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&gt;.

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&gt;.

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&gt;.

“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&gt;.