SCIENCE MOM
FOOD
Dad prepares all of baby’s organic, hormone-free, locally grown food » PAGE 5
A traditional flaming drink to light up your holidays » PAGE 7
Feeding Baby
German Punchbowl
IN THIS ISSUE
Events » PAGE 2 News Briefs » PAGE 3 Puzzles » PAGE 10
Synapse The UCSF Student Newspaper
Thursday, December 12, 2013
The Food Issue
I
had never heard the term “foodie” before moving to San Francisco. As a former fat kid, I couldn’t understand this pride with which San Franciscans declared themselves gourmets, or “foodies.” What was this strange world in which people were so invested in what we eat? As the days grow shorter and plastic bins are filling with canned goods, many have begun to overindulge in holiday treats and diet options plaster the news. I am reminded again that food is much more than sustenance. Food is a cultural experience, an ethical dilemma, a health hazard. Food is delight and nostalgia and shame. The breadth and complexity of this week’s special “Food Issue” is proof. Our writers have scoured The City for culinary treats and now share their reviews and personal holiday recipes. (Try saying “feuerzangenbowle” ten times, fast.) We’ve got tips for your holiday cookiedecorating party, and our resident “Science Mom” writes a funny and heart-warming piece about her husband’s forays into making organic baby food. And we take a scientific look at glutenfree alternative diets. In these pages, we also present the darker side of food culture. The ethical debate about genetically modified (GM) foods rages, and the obesity epidemic leads UCSF’s anti-sugar warriors to call for a ban on sugary beverages. While some struggle with consuming too much, others may go hungry in light of recent cuts to the federal food stamps program. Others still face psychological battles over food, as one student explores in a courageous personal essay about bulimia. This holiday season, in this city of foodies, I hope we can take a moment to reflect on that which sustains us, whatever that might mean. Jenny Qi Executive Editor
Small plate at InnerFog Bar & Kitchen. See Page 7. Photo by Michelle S. Nettesheim
FOOD synapse.ucsf.edu
Volume 58, Number 13
2 | December 12, 2013 | synapse.ucsf.edu
EVENTS MISSION BAY EVENTS SYNAPSE NEWSPAPER
Friday, Dec. 13, noon-1 p.m., Graduate Division. CC-310, Mission Bay Synapse is looking for Mission Bay and Parnassus writers, bloggers, photographers and designers. Come to the lunch meeting, share your story ideas and enjoy a free lunch. RSVP to synapse@ucsf.edu.
MUSLIM FRIDAY PRAYER SERVICES
Friday, Dec. 13, 1-2 p.m., Helen Diller, 160, Mission Bay The Muslim Community at UCSF holds regular Friday prayer services (Jum’a) for the UCSF Muslim community every week. Join your fellow brothers and sisters for prayer, lunch and socializing. All are welcome.
MISSION BAY RIPS
Friday, Dec. 13, 4-5 p.m., Genentech Hall Auditorium, Mission Bay RIPS is a seminar series where one student and one postdoc present their current research. Talks are 15 minutes in length and are preceded by a 20-minute social. Snacks and beverages are provided.
MISSION BAY FARMERS’ MARKET
Wednesday, Nov. 13, 10 a.m.-2 p.m., Gene Friend Way Plaza, Mission Bay Shop healthy, shop fresh, shop Californiagrown at the UCSF Farmers’ Market every Wednesday (rain or shine). Sponsor: Pacific Coast Farmers’ Market Association.
EVERYDAY ERRANDS: HOLIDAY WRAP-A-THON
Wednesday, Dec.18, 11 a.m.-5 p.m., Genentech Hall Atrium, Mission Bay Thursday, Dec.19, 11 a.m.-5 p.m., Orthopedic Institute Atrium, Mission Bay Take advantage of this annual opportunity for free holiday gift-wrapping! Contact your site representative to make an appointment today. Gift cards, See’s Candies and movie tickets can be delivered to your giftwrapping location and be picked up during your appointment time. Everydayerrands@ ucsfmedctr.org.
PARNASSUS EVENTS YOUNG LAKOTA SCREENING
Thursday, Dec. 12, 5:30-7 p.m., Health Sciences West, 300, Parnassus The Native American Health Alliance and Medical Students for Choice will be cohosting a screening of Young Lakota. The film follows the political awakening of three young people on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota and the story of Cecelia Fire Thunder, the first female president of their tribe, who defied a South Dakota law criminalizing abortion and attempted to build a women’s clinic on the sovereign territory of the reservation. The film explores the challenges young Native American women confront in accessing reproductive health services, and the unique situation faced by members of federally recognized, sovereign tribes.
CHANCELLOR’S CONCERT SERIES FEATURING THE IVES QUARTET
Thursday, Dec. 5, noon-12:45 p.m. Cole Hall, Parnassus The Ives Quartet performs a program celebrating the bicentennial of Verdi’s birth,
featuring his String Quartet in E Minor. The Chancellor’s Concert Series on Thursdays is a great place to take a break from classes while listening to classical music. Seating begins at noon. If you are unable to come, you can now listen to the music through live stream. This concert is free.
MUSLIM FRIDAY PRAYER SERVICES
Friday, Dec. 13, 1-2 p.m. , Medical Sciences, 163, Parnassus The Muslim Community at UCSF holds regular Friday prayer services (Jum’a) for the UCSF Muslim community every week. Come join your fellow brothers and sisters for prayer, lunch and socializing. All are welcome.
CHAMBER MUSIC SOCIETY AT UCSF AND VOCAL CHORDS: 2013 WINTER CONCERT
Saturday, Dec. 14, 3-5 p.m., Cole Hall, Parnassus Free chamber music concert featuring performances by talented UCSF students, residents and staff. Program includes works by Brahms, Beethoven, Mendelssohn, Shostakovich and Ravel.
ENTREPRENEURS’ CLUB: FROM TECH TO GENETIC TESTING: A PERSONAL JOURNEY
Monday, Dec. 16, 5:30-7:30 p.m., Library, CL 221, Parnassus Matthew Rabinowitz, PhD, CEO of Natera, will talk about his path from a Stanford engineer to a successful tech entrepreneur, as well as what it takes to be successful in the diagnostics space. Stay after the talk for a holiday party to celebrate an exciting year for the Entrepreneurs’ Club. Pizza included! Sponsor: Morgan Lewis. eventbrite.com/e/entrepreneurs-club-fromtech-to-genetic-testing-a-personal-journeytickets-9406333597.
GOSPEL CHOIR AT UCSF
Monday, Dec. 16, 6-8 p.m., Millberry Union Conference Center, Parnassus Join the Gospel Choir at UCSF for its annual holiday concert of festive holiday music. A reception will follow.
EVERYDAY ERRANDS: HOLIDAY WRAP-A-THON
Monday, Dec. 16-Tuesday, Dec. 18, 8 a.m.-5 p.m., ACC, Lobby, Parnassus Thursday, Dec. 19-Friday, Dec. 20, 8 a.m.-5 p.m., ACC, Lobby, Parnassus Take advantage of this annual opportunity for free holiday gift-wrapping. Contact your site representative to make an appointment today. Gift cards, See’s Candies and movie tickets can be delivered to your giftwrapping location and be picked up during your appointment time. Everydayerrands@ ucsfmedctr.org.
BLOOD DRIVE AT UCSF PARNASSUS
Tuesday, Dec. 17, 11 a.m.-3 p.m., in Front of Millberry Union, Parnassus Schedule your life-saving appointment with the Blood Centers of the Pacific when they visit UCSF. Just go to the website, click on Donate Blood, and enter the sponsor code “UCSFparnassus” to book your appointment for December 17. You will receive an additional 2000 Hero Points, which can be redeemed for a variety of rewards, including two sets of two movie passes if you book ahead of time. Please be sure to eat a good meal and drink plenty of water before donating,
and bring identification. Appointments encouraged, but walk-ins are welcome.
SONGS FOR THE SEASON
Wednesday, Dec. 18, noon-12:45 p.m., Cole Hall, Parnassus Join Campus Life Services for its annual holiday concert, featuring the San Francisco Opera Guild Singers. A treat not to be missed! Complimentary eggnog, hot cider and cookies will be served. First come, first served. Free and open to all.
PARNASSUS FARMERS’ MARKET
Wednesday, Dec. 18, 10 a.m.-3 p.m., ACC, 400 Parnassus Ave. Shop the Farmers’ Markets on Wednesdays to pick up locally grown produce and more. Sponsor: Pacific Coast Farmers’ Market Association.
SYNAPSE NEWSPAPER
Wednesday, Dec.18, noon-1 p.m., Millbery Union 123W, Parnassus Synapse is looking for Mission Bay and Parnassus writers, bloggers, photographers and designers. Come to the lunch meeting, share your story ideas and enjoy a free lunch. Email for more information and to RSVP: synapse@ucsf.edu.
UCSF RUN CLUB
Wednesday, Dec. 18, 5:30-6:30 p.m., Millberry Union Central Desk, Parnassus Please drop by and join UCSF Fit & Rec for a run! Each Wednesday night, the Run Club runs various distances (from 3-6 miles) at 9 to 11 minutes per mile.
VOCAL CHORDS A CAPPELLA, CALL FOR MALE VOICES
Wednesday, Dec. 18, 6:30-8:30 p.m., Health Sciences West, 301, Parnassus Do you enjoy singing? Vocal Chords A Cappella is seeking tenors, baritones and basses. Rehearsals every Wednesdays 6:30-8:30 p.m. Contact Jamie Wong at Jamie.Wong@ucsf.edu. facebook.com/ VocalChordsUCSF.
J-1 ORIENTATION
Thursday, Dec. 19, noon-2 p.m., Medical Sciences, 20, Parnassus J-1 immigration regulations mandate that all new J-1 visa holders who have started their appointment at UCSF must attend one orientation. At orientation, you will learn about traveling during your program, employment and reimbursement policies, extending your program, and other helpful information about living in San Francisco and doing research at UCSF. Bring your passport and your DS-2019.
