There has been a disturbing trend witnessed through children over the past decade. And it’s the increasing waistline of those children.

During the past few years, childhood obesity has skyrocketed, which I can only assume has also led to an increase for the clothing business because of the need to constantly be buying larger clothes.

The childhood obesity rate has risen to more than 16 percent, and researchers this past week may have figured out why.

On average, U.S. children eat three snacks a day on top of three regular meals, according to Carmen Piernas and Barry Popkin of the University of North Carolina. The partners, through a report released Tuesday, feel this could be a contributing factor. Children snack so often that they are "moving toward constant eating," the report said.

More than 27 percent of calories that American kids take in come from snacks, Piernas and Popkin reported in the journal "Health Affairs." The researchers defined snacks as any food eaten outside regular meals. Piernas and Popkin looked at data on 31,337 children, aged two to 18, from four different federal surveys on food and eating. The report went on to say an increasing number of children’s calorie intake is now coming from snacks.

"Childhood snacking trends are moving toward three snacks per day and more than 27 percent of children’s daily calories are coming from snacks. The largest increases have been in salty snacks and candy. Desserts and sweetened beverages remain the major sources of calories from snacks," they wrote.

And it’s been a trend that has been continuing for quite some time.

"Children increased their caloric intake by 113 calories per day from 1977 to 2006," they added.

If these trends continue on their present course, we’re going to have a tough time telling our children apart from elephants.

We need to be able to limit kids – and adults – and help them to consistently eat healthy. And it starts just by knowing. Franklin College is doing its part by joining in on the national program Dump Your Plump.

The program is targeted at teams coming together to compete for the highest weight loss total. This is exactly what we need to do to stop childhood obesity. This isn’t a problem we’ll be able to solve overnight, but it’s essential to start somewhere. The more people we can put together on this issue and the more teams we can organize, the better. We need to do everything we can to prevent an obese America.

MediResource, a Canadian company that specializes in health education came up with these ideas to watch for when going out on the town:

If you’re watching calories, skip the (usually fat-laden) appetizers and order water instead of soda or wine. If you want an appetizer, a small salad with dressing on the side, a broth-based soup (such as chicken noodle), or a fruit cup are all nutritious choices.

When choosing your entree, look for the words broiled, grilled, and roasted; these will usually be lower in fat than fried entrees.

When ordering pasta, choose tomato-based rather than cream-based sauces.

If entrees are large, split one with your dinner partner or take a portion home to reheat later.

Choose healthy side-dishes such as steamed vegetables (hold the butter), plain rice or a baked potato topped with vegetables or salsa.

If you choose to have dessert, split it with at least one other person.

With Religious Emphasis Week ending on campus, it seems the event has grown and flourished after its sixth year on campus. But it leads us to wonder about the campus’ Baptist affiliations.

Franklin College has been a Baptist-affiliated college since its establishment in 1834, when it was founded by the First Baptist Church in the city of Franklin. The college currently stresses a voluntary affiliation with the American Baptist Church.

According to Wendy Hagn, Franklin’s director of church relations, the school has only 99 Baptists attending school here, which is less than 10 percent of the student body.

And for that less than 10 percent, in the last fiscal year the college received slightly more than $16,000 from American Baptist Churches, plus an additional undetermined amount of individual donations.

Ten percent does not constitute enough to reasonably believe Franklin should continue to play up its Baptist affiliation.

Rather, Franklin should promote its ideals of the liberal arts and diversity and welcome a wider variety of religions to campus.

First of all, the Baptist title associated with the campus could be seen as intimidating to potential students who are not Baptists. We do not want students who may be Jewish, Mormon, Muslim or otherwise to think the school will impose certain ideals on them. We want them to recognize the affiliation for what it is: voluntary, and know the campus community welcomes students from any faith.

In terms of money, it could be easy to talk to other churches that might offer scholarships for students of other religions. We don’t have to specifically target Baptists in this sense.

Chapel services could still be held on Tuesdays at 11 a.m., but the school needs diversity. As a liberal arts school, we hear the never-ending plea for more liberal arts and diversity on campus.

So let’s do just that. Let’s have a new service each week. (There is already a Catholic Mass once a month). We need to get students out of their comfort zones and put them in unfamiliar territory.

Now, don’t get me wrong. I love Schoolhouse Rock. I remember watching it while growing up. It helped shape my mind into the powerful thinking tool it is today.

But I do have some trepidation when it comes to the cartoon shorts. Since they make their pieces so short, they have to cut out some of the most important parts.

