Furry Friends
In the recent ABC News article “For Empty-Nesters, It’s Kids Out, Furry Friends In,” I found out that more than eight million people say they’re as attached to their dog as they are to their own children. Crazy? or understandable…Whatver the case may be, these furry friends are filling the gaps of grown-up children after they move away. Chuck and Robby Robbinson say they got their dog, Annie, shortly after their son moved to London, and “She’s the child; she’s the only child now,” says Chuck. In fact, the Robinson’s recently moved to a one-story house because of Annie’s diagnosed elbow problem with climbing the stairs-now thats love. Psychologist Patricia Farrell says pets can give empty-nesters a purpose in life after all their children have left the house.
“[Having a pet is] a way of having something that loves you no matter what,” Farrell added. “But it also fills a need. And the need it fills is something to love and something to take care of, and something to give more purpose to life.”
I think that pets are definitely an important part of the American family. There’s nothing better than coming home from work or school and always having that furry friend greet you at the door with an adoring look in their eyes like “you’re the best”-everyone needs to feel loved like this! Pets, dogs especially, just know how to love their families, and I think it’s good to have something there even when all your children are gone.
Ferrell, Patricia. “For Empty-Nesters, It’s Kids Out, Furry Friends In.” ABC News 18/3/07 18/3/07 <http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=2960017&page=1&CMP=OTC-RSSFeeds0312>.
BMI Often Not Accurate Indicator
In the recent article “BMI Often Not an Accurate Indicator of Body Fat,” I read about the recent research projects that Michigan State University and Saginaw Valley State University conducted on BMI-or body mass index. The research team took the BMI’s from over 400 college students-some of whom were athletes and others were not-and found in most cases it did not match accurately with their percentage of body fat. BMI is determined by the equasion: Person’s weight divided by his or her heaight squared. Generally a BMI of 25 or higher indicates overweight and 30 and above indicates obesity.
“BMI should be used cautiously when classifying fatness, especially among college-age people,” said Jim Pivarnik, an MSU professor of kinesiology and epidemiology. “It really doesn’t do a good job of saying how fat a person really is.”
The problem, especially for young people and athletes, is that BMI doesn’t distinguish between body fat and muscle. Whether you’re a 75-year-old man or an in-shape college student, the same cut-off points are used. Maybe the better thing to do would be to have different classifications for different people.
“Is a BMI of 25 for overweight and 30 for obese the right ones to use with 20- to 29-year-olds in terms of disease risk?” Jim pivarnik, an MSU Professor of kinesiology and epidemiology asked. “Maybe it could be as simple as this: If you’re a regular exerciser or an athlete, maybe 28 is overweight for you and 33 is considered obese.”
Pivarnik, Jim. “BMI Often Not and Accurate Indicator of Body Fat.” Sportsmedicine.com 5/3/07 11/3/07 <http://www.sportsmedicine.com/index.php?p=137>.
Baby Found
In the recent ABC News Article “Kidnapped Texas Baby Found Safe in N.M” I read about the scary, but true story of an infant who was taken from his bed in the Covennant Lakeside Hospital in Lubbock Texas. The infant was taken early saturday morning by a woman posing to be a medical worker at the hospital. “She put 5-lb baby Mychael in her purse and walked out the door,” police say. A 21-year-old woman is now in custody and being questioned. She was expected to be arrested on a Texas warrant alleging aggrivated kidnapping, and federal charges also could be pursued. The woman was not an employee at the hospital, but authorities say Mychael was kidnapped by someone who “was pretty sophisticated,” and had knowledge of the security procedures.
When I read this article I was very surprised at how easily this young woman got out with a baby of all things….I think it’s crazy that anybody would even want to do a thing like that. It makes me wonder how safe a hospital really is. I know I would not feel safe leaving my baby in a place that isn’t safe. It’s a good sign that they caught the woman right away, and the important thing is that the baby is safe and with his mom now.
Blaney, Betsy. “Kidnapped Texas Baby Found Safe in N.M..” ABC News 11/2/07 11/2/07 <http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=2941682&CMP=OTC-RSSFeeds0312>.
“Catch The Immigrant”
As I was scrolling through all the opinion articles on google reader, I read this title and it caught my eye. It turns out the name of this article “Game With No Winner,” is about a game called “catch the illegal immigrant” which is a game that a college student has come up with to play on campus. This game is much like it sounds-one person poses as the “illegal immigrant” and everyone else tries to find them. As you might already be able to tell, this game has cause a lot of controversy. The winner usually recieves a prize-nothing big but “enough to celebrate the cheap exploitation of another human being,” as the article put it. There are other games set up kind of like this one; “Fun With Guns” is a game designed by young Republicans to practice shooting BB guns and pellet guns at cardboard statues of Democratic leaders.
