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Mindful Eating for a Healthier You

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Natalia Velásquez, M.S., Outreach Coordinator | Student Counseling Center, Division of Student Life

From our humble beginnings, our bodies have known how to survive by understanding when they are hungry versus full. It is essential for us to be aware of and connect with both the physical and emotional aspects of our bodies so that we can be more intuitive and intentional in our eating habits. This is called “mindful eating.” 

According to Jon Kabat-Zinn, creator of the Stress Reduction Clinic and the Center for Mindfulness in Medicine, Health Care, and Society at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, mindfulness is the “awareness that arises from paying attention, on purpose, nonjudgmentally.” 

Being able to increase our nonjudgmental awareness of our internal and external experiences just as they are, without trying to push them away or cling onto them too strongly, allows us to use our thoughts, emotions, and bodily sensations as information for what we might need at any moment. In this case, this would mean specific foods, water, body movement, and so on.

Our ability to mindfully eat starts with us acknowledging all of our senses while we eat – sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch – and the emotional, traditional, and cultural ties we have with food. 

This practice helps us to honor our body’s natural hunger and its satisfaction cues in order to nonjudgmentally choose foods for a variety of purposes. These purposes can include nourishment, social enrichment, and enjoyment. enhances our intuitive eating skills, overall. You can practice mindful eating here: Mindful Eating Exercise

When food is seen as a source of stress/anxiety, the natural relationship between the body and mind can be disrupted, especially in a society that emphasizes “diet culture.” This can influence disordered eating. Eating disorders are serious, potentially life-threatening conditions that are influenced by a variety of biological, psychological, and sociocultural factors and can cause consequences for emotional, physical, and social health.

Eating disorders affect a diverse spectrum of individuals with approximately twenty million women and ten million men in the United States developing an eating disorder at some point in their lives. Although eating disorders are complex mental/physical illnesses, 60 percent of individuals with eating disorders make a full recovery with psychological counseling.  It should be noted that the earlier a person with an eating disorder seeks treatment, the greater the likelihood of recovery. 

If you or someone you know are experiencing difficulties with their eating, weight, and/or body, please consider taking the free eating disorder screener available on the Florida Tech Student Counseling Center website at: https://screening.mentalhealthscreening.org/floridatech. This eating disorder screening will consist of answering a brief questionnaire about your thoughts, feelings, and behaviors regarding food consumption, eating habits, and weight regulation. Afterwards, you will receive an explanation about your eating behaviors, as well as additional information about what you can do to help yourself and how to get professional help. For additional information on eating disorders, please visit the National Eating Disorder Association (NEDA), The Alliance for Eating Disorders Awareness, and Eating Disorder Hope websites. 

National Eating Disorder Association (NEDA): https://www.nationaleatingdisorders.org/

The Alliance for Eating Disorders Awareness: https://www.nationaleatingdisorders.org/

Eating Disorder Hope: http://www.eatingdisorderhope.com/

If you find yourself in need of professional help after taking the screener, please reach out for help! The Student Counseling Center is here for you! Our center provides a variety of mental health and wellness services to assist you and other students in successfully reaching personal, academic, and career goals. Please take a moment to visit our website: https://www.fit.edu/counseling-and-psychological-services/ to learn more information about our services and support, as well as resources for psychological health and well-being. Be the healthiest Florida Tech Panther you can be!

National restaurant franchises to transform SUB into Panther Food Court

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Arianna Schuck | Staff Writer

“We’ve waited a long time to put a national franchise on campus,” Tom Stewart, director of campus dining at Florida Tech, said. 

According to Stewart, the SUB cafe was overdue for updates and renovations. With national chains a popular request by students, Florida Tech is converting the former SUB cafe into the Panther Food Court. 

“The university contacted every major franchise in the area,” Stewart said, “[Firehouse Subs, Cosmic Creamery and Einstein Bros] offered excellent reputations, and a good menu variety.”

Firehouse Subs and Cosmic Creamery are set to open in the Panther Food Court near the end of March. Einstein Bros. Bagels will open in the first or second week of April. 

“I’m extremely excited for these corporations to come to campus,” Justin D’Amato, a sophomore majoring in Aviation Management, said. “It’ll be nice to have real subs, real egg sandwiches and bagels and a variety of ice cream, which is long overdue being in Florida.”

