#english201

[famoustrashlight-blog]

Counterargument (1/29)

Our perception of crack cocaine usage—flawed by media, politics, and science—establishes a new way to divide us as a society. “The Culture of Poverty, Crack Babies, and Welfare Cheats” defines crack addiction as an excuse to vilify impoverished black communities as a “bad” kind of poor, as if they deserve to live from paycheck to paycheck. Black women are targeted for drug offenses, and this creates legal evidence to suggest minorities are lesser. In some instances, pregnant black women were screened before delivery, and babies tested positive for cocaine were given a new class title: the bio-underclass. Crack babies lended legitimacy to the idea that science could prove a division of the classes. At first, I questioned why this article refused to accept cocaine as a danger, but this wasn’t the authors’ argument; they intended to break down the social barriers we associate with crack abuse. This resonated with me, not only because every piece of information I had previously been given suggested the negative effects of cocaine usage, but because I have never viewed drug abuse as a way to racially discriminate. 

The progression in which we read each set of articles lead me to believe crack cocaine usage can be detrimental to a child’s health, but these readings presented new facts. I do not necessarily question science as a whole, because every scientific journal presented facts in a way that best represented their findings for the given experimental group. I believe the situation is more complicated than one article could account for. Despite the outcome, each study brings science one step closer to defining and identifying the true effects of cocaine, on an individual and a society. 

[altmusicfox-blog]

Crack Kids vs Lead Pipes

The Do It Now Organization pamphlet, Crack Kids: Cocaine’s Living Legacy, by Jennifer James discussed the effects of crack cocaine on the lives of children who’s parents are addicts. The pamphlet starts out by describing a situation in which children are abused by their crack addicted parents, in order to create fear and sympathy in readers. After giving a pathos argument to why readers should not use crack/care about crack use, the author goes on to give many different logos arguments. She gives statistics about how many children are born to crack addicted mothers, uses “sciencey” words like placenta to explain the harms of crack on the fetus, and repeats findings of studies to determine the number of fetal deaths. However, in citing all these “facts”, the author never once cites a source and uses broad language, such as “... crack is used by so many women.” in order to get her main message across, that the crack baby is an epidemic. After, James discusses what happens to crack babies as they grow up, and plays to sympathy again by informing the reader of the hardships for the crack baby. However, the author never once discusses how the environment that the children grew up in can play a role in their development. Rather, she convinces the reader that crack babies are doomed from the start with some hope. Overall, the author tries to convince the reader that the crack baby is an epidemic that we should all care about and somehow fight against. 

The article from the Columbia Journalism Review, Lead Pipes vs. Crack Pipes, by Lester Feder critiques the press while informing the reader of the social injustices that befall low income/urban communities. The article starts out by informing the reader of two very different front page articles in two well known newspapers, one about how the crack baby epidemic never happened and the other about the epidemic of lead in drinking water in D.C. The author spends the rest of the article critiquing media coverage of the crack baby epidemic versus the lead pipe epidemic. Both problems adversely affect the same communities, but the lead pipes are more rooted in science while the crack babies are just an easy explanation to a difficult problem of poverty, crime, and drugs in poor communities. Overall, the author argues that the crack baby takes funding and attention away from real problems in these communities, problems which have scientific support and affect the community more broadly. 

The two articles discussed about are very different from each other in many ways. The tone of the pamphlet is much more sympathetic to the children of crack addicted parents. On the other hand, the CJR article is very accusatory of the press for covering two problems in very different ways, and mishandling media representation of the problems. The styles of arguments between the two are also very different, as well as the arguments itself. The pamphlet argues that crack babies are a problem that everyone should care about, and uses both pathos and logos arguments to convey her points, but does not back up the logos arguments with citations. This takes away from the credibility of the argument. The CJR article argues that crack babies are the problem, rather there’s a broader social issue going on. Feder argues this by citing the media coverage of the two different social issues in low income communities, and by comparing the science behind both of these issues. Overall, his argument is more convincing the James’. However, the reader should note that the two articles were written at very different times. The pamphlet was written at a time (1998) when the crack baby was very much in the public consciousness and many people were worried that crack was becoming an epidemic. The CJR article was written in 2009, when the “crack epidemic” was winding down and one can look back on the “epidemic” with hindsight and more information.

[numbersixnine-blog]

#Goals

What will this tumblr be about? 

The purpose of this page and the post will be to dive deep into the effects of being online for an excessive amount of time have on people. How does this influence there productivity and also how does being online change them as individuals. My reasons behind this is because of interest. I am part of the first generation to grow up on computers and its interesting to see how we were once very active as kids and always outside and now we cant leave our homes with out having some form of connection with the online world. So I plan to research this topic to see how being online wasting time has affected us as people.

