Essay Idea

My group discussed obesity for our essay idea. I think writing an essay on obesity could help me by helping me understand more about it. It could help me prevent myself from becoming obese or help someone struggling with obesity.

Vocabulary Fall #2

obesity: a condition of being grossly fat or overweight.                      
accumulate: gather together or acquire an increasing number or quantity of something.
mass: a large body of matter.
disease: a disorder of structure in a human, animal or plant.
diet: food that a person or animal habitually eats.
prevalence: fact or condition of being prevalent.
stigma: mark of disgrace associated with a particular circumstance.
preventable: capable of being prevented.
adolescent: young person developing into an adult.
cardiovascular: involving the heart and or blood vessels.
excessive: more than is necessary.
mechanism: a system of parts working together in a machine.
sedentary: spending much time seated.
predispose: make someone liable or inclined to a specified attitude.
syndrome: a group of symptoms that consistently occur together or a condition characterized by a set of associated symptoms.

Pros & Cons of Obesity

The first article I read was on Philly.com and it was titled "Should Schools Send Home Fat Letters". It talked about how 21 states have already made policies of sending home fat letters in their schools. Massachusetts was the only state where there was a real problem about the letters. The article also states that the letters can be informative, non-judge mental and resource focused.

The American Academy of Pediatrics was also a major supporter of the schools that sent home fat letters. The American Academy of Pediatrics championed schools that sent out the letters because they believe that the letters can be very effective in helping overweight children lose weight by notifying the parents who convince them to make lifestyle changes.

Another article I read about fat letters was on examiner.com. It said that the fat letters can back fire depending on how the child's parents react to finding out they have an overweight child. Also that the singling out of overweight kids can cause future problems for them such as food addiction and eating disorders.

The last article I read was on thestar.com it was titled "Toronto schools won't send fat letters home". Schools in Toronto, Canada decided to start recording there students body mass index. But it's only for statistical purposes. Fat letters won't be sent home and parents won't be notified if there child is overweight. The children can be notified but only if they request it.

My conclusion on schools sending home fat letters is that they are a good idea they can lead to children being motivated to lose weight. People just need to be less sensitive, realize that they have a problem and make some lifestyle changes for there own good.

Public School Fat Letters

I don't necessarily think sending home the fat letters is a bad idea but I don't really see the point in them. I think the parents of the obese children already know that there children are overweight. I think it's good that the school is trying to help fight childhood obesity but I think they could do something better like serve more nutritious food instead of a lot of processed and frozen foods. They could also take physical education seriously.

Vocabulary Fall #1

expository: intended to explain or describe something.
composition: the act of combining parts or elements to form a whole.
assuage: make something unpleasant less intense.
decadence: moral or cultural decline.
hackneyed: lacking significance through having been overused.
coalition: an alliance for combined action.
transcend: to rise above or go beyond the limits of something.
meritorious: deserving reward or praise.
lurid: causing horror or revulsion.
retulant: rude in speech or behavior.

This is Phat

http://www.naturalnews.com/040736_Fast_Food_Nation_processed_foods_human_consumption.html

Reflections on week 1

1. Being able to do my homework on my iPhone or computer is going to make it much easier to get homework done, since I won't need a book or even a pencil or paper.

2. 1 learning experience that I will never forget is when me and my Dad were quail hunting. I was using my 12 gauge shotgun and my Dad was using his 20 gauge. I was reloading and without paying attention a grabbed a handful of 20 gauge shells and started loading my shotgun. The 20 gauges being smaller will slide right down the barrel and if you fire into a shell lodged in the barrel you could easily lose your hand. I had almost finished reloading when my Dad noticed me loading 20 gauge shells and stopped me. Then I had to field strip my shotgun to remove the shotgun shell. It taught me a lesson in not only firearm safety but to pay better attention at all times no matter what I'm doing.

3. I feel like in all my other English classes I've ever taken I haven't really became a better writer. But I honestly thing this class will teach me to be a better writer and thinker.

5 go to sources for good non-fiction

1. byliner.com, 2. east of the web, 3. good reads.com, 4.boingboing.com, 5.booksie.com.

A truly interesting piece of non-fiction

I read a piece of non-fiction titled "like butterflies in the jungle". It is a story about Brazilian gold miners called garimpeiros who are illegally mining gold in French Guiana. The garimpeiros started mining there when the price of gold went through the roof in 2007. Since they arrived they destroyed much of the rain forest, dumped mercury into many of the rivers and raped and killed many of the natives. The French military soon stepped in and made many arrests, seizing the brazilians gold. But as soon as the French military left the miners got right back to work. The French military soon returned and an all out war between French commandos and the garimpeiros started. The conflict is still happening, with the French military rotating different units in and out of the country and the garimpeiros still trying to mine their gold and make some money.