“Getting to Know about You and Me” by: Chana Scheonberger (Blog 6)

                In her article “Getting to Know about You and Me” written in the Writer’s Response textbook, Chana Scheonberger talks about how many people in the U.S. are ignorant about other religions; this ignorance could then lead to hatred and prejudice. Scheonberger is of the Jewish faith. She provides a few examples from her own life where people have been misinformed about her religion and have made anti-Semitic remarks in front of her. One of her main examples is about her professor who said he, “wouldn’t want them to get Jewed,” in front of a group of students. Scheonberger and her friend, who is also Jewish, were going to confront their professor about what he had just said, but they never acquired the courage to do so. Another effective example she provides is the time her friends were asking her questions about Jewish people. They asked questions like if she still practiced animal sacrifices, or what kind of foods do Jewish people eat. These examples show that ignorance about another person’s religion may be problematic for both parties involved. People should try to teach one another about their own religion, instead of showing hatred towards someone who is misinformed about someone else’s religion. Hatred should be stemmed off of facts rather than ignorance. Scheonberger plans to join the Diversity Committee at her school in order to inform people about different religions.

                I think that I have experienced much more hatred due to racist stereotyping rather than religious stereotyping. A majority of the people I have known do not even know about my religion, Buddhism, so it has been easy going for me. My friends, on the other hand, have faced a lot of prejudice and hatred from people who are ignorant about certain religions. I believe that the main religious group that suffers the worst of the stereotyping is the Jewish faith. A lot of the kids at my middle school used to make Jewish jokes and harsh Jewish references constantly. Personally, I strongly dislike how different people are on Earth due to religions. Religions cause terrible things like war and violence. In my opinion, religion brainwashes people. It can make them do crazy things. But I am glad that society has moved to a point where religion is kept out of mainstream corporations and the government.

"Beyond 9/11" - Lyzbeth Glick Best's Story (Blog 5)

          In the article “Beyond 9/11” in the September 19, 2011 issue of Time magazine, Lyzbeth Glick Best explains how she dealt with her husband’s death after 9/11. Her husband, Jeremy Glick, was a passenger on flight 93. Flight 93 was hijacked by four al-Qaeda terrorists on September 11, 2001. After the plane had been hijacked, passengers behind the cockpit were able to make phone calls out to their loved ones. Jeremy Glick was able to make a phone call out to his wife and have their last moment together through the phone. The plane crashed in a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania. Lyzbeth was pregnant with her daughter at the time her husband had passed. She didn’t want her newborn child to grow up with a depressed mother and an absent father, so she learned to deal with his death through counseling and eventually remarried.  She keeps close to her friends who are also 9/11 widows. They call one another whenever they need advice and answers to questions like “when should I clean out my husband’s closet?” Lyzbeth also keeps a diary with her whenever she is feeling emotional about her husband not being there to witness their daughter do something significant in her life. Lyzbeth believes that she will never get over the loss and pain, but she is still able to find much joy in her life with her children and current husband.

                Reading this article was emotionally difficult for me. I cannot imagine what it would be like to speak to my significant other before she died in a hijacked plane, while watching the news on New York being attacked. I was too young at the time of the attacks to fully understand how devastating it was. Many people in the U.S. must have thought that we were being swarmed with attackers during September 11, 2001; or they probably thought that it was doomsday of some sort. I believe that day made a lot more people realistic. These attacks can happen in areas with a huge population. We always have to be prepared and enjoy the moments in our lives. Lyzbeth is strong for being able to raise a newborn right after her husband’s death. Her life is a powerful example of courage, determination, perseverance.

"The Oz Diet" By: Dr. Mehmet Oz (Blog 4)

In his article “The Oz Diet,” found in the September 12, 2011 issue of Time Magazine, Dr. Mehmet Oz talks about some of the myths of food diets and what we should be eating to stay healthy. He starts off by saying that patients usually end up in his surgery room due to the unhealthy foods that they ate. Food was very difficult to obtain in the past. Now, people have easy access to whatever they are craving to eat. Even with easy access to a wide variety of food choices, some people choose to stay on a strict diet because they don’t want to become unhealthy. There are many diet programs out there that don’t even work. Some common diets are the Mediterranean diet, grapefruit diet, and low-fat diet. Scientific studies and results have shown that these diets actually had little effect on our bodies in terms of healthiness. There seemed to be a problem with every diet in our food era. There was no diet that was completely healthy and had promising results. Dr. Mehmet Oz says that people should be consuming eggs, whole milk, salt, fat, nuts, wine, chocolate, and coffee. These are the foods you should be consuming to stay healthy, but if you over-indulge on one food, then you may be faced with some health problems. Health is achieved with the right amount of healthy foods and exercise.  

At first, I was very skeptical about the information in the article, so I did a little research on the author of the article, Dr. Mehmet Oz. I learned that he is a very successful surgeon and he has his own television show called “The Doctor Oz Show.” His television show focuses on topics related to medical issues and personal health. After doing my research, I re-read the article with confidence knowing that I could believe all of the information. The main healthy foods he listed are what surprised me the most. The list doesn’t even have vegetables in it! The article had much scientific evidence and reasoning as to why each of the foods listed is beneficial to our health, so I cannot question or argue against the information. The only thing I can really do now is gape at the information because all of it is so new to me. Health has been a big priority in my life, so the information can benefit me a lot. I plan to work in the medical field and I will take with me this new found knowledge of what we should be consuming for our health. I hope Americans will be informed about this and attempt to fix the problem with obesity. The article mentioned that 1/3 of adults alone are obese, while 1/3 of children alone are obese. If Americans keep eating with bad habits, then people will keep dying from diseases like heart disease.

