Response to Bottled Water Speech

After watching my speech on bottled water, I do not think I would change my topic. The topic was of adequate depth and had I paid attention to time a little better, my speech length would have been just right. I also think that the topic was quite relevant to the times we are currently in. The world seems to be really changing and moving towards a new green way of living more so than it has ever in the past. It also is a good group to bring the topic up to, especially in a life sciences course. I thought that I did a good job of presenting the material and used good tone and expression. I could have done a little bit better job of transitioning from slide to slide however. I also could have used a few more counter-arguments, no matter how sparse they may be. Also my length was a problem. One minute over is actually quite a bit and I know that I would have received a better grade had I paid more attention to my time. I thought that my power point was very effective and it aided my presentation very well. Overall I thought I did a great job of persuading the class why they should not buy bottled water and why they should advocate that no one else does. Hopefully people enjoyed listening to my speech; I was rather entertained.

Respnse to Athavi's blog post

I read Athavi’s blog post about organic food and decided to write a response to it. I really like the topic she picked since this year I have been reading an enormously large amount of material relating to the organic food industry and local farming. Essentially the arguments made against organic farming in my opinion are shortsighted and biased by greed. While organic farming takes more time, effort and money to grow food without the typical industrial food pesticides used today, the real cost of non-organic methods must be assessed from a health and sustainability standpoint. The second article states that there is no link between diseases and non-organic food. This year in my environmental studies class I listened to a presentation about a study conducted on campus dealing with the study of pesticides. The study found that even amounts of less than .05 ppm could cause diseases such as cancer and gene deterioration. These are the same pesticides that are used on non-organic food today. While organic farm practices are much better than the non-organic farms’, organic farms can still become industrial and relatively bad. I believe that the real piece of mind comes from locally supplied produce in which the buyer holds a relationship with the farmer. This scenario can be best exemplified by the farmer’s market on the square. Overall I don’t disagree that organic farming regulations are beneficial to our health, but I think that just because it is organic, doesn’t mean it is sustainable. And that is what I see as the most important question; is the practice sustainable?

Legalizing Marijuana

The debate about the legalization of marijuana has been heating up in recent times, as most people are aware of. I decided to read articles from both viewpoints to gain better insight on the topic. One article I found was on time.com. It discussed the economic benefits of legalizing marijuana. The article made several good points about the benefits of decriminalizing the product.
“We spend $68 billion per year on corrections, and one-third of those being corrected are serving time for nonviolent drug crimes. We also spend about $150 billion on policing and courts, and 47.5% of all drug arrests are marijuana-related. Joe Klein Makes an awful good point that it is an awful lot of money that could be spent on better schools or infrastructure — or simply returned to the public. He also highlights the ability to tax the product and possibly bring in millions of currently wasted dollars. He fails however, to discuss the health hazards of marijuana. Maybe he is assuming that most people know smoke and carcinogens are not good for people.
The next article I read was against the legalization of marijuana. The article listed many reasons why the drug should not be legal in the states. Reasons like the gateway theory, increased crime rates, moral issues, increases in child use, physical damage and increased second hand smoke issues. After reading both articles and using my prior knowledge of the subject I still agree mainly with the article for the legalization. Studies have shown results that debunk most of the negative myths. The biggest question I see at hand is the economic impact. Some questions have been brought forth about changing such a huge economic system and its effect on the world. Right now the world seems to co-exist with the drug world and almost depends on it. And while there is no doubt that we are wasting money prosecuting people for this non-violent crime, the system currently operates and co-exists with the underground trade of the drug. Making the production and sale of such a highly profitable illegal business legal makes the current operation susceptible to the corporate and industrial world that seems to be ruining this nation currently. The best argument that could be surmounted against the legalization besides the possible negative economic impacts would be from a health standpoint. But if we look at cigarettes and alcohol comparatively to marijuana, the argument is ludicrous. Hell, even the food industry through cancer and diabetes could be held accountable for more deaths that marijuana has ever been proved to cause.

response to J.R. Holle's blog

In J.R Holle’s blog, she discusses the health of Americans today and their food choices. She uses Michael Pollan quotes to further back up her ideas. Here is a quote I liked that she included. “In his book, Pollan suggests that an overabundance of food in America has made us indifferent towards food, causing us to eat more and enjoy less”. I agree with this idea but also feel that it is not the only reason our eating habits have changed and we have become an unhealthier nation. We are eating foods that are un-natural and lack the healthy nutrients that our species has been eating for the past 10,000 years. Food intake has turned into almost a pastime instead of a necessity and when this happens, we do not cherish the food we have. Along with this change, our perception of healthy has been shaped and altered by the government, and food and health administrations. Within the poor regulations of these administrations, food producers are able to make food as quickly and inexpensively as possible with the only thought of the consumer in mind being how can we get them to buy more. The food industry has become more of an advertisement industry. People have come to base their decisions off of what lies they see on packaging, and basing their concerns of health off what popular ideas our culture has today. Along with this, her part in the blog about low-fat processed foods makes for a dead on depiction of our food industry today.

