Monday, February 25, 2013

ILP 6 - Unhealthy America


Michael Walsh
ILP 6
February 25, 2012


The first news article I found for Essay Two comes from the CDC, the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, regarding Unhealthy America. The overall message of the article is how eating in America is still overall unhealthy. It analyzes the unhealthy tendencies that people in every state in the United States have regarding exercise and food habits. It also analyzes the statistical information of unhealthiness in America. Therefore, in terms of stasis theory, it goes under the category of facts. The subcategory of facts deals with how something happens, the facts associated with it, the problem or issue and what are the causes and effects of the problem and how it can be corrected. The article addresses the problem that is how the general population is overweight or obese and it is leading to a large number of preventable diseases. The problem is not just a lack of exercise but unhealthy foods that promote weight gain. The article focuses on the aspect of unhealthy foods and the general idea of an unhealthy lifestyle. Therefore, this article by the CDC states that the cause of the problem is unhealthy or fatty foods. This is one major supporting claims for my major thesis of unhealthy America being a combination of unhealthy foods, lack of exercise and an overall psychological impact of general unhealthiness. This claim in the article reviews the overall effects that consuming unhealthy foods has on the general health of people. This is a really important claim because it is a major aspect of my paper to analyze the effects of these foods and the affect they have on the America’s population. Thus, the article is going to be a key component of my complete essay because the information provided is credible coming from the CDC. The other primary claim I will use from this article deals with the policy change for food in social settings. Therefore, it discusses plans that are either in place or going to be soon implemented to address the situation and promote healthier food options. For example food stores will offer more healthier choice options and schools will place an importance on healthier options. These new plans create the opportunity to turn back the time in a sense to work towards a more fit and overall healthier American population. This article stresses the importance of healthy foods and will play a key role in my research for the essay because it deals with one major component of Unhealthy America, the unhealthy foods the population consumes that leads to unhealthiness.


"Eating in America Still Unhealthy: CDC." US News. U.S.News & World Report, 29 Sept. 2009. Web. 24 Feb. 2013.

Wednesday, February 20, 2013

Topic Proposal


Topic Proposal:


Essay Two is an exploratory paper in which I plan on writing about the problem of Unhealthy America. I will research the problem to gain information about how to address the situation to analyze the plans already in place and future endeavors to correct the problem.  I will research about both the consumption of unhealthy foods as well as the lack of exercise. However, I will also explore the realm of the psychological impact, in which people are struggling to lose weight and both the social and financial impacts obesity has on the nation. Overall, I will encompass all aspects of the problem of unhealthy America, and hopefully after more research I can decide a main focus for the paper. 

Monday, February 18, 2013

SWA (E) Denity - Statis Theory


The article “Always-On/Always-On-You: The Tethered Self” by Sherry Turkle in the Carolina reader reflects the idea of social change due to the advancement of technology. Statis theory can be broken down into five categories, facts, definitions, quality, policy and closure. The main message of the article reflects the category of quality. Quality has to do with whether the topic is good or bad and how serious the problem is and therefore, if the problem has to be resolved. The main situation regards the advancement of technology that has inspired a social change to how people interact and behave in the presence of others. Technology has advanced so far that people are always connected to the Internet and others via their phones or computers (Turkle 137). This upmost connection at all times of the day even when outside a person’s house, people can stay connected and interact with others whom they are not directly with. This connection has inspired a change, for example, previously it was rude to leave a conversation because it was seen as the person was disinterested however, today it seems acceptable and often a “waste of time” to be unconnected from emails or work (Turkle 140). This connection has also created new ideas in terms of inspiring people to focus more on necessary tasks during any moment. It allows people to be constantly connected to work and other priorities throughout the day. However, this connection comes with risks that could potentially outweigh the benefits; this is where the category of policy of the statis theory comes into action. There is an inherent risk that can cause people to lose social skills or personal interaction with people in the real world. Some people may be so connected that they lose out on opportunities for experiences. For example. Sherry Turkle mentions how students whom study abroad may lose some of the experience because they are too busy interacting with people back home via social media (Turkle 138).  This poses an unique but serious problem because people lose this experience that could be beneficial in future endeavors throughout life. If people lose this sense or idea, it could cause a disastrous effect limiting the youth and their experiences. This problem is all subjective because it also introduces good social integration between people who can experience multiple aspects of life via others. Therefore, it is a controversial topic and depending on the article and author’s point of view on the topic it can be beneficial or negative. 

