Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, August 22, 1995 TAG: 9508230004
SECTION: WELCOME STUDENTS PAGE: WS-4 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: HAL SHEIKERZ STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
You've all heard about it. Some of you have experienced it.
When I was a freshman, my roommate and I wondered how it was possible to gain those dreaded 15 pounds when we were always walking. From class, to the dinning halls, to the laundry room, downtown parties, the bookstore - wherever we went, we walked.
With 2,600 acres on the Virginia Tech campus and 176 acres on the Radford University campus, students can cover a lot of miles and burn a lot of calories just getting to class.
I was convinced I wasn't going to gain weight; I was going to lose it.
I did lose it, largely because of walking, I'm convinced. It certainly wasn't my diet of caffeinated soda, candy bars, peanut butter sandwiches and late night pizza parties.
But my case is unusual.
Gwen Martens, director of nursing at University Health Services at Virginia Tech, said many students gain weight during their freshman year of college.
"It's not unusual for someone to gain as much as 20 pounds," Martens said. Women tend to gain more than men.
Eating right should curb some of that, she said. Walking can help, too.
How many miles does a student walk each day? At least three miles, according to an informal poll.
Here's more proof: Using a pedometer, I started tracking my mileage from the Presidential Quad near Johnson Hall, where I lived my freshman year at Tech. From there, I started toward Litton Reaves Hall, cutting behind Lee Hall and stopping by Payne Hall, the newest dorm on campus. By the time I got to Litton Reaves, I'd walked close to a mile.
From there, I proceeded down West Campus Drive and cut across the street toward Agnew Hall, home of the Department of Communication Studies.
I then headed toward McBryde, where everyone has at least one class.
After a tour of McBryde Hall, I headed back "home" to Johnson Hall, walking by the library and Owens Food Court. By the time I got to Johnson Hall, I'd walked about three miles and burned - according to the American Heart Association - 105 calories.
Three miles. Multiple that by the number of times you walk around campus each day. That's a lot of miles.
Stephanie Kreiser, a senior in political science, says she walks more now that she's living in University Terrace than she did when she lived on campus.
"I think in a day I end up walking at least three miles," she said.
Hope McMaster, a graduate student at Radford, says when she was an undergrad at Tech she walked 15 to 20 minutes every time she went somewhere. Now, when she goes to class at Radford, she just walks from the parking lot to her class - about two minutes.
But even driving to school forces you to walk a lot more than your realize.
Just a zigzag from the commuter lot to the G. Burke Johnston Student Center and back is 1.5 miles.
"I ended up walking a lot more than I thought," said Kate Feck, a Tech junior from Fairfax.
Jeff Kosich, a Tech senior in environmental science, walks to class from his apartment on Roanoke Street almost every day. If he doesn't walk, he rides his bike. He doesn't see a reason to drive his car.
No one should gain weight in college, Kosich says. He attributes the following to the freshmen 15:
"They stay in the dorms, watch TV, they don't go to class, they eat dining hall food and put on the pounds."
by CNB