If people wanted to be healthy and slim, then they wouldn’t super size everything, or in this case, order buffalo wings, mozzarella sticks or pizza at 10 p.m.

“You only live once…we might as well pollute our bodies with grease and fat,” may have been said in jest by a University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee freshman, but in the future, when the UWM alumni are all people who are too fat to don Panther-gear and are awaiting triple-bypass surgery, who will be to blame?

With the number of overweight people in America skyrocketing to approximately 65 percent, the candidates most likely to be blamed for this trend are the establishments that serve unhealthy foods.

First the finger was pointed at McDonald’s, Burger King and other fast food places, but presently critics are wondering about a place right here on campus, the innocent, little ol’ Palm Gardens.

Now, some people might see the food being served there as something other than delectable, satisfying and all-together delicious after a long day of studying (or cavorting about while participating in unspeakable acts of mischief; you choose).

Instead those nay-sayers only see grease and fat and un-nutritionally sound products being hawked at America’s up-and-comers.

Yes, it is true that eating too many snacks that are high in calories and fat can lead to an assortment of health problems including, but not limited to: high cholesterol, high blood pressure, heart disease and obesity.

And of course, there are the phrases like the “freshmen fifteen” that are being bandied about, especially considering that almost 90 percent of the Palm Gardens customers are freshmen.

But as Javan Pham pointed out, “I’ve lost ten pounds!” “I don’t know about freshmen fifteen, maybe it’s a negative 15 for me.”

Even if we’re all not as lucky, it’s not like students are being force fed chicken tenders, which are, hands down, Sandburg residents’ favorite item. Each serving of chicken tenders has a whopping 16 grams of fat and 380 calories.

No, instead, almost 40 percent of Sandburg residents merely choose to eat at the Palm Gardens twice a week, because college is all about choices and being an ‘adult.’

We certainly have the options of salads, wraps and other healthy stuff, but it all boils down to that old McDonald’s paradox—if people wanted to be healthy and slim, then they wouldn’t super size everything; or in this case, order buffalo wings, mozzarella sticks or pizza at 10 p.m.

So, to put it simply, Palm Gardens shouldn’t be persecuted just because it is trying to give the people what they want.

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