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!!

Share and Voice: A Little Bit of Everything!!

I know we have the opportunity to reflect within our "reflectioin" posts, but I would like to use this time to take a look back at what we have done all semester and how much fun we had!!

Yesterday when we were sitting outside discussing what we learned/liked about this class everyone seemed to get something positive out of it. Serisouly, since I have been at school, on the last day of classes, I have never actually been sad about school being over.. Usually it's like YESSS SUMMER (which kicked in soon after) but taking a look around and knowing how much fun we all had, made me think of how much I'm truly gonna miss it!

Here are some highlights that I remember--

1) Spring has Sprung haha.. oh yes it did
2) Shar teaching class.. good job
3) Hating blogging... then finding myself on here more than facebook at times..
4) Tittie Tassels ( is this appropriate) I will change it if anyone thinks I should, But if Dr. V said, then its ok.
5) Youtube videos, I learned more about conjuction junction at that point then I did in elementary school. (Canadian schooling system, not as cool I guess)
6) Bagley Nature Walk--- Minus all the deer poop!
7) Derek Plante Texting in class and getting the "evil eye" from Dr.V
8) Sara J's Bluntness
9) Most of all getting to know the people in class.. I hope we are all able to stay in touch in one way or another, who knows maybe we will all run into eachother at some conference some day!

If you have any others, which I'm sure everyone does, lets share them and have a good laugh and trip down memory lane!

Thanks again!!

Eye Opener: Quiz Scores!!

I completed everyones online activities and enjoyed doing them!!

Jayme did one the quizzed the AQI colors, suprisingly, I scored an 85%.. same as Kevin!

Derek put together a quiz that was focused on clean water.. there was a lot of information to "study" haha I didnt put in my hours to go over all the material, thats probably why I only scored a 60%

Lastly, I checked out Kevins activity which was based on urban sprawl. It was a fun quiz as well.. i scored a 67%.. clearly I need to read up a little on this topic as well!!

Share and Voice: Recycled Clothing!! Eco-Fleece!!

HEY EVERYBODY!! haha how enthuastic was that!?! Guess I'm just getting excited how fast the time is winding down and how close it is to being summer!!!

Sooo.. a couple of weeks ago I got the change to visit Washington, DC. While I was there, we had some free time and of course I used to to go shopping. My all time favorite store here in the USA is Urban Outfitters ( we don't have one where I'm from in Canada :( While I was in there just browsing around I nocited lots of the clothes had a recycling label on the tags.

This is what it looks like..

"Seriously soft Alternative Apparel Eco fleece sweatshirt with topstitched detailing along the raglan sleeves, all made with earth-friendly eco-heather yarn. Imported."

I guess it's getting more popular and more stores are carrying this kind of material.. Here's a little more on urban outfitters!!

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2007/06/urban_outfitter.php

This is just another thing that will be going on in your head everyday you go shopping.. How can I help the environement??

Advocacy Project: Online Learning Activity

The topic that my bill is related to is having more physical and health education provided within the schooling system. Also, the bill is suggesting that annual report cards as to the progress of the students in these 2 classes are given out to the parents. It was hard to find an activity that related to this, but I found something simple and fun that kids can work with. The worth website is a great resource.

The place to check out is Kids Health. There are lots of interesting information and can make learning about healthy living alittle more appealing to younger kids.

On this website there is a link Movies and Games which has some fun little games.

Once you are at the games link, they offer 4 different game: Halloween Candy Game, MIssion Nutrition, The Spelling Bee, and Time for Bed? Try them all out if you have the time.. I actually had a had time with the spelling bee!!

Take a look around the website too, if you have the time!!!

Here are some Informative sites about childhood obesity..

http://www.iom.edu/Object.File/Master/22/606/FINALfactsandfigures2.pdf

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/14310.php

http://www.healthfinder.gov/scripts/SearchContext.asp?topic=14314

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.

Advocacy Project: Letter to a Public Official

TO: Congressman Keith Ellison
112 Longwoth building
Washington, D.C.
20515-2305
Phone: 612 522 1212

I am writing to inform you of a serious issue that is becoming the norm in our country today and I believe you have the voice to change it. That issue is childhood obesity and lack of physical/health education. H.R. 1585 "To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to Improve Standards for Physical Education" is a bill that, if passed, can help with this issue.

