Reflection: Weeks 15 and 16

Image from http://www.junkmarketstyle.com/

Week 15

We had the pleasure of having a guest speaker come into class on Tuesday. Her name is Sue Whitney. She presented to our class different ways we can turn "junk" into a new form of use, like making it into a candle holder or a lamp fixture for some thing that was going to get trashed can now be used for something. She talked about a sink she has that cost $200.00 to be installed that if were bought new would be around $12,000.00 as it is an old antique style sink. That was a most impressive idea about "junking" the ability to save money. And my most favorite part of the day was getting to eat Subway. The cookies they had were sooooo good.

For an asignment we did an Advocacy project: Online Environmental Learning Activity. What my subject was to cover Urban Sprawl. I had everyone read articles from sprawlcity.org, and then take a 6 question test on what they learned using the website quizyourfriends.com.

For Thursday we went outside and had a class discussion on how the semester went. Each person in class got to speak their mind on what they liked, or didn't like. We all seemed to agree that the blogging component of the class was a great feature once you get used to how it works.

Week 16

This is finals week, and for our last assignment in this class we did an Eye Opener blog that gives an overview about each web group member's Online Environmental Learning Activity and how we did on their quiz, or what we did on their teaching game. It was a very fun week for me this week as I got done with all of my classes on Monday. So, I get to workout everyday this week and make money working 6 hours a day which is double what I usually work during the semester. It is finally here I can say that I have completed my undergraduate degree as a Health Educator. Bye everybody...you might see me if you visit San Diego, CA assuming I get a job ther, but that is my number one place of interest to move to.

Thanks everybody for reading my blog.

Eye Opener: Online Learning Activities

DP- Keepin it Green
Clean Water Activity
With this acitivity we were to read through his educational resources from the Environmental Protection Agency on Safewater, and Needs Factsheet.

I scored an 60% on this test, it is one I should read up on as it could help us til the year 2030.


Going Green With Jayme
Air Quality Index
This had a series of questions aimed for youth to answer based on when can they play outside based on a color chart that represents levels of safe environmental air to breathe.

My score on this activity was an 85%.

Sara Loves Health
Kids Health Activity
With this activity we were to go to a website with an interactive feature aimed for a child. The section we are instructed to go to is the "movies and games" section which has quizzes for us to take. Her topic for the advocacy project was health and so this activity follows that by having us go to http://kidshealth.org.

I learned a lot with my doiing the "Time for Bed" quiz which teaches and quizes you on how many hours of sleep humans need, and various animals need per day.

Share and Voice: Our Earth Website

From their website in the "About Us" section

"OurEarth.org, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) non-profit environmental organization based in Baltimore, Maryland. The organization was founded in 2006 by several recent graduates of Johns Hopkins University and today, OurEarth.org is led by an all-volunteer team of graduate and medical students as well as environmental experts and leaders from around the country."


Topics they cover are listed below

Topic: Recycling

Sub-section:
Curbside and local programs
National Programs
Recycling News
Special Collection Events

Topic: Energy

Sub-section:
Local Rebate Programs
Energy Efficient Devices
Federal Tax Credits
Energy News

Topic: Water

Sub-Section:
Home Conservation Guide
Water-Efficient Products
Pollution News


There is also a Green Tips guide with a top ten easy ways to be green

Some tips I liked are numbers 8 through 10.

8. Computer Power Management
9. Properlay Dispose of Hazordous Waste
10. Fresh, Local, Organic foods


Check this website out for your self to get some clarification on ways to be more environmentally friendly.

My Quiz from QuizYourFriends.com

Urban Sprawl 1) Current political leadership across the country has primarily allowed... Low-density population, auto-dependant housing developments. Medium-denseity population, non-auto dependant housing developments. High-density population, non-dependant on automobiles new housing developments.

Powered By: QUIZYOURFRIENDS.com Make A Quiz - Take This Quiz - View Scoreboard

Advocacy Project: Online Learning Activity

title: Urban Sprawl- How does it affect you?

Instructions: Take a look at facts from the "Take Action" section of http://www.sprawlcity.org/



The questions will refer to sub-sections of the Take Action area of study. They are the "Getting Started" pdf file, and the "Shaping Decisions" pdf file. (I shoud note that this author is from Canada and his lobbying notes are based on the Canadian parliment).


Once you have read these links take the quiz I have posted from quizyourfriends.com

***This is an important topic because it effects many of the large cities that are growing so big that they are big contributors to air pollution from being dependant on automoblies. Spreading cities take up land that is quickly depleting animals' resources and natural habitat.

Reflection weeks 13 and 14

We have only two weeks left in the semester as I write this on April 30, 2009. My finals week is basically next week with all of the presentations I have to do and projects to turn in. Finals week leaves me with one test and then will have to kill time in Duluth unitil May 16 for commencment ceremony.



What Week 13 has to offer

We started off the week with watching a video called "Story of Stuff". The video will explain where the stuff we throw away comes from and goes after we use it and throw it away. Quotes I like from the video.
"We are running out of limits, we are running out of stuff (natural materials)."
"Less than 4% of the USA's original forestry is still intact."
"If everyone consumed at the US rates we would need 4 to 5 planets to give everyone the things they need and waste."

The video gives a 20 minute explanation of how we are creating toxic substances and taking up resources at an amazing fast rate, and not replacing the resources. So, the earth will not be able to sustain itself as we are taking more than it can give without losing something like animal species for example.

Now Thursday's event was to go to Bagley Nature area. We were instructed by two Outdoor Education majors on how to navigate through the woods using a compase and destination points. We also learned how to "leap frog". What this means is that you find the point at which you need to travel and then send your partner ahead of you and tell them to go in the direction the compase is pointing. You find you main focus point and tell them to stop, then you count the paces they went by walking up to them. Note: a pace is two full steps. My group was Jayme, Randy, and Abbey. We all did exceptionally well at our compase skills.

I also should note the Advocacy Project we did which was "Issue Overview". We took from our last assignment and expanded on it. The bill and its issue were to be discussed and explained in full detail. This was a very important task to do to lead up to week 14's advocacy project assignment "Write a letter to an official".

What Week 14 has to offer

I would first like to start off by talking about the advocacy assignment of writing a letter to your public government official or letter to an editor. This was a very fun assignment for me as I could really see myself doing this in the near future. It makes me feel very American to do something like this. My letter was about urging my state senator to write a bill that stops Urban Sprawl an issue not really talked about. This issue could help keep the cost of living down by keeping the city more condensed which will mean less dependence on your cars for travel. We can walk to the grocery store rather than having to drive over 3 miles to get to one. Traffic will go down by living and working in the same general area. It is a very real concern of mine.

