blog

Many people think that tanning is bad for you. In reality, there are actually benefits from tanning if used correctly. People automatically think that you will get skin cancer or something if they use tanning beds, but that is not the case. Like anything, there are risks involved when using tanning beds. But, the benefits really outweigh the risks. Yes, using tanning beds gives people the tan that they desire, but it can also do much more. Tanning beds can help the body produce vitamin D. This vitamin helps the body ward off certain types of cancers, even skin cancer. It also helps keep your bones strong. Tanning even helps when people get seasonal affective disorder. People can develop this in the fall and it can last until the spring. It is a type of depression that is from lack of sun light. The use of tanning beds can help those who suffer from SAD get the light that they need. It can help them feel better. After tanning, people usually feel better too. Tanning can also help with skin diseases and acne that people may have. It can help dry and clear up skin. There is really no reason to worry about tanning unless you abuse it. It is those people who go overboard that give tanning beds a bad name.

Blog

I was recently looking at some possible topics for my papers the other day, and I came across an article that sort of caught my eye. The article was about how much food grocery stores waste. The article said that almost 6 million tons of food is dumped annually. Today’s economy is rough. Everyone knows it. A lot of people are having hardships now. I do not know why grocery stores would throw away all of the food that they have that needs to be rotated or that is close to the expiration date. There are a lot of people out there that are struggling to put food on the table for their families, and I think that more grocery store chains should realize this and do something about it. Grocery stores have the resources to help these families who are in need food. I do not see why some of them decided not to help people in need. There are also many soup kitchens that would love to have the extra food to give to people who are in need. Grocery stores are not the only ones that waste countless amounts of food a year. Many restaurants also end up throwing away tons of food that could be donated to different forms of charity. This just upsets me, because these are the places that could help others out and many of them do not take the time to do it. People would be better off if grocery stores and restaurants would help out people in need by donating their unwanted food.

REFLECTION

I have really noticed lately that I have a hard time picking out topics for papers. I am not sure why I make this harder on myself. I usually feel like I will pick a topic that will be boring for other people to read about. Also, sometimes I feel one way about a certain topic, but there is not enough research or evidence to back it up, so I end up having problems writing about it. I wish that good topics would just come to me, but they just seem to evade me. When I am asked to come up with a topic on the spot, my mind suddenly becomes blank of any ideas. Another thing that I have a problem with is letting other people look over my papers. I know that their feedback might be very helpful to me, but I really do not like the idea of it. I do not even like having my boyfriend or sister read any of my papers. This is why it is so hard for me to be comfortable with other people in our class reading over my papers. I guess I may have a fear that my writing might not be good enough or something. Maybe one day I will get over it, because I know that it is something that really should not bother me.

Standardized Testing

When I was in high school, being “taught to the test” for standardized testing was just starting. Our teachers were given packets of information, things we needed to learn and were told to focus more on the packet and less on what they had planned to teach. The idea was that the students would get better scores by being taught what was supposed to be on the standardized tests. This in turn would make the school look better and they would not lose any of their funding. I guess this is happening a lot these days, and I can remember during my senior year my English teacher talking to us about it. He talked about how he did not become a teacher just to teach us what was on a piece of paper. Basically, his freedom of choosing what we were going to learn was taken away from him, and our class really became boring because we would have to take “pre-tests” every week. I do not really think that “teaching to the test” really helps students. For one, I thought that it was boring and pretty stupid when we would have to go over seven pages of information that we “needed to know”, and then do other work in class. Also, there is so much pressure on students these days to do better and to score higher, that when the time comes to take the test they may be too nervous about screwing it up. I know some people in my school did not even try on their tests, because they were fed up with being pressured to do well. I know that what they did was childish but pressuring students until they are nervous to take the test is not much better. What I guess I am trying to say is that I really do not think that “teaching to the test” for standardized testing is a good idea. In fact, I think that it has negative effects on the students and the teachers who are forced to teach to it.

CASE STUDY

I usually do not know how to start a paper… I even have trouble with starting out my blog. I really do not know why I have this problem, but I know it is something that I really need to work on. I know that endorsement groups would help me with this problem, but I sort of have this problem with having other people read my papers for some reason. I suppose I just need to get over it, since that is pretty much all we are doing in our class. I usually get nervous that my paper is not good enough or I am worried by what other people are going to say. Usually, I get good feedback and have no reason to be worrying about what others will say. Another thing I have an issue with is that I feel bad for telling people what is wrong with their paper. I know we have been told that it is what we are supposed to do, but I still feel bad about it. In the end though, I know it really helps the other person fix and develop their paper more. I now also know that having others look over my paper is a good thing, because I can get new ideas and can see what kind of feedback I get.

4 Day School Week?

After going on the Peoria Journal Stars website, and looking through some of their new news postings, I found one that sort of caught my eye. Davey Haney talked about how Illinois districts could possibly have the option to a four-day school week. Although, this would not affect me now that I am in college, it does make me think about what my younger brother might be facing. It also made me think about how my high school years could have been. In the article, it talks about how a new bill was approved by the Illinois House and that it is now being sent to the Senate to be approved. The bill that they are trying to get approved is said to help the schools save money in this tough economy. The use of technology to stay in touch with teachers on what would have been the fifth day was talked about, but some people are still not sold on this idea. I think that if this were to happen it might be good for the students. Not only would it help with the budget, but it would also help the students prepare for college. If schools were to only meet for four days, and then on the fifth day use computer access from home, or some sort of technology, it would help the high school students get a taste of what some of their college classes will be like. This would also help the students work on responsibility and time management. I think that the students and the schools budgets would benefit from this decision.

