Mainly consisting of chickpeas and tahini hummus/hummous/hommos/humos/hommus/hoummos (depending on how you want to spell it) is delicious. You can spread it on anything or dip anything into it. Best served cold and inconsistently spelled throughout the English language. You can’t go wrong with hummus because of it’s versatility. It can be used as an appetizer and scooped with Pita bread. Hummus can also be quite the companion to falafel. Hummus loves you and  you should love hummus back. In fact, hummus loves you so much that it bestows upon you iron, vitamin C, vitamin B6, and a significant amount of folate. The chickpea base is also a good source of protein and dietary fiber. The tahini consists mostly of sesame seeds which are an excellent source of methionine which compliments the protein of the chickpeas.

While delicious and having your best interests at heart hummus has not been free from the grasps of controversy. In October 2008 the Association of Lebanese Industrialists petitioned to request protection from the European Commission for hummus to be considered uniquely a Lebanese food. The ALI then stated that Israel has a long history of usurping several Lebanese products. Fadi Abboud, the president of ALI, was angered that Israel “stole” Lebanese dishes and had more success at selling them nationally than Lebanon did. These dishes are not limited to the amazingness that is hummus; falafel, tabbouleh, and baba ghanouj are also considered stolen by Abboud. As of late 2009 ALI was still preparing documents and proof to support its claims.

On the brighter side of hummus, Lebanon holds the Guinness World Record for the largest dish of hummus in the world. The dish was prepared by 300 cooks and weighed 23,000 pounds.

The one down side to making your own hummus is that you need to peel all of the skins off of the chickpeas or when you puree them you might experience left over skin in your hummus and no one wants that.

-Brady

Finals are just around the corner and they are the one thing that separates your from your summer. This is no time to slack on studying though. Finals are super important and most likely you need to take it to pass the class. So if you want to do well you’re going to need a few things to get ready to not only take them but also do well.When I say that you will need a few things I mean that you will need them to create the ultimate study tool to ensure that you pass your finals.

Thing 1: Inspirational Music

When you think of inspirational songs you instantly think 80’s. If you don’t then you missed out on a generation of movies that had some of the best training montages in the existence of everything. Everyone knows that if you want to go from just a beginner to a pro, you need a montage. Even Rocky had a montage. A montage is also the most effective way to show a lot of things happening at once to remind everyone it would take too long. It is kind of like having Hermione’s Time-Turner but leagues better. Some of the most inspirational songs I know of are

1) Danger Zone by Kenny Loggins
2) Eye of the Tiger by Survivor
3) The Final Countdown by Europe
4) You’re the Best by Joe “Bean” Esposito
5) Gonna Fly Now by Bill Conti

All of those songs are amazing and get you pumped up just listening to them. Don’t believe me? Think about this. If it wasn’t for the song You’re the Best by Joe Esposito, Ralph Macchio would have not made it past the second round of the All Valley Karate Tournament and would have continued to get bullied by Billy Zabka. Thanks to Joe, Ralph was able to kick butt and take names in one of the best movie montages of all time. It took Rocky one training montage per movie in order to win his fight. Think of what a montage could do to help you pass your finals.

Thing 2: Knowing how to make a montage

If you lack the video editing or access to a camera that really hinders your ability to make the montage. You can read more about finding a camera or gaining access to video editing knowledge through utilization of the internet or a friend for the camera.

If you don’t have a montage for you studying there is only one way I can think of that can describe your situation

SPRING CARNY IS HERE AT IT AGAIN, COME AND ENJOY!!

April 26th

• Longboard!!!! Longboarding is honestly one of the funnest things I have ever done. I used to skate board a lot until I destroyed my ankle so I switched to longboarding and I’ll never go back. Even if you’ve never longboarded before, it’s so easy to pick up. Go try somebodys board out and see if you like it. Then go ahead and buy one if you do, you’ll thank me later.