The next part of week 14 I would like to talk about is the guest speaker we had. The guest is apart of the masters program here at UMD with Environmental Health and Safety Master's Program. The guest told us about his experience as a Sustainablity work. This means that he finds ways to educate the public about how to keep wastes down and other ways on how to be more energy and waste efficient to save the environment.

On Thursday we were able to have some un-ordinary fun by participating in a "Junk Competition". We got together in our web groups and had to come up with interesting ways we can re-use a piece of junk. With the items being a glass jar (Fish Bowl), yellow plastic thing (bicylce basket), cup cake metal molds (wind chims pieces, or nut holder for a party), metal rack (Back scratcher), and an old sprinkler (pizza try holder). I believe these ideas won them all and blew all the other web groups away.

Now we wait for the end of the semseter and my college undergraduate career will soon be over. Hurray for May 16, please come as fast as possible.

Share and Voice: Ecological Solutions

Here is my website I found called Ecological Solutions.

It is a company that helps arcitetcs create "Green" certified buildings.


From their website

If your goal is to earn LEED certification for your project, or simply to reduce your building’s overall operating costs and environmental impact, EcoLogical Building Solutions has the glass, coatings and paint products you need, all from a proven, innovative company you can trust.
USGBC LEED Program
United States Green Building Council Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Program is a voluntary market-driven building rating system designed to accelerate the development and implementation of green building practices.
PPG manufacturers a variety of Glass, Paint & Coating Products that can help architects earn LEED certification credits for their projects.
Information on LEED can be found on PPG’s web-site and at the USGBC web-site: http://www.usgbc.org/DisplayPage.aspx?CategoryID=19

Advocacy Project: Letter to Public Official

TO: U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar
302 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510

FROM: Kevin R
6 Brooklyn, MN 55444
April 28, 2009


Dear Senator Klobuchar,

I am writing to you in regards to a needed bill that will diminish "Urban Sprawl", of which is causing costs of living to go up for every U.S. citizizan. If we are going to have more and more people live on the edges of a city that city will become so spread out that public transportation cannot get to them. They will be forced to drive to work. If we can keep everyone in the city close to the buisness districts there will be more availablity for peope to walk, bike, and take a public form of transportation to work and to other needed destinations.

With many people not being in the "heart" of the city this forces a lot of people to drive from suburb to suburb rather than going from suburb to the Central Buisness district of their city. This causes major traffic lock from so many people traveling across their town and through the city and congesting traffic. If we can get people to all work and live in the same area there will be less need for cars, and there will be less need for travel. This will keep the cost of living down as their dependance on paying for gas and a car will be less (or even nonexistant). It is important to note that residents of sprawling neighborhoods tend to emit more pollution per person and suffer more traffic fatalities.

References
For more information on this topic you can vist http://www.sprawlcity.org/
They have a lot of information on the effects of urban sprawl to our nation's largest cities. This is a subject that doesn't have a lot of attention by fedural government. We need a bill that will help prevent Urban Sprawl. This will help keep people living in a more centralized location, which will help keep traffic conditions low as more people will be able to walk to work and the local buisness district. The use of public transportation will be increased as you will not need to lengthen out the reach of buses and other local public transportation by keeping the people of the city in a centralized location. The benifits of having a bill for this cause will be benificial on gas emission to be cut down as walking and biking will be more prevalent.

Normandale Community College Professor Ron Ward talks about Urban Sprawl in his class "Intro to Geography". He is a great resource person to get more information on the subjec of Urban Sprawl and how it affects people whom live in urban, and suburban areas.

Normandale Community College
9700 France Avenue South, Bloomington, MN 55431
Normandale main office phone: (952) 487-8200

Prof. Ron Ward
His office phone (952) 487-7437

What to do about it
What I would suggest is to create a bill that promotes people to live near the central buisness district of their city. A suggestion I have for this is to keep land taxes cheaper, the reason being if you live in a more population dense area you should have lower taxes. If you live in a less population dense area there should be a higher tax on land for such luxury. Another idea to prevent urban sprawl I have is to start promoting to people and educating home buyers that if they live near the city they will have a cheaper cost of living (and have an easier way of life) by not needing to drive to work everyday, they can take the bus or walk to work.

These are the quick references to my suggestions
-Promote the prevention of urban sprawl
- Lower the taxes on population dense areas of the city, and raise taxes on low population dense areas.
- Bring forth a bill that will prevent Urban Sprawl

Sincerly,

Kevin R
6 Brooklyn, MN 554444

share and voice: PBS report on Green Buildings

On the PBS television show News Hour with Jim Lehr they reported that the city of Washington D.C. is about to pass a law that will require every new building to be a certified as a "green" building. The report also talks about how many schools are adopting the "green" building way of life as they can save a lot of money. Every school spends most of its budget on energy bills to run the lights in their school.

At the end of 2006, there were 550 LEED certified buildings in the country and more than 3,500 registered projects in the works. About 220 of these projects are schools.

Here is am important section of the report that talks about how these new "Green" buildings do not cost tax payer more money, in fact it saves them money and in a short period of time.

"When Clackamas High School in Oregon began looking into planning an environmentally friendly new building, not everyone was in favor of it. "People were skeptical because they thought it would cost more money to build and we would not see much money back," said Dave Church, special projects consultant for North Clackamas School District. In the end, the contracting bid cost no more than an average school in the Portland area, and the finished product was a modern building that has saved the school 20 percent on its energy costs. The school owes the savings to solar panels, natural lighting and a high-tech ventilation system." (News Hour, 2006)


This is a great area of study that tax payers should take interest in. We need to cut costs in our schools to keep them running, and if we build or modify schools to be more "green" than we don't have to fire teachers or cut after school programs as the improvements will help keep the school running at a cheaper rate.

Advocacy Project: Issue Overview

Introduction of my issue- Urban Sprawl: how the land is being taken away from the wildlife. Look at this definition of urban sprawl and look at the second paragraph to get the health/environmental aspects of what it is.

A current government bill was recently passed and enacted into pubilc law relating to the issue I am discussing. It is "H.R. 146: An act to designate certain land as components of the National Wilderness Preservation System, to authorize certain programs and activities in the Department of the Interior and the Department of Agriculture, and for other purposes" was sponsored by Rep. Holt, Rush D. (NJ-12) was first introduced in the senate on 1/6/2009, and became pubilc law 111-11.

I would like to propose that there be a higher tax on untouched land, that if a land is secluded that it has a higher value, than if a piece of land is in the downtown area of a city. It should be more advantageous to live in the city as everything you could need comercially is there at your fingertips. The ablity to live out on the outskirts of town should be a privelage only to those whom can afford the really high taxes, which will have more people living in the city and less people taking the habitat of the natural environment.

Who is affected by the issue?

There are two groups affected by this issue.



The first of the two being people that live on the boarder of the urban/rural area of their town are the people whom are affected by having to drive everywhere and have little ablity to walk or bike to their local areas of need such as the grocery store. And they create more pollution from driving to every destination as they live far away from the buisness districts of the city.



