A new study conducted by researchers at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign in conjunction with the University of California, Davis, has uncovered a difference in the way that the eating habits of men and women are impacted by body image.

When shown images of "ideal-bodied people" of their own gender, young men and women often changed their eating habits depending on how they perceived their own body in relation to the image shown. If they were insecure about their bodies, some women would eat less after seeing the image, while some men would eat more. The food used in the study was pretzels, which the participants were given free access to during another activity.

The body images that the women saw were taken from magazines like Cosmo, Vogue, Shape and Elle. The men's images came from fitness magazines, including Men's Health, Men's Fitness and Muscle & Fitness. The participants were all of average build.

The question that remains is what effect viewing these images has in the long run and whether it contributes to the development of eating disorders.

Application season is winding down (or gearing up if you're the procrastinating type), but for vegetarians and vegans still in high school, it might be interesting to take note of PETA's list of the most veg-friendly schools for 2006. The list of schools was generated by and voted on by visitors to PETA's website, most likely students from the various schools who wanted to promote the things that their campuses are doing to diversity their offerings. The only real drawback to the list is that it doesn't take into account the ease of being a vegetarian off-campus. If it did, odds are that Berkeley would top the list with its tremendous amount of vegetarian and vegan fare just seconds from campus and Indiana University, located in a state where the only vegetarian food at some restaurants is a wedge salad sans bacon and dressing, would be further down the rankings. As it stands, here are the most veg-friendly campuses in the US and Canada:

The rivalry between UC Berkeley and Stanford has been taken to a new arena: the kitchen. The Big Cookoff was held over the weekend in Cal's Pauley Ballroom, which was made over into an approximation of the Iron Chef's Kitchen Stadium, where fresh vegetables and other ingredients lined the walls. The two 5-student teams were allowed to bring in outside specialty ingredients, as well.

The secret ingredient - fresh tomatoes - was revealed 30 minutes before the official time began and the teams had to complete three dishes in 35 minutes, although they both made more. Cal's Cooking Club came up with a trio of soups: Gazpacho, Spicy yellow tomato and ginger, Roasted tomato, chipotle, and pancetta; panko and chili crusted chicken breast with three salsas; pizza on puff pastry with prosciutto, fresh mozzarella, tomato topped with mixed green salad and a sundried tomato vingairette; and a tomato, pineapple, mango, and lime wonton-ravioli drizzled with chocolate sauce and served with a spicy tomato sorbet. Stanford made panzanella salad with an aged balsamic vinegar reduction dressing, two tomato soups, and a tofu, goat cheese, crab and tomato custard as the main dish.

Taking a cue from the Axe that is up for grabs in the Big Game, the two teams competed for "the cleaver." The new trophy will be passed back and forth (if Stanford actually manages to beat Cal at some point) as long as the battle of culinary skill rages.

Go Bears!

Cornell University's new president was honored with his very own ice cream flavor from the Cornell Dairy as part of a tradition that the campus-run dairy started several years ago. The new flavor is called Banana-Berry Skorton, a blend of chocolate ice cream with banana and raspberry swirls. The previous presient's flavor was known as Inauguration Swirl, and featured a mocha swirl in chocolate ice cream.

One would assume that they are taking into account the flavors that the presidents like - after all, a vanilla ice cream fan wouldn't want a chocolate ice cream. If you could choose to have an ice cream named after you, what flavor would you want it to be? Mint chocolate chip? Cannoli? Cookie dough?

Nyström thought it would have been more difficult to find people willing to participate, but the students were more than eager. More men than women applied and the chosen were the most highly motivated, who were likely to stick to the 6,000 calories-a-day diet. All their food throughout the study would be paid for and they were provided with bus passes so they would not have to walk any more than necessary. The only control on the study was that the Swedish ethics board said the participants must be removed from the study if they increased their bodyweight by more than 15%.