H-1B ORIENTATION
Thursday, Dec. 19, 1-2:30 p.m., Medical Sciences, 22, Parnassus All recent H-1B holders at UCSF are required to attend an H-1B orientation. You will learn about traveling while on an H-1B, how to apply for an H-1B visa stamp at a U.S. Consulate abroad, how to maintain your status, and many other things you need to know while living and working at UCSF under an H-1B.
MEN IN NURSING: HOLIDAY POT LUCK
Thursday, Dec. 19, 6-9 p.m., Community Room, Mission Bay You and your family are cordially invited to bring your favorite dish and kick off your holiday spirit. Bring a gift (no more than $10) for the White Elephant gift exchange if interested in participating. Register: raymond.nation@ucsf.edu.
CHANCELLOR’S CONCERT SERIES FEATURES MUSAIC
Thursday, Dec. 19, 12:15-12:45 p.m., Cole
Hall, Parnassus The men’s a cappella group Musaic performs classical and popular songs to finish off the fall season of the Chancellor’s Concert Series. The Chancellor’s Concert Series on Thursdays is a great place to set up your laptop and study or just take a break from classes while listening to classical music. Seating begins at noon. If you are unable to come, you can now listen to the music through live stream: http://bit. ly/CLSConcertSeries.
OFF-CAMPUS HEALTH TECH INTEREST GROUP AND CDHI MIXER
Thursday, Dec. 12, 6-8 p.m., InnerFog Wine Bar, SF Join the Health Tech Interest Group and CDHI for a mixer to mingle with interprofessional students, faculty and digital health entrepreneurs. This is a great chance to catch up before the holidays and learn about startups and opportunities (think side projects, summer projects, fourth-year projects). eventbrite.com/e/health-techmixer-tickets-9581611859.
CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES: HOLIDAY BAZAAR NIGHTLIFE
Thursday, Dec. 12, 6-10 p.m., Cal Academy, Golden Gate Park A merry marketplace of giftable treasures from 40-plus local merchants, all curated by SF Bazaar. Find a little something for every person on your list at this one-stop holiday shop. Get down to the signature repertoire of jazz-laced house and down tempo tunes with a DJ set from Mark Farina. http://bit.ly/ NightLifeTickets, http://bit.ly/CLSDiscounts.
OFF THE GRID: UPPER HAIGHT
Thursday, Dec. 12, 5-9 p.m., Stanyan and Waller Streets, SF Off the Grid is a roaming mobile food extravaganza that travels to different locations daily to serve delicious food, with a free side of amazing music, craft and soul.
LIGHTED BOAT PARADE
Friday, Dec. 13, 5:30 p.m., Fisherman’s Wharf, SF Get in the holiday spirit with more than 60 boats adorned with holiday decorations and lights. These spectacular boats will parade along the waterfront for your viewing pleasure. http://bit.ly/1bdmEqD.
ANNOUNCEMENTS STUDENT ADVOCATES TO THE REGENTS (STARS) APPLICATION
Deadline: Friday, Jan. 10 at 5 p.m. Becoming a StAR gives students the opportunity to meet and directly interact with UC Regents to address student priorities during the Regents’ meetings. ucsa.org/ updates/apply-to-be-a-student-advocate-tothe-regents/.
UCSF EXCLUSIVE: SPORTS BASEMENT SHOPPING SPREE
Thursday, Dec. 12, 5-9 p.m., 1590 Bryant Street, SF Receive 15% off all purchases with your Fitness & Recreation membership card or UCSF ID. First 100 shoppers get an additional $5 off during the event, upon signing in. Spend $100 for a chance to win $100 Sports Basement gift card. Five percent of purchases support member events. Beverages and snacks provided.
FREE SYNAPSE CLASSIFIEDS
UCSF students and staff can now post online classified ads for free on the Synapse website. All you need is an @ucsf.edu email account. Try it out! synapse.ucsf.edu/classifieds.
synapse.ucsf.edu | December 12, 2013 | 3
NEWS BRIEFS
NEWS
AIDS Exhibits at the UCSF Library By Peggy Tahir Contributing Writer
T
he UCSF Library is currently hosting the National Library of Medicine’s (NLM) “Surviving & Thriving: AIDS, Politics and Culture.” The exhibit highlights the stories of people involved in the AIDS crisis. It covers the history of the epidemic, including the scientific discovery of the AIDS virus, and the effect of the epidemic on individuals and the country as a whole. It highlights the U.S. government’s initial resistance to the epidemic and inaction during the early years of the crisis, under President Ronald Reagan. President Reagan did not publicly address the AIDS crisis for five years, and it was only 10 years after the outbreak of the epidemic that the U.S. Congress passed legislation providing AIDS treatment for low-income and under-served citizens. Political activism eventually led to changes in the testing of AIDS drugs, and to the provision of new methods of treatment, as well as allowing for women with AIDS to receive treatment. The initial definition of the disease did not acknowledge the possibility that women could suffer from AIDS. As a result, they were not allowed to be given the diagnosis if they had contracted the disease and could not receive access to care even as they perished from AIDS. Many dedicated health professionals and
Adjacent to the NLM exhibit (http://1.usa.gov/19mQCbV) is another exhibit, The UCSF AIDS History Project: Documenting the Epidemic, http://bit.ly/ucsfAHP. UCSF AIDS History Project
The UCSF AIDS History Project (AHP) began in 1987 as a joint effort of historians, archivists, AIDS activists, health care providers and others to secure historically significant resources of the response to the AIDS crisis in San Francisco. The UCSF Archives and Special Collections began receiving grants in 1991 to collect and describe materials related to the epidemic. The AHP contains records from community-based organizations and other agencies; diaries and personal papers of AIDS activists; papers from local health practitioners who worked with AIDS patients or in HIV/AIDS research, and papers and ephemera collected by journalPoster from the AIDS History Project — Ephemera Col- ists and social scientists. lection, MSS 2000-31. Courtesy of UCSF Archives and Materials from several AHP colSpecial Collections. lections are displayed in the exhibit, and additional materials may be activists continue to work together to find viewed by appointment in the Special Collecnew ways to care for those with HIV/AIDS tions Reading Room. This exhibit will be disand to prevent the disease from spreading. played at the library for the next six months. The exhibits will be on display until January 4, 2014, at the UCSF Library, Parnas- Peggy Tahir is on the staff of the UCSF sus Campus, main floor http://bit.ly/ucsflib. Library.
NEWS
New Precision Medicine Lecture Series Wraps Up By Chris Foo Staff Writer
A
group of pharmacy school students organized a lecture series this fall to educate the UCSF community about precision medicine, an emerging field that utilizes the latest in medical technology and genome sequencing to analyze risk factors and prevent disease. Lecturers included scientists
and clinicians from Genentech and 23andMe, who spoke about their work and how their companies are impacting health care. Most recently, Dr. Bruce Conklin, of the Gladstone Institutes, gave a presentation on pluripotent stem cells and their therapeutic applications. By analyzing G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) mechanisms that influence pluripotency, Dr. Conklin hopes to identify new avenues to treat cardiovascular disease,
Synapse
500 Parnassus Ave. Millberry Union 108W San Francisco, CA 94143 tel: (415) 476-2211 | fax: (415) 502-4537 synapse@ucsf.edu
The UCSF Student Newspaper synapse.ucsf.edu STAFF
Yi Lu | EDITOR Jenny Qi | EXECUTIVE EDITOR Alexandra Greer | SCIENCE EDITOR Angela Castanieto | ASSOCIATE EDITOR Akshay Govind | ASSOCIATE EDITOR Steven Chin | MANAGING EDITOR Victoria Elliott | COPY EDITOR
About
Synapse is the UCSF student-run weekly newspaper, which runs on Thursdays during the academic year and monthly during the summer. Synapse seeks to serve as a forum for the campus community. Articles and columns represent the views of the authors and not necessarily those of the Board of Publications or the University of California.
Submissions
Announcements and letters should be submitted six days before publication. All submissions can be either emailed or mailed. All material is subject to editing. Letters to the Editor must be signed by the author.
Subscriptions Subscriptions cost $20/year ($40/outside US).
Advertising
Paid advertisements do not necessarily reflect the views of Synapse. Synapse and its editorial board reserve the right to decline advertisements promoting false or misleading claims, known health risks, or content deemed by the editors to be antithetical to the interests of UCSF students or the UCSF community. Synapse does not accept advertisements from tobacco or alcohol manufacturers, or sexually oriented personal ads. Synapse reserves the right to run any ad with a disclaimer.
by altering disease-state phenotypes to resemble those of healthy controls. “I liked how Dr. Conklin explained how his research can enrich patients’ lives,” said first-year pharmacy student Jason Kirkwood. “As a student, I think it’s important to see real-world applications of the things we learn in the classroom.” Dalga Surofchy, also a first-year pharmacy student, added, “I found the series to be a powerful introduction to the variety of efforts occurring in the field of pharmacogenetics. I am very excited to be a student at an institution that plays a pivotal role in personalized medicine.” Second-year pharmacy student Dor Keyvani, who was one of the organizers of the lecture series, said the presenters enjoyed interacting with the students. “They all come from industry, so they don’t get a chance to talk about the work they do,” he said. “This lecture series was a great chance to tell people about their work and be proud of it.” Dr. Esteban Burchard, the faculty member leading the lecture series initiative, was pleased with the outcome. “This is our first, and we will get out some of the kinks on the next round,” he said. “The turnout has been great and diverse, with people from all schools.” Keyvani and Dr. Burchard hope to expand their efforts on campus next year. possibly establishing an official registered campus organization (RCO) to promote precision medicine beyond the School of Pharmacy. With the RCO, the organizers hope to create a space on campus for people to express their ideas and thoughts related to precision medicine. Furthermore, they hope it will spark an interest in students to conduct their own work in the field of precision medicine, whether scientific research or organizational outreach. If you are interested, contact Dor.Keyvani@ucsf.edu.
Chris Foo is a first-year pharmacy student.