[blainekurtandersonhummel]

So today for my English 201 class we had to do an in-class essay. It's an 8am class and essay in the morning is not the greatest. The question was "what song inspires you and why?"... This is how I found myself writing a 2 page essay on Darren Criss and how awesome the song Not Alone is 😊 it was a better start to my day then I expected ❤️❤️

[marinalindschmitt]

Entry #5

At the beginning of the quarter, I sat down to write about how midwives were reentering the birthing scene, specifically in the Pacific Northwest. In my feasibility exercise, I considered addressing the relationships between doctors and midwives, the pros and cons of giving birth in personal homes, birth centers, and hospitals, the lower caesarean rates associated with midwives, nationalities, and home births. I planned to continue in the vein of midwives in the Pacific Northwest, however, my research drew me to hone in on how most midwives lead their clients through birth: naturally. In my “Question-Hypothesis-Question” exercise, I asked questions like “Why have some expectant mothers chosen to use a midwife instead of an OBGYN to birth their children?” and “What roles do epidural analgesia and oxytocin play in labor?” and “How do midwives approach birth differently than doctors do?” The latter I addressed more clearly in my alternative hypothesis essay, and I intend to further explore it in my synthesis essay when I combine the two, but I spoke of the more natural, holistic, and personal approach that midwives take to birth. In my Q-H-Q I wrote what I knew about birthing drugs (not much). Since then, I have learned a great deal about epidural analgesia, oxytocin, and other birthing interventions in watching the documentary The Business of Being Born, all of which will ultimately be incorporated in my final draft of the synthesis essay. I don’t know that my opinions concerning their widespread use have changed; I still hold that they ignite a snowball of interventions and that they should definitely be used, but only when medically necessary. Using birthing drugs gives the power to the caretaker, instead of leaving it to the woman and her body. As for my first question, “Why have some expectant mothers chosen to use a midwife instead of an OBGYN to birth their children?” it turns out that the answer is incredibly more vast than I had expected. I can trace trends in birthing choices and study statistics, but really, the choice is different for each woman. Surely, it encompasses similar things: a more personal and constant relationship with their caretaker, the ability for both mother and baby to be aware and wholly present during the birth, less expense, lowered statistical rates of caesareans and mortality, and a healthier and innate way of bringing children into the world.

I have been fascinated to learn about the control that fear and education present in the birthing world. In modern day America, many women learn about birth through watching TV shows and Hollywood films where the mother is being rushed down the hallway in terror and the doctor has to come in to save the day. They hear about the horror stories of forty hour labors and emergency caesareans more often than they do about the still painful, but peaceful and calm normal and natural births. I am not proposing to force feed women natural birth, but I am suggesting that the hospitals are reticent about talking about options other than birth their way, with any amount of interventions. Women deserve to have the choice of how to bring their babies into the world.

[shapingup4success-blog]

Prompt #3: New ideas and paths to follow

What has emerged in this second part of your research process, particularly during discovering more sources in the second half of your Annotated Bibliography?  In what kinds of publications or source types are you finding these terms or ideas and how are they being discussed or used? 

The key thoughts and terms I’ve been collecting in my recent research are more focused on the society’s perspective or impact, versus the Alternative Perspective Essay, that viewed more of the personal situations including topics of physiology and how fitness and nutrition can improve our present and future wellbeing and health, how our diets can support our mental psyche, and how proper nutrition and fitness can benefit our society.

  In my new findings I’ve been looking into how success looks on a country wide level, for this research I’ve been studying surveys, Dr. Price’s book, and blogs. The way I am using this info in my paper is to explore varying nutritional diets and situations and how they impact the prosperity of their countries.

Another subject I stumbled upon while reading Dr. Price’s report is the idea that a country’s traditional food will contain more nutrients than the “modern” quick food, easy sugar and refined carbohydrates. This section points toward the specific nutrients and vitamins that feed the brain and are super for us to consume including calcium, vitamin A and D, and K2.

Next on my idea list is the overwhelming number of responses to how different countries such as Afghanistan, Kenya, New Zealand, Norway, and even America have agreed that nutrition is more than just a physical or personal issue, but also impacts the society. I’ve collected this information from researchers’ reports, news magazines, blogs, surveys, governments, and educational journals sharing about their own countries. Some talk about the social classes, others about malnutrition, Norway has made government policies pertaining to it, showing us many different views, issues, and solutions nutrition can cause in a country.

The last thought I found recently, was the idea that being happy, having a more positive attitude, and being comfortable in your surroundings, whether that be a job, relatives house, school classroom, or anywhere makes the frontal lobe of your brain grow. This section of the brain is dominantly used for thinking, so if we look at our findings what we’re seeing is the happier you are, the smarter you are, the better you work, the more successful you are. I found these while reading my business textbook, and then followed it up with some additional blogs, and psychologists’ reports.

New Thesis: Nutrition and fitness are more than just physical or personal issues.

Fieldwork/Ethnographic Research Methods- Discuss one of these three processes (the survey, interviews, observations) that you may have been doing for your final research paper. Describe the process and any surprising or intriguing findings. Quoting specific interactions is even better, if possible.