• Be a stoop kid. Honestly, I hungout on my friends apartment stoop all day yesterday and I loved it. Whether your hanging out on the stoop of Fox hall or the stoop of your best friend’s apartment, to each their own. Just soaking up the sun and relaxing is the greatest feeling ever. Just relaxing and being stress free is perfect. Listen to the radio and mellow out. I did that all day yesterday and it was the perfect day. 

• Hangout with that special someone. Nothings better than a little spring fling. 

• Sit in the sun and read a good book. A little bit of alone time is good too. 

Sitting all day at a desk job can be devastating to your health. In fact, it can shave years off your life. Studies show that a sedentary lifestyle causes cardiovascular disease, diabetes, obesity, depression and more.

Researchers say that while working out at the gym during leisure time helps, it’s not enough. The key is to get moving – standing and walking – throughout long days at the office to keep circulation flowing and health ailments at bay. But can office workers be productive and safe while picking up the pace? 
That’s where Assoc. Prof. Manuel Cifuentes of the Work Environment Department comes in. He is testing the use of treadmills and sit-to-stand electric desks with five University employees. The volunteers began integrating movement into their daily work lives in August. Once they adapted to their new workspaces, there was no turning back. 
“We’re really talking about interrupting long periods of sitting to get the body moving throughout the day,” says Cifuentes who received funding for the project from the Center for Promotion of Health in the New England Workplace’s (CPH-NEW) Pilot Grant Program. “The treadmills and stand-up desks are promising solutions to help people stay healthy but are in need of some improvements.” 
After installing the treadmills and desks in the offices of five employees, Cifuentes and his research team conducted focus groups and found that most of the volunteers are using the standing desks but not the treadmills. 
One of the participants, Director of Human Resources and Payroll Operations Hilary Clark, is happy with her workspace now but she didn’t feel that way at first. “In the beginning, I had the treadmill facing the corner but it was awkward and I hardly ever used it,” she says. “Then one day, I rearranged it so that my standing desk and treadmill faced forward with a small table and chairs in front for visitors.” 
The set up is just one of the challenges; another is productivity. Learning what tasks you can and can’t do while walking or standing is critical to success. 
“I’m finding that I can be productive on the treadmill while reading emails and talking on the phone,” says Clark. “I find it more difficult concentrating on a spreadsheet, entering information in a database and using a calculator while walking. It really is about finding what works best for you and adjusting.” 
The adjustment from sitting all day to walking and standing is a process. It took users about two weeks to adjust physically. Some participants reported discomfort in their feet and knees but then the pain disappeared. In the beginning of the trial, Clark would stand for an hour or two on one day and then sit for three days straight. The key for her was rearranging her space and wearing the right shoes. Today, she stands all day and wouldn’t have it any other way. 
“I feel so much better not being stuck in a chair,” she says. “My mind seems to work faster and I process information better.” “All participants are now standing all day long,” says Cifuentes. “It might not seem like much but when you stand, you are moving without realizing it.” 
Don’t Take Away That Treadmill Just Yet 
Use of the treadmill is not as popular as standing. Clark likes standing better than walking because she is more productive. But don’t take away that treadmill just yet. 
“Even though the six-month study is over, I signed up for the next phase for three years,” she says. “I don’t think I could go back to sitting all day long. I’m determined to use the treadmill more and have some ideas on how to improve the design. I’d like a smaller treadmill and one that just turns on when you start walking without a button.” 
This is exactly this type of feedback that the product manufacturers are finding valuable. 
Cifuentes says: “There are some design changes that need to be made to make the treadmill safer for employees and integrate more seamlessly into work spaces. We never want to shift hazards so making sure that employees are safely adopting this technology is one of our primary goals of the research.” 
That means working with manufacturers who make the equipment to improve the designs. Cifuentes recently presented the study results to insurance companies, furniture and treadmill manufacturers and educational institutions at a conference hosted by Jaymil Ergo & Office Solutions.
“Today, the ‘gym’ treadmill is not ready for mass consumption in offices,” says Cifuentes. “But with some design changes such as shortening the treadmill, limiting the miles per hour and automatic turn on, the potential for use and improving health is tremendous. In the meantime, organizations could provide employees with a shared area with treadmills where workers could sign up to walk.” 
About the Center for Promotion of Health in the New England Workplace Pilot Grant Program 
CPH-NEW Pilot Grant Program supports small grants of up to $12,000 per year to conduct preliminary studies or demonstration projects. Projects must relate to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health’s “Total Worker Health program” – the integration of occupational safety and health with workplace health promotion to prevent injury or illness and to advance health and well-being of workers. To request information, send an email to CPHNEW@uml.edu to receive the announcement for the 2013 Pilot Grant Program.