And secondly, the wildlife is affected by getting their land (habitat) taken away as humans invade their habitat. With the human population comes tons and tons of garbage that can pollute the once majestic un-touched water and land. We are a nation of consumers, and we need to cut back on how we take more than we put back into our land.

What are the consequences of the issue?
When we move out to the cities' outer limits we are expanding our reach into the wilderness. The wildlife need land to live off of as much as we do. The nation's forrest has been reduced to just 4% of what they were back some 50 years ago. (Story of Stuff)

With people living farther away from their jobs and commercial retailers, they will be forced to drive a lot more. If we all lived in a more centralized area we can walk and bike to work, rather than pollute the earth's air and drive everywhere.

What is the economic impact of the issue?
The land on the outskirts of the city are usually much cheaper than that of land in the city. This is a big reason for people to move out and expand the city limits. So, the costs that people have to move to a cheaper area of land attracts them to move. The costs to the environment is a dwindling area of land to live in, of which humans control. The benifits to the issue will be towards the privacy of the home owner lives in a secluded area. With this seclusion comes a cost of needing to drive everywhere with limited options to walk or bike as they live so far away from everything. Another benifit is to the city being able to get higher tax rates to those that own land.

What are the barriers?
If we were too all live a more centralized location than that leaves more room to develop resources. The problem is not everyone can afford living in the downtown areas of a city as real estate prices are much higher. Owning land in the city is much harder to come by, so often many people are renting an apartment in the city, rather than buying a home. This process of being a renter can be a problem if you want security in your home. If you do not own your home you may be forced to move.

The barriers can be overcome with the reduction of land prices in the downtown districts. Another idea is to have many tall buildings that a big number of people can live in. Making in a dense area of land that people live in and own (condominium). A direct problem to a high population denisty in a small amount of land is that people often want their privacy, and since we are often inconsiderate of our neighbors we then make them want to move out to have a more secluded lifestyle in the outskirts of the city limits.

What are the resources?
With the land being consumed there is little room to expand. It is a great honor to be able to own your own land. When we take up land than that leaves little room for the natural environment to expand. Praires, foressts, and swamps a few ecosystems that will be destroyed when they are cleared for residential housing.

What is the history of this issue?
When we had a full abundant forestry, some 50 years ago, we were able to expand our reach and move out of the busy city to a quieter area just outside of town. Now a days we have taken up the land so that there is little room to expand to allow for the vast needs of our wildlife. A wolf for example needs around 50 square miles of land to be able to hunt and find enough food. If we take away the habitat of the animals we take away a natural resource. Currently 96% of the nations' forests have been cut down. It is important to try and make sure that people live in the city, and not take up the land.

Allies and Opponents to my issue
1. The biggest organization that I have found that would support my position is http://www.sprawlcity.org/

They are able to give out charts and graphs of USDA Conservation Survey Data to show how much urban sprawl is happening locally near your town. The reasoning behind why Urban Sprawl is affecting greenhouse gas emissions is due to the needs of an expanding city. The need for more travel and thus gas due to an outreaching city. My take on solving this is to have everyone live in a condensed area. Keep the city to a limit on its boarders. Develop ways to be able to live in high rise apartments this way the land will be preserved.

2. Environmental Planner, Leon Kolankiewicz
He discusses the impact of population growth on greenhouse gas emissions, sprawl, energy consumption and our foreign oil dependency.
"Population growth is affecting greenhouse gas emissions. Due to a rise in an ever expanding city."

My recommendation of action
There should be an action to raise awarness of urban sprawl. I would like to initiate to have a bill written that will stop urban sprawl. My idea for this is to bring down taxes on inner city land, and to raise taxes on suburban lands. Thus, getting everyone to move into the city limits and allowing for the environment to have room to grow and develop. The reason being is that we have taken more land than we need to live off of. Many of our forests have been cut down, and our natural land (swamps, praries, etc) been destroyed. With this being said I would like to ask my senator (Democrate Amy Klobachar) to bring forth a bill that keeps Urban Sprawl to a stand-still.

Reflection weeks 11 and 12

Week 11

This week I got to write a review on the documentary series "Un-Natureal Causes". The episode we watched is "In Sickness and in Wealth". The video is based on the health disparities amongst the people in Lousiville, Kentucky and how rich people live about 9 years longer on average compared to the poorest people in the city. The reasoning for this was due to the lack of health care coverage and a high amount of daily stress due to a lack of control over obsticles in their lives. The rich can manipulate stress better as they have money power to better control when they work, and rarley have to worry about losing their home or some other thing based on a lack of money. The biggest disparity is that America spends by far the most money on health care, and have less than stellar infant mortality rate.

We then later in the week covered the Healthy 2010 objectives. Our assignment is to pick out an objective of the Healthy 2010 list. My objective I chose is objective 25, reduce chlamydia trichanosis. Find out if it is meeting its goals by looking at the graphs. We then went to the THOMAS homepage and searched for a related law that is under review by the Minnesota state government that will work towards supporting our Healthy People 2010 goal.


Week 12

What a week of fun. The Tuesday class day was focused on talking about how a bill gets turned into a law. The use of YouTube was used to show us the School House Rock educational video "I'm Just a Bill". In the video there is a song and skit of a bill going from an idea to a written bill by the local polititican. Then the bill got to go to a subcommittee for debate if should be brought forth to be voted on. The democratic process was explained in a song and action cartoon. The week was a lot more of a relaxed week. Then on Thursday we had a discussion on reading article 20 of are text "News on the Environment Isn't Always Bad" by the Christian Science Monitor. This aritcle was a change of pace from the usually stuff we have read that denotes negative environmental problems. This aritcle focused on the past decades and what they have done to accomplish environmental feats. The 80's was the was about getting rid of the CFC's (chorofluorocarbons) that are putting a hole in the ozone, and the 90's was able to get rid of the harmful pestacide DDT.

Advocacy Project: Healthy People 2010/THOMAS

Goal of Figure 25-1 Reduce the proportion of Chlamydia trachomatis by the year 2010.

ORIGINAL OBJECTIVE
Reduce the proportion of adolescents and young adults with Chlamydia trachomatis infections

Target and baseline:
Objective Reduction in Chlamydia trachomatis infections


Percent
25-1a. Females aged 15 to 24 years attending family planning clinics 5.0 3.0
25-1b. Females aged 15 to 24 years attending STD clinics 12.2 3.0
25-1c. Males aged 15 to 24 years attending STD clinics 15.7 3.0

Target setting method: Better than the best.

Data source: STD Surveillance System, CDC, NCHSTP.

