by Thomas O’Harra When I got to the Truckee area last week, there was little to no snow, anywhere. The temperature was in the 50s, and there was green grass growing in places. Coming from Switzerland—where it snowed almost three feet in one 24 hour period—it was definitely a shock. The family that I was staying with told me that they had raked their yard the previous week—not a typical February activity to say the least! The first day or so, I spread out, cleaned all my clothes, and relaxed a little bit. I explored the woods behind their house on short runs. The forest here is very different from…

by Brittney Alston Our elevator pulled to a stop at the third floor and my sister and I, two giggling girls of eight and eleven, stumble out and excitedly greet our cousin. He is a ten year old boy, grinning from ear to ear, and we hug shyly. The fatigue from the fourteen hour plane ride suddenly wears away in all the commotion of hugs, laughter, and excited greetings. Our mother begins chatting noisily with her two sisters, and our uncles, with their familiar tall, lanky figures, pick up our suitcases for us and wink knowingly. A flicker of white paper attached to the luggage catches my eye as my…

by Brooke Hartman The aroma of day-old fish nuggets and burned Tater Tots wafted from the lunch line. I sucked in a breath, trying to forget that tomorrow I would be watching reruns of SG-1 while every other guy in the universe (well, every other guy in my school, which was my universe) would be going to the Homecoming Game and the Homecoming Dance and making out with Homecoming Cheerleaders. But this was my senior year. Time I got some action. The kind of action Kirk got from Uhura. The kind of action Gaius got from Number 6. The kind of action Billy the Poet got from scores of Junoesque…

by Thomas O’Harra Going into this last weekend’s races, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. I had never raced that much in three days before, and so it was really a big adventure, and definitely a new experience. The races this weekend, which were in Campra, Switzerland, were all part of a mini-tour, as I mentioned in my previous installment. The opening race, a skate sprint, was actually a pretty good race! I qualified 10th and advanced out of my quarterfinal in 2nd. In the semifinal, I missed getting into the draft of the leading skiers on the big downhill of the course and then couldn’t quite catch back…

by Thomas O’Harra After the races last weekend in the Czech Republic, we packed everything up and drove ten hours through five different countries to end in Campra, Switzerland. After the smog of Kazakhstan and the general gloom of Czech, Switzerland is a veritable paradise. I did not have great races at Nove Mesto for a couple of reasons. I think that the gloominess of the place that we were staying at coupled with sitting around all the time and not getting enough to eat led to me having very low energy levels going into the races. Subsequently, I didn’t perform very well, certainly not as well as I had…

by Evan Nasse Most people, in general, do not often measure themselves in terms of success. I have found that often times those that I know and those around me measure themselves in terms relative to the success of others, particularly their closest peers and those whom are already successful in fields they strive for or admire. When I finally began realizing my talent with words and writing, I constantly found myself researching the backgrounds of published authors and produced screenwriters, a habit I still occasionally find myself doing as I get lost in a wikipedean spiral of fascination and selfdoubt. This is entirely the wrong approach, and I will…

by Gus Barber To live is a verb. It is an action, a movement, something that happens. Yet it seems that there are not many people actively living. This is a strange concept, as we all breathe and continue to exist, but I mean living in a sense that many people do not seem to embrace. Our collective society has moved into a mindset that is constantly preoccupied with what has happened or is going to happen. We must go to school to get a job to support our families–this is the central dogma of suburbia. And in our free time between when we work to get somewhere, we are…

by Brock Fitzgerald Bill Nye the Science Guy once said, “The flying disc is a wonderful thing.” Although mostly known for his bowties and children’s science series, Nye was also heavily involved as an Ultimate Frisbee player in the 1970s. Not only did he play on Cornell’s competitive team during his years there, he would then go on to be a founder and captain of the Seattle Olympic Windjammers, the very first men’s team in Seattle. What is it about this game that interests so many? Perhaps it is the honor of the game in its unassuming nature, or possibly the way the game is organized. No matter what is…

by Ashley R. Escarate Gut flora is the ecosystem made up of friendly bacteria inside your tummy. These bacteria are essential to overall wellbeing (and weight loss) and everyone has them although some people may have more or less than others.  Gut Flora will help with a stronger immune system, fighting food allergies, fighting disease, helping digestion, extracting nutrients…. the list goes on. Basically you really really need to keep your gut flora healthy because a happy gut is a happy body. Gut flora can and should be nurtured because by ingesting certain things, you can kill it (ie. Antibiotics, foods with strange chemicals in them, laxatives, heavy metals which can be found in food,…