Waste Not, Want Not

When you eat dinner at Sparky’s Place, how many plates of food do you grab? How much food on the plates do you throw out?

Each American throws out an average of a pound of food a day. That may not seem like a lot, but multiply that by about 300 million people, and then by 365 days a year. That equals over 100 billion pounds of food wasted each year. This excess of food waste drains natural resources, destroys the environment, and decomposes while 50 million Americans starve.

Each cookie you grab requires energy from natural resources in order to produce, process and package, and transport all of the supplies to make it. This process of food production and transport utilizes between 8 to 16 % of America ’s total energy consumption. Food waste however is accountable for 25% of the freshwater consumption and 4% of oil consumption. That is a lot of resources being thrown away at a time when we complain of depleting resources. Instead of drilling for oil in foreign countries we should be tapping into our landfills.

Nonetheless, this surplus of food being thrown into landfills does not do our environment much good. Besides the release of carbon dioxide from the burning of fossil fuels used to produce an overabundance of food, methane is released into the atmosphere as the food decomposes in the landfills. Methane is a green house gas that is over 20 % more polluting than carbon dioxide and its primary source is landfills.

So besides the needless destruction of our environment, 50 million American’s do not have enough access to food on a daily basis. It makes absolutely no sense that we throw out 1/5th of our food, while one out of every six people in this country goes hungry. Why is so much edible food being thrown away, while our own neighbor’s stomachs are aching?

The reason for this incredible amount of waste is our culture’s need to live in excess. Americans tend to buy more than enough food for themselves so that they have a sense of security and complacency, and thus producers produce more and more to meet the demands of the markets. This overproduction does nothing but destroy our environment and taunt the impoverished.

What can we do about this issue? Individuals can purchase only what is necessary, plan meals according to their needs, save leftovers for subsequent meals, and give excess non-perishable food to shelter so that the producers do not need to make as much. Producers, retailers, restaurants and consumers can donate excess food and resources to those in need. Non-donatable food can also be recycled in a backyard compost pile. Taking these steps to reduce waste would save energy resources, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and help the impoverished and hungry within our own country. In other words, think before you grab that extra plate of food at Sparky’s

The Price of Beauty

Our generation's definition of "beauty" is distorted now because of the pressure from Hollywood and the media. Women tend to care more about their appearance and obsess over the idea of beauty more than men. Whether women are looking to impress or attract others, the pressure to be a size two and to look nearly flawless is not only draining, but also expensive. Women feel that tanning, purchasing cosmetics, and investing in plastic surgery achieves their superficial goal of what consists of beauty. Unfortunately, some of these drastic measures have more negative consequences and dangers than benefits.

A rising trend among young women is tanning. These women are unsatisfied with their fair skin, and desire a tanner appearance to attain their concept of beauty. Although a tan may look nice now, its long-term effects are very harmful. Research done by Cosmopolitan's Practice Safe Sun Campaign finds that indoor tanning before the age of thirty increases the risk of melanoma by 75 percent. Knowing that tanning beds are carcinogenic, it does not make sense why people would spend money to be diagnosed with skin cancer later in life. Indoor tanning also leads to premature wrinkles, skin damage, broken blood vessels, and lines, which I personally would not consider beautiful.

Girls are beginning to wear makeup younger and younger. Women use cosmetics to highlight certain features and hide imperfections like blemishes. The cosmetic industry consistently grows because women will spare no expense at the cost of beauty. For example, some women spend 30 dollars on a tube of mascara from Sephora rather than 3 dollars on a similar product at CVS. The use of cosmetics heightens a woman's sense of insecurities, and some refuse to appear in public without applying makeup.

Plastic surgery is another way women attempt to perfect themselves. It is very common to see celebrities like Heidi Montag in magazines that recently went under the knife for implants, leposuction, and botox procedures. The average woman may feel the need to compete with such people, and receive similar procedures in order to impress others. Plastic surgery procedures are easily thousands of dollars and have many risks that are often overlooked. When researchers for Forbes looked into the risks of plastic surgery, they found that some surgeons do not have the proper certifications and accreditations. This means that if not researched properly, the procedure may not be legitimate. Other consequences include scarring, infections, temporary numbness, tissue and nerve damage, blood clots, and ultimately death.

Women: With these risk factors and dangers in mind, is the price of "beauty" really worth it? Do you feel pressured by the media along by other women to fit the criteria of what makes a woman beautiful and attractive? How far are you wiling to go to feel beautiful? Guys: How do you feel about women going out of their way to do these things? Are tans, flawless faces, and enhanced body parts really that desirable? If not, what do you consider true beauty?

Tragic Gay Teen Suicides

Suicide is often considered a result of deep psychological issues, or general depression; in short, most people view suicide as a personal act. What about when someone commits suicide because they can’t take the ridicule or oppression they feel on a daily basis? In my opinion, then, suicide is more a result of societal issues and social injustice. No one should feel hated or ridiculed to the point that they feel death is the only way out. Recently, however, many in the gay community have felt this way--Five gay teens across the country have committed suicide in the past three weeks alone.