Progress towardes the goal Progress Qutient Chart
The progress that has been made towards this goal is moving away from the target range at an alarming rate. For section 25-1a. the progress has declined by 70%. For section 25-1b there has been a decrease of improvment by 21%, and for section 25-1c the progress has declined by 28%. All of these numbers are bad. There are more and more cases of Chlamydia Trachomatis every year.

Taken from the Healthy People 2010 report.
"Objectives that moved away from their targets. Between 1997 and 2003, the proportion of females aged 15 to 24 years with chlamydial infections who attended family planning clinics increased from 5.0 percent to 6.4 percent (25-1a), and those who attended STD clinics increased from 12.2 percent to 14.1 percent (25-1b), moving away from the target of 3.0 percent. From 1997 to 2003, the proportion of males aged 15 to 24 years with chlamydial infections who attended STD clinics (25-1c) increased from 15.7 percent to 19.3 percent. The increase in the overall number of cases of chlamydial infections in family planning and STD clinics may be a reflection of increasingly sensitive diagnostic tests."

Opportunities & Challenges

An opportunity is to have the infected people of chlamydia take anti-biotic medication to eradicat the infection, to kill it off and make it go away. A challange is that with viruses becoming resistant to drugs by way of patients not completly killing off the virus and the surrviving virus adapts to the medication. It is very important to complete the series of anti-biotic medication to completly erradicat the virus.


Emerging Issues
Here is the report from the Health People 2010. Released in the year 1997, and 2003.
Increases also have occurred in gonorrhea and in a previously rare form of chlamydia, lymphogranuloma venereum. Some of these increases may be attributable to an overall rise in the use of methamphetamines (crystal meth) among MSM, which has a documented association with increased risky sexual behavior. The Internet also has become a major venue for men to connect with other men to arrange sexual encounters. These phenomena present substantial challenges for STD/HIV prevention programs. Current chlamydia screening programs for males are limited. CDC recommends screening all sexually active females 25 years of age and under for chlamydia on an annual basis. In 1999, CDC initiated a research project on male screening to determine the proportion of males with cases of asymptomatic chlamydial infections, the feasibility of screening asymptomatic males for chlamydia in multiple venues, and the risk factors for infection. This research project comprises a screening demonstration, a longitudinal study, and a cost-effectiveness analysis. Recommendations about screening men in
settings with a high proportion of chlamydial infections are under development.

Find a bill that will help towards progress of the wanted goal.

I couldn't find a bill specifically aimed at chlamydia prevention, but this bill is aimed at HIV/AIDs prevention which is another promotion of stoping transimtion of a sexually transmitted infection.

H.CON.RES.62
Title: Supporting the goals and ideals of "National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day"
Sponsor: Rep Lee, Barbara [CA-9] (introduced 2/25/2009) Cosponsors (23)
Latest Major Action: 2/25/2009 Referred to House committee
Status: Referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce

My own recommendation is to vote "yes" to help pass this as it is a form of STI prevention. It is all related to having safe sex, and to reduce transmistion of disease. Please make an amendment and add in chlaymida trachonosis awareness along with HIV/AIDS awarness as the STI chlamydia trachnosis is heavily spreading amongst our sexually active population.

My politicial representative is US Representative Erik Paulsen of District 3.

Review: Un-Natural Causes Video

Un-Natural Causes
…is inequality making us sick?

This video presentation was the first episode of a seven episode series. Episode one is called “In Sickness and in Wealth” (56 minutes). The production company of this film is the California News Reel, with Vital Pictures Inc., and in association with the National Minority Consortia. With this video the class was introduced to the notion that healthy people are “wealthy” people in the literal sense that the more money you have the healthier and longer life you are going to live. This is the synopses of the video presented on PBS (Public Broadcasting Systems).

EPISODE ONE: In Sickness and In Wealth (56 min.)
The hour-long opening episode paints the big picture. Set in Louisville, Kentucky, it is a story about health, but it's not about doctors or drugs. It's about why some of us get sicker more often and die sooner in the first place. What are the connections between healthy bodies and healthy bank accounts and skin color? How do social policies and the way we organize work and society affect health? Solutions, the show suggests, lie not in more pills but in more equality. "In Sickness and In Wealth" sets out the series' main themes: that health and longevity are correlated with socio-economic status, that people of color face an additional health burden, and that our health and well-being are tied to policies that promote economic and social justice.(newsreel.org)

A review of the episode from a Minnesotan critic
"Dramatic and powerful. It provides a new framework for viewing health [which] shifts from holding individuals solely responsible to recognizing that the policies that affect health are too large for individuals to tackle on their own. The series offers hope and shows that we can make different policy choices that lead to better health for all members of our communities." Joan Cleary, Minnesota Post

Notes that I wrote down while I was watching the movie that are “New concepts that challenged my thinking”

*The United States of America ranks 30th in the world in life expectancy, but yet we rank number one in annual costs spent on health care per year with 2 trillion dollars spent. That 2 trillion is nearly half of the world’s cost of healthcare.

*We have a horrible infant mortality rate, we rank 29th in the world. From the World Socialist Website that commented on the CDC’s 2008 report on US infant mortality rate being ranked 29th in the world, "Infant mortality is a critical indicator of social progress. As the CDC report explains, "Infant mortality is one of the most important indicators of the health of a nation, as it is associated with a variety of factors such as maternal health, quality and access to medical care, socioeconomic conditions, and public health practices." This decline in world rankings is another expression of US capitalism's decay. The gutting of social programs by successive Democrat and Republican administrations over the last four decades has led to an extraordinary social reversion. A tiny layer at the top has enriched itself through the dismantling of all impediments to the accumulation of private wealth and corporate profit, supported by tax cuts and the slashing of investment in critical social infrastructure. That infant mortality rates are now stagnating for the first time in five decades underscores the accelerating character of the social crisis." (O’Connor, 2008)

*Working Class (Idea of how it effects health- constantly under uncontrolled stress over extent of lifetime)
versus
Professional Class (Idea of how it effects health- less stress on the body, more vacation time and ability to care for one’s self)

Comments from the movie that caught my attention.

“Power is a public health issue” stated by the Louisville Director of Public Health Dr. Adewale Troutman
“Being a CEO is a high demand job, but Taylor usually has the power, resources and control to
manage that pressure. Tondra Young (a clinical lab supervisor) has a high demand job, but less power and control.”

What this means (Power is a public health issue) is that the people whom are constantly under a lot of stress are releasing cortisol into their bloodstream. This should only be a short term action of release, but if it is going on for too long (like for example the lab supervisor cannot take as many days off from work as the CEO due to power of position and control of work hours) it will cause damage to the body as it is a harmful hormone. What cortisal does is it heightens the senses and causes the body to become at a more hyper and tense state to try and get ready for stressful activity. If cortisal is released into the bloodstream for too long it causes damaging effects to the body.