Structure of Key Pain-Related Protein Unveiled In a technical tour de force, UCSF scientists have determined, at near-atomic resolution, the structure of a protein that plays a central role in the perception of pain and heat. Led by UCSF postdoctoral fellows Erhu Cao, PhD, and Maofu Liao, PhD, the new research will offer fresh insights to drug designers searching for new and better pain treatments, but it also is a watershed for the field of structural biology, which aims to discover how proteins are physically constructed in order to better understand their function. Until now, the method used in the new research, known as electron cryo-microscopy, or cryo-EM, was not thought to be capable of visualizing small proteins in such great detail. “The impact will be broad,” said electron microscopist Yifan Cheng, PhD, UCSF associate professor of biochemistry and biophysics and co-senior author of two new papers that report the structure of the protein, known as TRPV1 (pronounced “trip-vee-one”), at a resolution of 3.4 angstroms.
Cardiovascular Study Wins Approval From American Heart Association UCSF’s Health eHeart Study, an ambitious technology-based cardiovascular research study, has garnered the support from the American Heart Association, the largest U.S. nonprofit organization dedicated to reducing disability and deaths caused by cardiovascular disease and stroke. This UCSF-developed study, funded in part by the Salesforce.com Foundation – harnesses the power of online and mobile technology to gather cardiovascular data from study participants through devices such as smartphone apps, ECG smartphone cases and portable blood pressure cuffs. In less than nine months since its March 2013 launch, the study has already enrolled more than 5,000 people, a feat that would take several years to achieve in traditional clinical research studies. The goal is to enroll 1 million participants from all over the world. “In my 30-year career as a researcher and physician, I’ve never seen a study as innovative as the Heart eHealth Study,” said Elliott Antman, MD, president-elect of the American Heart Association and co-chair of the study’s Scientific Advisory Committee.
UCSF Wins $9.45 Million Grant To Transform Treatment Of Prostate Cancer UCSF has been awarded a major federal grant to “transform and revolutionize” the treatment of prostate cancer, the second most common form of cancer among American men. The grant, totaling $9.45 million over three years, is intended to overhaul through precision medicine the clinical management of prostate cancer, particularly for men newly diagnosed with the disease. In the project, scientists will develop and validate a novel risk-prediction model to provide better information about the patient’s true risk of cancer progression. For the second component, the UCSF team will implement a decision to support intervention to help men better determine whether to treat or to monitor their disease. Featuring a secure website and live coaching support from genetic counselors, it will provide patients a highly personalized summary of their cancer risk and management options. Currently, many men undergo avoidable treatment for prostate cancer.
4 | December 12, 2013 | synapse.ucsf.edu
NEWS
From Test Tube to Kitchen Table: OBR-Bay Debates GMOs By Benjamin Cohn Staff Writer
W
ith the global human population in excess of 7 billion, some feel that meeting our growing food needs will require an agricultural revolution made possible only through enhancement of crops by genetic modification (GM). Proponents claim that genetically modified foods will be more nutritious, more resistant to pests and produce higher yields. Others worry that the health, environmental and political risks of the introduction of transgenes are still too poorly understood to accept GM food into the food supply. Oxbridge Biotech Roundtable recently invited local experts to UCSF to discuss the benefits and concerns surrounding genetically modified foods. Guests included Antony Evans, founder/CEO of Glowing Plant; John Hamer, Investment Director for the venture capital arm of the chemical and agricultural biotechnology company Monsanto; Linda MacDonald Glenn, Fellow for the nonprofit Institute of Ethics and Emerging Technologies; and David Zilberman, UC-Berkeley Chair of the Department of Agriculture and Resource Economics. Future-proofing the food supply According to the World Health Organization, a genetically modified organism, or GMO, is an organism whose DNA has been altered in a way that does not occur naturally. In contrast to traditional breeding, this is typically achieved using molecular biology to introduce genes from other species (“transgenics”) or from other individuals of the same species (“cisgenics”).
In some cases, the goal is to increase agricultural yields by making crops more resistant to herbicides, insect pests, bacteria, viruses, fungi and even frost. For example, genes isolated from the bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis are commonly introduced into corn and cotton to confer resistance to destructive beetles and flies. By lowering the need for pesticides, developers hope to provide economic value to farmers and reduce the environmental burden of large-scale farming. In other cases, the desired effect of the genetic modification is a bigger or more nutritious product, such as fast-maturing salmon or Vitamin A-enriched rice. Genetically modified organisms have also been developed for medical or health applications, such as goat-milk engineered to produce anticlotting factors or soybeans that have been engineered not to carry common allergens. What’s the catch? Some feel that the promised benefits of GM food technologies cannot compensate for the potential risks, which could include consumer health effects, environmental impact and economic/political considerations. For example, transgenic proteins could cause allergic reactions in some individuals. Safety testing requirements, however, require rigorous analysis of GMOs for potential allergens before they are brought to market for human consumption. Indeed, no GM food product currently on the market has ever been documented to produce allergic reactions and, in some cases, development of GM foods was abandoned when in vitro and skin-prick tests revealed that they had allergenic potential. Because GM crops are planted in fields like conventional crops, and often alongside them, environmental concerns have
been raised. These include the possibilities of gene escape and outcrossing with local plant species, as well as off-target effects on non-pest insect populations and resulting negative effects on biodiversity. In addition to studies of nutritional value, toxicity and allergens, GMO developers are also required to conduct environmental risk assessments of new GM products. Critics also express concern about the potential consolidation of control over the food supply by agricultural corporations, imposing on farmers the need to purchase seeds annually from a supplier, and the effects of cheap GM food on non-GM market prices. David Zilberman noted that, paradoxically, the priorities of producers and consumers are not always aligned. A glut of cheap GM wheat, for example, would cause prices to plummet and entail a loss of profits for farmers. Discussions about GM foods have thus been highly politicized over the years. Regulatory oversight In the United States, new GM foods are subject to strict regulatory oversight under the combined purview of the Food and Drug Administration, Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. After thousands of studies and decades of research and testing, there appears to be broad scientific consensus that GM foods approved for market pose no greater risk to consumers than their wildtype counterparts. In a 2012 statement issued by the Board of Directors of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the authors wrote: “Every other respected organization that has examined the evidence has come to the same conclusion: consuming foods
GMO » PAGE 10
MIND&BODY
Superheroes vs. Healers
Healer's Art course helps first-year medical students find meaning in their careers By Amy Steinberg Contributing Writer
L
ately, I’ve been surrounded by talk of superheroes. In the same way that learning a new word makes you hypersensitive to its sounds, I’m convinced that everybody around me is indicating their acquisition — or loss — of superhuman powers. It started a few weeks ago. As part of the MS1 curriculum, each student is expected to interview a hospitalized patient in front of his or her peers. The exercise is terrifying, to say the least, but a recent trip to the wards launched our group into the captivating world of an ex-law-enforcement agent fully equipped with a handle-bar mustache and a gregarious belly laugh. As a true crime-fighter, his superhero narrative was nearly complete, but with one small hitch: He was sick. Very, very sick. A mere plot twist in any regular superhero series was a brutal jolt back into the reality of blue, stained hospital curtains and runny hand sanitizer. He was scared and alone and human, looking for connection in us, other non-superhumans. I then began noticing other things: a discussion I overheard on the molecular feasibility of Spiderman’s genesis, a joking remark about disguising ignorance with a white-coatwearing alter ego, a preceptor dubbed the “Superman of Hearts.” You get the idea. In any case, it has made me start to reflect on this construct in medicine, perhaps because a part of me came to medical school thinking it would be a type of superhero academy. Not that I wanted to rise to fame and status with a sparkling insignia, but more because I wanted the manual to some magic bag of tools for helping people to feel better. And, in a lot of ways, it hasn’t been far off: I’ve learned mechanisms behind so-called
Photo courtesy of Dr. Remen Dr. Rachel Remen teaches The Healer's Art course.
miracle drugs, I’ve begun the tedious auditory training to distinguish heart sounds, and I’ve learned to say, “I’m so sorry to hear that.” Walking out of the room after that interview, however, made me realize that maybe this isn’t such a good thing. One of the reasons we love superheroes is because we admire courage. This is, of course, the ultimate paradox: true courage requires the possibility for devastating loss, for utter vulnerability, something that superheroes never truly have. We admire them for both their humanity and bravery, yet they don’t suffer the necessary fear or pain to warrant those supreme descriptors. What we as humans experience every day, conversely, is scary, messy, and unimaginably painful — the honest prerequisites for courage and humanity.
The man we interviewed epitomized this definition of brave, and he deserved something more than, “I’m so sorry to hear that.” He needed a counterpoint to his vulnerability, some nod to human camaraderie in the face of sickness and fear. But when I tried to think of a way to acknowledge this terrifying loneliness or to say that we struggle together, I quickly realized that I don’t know how. Perhaps even scarier, I’ve started to fill this void of not-knowing with automated responses and generic phrases. So, where is the class that teaches us to be better than superheroes, to be human? Enter The Healer’s Art. The Healer’s Art course began at UCSF in 1991 as a way to help first-year students find and maintain meaning throughout their professional endeavors. Dr. Rachel Remen, Professor of Clinical Medicine in the Department of Family and Community Medicine, created the course and has offered it at UCSF for the past 23 years. In that time, the course
Open at Parnassus & Mission Bay Campuses
has expanded to over 70 medical schools, receiving widespread acclaim and media attention. The class allows students to engage in small-group reflections and discussions addressing the following topics: “Retaining Your Wholeness,” “Sharing Grief and Honoring Loss,” “Allowing Awe in Medicine” and “Service as a Way of Life.” On January 9 from noon to 1 p.m. in N-217, Dr. Remen will give an introductory lecture titled “The Art of Medicine: Remembering That Who You Are Is as Important as What You Know.” The lecture is an opportunity to learn more about The Healer’s Art and is open to the public. Lunch will be provided. The Healer’s Art elective is being offered this winter (FCM 171.01) for 1.5 units, and will meet from 6:30-9:30 p.m. on the following Wednesdays: January 15 and 29 and February 5, 12 and 26. For more information, contact: amy.steinberg@ucsf.edu.
