Media

The news media has had a drastic change compared to what it used to be many years ago. Years ago, the media actually told truthful stories and it was not so opinionated. In the 21^st century the American minds are consumed with either Fox news or MSNBC which both lean heavily to one side or the other. People who watch Fox news normally lean more towards being more of a conservative person and people who watch MSNBC tend to be liberal. The news media used to be an outlet for truth and news about what is occurring in the world. Now, there is no such thing as fact checkers. A fact checker is someone who checks the news to make sure everything that is said on a broadcast is solely the truth. Fox and MSNBC have both been caught saying things that are not true at all. This is a major problem because then the people living in our society take this fake news for the truth.

Another problem with our media today is that while watching the news, there is only usually two valuable stories. The rest of the news in a 30 minute broadcast is all fluff stories that may be cute and heartwarming but yet tell us nothing about what is happening in the world. The media veers away from tragic stories because all they are concerned about is ratings. If they have stories about war and stories that are hard to watch, then the viewer will simply just turn the channel and watch something better. The problem with news channels solely being concerned about their ratings is that we as people living in a country are missing out on important stories that we should be exposed to.

Another problem that sparks my mind when I think about our media is the use of polls in the media. Almost every single poll that is used in the media is misleading. The people that actually vote in these polls have an extreme thought on the topic, therefore creating a bias on the poll. Going back to my earlier point about the polarized news stations, it is possible to make a good example. Let’s say that there is a poll on Fox news about abortion. If the question was if viewers thought that abortion should be banned, then there would most likely be an overwhelming amount of viewers that believed that abortion should be illegal. I think that this a big negative about polls because before they are even posted, there is already a noticeable bias for one side or the other. This makes the results seem heavily in favor for one viewpoint. Americans then take these polls for truth. The use of polls should be, in my opinion, stopped all together.

When it comes to environmental issues in our media, I feel like the people that present the information really try to pull in the viewer by his or her emotions. So many people are so fearful of global warming or climate change that they actually live their lives around this fear. Presenters of environmental issues try to fear people about these issues instead of educating them. Another emotion that is easy to bring out in people that are watching a presentation is sadness. A good example of this is the commercials on the television about the dogs that need homes or the very poor living in Africa. If the advertisers can evoke an emotional that makes people act on that emotion, then their advertisement has worked in their favor. Another way that advertisers get their commercials to do well is to use celebrities to talk about these sad circumstances. All of these factors are put into convincing viewers. Citizen’s decisions need to be made on solely facts.

The uses of words by people that talk about these issues also have a big impact. For example, the changes from the word global-warming to climate change. People pay more attention to the world climate change. The word change attracts more attention to the topic and normally spins the meaning to make the subject sound more appealing.

To me, I feel like the talk about sustainable products is always faintly there, but never really acted upon. There has been a talk about sustainable energy ever since I can remember watching the news. Although this talk has been there, I feel like it is always put on the back burner to something that the government feels is a more urgent important topic. The government wants to balance our budget, and I think that there is a possibility out there in order to save money with the type of energy that we are currently using.

I also think that the government sides with big business agricultural companies when it comes to sustainability topics because big business creates trade and money. The entire government legislation comes down to if it can possibly make the most money or not. The big business farmers are receiving subsides and therefore it is a lot easier for trade with other countries. Other countries therefore lose out on sustainable homegrown products because they are buying the U.S. produced goods because they are a lower price. All in all, everything the government does is all related back to the topic of money.

All in all, the media has made a huge shift from what it used to be and the things that it talks about. The topic of sustainability in the media is fueled by triggering emotions from the viewers that watch its advertisements. At the end of the day, the government’s main concern is money and that is what fuels our American society.

My Life With Food

As I have grown up, I have heard all the gripes and moans from all the women in my family about how they need to lose weight and how they are so unhappy about their image. Until now, I have never really understood how the women in my family could gain the weight that they do so quickly. When I was younger, food was never an issue. I could eat what I wanted, when I wanted, and whatever I wanted. Eating candy for dinner was not an issue for me, although my mom certainly would have not approved. When I was younger, I had a type of carefr

ee attitude about life and food. I think that if I would have had more of a discipline when I was younger then maybe it would be a lot easier for me now to eat the right way.

