The final countdown

By: Lauren Reinhard

I found out a lot in this class and it surprised me how much I did learn. I did not think this class was going to teach me so much. I am a pre-pharmacy major and I take basically every mother science class available. This class was very different for me not only the structure but how we learned. In my normal classes it is basically memorizing and regurgitating facts for the exam. In this class I learned more and more everyday and there was more room for ideas and opinions. I think I learned most about how much companies will try to influence consumers to buy their product. It makes me think every time I buy a product about whether to not this company is trying to persuade me or not.

I think the most interesting days for me were when we would have debates or talk about everyones opinion. I always think everyones different opinions are super interesting and diverse. Thats an aspect of this class that I enjoyed the most because I’m not used to my science professors asking me what my opinion is. I also found it super interesting when we got into the environment and how much we have destroyed it with pollution. My favorite story was the people of Bhopal. I had never heard of this story and it made me realize how much companies can take advantage of environments and also people just to make money.  It was super interesting to study the affects of income when writing my paper. I was able to look at the health disparities that are very apparent in our world. I have learned so much in this class and I’m glad that I took this course it has changed my views on many subjects.

References:

https://www.theodysseyonline.com/the-stages-of-finals

Our Oceans

By: Lauren Reinhard

It is sad that we are one of the main causes for our oceans depletion. Whether it is from an oil spill or even pollution. There is so much plastic and garbage in our oceans that have been caused by littering. The sad part about it is animals can get caught in the plastic and it can alter their lives. Some of the animals also mistake the plastic for food and will accidentally eat it causing them to get sick. Our oceans are some of the coolest and unique places with a diverse number of species and its terrible that we are slowly destroying it. Not to mention that people have also over fished some species such as whales or fish. Over fishing can cause a shortage of animals which means they will not be able to thrive. Over all we need to be more conscious about what impact we have on our oceans and even all animals around. We can help animals get back to their populations thriving but only if we make drastic changes such as less pollution and littering. I hope that we can fix this problem before it gets any worse. 

 

“Smart” Water

By: Lauren Reinhard

I’m sure many of you have had a friend that has had a smart water bottle or you have even had it yourself. I always have wondered why it is called smart water and how it is different from any other water. Once we talked about greenwashing in class I began to realize that this product is probably the same as regular water but just perceived to be healthier or have some benefit. After researching the products of smart water it is simple just tap water. The water is purified until there is no more minerals in it and then they add potassium, magnesium chloride, and electrolytes. They put this into a bottle and put a label on it and charge high prices for one bottle. Another problem that many have with the product is it barely has any electrolytes in it, so you would be better off getting tap water from your sink for free. Many also claimed that it might help you lose weight but when it was put on the market there was a negative product that it was no different from any other  water.

Someone did a study to test all waters with each other. Unknown waters were given to people to compare tests without knowing which was which. If smart water is better than regular tap water you would think it would win. But when testing multiple waters such as dasani and many others to smart water the subject testing the water didn’t even rank smart water in the top ten. I think the reason why most people buy smart water, evian, or any expensive bottle of water is because they think that since it is so expensive it will be better for you, which is not true for many of them. The companies that produce these products also do a very good job at making the bottles look very appealing to the eye. Bottom line is now knowing how much companies green wash I will now be checking my items at the grocery for what is actually in them.

References:

Smart Water Review

Which Bottled Water Tastes Best? You Might Be Surprised!

http://www.womansday.com/food-recipes/food-drinks/a596/8-bottled-water-brandsunscrewed-72193/

Spillage

By: Lauren Reinhard

As we watched in class this past week, there have been many times in our Worlds history that there have been spilling of chemicals and gases. These spillages can affect the environment, animals, and worst of all human beings. The video we watched in class was about the gas leak that was in Bhopal, India. This gas leak happened all the way back in 1984 and is still affecting its people today. The gas leak was caused by Union Carbide, which is a plant that leaked many gases and other chemicals into the environment and into the homes of many innocent people. Not only did this mistake from the company cause an impact the night of the incident but also it has had an affect on the people Bhopal for years and years after. The saddest part is there have been barely to any repercussions to help improve these conditions for the people. The only person to blame in this situation is the company. They should have taken precautionary steps to prevent things like this from happening. But these kind of situations have not only happened a long time ago.

I’m sure most people remember the oil spill from BP. This spill affected mostly the animals that were in the ocean, but not only did it affect the animals but also the beaches and environment. What was hard about this was how much it affects the economy. Not only did pollution on the beaches from the spill affect tourism and businesses around there, but also it affected business people that would fish. Both of these combined created a huge economic fall for people off the gulf shore. Many people refused to buy  BP gas because of how much they polluted the gulf. There have been so many situations like this where companies have put making revenue over pollution. This has caused so many impacts to our environment and sadly the people that are forced to live in it. There are many steps that these companies should have taken to prevent things like this happening but sadly they are rarely taken, and it is shown through the environment.

References:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhopal_disaster

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/environment/article51510390.html

Harambe

By:Lauren Reinhard

I’m sure everyone has heard about Harambe. Not only has the death of the silver back gorilla affected Ohio people but it is also known nation wide. There have been so many debates as whether or not killing this gorilla was necessary and the right thing to do. Many animal activists were very upset to hear that they had killed an animal that is endangered because a kid crawled into the cage. I worked at the Columbus Zoo over the summer so it was the talk of the whole zoo. So many people were very angry and said that it was the childs fault. But in the end they had to protect a human life over an animals. A common question is why? Why is the animals life any less important than the humans?

Those questions have rattled many people and can not seem to be answered. Either way the death of this one animals started a social media fiasco. This includes many memes and quotes that people will chant. They also have created many websites such as a petition on change.org to hopefully help with animal conservation. The impact that this one animal has had on people is insane. There have been many instances at the columbus Zoo where people will climb into a cage and they have to put the animal to sleep to ensure the humans safety. The bottom line is these animals are put in these tiny cages and sometimes alone when they are meant to be in the wild and free. If a human would climb into their cage they are probably so bored that they would want to play with anything. I think the problem is not so much that he was shot but zoos in general. It does have some benefits to children, such as learning what animals are what and also if an animals is going endangered in the wild but other than that it is just sad to enclose a wild animal into a 16 by 16 cage. I think if anything needs to change it shouldn’t be more safety around the cages but less animals in zoos that are meant to be wild. Its sad that an innocent animal had to lose its life just to show a lesson but if it wouldn’t have people would not have brought attention to it.

References

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/harambe-memes-cincinnati-zoo_us_57bb5397e4b03d51368a01e8

Evolution in Private Schools

By: Lauren Reinhard

After going to a Catholic Private school my whole life I am pretty accustomed to theology and science classes clashing. I remember always having the debates in theology about whether to trust science or the bible. When you go to a catholic school the teachers must enforce Catholics beliefs because it is in their contract. Because of this my theology teacher(s) would always take the Church’s side. But it was not always denying evolution. We know that evolution happened, its scientifically proven through fossils and artifacts found. but the way my teachers explained it to us is that just because evolution happened, it doesn’t mean that the bible is wrong. Some of the bible can be taken literal such as stories of Jesus but in the Bible it says that God made the earth in 7 days which doesn’t really make that much sense. Theres a reason for every story in the bible. The seven days has a significance behind it, which goes even farther into Catholicism. So what we would always say in theology in my school is that science and religion can coexist. They also can support each other. I think Pope Francis does a really good job with explaining this. He has written and made many statements about science and religion  co existing. Theres no reason that the two can’t support each other. Although there is no real way to prove God’s existence science can help support it. That is always what I was taught. We were also taught in biology all about evolution. I am also a science major at the University of Cincinnati so I have recently studied a lot about evolution and how animals have evolved. Even with knowing this information I am still a Catholic and I still believe in evolution also. I know in some schools people were never taught about evolution or never taught about religion. I think that you should be taught both and then have your own freedom to decide what you believe in rather than have someone else tell you what to believe in. I never realized who lucky I was to be taught both sides and form my opinion and have statements and arguments to back it up until I came to college. It is always important to me that everyone gets their own say  and respect for what they believe in.

References:

http://www.rolereboot.org/culture-and-politics/details/2015-04-beliefs-can-coexist-im-a-science-writer-and-a-christian/

Assumptions of the causes of Cancer

By: Lauren Kathleen Reinhard

I think everyone has heard of the assumptions that drinking causes cancers or not exercising will cause cancer and many more. First of all the definition of cancer is a disease that is caused by the abnormal mutation of cells in a part of the body. Although we are not sure what exactly causes each cancer, i.e. hereditary, radiation, etcetera, researchers have done studies to try to pin point some main causes.  These assumptions lead people to believe that if they drink they will get cancer which is not accurate. Although these lifestyles could increase your risk it is not the main cause. The most recent idea that we talked about in class was that processed meat will cause cancer. The American Cancer society that the International Agency for research on cancer has stated that meat is a cause of cancer, and red meat might cause cancer. Experts from around the world gathered to study 800 cases and they were able to conclude that ingesting around 50 grams of processed meat will increase your chances of cancer. They religiously say that a healthy diet, with many fruits and vegetables is one way to avoid cancer. They do not know exactly how or why it causes cancer yet though.

Although these facts are scary to hear and you want to follow a healthy lifestyle and exercise and eat right and not consume alcohol, avoiding all of these things will not 100 percent prevent you from getting cancer. Many of my family members were very active and healthy human beings who checked their cholesterols and diets regularly and they still were diagnosed with cancer later in life. Just because these studies show a connection between some unhealthy lifestyles and mutation of cells people do not normally follow these studies findings. Like we said in class when that studied was announced a year ago most people still continued to eat processed meat. It is the smartest to choose a healthy exercise with diet and exercise when trying to prevent any kind of disease or even just to prolong your life, but that does not mean to avoid ever eating processed meat or other causes.