A plan for the Panther Food Court. The first restaurants are set to open in late March. Photo: Florida Tech

Bella Worrell, a junior majoring in marine biology, is looking to the Food Court to provide more vegetarian choices. 

“Being a vegetarian makes it harder to find options, however with these new additions to campus, it will add more diversity and more tasty food options for on-campus eating,” Worrell said.

Worrell said that she will miss the old SUB, but with these franchises coming, the excitement of new options and variety will fill that void.   

Students will be able to use both FlexCredit and Panther Cash in the Panther Food Court. 

The Food Court is to be open seven days per week from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. while classes are in session. The operating hours of each eatery will vary.

Brevard Restaurants Navigate Reopening

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Ethan Qualle | Staff Writer

“Business has been good,” Jean Phillipe Reis, the owner of the downtown Melbourne restaurant The Burger Place, said.

Reis is one of many Florida restaurant owners who have navigated through phases of reopening during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

With restaurants and other businesses currently in phase three, establishments like The Burger Place are permitted to operate at full capacity. Face covering mandates appear in many business entrances.

Reis added that he only requires his employees to wear masks while delivering food, not in the kitchen. He said that masks in the kitchen are not necessary when his employees are in close contact with one another on a regular basis. 

Reis is originally from France and provided some insight on the situation there. As of Oct. 30, the government of France has implemented its second lockdown, only allowing for nonessential travel within metropolitan France and Martinique. 

“Places such as bars, restaurants, and metros are places where the spread of COVID-19 is prevalent,” he stated. 

Reis said he also worries that the proximity of The Burger Place to crowded bars in downtown Melbourne is putting him and his employees at risk. 

“Students and young people do not always wear masks at bars,” Reis said.

Main Street Pub in downtown Melbourne has taken significant precautionary measures regarding COVID-19. Lena McAneney, the owner of Main Street Pub, explained several steps she has taken to help limit the spread of COVID-19 in her establishment.

“We have to close the door on Fridays and Saturdays to limit capacity.” McAneney said.

She also stated that they hired a professional cleaning service, Servpro, which continually sanitizes the establishment as needed. On top of that, customers and employees must wear face coverings at all times, except while actively eating or drinking while stationary. 

Main Street Pub has also expanded its outdoor seating, giving patrons additional space to allow for social distancing in an more open environment. McAneney then mentioned that she is at a high risk of more serious COVID-19 symptoms herself, so implementing these protocols were imperative to her own health.

Senior and psychology major Delainee Rust, who works part time at Bruno’s Pizzeria in Cocoa Beach, suggested that the pandemic has affected business flow.

According to Rust, Bruno’s Pizzeria has experienced more demand for carry-out and delivery orders, though the dining room is open.

“Sometimes [customers] have to wait up to 90 minutes for their pizzas due to the influx of orders,” Rust said.

Florida Tech fails to acknowledge reports of rape required under federal law

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By: Emily Walker, Olivia McKelvey, Kevin Boodoosingh

Florida Tech failed to acknowledge multiple reports of rape within the 2019 Annual Security and Fire Safety Reports under the Clery Act.




  • The Campus Crime Statistics lists zero sex offenses have occurred in the in the past three years. If there have been cases of sexual assaults that were not included in the crime statistics, then that is a violation of the Clery Act. 

Two students have come forward with accounts of rape and how they reported their cases through Title IX and Security.

Their cases did not appear on the Annual Security and Fire Safety Reports, which is in violation of the Clery Act.

What is the Clery Act:

In 1986, Jeanne Clery, a student at Lehigh University, was raped and murdered in her residence hall.

Four years later, the Crime Awareness and Campus Security Act of 1990 was established in order to create accountability for reporting violent crimes and providing transparency on campus crime statistics.

The Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act—the Clery Act— is a federal law requiring United States colleges and universities to disclose information about crime on and around campuses.

Due to the fact that Florida Tech receives federal funding, it is required to publish an annual security report for both students and employees every Oct. 1.

What is included within the Clery report:

Florida Tech’s Office of Safety and Security prepares an annual report in cooperation with local law enforcement agencies such as Melbourne Police Department, Palm Bay Police Department and the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office.