The list of new terms:
Cortisol

Infant mortality rate

Life Expectancy

Working Class

Professional Class

To view the transcript of the movie click here


Reference
O’Connor, P. (2008) US infant mortality rate now worse than 28 other countries. World Socialist Web Site, Retrieved April 9 2009 from http://www.wsws.org/articles/2008/oct2008/mort-o18.shtml

Reflection Weeks 9 and 10

In these last two weeks of 9 and 10 we have been getting back into the groove of school with spring break coming in week 8.

week 9
As a class we reviewed what is advocacy. What I read for the week 9 advocacy assignment.

To sum it up
"Advocacy is exciting work. You get the pleasure of fighting the good fight, and sometimes, the thrill of victory. In order to have that, though, you need to get through all of the day-to-day details and specifics. You'll need to keep an eye on the forest while working on the trees individually. By going through the following sections carefully, we think you will be better prepared to bring about the changes that matter to your community." (from the website http://ctb.ku.edu/tools/en/sub_section_main_1196.htm)

As a health educator we have seven responsabilities to cover. The last and seventh responsilibity is advocacy. This is why we are learning about this subject. My first advocacy assignment is to look up who my polictical representatives are. I am from Brooklyn Park, MN. The mayor of my city is not affiliated with a political party, and his name is Steve Lampi. I also learned that at the moment Minnesota is the only state with one sentator. The second senator has still yet to be decided as the voting results are being disputed in court between Republican representative Norm Colman, and Democratic representative Al Franken.


Week 10
We have not been in class this week as the AAPERD conference is going on. This was a nice break for the students to be able to get more time to focus on other classes. During this time we were required to do a photo essay assignment. My focus was on urban sprawl. I live in Duluth, MN and we have a lot of forrestry as you go outside the city limits. We have deer that come into town and surprise you when you wake up in the mourning as they somtimes are right outside your window. They are so big and wild I love mournings with them around to suprise me. The issue is that with humans invading the wildlife's habitat, we are taking up all the land. It is good to let the open forrest stay natural. Wild animals have little choice if we take up their land. It is important to not let humans take up all the land.

Eye Opener: Photo Essay

Would you rather live in an environment full of smoke stacks and pollution filled with loud industrial noises, or live in a clean environment that is spacious and quite.



When we live in developed cities we often forget about how we affect the natural world. When we have "Urban Sprawl" we are diminishing the habitat for animals and other natural environment. The more land we take away the less habitat our wild animals have to live on. If we get to close to their habitat they start to mix in with our way of life. Examples of this are wild bears going into neighborhoods looking for food in people's trash cans. Coyotes walking down the street looking for food and shelter. These wild animals wondering around the neighborhood is not safe for children whom want to play outside as they are fierce animals when agitated. As a society it is important to support your local habitat by giving to nature reserves that help keep the habitats for wild animals intact and abundant. My favorite nature center is in Ely, MN. The International Wolf Center is located there and they support the wolf population.

Advocacy Project: My political leaders

This is the link to my hometown's (Brooklyn Park, MN) webpage. It will list the political leaders of the city. The mayor of Brooklyn Park, MN is Steve Lampi.

Steve Lampi
1209 88th Ave. N.

Brooklyn Park, MN 55424

Phone: 763-971-2947
Voicemail: 763-493-8010

Term expires: 12-31-10

Steve.Lampi@brooklynpark.org

City of Brooklyn Park's homepage. http://www.brooklynpark.org/sitepages/pid954.php


The President of the United States is Democratic leader Barrack Obama. He is the leader of the executive branch of the United States government.

The govenor of Minnesota is Tim Pawlenty, Republican
Contact Information: 130 State Capitol75 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.St. Paul, MN 55155Phone: (651) 296-3391

State Rep., Mike Nelson- DFL
569 State Office Building100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
Saint Paul, Minnesota 55155
Phone: 651-296-3751



State Senator, Linda Scheid- DFL
75 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.Capitol Building, Room G-9
St. Paul, MN 55155-1606
Phone: 651.296.8869

US Representative, Erik Paulson- Republican
Washington, DC Office
Erik Paulsen 126 Cannon HOB Washington, D.C. 20515
Phone: (202) 225-2871
Fax: (202) 225-6351

District Office
250 Prairie Center Drive, Suite 230 Eden Prairie, MN 55344
Phone: (952) 405-8510
Fax: (952) 405-8514



Us Senator, Amy Klobuchar- Democrate
Contact Information: 302 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
Phone: (202) 224-3244

Reflection: Weeks 7 and 8

Weeks 7 and 8

For Week 7
If we were to live by a big chemical plant that dumped all the harmful wast into our local water supply, would you feel comfertable with this? Harmful chemicals and waste is the theme of the week. The story of Becky Bradway and how she lived near a toxic chemical plant (Borden Chemical and Plastics Inc.) in Buffalo, Illinois is where we got the information of such tragic living conditions for some Americans have to deal with. The article in our textbook is "Reading 16 III Winds: The Chemical Plant Next Door". The discussion in class was about how the reading left a big gap as to what the conclusion of the story is. We interpreted it as an open-ended question that we talked about in class, and how these plastics we use everyday are killing people in some parts of America. We never think twice about where the plastic comes from or how its made.

The other part of the week was to watch the video "Green" in class. It was done by a graduate student. In the film they mention that 25% of the Nation's plastics are made along this relativly short stretch of the Lousiana part of the Mississippi River. What happens to the towns near these chemical plants is that every part of the wind, earth, and water is allegedly poisoned with carcinogenic substances. The people that live on this poisonous land are not able to move as their homes will not sell due to the poor living conditions, with these poverty stricken communities. Environmental Racisim is the focus of why this is happening. The government is turning a blind eye to the issue of health concerns for these people that live near the chemical plants, to benifit out of the plants and the money they can make. The companies are regulating themselves, which is a red flag. If there is no thrid party to observe a company to make sure they are being appropriate and safe, than we are putting a lot of risk into this decison to allow this to go on.

The Eye Opener we did this week is Environmental Working Group. This assignment is about finding how harmful our cosmetic products we use are to yourself and the environment. What I search about was the product Bert Bee's All-Natural Milk and Honey Lotion. It was able to score a 4 out of 10 for harmfulness. This I thought was very high at first, but then after some review it is a relativly low score, as very many lotions and especially hair spray/gels scored bad at an 7, 8, 9, or 10 . This activity lets you see if the product tests on animals, and also if they are apart of an agreement to Compact as Safe .


Week 8

We had a reading to do for the week. The reading is chapter 31 Privatizing Water. The story is about how water is being owned by private buisnessess, and sold by the ounce like gasoline is sold at the pump. If this happens we can be paying three times the amount for water we are paying now. In the chapter 31 example, the citizens of Cochabamba, Bolivia. The water was given a U.S. company "Bechtel", of which rose the price of water by 3 times the previous rate.