For example, in "I’m Just a Bill," Schoolhouse hits all the major points but one: The conference committee. A conference committee is organized when one chamber does not agree with amendments created by the other chamber.

This may seem minor, but the fact of the matter is, most of the important legislation that passes through the Indiana State Legislature goes through conference committee. This week featured the beginning and end of conference committees, and among the legislation that ended up in these committees were firearm laws, township government reform, renewable energy and insurance and tax issues.

That’s a lot of issues that carry a lot of weight around the state, yet the simplest cartoon makes no mention of this very important part of the legislative system.

Basically, it seems like the history-related songs skip on the important information most people should know. The Revolutionary War cannot be told in a three-minute lyrical summary.

I did love the grammar and math songs, though. That's probably why those were my two best subjects in school. But otherwise, tell those writers at Schoolhouse Rock to get their information to include a bit more specifics.

Friday marks the deadline for student applications to potentially live in a themed house for the 2010-2011 school year. This marks a huge step forward for the college’s quest to be a liberal arts school.

According to Renee Bruck’s story on the front page of The Franklin, there are two proposed houses for next year: La Casa, a Spanish-themed community, and Horizon House, a dwelling focused on multicultural and diversity issues, as well as intercultural education.

The students who live in the houses would be submerged in a new environment, one that would be unavailable to readily achieve in Central Indiana.

This type of learning is essential, and should be encouraged at a school such as Franklin. Admissions and professors preach about our school’s liberal arts background, and this is the perfect opportunity to flaunt them. Having houses like these can only benefit the knowledge students can get about other cultures.

These houses will not only help the knowledge of those who live in them but everyone on campus. If we incorporate campus events with these houses, we can share the information and the knowledge already being learned.

We do have one cause for concern, though. If this program becomes successful – and we hope it does – will we include more houses like these? Earlham College has roughly the same number of students as Franklin, and they have 28 houses like these.

We would certainly like to be able to build a themed housing program up to this level, but does the college have the financial stability and space to expand the program? We need to be sure we are not biting off more than we can chew with this.

But for the current moment, the idea of bringing more diversity and cultural education to the campus is a good plan that we should embrace.

Whether or not you believe President Chelsi Mobley has made significant changes on campus, there has been one thing that hasn’t changed regarding The Franklin and Student Congress. Members of our campus newspaper aren’t present at weekly Congress meetings open to the entire campus.

--Sam Parker, junior

After reading the Editorial in The Franklin that was released on Friday, I would just like to say that I believe that Chelsi Mobley is a fantastic leader. She is friendly, energetic and passionate, and I would absolutely, without a doubt, vote for her again.

--Amanda Bryant, senior

Just a note to give thanks to Chelsea Mobley and the Student Congress (members) who were invaluable to me and the Student Health Center this year as we all worked very hard to deal with the H1N1 flu outbreak last fall. It was Student Congress that purchased the thermometers for each student and also spent hours organizing those and getting them out to everyone.

The Congress also volunteered to help with two flu shot clinics held here on campus and also received training to assist us with data entry into the State Immunization data bank. I don’t know what I would have done without them this year and will always be grateful to Congress for their efforts.

--Terri Nigh, Coordinator of Student Health Services

I don't agree with the article written about our Student Congress president. I think that Chelsi is a great president and is working as hard as she can for our campus.  She does have our best interest at heart and I would definitely vote for her again!

--Kelsie Kanouse, senior

Chelsi Mobley is by far the most positive human being and best leader I have ever surrounded myself with. I would vote for her again in a heartbeat.

--Jessika Osborne, sophomore

--Baylee Pinnick, junior

Chelsi Mobley is, and has been, a great Student Congress President. Bashing her in your editorial was uncalled for and unprofessional. I pose this question for you: How do you know if the Student Congress this year is any different then the Student Congress from last year? Have you attended any meetings? Or met with any of your representatives? Have you even spoken to anyone from Student Congress?

I am not a member of Student Congress, but I frequently meet with our representatives to let them know my ideas or to ask them about the interesting things Congress is doing. I believe if the editors of this paper care this deeply about what Student Congress is doing, then they should actually have a conversation with a Congress representative and should send a reporter to each meeting. They should meet with representatives from Congress to learn about what Congress is doing and planning on doing, and not wait around and hope someone approaches them.