Rutgers University student Tyler Clemente committed suicide last Tuesday after his roommate posted a video online of Clemente engaging in homosexual acts. The same day in California, thirteen year old Seth Walsh died after being in a coma for nine days. He had hanged himself after being bullied about his sexuality. On Wednesday, openly gay Johnson and Wales University student Raymond Chase also hanged himself. In Houston, thirteen year old Asher Brown shot himself due to harassment at his middle school, and in Indiana, fifteen year old Billy Lucas hanged himself after being teased by classmates who assumed he was gay.

The loss of these teens has inspired celebrities such as Lance Bass and Ellen DeGeneres to speak out about the intolerance and bullying of gay teenagers. DeGeneres said, “There are messages everywhere that validate this kind of bullying and taunting, and we have to make it stop. We can’t let intolerance and ignorance take another kid’s life.”

In light of these recent suicides, I think it’s clear that bullying as a result of homophobia has an extremely detrimental, and in certain cases, deadly effect. Intolerance is a serious issue that needs to be addressed before more teenagers feel the need to resort to taking their own lives as an escape. We need to stop making people who are different feel inferior. Even what may seem to be harmless sayings, such as “That’s so gay” only further the idea that being gay is something negative. Abolishing sayings like this from daily conversation is one easy step we can take here on our own campus. What else can we do on our small scale to make a difference and what needs to be done on a larger scale to teach acceptance and reduce needless deaths?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_B-hVWQnjjM

http://abcnews.go.com/US/gay-teen-suicide-sparks-debate/story?id=11788128

Mean Girls = Criminals?

Bullying is an issue that every school deals with, from preschool to seniors in highschool. There are many different types of bullying, and although boys bullying can be dangerous, girl's tactics are more harmful and gangerous to their victims, giving bullying more of a reason to be viewed as a crime.

When boys fight, they get their anger out with a few swings of their fists, and the next day they are friends again. When it comes to girls though they hold grudges and know how to be nasty, in order to hurt the person that is making them upset. Girls bond by socializing, sharing secrets and spending hours talking about boys, fashion, and other interesets. Because girls bond differently than boys, who bond by engaging in sports and competitions, it makes sense why the two sexes would differ in bullying tactics.

Girls bully for a number of reasons, but some popular reasons are because of class, and ethnicity. In middle school, girls try to fit in and make new friends, so they usually move towards girls similar to themselves to become firends with. If an outsider tries to join in on their already established group, this person usually feels unwelcomed. For example, at my middle school there was a difference in groups between the Latin American girls and the Caucasian girls. The two groups never mixed, and at times had conflicts with one another.

Seeing girls bullying occur is a lot less noticable than boys. The University of Miami found that when girls bully, they use tactics sich as alienation, exclusions, and spreading of rumors to harass their victims, as well as getting other people to join in, so that the victim feels totally isolated from the social scene. This shows that girls like to have a sense of control over their vicitm, so that they feel superior among their peers. Also, when girls fight it tends to be in large groups against a single person. This is because girls like to do everything in large numbers, so when a fight breaks out, they pick and choose members to be on their side, and get them to join in on the bullying.

This can be a lot more dangerous than a simple fist fight that boys enagge in because being socially isolated can make girls feel insecure, who are a;ready naturally insecure as they try to fit in with the "popular crowd". Therefore, being shunned and made fun of can cause a girl to be emotionally damaged, and cause her to feel alone and that something is wrong with her, to have all these people making fun of her.

Bullied boys are four times more likely to be suicidal than the avergae boy, but bullues girls are eight times more likely, proving girs bullying is more harmfu. For this reason, schools should monitor bullying more closely and do their best to stop it.

Today, bullying is beginning to be viewed as a crime. Take for example fifteen year old Phoebe Prince who committed suicide after being bullied for months. Now, students, including an older boy whos he used to have a relationship with, are charged for bullying Phoebe so much that she turned to suicide. The question with this is: should the students be charged with bulling, or with the effect their bullying caused, which in Phoebe's case would be suicide? When violence occurs, law enforcemnt mise respond appropriately, therefore bullying can be viewed as a crime, and people should be punished. Also, once bullying becomes physical there is no doubt that it is a crime because then it is assault. Even if no physical damage is done, as seen in many bullying done by girls, any type of bullying is a crime because it is harassment and emotional damage is caused. Girls and boys should not be allowed to bully their peers to a point that is dangerous to their health, and therefore bullying should be taken more seriously, and viewed as a crime.