Along with that reading we watched a movie "Thirst" that is about Privatizing Water in Stockton, California. The mayor of Stockon in the movie is trying to change the public water to a private owned water company that will pay out more to the government as they charge the citizens for the water at a higher premium. To stop this change there was a grass roots effort established by local citiziens of Stockton to show the mayor the voters do not want this change. Their slogan was "Let us vote".

These two weeks have been very informative. It has showed me that grass roots campaigns can make a difference. If you believe in something you can work on getting it to come true.

Share and Voice: Spring Break in Colorado 2007

What I liked about this trip was the fact that Loveland Ski Resort doesn't groom their snow very much, if at all. What grooming the snow means is when a machine similar to a snowplow goes up the mountain and levels off all the snow so it is more evened out. I hate this because then you don't get to glide along fresh snow that may be 12 inches think. You really have to fight through the snow to move from side to side. It is the most wonderful feeling I have ever experienced. The snow on the first day was fresh (12inches). The air was as smooth to my lungs as you could imagine. And it was bright and fresh outside without any disgusting overcast of smog.



Because of this ski trip I really want to keep the natural world as clean as possible. It makes me mad to think that we always try and groom nature to look better, when in reality if we leave it alone it can be just as flourshing as beautiful.








My favorite picture from the entire trip, it was taken at about 12,000 feet of elevation by yours truly.















This is the view from the top of Loveland Ski Resort in Colorado, USA.

It feels as if it is untouched land that I am the first to explore. I know it is a tourist resort, but the way they leave it so untouched and open exilerates me. Makes me really appriciate how vast and big our world is.

Eye Opener: Environmental Working Group

In my search for the cosmetic product to review I wanted to see what the lotion I use everyday would contribute to my health. I use Bert Bee's Milk and Honey Lotion. It claims on the bottle to be "All-natural". So, I would assume that I would have a very low rating.

What the Search Concluded
According to the Environmental Working Group's Skin Deep Cosmetic Safety Database, this lotion scored an overall 4 out of 10, making it a "moderate hazard". The results told me that the ingredients have been linked to: Cancer, developmental/reproductive toxicity, violations, restrictions & warnings, allergies/immunotoxicity, and other concerns for ingredients used in this product: Neurotoxicity, Endocrine disruption, Organ system toxicity (non-reproductive), Miscellaneous, Multiple, additive exposure sources, Irritation (skin, eyes, or lungs), Contamination concerns

The product does not test on animals, which is great news. Also, Bert Bee's is a Compact For Safer Cosmetics signer. This means they are motivated to provide safer products for the public to use.

What I have Learned

Overall, I am happy to see that the "All-natural" product I use is living up to its name and providing a safe product. I will continue to use this product. It is linked to cancer, which is a scary thought. But, seeing how nearly every lotion is linked to cancer I am not too worried. There have been no significant research findings to pursuade me to not to use the lotion.

Reflection: Weeks 5 and 6

Week 5

weeks 5, we were to read Chapter 15: Feeding the World by Luther Tweeten, and Carl Zulauf. This article was about the potential for food shortage worldwide (which we already have due to corrupt buisnesses and governments controlling the import/export of agriculture). The article states that the population will outgrow in size, causing more demand than supply of food. To combat this problem higher education and research made possible by economic progress will promote awareness of the environment, which in turn can generate effective policy.

Along with the reading for the week, we did an Eye Opener assignment. It is called CSPI or Center for Science in the Public Interest. In the CSPI eye opener activity we were asked to take one of three quizzes. I took the "Score your diet" quiz. By the quiz results I found out that I am not eating an environmentally friendly of a diet as I could be. I eat an excess of meat, and because of that along with eating non-organic foods I am scoring a -39 for my environmentally friendly food section. My Animal Friendly score was at -34, and my Health Food score is at 24.

The video we watched this week is "Diet for a New America" by John Robbins. Mr. Robbins is the son of Baskin Robbins Ice cream. During his childhood he was stricken with polio. During this time he was inspired to live and eat only healthy foods. He overcame his sickness and works to promote eating healthy. He promotes to not eat beef as the meat is high in fats, and to not eat so much fatty foods like milkshakes. The video showed us a blood sample that had been separated. So, when blood gets separated in a test tube the watery plasma should rise to the top. Well in this sample of a man whom just ate a burger and milkshake like he always does for lunch, his blood was full of fatty substance where the watery clear plasma should be. The blood sample was yellowish in plasma color as opposed to the normal clear plasma look. Seeing this in the movie really showed you that the saying of "You are what you eat" is very true.

Week 6

In week 6, we had another film to watch and an Eye Opener assignment to do. Each member of the class had pulled a number out of a hat that is to be their assigned reading to report on for the Eye Opener assignment. I drew the number 13. This article is written by Danielle Knight, "North America Losing Biodiversity, Say Experts". What the article discusses is the fact that human kind is effecting the habitats of wild animals. We are for example, building dams that cut off salmon from being able to spawn. We keep changing the physical environment so much so that wild animals are having trouble adapting to the changes. The animals are dying due to lack of avaible resources as humans cut them out or change things around so they cannot travel to new destinations. To solve the problem all three nations of North America (Mexico, United States of America, and Canada) need to get together and put in place environmental policies and programs that work together to help wild life to thrive across every part of the land.

The film we watched this week is titled "The Future of Food". In the video the Monsanto Corporation is monopolizing the seed and fertilizer market. It has a patent on a gene in some agricultural plants, of which it claims payment from any farmer that has that type (Monsanto's gene) of crop. The Genetically Modified Organisim (GMO) as it is known is the first of its kind and is patented. This GMO product is a life form, a plant can cross-breed with non-GMO plants to get a GMO plant. The issue is can you patent life? For the longest time there is no such thing as patenting life forms, such as plants. The Monsanto Corporation is being run by executives that flip flop from Monsanto's head office, to the Environmental Protection Agencies head office. Because of that they can no longer have governmental pressure to test their GMO products public saftey risks to its consumers.


WHAT I HAVE LEARNED THIS WEEK
The government is not always working for the people's best interest like in the Monsanto Corporation issue. The people that run the coorporations often times give to the politicians so much campaign money that the politicians look the other way on issues of public safety. Special interest groups are essential to keep big coorporations from undermining the public as they often do control the political leaders with promises of political help. Some other important notes are that often times I eat a lot of meat, more so than what I actually need for surrvival by a lot. We humans are really over eating meats. To save on the environment and cruelty to animals, we should all try and skim down on the meats and start eating more vegitables.

Share and Voice: How to help stop pollution

http://www.ehow.com/how_2170560_help-stop-pollution.html

I want to pose the question of how do you want to help stop pollution?

What step do you think you can most likley do to help stop the build up of pollution?

What other ways are you doing to try and stop pollution in your area? Please share any ideas or concepts that will help anyone reading this to try and add to stoppage of pollution.