That is part of being involved on campus. They should attend the Congress Chat sessions. I attended one such session at Jazzman’s. One person from the newspaper showed up. This person did not take notes, but came late and left early. This person did not offer any ideas, suggestions or give any feedback to Student Congress.

Your editorial claims “campus dropped the ball” on voting for Chelsi as Student Congress President.  It seems to me that The Franklin “dropped the ball” on providing coverage of Student Congress meetings and events.  If these meetings and events had been reported on, you would see tangible proof that Congress has indeed changed for the better. This is largely due to the exceptional leadership of Chelsi Mobley. I hope Chelsi runs for Student Congress President again. She has done amazing things so far, and it will only get better. She acts exactly as a leader should. Being a friend is a central component to being an effective leader. People need to know you care about them before they will care about what you are trying to do.

I do not know what kind of leaders you idolize, but I idolize leaders who reach out to me and let me know they are my friend and my leader. That is someone I stand behind.  That is a true leader – a leader like Chelsi Mobley.

--Katie Neff, senior

This letter is in response to two articles in today’s (2/19) edition of The Franklin. I was pleased to see the front-page article on Student Congress and its president, Chelsi Mobley. As Chelsi stated, Student Congress started off with a strong first semester, having implemented Griz Den and FC Out On the Town. She also indicated that her plans are works in progress and that she is considering running for Congress again.

Then I turned to page six and was disheartened to read the editorial stating that Chelsi isn’t fulfilling most of the promises she made while campaigning. The election was held last spring.  Did you expect her to, in one semester, wave a magic wand and make everything she hoped to accomplish happen? Changes don’t usually happen overnight.  It takes initiative, dedication and a strong work ethic (all of which Chelsi has) in order to make things happen. It also takes time.

--Judy Yarnell, Gift Processing Specialist at Franklin College

I could not be happier with Chelsi Mobley's leadership on campus. I do not know how many sleepless nights she has devoted to making Congress the best it can be and I feel very honored that she represents the students of Franklin College.

--Kaitlin Harmon, junior

--Kathleen Spencer, senior, Student Congress Senior Class Representative

In response the editorial, I do not feel it is appropriate to personally attack individuals on this campus for trying to make changes. I believe it takes the hard work of many people to have an organization run smoothly, and I do not believe that Chelsi Mobley has in any way hurt this campus by being the Student Congress president. I feel that inappropriate comments were made about her ability to be the President and face of Franklin College. Chelsi is one of the most dedicated, hard-working individuals I have met, and I believe she has put everything she has into Congress. Respect the people that put their time and effort into improving and helping our campus community, don't intentionally try to disrespect and hurt them.

--Amanda Trommater, senior

--Carrie Trommater, senior

I have made many mistakes in my short lifetime, and voting for Chelsi Mobley for Student Congress President was not one of them. Not even close. Student Congress provides so many opportunities for the student body here on campus, and Chelsi has been nothing but supportive and uplifting for this student community.

--Anne Kaylor, sophomore

Check your e-mail inbox from the past couple of days and I’m sure you’ll notice an e-mail from Franklin College President Jay Moseley’s office.

The letter was sent to notify students about the 2010-2011 school year’s cost, including tuition and room and board. Spoiler Alert! It went up.

Now I know a lot of people on campus would be outraged. And it’s easy to understand why: No one wants to pay all that money to go to school. But the tuition hikes were minimal, only going up 6 percent.

Tuition hikes are to be expected, especially in tough economic times like these. As a senior who will be graduating in May, I don’t have to worry about the increase in costs. But those students who have to return to school don’t have to worry much, either.

As noted below, the cost of schooling will go up 5.95 percent compared to the last school year. This is a little higher compared to other tuition increases in the state. According to the Indiana Commission for Higher Education, the average increase in tuition in Indiana is around 4.7 percent.

Starting this year, Franklin will allocate 1 percent of the money we pay to go toward maintenance issues that have been long ignored. After figuring in this cost, the increase is roughly the same.

And if you still aren’t convinced the hike isn’t that big of a deal, consider the two greatest sources funded through this money. The first is employee salaries. If it weren’t for the employees, we wouldn’t even be here paying money in the first place.

The second place this money goes is financial aid for students. According to Moseley’s e-mail, roughly 95 percent of students receive some sort of financial aid. Imagine it as a tax refund.

Vice President for Finance Bryan Spetter indicated the money will also help fund some provisions in the campus’ strategic plan.

Among the most notable include building up the student employment program on campus and providing various other services on campus.

To make a brief point about the jobs for students: Who doesn’t love making money? Enough said.