My family was never the type of family that got fast food constantly. My family has always been close knit and loved hanging out together. My grandparents come over every weekend with my cousins and my aunts. For holidays, the big deal is what is for dinner. My family loves to eat. The dilemma is that although my family loves to eat, there is a noticeable weight problem that comes with the way that we eat. I don’t think that we eat terrible food all of the time, but some of the food choices that are made are not the healthiest.

The thing that really gets me is that in the past my parents have always gone on their healthy food kick. This

healthy food kick would include getting rid of all of the junk food in the house and sticking to a strict diet. All of this would last for about two weeks and then somehow Oreos would appear in the cupboard again. This cycle is a constant cycle that goes on about every three months. I find it entertaining because I believe that if my parents would stick to it then they would be successful in losing the weight that they want to lose.

Everything changed after I left for college. All of the sudden, my parents decided to go to the video store and rent a movie titled Food Inc. This movie has changed their outlook on food forever, or at least for more than their normal cycle of two weeks. Now when I go home after being at school for a while, it makes me so happy to see all of the improvements that my parents have made i

n their lives, but then I wish that I could have been home while they were making these changes.

College has been tough for me when it comes to the food aspect. I don’t have the determination and drive to only eat healthy when there is a bunch of greasy chicken nuggets in front of me. Although I don’t think that I am overweight, I do that I will soon get there if I keep it up. I don’t feel like Ohio University offers healthy choices at all. I feel like I am trapped because I don’t have the money to afford food for myself. I think that there needs to be some type of food movement at Ohio University to advocate for more healthy choices. I feel like Ohio University prides themselves on their food when in reality they should be somewhat embarrassed. There is an unequal balance of quality throughout the campus. Some places offer variety and somewhat tasteful choices. The markets at Ohio University are the equivalents to gas stations. They offer nothing that is beneficial to the health of the students. All in all, I have not had a very positive experience at Ohio University with food choices here. I feel as if I were at home I would be eating so much better and helping my health in a positive way.

There has been one person in my life that has been my idol when it comes to food and that person would be my brother. My brother plays college football so the automatic thought is that he takes food and slops it on his plate and just pigs out every time that he eats. This is not the case and what is interesting, is that he eats so healthy but yet keeps his weight that he has to have to compete. He came to visit me for sibs weekend and it opened my eyes. I took him to the dining hall because it wouldn’t stop complaining about how hungry he was. When we got to the dining hall, I showed him around and told him to eat whatever he wanted. We went separate ways and I went to the main line and he went to the salad bar. Watching my brother eat that day was almost sad because he could not find one single thing in the dining hall that was not processed in some way unless it was from the salad bar. As he sat eating spinach leaves and carrots with not dressing, I felt helpless. All I wanted to do was give him something that would fill him up in the way that he normally eats. After his visit, it solidified the fact that I thought the food served at Ohio University is just sickening.

My experience with food throughout my life has fit into the larger food picture because I have fallen to the lower prices and the taste of processed foods. I have never really experienced eating solely organic ever in my life and never really realized how much better they are for me. After watching Food Inc. in class, I never wanted to eat meat again but then as soon as the next time I went to the dining hall I fell victim to the meat. It is not that I now despise meat, but I do wish that there was a better option for the meat products at Ohio University.

I feel like I have experienced somewhat of a normal experience with food throughout my life. When I was younger, I ate whatever I could find without thinking. As I have grown up I have realized what it is like to be able to gain weight. This has been a shock and I find myself trapped in the choices that are available to me now that I am in college.

New 'Pancake' Stingrays Discovered in the Amazon

In this article in Yahoo news, I found that there has been two new species of stingrays found in the Amazon located in the rain forest. These stingrays look like pancakes and they have noses. There has been a new stingray genus found and this is the genus that these two species belong to. These stingrays had been discovered over two decades ago and they are just now able to name them because it was difficult to find them. The team that discovered these stingrays was small and had a hard time competing with the big fishermen. The two new species names are Heliotrygon gomesi and Heliotrygon rosi. Both types of stingrays are large and have slits on their bellies along with their noses and pancake shapes. There is quite a positive aspect to this new find of species because it shows that there is a possibility that there could possibly be more types of fish and water life out there that has yet to be found.