Eye Opener: Section 13 North America Losing Biodiverity, Say Experts

Summary

What is biodiversity? This is what dictionary.com states about the term biodiversity, “the diversity of plant and animal life in a particular habitat (or in the world as a whole); a high level of biodiversity is desirable.”

In North America (Canada, United States, and Mexico) there is a growing concern of losing natural habitat. The article states from an environmental report, “Half of North America’s most biologically diverse areas were severely degraded.” Many of the businesses in North America are depleting the land, along with affecting the environment and its animal species with at least 235 species of mammals, birds, reptiles, and amphibians becoming threatened. Fresh water species are the most at risk due to their habitat being taken away or polluted by dams, and physical barriers.

Why is there a lose of Biodiversity?
The main reasoning for this loss of biodiversity is due to the three North American nations not coming together and coordinate efforts to have a working program that deals with environmental issues like cross-border habitats, non-native species, and shared migratory species and water resources. When we affect natural resources from our farming, mining, and fishing industries we should try and replace what we take, or at least fix what we destroy. What we do (dams, taking more water than can be replaced) affects the habitats of local animals.

My thoughts on how to solve declining Biodiversity
With the help of advocacy organizations we can try and educate the public along with the government to make changes in how we affect the natural world. If we take something it should be replaced. When we cut down a tree it should have a seedling planted to replace it. If there is an industry in the business of taking resources, than it should either have a limit on how much of their natural resource they can take, and/or if it is possible the industry should replace what it takes out of the environment.

Discussion Question
How can the countries of North America work together to keep the natural resources abundant?

Hint: Over usage of fresh water, and natural resource industries are the main contributors to taking and not giving to the environment.


The Two Sides of the Story

This is why we need to have biodiversity

Potato Famine


How industry and the natural ecosystem can co-exist

Water management centers can help to keep water levels up, and not use natural lakes or river water for agriculture.


References
biodiversity. (n.d.). WordNet® 3.0. Retrieved February 23, 2009, from Dictionary.com website: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/biodiversity

Share and Voice: Industrial Hemp- look at the Ecological Facts

From the NAIHC website on Ecological Facts about Industrial Hemp

Hemp grows well in a variety of climates and soil types. It is naturally resistant to most pests, precluding the need for pesticides. It grows tightly spaced, out-competing any weeds, so herbicides are not necessary. It also leaves a weed-free field for a following crop.


With the use of hemp as a product to replace tree based paper, we can be able to allow are Redwood Tree forrests to grow. The need for forrests is very important not only for the simple fact that trees consume CO2 and porduce O2, but because many animals rely heavily on the trees in the forrest for sheltar.

Birds for example need a place to set up their nests. Deer and other animal need trees for protection from the weather. With hemp as a replacement product to using trees you will have a lower costing crop, with higher yields in procuct usage.

Eye Opener:CSPI

In my exam of "Score your Diet" this is what I found.

I scored a (-50) for my grant total score, which is in the "Uh-oh you need help" range of scores, of which ranges from 15 and below for a total score. The other possible scores are 15-59= Good, and +60 is Exellent.

My health Score is at 23

My Environmentaly Friendlys Score is at (-39).

And my Animal Friendly Score is at a sadening (-34).



For which types of food did you score the highest? (look for green numbers). Why?
In my scores I had whole grains as my highest positive rated score. It is my belief that this number is the highest as it is a natural food to harvest and grow makes little impact on the earth comparetivly to other foods, such as beef and pork of which have many feces that raise the nitrogen levels of the local water from feces run-off into local lakes and water supply. The feces from these animals are not properly maintained as the farmers spray the animals living areas down to clean them and the water run-off is saturated in the feces of the animals, thus polluting the local water supply with higher nitrogen, and other chemicals that are harmful to ingest.


For which types of food did you score the lowest? (look for red negative numbers). Why?
Milk (-30), and beef (-28) were both very close of which are a related topic as they both come from a cow. This score was low as cows impact their local environment in a big negative way from the over-crowding of these cow farms. With nearly a thousand cows on some farms with only 100 acres the run-off of feces is a great impact on local water supplies. The chemicals from feces is harmful to anyone whom ingests feces effected water.

Which category do you need the most improvement...health, environment, or animal welfare?
The most needed improvement I need is on Environment (-39).


What can you/will you change to improve the score?
To improve this score it will take people to lobby the government and farm companies to better maintain their run-off of feces from their animals. It will take both local government, and federal government to change the way farms keep environmentally safe practices.


Summary //What does it all mean to you?
As a grandson of a retired dairy farmer, I am familiar of cows and the feces run-off they produce. It takes the assistance of the government to help create water protection systems that help farms pay for updated environmentally friendly farm systems.

When farmers clean off their product (cows, pigs, etc) of feces and other dirt and grim, the water will run-off into the local rivers and lakes if the farm is located near those local water supply. My grandfather's farm was located near a river. To prevent his farm from effecting this river we was equiped with a drain system that lead into a sewage pipe that does not allow water run-off to local water supply, but to the local water filtration system. He only cleaned his cows in the milking area. Of which is equiped with the drains to sewage pipes. He never cleaned his cows out in the fields, he waited until brought them into the milking area cleaning and disinfecting the cows just before milking them.

Many big farm lots clean their cattle in the open field with huge sprayers, and sprinklers of which allows for feces saturated water run-off. This type of cleaning is being allowed to happen, and should be lobbyed in the government to mandate a drainage system area for cattle to be cleaned in. Designate where the cattle can be cleaned that has the proper drainage system surrounding it, so the water goes into the sewage system that is connected to water filtration systems, and not flowing into the local water supply un-filtered.

Reflection weeks 3 and 4

Week 3 Reflection

I was able to write my first Review post, which was on Reading 27 "Seeing Green: Knowing and Saving the Environment on film." This reading was a very in depth on how film media has been used to show the natural world, as used in both a way to educate and a way to entertain through the use of film media. One such discussion is on Marty Stouffer's "Wild America" video series and how the film crew would ruin the land with their equipment, and they would also make the natural world look dangerous and exciting with non of the "real thing" presented to the audience. The Wild America videos were all about exciting hunting shots with none of the real world nature presented.

There are films that show more of a political side to the use of film media to show the environment getting destroyed by logging companies. With many scenes that show "doom and glom" many of these films try and show only the dark side of the situation. In the case of logging companies often times the people whom live in that area have no other source of income, so this is their only choice for a job. What could be brought up in the film other than sticking to straight "doom and gloom" is to try and discuss how the logging company should be held to higher environmental standards.



Week 4 Review

We all did the Ecological Footprint quiz this week in class. I scored 4.1 earths if everyone lived like me. The quiz took into account your food intake, mode of transportation, miles traveled, and home living.

