Blog #11: The Last of Them

Blogging was a whole new world for me, before this assignment I had never ventured out to share my ideas with complete strangers. It truly opens up a new world in terms of connection and education. The idea of blogging is still strange to me, do people actually check on certain blogs daily in hopes of seeing something new? But this assignment also showed me how many social media sites are actually micro-blogs. Facebook and Twitter consists of mostly people sharing blurbs about their days or sharing things they enjoy and blogs aren't much different. Blogging just condenses the information while popular social media site cut it up into bite size portions.

I took this assignment very seriously, it was important to to have blogs that reflected key issues I believe are important. This blogging experience was very useful when it came to finding my own voice while writing. In most conventional English classes teachers limit the creativity of their students which severely limits the effort put forth into assignments. This assignment however did the opposite of that for me. Many classes I've taken before don't allow for you to decide what topics are important enough for you to write and put effort into. I highly enjoyed writing even short bits about issues I find not enough people talk about.

A very important thing I learned from this assignment is that everyone can write. All the blog posts I've read from my peers have been well written and interesting. This is in contrast to my previous dislike of reading my peers' work because it was like reading the same paper over and over again. This blog assignment let people share bits of themselves though. I think it's an incredibly valuable lesson to learn that anyone can write if you allow them the freedom to choose the topic. I think if there's one thing I can comment on is the assignment is that entries #7 & #9 are pretty similar. It was difficult to write about pink slime with the limited resources given without doing additional research. If anything I would say that #9 was my least favorite entry to do because it was the one that felt the most limited. Many of my classmates wrote similar or the same things for that entry which I didn't notice for any of the other entries. Besides this one issue I loved this assignment for the class. It allowed us students much more freedom than another writing project and, in my opinion, helped develop our writing styles more than any other assignment this term.

EC Blog: Food, Inc.

Food, Inc. is a documentary many have watched by now. It shows the horrors of industrial farming in a whole new light. The film starts with chicken farming. Many chicken farmers are now mass producing to keep up with corporation demand. A Tyson chicken farmer refused to let the cameras into his chicken houses after being told by the corporation not too. However, a Perdue chicken farmer allowed them in into her chicken houses. She spoke openly and honestly about how messed up the chicken industry is now. The overuse of antibiotics and improper food has made these chickens grow to twice the size in half the time. The chickens bodies can support this overdevelopment though; many of them can't move and die because their organs don't function properly. 

Another key issue discussed in the documentary is E.coli 0157:H7 cultivated due to chemicals used in industrial farming. Barbara Kowalcky, a mother from Nebraska, lost her 2 year old son after he ate a burger infected with E.coli. Now Kowalcky is working to create legislation to better monitor slaughterhouses. Surprisingly, the FDA doesn't have the authority to shut down slaughterhouses even if they repeatedly fail safety tests. Kevin’s Law was made to try to help this, by making sure the FDA actually has power. Despite new laws being drafted, the inner workings of the FDA is just as corrupt. Many top people in the FDA are also top people in industrial farming companies; making their motives very questionable. 

The issue of good food and farming is one every American should be concerned with. What we put in our bodies is extremely important to our health. We, as a country, have a very negative attitude towards things that inconvenience us in any way. However, we need to reevaluate how much our demands matter compared to the health of all of us. Personally, I value quality over quantity and would rather adjust to having less than continually destroying the earth and my health. 

Entry #10: A Coming of Age

My 21st birthday is coming around in just 2 short months as any American teenager can tell you, it's a big deal in our culture. The thing I'm most excited about isn't being able to drink in restaurants or go to bars though. I'm most excited about not being the only one of my friends not able to go to certain concerts because I'm underage. Besides that fact, the whole "drink until you're obliterated" thing isn't really my cup of tea. I've always been keen on the idea of balance, my family has a slight history of overdoing things and the thought of going down that path keeps me from losing balance.

There's this huge noise around turning 21 nowadays, this expectation for organized disaster. I don't fully understand why people make such a big deal out of it, most of us drank in high school to begin with. So why the huge fuss over continuing doing things we've been doing for years? Despite my skepticism towards the whole "life changing birthday" I'm still excited. I'm excited to not have X's on the back of my hands after I go to a show. I'm excited to not be called a child in my friend group or hear that collective groan when they want to go to a bar and I'm present. I'm excited to have the added freedom of going wherever I like at events and not waiting in the car when the boys want to buy beer for the football game. It's an exciting time in my life that I'm ready to get over with.