Amy Steinberg is a first-year medical student.
for your convenience we accept: All major Credit Cards • Recharge for catering Bear Hugs • UCSF Resident Meal Card
breakfast, lunch, or dinner…
Parnassus: Millberry Union I Level, Parnassus, 415.661.0199 Open Daily 7:00 am-10:00 pm Mission Bay: 550-B Gene Friend Way, Mission Bay, 415.865.0423 Mon-Fri 7:00 am-9:30 pm / Sat-Sun 8:00 am-9:00 pm
You’re Funding Fun! A portion of every dollar you spend at campus retail vendors helps support Arts & Events at UCSF
synapse.ucsf.edu | December 12, 2013 | 5
SCIENCE MOM
OPINION
Feeding Baby By Debbie Ruelas Staff Writer
W
hen it comes to baby food, I married a complete and total hippie, although this really only applies to our baby’s food, and not at all to what we, as parents, consume. For instance, before we had a kid, there was the incident at Trader Joe’s when I lazily tossed some organic 29 cent bananas into the cart, instead of going out of my way for the non-organic 19 cent bananas. “Who cares ab out 10 cents?” I said. My husband and I were both grad students at the time, and he absolutely cared about 10 cents. To my surprise, having a child transformed my penny-pinching husband into an organic-only, hormone-free, locally grown, “Does this have nitrates?” farmers’-market hippie. I can understand this impulse. As parents, we try so hard to give our children the best. Even before our babies are born, mothers are carefully monitoring their nutrition and avoiding dangerous food and drink. After our babies are born, the amount of milk intake can be an issue of great preoccupation for parents, particularly for a baby that is being exclusively breastfed. For breastfed babies, there’s not an exact way to measure the amount going in, other than looking at the amount coming out. Then as a baby transitions to solids, there are foods that babies should not eat, like honey, cow’s milk or soy milk. There are also foods that can cause allergic reactions, like eggs, milk, peanuts, fish and shellfish. These foods should be introduced one at a time. One can see how feeding your child the first foods, although exciting, can also be daunting. Anyway, one day, the hippie comes home with a mini food processor under his arm and announces that we will be making all our own baby food. I didn’t take issue with his declaration at the time. Like most things baby-related, it seemed easy in theory. In the beginning, we would mash a slice of avocado, or puree a banana. Babies eat so little at first, so food preparation isn’t all that timeconsuming.
Gradually, our kid began eating more and more. Eventually, preparing separate meals every day got to be a lot of work. Even though we tried freezing baby food, the freezer would quickly get filled with food that our kid refused to eat. You just can’t reason with babies. Even though it’s a $25 free-range, organic chicken stew with veggies that took you several hours to make, just like that, they will spit it in your face. And then they’ll laugh. After one too many days of wiping homemade, organic, wholefat yogurt off the kitchen tiles, I decided that I’d had enough. I went to the store to buy one of those food pouches that I had seen on the playground. They are basically plastic pouches filled with baby food, and on top there is a twist-off cap that reveals a spigot. So, you take the spigot and stick it in the kid’s mouth. Then you squeeze the pouch and the food squirts directly into the kid’s stomach. I brought this home to test, and my kid loved it! It was so easy and clean, too. Everything was totally groovy, until the hippie came home and saw the empty food pouch in the trash. I watched his face turn from confusion to horror as he realized that his baby boy had been fed processed baby food — from a plastic pouch! My husband calmly explained to me that part of the reason that he wanted to make all the homemade baby food was because he felt like it was a good way for him to play a larger role in feeding our son. When a baby is younger and being exclusively breastfed, faIllustration by Jillian Varonin/BMS4 thers can sometimes feel left out. Ultimately, we decided that my husband would prepare all the baby food, and take care of most of the feedings. This gave him more bonding time with our baby, and helped him feel more useful. I felt grateful to have a husband who really wanted to be more involved in caring for our child. His support is a major reason why I am able to maintain my sanity as a mother and grad student. In terms of organic food, my husband’s penny-pinching side eventually murdered the hippie within him, and now we use the Environmental Working Group’s Dirty Dozen and Clean Fifteen list. These are lists of fruits and vegetables that are known to contain either the highest (Dirty Dozen) or lowest (Clean Fifteen) levels of pesticide residues. We use these lists as guides to determine which foods to buy organic (ewg.org/foodnews/).
Debbie Ruelas is a sixth-year BMS student.
Ban Sugary Drinks from UCSF Campus By T. Booth Haley Staff Writer
T
he time has come for society to start regulating sugar. Ask any professor in any health field if there are negative effects from excess sugar consumption, and the answer will be a universal and resounding, “Of course!” I’m not here to convince you that sugar is bad for us; the question now is: How do we change our culture of consumption to promote a healthier society? The problem is huge and complicated. All modern cuisines use sugar to some degree, and most processed foods contain sugar. Political barriers exist too. The lobbies of cane and beet sugar growers and producers of corn syrup influence many senators, who resist any changes to current agricultural subsidies. Reducing sugar at those system-wide levels is daunting — we should start instead with activism at the local level. It is time for UCSF to take the lead in modern food policy. It is time for UCSF to ban sugary drinks from its campuses. Why start with drinks? We can’t, and wouldn’t want to, ban all sugar from campus. So, how do we allow reasonable sugar consumption while discouraging excessive sugar consumption? Also, we have to show respect for individual autonomy: If people want to consume unhealthy things, it is ultimately their choice. However, what we can do is get rid of the most sugary items and make access to unhealthy choices less convenient. Sugary drinks are among the most offensive, and it’s easy to measure how much sugar they contain. Drinks represent a category with clear boundaries, whereas sugary foods are a gray area. Ban candy, then you should also ban chocolate chip cookies, ban cookies, then you should also ban biscotti, ban biscotti, then you should also ban zucchini bread, etc. Coca-Cola has 3.25 grams of sugar per ounce. That’s 39 grams for a 12-ounce can. That’s 10 packets of sugar per can. Most people would not blithely consume 10 packets of sugar at a sitting. The insidious thing about beverages is that, being liquid, they slip down our throats so quickly, we aren’t as aware of their toxic
SUGARY DRINKS » PAGE 8
REVIEW
Bourbon and Branch By Alexandra Greer Science Editor ntering the reservations-only room of Bourbon and Branch is like a scene out of a Prohibition-era movie. You approach the nondescript door with your posse in tow, unsure whether it’s the right entrance. You glance around nervously, checking to see if you’ve been followed by locals trying to surreptitiously join you. There’s nothing but a doorbell at the entrance, no signage. You buzz, and for a while, nothing happens. Maybe you become a bit anxious, but you manage to keep your cool. Finally, someone opens the door, stares at you for a second, and asks “Password?” At Bourbon and Branch, there are actually two bars, only one of which requires reservations. A third, called the Wilson Room, is technically operated next door, but you can
E
also make reservations there via the Bourbon and Branch website. Together, they offer a panoply of thoughtful, original, tasty and powerful mixed drinks with a variety of spirits — though the specialty is arguably whiskey and bourbon. While B&B is on the pricey side for students on a budget, with drinks in the $10-$12 range, it’s a great place for special occasions. Bourbon and Branch is styled after Prohibition-era speakeasies: The rooms are dark and tastefully decorated, music is quiet, so you can actually converse, and cellphone use is strongly discouraged. Together, they make for a cozy environment to enjoy a few drinks with company. The crowds at Bourbon and Branch are also varied. Groups celebrating a special event are mixed in with casually dressed couples and small groups. In the Library, reser-
BOURBON AND BRANCH » PAGE 11
Photo by flickr/DoNotLick One of the bars at Bourbon and Branch, styled after Prohibition-era speakeasies, serves stiff, but pricey, drinks.
6 | December 12, 2013 | synapse.ucsf.edu
A Flaming German Holiday Punchbowl
Photo courtesy of Hannah Patzke
Carsten Hoffman ladles 151 rum over the flaming Zuckerhut sugar cone, then watches the flames of the Feuerzangenbowle rise up.
By Hannah Patzke Staff Writer
A
s the weather grows colder and Christmas approaches, I look forward eagerly to one of my favorite holiday traditions. Feuerzangenbowle, which I’m told translates to “hot tong punch or hot punch bowl,” is a time-honored holiday tradition in Germany. I was first introduced to it at a holiday gathering of friends five years ago, and it quickly became one of our yearly traditions. Much stronger than its more widely known counterpart, mulled wine (or Glühwein), flaming hot tong punch packs quite a kick, and sets the holiday spirit alight. Feuerzangenbowle is commonly enjoyed among friends on a cold night (with no plans to drive afterwards). My German friends tell me some people watch the traditional movie Die Feuerzangenbowle while consuming this beverage, but I have not yet added that aspect to our tradition. The recipe is quite simple and may be varied to your taste. Ingredients • 2 (or more) bottles of red wine (I prefer fruity and spicy wines) • Several oranges cut into wedges with whole cloves inserted into the wedges • Cinnamon sticks • Cardamom and allspice to taste
• Lemon, raisins, cranberries and other fruits as desired • Rum (151 proof preferred) • 1 Zuckerhut (German sugar cone/loaf) The zuckerhut can be bought online from a variety of sources, but it is easily homemade as well. Just take 1 cup of sugar and mix with 1 teaspoon of water until well blended. Then press into a conical mold (a fluted beer glass would work here) and let dry for a day or two. Directions Place all ingredients into a pot and heat without bringing to a boil. The longer the ingredients simmer together, the stronger the flavor. When the mulled wine has melded all the flavors, it’s time for the fire. Suspend a cone-shaped (or rather Christmas-tree shaped) loaf of sugar above the pot on something nonflammable. This can be accomplished with metal tongs (thus the name). Pour rum over the sugar and light it on fire. The flaming sugar will drip down into the wine in a glorious display of blue and orange flames. The fire dances across the top of the wine before finally extinguishing itself. After the sugar has all melted into flames, the Feuerzangenbowle can be imbibed for a wonderful night of frivolity and fun.
