Response to Laurel's Blog "Heart Health"

After reading Laurel's blog, "Heart Health", I believe I was more educated on healthy food! In her blog was a link to another blog called Kelly the Kitchen Kop. I was very interested in this blog and read a few of the posts. I believe the most interesting post was the one about her brother-in-law's follow-up with the heart specialist. It really baffled me that the doctor did not discuss her brother-in-law's diet and how the way he eats could be contributing to his heart issues. After writing an eight page paper about exercise, it is easy for me to understand how important exercise and healthy diet is to preventing obesity and heart disease. Obesity can lead to heart disease and many other cancers. All doctors should be aware of this and the first thing they should discuss with their patients, if they are overweight especially, is diet. With a proper diet that addresses personal issues, patients can decrease their risk for many diseases and cancers and ultimately prevent those diseases and cancers.
By reading this blog, I was interested in researching the affects food has in preventing diseases and cancers.  It is safe to say that food has a huge part in preventing 99% of diseases and cancers. Food is half the battle, exercise is another part, and medicine is the next. I believe we should control what we can and eat healthy to keep ourselves as safe as is possible from disease and cancer.

Ethics and Medicine

A recent topic in medicine that conflicts with ethics is that of abortion: pro-choice vs. pro-life. I am aware of this topic because my gyno is an advocate for pro-choice and we have had numerous discussions about abortion. Many people reside behind the pro-choice side which means they believe the female who is pregnant has the choice of abortion or not. However, just as many people believe in pro-life which says that if you abort the pregnancy, you are killing someone because once the egg and sperm meet, is when a person begins life. Behind deciding which side a person supports is also religion. Being a Catholic, I understand that according to the Roman Catholic Church it is God's will to be pro-life. However, disregarding religion, I am pro-choice. I believe women should have the choice. God forbid someone was raped- it was not their choice to conceive that child, but I think it should be their choice whether or not to give birth to that child. I think that they would not have to be reminded of that horrible episode every time they look at that child.

But here is the question-should abortion be illegal? Arguments have been made to support both sides. And the new idea being thrown out there is that we can be both pro-choice and pro-life!


In this article from Time Magazine, it is noted that yes, there are justifiable reasons as to why being pro-choice makes sense. Those reasons include incest and rape. But then again, it states that there are also reasons to be pro-life. Those reasons include that since the moment of conception, those clumps of cells are considered a human being.
In conclusion, abortion rights should not be decided by the government. I think it should be a personal decision and no judgment should be placed on anyone. In a perfect society, people would have their opinions and other people would accept with open arms. But in the society that we live in today, abortion rights and the law with always but heads and no decision or action can make every single person happy.

Response to Alex's Kool Aid Blog

I decided to watch Alex's posted demonstration evaluation video of a girl named Lori who presents a speech on how to make Kool Aid. After watching her speech, I learned a lot. She had a catchy introduction, she was intriguing throughout the entire speech, and had a great conclusion. I completely agree with Alex on all of her points.

Lori started her speech off with confidence and a catchy introduction on how she had finally found a perfect recipe. Also, Lori was extremely upbeat, loud, firm, and confident throughout her entire speech. It was no contest to stay interested in Lori's speech and was actually very entertaining to watch. Her conclusion was great, hitting all the main points and reiterating what she wanted to get through to the audience. It was short and to the point. Overall, I definitely gained some points worth remembering from Lori that will help with my next speech.

I also agree with Alex's point that Lori could maybe slow down and let her points sink in with the audience. I strongly believe that sometimes slowing down is effective and causes the audience to pay attention. It may even add a little drama to your speech!

Demonstration Evaluation

I found a speech on YouTube of a college student demonstrating how to build a Subway sandwich- Subway Girl. I actually found this topic to be quite intriguing, considering I always watch in awe as to how perfectly every Subway sandwich is made. I believe this speech had many positives, but also had numerous negatives that are worth pointing out. One of the negatives was that of the presenter's use of the word "like". I think using "like" every few words is very annoying and unprofessional. Also, the girl presenting was not serious enough in a way. Another notable negative was that she took too long in presenting how the meat should be put on the sandwich. Personally, I think after putting twenty-four slices of turkey on one piece at a time, it was not necessary to put twenty-four slices of ham on after that, or twenty-four slices of cucumber AND tomato. It took too long and presented a lull in her speech and caused me to lose interest for a bit. After losing interest, I found it difficult to refocus and gain interest again.

However, her voice was very clear and her visual aids were phenomenal. She spoke loudly and added some levity to her presentation, being able to make her audience laugh a couple of times. But, the negatives outweighed the positives in this demonstration speech. Overall, her demonstration was very repetitive and not worthy of six minutes. In reality, learning how to make a Subway sandwich would most likely take a maximum of three minutes.