• Low fat yogurt is a great food to keep in the mini fridge. Yogurts come in so many flavors that you're unlikely to get bored with them, and they can be mixed with fresh fruits or even some granola for a change of pace. Yogurts also frequently go on sale, so stock up by buying at those times.
• Trail mix, GORP or any other combination of nuts and dried fruits is a good snack to have around. The nuts are healthy and filling, while the fruits add a sweetness. A handful or two should put a stop to any candy-bar cravings you might have.

While some may have gained some weight during their first year at college, new studies are showing that the phenomenon known as the "freshman 15" doesn't have much more than word-of-mouth behind it. The term first appeared in the mid 1980s in the Chicago Tribune, where the fact that it was a large enough number to inspire worry, but not so large that it seemed unbelievable, kept it going. So will students entering college really gain 15-pounds in their first year? A study from Rutgers that was published last month showed that 25% of students (Rutgers students) lost weight during their first year, while 75% gained an average of 7 pounds. "Nobody gained 15 pounds," said the professor behind the study.

Of course, some students will go overboard and binge on pizza and vending machine snacks without any supervision but their own, but many students will not. College eating halls are offering healthier options all the time, so students are more likely to see organic, vegetarian and vegan options, along with lean meats and plenty of healthy veggies, rather than just greasy, fried fare.

Perhaps the "freshman 15" is really just a reminder to try to keep kids on a healthier track and, if so, perhaps the fact that most students aren't seeing that kind of weight gain is reason enough to keep it going.

Thanks to Sarah, we now know which universities the Princeton Review thinks have the best on-campus food, but most college students will be happy to tell you that off-campus food is almost always better. With schools starting up right and left, students need to be prepared to find those places because greasy pizzas and pb&j gets boring pretty quickly. CampusFood.com is a website that allows users to search for lists of off-campus eateries and order their food online from the menus published on the site. Their ever-growing database includes independent restaurants and chains. Delivery is up to the individual restaurant (some only allow pick-up orders), but not only is this a boon to college students who want to really streamline their days, it is good for small restaurants whose primary business comes from college student, making them more accessible to their tech-savvy (and hungry) customer base.

By the way, the services offered by the website are not limited to college students - anyone can order food online as long as they are near enough for either delivery or pickup.

I hate to be the one to break this to lifestyle reporters everywhere, but whining about the names of the drinks and the options at Starbucks is old. Very old. We've been there, we know what the names are and we have a great deal of pity that you find the option to have non-fat, low-fat or whole milk in your coffee to be "dizzying." They have medications to treat that sort of thing, you know.

If you want to cover something interesting, why don't you take a look at what cultural and social anthropologists (or historians masquerading as such) are studying when they visit Starbucks. Bryant Simon, a professor at Temple University, observes the patrons who visit Starbucks instead of the coffee shop's menu. He has done research at hundreds of Starbucks in six countries, looking at behaviors of the modern coffee consumer and learning about "cafe culture" in an age of globalization. He believes that Starbucks help fill "some kind of deep desire for connection with other people" without actually having to interact with them. The coffee shops, Simon says, are "selling comfort," letting people be anonymous together in an atmosphere that doesn't vary much from place to place; predictability is actually a somewhat rare virtue in a rapidly moving and changing world. And the effect spreads beyond America's borders, as patrons in other countries often exhibit similar behaviors and look for the same comforting things.

His paper, his "opus," will be titled Consuming Starbucks and will reach publication in 2008.

[Photo by Sarah Gilbert]

The University of California, Berkeley just became the first US college to offer students food from an organic certified kitchen. The kitchen at the relatively new Crossroads dining commons was approved by the California Certified Organic Farmers, a trade organization that issues certificates to state and local restaurants and businesses based on their compliance of the USDA National Organic Program.

While some other universities do offer their students organic options, the certification of the Berkeley kitchen, which is separate from the other kitchens in the dining hall, means that every item served in their new organic salad bar is produced via environmentally sound farming practices. The certification process took about one year and the produce offered costs roughly 10 to 15% more than traditional produce. Some students reported that the food tasted the same as conventionally grown, while others thought it tasted better; the majority of the students who were aware that the certification had taken place were happy to see the change. Berkeley plans to offer more organic options in the future.