I found this article to be interesting because it really makes the reader question how many types of animals are out there that have yet to be discovered. This article puts hope into the minds of many to not focus so much on all of the animals that are endangered, but yet looking for new species that can be found. Everyone is always focusing on the negatives but this is such a positive step. With the new findings of these animals, I think that there could be jobs created by hiring people to seek and find new animal species. For me, I just assumed that every type of animal out there has basically been found and never really thought about everything out there that has not been explored. Each day, we learn something new.

Japan Nuclear Crisis Unlike Chernobyl: U.N. atom chief

In this article from Yahoo news, it explains how the recent earthquake and tsunami in Japan flooded the nuclear plants in Japan but it did not destroy the rector vessels. The release of radiation was limited, which is a positive. The director of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Yukiya Amano, is confident that the Japan government will restore safety at the nuclear sites and that a disaster like Chernobyl will not happen or at least it is very unlikely. The Japan authorities are trying their best to get the nuclear plants in a stable position, but obviously the circumstances are making it difficult. Although the nuclear plants have been completely flooded from the disaster, the reactor vessels have stayed intact. Some radiation has released in certain areas but not enough to endanger the people because the levels of radiation have fell. The statuses of the nuclear plants have been the worse since the Ukraine in Chernobyl in 1986. This has given the fear of radiation leakage but so far it is under control. The difference between these two incidents is that in Japan, the reactors automatically shut down as the earthquake occurred.

Although these natural disasters were terrible for the country of Japan, there are slight positives that can be looked at. If the reactors were to have leaked and let off massive radiation then the circumstances in Japan could have been much much worse. Japan is facing a terrible situation, but there still has to be hope for better things to come with aid and such. The Japanese have faced many critics when it came to their preparation for this disaster, but now that it has already happened, all we can do is help Japan get back on its feet.

Project 4 Prezi

Water Contamination Prezi

Scientists Debate Cause of Dolphin Deaths

In yahoo news, this article discusses the cause of the death of eighty dolphins. Scientists want to know if the reason for the death of all of these dolphins was the oil spill or if it was just the chill of winter. An odd number of dolphins have been washing up on shores in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida but The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration just said that it was and unusual event in mortality. The dolphins that have been washing up are not adults but they are newly born. With the amount of 206 million gallons of crude oil, it is very likely that this has had an effect on the dolphin deaths, even though there has been rarely low temp in Gulf. Experts are estimating more deaths in the future.

This number and article is alarming to me because I really didn't realize that there is an actual debate over the cause of the dolphin death. I think that if the oil spill is the reason, then there should be help from BP with the amount of animal deaths and clean up. They just made a huge mess and left it for everyone else to deal with and yet people still buy their gas and they are still making millions every year. There needed to be more of a penalty for the people working for BP. It saddens me that innocent animals had to die over something caused by humans.

U.S. Security Depends on Energy Innovation

In the article from Yahoo news, Jeremy Hsu states that in order for security for the United States in the future, there is going to need to be less dependence on foreign oil and more of our own energy ideas. If we can find alternative energy then it would help our economy because it would be cutting edge new technology. Hsu states that there is three pillars of the future of the United States and they are national security, environmental security and economic security. These three pillars could collapse at any moment if there is a sudden problem with foreign oil. If we can find new energy then it would only help our national security and our economy as a whole. In another aspect of helping the United States, it would cut back on pollution so that we could focus on more clean energy solutions. Right now America is craving new economic growth and if we can produce energy that is affordable and doesn't involve foreign oil, then it could be a great thing for this country.

I feel like this has been a debate for so long but it is pushed to the side often. We focus on so many topics in government right now that are about our economy but we need to start thinking out of the box in order to find new economic boosts. The United States has tid bits of information for different new energy solutions but we never fully act of them. As of right now, I don't think that there are any options that are affordable for the average American which leads to things falling through.Right now there is being a lot of money spent on oil and other resources that could be saved with alternative energy. New energy could create jobs and a whole new sector of our economy.