I think these games sound rediculous. At first when I read it, I thought it was going to be a joke, but it’s not. I dont know what posessed college students to come up with these games, but what troubles me even more is that they have caught on at Universities accross the country. I think something should be done to eliminate these games and give these college students more homework because obviously, they have too much time on their hands.
Rich, Frank. “Game With No Winner.” The New York Times 27/2/07 4/3/07 <http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/27/opinion/27tue2.html?ex=1330232400&en=ed3a562b597cee9f&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss>.
Eating- A Big Fat Problem
Drawn once again to the title about American’s way of consuming food, I read the article “‘ExtremeEating’, a Big Fat Problem” by ABC News. Most people are consuming more calories than they realize at any sit-down restaurant. The problem is only getting worse. Jayne Hurley, the senior nutritionist at the Center for Science, says that when she first started analyzing restaurant foods and their calories, the numbers were already quite high-1,000 calorie appetizers, entrees and desserts were common. Since then, she said it’s not unusual to find appetizers and entrees containing 2,000 calories apiece. Add that to a 1,500-calorie dessert and you’ve already met your daily calorie intake.
“The numbers just keep on climbing, and because the information is not on the menu, the restaurants don’t clue people in.”
“Pointing to a select few menu items at a select few restaurants as being high in calories and generalizing that to all restaurant fare is misleading, inaccurate and does the public a grave disservice,” – Jayne Hurley
Wow. Thats just a lot of calories. I think that as consumers, we need to take the responsibility of educating ourselves about the food we eat, because there obviously is no other way to ensure the food we are eating is healthy. It’s sad that restaurants can’t even tell their customers straight forward how many calories are in a certain item on their menu. We just really need to be more careful about what we eat and we need to watch our calorie intake extra close…
Childs, Dan. “‘Extreme Eating’, a Big Fat Problem.” ABC News 26/2/07 27/2/07 <http://abcnews.go.com/Health/Diet/story?id=2905728&page=1&CMP=OTC-RSSFeeds0312>.
Match.com
In the recent ABC News article entitled “Match.com to Announce Overseas Expansion” I read a little bit about why this website is hot on the market for the latest love trends. The company has recently announced it’s expansion into France’s “Netclub” and China’s “eDodo” websites for further growth. Match.com, since it’s birth a decade ago, has nearly 15 million users; all searching for love. It’s already the world’s largest dating and personals service site, and by adding Netclub and eDodo it would increase it’s subscribers by a margin of more the 4 million. Although it already has sites in more than 15 countries and in 15 languages, Match.com’s Chief Executive Officer Jim Safka said the deal was particularly promising because it would be their first time expanding into China.
“This is a way to jump start that process and a way to take a big step forward in growth” – Nate Elliott- Senior Analyst
For me, this was very interesting to read. I was interested in the title when I saw it to begin with. The idea of online dating is foreign to me and it’s very surprising that it’s so popular around the world! I think that if expansion is the thing to keep them going, then by all means-expand. I would probably never join, but for all the single people in China I guess it would create a lot more business for the website, and just more love to go around..!
Slagle, Matt. “match.com to Announce Overseas Expansion.” ABC News 27/2/07 27/2/07 <http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory?id=2907013&CMP=OTC-RSSFeeds0312>.
We’re All Different
In a “This I Believe” article found on NPR’s website entitled “We’re All Different In Our Own Ways,” fourteen-year-old Joshua Yuchasz tells about his struggle to fit in as a young boy. In his essay, Joshua has only one main point: “I believe it’s important to accept people the way they are.” He questioned what our world would be like today if we all listened to the same music, watched the same televsion shows and shopped at the same clothing stores. The answer is pretty obvious; there would be no diversity, no fun, and definitely no mystery. Joshua realized that he wasn’t like other kids at a young age. He had obsessions over small things, and his teacher even threatened to punish him if he ever talked about snakes and lizards again. Thats when the teasing began. Joshua was diagnosed with Aspergers Disease-when you can only focus on one thing and it’s hard to think about anything else. He ends with saying sometimes he wishes he were like everyone else, but not really. Everyone should be respected for who they are.
This article was really interesting to read. This topic is something that all kids know about and i’m sure that parents teach their children not to judge other kids and to accept them for who they are, but it always happens; theres always a kid who gets mocked. I definitely think that differences are a good thing, and we would be nowhere without the occasional person who was willing to “reach out of the box.” People just need to learn to respect, they don’t need to love everyones differences, just respect everyone for who they are.
Yuchasz, Joshua. “We’re All Different In Our Own Ways.” This I Believe 16/10/06 15/2/07 <http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6254308>.
