New West Campus welcomes
Triple O’s: O yes or O no?

Can students’ arteries handle these delectable but uber-

fattening fast foods?

By Siavash Emamzadeh

he main cafeteria at Douglas
College’s New Westminster campus

has been closed for renovations
and will reopen in early September. The
new cafeteria will offer Tim Horton's
and White Spot Triple O’s menu choices.
Considering all the connotations, adding
Triple O’s seems like a mixed blessing.

Yes, it’s true that hamburgers, fries
and chicken strips are universally popular
with college students; and who can deny
that Triple O’s offers some of the most
delicious, if not the most delicious, food.
I immediately became a fan after trying
their burger and Caesar salad at Science
World. Believe me, I don’t always offer
praise for salad, but the one at Science
World had me going for more and more
servings. And compared to most fast
food chains, the quality of their meat is
excellent.

But unfortunately, that’s where the
praise ends; for you see, the burgers from
Triple O’s are incredibly crammed with
fat. Big time.

Have you ever heard of the rare
McDonald’s Double Big Mac? It’s a Big
Mac with two extra patties and an extra
slice of cheese. Yeah, well most Triple O’s
burgers have more fat than the Double Big
Mac. Don’t believe me? Well, let’s take a
look at the hard facts.

The facts reveal that six Triple O’s
burgers have more total grams of fat—and
with one exception—more calories than

 

the Double Big Mac, which by the way,
has 40 grams of fat and 700 calories. Only
the super-sized Triple O’s burgers should
contain grams of fat in the neighbourhood
of the Double Big Mac. But clearly, these
six clumsy burgers, one of which is a
“Kid’s Burger,” do not all have the prefix
“double.”

Now, being a student myself,
I’m familiar with the dietary habits of
collegians. Chances are, if we are passing
by a fast food restaurant on the way home
from campus or vice versa, we’re going to
eat there. It’s the student lifestyle; there’s
a lack of time to devote to other things
than studying and a lack of money. So
naturally, we head to a place where we
can throw down some good tasting, cheap
food down our gullet and be done with
it. But now, we can even save more time
by eating food while we are studying, at
college.

Ultimately though, I do think that the
New West cafeteria’s inclusion of Triple
O’s is not without its advantages, as long
as students devour the food in moderation
and engage in regular physical activity.
To take it further, I don’t think there’s that
much cause for concern because if the
soaring prices of fast food menu choices
are any indication, students will refrain
from wild bouts of binging.

Fuming? Nodding? Sound off and let
us hear about it. Email your comments
about this or any other story to opinions@

 

Bivaro

 

Kidnapped Canadians deserve our help
Canadians should push for the rescue of

Amanda Lindhout

 

anda Lindhout

By Caitlyn Therrien

“Tam Canadian” is a phrase that Canadians
say with pride; people come from all over
the world to be a part of this country which
is apparently so free. Our government is
looked upon as a government who cares for
their people, and the citizens are known as
people who will fight and protest for each
other.

On August 28" 2008, Amanda
Lindhout, a Canadian journalist, was
kidnapped in Somalia; ten months later, on
June 10" 2009, CTV received a call from
the journalist begging for support from her
government and people. As she spoke her
voice quivered, she sent out her love for her
parents and acknowledged that without the
ransom being paid she would surely die.

Our government will not do anything to
help Amanda because they are not required
to help Canadians who are overseas. As
a journalist covering a war zone Amanda
knew the risk that she was taking but that
did not stop her from risking her life to keep

Canadians informed of the troubles overseas.

As Westerners we take so many things
for granted which may cause us to forget
about the sufferings around the world.
Historically, it has been the job of journalists
to inform us and to make us realize just how
lucky we are as Canadians.

I understand that we cannot fund
terrorism by paying the ransom and that
if we did, it would only lead to more
kidnappings; however, my question is this:
why has she not been tracked, found and
rescued? Why is it that the government has

not let us in on what, if anything, they are
doing for Amanda? It is not as though we

cannot come together to show support for
Amanda, it is not as though we cannot put
pressure on the government to help her.

People came together when there was
a dead stump that needed saving. $150,000
was spent on saving a hollow dead stump in
Stanley Park. People volunteered to put in
metal rods to keep it up so why can we not
volunteer and put in the effort save a life?
How is a life less important than a dead tree?

I am Canadian, and for the first time in
my life I am ashamed. Ashamed that we are
not coming together to save a life. Ashamed
that our government is doing nothing for a
woman whose plea was clear. Ashamed that
we will save a stump before we will save a
life.

I can only hope that my neighbours,
the citizens of Canada, will help to do the
right thing by coming together to save her.
Amanda is not only a journalist, but she is
someone’s daughter and someone’s friend.
And it is not only Amanda who needs help;
we need to urge our government to support
any Canadian citizen in this kind of dire
need overseas.

If our government isn’t moral enough
to do that on humanitarian grounds, then
we should fight to make it policy. When we
come together and fight for what’s right I
feel pride in my people, and in my nation.

Fuming? Nodding? Sound off and let

us hear about it. Email your comments
about this or any other story to opinions@
theotherpress.ca