Nature vs. Nurture

Daphne Goodship and Barbara Hebert are identical twins that first met when they were 40 years old. The twins were separated at birth and adopted by two completely different families, Debbie Mehlman and Sharon Poset are identical twins who were separated at birth, brought up in different religions and practicing entirely different traditions. When Debbie and Sharon met for the first time they found that they had incredibly similar habits. When they get excited they both cross their eyes. Tom is from rural Kansas , raised Christian, Steve , raised as a Buddhist, lives in Philadelphia. Tom and Steve are identical twins, separated at birth, and met for the first time four years ago. Tom and Steve both own a body building gym and both men are 100% dedicated to fitness. Are these stories mere coincidence, or is it proof that our genetic makeup has more of a factor on our personality and overall social behavior versus the environment in which we were brought up in? “You have your mother’s eyes” and “Boy you are a spitting image of your father.” But where did we get our outgoing personalities and our incredibly natural intelligence. Do children learn these social behaviors and talents from their parents at a young age or was it all predetermined by our genes? It is quite clear that one’s physical characteristics are hereditary; however, the water gets murky when crossing the bridge of individual behaviors, intelligence, and personality. On that side of the spectrum no one can give a clear explanation for where exactly all these behaviors and talents are coming from. The age old argument of Nature Vs. Nurture has yet to reach a conclusion and scientists still do not yet know exactly how much of us is determined by our DNA and how much is determined by the environment we are raised in and our own life experiences. All that we do know is that both DNA and the environment play a part. Some scientists and researchers believe that people behave the way they do in result of their genetic makeup and even some humanistic instincts. This theory is known as the nature theory. The nature theory even takes a step further to say that our intelligence, personality, aggression and sexual orientation are also encoded in an individual’s DNA. The other side of the debate is known as the nurture theory of human behavior. These scientists believe that people think, act, behave, and learn the way they do because their parents taught them to do so. With a growing understanding of the human genome scientists have been able to conclude that both sides of the spectrum are correct for it is nature that hone these instincts and traits and then it is nurture that allows us to mature and put to use those genetic abilities.

Hunger in America

When people mention hunger, one will most commonly think of third world countries that suffer from starvation. When I google imaged hunger, pictures of starving children in Africa appeared. It is not only third world countries that are suffering. There is hunger here in the United States that just goes unnoticed. Due to the recession, 14.6 % of American households, 49 million people, were food insecure at some point during 2008. This is the highest number since the survey was first taken in 1995. With such high numbers, there is clearly a number of people seeking help from local food banks and soup kitchens. However, there has been a drop in donations from companies that are on a tight budget. The Capital Area Food Bank, in Washington D.C., delivers around 25 million pounds of food to 700 nonprofit agencies each year. The Capital Area Food Bank also reported a 91% increase in calls to its Hunger Lifeline last year. There are two very important things that we as citizens of the United States can do to help the hunger here in our country. There are three hunger-related bills that discuss ways of saving food and helping those in need. The Good Samaritan Hunger Relief Tax Incentive Extension Act would extend a tax incentive for farmers to donate extra food to charity. School Food Recovery Act would allow schools to donate extra food to food banks. The third bill is a bill to amend the National School Lunch Act which serves more than 30 million children nationwide. Senators are looking to include the Hunger Free Schools Act to eliminate bureaucratic obstacles in the school lunch program and serve an additional 3 million children. The other important thing we can do to help prevent hunger in the United States is that we can donate food, money and our own time at local food banks. There are even programs here at Merrimack College where students can volunteer at local soup kitchens. The Merrimaction group goes to the Lazarus House and Bread and Roses once a month to serve in soup kitchens to feed the less fortunate. President Obama made a pledge to help end childhood hunger by 2015 and to do so, the administration and Congress must provide funding and support for food banks and nutrition programs. We can do our part as students by getting involved in our school community volunteer programs and by checking out websites such as http://feedingamerica.org and http://www.foodlifeline.org

Train Kills Elephants Trying to Protect Babies

(Sept. 24) -- Seven elephants have been killed by a speeding freight train in eastern India, after two baby elephants strayed onto the tracks and older ones followed to try to save them.

The deadly collision happened under a full moon late Wednesday in West Bengal between two protected wildlife zones where trains are supposed to slow down, USA Today reported. More than 20 elephants have died there in a little over a year, chief state forest conservator Atanu Raha told Agence France-Presse.

Str, AFP / Getty Images

People gather Thursday near one of the elephants that was killed by a train in India's West Bengal state.

But the number of animals killed in a single accident this week was "unprecedented and shocking," the World Wildlife Fund's local director in West Bengal, Sashwati Sen, told The Times of India. Local forest officials are preparing a report on the accident and plan to meet India's railway minister next week, the paper reported.

"One of the elephants was dragged for about 400 meters (yards), while the other four died on the spot," district official Kalyan Das told India Today. Two others were severely injured and died hours later, he said. "It is a ghastly sight," forest conservator S. Patel told the same paper. The baby elephants were among the dead.

Tracks between New Jalpaiguri and Assam were blocked for several hours Thursday by other elephants from the same herd who rushed to the scene to guard the seven dead bodies and an eighth animal who was wounded but survived, AFP reported.

For more information on this article, visit http://www.aolnews.com/world/article/7-elephants-killed-in-indian-train-crash/19646995