 

References:

http://www.cancer.org/cancer/news/world-health-organization-says-processed-meat-causes-cancer

https://www.cancer.gov/publications/dictionaries/cancer-terms?cdrid=45333

http://www.clipartkid.com/wine-beer-party-cliparts/

Lets talk about STD’s…..

By: Lauren Reinhard

After we read the short passage about Achepie story last week, I got to thinking about how uninformed most people are about sexually transmitted diseases; especially in third world countries. It seems like the social norm for teens in America, that everyone will have a sexually transmitted disease once in their life. Even though middle schools and high schools have tried to inform people at a young age, most Americans do not fully understand how dangerous STD’s can be. People think that if you get chlamydia or gonarrhea it is not serious because you can take antibiotics and it will go away, they do not realize that you can become infertile from this disease if it goes untreated for some time.  In America alone there is estimated to be 65 million people living with a sexually transmitted disease. The scariest part is sometimes the symptoms of an STD do not even show. The only way to prevent the transmission of these diseases is to use protection, which most schools in America have tried to force down young teens throats. Seeing the statistics and facts about sexually transmitted diseases in America alone, it is scary to think about what the statistics are for third world countries that do not have education on them.

It is estimated that more than 95% of people that have HIV live in developing countries. This is such an alarming statistic to think about. Since most of the people living in these countries are very poor, they also tend to have little education. Just like in Achepie’s story, she had to drop out of school to help keep her family under the same roof and also fed. When you are trying to provide and protect your family it would be easy to lose your morals. Most people would do anything for their family even if that includes sleeping for money. The problem with this in developing countries is they are probably not using protection, so it will spread at at rapid rate. Also they do not have many advanced health care facilities where they can be treated for these diseases. The only way that we can prevent further death from sexually transmitted diseases, especially HIV/AIDS, is to go to developing countries and educate them on how life threatening unprotected sex with multiple partners can be. The spreading of sexually transmitted diseases can be decreased by so much if everyone is informed and smart about it.

References:

https://www.stdtestexpress.com/std-facts/

http://www.who.int/immunization/topics/hiv/en/index1.html

Body Image

By: Lauren Reinhard

For many teens today their weight is something they’re the most uncomfortable about. Body image for young women and even men is a huge issue for todays youth. The idea that you must be a size 0 to be considered skinny is ridiculous. It has been created by social media and celebrities that if you aren’t as skinny as them then you’re over weight. It has created a huge dilemma in todays society that is causing young girls to starve themselves or even get depressed about their weight. In reality some bodies are not made to be  size zero so some girls can never reach that size. When you are in high school many people are the most uncomfortable with their body and themselves. This means that trying to fit in at these times will be the most important. Most teens are sensitive to peoples thoughts and what people will say about them.

There has also been changes in sizes. I saw a Facebook post that showed three american eagle shorts over a span of 5 years. The pictures of the shorts showed that comparing each year the size kept getting smaller and smaller to the point where the size zero in 2000 was a size 2 in 2005. If companies are making there clothes smaller and smaller, teenagers will begin to thing they are getting bigger and bigger when really they are a normal and healthy size. With the problems that teenagers have faced with bulimia and anorexia it should be a concern of clothes companies to help them feel confident and beautiful. I remember learning in my latin class that if you were plump or “fat” in ancient times it meant that you were wealthy. Somehow times have changed to shaming others if they are a little overweight. I think instead of shaming others we should help anyone feel comfortable in their own skin.

https://secure3.convio.net/ccssk/site/SPageServer/?pagename=MARCH_healthy_weight

Vaccinations at a young age

By: Lauren Reinhard

Since the idea of vaccines, there has been a huge debate on their importance. A vaccine contains an agent of a particular disease and is used to build up that persons immune system. It is very critical for babies to be protected from as many diseases as possible during their most vulnerable early months of life, where the immune system can be very delicate and weak. Some parents have debated that vaccines at a young age will overwhelm the babies immune system. This idea is not true, although you can get a little sick after getting a shot, such as the flu shot, it is better to strengthen the immune system rather than catching the actual disease when you are older. There has also been many tests that have shown that multiple vaccinations at once does not compromise ones health. With all of the vaccines administered now before the age of 2, the immune system can resist up to 14 different diseases that can be caught around the ages of 12 to 13, if not vaccinated for them.

Another reason that some parents refuse to vaccinate their children is because they think that the vaccinations do not work. This common belief probably builds off of the flu shot that is administered every year. Many people that get the flu shot also end up getting sick. The difference between the flu shot and a shot for chicken pocks, or bronchitis, is that the flu shot is altered every year when specialists meet up together and predict which strand of the flu will be a threat for that coming flu season. Where as the bronchitis shot is not changing every year and is more consistent. These reasons and many more have made this topic one of the most debated topics in health today. Parents that decide not vaccinate their children need to research the consequences of it to make the healthiest and safest life for their child. With all of the studies that have been shown and prove just how important they are, it is worth researching heavily before deciding on this topic.

http://www.parents.com/health/vaccines/controversy/8-reasons-parents-dont-vaccinate-and-why-they-should/