By Stephanie Woodrow
Gabrielle Carteris, former star of “Beverly Hills 90210,” addressed University students on the dangers of eating disorders.
Carteris was this week’s First-Year FOCUS speaker in place of Tracey Gold who could not attend the event for “personal reasons.”
The presentation began with Carteris having students draw what they thought their bodies looked like and she then traced their bodies on the same piece of paper.
Carteris said this exercise was originally done with 9-year-olds to show the way people perceive theirselves begins from a very young age. She said that, on average, people draw themselves four to five inches bigger than they actually are. Almost everyone on stage lived up to this average.
Carteris, who struggled with permarexia, the state of always being on a diet, said she began dieting because she associated beauty with thinness and felt the pressure of being beautiful from her mother.
“Statistics say 86 percent of people with eating disorders are under 20 and 10 percent of people with eating disorders are men,” Carteris said. “But I assert that it’s more because those numbers are just based on anorexia and bulimia and with guys there’s a lot of shame connected to it.”
Carteris showed covers of 10 popular magazines and every one of them had something about dieting on it. She impressed upon us how much time and money are spent on airbrushing.
“Guys, don’t you agree, you’re looking for real women, not Jennifer [Aniston] and we’re not looking to date Brad Pitt, we want normal guy,” she said. “I love my husband and he’s no Brad and he loves me and I’m no Jennifer,” she said.
She concluded the program with reminding everyone to celebrate their bodies.
After the success of last year’s Freshman FOCUS program, the Dean of Students Office is sponsoring this semester’s First-Year FOCUS program. The First-Year Program is five weeks long and hosts speakers who talk on a variety of issues.
The first program was titled “Character: The Ultimate Survivor Tool” and featured Ethan Zohn, the winner of “Survivor Africa.” His spoke about his experience on the show and the importance of character and how it affects an individual’s decisions.
“Better Grades in Less Time” was last week’s program, which focused on study skills, including strategies and techniques.
“We designed the program with new students in mind. We know they’re going to betting the academic information they need and we want to also make sure they get the social balance,” Lynda O’Malley, the associate dean of students, said. “But all of our programs are open to everyone. There were many upperclassmen at the study skills program.”
Last night’s program featured Gabrielle Carteris in “Dying to Be Thin.” Carteris who was one of the stars of “Beverly Hills 90210” spoke about her battle with permarexia, a widely unknown and misunderstood disorder.
“Beer Booze, and Bong” will take place on Oct. 6 at 6 p.m. in the Student Center Theater. Jim Matthews will host this program and will speak about the realities of marijuana. This program will also focus on the media’s view on marijuana.
This year’s final program is titled “Journey to a Hate-Free Millennium.” Brent Scarpo, the keynote speaker, will concentrate on diversity and how discrimination has affected the lives of so many, in addition to focusing on national headlines, such as Columbine and Mathew Shephard.
“We decide on programs by first selecting topics we want to focus on, then we work with agencies who recommend speakers. There are also many people who go to conferences and recommend speakers from them,” O’Malley said.
Last year’s Freshman FOCUS programs drew between 50 and 300 students per program. This year’s programs have already been more successful, with approximately 300 students at the first program and 100 at the second.
This year, a $50 gift certificate to the University bookstore is raffled off weekly.
and at the last program a digital camera will be raffled off.
“We encourage students to become involved with other programs during the spring semester, such as Drug and Alcohol Awareness Month and Women’s Awareness Month,” O’Malley said.
The Office of Residential Life also aids the FOCUS program. Resident Assistants are required to provide their residents with educational programs throughout the year. While they do not need to plan the program, O’Malley said that RAs can simply bring their residents to the FOCUS programs.
“We really encourage students to come out to the next few programs,” O’Malley said.
Carteris shows students the misconception of their body image. (Stephanie Woodrow)