Be Cool to the Pizza Dude
One essay that i read on NPR’s This I Believe page was entitled “Be Cool To The Pizza Dude.” In this essay, Sarah Adams wrote about life through how you treat the ordinary “pizza dude.” She states her life philosophy in four main principles. The first one, “Coolness to the pizza delivery dude is a practice in humility and forgiveness” is all about how we should let the little things, such as getting cut off in traffic, slip by starting with the pizza delivery man. She makes a point that everyone has had to have a job that is dirty and thankless, so we should start by using the delivery man as our icon to remember to slow down for a minute. In another one of her main principles, Adams says that “Coolness to the pizza delivery dude is a practice in honor and it reminds me to honor honest work.” It may sound a little confusing, but the point is simple; we are equal to all people because of the kindness in our heart-and it all starts with the pizza man.
I really liked this essay. When i read it, it totally inspired me to do these things. It’s important for us to take a breath and not be so intense about life all the time. We need to realize that it’s not always all about us, and even when someone else feels that way, maybe we need to be the ones to just say “hey, today is about you and i’m okay with that.” What goes around comes around, so you can only benefit from doing a nice deed. if nothing else, you will feel a little better inside about what you did.
Adams, Sarah. “Be Cool To The Pizza Dude.” This I Believe 16/5/05 15/2/07 <http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4651531>.
Obesity Reaches Preschool
In the Article “Obesity Reaches Preschool” from ABC News, I read some pretty sad things about young children who suffer from obesity. We all know that Americans are overweight, but isn’t it just adults? Wrong. Children as young as 3 and 4 suffer from obesity. Kayla Matos-Galo is a 4-year-old preschooler who, when you look at the scale, could be a twelve-year-old. She weighs a whopping 95 pounds! Kayla has no medical problems; doctors say she just eats too much and went a long time with no physical activity whatsoever. A study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that in 1980, 7 percent of children suffered from obesity. In 2006, the percent increased to 19. Her mother, Luz Matos, says she is worried, but always gave the child what she wanted.
“I didn’t want to see it, that she was obese,” Kayla’s mom, Luz Matos, explained. “I gave her chips. ‘Mom, I want chips!’ I gave her little baggies of chips, a lot of Popsicles, candy. I was neglecting.”
This is sickening to me. Adults are one thing, but children? I just think it’s so sad that kids, our future, are already learning these eating habits. I believe that it’s the responsibilty of the parent while the child is still young to bring them up with healthy eating habits, so that when they are older and more independant they are able to make healthy choices for themselves. Not only will this impact the child’s physical life-not being able to keep up in gym class-but also their social life. Whether we like it or not, even young kids are judged by their peers based on how they look. If and when I am a parent, I am going to do anything and everything I can to bring my child up in a healthy environment. I would never want to see my child already limping through life at such a young age.
Yellin, Jessica. “Obesity Reaches Preschool.” ABC News 9/2/07 11/2/07 <http://abcnews.go.com/Nightline/Diet/story?id=2863420&page=1>.
Be My Valentine–Or Not
In the recent ABC News Article “Be My Valentine–Or Not”, it talks about the highs and lows of February 14, Valentines Day. For many people this is a day of romance and celebration, but others try to avoid all the comotion that this holiday causes, and dread it entirely. Even for the lucky ones with a valentine or a “special someone”, finding ways to celebrate can be a difficult task all by itself. Village Voice columnist and New York nightlife personality Michael Musto has his own view about the most romantic day of the year:
“It’s an enforced day of romance, almost legislating a connection between a couple that should be there anyway,” he said. But “if you’re going to celebrate it, you might as well have fun.”
If you find yourself at a loss for romance-enduced ideas on this special day, you can most likely find some sort of professional help to get you going. Samantha Sperling is the owner of Polished Social Image Consultants in New York City, a firm offering everything from dance lessons to personal shopping. She suggest activities that you can plan to have fun with your valentine, instead of the usual heart-shaped box of chocolates.
“You can make dinner reservations, you can buy spa packages, you can actually call in sick from work and make a day of it,” Sperling said. “You can take your date shopping, offer to buy her a dress, have her try things on. Maybe there is something that she’s always wanted.”
On a personal level this article was more interesting to read then actually helpful, because i actually don’t have a valentine! I think that the ideas that were suggested were good ones. From a girl’s perspective, its not all about the chocolates or the flowers, but about the memories that you shared and the thought that went into it. I know i would love to have a day at the spa or a day of shopping, what girl wouldn’t!?
Brundige, Wendy. “Be My Valentine–Or Not.” ABC News 10/2/07 11/2/07 <http://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=2865455&page=1>.
Olivia's Ideas 