Ben Stein Clear Eyes

The implementation of Ben Stein in Clear Eyes commercials creates an effective advertisement campaign although his relation to clear eyes is unconceivable. Stein is an American actor, writer, lawyer, and commentator on political and economic issues. He attained early success as a speechwriter for American presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford. Later he entered the entertainment field and became an actor, comedian, and Emmy Award-winning game show host. I assume that it was his short debut in Ferris Bueller’s Day off that made him the perfect candidate for Clear Eyes eye drops. Who could forget the unmistakable monotone voice, “Bueller, Bueller.” And I feel that clear eyes couldn’t ask for more in advertisement. Their ads became unforgettable. They were simple displays of Stein presenting a ridiculously large beachball-sized eye. I applaud both Clear Eyes and Ben Stein for creating such a memorable commercial.
Stein has frequently written commentaries on economic, political, and social issues, along with financial advice to individual investors. However, I doubt that Clear Eyes was happy with Stein’s outright ideology of intelligent design and his belief of scientific virtues. Here is a quote from Stein, which relates to a film he wrote and starred in called, Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed; “Love of God and compassion and empathy leads you to a very glorious place, and science leads you to killing people.” I have not seen a Clear Eyes commercial in quite a while, but I am curious about how they plan to advertise in the future considering the stance Ben Stein holds. However, his public image may still be somewhat intact and the ad campaign may still prove to be productive. After all, they are only selling eye drops, not running for office. I personally have never bought Clear Eyes; eye drops are expensive!

response to Kevin's Tim Tebow post

This post is in response to Kevin’s blog post about Tim Tebow and his endorsement of a pro-life campaign advertised by Focus on the Family, a pro life Christian organization. While I did not see the video, I checked out the homepage for this group and it seems that the organization is a non-profit Christian group focused on helping families via redemption and several missions and principals that are rooted in Christianity. The only concern I have is the actual impact the company is having and where they are getting their money form. While it is no secret that the catholic church is incredibly well endowed, I am still not sure where the funding is coming from to propagate this organization on the grand stage that is the super bowl. And not only did they seize an incredibly expensive slot, they also organized for Tim Tebow to endorse their company. And while I don’t disagree that he is an applicable candidate for this organization, I simply wonder how much he was paid. If this organization is spending so much money on advertising, how much money are they delegating to the families who contact them? I see this organization’s advertisement as a taken opportunity to protest abortion. While I don’t disagree that all people are entitled to their own opinion, I have always felt that these opinions should stay rooted in said person, and to impose one’s ideals onto another or say I don’t know about 106 million people is absurd. Now I am not sure if this company is simply trying to get their name out to people and families so that they may be helped, or if they are simply propagating the Christian ideals through their organization. Either way, I hope some good is coming out of Focus on the Family, and that its members are helping more people than just themselves.

demonstration speech

After viewing my demonstration speech, I realized that my introduction was slightly lacking and that I could have related my topic to the class a little more. Starting off I used the same hand gesture a few times in a row and this kind of a start to a presentation can set a negative tone over the whole speech. But for the most part, I thought my speech went quite well. My enunciation was good; there were never any times when I couldn’t hear myself on the video. I also kept eye contact with the class throughout the entire speech. I thought my visual aids were effective and that the power point sufficiently supplied the visual information needed for the class to understand my topic. It was a little long and I realized that the time constraint would become an impending problem the minute that I chose to show the class how to build a wooden canoe, but I think that the topic made for a good speech nonetheless. Along with my introduction, I would change my conclusion in the future if I were to give the speech again. It was slightly lacking and I didn’t put much thought into it. I think any more of a relation I could have created between the class and my canoe would have made my speech that much better. Overall I thought I did a fine job with the demonstration speech project and I was able to actually stand the sound of my voice on camera for some reason.

Prepare a Meal

Last week, I went to the market below lucky with my friends Mike and Kevin. We were planning on making a meal for the night after I proposed the idea. After about a half an hour of contemplation we decided on the cheapest macaroni and cheese and hot dogs. This meal had been one of our favorites throughout the years and the anticipation of our blast from the past was accruing. So to the Sellery kitchen we went after renting a pan, a bowl and a spatula from the front desk. And about a half an hour later, we had created the meal we envisioned and became quite hungry in the process. Creating this meal was relatively easy and quick; this obviously is a plus for any college student or person for that matter. We then proceeded to gorge ourselves on the overly processed, easily ingested concoction. Upon finishing the meal and cleaning up the small mess we had made, we all began to feel the effects of our meal. I was incredibly full and could almost feel the noodles expanding in my stomach. I gained an overall feeling of satisfaction from the fact that I received such a full feeling after spending so little money. This fact however conflicted with the knowledge that the hot dogs and cheese sauce are overly and industrially processed materials that are not the most beneficial foods for my health. My knowledge was somewhat supported by an article I read online about sodium nitrate in hot dogs. I also read Michael Pollan’s article about the food we eat and how the “innovations” of food are unhealthy and I found that I agree with most all of what he says. I just wish that I was able to eat more the way he describes and I am confident that next year it will be easier for me to do so.