Hannah Patzke is a first-year student in the Advanced Practice Public Health Nursing Program.
OPINION
The Monsters in My Fridge By Anonymous
E
ating used to be simple. I think that past tense is something most people could agree with. I remember a time when I wasn’t constantly planning my meals out in my head or worrying about how much exercise I would have to do to counter an irresistible free treat offered to me by a well-meaning friend. I remember a time when my body would tell me, via loud, annoying gurgles, that it was time to fuel it and then tell me when it was satiated, and I would heed those cues easily. I remember a time when I didn’t feel selfconscious about my body and what assumptions people would make about me based on my size. But that was all years ago, and the memories of food as a physiological necessity and not as an enemy seem like a dream. Now, what I remember most clearly is the exact moment that my binge-eating disorder started. I was at my physician’s office for what would turn out to be my last routine physical before I left home for college. The scale, which by that point in my life had become nothing more than a bearer of bad tidings, had just registered my weight at a number I had begun to think was impossible for me to reach. After charting this new number on a line graph of my weight, my doctor turned to me and said, “You need to eat more.” Apparently, I had lost an alarming amount of weight in
the short period since my last appointment. Her words lodged themselves firmly inside my brain. She was giving me permission to give in to the cravings I had been ignoring for months, as I struggled to reshape my body into an image I considered perfect. At the beginning of that school year, I had decided that I no longer wanted to be the biggest person in my group of friends (unbeknownst to me, some of the friends I was comparing myself to were anorexic, a reflection of the horrific levels of low self-image that adolescent girls have these days). By the time I got to that particular doctor’s appointment, I had been through a round of the Special K challenge; was engaging in vigorous exercise daily; had stopped eating many of my favorite foods; was only having one serving of food at dinner, even if my body was begging me for more fuel; and had stopped having my period, something I was very happy about. And even though I still saw myself as being too fat, seeing that number on the scale and hearing my physician’s command to eat flipped some sort of switch within me. That night at dinner, in a crowded restaurant and in front of my family and a few of my friends, I had my first binge. No one commented on my excess intake, and to me, this served as emphasis that I should listen to the doctor’s orders. I needed to eat more. It’s been around six years since then, and I’m still trying to become friends with my food. College was a nightmare eatingwise, with the all-you-can-eat dining facilities giving me the excuse to eat my feelings and fears, with no worries of judgment (I
was just getting my money’s worth, right?). Support has also been hard to find. Mostly because I still believe it is merely a problem of self-control (I’m training to be a health care professional, and yet I can’t buy into the knowledge that bulimia is an actual disease). But also, because it’s hard to explain precisely how a binge takes away all ill feelings for its duration or the high that happens when you “negate” that binge by resisting food for the next few days afterward. Life’s better now that I have tried new things and found ways to distract myself from using food as a crutch. I get the most frustrated by the vast amount of often contradictory information on nutrition and exercise floating around. Six small meals a day or three normal ones? Three reps of eight, using a weight I can barely lift, or 100 pulses with a five-pounder that will still leave my muscles burning? Is meat good or bad?. It’s hard to prescribe yourself a healthy lifestyle when no one agrees on what exactly that is. I still struggle with finding balance and not feeling the need to eat the whole package of crackers if I’ve already broken my meal plans by having five. But I don’t berate myself as often as I used to if I’m feeling a certain way. I try to acknowledge the feeling and accept it, rather than using food as an escape. There are still bad days, of course, but they are far less frequent than the good ones. And I’m sure that’s all that anyone else, with an eating disorder or not, could say anyway.
The writer is a student at UCSF.
NEWS
This Thing Is Gluten Free
Does that mean it’s good for me? By Akshay Govind
G
luten, from the Latin word for glue, is a mixture of proteins found in cereal grains, and is responsible for the elastic texture of dough. The most commonly discussed proteins are gliadin and glutenin in wheat, but there are similar proteins in rye, barley and oats. Many people report that their intake of grain products appears to have noticeable physical effects on their health, and while gluten has a well-understood role in celiac disease, its role in the nonspecific set of intestinal and non-intestinal symptoms known as “non-celiac gluten sensitivity” (NCGS) is poorly understood and quite controversial. FODMAPs and other components of wheat Wheat consists of proteins, carbohydrates, small amounts of fat and trace amounts of other substances. Although gluten is the main storage protein of wheat, there are also nongluten proteins, including alpha-amylase/ trypsin inhibitors. The carbohydrates within wheat consist of both digestible long-chain types and indigestible types, known as fodmaps. Fhqwhgads? No, FODMAPs. Fermentable, Oligosaccharides, Disaccharides, Monosaccharides And Polyols, which are
GLUTEN FREE » PAGE 9
synapse.ucsf.edu | December 12, 2013 | 7
REVIEW
InnerFog: A Cozy Inner Sunset Retreat By Angela Castanieto Staff Writer
N
estled on Irving Street in the chilly Inner Sunset, the InnerFog Wine Bar & Kitchen provides a snug, inviting place to duck into and retreat from its namesake, which often blankets the neighborhood. InnerFog opened a few years back, serving just wine, beer and a small but inspired selection of cheeses. However, it recently underwent an extensive makeover due to flooding. The new InnerFog, which reopened in May, now offers wine on tap, a largely locally sourced small plates menu and an expanded selection of bottled wines and beer. InnerFog’s clientele includes professionals, UCSF students, faculty and your typical Inner Sunset dweller. As someone who fits into those last two categories, I had visited InnerFog a number of times pre-flood to sample the wine and cheese. On my first post-renovation visit, I was happy to see that aesthetically, not much had changed. Save some new artwork and a slick stainless wine InnerFog tap, it felt like 545 Irving St, San Francisco the same cozy (415) 682-4116 wine bar. Tasteinnerfogsf.com fully decorated with warm colMonday-Saturday Opens at 4 p.m. ors and dark Sunday Opens at 3 p.m. woods, it was still the perfect environment for sipping one of their California red blends while watching the N-Judah train rumble by. However, behind the scenes and under the bar, lots had changed. The newly installed draft system offers four draft wines (a rosé from Broc Cellars and three reds), and six draft beers (including Rodenbach Grand Cru and British-made Meantime IPA, which isn't widely available in the United States).
Photo by Ted Estelle InnerFog, which reopened in May, now offers wine on tap, a largely locally sourced small plates menu and an expanded selection of bottled wines and beer.
Owner John Nettesheim also brought on chef Larry Piaskowy, once a manager at Cowgirl Creamery's Sidekick cafe in the Ferry Building, to run the bar-snacks program. The menu consists of two flatbread choices and nine cold plates. Starting off small, I ordered a cheese plate for old time’s sake. Now relegated to a single item on the menu in place of the previous regionally themed list of cheeses, the es-
Photo by Michelle S. Nettesheim The charcuterie small plate at InnerFog comes with coppa aged pork, La Quercia prosciutto, Speck smoked ham and is acccompanied with mustard, pickles and mostarda.
tablishment made sure to make this cheese plate count. Each cheese, including the nutty, slightly grassy Montgomery’s cheddar and the earthy, creamy Red Hawk from the local Cowgirl Creamery, was delicious with the honeycomb, walnuts and crackers served with it. The oysters, sourced from Washington and sampled on another visit, were refreshing and a blast to eat, since each one came with its own mignonette. I also tried the burrata, which was rich and buttery, with a sweet touch from the saba. Lastly, I had a chance to try what is probably my favorite menu item — the steak tartare, which is a bit spicy and topped with a quail egg. Delicious. For more substantial fare, I turned to the flatbreads. I only had a chance to try the smoked duck flatbread, which was nonetheless sizable and is definitely something to be shared if you are combining it with other small plates. The duck and cheddar were layered on a light, crisp crust, and their stronger flavors were allowed to stand out. Roasted potatoes gave an added level of texture. It was a perfect complement to the peppery Brutocao Zin, one of their tap selections. In fact, each time I visited, the staff members were very generous with their time in providing suggestions for wine, based on my tastes. Since the food menu is designed to work well with most of the wines offered, I didn’t feel the need to request specific pairings, but I am sure that they would have helped if asked. The staff ’s accessibility and general friendliness adds to the overall comfortable atmosphere of the bar. It’s no wonder the popularity of this place has steadily grown over the years, since each change so far has been a welcome addition to its overall charm. Here’s to hoping it sticks around to keep adding warmth to the Inner Sunset for years to come.
Angela Castanieto is a fifth-year Tetrad student.
