Reflections:Week 15 & 16

SUMMERTIME!!! I just finished my last final today and it all feels surreal.. I was like YES, I'm done!! But in the back of my head felt like I had something else I had to do, that was to BLOG of course! So here are the last reflections from the semester..

Week 15

during week 15 we had our last advocacy assignmentwhich required us to make or find an online learning activity that would help others learn a little more about our advocacy topic. I found a fun little one at Kids Health. I also had totake everyone else's quiz. Some were a little challenging, but I did learn more about their topics.

Thursday of week 15 we allwent outside and just chatted. Everyonehad to opportunity to say soemthing they learned in class or how this class has helped them. Most people mentioned howthey take a second look at everything now and how it pertains to the environment, me included.

Week 16

This was finals week so we didnt meet in class, but we did have some blog posts due. I did the activities the day they were due and then posted right after that what scores I got.. I remember someone saying wehad to do that, but I didnt realized it was an eye opener. Now, this is the last thing due for the 08-09 year!!

I hope everyone did well on finals. Have a GREAT summer!!

Week 13& 14

Week 13

It's funny how every week I'm surprised how fast this semester is going. Now look at us.. a couple weeks left.. CRAZY!!

So this week we watched a video titled "storyof stuff". I found it really interesting, but at time I thought it was very bias. It was put into a chain that I have never thought of before, but also, I htink we need to take into consideration the things we "need". I agree, there is generally a better and environmentally freind way to go about things, but making the change is the hardest thing once your in a routine. Also, we had to post a blog from our advocacy project that was titled"issue overview:. This was interesting because we had to research our project and prepare ourselves for questions that might be against our topic.

If I ever chose to be an advocate, then I think ill have a good grasp on what it takes.

Week 14

On tuesday we had a speaker come and talk to us about what it'slike being a post graduate. It was really intriguing becuase we can relate on a personal basis with him. He is working for the school and had a lot of information on what he did. One thing that he mention that really caught my attention was that youreally have to be aware of what vocabulary you use when talking to the public.

My favorite part of the past 2 weeks occured when we had to repurpose "junk" that Dr.V had found. We actually came up with some original ideas. It was cool to see what the other groups thought of. My mom is into stuff like that, but I dont know if it's my thing. I dont think I'mthat creative haha.

Reflections: Week 11 & 12

Well, well, well another time for reflections. Week 11 and 12, seriously? As I never forget to say, it's crazy how fast this semester is passing us by. It feels like over night the weather changed from unpredictable snow storms shorts and T-shirt weather.. not complaining.

Week 11
We watched a movie titled Unnatural Causes and watched a segement on it titled In Sickness and in Wealth. I only caught the first half of the movie because I was out of town on thursday. Reading people's reviews helped me understand and get a grasp of how it ended. From what I did see, money plays a huge factor is people's health. The more money you have the healthier you will be. There was data and facts that showed different graphs of this topic and it was shocking how the decline in life expectancy was the dependant variable on money. When you think about it, it makes sense. People with more money has access to more resources . Yet again.. money is the key factor.

Week 12
We started to work on our advocacy project and had to find a topic in Healthy People 2010 that we were interested in and that would would have to follow. We watched a cute movie about how a bill becomes a law http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mEJL2Uuv-oQ haha it's pretty catchy and funny. We were also fortunate to have Shar teach us for the first half of class thursday. She got to lead the discussion about the article we read. It was pretty interesting because it was something positive for a change. It's good to know the ozone is starting to close up. But we were told to keep in mind to pay close attention to the resource that your getting your information. Because it's something new and pleasant, I'm going to hope it's true. Maybe something we can research a little more... there's a share and voice idea :)

Reflections: Week 9 & 10

Week 9

Holy moly, I feel like every reflection I write, I'm shocked by how fast the time is flying by!! This one included!

During week nine we started to discuss advocacy. We covered what it was and how and when people can be advocates. There are many opportunities for people to advocate for something the believe in and thereare many different ways onecan going about being an advocate. We also discussed our photo eassy which included different techniques of taking pictures, ethics regards what to take pictures of and when conscent in needed. I know how to use the basics on my camera and don't even think it has some advanced features that we discussed, but they were interesting to learn about.

We did have to do a post regarding our policical representatives of minnesota and Duluth. I found this interesting because I hadno idea who any of these poeple were except one, Amy Klobuchar. Our hockey team were fortunate to go to the White Houset his summer to meet the president and she was there along with other representatvies to greet us. I liked doing the post, but didn;t really enjoy commenting on it, becuase we all had to same information. Some people did have a nice lay out and showed some pictures of the people, which was nice.

Week 10

During this time, Dr.V was out of town at and convention in Florida. This gave lots of time for me to catch up with school work from other classes and just relax on tuesdays and thursdays.Almost like a mini spring break!

These past 2 weeks went by really fast and beofre we know it, it's going to be finals week! So farI think the photo essay was one of my favorite projects in this class. I'm was really hooked on it once I started and ended up taking wayy more pictures than I needed. Who knew I would find soemthing that interested me in such a short time. Thanks derek!!