Respnse to Jake's Tiger Post

I read Jake’s blog post about Tiger Wood’s endorsement and sponsorship with Gatorade. Jake discusses the relationship between Tiger and Gatorade in the past and the legitimacy of the relationship. I agree that a golfer endorsing an energy or electrolyte replacement drink is slightly ludicrous, but I think that Gatorade simply picked the most popular athlete they could. And it could be argued that their slogan, “is it in you?” is actually very fitting to the situation. For although tiger does not physically exert himself in golf the way other professional athletes do, he must be mentally sound. I think that Gatorade is simply hoping that people will associate the qualities they saw in Tiger with Gatorade and indirectly have a very positive connotation about Gatorade. I think that Tiger shows an apt demonstration of mental athleticism, a form that may very well be the most important aspect of athletics. For without being mentally focused, the most athletic person in a sport will not be the most influential. So I can understand why Gatorade chose Tiger besides his immense popularity. This does not negate the fact that golf is not the most physically taxing sport in which an electrolyte replacement drink would be most prominent in, and I hope that the general public realizes this slight fallacy. However, the recent actions Tiger has taken take a toll on Gatorade’s tone. I imaging that Gatorade is only hoping that the public chooses not to associate such actions with its company. Overall I agree with the points that Jake made.

Real vs. Fake food

Growing up, my family always had organic foods around and I guess I simply grew accustomed to natural tasting foods. But now in college, I don’t have access or the money to the rather pricey (in Madison at least) organic food. One of these foods is natural yogurt that we received from a local organic farm. I always enjoyed these yogurts even though sometimes they were slightly inconsistent in taste. Throughout the years I of course tried the typical Yoplait or Go-Gurt brands but they were a little "fake" tasting to me. Now in the dorms, I have the choice between Yoplait and Sugar River Farms’ yogurt. At the start of the year, I had Yoplait. I tried the “Thick and Creamy”, “Whips” and normal strawberry Yoplait flavors. The Yoplait all tasted fine, but they seemed slightly un-natural. They were homogeneous and very creamy, which is a stark contrast to the thick and heterogeneous yogurt I was used to. For nutritional values, the best equivalent to the organic yogurt I had found was the Sugar River yogurt. The Sugar River yogurt has more fat but is made only from cream line 1 % yogurt cultures and strawberries, while the Yoplait contains grade A milk, strawberries, high fructose corn syrup and an ingredients list that is far too long to include. After reading some of IDOF, I trust the sugar river much more and I find that I like the taste more, even though it is more expensive. I see myself staying away from the Yoplait yogurt in the future and sticking to more natural forms of dairy products. One link that I found is an article about Sugar River Dairy products. It describes the way they make their products and the environment in which they are made. Here’s the link: Sugar River Farms.

Response to In Defense of Food, by Michael Pollan

Michael Pollan introduces his book through an overview of the entire book’s content. He essentially summarizes the main topics and shows intent to discuss them in further detail. He keeps it simple at the start, as if to say well, it’s only food after all. The book delves into western culture and epitomizes the reasons for our eating habits. Habits like fast food, over industrialized and over processed goods, and even political and economical travesties that created mindsets about certain foods. He essentially shows that what humans need to do to eat healthily is simple; but that the reasons we don’t are quite intricate.
I agree with everything I have read in Defense of Food so far and I see no reason why I shouldn’t. Americans in particular are notorious for living overall unhealthy lives. We eat too much, we don’t exercise, we are overstressed, we are materialistic, medically we have the thickest files in the world, and yet we are one of the most powerful nations if not the most powerful. All of these problems are in a lot of ways interrelated. It is our lifestyles that make us overstressed and it is our busy lives that make us susceptible to fast over processed food. And it is that susceptibility that creates a market that drives a profit, which makes money, which we all know, makes the world go round. Well at least our world. But changes are being made today, especially in the Madison area. Local organic farmers are thriving and have been at the local farmers market and more and more people are creating community gardens. It is these types of organizations that will lead us back to a healthy and sustainable track that will have a lower carbon footprint. Eating food that is shipped 1500 miles and engineered to stay fresh during the trip makes no sense. We should be eating healthy, locally grown food that will not create the sick and obese culture we see around us everyday. This change alone will reduce healthcare costs, cut our carbon emissions, and improve overall morale in America.