Is Winning the Lottery Really a Blessing?

Most people think winning the lottery would be the best thing that ever happened to them. On the other hand, some winners of the lottery know that this is not always the case. Jack Whittaker, the 2002 Powerball winner, won $314.9 million dollars. One would think that he would not have any problems after that right? Well, not only was he sued numerous times, his marriage ended, and his granddaughter, who he said was his whole world, died of a drug overdose. His granddaughter’s drug addiction was said to be fueled by the money that Jack would give her. Another unfortunate “winner” of the lottery was William Post. William won $16.2 million in the lottery, but ended up living on Social Security. Jeffrey Dampier, also a winner, won $20 million. Too bad he did not get to enjoy his win, because his own sister in law kidnapped and killed him. Her boyfriend and she did this because they wanted his money. Kenneth Parker won 25 million in 2003, and not long after his marriage of sixteen years was over. These are just SOME of the examples of people whose lives have been ruined from winning the lottery. Basically, many people think that winning the lottery would be a blessing. For most, it seems to be the opposite, a curse. It has been said that many winners have wished that they had never won, because it changed their lives forever, and not in a good way. These are just some things to consider if you think that winning the lottery would put an end to all of your problems.

Case Study #3

No matter how hard I try I cannot seem to keep from procrastinating. It’s not like I try to put everything off until the last minute, it just seems to be the way it always turns out. I always start out with good intentions and I tell myself that I am going to get some things done ahead of time. For some reason I rarely ever do this even though I know it would make my life a WHOLE lot easier. I find myself distracted by the most random things. For example, I feel like if Facebook were not around I would get a LOT more done. I always tell myself that I will only take a little break, an hour or two later I am still sitting on Facebook being totally unproductive. Also, besides going to school full time, I also work part time. This does not give me a lot of extra time to get things done so you would think I would take advantage of the free time I have to complete some homework. Don’t get me wrong, there are times when I get things done ahead of time but those times are limited. My procrastination does not only affect my school work it also affect some of my daily life. I even put off the simplest things like cleaning my room or getting ready for work. I realize that I have to deal with this whole procrastination issue if I am going to accomplish anything important.

CASE STUDY #2

After thinking about it, I can see a difference in my writing depending on what kind of mood I am in. If I have a lot of homework to do, my writing assignments are usually the ones that I try to hurry up and get done with. Also, if I do not really care about the subject I have to write about, my writing usually reflects that. On the other hand, if I really enjoy the topic I am writing about, my paper is usually longer and more in depth. Another thing I realized was that I definitely prefer to write out of school than when I am assigned to do it for a class. I usually feel too pressured to write anything when it is assigned, and it takes me the longest time to get started. When I am just writing on my own I can take my time and really write whatever I want. When assigned, I really like writing narratives. Narratives really seem easier for me to write. I like writing about things that have happened to me in the past. I also did not really mind writing term papers when I was in high school. We were always given the freedom to choose what we wanted to write about when we were assigned those, so I always had something interesting to write about. These are some other things that I have realized about my writing.

MY CONTRIBUTION

One thing that I really do not care for is second hand smoke. According to the Mayo Clinic, there are two kinds of second hand smoke. The first is called sidestream smoke, which comes right from the tobacco. The second is called mainstream smoke, which is the smoke the smoker inhales. Also, according to the Mayo Clinic, tobacco smoke is made up of over 4,000 chemicals. More than 250 of those chemicals are toxic. Plus, over 50 of the chemicals in cigarette smoke are known or thought to cause cancer. Some of the chemicals that can be found in second hand smoke are: Formaldehyde, arsenic, ammonia, carbon monoxide, and hydrogen cyanide. Health threats that can be caused by second hand smoke include cancer, heart disease, and lung disease. Not only does second hand smoke affect adults, but it also affects children. According to the Mayo Clinic, infants and children that are associated with second hand smoke can have health problems. These can include problems with their growth and development, middle ear conditions, and respiratory problems such as asthma. Basically, smoking is a choice, but others should not have to deal with that decision. I really do not see how someone would want to smoke after knowing about all the harmful chemicals that are in cigarettes, but it is not my place to tell people they shouldn’t. Although, I choose not to smoke so it really irritates me when people are not considerate enough to go elsewhere when they want to smoke. It is fine with me if people want to take years off their lives by smoking, but I do not want to suffer any consequences from their bad decisions.

CASE STUDY: MYSELF AS A WRITER

After reflecting over my writing, I have realized some things about it. Over the years, the way that I have written papers has changed. In the beginning, I use to write a rough draft on paper and then type it out. Now, I just type out my paper and make changes as I go. I realized this saved me a lot of time. It also helps doing it that way because I can spell check as write. Something else I use to do was write my papers during school, but I realized that did not really work well for me. When I am at school I am usually distracted by what others are doing around me. But now, I write my papers at home. This works better for me because I am less distracted and can concentrate more. Another thing that I realized is when I am assigned papers I usually have the most difficulty with picking out the subject or writing the thesis statement. I never know where to begin when starting a paper and it takes me the longest time to get going. I feel like if I am given a subject to write about, that it is somewhat easier for me to get started. It is also easier for me when I am writing about something that I am interested in. In my experience, I usually do better when writing a narrative, or a comparison/contrast essay. These are some things that I have realized about myself as a writer.