Reflections: Week 7 & 8

CRAZY!! Where is the time going??

During week 7 we read an article titled III Winds: The Chemical Plant Next Door. It was a woman's view point on how chemical plants can be the cause of cancer. I liked this article, although hard to follow, because it wasn't so forceful about one opinion. It left a little open ended, allowing you tot hink for yourself. We also watch the movie "Green". This is by far my favorite movie that we have watched in the class. It hit home and really reflected what people were feeling about the chemical plants in in their towns. It focused on Cancer Alley. The 100 mile river that stetched along the mississippi river. This area is also the home of many people who are affected by their living situation. It really opened my eyes to what we all take for granted.. also what we see as important.

During week 8 we read an artice called Privatizing Water. This whole concpet was shocking to me and shows how much our world is run based on profit. The article ties in pretty well with the movie we attempted to watch, Thirst. They both touch on the political portion and rational of having this happen. It shows these people are contradicting themselves. Being voted in to represent the people, then not letting them vote on something so important. "They don't understand."

I really enjoyed what we covered this week and lots of thought provoking questions were brough up in discuss. Some that stand out to me were, what would I stand up for? Are we costomers? Hmm.. I'm also really exctited to start the photo essay but that can wait till after spring break :)

Reflections: Week 5 & 6

First off, I think it's crazy that the sixth week is over. Time is going by so fast!!

The Past 2 Weeks...

Blogging has become a apart of my daily routine now. I don't know what to think of that (haha). I often find myself reading blogs if I'm bored, maybe it's the new facebook. Anyways, the past 2 weeks we got the chance to watch 2 different movies. The first one was called "Diet for a New America." This was a documentary done by John Robbins that looked at different practices of the meat and dairy industries. The second movie that we are still currently watching is called "Future for Food" and this one focues on farm lands and how things are changing with big businesses, who are pretty much buying out farms and making "owning" all types of seeds. They are genetically monifying seeds, creating lack of biodiversity- This can cause some problems.


My Thoughts

Although, I didn't get to watch the end of "Diet for a New America", I got the just of it from reading summary blogs. I really enjoyed it, but then again, when i watch documentaries like that- I always like to know what the other side of the story is.H e made some good and informative points, but at times I felt that all famrs were made out to be bad places for the environment, when I know thats not true. I still kept an open mind and was shocked to hear about how some farms actually do run, to me it seems inhumane.
"Food for the Future" is a great movie thus far. It really makes me think about how much goes on "behind the scenes". We live our lives everyday without knowing what others are coming up with. I seems all these decisions get made by a select few "the man" and we find out about it, when something goes wrong. What was most shocking for me to learn wasthe fact that there are people who are working for "both sides". I can't wait to seehow the movie ends.

Reflections: Week 3&4

Summary

Over that past 2 week we have discussed a reading from the test from class. It was based on media and how it portrays the enviornment. We learned a little more about blogging (analyitics) and discussed the importance of reader. The other 3 days in class we watched a movie by Al Gore titled "An Inconvenient Truth". It was based on global warming and the changes that are occuring during the present time, and also what we could expect to see in the future.

My Thoughts

I'm going to talk a lot about the movie. I found it really interesting to watch this movie and listen to all the facts that Al Gore had. It seems a little frightening to know what we are doing to the environment and the harmful effects that seem mindless to some. On the other hand, in the backofmy head I was thinking, I wonder what the other side to the story is. One thing I noticed when I was looking at some of his graphs was that they are pretty consistent in movement ( up and down). I'm not saying that I disagree with anything he says because he has lots to back it up. But, I find it ironic how we just read an article on how media is so influencial and can't always be trusted. I know this was a documentary and wasn't produced for economic purposes, but to educate people. Overall I don't know whereI stand,I'm not against what he is trying to do, in fact, I think its great to try and spread awarenessabout global warming, but at the same timeI find documentaries to be bias at times.

Reflections:Week 1 & 2

Over the past 2 weeks, we have discuss how set up a gmail account and how to use blogger and reader. I found it difficult to understand at first, but with the help of a class mate and time to play around with it, I find it easier to understand. Also, during this time we did an exercise where we all had to fit into rope circles on the floor. Then after each time we were all in the circles, we would try it again with less cirlces until there was only one cirlce left. We had to figure out how we were all going to fit, we managed to find a solution. The focus of this exercise was to see how the decision was made and who had the power to decide.
So far, I have learned a lot about blogging. I'm not afraid to say im somewhat computer illetirate besides the use of facebookand msn. But from using blogger mroe and more im feeling more comfortable andlearning how it can be a very useful tool.
As far as following blog etiquette, we have to be respectful to others and use respectful language and appropriate pictures.

Welcome to Sara's Environmental Health Blog

Hello! My name is Sara O'Toole and I am a Community Health major at the University of Minnesota Duluth. This Blog is going to be about Environmental Health.

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