor experimenting with dietary health treatment, it has become a popular trend in pop culture through proponents such as Demi Moore and Woody Harrelson. Not only has it been seen as a weight loss method, but participants have also attributed an increased mental clarity, regularity and a greater connection with the earth due to this new dietary practice.

Spotted: The Handlebar, the Pencil, the Stalin, the Dali, and on a couple of bold risk takers, the Fu Manchu. I always thought Movember (Mustache November) was an excuse for guys to flaunt their manhood. I was right. The campaign was originally established to raise awareness for men’s health, specifically prostate cancer. Come November, men all around the world arm themselves with personal trimmers and combs for a month of strategic facial hair growth. But over the years, the message has gotten lost through the hairs, and the emphasis has grown heavy on the actual mustache. In the Ratty the other day, I heard two guys in deep deliberation about whether or not to pursue a Ron Burgundy or an Adolf Hitler — you know you’ve made it big if they name a mustache after you.

Superstitious or not, there are certain myths people are not willing to challenge at Brown. I mean, why would you when the risks are so great? Others have become traditions so ingrained in students’ minds that we almost forget they might not have a place in the real world.

The Abstinence Walk
No, I am not talking about that walk that you proudly took last weekend at 11 pm when you followed through with your vow that it wasn’t going to be that kind of night. I’m talking about the walk that avoids pregnancy, and it involves a quick step and a hop. A common superstition here is that men who step on the Pembroke Seal will not graduate (similar to walking through the Van Wickle Gates twice) while women who step on this seal will get pregnant. This discrepancy in “punishment” corresponds with Brown’s more sexist environment when the Pembroke Woman’s college first merged with the rest of the university in 1971. Though most students are only knowledgeable of this superstition if they remember it from their tour upon visiting Brown, you will still find students dangerously leaping over the Seal on the iciest of days. And every now and then, there will be that sharp intake of breath as an upperclassman cringes towards that ignorant freshman all caught up in midterm study flash cards, who fails to notice his or her foolish treading on a crest that may— a step that may not determine their fate here at Brown...

For those of you who are not aware, Halloween is next Monday. I believe it is my job this year to be the informative voice on this upcoming event. You will not believe the number of people who forget this momentous holiday each year. Despite the sudden depletion of all food products with a sugar content above 60% and an invasion of motion censored cackling witches, people are still surprised to hear that Halloween is only a couple days away. The most common excuse I’ve heard is, “But I thought it fell on a Sunday every year!” Ah yes, what are we if not the generation that associates the supernatural and the gluttony of high fructose corn syrup with even a religious holiday like Easter. Some people may think their neighbors are ritually cooking gourds on their front porch, or the white cobwebs lacing the fences and bushes are just a casual pass-by from Spider Man. If this is you, please do not read any further; I completely embrace this alternate reality in which you so happily dwell. More appalling than the people who fail to remember Halloween are those who violate the holiday with the simple white bed sheet, claiming that they are “ghosts.” 
 
Slap some sexy on that.