As far as the "various other services" I mentioned, those are up to you, the student body.

Spetter said the college is preparing a survey to find out what types of student services you want to stay open longer. Changes will be made based on the results of the survey.

Although a list for the potential services has not been formally established, Spetter did speculate to a few that would be on the list. They included dining services, the library, the Academic Resource Center, Student Affairs, the Business Office and potentially scheduling some classes later in the day.

So if you’re tired of Sodexo closing so late or the library not opening soon enough, be sure to vote in this survey when it comes out.

Sure, the hike in costs for the 2010-2011 school year seems like a pain. But in the grand scheme of things, it really isn’t that bad. In some cases, students could actually be getting some of that money back.

It’s the gift that keeps on giving the whole year ‘round.

There’s so much to think about during an election. The politicians go on television and make campaign stops to promote their platform.

Most times when we elect someone, he or she keeps the promises made.

Upon hearing about the wonderful things politicians have to say, the public determines if the candidate has their interest at heart. Last spring, the campus community decided Chelsi Mobley had the students’ interests at heart, and she would be the best choice for Student Congress president.

Looks like campus dropped the ball on that one.

Looking back, Mobley made some big promises about how she intended to change things with campus and Student Congress.

During the Student Congress Presidential Debate hosted by The Franklin last spring, Mobley said the first major change she wanted to make was inside Student Congress.

"We have to know how to be leaders for you, and how to hold ourselves accountable for representing you," Mobley said during the 2009 debate.

But there has not seemed to be much of a chance in Student Congress from last year to this one. Are our Student Congress representatives really doing their best to make themselves known and represent the student body well if no changes have been made?

Another point made by Mobley during the debate was that e-mail is overused on campus. No argument there. However, she went on to say representatives of Student Congress should go out and talk to students about the issue.

Out of the five members of this editorial board and 10 other newspaper staff members present at the time, none of them have ever been approached by a member of Student Congress regarding an issue.

So either Student Congress is being selective in the people they discuss issues with, or they are not talking to students.

To Mobley’s credit, she has helped keep more students on campus. The establishment of the Griz Den student section has not only brought more students to games, but also increased school spirit.

But optional attendance is still lacking at other campus events, such as speakers and chapel events. It’s one thing for teachers to force students to go to events. We need students to want to go to campus events.

During last year’s debate, Mobley said the major goal of the Student Congress president should be a friend before an official.

And if that’s how she thinks a leader should act, we hope she doesn’t run again.

There has been an increasing number of art programs popping up around campus, and it’s something that should be embraced.

In the past, the focus of the school has been primarily on athletics and getting a decent career.

It’s good that the number of arts programs on campus have increased, especially considering Franklin considers itself a "liberal arts school."

We should embrace the ideals we put forward, and we are doing a good job at getting more arts involved.

Take a look at the art groups on campus.

The number of theatre majors has gone up from 14 to 18 over the past year. The number of people involved with the drama club is nearly three times as high.

There are also four plays put on every year by the theatre department, with the most recent production – "The Shape of Things" – debuting on campus this week.

The use of art programs has also gone up on campus. This year brought the formation of an art club, along with the development of a new art studio to be used for painting.

There have even been more art shows held in the Johnson Center for Fine Arts.

The Apogee, Franklin’s annual student-run literary publication, also has seen its staff increase to double-digit figures. The magazine has also received an increase in submissions to the magazine over the past few years.

This basically means two things for the school. First, and most importantly, it shows an increase in student creativity.

One thing that primarily sets liberal arts students apart from other students is their exposure to the arts. We are promoting creativity through our increase in programs.

Secondly, it brings in revenue.

With art shows and plays, we have a chance to get the community involved with the school.

If they like what they see, they can donate money and help to further our education in the liberal arts.

When it comes to big news stories, it can be difficult to determine the value of such stories.

A box full of kittens found on the side of the road is not exactly newsworthy. Nor is throwing a ball to a dog and having him retrieve it.

But this past week, the news outlets really took the cake in terms of covering something that doesn’t matter.

On Nov. 13, NASA made the announcement that water had been found below the surface of the moon.

Holy Toledo! Stop the presses! This announcement is so important it deserves to run at the top of every page in every paper across the country.

The fact of the matter is that most newspapers probably ran something about this story. They probably made it pretty well-known, too. To me, the story doesn’t even deserve much recognition.

I use the qualifier "much" because it is something of note. Who knew water could even exist in a habitat as harsh as the one on the moon?