Having cut backs in physical and health edication classes is causing these kids to lose required daily physical activity. With obesity rates at it's high in the USA and continuing to grow, physical education is something that should be increasing in stead of decreasing.

The kids are our future and I believe that there is a problem within their health and wellness that can be fixed. Everyone would benefit from the passing of this bill. Physical and health education reports that would be sent home could easily benefit not only the children, but also their parents.

We don't have total control over our health. But, we do have methods and control over health issue that are preventable. If we attack this issue now, this is something I believe has the potential to make a turn in the a positive direction.

I urge you to vote YES on the Bill 1585 To amend the emementary and secondard education act of 1965 to imporve standards for physical education.

Thank you for your time,

Sara O'Toole

Share and Voice: 30 Ways 30 Days!

So I was just creepin around the web last night on tips for going green and I came across a site called 30 ways 30 days. It have 30 different tips on how to become more green. It's ironic, becasue I feel like we all "know" how to be greener, but were stuck in the lifestyle we live and have lived our whole lives and making change is the hard part.

Anyways, back on the site I found. All the tips are pretty interesting and they have a few that caught my eye so I decided to read up on them more. Here's one I found kinda gross, but surprising becuase it never crossed my mind...

-Each year America's 73 million dogs produce around 10 million tons of dog poop. Cat litter from America's 90 million cats results in around 2 millions tons of used cat litter being sent to landfills each year.

-Estimates of 100 million trees are used each year for junk and bulk mail. When you include the printing, transportation of literature and additional manpower for getting them into your mailbox, the impact of wasted paper products is enormous.

Basically I just looked at the 30 things and pick a few that were new to me. Who knows who reliable this website is.. I just thought the 30 ways were something to consider.

http://www.30ways30days.com/

Advocacy Project: Issue Overview

Introduction: Physical education and health education in schools are at a minimal at this time. The obesity rates are growing continously and physical education is decreasing. Seems a little absurd. I found a bill at The Liberty of Congress THOMAS website numbered H.R. 1585 To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to improve standards for physical education. With that being said, this bill wishes to amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA) to require annual state and local educational agency report cards to include specified information on school health and physical education programs.

Who is Effected by this Issue: The children and thier health is what is being affected the most. By not having mandatory physical education classes in school, they are losing the opportunity to get their daily exercise in. Technology is growing and growing, so are the kids. At home video games, computers, and phones are amongst the common ideals of fun. I know the schools aren't at fault for a kid not going out side and playing, but if they were properly educated, brought home physicaly and health education progress reports, then parents could help out at home as well. If they choose not to, at least the school will offer a time for physical activity. If this bill is to go through the children will be gaining health wise and knowledge wise. They are our future. Let's teach them how to get there healthy and stay there.

What are the consequences of the issue? If the physical and health education systems in schools don't inprove then the younger generation is continually going to suffer without even knowing it. We need to have trained physical and health educators who really want whats best for the kinds and who are willing to do what it takes such as bringing physical and health education reports home for the greater interest of the kids. Some families can benefit from this. By having annual reports and progress reports of the physical education programs, it can also be used as a tool for the family to make some healthier changes. Society largly benefits. The healthier our young generation is, the more promising our future is for everyone.

What is the Economic Impact of this Issue? There are many ways in which to look at this issue and how it will impact the economy. Yes, it will cost schools to hire more faculty and keep the physical environment up to date. But in the long run I believe it will benefit more than it will harm. If health education programs ( mandatory daily physical activity, health education, and progress reports) are to take place, the ultimate goal is to make the kids healthier and that is a possibility. With healthier kids, that creates less chronic disease and/or acute disease/injuries. Therefor, less trips to the hospitals. Health Insurance is huge in america so not having to go to the hospital can save a lot of money.

What is the Socail Impact of this Issue? This would help protect the health of our young genereation and hopefully decrease the the health problems arising within this country.

What are the Barriers? I really don't see the harm this can cause anyone. It is something that everyone with children can and would benefit from. Of course with everything, there's always something in the way. In this case I believe money would play a key role. Schools would have to increase number of salaries within the school. Parents, employees of the schooling system and other members of the public might see no point in increasing health and physical education because they are unaware of the issue. Ways around this would be to educate people, get the word out. This can be done anyways possible, TV, newspaper, flyers, whatever it takes to understand the epidemic and ways we can treat the issue.