Also this week we watched the movie "An inconvenient Truth" of which is tailored towards the issue of global warming. It is good to see that such a high powered individual like former Vice President of the United States Al Gore to be working on such an important issue. Global warming effects everyone.

Eye Opener: Carbon Footprint

I would consume 3.77 earths if everyone were to live like me according to the Carbon Footprint quiz. This number is very upsetting as we only have one earth to live on. The reason my number is so high to my estimation is because I often go out to eat, and I do tend to buy lots of new products. A great way to reduce your carbon footprint through purchasing used clothing like at any garage sale, or Ragstock is a store in Minneapolis that sells used clothes for a really affordable price. Instead of buying new clothes, buy used clothes so you do not add to factories producing more and more new items.


Air Pollution Indicator
According to where I live based on my zip code, I live in a fairly air safe zone. It is ranked in the 20 percentile, which is very low and in the green zone (healthy).

Earthday Ecological Footprint Quiz said I would need 4.1 earths to sustain my lifestyle. This was a more intresting quiz as you got to have an avatar character. And as you took the quiz it walks around and then you get a question to answer relating to your lifestyle, such as how often do you eat poultry, beef, seafood, etc. Overall, I liked this quiz as it had a "flash" player to give you more of a visual.

Kids Carbon Footprint
This quiz was very much like the Earthday Ecological Footprint Quiz, except you were told wheather or not you were able to make the "Green" choice. It gives you suggestions on what is the most eco-friendly answer to their quesitons.

World of Good.com

Article on eating healthy

It talks about portion control, and how not everyone likes the same food so not every diet will work for everyone. The biggest part I liked is to eat mindfully, controling your ability to sink down one full carton of ice cream at dinner. If you eat in small portions and keep to it, remembering not to eat a full box of something, then you will be able to control your weight better.

Share and Voice

Tree Hugger
Remeber our discussion in class about using corn as an alternative fuel. Well we can use ethonal from beer fermentation as well to fuel cars from alternative sources.

This website is full of different topics related to environmental concerns. This particular article I found is related to alternative fuel. The Seirra Nevada Brewing Company is using their excess ethonal waste as a conversion to ethonal fuel for alternative fuel cars.

Review of Chapter 27- Seeing Green: Knowing and Saving the Environment on Film

The Fantasies of Natural History Film



The use of film as a source of media to spread the word about environmental concerns can be very useful as you get a visual picture of what is happening to the natural world. The destruction of the natual world can be viewed and heard throuhg the use of film. I remember when I was growing up that I would watch the "Wild America" film series, and would be amazed at how animals fight for surrvival. If they (animals) do not put in effort to find food, they will not eat. The natural world is a tough and unforegiving place. Marty Stouffer is the director of the "Wild America" series http://shopping.discovery.com/DiscoveryStore/images/products/largenew/775270_lg.jpg . According to the text he would damage the natural world with his film crew destroying the land as they filmed on location in the animal of topic's natural realm, and they would torture animals to make them perform on video. Apparently it is very hard to find animals performing exciting hunting manuvers, and to film it in a graceful pleasurable way is also very difficult as animals do not cater to the film crew and performing within the frame of the picture being recorded. So, are nature films about documenting animals for scientific research, or are they about entertainment?



On page 108 of the text it refers to nature films as origanally being shot for "scientific records that preserve a natural heritage being lost to the forces of modernity (Mitman 1999:60)." When we "stage nature" for the excitment of the film we risk the validity of the scientific record of the film.



My favorite quote from the book

Author of the book Reel Nature: America's Romance with Wildlife on Film by Greg Mitman (1999). "Nature is not all action...Conditioned by nature on screen, we may fail to develop the patience, perseverance, and passion required to participate in the natural world with all its mundanity as well as splendor." In the time that I was a young boy I would watch wild nature documentaries all of the time, so much so that I thought if you were to step foot outside eventually an animal is going to attack you. This notion of wild animals is not true, because animals will only attack you if you if you fall into a certain category such as, Are you endangering the animal's offspring? Do you look like their natural prey? Is the animal suffering from a dibilitating disease? For more answers



When we watch too many fictional shows as uneducated children or adults, we generally will believe what we see as a constant truth. For example, many believe that seeing a wolf in the wild means they will attack you immediatly with no hesitation. This notion is untrue as animals generally only attack humans out of extreme hunger. If the ecosystem is in balance then the predators will not always attack the prey in that ecosystem. The predators will only eat the sick and dead. The balance of an ecosystem is very important to maintain this is why killing off species is so detrimental to the planet and its ecosytems.









New Concepts


The bias of the filmmaker. "Since the Company Came" (Hawkins, 2000) Does the film only involve one side of the story? If so, then does that bias show a certain side to make money off of the issue to use scare tatitics to elicit more sales of their video as it brings on the issue of what is a bigger concern. Save the environment or make some money?

What I took from this reading

It is very hard to understand those people (Hafori) in another area of the world, and how their economy is so dependant on the logging industry. It would be hard to tell a big buisness to not give your people jobs as it hurts the environment. Some areas of the world are not as econmically diverse as the United States. The situation would be a delicate one as there is so much to be gained (economic), and so much to be lost (ecosystem).

The use of film in media can give its audience a first hand look at every situation you maybe only glance at in the newspaper. Film can bring to light many parts, some not so well known, and some very well known topics. It is important to remember when you are watching the movie that you try and decipher all of the sides of the story. Who and what effect each other and remember for every action there is a re-action/result.

Additional Resources






Logging the forrest, everything you need to know about how, what, and why

For the environmentally friendly Tree Hugger, this website shows every angle of how we can save the environment from food, to business and politics.

Definitions


Ecosystems- An ecosystem is a natural unit consisting of all plants, animals and micro-organisms (bioitc factors) in an area functioning together with all of the non-living physical (abiotic) factors of the environment



Haforai- The Haforai people live in a very remote part of the world, Rendova in the Solomon Islands. Location of Solomon Islands the archipelago of Solomon Islands is located in the southern region of the Pacific Ocean. Papua New Guinea is the nearest big land mass northwest of it. The Solomon Islands are a part of the group of islands better known as Oceania. The continent of Australia lies a little further off, south west of it. The water bodies, aside of the South Pacific Ocean that surrounds the Solomon Islands are the Solomon Sea, the Coral Sea and the Arafura Sea.


Shamanism- Shamanism is a range of traditional beliefs and practices concerned with communication with the spirit world.


Ecotourism- is a form of tourism, that appeals to ecologically and socially conscious individuals. Generally speaking, ecotourism focuses on volunteering, personal growth and learning new ways to live on the planet. It typically involves travel to destinations where flora, fauna and cultural heritage are the primary attractions. Ecotourism is a conceptual experience, enriching those who delve into researching and understanding the environment around them. It gives us insight into our impacts, as human beings and also a greater appreciation of our own natural habitats.