Other university departments also work in collaboration with compiling crime reports and statistics such as the Title IX office.

The report is required to include data from the past three years on the following crimes:

  • Criminal homicides such as murder and non-negligent manslaughter and negligent manslaughter
  • Sex offenses such as rape, fondling, incest and statutory rape
  • Arrests and judicial referrals for liquor law violations, drug abuse violations and weapons law violations
  • The “other” category, which includes robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, motor vehicle theft and arson
  • The Violence Against Women’s Act—VAWA—is an amendment within Clery that expands the rights to campus survivors of sexual assault and includes the following crimes:
    • domestic violence
    • dating violence
    • stalking
  • Hate crimes, which include offense definitions relating to hate/bias-related crime, larceny, simple assault, intimidation and destruction/damage/vandalism of property

Clery cites that the following individuals on campus are Campus Security Authorities—also known as mandated reporters— a term created by the Clery Act that encompasses groups of individuals and organizations at Florida Tech:

  • Dean of Students
  • Director of Security
  • Security Department
  • Title IX Coordinator
  • Senior Vice President for Academic Administration
  • Chief of Staff
  • Athletics Director
  • Athletic Coaches
  • Office of Student Life
  • Director of Student Housing
  • Other Campus Security Authorities that have a “significant responsibility for student and campus activities.”

Clery geography:

Another factor Clery examines when categorizing data is geographical location of a specific crime.

Clery includes both on-campus and non-campus locations within the report.

An on-campus location is defined as any building or property owned or controlled by an institution, such as an academic building or dorm.

Non-campus geographic location can refer to any Florida Tech owned entity that is frequented by students.

The non-campus definition also includes campus leased or rented spaces for an event that was sponsored by the university or any building or property owned or controlled by a student organization that is officially recognized by the institution.

How Florida Tech violated the Clery Act:

In the 2019 Annual Security and Fire Safety Reports, all sex offenses, including rape, were cited as zero for the past three years.

According to definition in Florida Tech’s 2019 Annual Safety and Fire Report, rape is defined as “the penetration, no matter how slight, of the vagina or anus with any body part or object, or oral penetration by a sex organ of another person, without the consent of the victim.”

An anonymous student has gone on record and said that her rape, which occurred in 2018 on campus, was not included in the Clery report.

“I went into the Title IX office because I wanted this put down on record,” she said. “I wanted them to know that women are being assaulted and raped on this campus.” 

The student went to the health center and Counseling and Psychological Services, neither of which are mandated reporters.

She later went to Linda Jancheson, the Title IX coordinator, who reports to, as listed in Florida Tech’s organizational chart, VP/General Counsel.

“I spent 20 minutes waiting in the Title IX office, five minutes in Jancheson’s office and I left with three extra papers that I didn’t know what the hell meant,” the student said.

The student later talked to another Campus Security Authority and discussed her options with Security.

She ultimately decided not to take action against her rapist and no charges were filed in this case. 

Despite the student not taking action, according to Frank Iannone, director of security, whether or not a victim decides to pursue charges, a report is made regardless of the outcome.

When asked how many cases of rape have been reported to Jancheson for the past three years, she said, “I do not know the exact numbers.”

When asked how many Title IX reports Jancheson handed over to Security to include within this year’s Clery report, she said, “I do not know.”

The Title IX coordinator was asked these same questions two times, in two separate interviews, and responded with “I do not know,” in each instance.

Jancheson went on to say that she was not in the Title IX coordinator position when reports were made last year in 2018, though her start date was February of 2018.

Another anonymous source was raped in 2017 on campus and reported her rape to Security in 2018.

The student went through an investigation and disciplinary hearing, which took over one year and resulted in disciplinary action for her rapist. 

This student’s rape was also not included within this year’s Clery data. 

“Sitting down with two security officers not once, but twice to relive the details of my rape in depth and on record was anything but a warm environment as a victim,” she said. 

After her initial report, the student heard nothing for five months regarding the investigation and the scheduling of the disciplinary hearing.

“It was the worst experience of my life,” she said. “The process of reporting it was nearly as bad as my actual rape.”

It is not immediately known whether or not campus security filed these two reports of rape with local law enforcement.

Both sources will remain anonymous. The Crimson does not disclose the names of sexual assault survivors.