What are the Resources? We would need the support of the communities, school districts, families, and children inorder to help this bill pass. If everyone is willing to help out and work together on the same page to fight this issue, it is hopeful. Money is a resource that may come to mind. More employees, more money. We need to see past the initial costs and look at the cost-benefit ratio in the future.

Allies and Opponents: It seems as though some schools see this as a positive thing, while others see no point in it. Yes it's great to increase the health of students to provide for a healthier life, but sending progress reports seems too timely and in our day and age time and money are important. People who are for it.. parents with children who suffer from obesity, not all, but most. Who wouldn't want their child to be healthy?

Recommendations: Vote Yes for H.R. 1585. Obesity rates amongst elementary and secondary education children will continue to increase. Let's help families, children, and society be healthier by having programs implemented in the schooling system that will focus on the qualilty of life for these individuals. Teaching than providing feedback will be a good stepping stone in making our citizens healthier and happier.

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 :)

Share & Voice: The Heart Walk Kick Off

Someones Happy to Walk!

As most of you know, Dr. Tornabene's 4000 class put together a heart walk kick off this week. It was roughly a mile's walk. We even hiked up to a look out in Bagley Nature Park and got a nice view of Duluth. Here aresome pictures I thought you might enjoy....

Adcocacy Project- Healthy People/THOMAS

Healthy People 2010 Goal/Focus area 19- Nutrition and Overweight

GOAL: Promote health and reduce chronic disease associated with diet and weights.
(1) Increase quality and years of healthy life.
(2) Eliminate health disparities by race and ethnicity, gender, socioeconomic status, disability status, and other characteristics.


OBJECTIVE: (19-3) Reduce the proportion of children and adolescents who are overweight or obese.

PROGRESS: This objective has moved away from it's target. Between 1988–94 and 1999–2002, the prevalence of overweight and obesity among children and adolescents aged 6 to 19 years (19-3c) increased from 11 percent to 16 percent, moving away from the target of 5 percent. Identical trends were observed among children aged 6 to 11 years (19-3a) and adolescents aged 12 to 19 years (19-3b).

DISPARITIES: These are grouped into groups such as:
1. Gender, Income, and Disability
2. Race and Ethnicity

OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES: It seems as though there are many more opportunities than challenges within this goals and objectives. A lot of these opportunites are found within the schooling system but, as we talked about today in class, it is sometimes hard to convince people the importance of it and see past the money. Yes, everyone wants to see others healthy but it comes at a cost not not everyone is willing to pay. Some opportunites found and stated by Healthy People 2010 are "The classroom offers another opportunity to foster healthy behaviors in children and adolescents. While some classroom curricula address a range of topics on nutrition and physical activity, others focus on specific topics such as the scientific principles of energy balance within the body or on high blood pressure prevention."

EMERGING ISSUES: There are many health issues emerging with childhood obesity. Appropriate Monitoring such as efficacious data collection, medical care, and quality assurance, is needed to evaluate the benefits and risk of these and other therapies. They want to focus on prevention rather that treatment and they believe with the greatest interest from individuals (seeing past the money) there IS hope to improve and meet the objective regarding obesity in children.


RELATED BILL:

H.R.1585

Title: To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to improve standards for physical education.

Sponsor: Rep Kind, Ron [WI-3] (introduced 3/18/2009) Cosponsors (42)

Latest Major Action: 3/18/2009 Referred to House committee. Status: Referred to the House Committee on Education and Labor.

My Political Representatives: Rep Ellison, Keith

Recommendation: Vote Yes for H.R. 1585 to amend the Emelentary and Secondary education Act of 1965 to improve standardsfor physical education.

Share & Voice: Sweden!

Being a member of the UMD women's hockey team, I am fortunate to meet many great people from all over the world.. During the past 4 years I have gotten the opportunity to play with girls from Canada, USA, Finland, Switzerland, Germany, Sweden, and Russia. I'm pretty much set for a place to stay if I ever want to travel over seas.

Through mutual freinds, I have met many players from other teams. After talking with other players, I have heard great things about other countries around the world. Lisa edman is from sweden and sent me some pictures of what it's like where she lives. It looks pretty sweet and I hope to see it all in person someday!! It's neat and interesting to see and hear about different parts of the world. Makes you appreciate what beautiful things you have around you and what else the world can offer. Here are some pictures of Sweden taken from her back yard!

Enjoy the mini vacation... :)

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!!