But the second question that begs to be asked is: "How does that help us?"

The water found on the moon exists in a frozen state. So basically, we stumbled upon ice. I guess we could keep our drinks cold. We could also go ice skating.

But other than that, water on the moon does not seem beneficial. We already know life cannot thrive on the moon due to the lack of that useful element known as an atmosphere. So there’s no chance for living on the moon sans spacesuits. But the suits would make for some fancy ice skating.

What plans did NASA have for this water on the moon other than my previously named – and awesome – ideas?

NASA’s main goal in this mission is to discover whether or not the moon would be able to be colonized. An ice-skating, cold water drinking civilization on the moon.

Given all this information, why did we even bother worrying about the water on the moon once we found out?

My theory is a simple one. It may have been overlooked in recent years. But I think NASA is wasting a lot (and I mean a LOT) of money.

Let’s take a look at the mission that discovered the water. The Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS) was launched in June with one mission: Crash into the moon. That mission was accomplished in October.

Seriously? And no one thought to ask them what the hell they were thinking? It sounds to me like a bunch of fourth graders are at the controls, trying to produce the biggest crash or bang possible.

One of the biggest things stressed to college students is money management and spending funds wisely. So why is it we give NASA billions of dollars to study balls of gas located trillions of miles away? How do the monetary conversations go between NASA and the government?

NASA: We need more money.

Feds: What for?

NASA: We’re planning to study the planet Redbulon. You can’t see it though. In fact, it’s really far away. We’ll probably never have any sort of contact with them, but we’re just curious.

Feds: (pause) OK. Here’s several billion dollars for your study. What do you plan to discover about this planet?

NASA: Maybe nothing. We’ll see.

Just once, I want someone to call out NASA and tell them what they are doing is stupid. I want one person to help us save money. Because frankly, I don’t give a damn about water on the moon.

PRO: Evan Shields

I find it hard to imagine someone would think the assassination of President John F. Kennedy was done by a second gunman.

With Sunday being the 46th anniversary of Kennedy’s death, be prepared for The History Channel to fire up all their documentaries about Kennedy and Oswald and all the hair-brained ideas that come with it.

But the answer is really quite simple: Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone. End of story.

The shots that were fired upon the motorcade came directly from the sixth floor of the Texas Book Depository, where police found a 6.5 x 52 mm Italian Carcano M91/38 bolt-action rifle.

According to the Warren Commission Report, police found a partial palm print belonging to Oswald on the gun.

Fifty-six eyewitnesses in Dealey Plaza say shots came from behind the president.

There have been recordings of the shooting released that reveal only three shots. Theorists say there is no way Oswald would be able to get three shots off in nearly eight seconds.

Oswald, who was a former U.S. Marine and was trained to shoot a rifle quickly, could easily have fired three shots in eight seconds.

Movies like "JFK" have made the so-called "magic-bullet theory" come to life. Actually, there is no substance to this thought.

For the magic-bullet theory to be true, Kennedy and Texas Gov. John Connally, who was riding in front of the president, would have to be sitting at an equal level and both sitting straight forward, which was not true.

Kennedy was killed by a lone gunman. And that’s the truth.

CON: Aaron Hommell

According to a USA Today poll, 80 percent of Americans believe that a conspiracy to assassinate President John F. Kennedy took place in Dallas and that Lee Harvey Oswald was just a patsy to take the fall for a larger cover up, me included.

I follow the school of thought from famous Kennedy historian, James H. Fetzer, who has given his life to the study of the assassination.

Before delving deep into the conspiracy, we must first look at some easy issues.

No. 1: Why was the motorcycle escort asked to stay behind the limo? This was against procedure. Why did the limo make a 110-degree turn onto the street when secret service protocol says to never make a turn more than 90 degrees?

Why was the limo the lead car when it is protocol to have it in the middle? Where was Kennedy’s secret service detail? They were asked to stand down and ride on the side of the car trailing the limo.

When the president goes to speak somewhere, the secret service welds manholes, covers every possible angle, follows protocol and protects the president with the utmost care.

During that parade in Texas, no care or precaution was taken at all and it shows.

Oswald was a patsy, an easy fall guy for a conspiracy. I don’t have near the space to discuss the whole list of issues including the photo that shows Oswald holding a Mannlicher-Carcano (dubbed "the humanitarian" for never hurting someone on purpose) and copies of "The Militant" and "The Worker," which was featured on the cover of "Time Magazine."