Located forty minutes west of Cincinnati is Miami University. Only 16,000 students reside at Miami University, yet we boasts two professional basketball players (Wally Szerbiac and Ron Harper), a top twenty hokey team, two consecutive synchronized ice-skating national championships, and who can forget the second most beautiful girls in the nation (according to playboy magazine). However, what we should be rated for is our percentage of students with eating disorders. Every afternoon one may bear witness to dozens of girls, already abnormally thin, running all over campus. If you visit Miami's recreational center, the amount of girls multiplies. While visiting the recreational center one will see countless girls running on the indoor track while on the endless waiting list to use a treadmill. Once finished these women do grab a bite to eat, a piece of fruit, a fat free yogurt, and, if they feel like pigging out, a salad. And even when students return to their dorm they still can't avoid the disorders. While walking through a female corridor one will find room after room with Billy Blanks on the television and Buns or Abs of Steel at work. Unfortunately it doesn't end with this. In the worst cases you may hear awful noises of girls vomiting coming from the restroom. Is this the picture of college life depicted in movies or recommended to us by our high school counselors?
             It should, because this is Miami University. Although few admit it, this campus has one of the most distorted views of body image of any college. I interviewed fifty females from my dorm concerning their feelings toward their bodies. 80% revealed that they thought they were fat. When in actuality, only ten percent qualify as clinically overweight. 72% informed me that they exercised 4 or more times a week. When asked why, most responded, "to control my weight." 54% take it a step further and limit their food intake in addition to exercising. ...