                                                                                                                                      

"A Famine We Made?" By: Alex Perry (Blog 3)

          In his article, “A Famine We Made?” author Alex Perry explains the situation occurring in Southern Somalia. It turns out that Texas is not the only location that is experiencing severe droughts; Southern Somalia is experiencing it too. However, the corrupt African country is going through much worse compared to Texas. Luckily, Texans have the government and wealth to keep people from becoming very ill due to the drought. Southern Somalia is not a wealthy country, nor does it have a central government. Somalis are starving to death. And to top it all off, there is a war occurring in Somalia. Their war is not against another country. Their war is against themselves. Somali people are killing each other. Two of the symptoms for the cause of this war are piracy and the rise of the Islamists supporting strict Sharia, which is an Islamic law based on the Koran’s teachings. Somali officials have estimated that a million people have died due to war and twenty-nine thousand people have died due to starvation. Sixty-three percent of the region’s population (2.8 million people) is either starving or at risk of starvation. The U.S. is attempting to help their starvation issue by airlifting high-energy biscuits to the country. The biscuits are able to feed 1.6 million people, but only for one day.

          This situation is ridiculous. War is ridiculous. I will never understand why violence was the answer to our greatest problems. Somali people are resorting to piracy because they are desperate for wealth. I remember an incident in the year 2009 when Somali pirates captured an old couple out at sea. The pirates told the country, where the old couple were from, that they were holding the couple hostage until they receive some ridiculous amount of money. I believe it was around sixty-million dollars. The country refused to pay that amount, instead they sent in a special rescue team to rescue the two hostages. Somali people should be trying to work together to fix their corrupt government. Then, they could possibly team up with other countries to help with their own starvation issue. I wish more people would be aware of the Somali crisis and make an attempt to help.

"Go with the Floe" by Sean Gregory (Blog 2)

In his article “Go with the Floe”, author Sean Gregory lets us in on the new travel destinations being created by nature itself. Climate change has been a worrying topic for most, but for travelers it’s an innovator of landscapes. A Scottish traveller, Jock Wishart, and his crew are about to, unbelievably, sail into the North Pole. It was only a decade ago when people would have never thought of the possibility of sailing to the North Pole due to the ice. But as global warming continued to heat the Earth the ice finally started to melt. The ice in the oceans is not the only ice melting. Mountain ice is melting as well. This opens up opportunities for adventurers to explore some of the highest points on mountains that have never been explored before. The southern Andes Mountains is one place that has new trails to explore due to the change in climate. Adventurers may enjoy seeing new trails being created, but still do not support climate change. They describe it as a “love-hate” relationship.

I really do enjoy reading articles about climate change because climate change was the topic I mostly studied during my high school senior year. I have done my research on the highly controversial topic of global warming and I am a strong believer that global warming is occurring. It excites me that there are new places to explore on this planet, but the fact that the Earth is visually changing right in front of us worries me.  We should continue putting most of our focus on fixing this atmospheric imbalance instead of exploring the “new” lands.

"De-Demonzing Rum: What's Wrong with 'Underage' Drinking?" - Blog 1

In his article, "De-Demonizing Rum: What's Wrong with 'Underage' Drinking?"(pg. 262-264 of the Writers Response textbook) author Andrew Stuttaford talks about how he believes the age to consume alcohol should not 21; he would rather have the legal age to drink alcohol be an age younger than 21. The purpose of this article is to have the reader ponder the controversial topic of underage drinking. What sparked Stuttaford’s rant on this topic was the passing of the 1997 legislation toughening the penalties for underage drinking. Throughout the article he uses strong opinionated statements to express his feelings on this matter. In one particular example, Stuttaford explains that a resident of Texas who is between the ages of 18 and 21 is legally able to vote, drive, marry, serve in the military, and be executed, but is supposedly not mature enough to buy a margarita.

I do agree that the legal age to consume alcohol should be an age lower than 21. I believe that young adults are wise enough to make decisions on how much alcohol they consume. The justice system is wasting their efforts trying to enforce a law that many people under the age of 21 can easily abide. 

Practice Blog Introduction

Greetings fellow English 99 classmates. My name is Tony Vu and this is my first year of college. School of Environmental Studies is where I graduated from in June, 2011. I enjoy attending college much more than attending high school because there is so much free time in college. Life feels very relaxing as of now, but I soon may be faced with hardships due to an increased difficulty in my college courses. My hobbies include dancing, exercising, and socializing with my peers. My family from Vietnam has migrated over to the U.S this past summer to live with me and my father. The family that has just flown in consists of my uncle, aunt, and two younger cousins. It is very different for me to be living with a household that has more than three people in it because I've only lived with just my father for most of my life. Getting out of this house and into the city is my current goal. My next goal is to successfully transfer to the University of Minnesota Twin Cities. I hope that this semester goes well for myself and my fellow classmates as well.