| Eating Well, Harvard-Style
These days, it's a piece of (low-calorie) cake to find sugar-free, fat-free, or even carb-free foods. Politic-free foods, on the other hand, are not so easy to come by. If you're worried about how food industry lobbyists have corrupted the government's dietary guidelines, fret no more: Harvard has created its own food pyramid! In 2005, the USDA replaced its 1992 food pyramid with a new version, which Walter C. Willett, Frederick John Stare Professor of Epidemiology and Nutrition, dubbed “a complete joke." The pyramid's recommendations (heavy on dairy, meat, and grains) are rife with political undertones, according to Jami M. Snyder, Communications Coordinator of Harvard University Dining Services (HUDS). “It's very convenient for the industry," Willett said. “Everyone's in the game." So Willett created his own food pyramid, displayed in Harvard's dining halls and his book “Eat, Drink, and Be Healthy." Willett's design distinguishes between good and bad fats and carbohydrates, less dairy than the government's dietary guidelines, and “sparing" servings of red meat and white bread.
Protests Spur Stores to Seek Substitute for Vinyl in Toys
After recalling millions of toys to protect consumers from lead paint, toy makers face growing pressure over another material, a plastic found in myriad playthings, from balls to dolls. The Toy Industry Association, the manufacturers' trade group, says polyvinyl chloride, or PVC, in toys poses no safety risks. Still, retail giants Wal-Mart Stores Inc., Target Corp. and Sears Holdings Corp. have started programs to get rid of some of the toys and other products that contain PVC, bowing to pressure from environmental activists concerned that children who chew on PVC could ingest dangerous chemicals. Some of these chemicals have been banned in the European Union and will also be illegal in California under a law effective next year. .
Glare of Clemens case reflects on Yankees
He was the greatest pitcher of his time, and a mainstay of the team that dominated what now is called baseball's steroid era. In five seasons starting when he was 36 years old - an age when most players are washed up or retired - he won 77 games for the New York Yankees, pitched them into two World Series, and won an unprecedented sixth Cy Young Award as best pitcher in the American League. But now, under oath and before a panel of skeptical lawmakers, superstar Roger Clemens, 45, must put his own reputation - and that of the Yankees as well - under scrutiny. Labeled a drug cheat by former Sen. George Mitchell's report on steroids in baseball and served with a congressional subpoena, Clemens is slated to testify Wednesday in Washington before the House Oversight Committee's hearing on steroid use in baseball.
McCrory addresses roads forum
Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory, who is running for the Republican gubernatorial nomination, said Monday the state should integrate land-use planning when mapping out its long-term transportation needs. McCrory helped lead Charlotte's push this decade for integrating land-use and public transportation, and said some of those lessons can apply statewide. When the N.C. Department of Transportation widens a rural road, McCrory said it could restrict the number of ways traffic can enter and exit the road. That would cluster business like gas stations and retail at specific interchanges, and would keep traffic moving, he said. McCrory also said the state, when buying land for new roads or to widen existing ones, should acquire enough land for park-and-ride lots and sidewalks.
Networking: Opinions
A computer lab is notoriously power hungry, with servers running at 100 percent utilization for days on end, generating traffic or running test harnesses. There are certain areas where I can make some reductions, however, such as collapsing a half-dozen less-utilized boxes onto a single VMware ESX server. There are some other ways, too. .
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