OPINION
Cuts to SNAP Benefits Threaten Food Security in UCSF’s Backyard By Yi Lu Editor
A
s UCSF students, staff and faculty make the final push toward winter vacations, many of us will be going to bed with gluttonous dreams of baked ham and Linzer cookies. But with the recent reductions in the federal food stamps program, with more cuts possibly to come, families in UCSF’s backyard will be struggling just to put food on the table. According to the San Francisco Food Security Task Force, 13% of residents in District 5, which encompasses the Parnassus campus, are living below the federal poverty line, with incomes of no more
than $23,550 for a family of four. However, since the cost of living in San Francisco is so high, any household of four whose income is less than twice that amount is considered to be at risk of food insecurity, with uncertain or inconsistent access to enough nutritious food. This applies to a whopping 28.5 percent of the district. Resources for food-insecure individuals include food pantries, free dining rooms and benefits from CalFresh, California’s food stamp program. In 2009, in the midst of a severe economic recession, Congress passed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, colloquially known as the stimulus,
which increased benefits for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) for all participating households. With these expanded funding levels, the maximum benefit for a household of four based on the USDA’s calculations for a bare-bones diet was $668 a month, or about $5.60 per person, per day. Although SNAP benefits are meant to supplement, not replace, food spending, the astronomically high cost of living in San Francisco leaves residents less money to purchase nutritious food. In addition, in the past three years, the consumer price index for all foods and beverages has risen 5.3 percent, making
it even harder to stretch food dollars at the supermarket register. Given that 28.5 percent of individuals in UCSF’s backyard are at risk of food insecurity, chances are that you will encounter someone in your day-to-day life who is food insecure — your next-door neighbor who is only eating two meals a day, the library custodian who is eating mostly starchy foods to tide him over for longer, your homeless patient who is not sure where she will find her next meal after discharge. Due to Congressional inaction, $5 billion in benefits from the 2009 stimulus expired on November 1 of this year, the first time that SNAP benefits have been cut for all par-
ticipants nationwide. For a family of four, this meant $36 less per month. Based on the USDA’s budget of $1.70 per meal, this means a loss of 21 meals. More cuts are on the horizon. Congress is currently trying to pass an extension of the farm bill, which governs a huge swath of food and agricultural policy. A key point of contention is the extent of cuts to the food stamp program, with the Democrat-led Senate passing a bill reducing SNAP funding by $4.5 billion over 10 years and the Republican-led House voting on a bill reducing funding by $40 billion
SNAP BENEFITS » PAGE 11
8 | December 12, 2013 | synapse.ucsf.edu
FOOD
A Guide to Throwing a Cookie Decorating Party By Alexandra Greer Science Editor
A
s December becomes the month of solid back-to-back holiday parties, I often struggle to find my place amidst a sea of excellent party hosts. I’m not the fanciest, I don’t have the biggest apartment, and I definitely don’t cook meals for large crowds. So what’s an aspiring holiday party host to do? One available niche I’ve snagged for myself is “Christmas cookie baker,” which makes for a great holiday party that’s both easy and memorable. With some simple preparations, you can host a holiday cookie decorating party that all your friends will be looking forward to. 1. Make cookies Bake both sugar cookies and gingerbread cookies for some variety before guests arrive. You can go as simple or as complex as you’d like. On the simple end, you can always buy premixed dough, slice into circles and bake as is, to give your guests a simple decorating challenge, or buy a cheap set of cookie cutouts to take it one step further. Make a maximum of seven cookies per expected guest. For 10 expected guests, that makes for 70 cookies, which should be covered by one batch each of sugar and gingerbread cookies. 2. Icing and Sprinkles I always make my own cookie dough from scratch à la Joy of Cooking and then use store-bought icing; I find this gives me a nice combination of super sweet icing with nottoo-sweet cookies, but it’s up to you! To decorate cookies, I buy three tubs of commercial icing, and split them into small
Photo by Alexandra Greer/BMS6 Some of the key ingredients for a cookie decorating party.
cups with food coloring (red, yellow, orange, green, blue, purple,and white). Create makeshift pastry bags out of Ziploc bags by cutting a tiny hole in the corner of a bag. This works very well for small detail work. I encourage my guests to bring their own sprinkles or special decorations. I now have a solid stash of sprinkles from past guests that we can all use next time around. 3. Play space I set up work areas on my coffee table
and in the kitchen, because my apartment is on the small side. This works well for a group of about 10. Guests can use plastic knives to spread icing onto cookies on paper plates. 4. Drinks For beverages, I encourage my guests to bring an ingredient for their favorite holiday beverage, such as wine, eggnog base, rum or whiskey. I add spices and add-ons to make mulled wine (cinnamon, nutmeg, orange zest, etc.).
REVIEW
Guddu Brings Great Pakistani/Indian Cuisine to the Outer Sunset By Sam Lee
I
f you’re a fan of Pakistani/Indian cuisine and interested in finding the best place in San Francisco, then look no further than the Outer Sunset. Guddu, aka Zulfiqar Haider, is the former owner of the famed Lahore Karahi in the Tenderloin, which he sold after eight years. He has re-emerged from hiding to start dishing out his culinary masterpieces yet again at Guddu de Karahi. The signature dishes are the tandoori fish (tilapia marinated in homemade herbs and spices) and the shahi paneer (lightly fried cheese cooked with nuts in tomato sauce), which is utterly the best paneer in the city.
Guddu de Karahi 1501 Noriega St. (between 22nd & 23rd avenues), San Francisco (415) 759-9088 Open Tuesday-Sunday, 11 a.m.-3 p.m., 5 p.m.-10 p.m.
Tandoori fish is the signature dish at Guddu de Karahi.
Notable dishes include the lamb vindaloo (boneless lamb cooked with potatoes and spicy sauce), chicken tikka masala (seasoned chicken in same sauce as the shahi paneer) and the garlic naan. Each dish has a unique flavor profile, and you can really taste all the unique spices. Honestly, everything here is fresh, delicious and wonderfully made from scratch by Guddu himself. This can be a good and a bad thing. It’s good in the sense that all the food is consistently made and individually unique.
He closely guards his secret recipes like the Soup Nazi in Seinfeld. The bad thing is that you’re going to have to patiently wait for your food to arrive at your table. So expect to wait at least 30 minutes to an hour to savor the delicious aroma from the sizzling pan of tandoori fish to hit your tabletop. If you think that great-tasting Pakistani/ Indian food must come with a premium price tag, you’ll be pleasantly surprised. Most dishes range from $7.99 to $12.99 — and even on a student budget, that’s pretty reasonable.
Photo by Sam Lee/MEPN1
The only negative here is the service is lacking. Hopefully you won’t mind filling your own cup of water or free chai and getting your own silverware. Many locals believed this location was cursed, the space reincarnated numerous times in the form of Hawaiian, Japanese and Korean restaurants. It may have finally reached a state of nirvana with Guddu’s presence.
Sam Lee is a first-year student in the Master’s Entry Program in Nursing program.
5. Music Music is easy to plan with options like iTunes radio and Pandora, which have great Christmas music stations. 6. Decorations Don’t forget to throw up a few strings of Christmas lights. Now, you’re ready to host an awesomely Christmas-themed party!
Alexandra Greer is a sixth-year graduate student in the Biomedical Sciences.
Sugary Drinks » FROM PAGE 5
sweetness, especially when they’re carbonated. Apple juice is no better, with an equal amount of sugar per ounce, 3.25 grams. Snapple, made from nearly the worst stuff on Earth, is close behind, with 2.875 grams of sugar per ounce. Even Vitamin “Water” contains 1.625 grams per ounce! So, while soft drinks are the most problematic, these other sugary beverages are also implicated (see http://www.sugarstacks.com/beverages.htm). Ultimately, an arbitrary line must be drawn, for example, by banning all drinks with more than 1.5 grams of sugar per ounce. People who crave sweeter drinks, of course, will always be able to bring their own sugar with them and add as much as they like. Nevertheless, being the first medical center to take this step would have enormous impact. Modelling healthy habits should be part of every health care program, and UCSF could be a beacon to inspire other institutions in similar sugar-reduction plans. We already have on our campus some leaders in the anti-sugar movement. In the February 2 issue of Nature, Robert Lustig, MD, Laura Schmidt, PhD, MSW, MPH and Claire Brindis, DPH, published an article about sugar in the modern diet and its direct connection to the worldwide health crisis of obesity and related diseases. I call on these visionaries to lead the charge for the campus-wide sugary-drinks ban.
T. Booth Haley is a fourth-year dental student.
synapse.ucsf.edu | December 12, 2013 | 9
MAMA M.
Beating the Winter Blues
D
ear Mama M,
As the holidays are getting near again, I get so depressed. I don’t know why, but I do. Do you have any advice to help me get out of the seasonal depression? I don’t want to take medicine, and I really don’t think I need therapy. I just want to get through it with a better attitude. I actually don’t think it’s possible, but any ideas you have would be appreciated. Sincerely, UNhappy Holidays _______________________________
D
ear Unhappy,
I am extending open-hearted compassion for your struggle. The winter season can be incredibly tough for everyone, in different ways. What could be a valued time of introspection and loving kindness, instead feels like a capitalistic debacle. We don’t seem to be able to avoid the looming and often emotionally charged family dynamic, not to mention the cheesy Hallmark expectation to be joyful. You are among the majority who suffer during this time, sweetheart. This is a tumultuous time, sugar, filled with obligations and bizarre shopping rituals, so try to give your self some love. I also want to say out loud that the fact that you took the time and energy to write in to Mama M. means there is a part of you that remains outside of the struggle. You have an internal witness who is receptive to support. This is a good thing. I spent an entire day on the couch at Thanksgiving reading old New Yorkers, and nothing bad happened to me.