Entry #9: Pink Slime Scandal

Almost everyone has heard about pink slime or seen the unsavory videos of it being made in factories. So what is pink slime and is it really that bad for you? Pink slime, as it's been fondly nicknamed is actually left over beef mixed with chemicals for sterilization. Funny enough, it depends on who you ask about the health drawbacks of pink slime. Most large industries seem to all agree, this "pink slime" isn't that bad but as you know large industries value their profit margins over the health of their clients. Many people have accused McDonalds of being on of these titans of industry that use pink slime, a claim they continue to deny. But regardless of who uses and who doesn't we as people all need to stop and think how the foods we eat affect our bodies. We live in a day and age where convenience is king, people want what they want and they want it now. But that's not how the earth works, things take time to grow and can't always grow in certain conditions. It's sad to think that our own demand for bigger, cheaper products has lead us to this, pink slime.

Entry #8: Growing Pains

Growing up is rough. As an almost 21 year old girl I think I can officially say it's one of the worst things I've ever done. Between acne, constantly changing body, and suddenly caring about what people think about me it was a tough few years. When I was younger I had this intense desire to fit in, to be part of the popular group that always seemed like they were having the most fun. I worked extra hard my first year of high school trying to fit in to a new place where I knew only a handful of people. Slowly I made friends with "the popular kids" and you know what happened? It was crap. They all talked bad about each other behind the others back and every day was a game of who do we not like now. I grew up in a small school of 200-300 kids with the same 25 kids by my side from 2nd-8th grade. We had our problems and closer friends but at the end of the day we were more of a family than anything else. By my sophomore year I was completely over the idea of being popular. Instead I tried finding friends that drew out the good in me instead of cultivating this petty side I never knew I had. Flash forward to nowadays and my friend group is the best it can be. The friends I made my freshman year of college were truly the best thing to happen to me. They taught me to stop caring what people thought, that I don't need to wear makeup if I don't feel like it, and at the end of the day as long as I'm comfortable nothing else matters. Everyone needs friends like that, people who encourage them to be completely themselves. That's the one thing I want to make sure to teach my kids, your friends should reflect the traits you want yourself to have. Don't surround yourself with people due to their social status because that's not friendship. 

Entry #7: Fresh to Death

The above is a trailer for a food documentary called Fresh. They talk about various things all rotating around the theme of fresh clean food. A few farmers are featured in the film, most of who dislike the new way of industrial farming. I personally learned a lot of new information from the film, like did you know industrial farming isn't actually sustainable compared to organic farming? I've always been a fan of the natural cycle of things. It's almost magical how well the earth functions without any outside force, just nutrition flowing through one thing to another. Speaking of nutrition, industrial farming has been sucking food dry of it, in the past 50 or so years it's down 40%. Government subsidies of high fructose corn syrup has only help popularize the consumption of processed foods sadly. It's shocking to me that here in the U.S., a country known for it's desire to be #1 in all things, we're supporting something that's ruining our health. Sadly, it's not so shocking that we're ruining the earth along with it. Things can be done to help change and reverse this though! We can start being more conscious of where our food comes from, how it's treated, and how the land it's grown on is treated. As seen in Fresh it's not impossible for this natural cycle to be implicated on normal farms, plus the lack of antibiotics and junk actually saves money. It's important to be aware of the way things are going especially when they aren't working well. Hopefully with our generation we can bring an end to the inefficient practices of industrial farming and go back to how nature intended food to be grown. 

Entry #6: Thanksgiving

Can I just tell you all how excited I am that it's "technically" fall time! Now here in Phoenix, AZ fall time doesn't really exist weather wise. However, that doesn't stop me from throwing my shorts into the back of my closest and digging out my jeans and boots. Most of all, the high anticipated event of fall, Thanksgiving. No day is better because no day is focused solely around the point of eating until you take a nap then eating more, it's bliss. Nothing is better than having the whole family over and eating my Nana's red chile mixed with mashed potatoes. I come from a huge family so every holiday we're piled into my house and crammed around 4 tables with our favorite relatives. There's a certain amount of cheer and happiness around Thanksgiving that I feel is missing for Christmas. Christmas, everyone is worried about gifts and money while Thanksgiving is about nothing but food and family.