Eye Opener: Photo Essay

So, I was pretty excited about doing this eye opener and had a few neat ideas. I have had my camera for a little over 2 years and had to brush the dust off it once I got started!! Initially, I wanted to do a contrast of how beautiful Duluth is, but how it has it's down falls... The way I had it planned didn't work once the snow fell!

I was sitting at school with Derek and looking around wondering what I could do, he pointed to the garbage cans lined up with the one recycle bin..

For the most part our school did well when I was looking at different areas. Some places had more recycle bins than trash cans, while others have no recyle bins in sight.. When there are no recyle bins available, people are likey to dispose of recyclable material in the trash cans.

Now, I know having recycling bins isn't going to change everyone. Some people would still probably throw recyclable material ina trash can even if there was arecycling bin right beside it, But it will help for the majority of people. Another thing I noticed on a few trash cans was a sign that kind of confused me. After looking at the contents inside these bins, I can tell others are confused as well.


What exactly does this mean? Maybe I'm just oblivious and out of the loop, but for people like me, recycling should be fool-proof. Here's was I found inside this container...

Hmm... doesn't look like new paper to me and theonly thing green in there is a gum wrapper

Overall, having recycle bins is awesome to have around the school and I think wedo a good job with it. The thing that would make it even better is the consitancy and have ZERO confusion..

This hallway was full of recycle bins, 5 to the 1 trash can, maybe we can spread them out a little bit.

The Good Option..

The Better Option...

Hope you all enjoyed the photo essay!! Reduce, Recycle, Re-use!!

Advocacy Project: My Political Representatives

So, being from Canada, and not that interested or have much education with American politics growing up, I found this advocacy project very interesting.. Enjoy!


PRESIDENT- BARACK OBAMA-Democratic

-Contact Information-

-Email @ http://www.whitehouse.gov/

-The White House

1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW
Washington, DC 20500

Congressperson- Thomas Huntley- DFL


State Representative

-Contact Information-

-Email @ http://www.house.leg.state.mn.us/members/join.asp?id=10271


-585 State Office Building
100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
Saint Paul, Minnesota 55155
Phone # (651) 296-2228







Congressperson- Yvonne Prettner-DFL


-Contact Information-

Capitol Office:


75 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
Capitol Building, Room G-9
St. Paul, MN 55155-1606
651.296.4188







Congressperson- Jim Oberstar-DFL


-Contact Information-


Duluth Office


231 Federal Building
Duluth, MN 55802
(218) 727-7474

D.C. Office

2365 Rayburn HOB
Washington, D.C. 20515
(202) 225-6211



Governer- Tim Pawlenty- Republican


-Contact Information-

Office of the Governor
130 State Capitol
75 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
St. Paul, MN 55155


Other ways to reach our office:

Telephone: (651) 296-3391
Toll Free: (800) 657-3717
Facsimile: (651) 296-2089
E-mail: tim.pawlenty@state.mn.us



U.S. Senator- Amy Klobuchar- Democratic

-Contact Information-

302 Hart Senate Office Building Washington, DC 20510
Main Line: 202-224-3244

1200 Washington Avenue South, Suite 250 Minneapolis, MN 55415 Main Line: 612-727-5220

Commissioner- Dennis Fink-DFL


-Contact Information-


Board ChairRoom 208
100 N. 5th Avenue West
Duluth, MN 55802
(218) 726-2458
Term Expires: 12/31/2010





City Major- Don Ness- DFL


-Contact Information-

Room 402
411 West First Street
Duluth, MN 55802
Phone # (218) 730-5230
E-mail: dness@duluthmn.gov

Share & Voice: Enviro- Cool Award!

I received this award from Derek @ DP- Keeping it Green for my recent post- Share and Voice: Lost Generation.

I am passing this award on to Jayme @ Going Green with Jayme for her Share and Voice: Camping. It was seems so simple, but at the same time making a big difference. The little things add up!

Here are directions for you to "pass the torch"!

1. Leave a comment below so that I know you "picked up" the award.

2. Create a Share and Voice post that says you've received the award and indicate who the award is from (be sure to hyperlink).

3. Also indicate to whom you are going to pass on the award and why. Be sure to hyperlink the blogger (use main blog URL) and the blog title (use the specific URL for that blog post).

4. Copy and paste these instructions at the bottom of your post.

5. Publish the post.

6. Visit each blogger you've awarded and leave a comment telling them they've won.

7. Continue the process...

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 :)