                So far in means of field work the only area I have fully committed to and completed is the survey. Otherwise I am planning on either doing an observation of a local business company my friends own, or the one my Grandpa owns, or doing an interview of either owner, a city council member, doctor, or a coach. In the two businesses cases I have been around each for many hours so I could almost write a report without revisiting, just basing it off the patterns I have already witnessed; looking for patterns in employees, rankings, authority, positions, abilities, treatment, and social interactions. If I were to interview a city council member I would ask them if they can see any patterns, if they found it to be an issue, what would they propose to solve it, and what it would look like, and their goals? If I choose to question a doctor I would focus more on the physical impact it has on people, communities, and societies. The coach would be an interesting, and unique perspective on how they see it affecting areas outside physical areas, and the activity, more focused on school, jobs, family, psyche, and success.

                For the most part I would imagine most of these people responding in a way that works with my perspective instead of against. But, who knows? Before I had submitted my survey online, I had assumed certain answers to be answered only one way, and others to be very varied, but they switched on me. Many of the questions I thought people would have many different views on, they actually for the majority agreed, and the ones I imagined would be very simple and a yes or no, really only one answer, were completely all over the board.

                A few examples of this would be my results after having 30 people answer my survey, in reply to the question of “What difficulties do you face in trying to exercise?” A good 53% checked “motivation/commitment”, while another 33% selected “time”. In comparison, when asked “What obstacles prevent you from cooking at home?” 44% answered “time”, and only 17% marked “motivation”. Now here’s the last stat I’ll use, when asked “Do you think there is a link between proper fitness and nutrition, and success in other areas in life (school, family, job, etc.)?” 96.6% said they agreed/strongly agreed, only 3.4% said they didn’t agree or disagree, and no one checked they disagreed/strongly disagreed to the claim.

                I think that these numbers are interesting because while the majority of people selected motivation for their struggle in trying to exercise, the majority also said that time was their difficulty in preparing a home cooked meal. This, and other answers in the survey, lead me to think if we prioritize homemade cooking over fitness? Or if we find working out more difficult than cooking a meal?

                Along with those intriguing findings, the other result that totally blew me out of the water was almost everyone agreeing to the link between proper fitness and nutrition and other areas in life. I think this was shocking to me because, even out of a small number of 30, that somebody would see them as separate categories that do not cross. It also leads me to think if they have any personal explorations or stories that lead them to their agreeing, and if I should pursue that for my interview. 

[marinalindschmitt]

[marinalindschmitt]

Entry #2

There are three topics I feel were not adequately explored in my first paper: hospitals as businesses, birthing drugs, and the lack of education concerning birth.

Hospitals were born to be a place of healing for sick folks. They should be oriented around the people they serve. Unfortunately, they have been turned into places of business. The executives making the decisions concerning the welfare of the hospitals tend to make them only in favor of the business, without giving thought to the men, women, and children that come through its doors.

Birthing drugs are valuable tools that saves lives, but as more research is done on drugs like epidural anesthesia and oxytocin, we are learning that they are best used in moderation. Oxytocin is a natural drug found in all humans, but in women it works to induce labor, acting as a communicator between the brain and the contracting uterus. It is injected to unnaturally begin labor. Epidural anesthesia blocks pain during labor, making it commonly used, however, recent statistics show that if given before a woman is dilated to four centimeters, there is a seventy-five percent chance of her ending up with a caesarean section.

Lastly, there is a lack of education about birth, both for mothers and the general populace. We live in a world of widespread technology, but an increasingly small number of people understand how birth works and how a woman’s body is built perfectly to birth babies and how medicine can help or inhibit birth. If women are given all the choices as they prepare to bring a child out of their body and into the world, then they can make the wisest choice for themselves and their babies.

I plan to ask my two interviewees—a doula and a mother—what their previous experiences with hospitals have been like, specifically in the domain of birth, and with their answers, discuss in what ways hospitals are good places to bring a new person into the world. I intend to discuss with interviewees the importance of birthing drugs in labor and birth, and how they think they should be used asking questions like, “When is it healthiest to start taking drugs during labor?” and “How does taking drugs affect the outcome of labor?” Both with the feedback of my interviewees and the information gathered from my survey, I will discuss education about birth, or lack thereof. Is it limited to sex-ed in middle school until you get to the OBGYN’s office with a positive pregnancy test? Or does it extend beyond that?

The way hospitals function is a topic that expands vastly beyond my discussion about midwives and natural birth. However, since many midwives operate in homes or in birth centers, I feel it is important to talk about the differences in operation. More than almost anything, it is vital for mothers to understand how various birthing drugs work on their bodies so that they can make informed decisions about what is healthiest for themselves. Of course, the most important thing about birth is to know how it works. People need to understand how a baby grows in utero and how that baby tears into the world.