Entry #5: Wall-E & Technology

This clip from the movie Wall-E illustrates  a potential future for humans' dependency on technology. The entire movie Wall-E shows an earth completely obliterated by mass consumerism and human greed. All the humans have left Earth and boarded a large spaceship while robots are left to take care of the mess. Throughout the movie it's shown that this dependency on robots was not planned. Once Wall-E boards the ship and starts to cause problems, people start to "wake up".

Chuck and Mary are two people Wall-E tears apart from their technology. They both are going about their day, completely sucked into their chairs' screen. Both people seem amazed when they realize everything going on about them. This is an exaggeration on what is going on this day and age. Often people get so engulfed into their phones, televisions, and computers they don't realize all the activity going on around them.

We, as people, have also become very dependent on technology. I'm guilty of having to use my phone's GPS every time I go somewhere new. Don't get me started on how into Panda Pop I can get on my phone, often having to have my boyfriend repeat what he just told me. Even just walking from class to class without my headphones and music is difficult because God forbid someone speaks to me. The very technology we use to connect to others is what we use to create boundaries, some good some bad.

I think the most important thing with anything in life is moderation. We can still use technology and all its' wonders while still connecting with people in person. It's important to realize that while technology is so vital to our lives nowadays human connection is something irreplaceable.

Entry #4: Honor Killings

Source: behance.net

An extremely concerning issue that I feel doesn't get enough national attention is honor killings, specifically those committed in middle eastern countries. Every year thousands of women and girls are killed by family members because the victims bring "shame" to their family. Various reasons can be enough to warrant an honor killing in numerous cultures: refusing an arranged marriage; wanting a divorce; being raped; being homosexual; or various other actions that can be received as inappropriate for women in that culture. 

Honor killing are something most people think doesn't happen anymore. It's barbaric and uses violence to control especially women and young girls in cultures. The most horrifying point in honor killings is many of the killer will get away with it. Many laws allow people to find loopholes around being punished for killing family members. In certain countries families are allowed to forgive the killer, meaning they will serve no time. Many countries excuse killing if the women was caught cheating on her husband or most sexual acts. This allows many families to complete honor killings without facing serious consequences. Some progress is being made though, laws are being written almost every year in an attempt to help. Pakistan has just this year proposed a new bill that would revise a previous honor killing law, closing loopholes for killers. 

Despite all this progress many people worry that no law will fully eradicate honor killings. There is a deep rooted patriarchal society in these cultures that puts less value on women's lives compared to the overall honor of the family. It's difficult to remember that cultures all have different value systems than our own. These value systems allow for certain things we find barbaric, like honor killings, to be an unspoken truth in those cultures. It will take many years of educating the youngest generation to change this underlying culture. I hope that in my lifetime there continues to be improvements regarding honor killings and the importance of women's lives in cultures.

Entry #3: Biotechnology in the Home

In this video something very important to me personally, biotechnology. Biotechnology encompasses a large array of things such as, food, vaccines, even clothing. People often get confused or concerned when they hear bio-engineering because that sounds as if people are making new dangerous things. This is far from true. Biotechnology is extremely important because it allows us to alter organisms to create many thing. Insulin was created using biotech and continues to save millions of lives. Most vaccines we get throughout our lives are genetically altered through biotech making it an extremely valuable part of science.

A large shift that has been happening is more genetic research is being done outside of the lab. Computer scientist have made E.coli behave like a piece of film saying "hello world". A huge part of the shift is now we can make DNA, meaning we can make almost anything we think of and run tests on it eliminating the risk of running out of resources. Even the creation of 3D printing has allowed biotechnology to come more into the home. You can print most things on those 3D printers, allowing people at home to create some simple laboratory equipment.

Biotechnology is involved in so many areas in life that people don't realize. There are many advancements happening that could highly benefit people from all over the world. A huge part of Cathal Garvey's talk was the existence of patents in the scientific community. Patents make sure the people who come up with the technology or idea are paid for the idea. This is something both Garvey and I disagree with. He talks about the importance of making information free for people to continue to grow and develop on since now many people can't afford the expensive price of research.