<  3 GISELLE

For every painfully long and almost unendurable episode of The Walking Dead there are a number of things that are simply overlooked about the character flaws of zombies. There is a reason that almost every zombie movie starts in an apocalyptic setting because if you were to start from the beginning you would realize that zombies are fairly weak and not menacing at all. Just role play with me for a minute. You’re in your room and you hear a scream in the hallway, you go open your door to see what is going on and OH MY GOD THERE’S A ZOMBIE. You panic and quickly go back into your room and lock the door. Now rule seventeen says not to be a hero but think of all of the items you can use in your room to either impale or bash in that zombies skull. There is quite a few. Now think about the entire country where people have more refined weapons than a pair of scissors to use to re-dead that horrifying zombie. There are a number of other things that would just go horribly wrong with a zombie outbreak.

So it is that time of the semester again. Yes THAT time of the semester again but no not THAT time of the semester. We still have the month of April for classes and May for finals. What I am talking about is advising.

So friends, as finals approach and you’re doing all that late night studying, you are bound to get distracted and wander into the weird places of the internet.
The dark depths of various forums and message boards are where scary stories known as “creepypastas” are born. The name is derived from another internet phenomenon known as “copypasta,” which are basically ridiculous posts that get copied and pasted over and over and over. But these are better. These are CREEPY.
My first encounter with creepypasta was on a dark and stormy night in Eames Hall my freshman year. I was studying late into the evening, and after hours and hours of diligent work I decided to reward myself with a short internet break. Somehow I wandered into the badlands of the internet, but feeling brave, I continued on.

Much like Simba’s wanderings into the elephant graveyard, this was a bad idea. The first creepypasta story I came across is a classic one titled, “Gateway of the Mind.” The gist of the supposedly true tale recounts a team of scientists in 1983 conducting a radical experiment where they surgically sever all connections to the subject’s five senses and observe him over time. If you’re interested in reading the whole thing, it can be found here. It’s a little unsettling, but not as bad as some other pastas I’ve read since.
Perhaps the most well known is our tall, dapper friend Slender Man.

Slender Man

Origins: In June 2009, a contest was launched on the Something Awful forums to edit photos to include supernatural things. User Victor Surge posted two black and white photos of children in playgrounds with a tall figure in the background wearing a black suit. He also included text with the photos, describing the figure as “The Slender Man” and dating the photos as taken the day before fourteen children vanished. These descriptions added to the story of Slender Man and helped him go viral.

One of the original Slender Man photos.

Development: Slender Man quickly grew into a viral sensation; fans making more photos, drawings, stories [creepypastas], as well as videos and even games. The first video series involving our dapper faceless man is known as Marble Hornets. It also originated on the Something Awful forums, by user ce gars. The story tells of his friend Alex Kralie, a film school student working on a project called Marble Hornets. After stumbling across something unsettling, Alex abandons the project, dumps all his footage with Jay, and disappears. Jay then begins sifting through the footage and embarks on a creepy journey, all the while documenting his findings on his YouTube channel and Twitter. Apparently Marble Hornets is being turned into a feature length film, produced by Mosaic.



So friends, if you would like to scare yourself into not sleeping so you can stay up and study, I’d recommend watching the Marble Hornets series, browsing the Creepypasta wiki, or perhaps seeing the Evil Dead, the trailer of which Brady just showed me. I will not be sleeping tonight, or ever, and I may be crying right now.

Happy spring everyone!!

-Trudy