My Technorati Search For More Info on Concussions

Of course I decided to continue my research on Traumatic Brain Injuries (TBI's) in sports, also known as concussions. The information regarding concussions really intrigues me and I love to learn about it, especially since I am a victim of two concussions in less than one year. I searched "concussion" on Technorati and only came across a handful of results. However, the most interesting was that of "Brain Injury Lawyer". The posts are posted by Bruce H. Stern, a lawyer for the firm that the blog is posted by, Stark & Stark. New posts are posted almost every two days and hyperlinks to articles or data are used quite often. This blog has been running since the beginning of 2010.


http://www.braininjurylawblog.com/


I found this blog to be incredibly interesting because it shows the law side of issues with concussions. It was also exciting to read the post regarding a bill that had just been passed which states that, "The bill requires that the state Department of Education (DOE) develop an interscholastic athletic head injury safety training program, concerning the prevention, risk and treatment of sports related concussions and other brain injuries among student athletes. " It is called the "Brain Injury Awareness Act". It is great to see what is happening legally regarding concussions, especially with the issues in the NFL. This blog also goes over the importance of helmets and safety. This blog is great because it covers everything from helmets to legal bills being passed to the causes and effects of concussions. It is full of information and the reader can learn a lot. 
There is still a lot to be learned by players, parents, coaches, trainers, doctors, and the general public, in relation to concussions and the damage that can be done to someone who has suffered one to multiple concussions in their life. 

Response to Jake's Blog

I was very interested in Jake's blog post regarding Sport's Nutrition. Being an athlete, it is always appealing for me to learn new information relating to nutrition that may help me perform better in my sport. The blog that Jake had found using Technorati was very intriguing and had a professionalism to it. John Phillips, author of this blog, seems to focus in on a certain topic and then find articles that he blogs about to support that topic. For example, the information on vitamins reducing risk of heart attack. Phillips finds four articles relating to vitamins reducing risk of heart attack to support the topic. All of his posts are well researched and include a lot of information for the reader to easily learn. He also includes hyperlinks which link back to the information that supports his blog posts. It is an extremely educational blog and is also very intriguing to read, especially as an athlete.
The most intriguing topic of the blog for me to read was the post about Leptin and Ghrelin. It was extremely interesting for me because we are learning about Leptin aiding in weight loss in Zoology 101. Is it possible for overweight people to be injected with the hormone Leptin? Why does it aid in weight loss? This article and blog post allows for the reader to easily understand how the body uses the hormones Leptin and Ghrelin to control when it is full and when it is hungry.
Overall, I was very interested in Jake's blog post and was able to learn a lot from what he found through Technorati. This blog is now a bookmark on my computer!

Informative Speech

After watching my speech, I wish I had done a topic I was more interested in. Although the cookie sandwiches were delicious and an Ammerman family tradition, it was tough to talk about them for up to five minutes. If I had done something more interesting, I probably would have been more enthusiastic about the topic and had more will to talk about it. For our next speech, I will be sure to select a topic that is of more meaning and interest to me personally. It is definitely much easier to speak in front of people about something your heart is actually in.

As far as presenting goes, I think I did an overall decent job. I probably should have made more eye contact and practiced my speech a few more times than I did. I was definitely a little nervous because I get nervous speaking in front of people, but it was not too noticeable. I always say that if I could wear my hockey helmet while giving speeches and such, I would kill it...I mean I do live half my life in that helmet anyways.

http://sharing.theflip.com/session/0644b8c11fac9a7440c754bf454011ee/video/23295851

Response Madison's Blog

As it is obvious to comprehend after reading my blog discussing my opinion about the selling of organs, I completely disagree with Madison's blog response. As i have said, the selling of organs is a completely personal decision. People have the right to decide for themselves what they want to do with their bodies. If they are helping save lives, their is no problem with them selling their organs. It is also understandable for someone who is in a tight money situation to decide to sell their organs to help themselves and/or their family out. What better way to help yourself out in a situation by saving a life? It is great to save a life and get something in return that can help an individual out. Like I mentioned, it is a completely personal decision and is up to the person what they want to do with their body!

Organs for Sale?

I firmly believe that helping others and saving lives is extremely important. There is no greater way to help someone than to essentially save their life. I think that an individual should most definitely have the right to sell his or her organs. Of course, they must give consent to do so. But the decision to sell your body's organs is a personal decision and every individual has the right to decide for themselves. The circumstances can be up to the preference of an individual. An obvious circumstance would be in the case of dying, when one desperately needs a healthy organ for transplant. If a person is willing to sell their organ to save that person, it is fine in my eyes. If they do not want to sell their organs to help that sick person out, that is fine too. It is really based on personal preference. However, it is understandable for one to disagree with the concept of someone selling their organs. Ethical and medical issues can arise. It may be against one's religion or what not. 

I do not understand why some countries would make the selling of organs illegal. If it goes against a religion, like I said before, I guess it could be understood. But I really do think it is completely a personal decision and should not be banned to a group of people. This is also where our country’s freedom stands out. We are free to do what we want, so it is the usual for Americans to be able to make their own decisions. This makes it foreign, for me as an American at least, to hear that some countries have made it illegal for an individual to sell their organs. Every person is entitled to their own decisions, opinions, and thoughts. 


'Sell Organs to Save Lives'

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-10786211

Above is the link to an article that argues in favor of the sale of organs. Like I said in my previous posts, I think selling organs is a great thing. It saves lives and saving a life is the greatest thing you can do to help someone and I personally believe it is one of the greatest satisfactions in life. In this article, it is said that people have a right to their own body and have the right to make decisions about their own body. I completely agree with this. As long as what you are doing is harming no one, then it is perfectly fine to continue to do it. The article also discusses how in some countries, the selling of organs is considered a criminal offense. I find this difficult to understand given the fact that it is a personal preference and deals with one's own body. After reading this article, I still firmly agree with my opinion in the prior post. No one should make decisions about your body other than you, that is if you are NOT a minor....that can lead to another completely debatable topic like in the book, now movie, My Sister's Keeper.