I hope people continue to read more on biotechnology and realize it's not some scary voodoo but things researched to benefit lives. Biotechnology has continued to grow but without new people to keep research going no new discoveries can be made.

Entry #2: Why the Wage Gap?

Ever since I was little my parents always told me, "No one is better or less than you, everyone deserves the same." Imagine my surprise of finding out that to businesses women are worth less than men. Wage gap is something that, in my personal opinion, is barbaric. Nevertheless, women have been fighting this ongoing battle for many years with some success but still no equality. On average, women make 81 cents per dollar made by a male counterpart doing the same job, with minorities making even less than that.

Despite various efforts, including the Pay Act of 1963, employers still find ways to pay women less than men. Many women face challenges in their field, especially regarding time split between family and work. Women are often told to "want it all" referring to both a successful business and personal life, something men are never pressured to choose between. Many companies look at things, such as maternity leave, as an added cost to hiring women and use that to justify paying less to women compared to men. Many complain that the wage gap compares men and women in different careers but that is untrue. Studies done in various fields and careers have all shown the same thing, men are paid more than women.

I hope that as my generation enters the workforce we close the wage gap and truly make it equal pay. Women deserve the same amount of pay for their work regardless if they decide to have children or not. It's surprising the amount of ways companies can deny equal pay without violating laws and I constantly learn more about what to expect as I enter the work force. Wage Gap is sometimes called a myth but I implore everyone to do some research on the matter and realize inequality is a very real thing plaguing our society. 

Entry #1. Blogger's World

When it comes to blogs, I have little experience writing in this casual of a style. To be quite honest with everyone, I'm still a bit unsure what makes a blog different from any other website on the internet. I usually don't realize that those popular websites I frequently visit due to some click bait title are classified as blogs. However, the further I delve into understanding what makes blogs unique the more I find elements I like. Blogs allow people to connect to the author in a way that most websites don't; it's difficult to get a sense of self from a computer screen after all. By allowing people to use their imaginations, blogging allows for a much more diverse audience to be reached.

Source: www.tumblr.com

Blogs take what could be a boring website with thousands of articles and instead turns them into small bite-sized pieces of information. I can spend hours on blogs like Huffington Post and Mashable looking up after an hour wondering how I even got to the page I'm on now. For instance, anything that has 'alien' in the title I'm almost guaranteed to click on, just like this Mashable article. Huffington Post and Mashable do a tremendous job of being diverse and offering posts for everyone's interests. I gravitate more towards blogs that cover a wide array of topics, from politics to pop culture, instead of those based solely in one area. Blogs like Deadspin, for example, fail to capture my interest for longer than an article. Personally, sports articles are not as entertaining as other topics so I may be biased when I say I don't enjoy Deadspin. Besides just content, Deadspin isn't as organized as Huffington Post or Mashable, with no way to get to a specific sport or topic.

Overall, each blog made it's impact on me. Mashable being my favorite in terms of layout, photos, ease of use, and overall feel. Huffington Post was the easiest to navigate through but felt cluttered with ads and various other boxes getting in the way of the article I was trying to read. I hope to get the same sense of simplicity while not lacking substance as Mashable, while being easy to navigate like Huffington Post. Blogging is still new to me and changes are going to be constantly made but looking at other blogs really helps to create ideas of where I want my blog to go.

Practice Entry

Hi there! My name is Chrissy Tsaninos and I am 20 years old. I enjoy spending time with my friends, going to concerts frequently, eating all the breakfast food I can get my hands on, and most importantly long naps with my dog Rocky.

I've always been fascinated by biology and the inner workings of the human body, especially regarding how diseases impact our bodies on a cellular level which drives my passion to become a virologist. I'm currently in the major of biotechnology and molecular biology which leaves me pretty open to other careers in the biotech field if I decide viruses aren't what I want to focus on specifically. At GCC I'm looking forward to being in smaller classes and getting my basic classes done without having to pay the crazy price for ASU classes. I'm really looking forward to this ENG 101 class because I've never had a hybrid class and so far it's been very interesting. The last thing I have to say is look at this majestic photo of my dog and have a good day!