Repercussions for violating Clery:

According to a press release from the National Association of Clery Compliance officers and professionals, as of February 2019, the new amount that the U.S. Department of Education can impose for noncompliance with the Clery Act is $57,317 per violation. 

In 2016, Penn State was fined 2.4 million dollars for having been “out of compliance” for 11 serious cases dating from 1998 to 2011.

In 2018, the University of Montana was fined $966,614 for “inaccurate and misleading crime statistics” from liquior law violations to cases of rape between 2012 and 2015. 

Two anonymous students at Florida Tech have come forward to discuss their rapes in 2017 and 2018 and how they reported it to Security.

Those cases have not been cited within this year’s Clery report. 

Iannone said that from the statistics that are provided within this year’s Clery report, he feels the numbers accurately represent the campus.

If you have made a report to Security or Title IX and feel it has not been handled correctly, visit endrapeoncampus.org/the-clery-act to file a complaint.

As a student-run newspaper, your voices are extremely important to us.

If you feel you have experienced something similar as described in this piece and would like to speak with us, please contact us at crimson@fit.edu.

National Sexual Assault Hotline -1-800-656-4673
Women’s Center Counseling 321-242-1526

Homecoming wraps up the week with carnival

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This year’s carnival offered free beer, food and entertainment to the Florida Tech community.

Food trucks gathered in front of Crawford Green on Oct. 26., offering SMAC and El Cubanito, frozen chocolate bananas, and Meg O Malleys, a new addition to this year’s carnival.

Cat Nanney, director of student involvement, said she was pleased with the turnout of the event.

“It was the best year of homecoming we’ve ever had, even with the new beer garden for parents to join in on the fun,” said Nanney. “We decided this year to put more money toward merchandise that students can walk away with but still wanted to bring those fun carnival games.”

A homecoming shirt and a cloth bag were given out to students for free, as well as food tickets for the food trucks on the field.

Other than typical carnival games run by Residence Life, a new addition was a laser tag tent across from the beer garden.

“A lot of people showed up at this event this year,” Nanney said. “There were over 700 students that checked in, and we had to stop for a while due to the overflow of people.”

Families and parents were invited to the carnival due to Florida Tech family weekend occurring.

Alexandra Abova-Volkova, homecoming chair, said she had a good experience organizing the event, as well as the other events that occurred during the week.

“This is a larger turnout than it has been in the past years and the addition of a beer garden might have contributed to it,” said Volkova. “Although the activities at the football game were rained out, all the other events went smooth, even the talent show.”

The homecoming royalty winners were announced near the end of the carnival, as well as winners of a raffle.

Campus Activities Board and Phi Sigma Sigma won the royalty in first place, Alpha Phi and Baseball Club won second place and Delta Tau Delta and Residence Life came in third place.

Students such as Ivan Hernandez, a sophomore in computer science, won a Nintendo Switch for winning in the raffle.

“I didn’t even know how to react about it because I never win anything like that,” Hernandez said. “I had a really fun time hanging out with my fellow drumline members, and by far the best moment last night was the picture booth since we got to keep those memories.”

Even with the variety of food stations, some students like Erisa Hasanl, a Florida Tech alum, said they wanted more activities to take part in.

“It was much better last year,” said Hasanl. “There were more bouncy houses and games, but now there’s a lot of food for a lot of people. It felt like an actual carnival before.”

Hasanl also mentioned that the grass on the fields were very wet and difficult to walk across due to the rain earlier in the day.

Despite the mixed reaction, Volkova said it was a great experience for her to help run the homecoming events this year.

“Even though I’m graduating next semester and won’t be able to stay on the committee, I’m excited to see what Sam will do for next year,” Volkova said.

Combating food waste at Florida Tech

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Last year just shy of one million people walked through the doors of Panther Dining Hall.

Students, faculty, staff, members of the community, summer camp participants and more enjoyed their buffet-style meals.

However, they were also contributing to the 456 pounds of food waste that PDH generates on a daily basis.

With a large flow of both on-campus and off-campus students, coaches, professors and more, PDH is relied upon by many.

As soon as the doors open to when the dining hall closes, anywhere from 850 to 1250 people might swipe in between breakfast, lunch and dinner.  