Tuesday, February 12, 2013

ILP 4 Twitter Credibility


Social Media has really sparked a change in the way society views and receives news. Ways of receiving the news has drastically changed over the past century from, newspapers and radios to television, however the past decade has inspired a change to a faster more accessible way, the Internet. Now most people use social media to quickly receive news information. Twitter has emerged as the quickest way of hearing news because it is instant and available on mobile as many people now have smartphones. However, there is also a problem with credibility as anyone can have a Twitter account. Generally, the common rule I use it to look at who posts the content on Twitter for example, information from a reputable account of a person from a trusted news provider is going to be more trusted than a random persons’ account. Thus, the credibility is important to gauge the information to analyze if it is trusted or no. Twitter also has a little checkmark system to verify if the person is the true person controlling the account, thus it confirms the information is coming from someone with knowledge about a certain topic. To begin this ILP, I searched Google News for information regarding the uses of Twitter for news and information. I received a bunch of articles of current news information coming from Twitter but only a few regarding how news is presented via Twitter and its impact on how society now receives news. Therefore, this probably wasn’t the most effective way to search for articles however did provide a few credible sources after scanning through the results. The first result I analyzed was from an organization called the state of media, where the authors By Amy Mitchell & Tom Rosenstiel of PEJ, and Leah Christian of the Pew Research Center were mentioned at the top of the article. The article discusses the recent emergence of information being provided via Twitter to millions of people very quickly. It discusses in depth the statistics of recent information exchange via social media especially on Twitter. The information is backed up with statistics provided from research completed by the organization, thus it didn’t compare with peers to validate the results, however the source is very credible because the authors are reputable, the information is provides to support claims made throughout and the information is current. The next article I examined is an article about Twitters’ influence on news regarding Hurricane Sandy. The article was written by Susan Berfield of Business Week. She discusses the spread of news about Hurricane Sandy via Twitter, mentioning the transfer of information while the power was out. This allowed the people affected to remain in contact with the news and developing stories regarding Hurricane Sandy. However, she also mentions how the credibility of Twitter can be off, because some people were creating lies about how the Statue of Liberty was underwater and destroyed. Thus, she addresses how Twitter can be a good source of information however, you must rely on trusted accounts for reliable information. The article isn’t as credible as the first article because it doesn’t provide statistics and wasn’t reviewed by numerous sources to confirm the information presented was correct. In the future, I would probably reference old articles published on trusted news source websites such as CNN, although I did find good articles after a bit of scanning the results.  

Berfield, Susan. "For Many, Twitter Replaced Traditional News Sources During Storm." Bloomsburg Business Week. Business Week, 31 Oct. 2012. Web. 12 Feb. 2013.

Mitchell, Amy, and Tom Rosenstiel. "What Facebook and Twitter Mean for News | State of the Media." What Facebook and Twitter Mean for News | State of the Media. The State of Media Organization, 2012. Web. 12 Feb. 2013.

Monday, February 4, 2013

ILP 3- Super Bowl


Michael Walsh
ILP 3

The Super Bowl last night featured a good matchup between the Baltimore Ravens and the San Francisco 49ers and the Harbaugh brother coaches. The beginning of the game was a rout and it looked like the Ravens had sealed the game with a 109 yard kickoff return for the Ravens by Jacoby Jones making it 28-6 early in the third quarter. However, in dramatic fashion the lights in the superdome went out.  Officials state, “that an "abnormality" in the power system triggered an automatic shutdown, forcing backup systems to kick in. But no one was sure what caused the initial problem” (Associated Press 1). This break caused a disruption in the Ravens momentum that allowed the 49ers a chance at a comeback. The Ravens were pumped up with a huge lead and the Jones touchdown kickoff return inspired the entire team.  After the thirty-four minute interruption the lights finally came back on. Many jokes about the city of New Orleans, Ray Lewis and the NFL were had about the mishap with the lights however, the effect was the comeback of the 49ers. The 49ers battled back to 31- 34, and the “controversial” plan occurred. The 49ers were on the goal line down by five points with little time remaining in the fourth quarter. The quarterback for the 49ers, Colin Kaeprernick threw a pass to wide receiver Michael Crabtree. The pass fell incomplete however; there was a controversial no call on a penalty on the defender for Pass Interference. If a penalty had been called the 49ers would have had a new set of downs on the goal line and potentially would have been able to win the game. In recap, “San Francisco receiver Michael Crabtree was bumped in the end zone on the 49ers' final offensive play -- the contact appeared incidental -- but coach Jim Harbaugh insisted a penalty should have been called” (AP 7). Jim Harbaugh believes had the call been made, his team, the 49ers would be Super Bowl 47 champions. Overall the game was a very exciting end to the biggest sporting event in the United States. Many stories played out including the Harbaugh brother matchup but the most anticipated was Ray Lewis winning the Super Bowl before his retirement. Ray Lewis who was connected to two deaths thirteen years ago, announced he would retire at the end of the season and goes out in the best possible fashion winning the Super Bowl. Lewis who is the heart and soul of the Baltimore Ravens inspired his team to victory. As Ray Lewis said “if God be with us, who can be against us”. Coach John Harbaugh of the Ravens said “"I think it speaks to our resolve, speaks to our determination, speaks to our mental toughness; that is what wins and loses games, it was just our night” (AP 11).

"ESPN NFL." ESPN.com. Associated Press, 04 Feb. 2013. Web. 04 Feb. 2013.