Gluten Free » FROM PAGE 6
short-chain carbohydrates and related alcohols that are poorly absorbed in the small intestine and can act as a substrate for bacterial metabolism and growth, leading to fermentation and the release of gases. This can lead to luminal distension, which can stimulate the gut and explain several functional GI complaints. Proper exploration of the other substances in wheat is warranted before settling on the claim that gluten is responsible for everyone’s symptoms. Irritable bowel syndrome Across the world, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is thought to affect roughly 10 percent of the population. It is characterized by abdominal pain, bloating, flatulence, distension and altered bowel habits in the absence of other specific pathology. No single biological abnormality can explain these symptoms, and some patients have diarrhea-predominant IBS, while others have constipation-predominant IBS. Overall, it is thought to be an inappropriate response to sensory input to the intestine. Since luminal distension is a major stimulus to the gut, via stretch receptors, the ingestion of fodmaps will aggravate symptoms, and in several studies, diets low in fodmaps have been shown to provide relief of functional gut symptoms in patients with IBS. Reducing fodmap intake has become an increasingly common approach to management of IBS in many countries. Celiac disease Celiac disease is an autoimmune disorder, primarily of the small intestine, caused by a
According to the National Institute of Health (ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/ PMC2686645/), seasonal affective disorder (SAD) affects 6 percent of the U.S. population. Another 14 percent of the adult U.S. population suffers from a lesser form of seasonal mood changes, known as winter blues. Personally, sugar, I like the expression “winter blues.” It normalizes it somehow and adds a dash of color. I think if we were supposed to be happy 365 days a year, then we would not have such complex emotional systems. If you are suicidal, unable to get out of bed, have feelings of worthlessness, changes in appetite or changes in sleep patterns, these can be symptoms of major depression, and I urge you to get help. Really, sweetie, please do not suffer alone; there is help out there for you. (sciencecafesf. com/2009/04/07/resources-for-depression/). But, if you are experiencing malaise, a general sense of fatigue, hopelessness and/or judgment for your emotional state, then perhaps a shift in consciousness is your medicine. First, take a minute to be very honest about your baseline emotional state, because this will normalize what is typical for you. Who are you? What is your natural temperament? Your constitution? If you are a reaction to gliadin. The enzyme tissue transglutaminase modifies this protein, and the immune system cross-reacts with the small bowel tissue, causing an inflammatory reaction, leading to flattening of the intestinal villi (elongated projections that increase the intestines’ absorptive surface). This may manifest as abdominal pain or discomfort, malabsorption of nutrients or vitamins, diarrhea or constipation, any of several somatic complaints, and eventually even osteoporosis or certain types of lymphoma. Diagnosis is performed using a combination of serum markers and small bowel biopsy, and current prevalence estimates are between 1:70 and 1:300. If you have been diagnosed with celiac disease, yes: gluten is bad for you. Don’t eat it. But you knew that already. Let’s move on. Non-celiac gluten sensitivity (NCGS) Patients are considered to have NCGS if celiac disease has been excluded and their intestinal IBS-like symptoms markedly improve on a gluten-free diet (GFD). In some experimental models yet to be confirmed in human tissue, gluten has been suggested to cause low-grade intestinal inflammation, increased epithelial permeability and altered protein expression in cells that resemble human gut epithelium. Certain animal models of NCGS have demonstrated some changes in gut neuromotor function and microbiota, independent of intestinal inflammation. There is an abundance of at times contradictory data attempting to characterize genotypic and immune markers of patients with NCGS, looking at cell surface antigens or markers of innate immunity. There are also cohorts with diarrheapredominant IBS patients whose symptoms have been followed on gluten-free diets. The
pretty joyful, social, energetic person who dips into the blues in the winter season, perhaps this is your body giving you permission to lie low, recharge, and learn more about yourself. Depression, when brief and mild, can be a gift to your soul — which, believe it or not, is desperate to evolve. Evolving is hard to do without self-reflection. Modern life tends to be crammed and happening at the highest speeds. There is so little time in most of our lives to do “Nothing.” Doing Nothing has enormous benefits for you, sweet Unhappy one. Doing Nothing gives you time to align with yourself, to become congruent with the person you want to be, to find peace in all of your emotions. We, as humans, spend so much time running from discomfort and running toward “happiness.” But what if all the emotional states had equal weight? What if everything you felt had value? I want you to find peace, sweetheart. I wish I could remove your suffering. But, suffering can be instructive… useful… it can point you in the direction of love and understanding and knowledge and growth. Don’t fight your feelings. Lean into them and use them to guide you into change and growth. The feelings are there to stimulate you to do what needs to be done, to change some thoughts and attitudes and behaviors, maybe…. To grow into who you are supposed to become. Sadness is a force that can generate an impulse for change, and that can be a good thing, sugar. If you are feeling down, and tired, and are trying to push yourself to feel joy or to get into the “Holiday Spirit,” then loving-kindness may be your path. The part of you that reached out to share your struggle is your guide. Listen to your inner wisdom. I want to share a poem with you that someone shared with me when I was suffering from the blues and my own beliefs that I
should not feel this way. Try to accept that it is OK to not-be-happy right now, and try to welcome the sad feelings in. Listen to them, hear what they are guiding you to do. It could be that, if you stop fighting the feelings, and if you listen to them openheartedly, you may see a door into a new way for your life to change. Or you may see that your life is perfect as it is. This poem helped me to find gratitude in the discomfort of depressive thoughts and feelings.
aggregate of these data has been largely inconclusive, either due to conflicting results, methodological weaknesses or the inclusion of some patients who would no longer meet the criteria for NCGS. One of the major flaws of the above-mentioned studies was the failure to isolate gluten challenges from other components of wheat, most notably fodmaps. A group in Australia has recently conducted a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of a single dose of fodmap-free gluten over six weeks, while otherwise continuing a GFD. The gluten group had greater gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms and tiredness within the first week. There were no other marked lab abnormalities, and this was considered the first specific evidence indicating the existence of NCGS. The same group conducted a follow-up study. Following a two-week run-in period on a low fodmap diet, 37 patients with NCGS and IBS who were symptomatically controlled on a gluten-free diet underwent a doubleblind, placebo-controlled, randomized trial of three diets: placebo, low-gluten (2g/day) and high-gluten (16g/day). Participants would try one diet for one week, followed by a two-week washout period, and then switch to the next diet. Symptoms consistently and significantly improved on restriction of fodmap intake, but worsened during each dietary treatment period, irrespective of the amount of gluten in the diet. A double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized re-challenge was then done in 22 of these patients, and they were randomized to receive gluten, whey or a placebo for three days each. The reproducibility of symptom induction was not found to relate to which protein they got. In fact, only two participants had symptoms induced in the gluten arm, and they were not the same two who had a positive response to the high-dose gluten in the
seven-day trial. A very high nocebo effect was found in both trials (where an inert substance causes worsening of symptoms). It is possible that fodmaps are responsible for the typical symptoms of NCGS, or it may be that gluten becomes a trigger only in the presence of dietary fodmaps. Current reviews on NCGS suggest that the significant nocebo effect recognized in patients who have already been on a glutenfree diet make this population an unreliable group to evaluate. Instead, IBS patients who are previously naïve to a GFD may be a more informative study population. Because the evidence does not even truly single out gluten as a causative agent, some suggest the disorder be renamed “non-celiac wheat sensitivity.” In summary, we really do not have hard evidence that gluten is responsible for the complaints people often associate with it. This does not, however, mean it is all made up. Remember, it was once thought that peptic ulcer disease was primarily psychogenic, and we now know it to be related to the bacteria H. pylori. As clinicians, it would be premature to suggest to our patients that we know gluten to be a trigger for the laundry list of problems with which it has been linked in the lay press, such as intestinal symptoms, skin problems, fatigue, headaches, weight gain and autism, but it may be reasonable to try a low fodmap diet (which will overlap greatly with a lowgluten diet) for those with diarrhea-predominant IBS. Finally, if you do not have celiac disease, IBS or NCGS, gluten is probably fine for you, and bread is delicious.
With much respect, Mama M. The Guest House This being human is a guest house. Every morning a new arrival. A joy, a depression, a meanness, some momentary awareness comes as an unexpected visitor. Welcome and entertain them all! Even if they are a crowd of sorrows, who violently sweep your house empty of its furniture, still, treat each guest honorably. He may be clearing you out for some new delight. The dark thought, the shame, the malice. meet them at the door laughing and in vite them in. Be grateful for whatever comes. because each has been sent as a guide from beyond. — Jelaluddin Rumi Mama M. and her editor are health providers at UCSF who understand the challenges facing health professionals. This column offers students honest, compassionate advice, wisdom and love. All communication is confidential. Names and identifying information will be withheld to maintain anonymity. Send letters to MamaM.synapse@gmail.com.
Akshay Govind is a third-year resident in Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery.
10 | December 12, 2013 | synapse.ucsf.edu
PUZZLES
GMO
The Weekly Crossword
ACROSS 1 Wind catcher 5 Save for later 10 Heavy drinker 14 Orchestral heavyweight 15 Solitary sort 16 Unfooled by 17 Desertlike 18 State flower of New Mexico 19 Febreze target 20 Headquartered 22 Get the picture 23 Prominent 24 Yuletide song 26 Hunter's quarry 28 Hide-hair link 31 Ragtime dance 33 Doris or Dennis 36 Part of a conductor's cry 38 Write a check for later 40 Blacken 41 Take unrightfully 43 Molecular bit 44 Taxing job? 46 Not susceptible 48 Do-over, in tennis 49 Type of speaker 51 Restroom sign 52 Former Italian money 53 Con's quarters 55 Fluid with antibodies 58 Dracula, at times 60 Talk smack to 64 Cruise film, "Rock of ____" 65 28th state and a Michener title 67 Boot attachment
1
2
3
by Margie E. Burke
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21 24
28
29
30
22
36
26
38
40
41
44
45
48
49
56
35
62
63
47
50
51
53 58
34
43 46
57
33 39
42
52 55
13
27
32
37
12
23
25 31
11
54
59
60
61
64
65
68
69
70
71
72
73
66
67
Copyright 2013 by The Puzzle Syndicate
68 Italian auto maker 69 Relinquish rights 70 "Star Wars" captain 71 TV sports award 72 Beginning 73 Kind of child
10 11 12 13 21
Not all there Edit menu option Pack away Saddle feature Word after stage or screen 23 Hoarded 25 Software buyer, usually 27 Brief break DOWN 28 Like Steve 1 Wild guess voice Week of 12/9/13Urkel's - 12/15/13 2 Mystical glow 29 Past plump 3 Heron's cousin 30 Comical tribute 4 Weighed down 32 Reject rudely 5 Stallone 33 Bit of info nickname 34 Make good 6 Muss, as hair 35 Saudi Arabia's neighbor 7 Fairytale starter 8 Nerve ending 37 ___ we there 9 Baseball stat yet?
39 Beaver's project 42 Tofu source (var.) 45 Type of milk 47 Cheesy sandwich 50 Musical span 52 Full of passion 54 Rodeo rope 55 Out of the woods 56 Auspices 57 Haul in 59 X or Y, in geometry 61 Familiar with 62 ____ and void 63 Where Paris took Helen 65 Terrible age? 66 Movie backdrop
Edited by Margie E. Burke
Difficulty : Medium
HOW TO SOLVE: (Answer appears elsewhere in this issue)
Copyright 2013 by The Puzzle Syndicate
Piled Higher and Deeper by Jorge Cham
Solution to Sudoku
www.phdcomics.com
title: "A Guide to Academic Relationships" - originally published 11/4/2013
» FROM PAGE 4
containing ingredients derived from GM crops is no riskier than consuming the same foods containing ingredients from crop plants modified by conventional plant improvement techniques.” Even so, some groups have called for mandatory labeling of all foods containing GM ingredients, ostensibly to aid in consumer choice. Indeed, similar laws have already been put into place in the European Union, Australia and India. A 2012 California ballot initiative that would have required GM labeling was narrowly defeated in a statewide election, the opposing effort being led by Monsanto Company, among other big industry supporters of genetically modified foods. In the statement noted above, the AAAS differentiated between labeling intended to protect public health (e.g. food allergen information) and labeling intended to aid consumer decision-making (e.g. “Kosher” or “USDA organic”), noting that legally mandating labeling of GM foods could “mislead and falsely alarm consumers.”