 The estimated 456 pounds of pre-consumer and post-consumer waste was determined by using volume-to-weight conversions from the Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Resource Conservation and Recovery.

To elaborate, there is a clear distinction between pre-consumer waste and post-consumer waste.

Anything that comes from meal prep and cooking-related activities, including the non-edible portion of foods such as vegetable trimmings and watermelon rinds, are deemed pre-consumer waste.

Post-consumer waste—the majority of campus food waste—consists of the leftovers and discarded items that dining hall goers are putting back onto the trash conveyor.

“We attempt to keep our production levels to the point where we have zero pre-consumer food waste, but that isn’t always possible,” said Jon Skoviera, head chef at PDH.

Stewart and Skoveria also highlighted how PDH  has taken multiple steps in attempting to minimize pre-consumer food waste. 

Implementing techniques such as batch-cooking (a “cook as you go” method), daily meal prep sheets, post-shift inventory and using smaller plates than other college campus dining halls to control portions all aid in diminishing food waste.

The fact that there are no trays and no to-go option also encourages a system that promotes using all  resources in a cost-effective manner.  

“One of the most important tools that helps with reducing the volume of food waste is the pulper,” said Evan Olsen, assistant director of campus dining.

The pulper essentially grinds, compresses and rids the waste of any liquid to make it lighter and easier to throw away.

Olsen also mentioned that the pulper helps minimize the university’s carbon footprint and reduces landfill contributions by about 75 percent.

While 456 pounds may seem high for a daily measurement of waste, some students feel that it’s not a tremendous amount in comparison to other universities.

“I feel 456 pounds might not be as bad because we have a small undergraduate enrollment, only one dining hall and not every student has a meal plan,” said Carter Juskevich, a senior in sports management and marketing. 

Other students such as Ally MccArron, a senior majoring in sustainability and the vice president of SOSA, stated that 456 pounds is a lot of mass to comprehend, but “most likely not nearly as bad as some other campuses.”

Data from the National Resource Defense Council reports that 22 million pounds of food are wasted each year on college campuses, with the average college student contributing to about 142 pounds in food waste.

With that being said, Florida Tech seems to be doing above average in terms of food waste management.

On a much larger scale, data collected and reported on behalf of Michigan State’s Agro-Biology Research lab in 2018 reported an annual 516,818 pounds of pre-consumer and post-consumer food waste.

Based on the daily waste, Florida Tech would have an annual pre-consumer and post-consumer food waste of 166,440 pounds.

However, there is a large difference in undergraduate enrollment, where Michigan State has just under 40,000 and Florida Tech has about 3,600 undergraduates with only 2,100 of them having meal plans according to Stewart. 

While Florida Tech facilities has previously attempted to manage food waste by composting just pre-consumer trimmings and scraps, the university has never institutionalized composting for combined pre-consumer and post-consumer food waste.

“It’s something we’ve looked into before,” Stewart said. “But in terms of finding something that is cost-effective and finding a commercial composter in Florida, it’s extremely difficult.”

 Other issues when it comes to composting such as space, maintenance and quality control have also arisen. 

 “The main challenge about trying to institutionalize compositing is where to put it,” said Quinn Duffy, Florida Tech’s sustainability officer.

“We are zoned in the city of Melbourne building code as an institutional property, so the problem is that we have bought residential properties, and we have to be very conscious about smell, noise, traffic, things like that,” Duffy said.

In the past few weeks, Florida Tech has been discussing partnering with local farms, community members, clubs, the Brevard Zoo or any other organizations who are interested in setting up a composting program, but don’t have the volume of compostable waste that the university does.

According to Duffy,  institutionalizing composting on campus “would be likely” within the next six months to a year.

This would allow grounds on campus to use the fertilizer for amending soil for plants, or beds and filling in places where there will be higher nutrient landscaping.

When asked about how they would feel about composting becoming a reality on campus, Juskevich and MccArron both said they are in favor of it as long as it is economically feasible and cost-effective option.

In the meantime, while the campus awaits its first large-scale composting operation, MccArron urges students to be more conscious of what they put on their plates and to monitor what exactly they throw away.

“Even if one student goes into the dining hall and says, ‘Oh, I’m going to try working on portion control,’ they create less waste and that’s one step in the right direction,” MccArron said.