Ultimately, the issue seems to be one of trust. While recombinant DNA technology used to produce GM crops is also used in development of medicines and therapeutics, people are generally more accepting of drugs prescribed to them by their doctor. In the case of GM foods, consumers may be naturally distrustful of profit motives. John Hamer acknowledges that Monsanto missed a key opportunity to educate consumers about the science involved, leading to years of stigma and misinformation. On the other hand, Antony Evans envisions a world where gene-hacking one’s food is no longer the exclusive domain of big agricultural companies, and where farmers could engineer blight resistance genes into their own crops as needed. By “democratizing” the technology, he says, the link between the science and the people could be restored.
Benjamin L. Cohn is a fourth-year BMS student.
synapse.ucsf.edu | December 12, 2013 | 11
ARTS&CULTURE
Cirque du Soleil’s Amaluna is Other Worldly
Snap Benefits » FROM PAGE 7
over the same period. It is estimated that the House bill would remove 3.8 million people from SNAP. Of course, food stamps are not the only tool, and may not even be the best tool, to address food insecurity. True, there are able-bodied men and women on the food stamp rolls, although they only make up 10 percent of the federal program and are usually only eligible for three months of benefits. (Fox News and other conservative media outlets had a field day reporting on a San Diego surfer who used his food stamps to buy lobster and sushi.) True, there are many structural problems making it difficult for families to prepare nutritious meals. In UCSF’s District 5, for example, more than 1,000 housing units lack complete kitchens, and cannot prepare anything requiring more than a hotplate or a microwave.
True, 40 percent of the food produced in the United States is uneaten, with the average American household throwing out 25 percent of the food and beverages it buys. However, with longer-term policy solutions nowhere to be seen and many households still hurting from the economic downturn, minimizing cuts to the federal food stamp program will help ensure that families continue to have access to nutritious food both here in the UCSF community as well as nationwide. So as you enjoy this special food issue of the UCSF Synapse and prepare to gather around the holiday table with your family and friends, take a moment to consider the people in your day-to-day life here at UCSF who depend on SNAP benefits for their basic needs. Then pick up the phone and call your local representative to urge him or her to fight for maintaining funding for food stamps in the next farm bill.
Yi Lu is a second-year medical student.
Photo courtesy of Cirque du Soleil Cirque du Soleil’s dynamic and impeccable performers execute thrilling acrobatic feats in Amaluna.
By Joy Chang Staff Writer Amaluna is the fusion of the words ama, meaning mother, and luna, which means moon. The story unfolds on a mysterious island that is governed by goddesses and guided by the cycles of the moon. Prospera, the queen of the island, orchestrates her daughter Miranda’s coming-of-age ceremony with a rite that upholds femininity, renewal, rebirth and balance. In the wake of a storm called up by Prospera, a group of young men lands on the island, initiating an epic, emotional story of love between Prospera’s daughter and a brave young suitor. The couple face numerous demanding trials and overcome daunting challenges before they can achieve mutual trust, faith and harmony. Cirque du Soleil is presenting Amaluna, directed by the Tony Award-winning Broadway director Diane Paulus at AT&T Park, through January 12, and audiences should
prepare to be amazed under the blue-andyellow Big Top. This story is remarkably translated onto the Cirque stage. Cirque’s dynamic and impeccable performers execute thrilling acrobatic feats, using aerial straps, a Chinese pole, an aerial hoop and a large water ball. In one of the most mesmerizing stunts, the Balance Goddess erects a precarious mobile structure of large palm fronds, resembling a large animal skeleton. At another high point, the Moon Goddess appears on a cerceau, or aerial hoop, bestowing her blessing as Miranda performs a challenging handbalancing routine before diving and snaking through the water ball. Amaluna’s meticulous choreography, remarkable stunts and empowering theme offer a fresh take on the Cirque du Soleil show. The experience is truly out of this world.
Joy Chang is a second-year dental student.
Bourbon and Branch » FROM PAGE 5
vations are not required for standing room at the bar, and you get the same ambiance and the drink offerings as in the reservations-only rooms. While this is certainly a perk of the Library, it can often get crowded. This means the one small bar at the end of the room can get easily overwhelmed making complex bev-
Bourbon and Branch 505 Jones St., San Francisco (415) 346-1735 bourbonandbranch.com Reservations recommended Monday-Sunday 6 p.m. - 2 a.m. erages for a large crowd. It’s probably best to make a reservation. This will get you a seat at one of the many tables or a seat at the bar separate from the Library. Waiters will take your order from their drink menu of 20-odd pages, and can help out if you need suggestions. The bartenders are extremely knowledgeable about their craft and are happy to talk shop with customers sitting at the bar. I’ve gone with reservations three times, including once at the bar, and have enjoyed myself thoroughly each time.
When you make a reservation, you’ll have to decide how long you plan to spend. This is an important decision, because you don’t want to get halfway through a drink and then have to move to the often cacophonous Library to finish up. In my experience, plan to take 45 minutes to an hour if you want to enjoy each drink properly. Also, keep in mind that Bourbon and Branch doesn’t have any food options. One drink I’ve enjoyed with friends is the Frank Lloyd Wright, a combination of bourbon, whiskey, pear liqueur, nocino (a walnut liqueur) and bitters — a little sweetness, smokiness and spice all in one. The menu is so expansive that you should have no trouble finding something to your taste. So if you’re looking for a nice place for a special occasion, make a reservation at Bourbon and Branch through the website, set aside a couple of hours and write down the password somewhere you can easily find it. Nobody wants to be left standing outside the speakeasy door. To make reservations, go to bourbonandbranch.com.
Alexandra Greer is a sixth-year Biomedical Sciences student.
THE STRENGTH TO HEAL
starts with our scholarship.
Capt. Ana Morgan, M.D., HPSP Medical Recipient Brooke Army Medical Center, Texas
You can begin training for the career you’ve always dreamed of with financial assistance from the U.S. Army. Through the Health Professions Scholarship Program (HPSP)*, you could be eligible to receive a full tuition scholarship for an accredited medical program. The HPSP provides reimbursement for books, laboratory equipment and academic fees. You’ll also receive a sign-on bonus of $20,000 and a monthly stipend of $2,157. During breaks, you’ll have the opportunity to train alongside other members of our health care organization. To learn more, call (650)347-3967 or visit San Mateo Medical Recruiting Center 400 S. El Camino Real, STE 450 San Mateo, CA 94402 Email: usarmy.knox.usarec.list.9e3j@mail.mil www.goarmy.com/amedd.html
*Certain requirements and eligibility criteria apply. ©2013. Paid for by the United States Army. All rights reserved. Information subject to change.
12 | December 12, 2013 | synapse.ucsf.edu
3 Ingredient Recipes
You’ll need:
1/2 c. olive oil 1/4 c. balsamic vinegar 1 head of lettuce
1 small can of chili 1 brick of cream cheese 1 small jar of salsa
You can afford on student loans
Protein The What to do:
Bake the sweet potato, peel off its skin, and mash it like crazy in a bowl. Add the black beans, and mash some more until decently smooth. Crush garlic with a fork until pasty, add to mixture. Shape into patties, and sizzle in an oiled sauce pan on medium heat.
Copyright 2013 by The Puzzle Syndicate
Mix the olive oil and vinegar in a small bowl. Wash the lettuce and break into bite size chunks. Pour mixture over lettuce and eat up!
Heat oven to 350̊̊˚̊. Place block of cream cheese in the center of a casserole dish, pour chili and salsa over it. Bake uncovered for 20 min. Let the pan rest, mix it up, and pour in appetizing bowl.
1 small sweet potato 1 c. cooked black beans 2 cloves garlic
What to do:
What to do:
You’ll need:
Spring Break Salad You’ll need:
College Dude’s Bean Dip
Solutions
Skinny The
The Appetizer
Veggie-Yum Burger
In embracing my grad student identity, I began a search of potluck-worthy recipes that I could afford and claim as my own. Disclosure: friends, remember those muffins I “made” for our first-year BBQ? Yeah...but no. My roommate, with the eggs and cream of tartar, baked those for me to pawn off as my own. I was desperate guys!
The Sweet
So what went wrong that afternoon before the BBQ? Why am I the one always signing up for the utensils and napkins? Why do I avoid cooking from scratch? Because I can’t afford the flour, sugar, vanilla, cream of tartar, baking soda and paking powder, milk and eggs that otherwise I don’t consume, powdered sugar and sprinkles, yeast, specialty nuts, and basically any ingredient that’s not a staple in my diet. For me, bringing in a batch of cookies is a $30 endeavor. Here are the results of my quest. They have become my go-to recipes until I graduate. Created by Ilka Felsen
Finals Week 5-minute Cookie You’ll need:
1 c. rolled oats 2 bananas 1/4 c. chocolate chips
What to do:
Preheat oven to 350˚. Peel and mash the bananas, add in oats. Gently fold in chocolate chips. Spoon onto baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake 10 min.
Solution to Sudoku
Get a gourmet taste of Italy. panini, insalate, zuppa, hot pasta, gelato, dolci We offer student discounts. Millberry Union, Plaza Level 415.681.9925
Mon-Thu, 6:30 am-6:00 pm Fri, 6:30 am-4:00 pm Closed Sat & Sun
You’re Funding Fun! A portion of every dollar you spend at campus retail vendors helps support Arts & Events at UCSF
Free Online Classifieds for UCSF Students & Staff on Synapse Who needs CraigsList when you can post FREE classified ads on the Synapse website? All you need is a ucsf.edu email account. Go to synapse.ucsf.edu/classifieds to sign up today!