Monday, May 11, 2009

Reflections: Weeks 15 and 16

Hey Bloggers! Well this is farewell for now. I had so much fun throughout this course and feel that we all worked very hard throughout the semester. Everyone brought so much to the table and exhibited themselves very positively. As I'm writing about weeks 15 and 16, I am very sad to say this course is coming to an end. This class has been by far my favorite class throughout my whole college experience. I am very thankful for all of my classmates and for Dr.V most of all!

Week 15 and 16
During Week 15, we were very fortunate to meet Sue Whitney author and founder of JUNKMARKET. I loved all the ideas she gave us and was very thankful for the free book she distributed to our class. I've been reading it like crazy getting new ideas for those good ole' summer rummage sales. I loved how she explained her childhood to correlate with what she presented. She told us that she didn't have many possessions when she was young and thought of getting something in a store brand new as a huge gift. I definitely take for granted how fortunate I've been to all the things I own. Throughout the class period, various students shared their experiences with their "junk" and how they refurbished it as well. Kathy and Brenda came up with a few neat ideas with junk they found. I never will look at a rain gutter the same after seeing how they created a yarn holder... very creative by the way! I really enjoyed this experience since I am very interested in making my own decorations already. I really hope to use her ideas to eliminate my wastes even more. And of course the subway was perfect! Thank you again Dr.V for making all of this possible!

Our last class was a very inspiring experience. Dr. V was presented with her picture frame gift that had many interesting artifacts attached to it. Each student had the opportunity to reflect on their item's purpose. Each of us had the chance to reflect on the whole semester and what we had learned throughout the way. I really feel like we were the perfect class! I had so much fun throughout the semester and met a lot of really cool people. I really believe that we were placed in the class for a reason. I would like to thank Dr. V first and foremost. She taught us many life long lessons in a very laid back fashion. She made it really fun to learn and let us express ourselves in a humorous fashion.I would also like to thank my classmates. You all worked really hard and really made the class an enjoyable experience. I hope that we all take the lessons learned and apply it to our lives. I really have learned a lot through this experience and plan on being an advocate of going green!! I will miss you all!!

Sunday, May 10, 2009

Share and Voice: Award!


Hey Bloggers, I just received an award from Sara H for my post on my Share and Voice on the ESG Highway Cleanup!. Thank you very much Sara! I am passing my award onto Katie Kares for the Environment for her share and voice about Fast Food Nation. I think you had a lot of statistics which made it a very interesting post and also gave us an inside look on the business of fast foods.. Great Job... Follow the Award instructions below to pass on the award!!

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...

Eye Opener: Online Learning Activities

Steve's Learning Activity

Name that Phobia

Section 1:

1. Pteromerhanophobia - The fear of flying
2. Tachophobia - The fear of speed
3. Wiccaphobia - The fear of witches/witchcraft
4. Autophobia - The fear of being alone
5. Bathmophobia - The fear of stairs/steep slopes
6. Glossophobia - The fear of speaking in public
7. Chronomentrophobia - The fear of clocks
8. Cacophobia - The fear of ugliness
9. Leukophobia - The fear of color white
10. Mysophobia - The fear of dirt and germs

Section 2:
1.Fear of Cooking-Mageirocophobia
2 Fear of Birds-Ornithophobia
3 Fear of houses-Domatophobia
4 Fear of needles and points- Aichmophobia
5 Fear of clowns-Coulrophobia
6 Fear of cats-Elurophobia
7 Fear of the sun-Heliophobia
8 Fear of gaining weight-Obesophobia
9 Fear of strangers/ foreigners-Xenophobia 10 Fear of large things-Megalophobia

I learned a lot through doing this activity. I could not believe all the phobias that actually exist. I was the most surprised by ones such as being afraid of the color white, afraid of cooking, and afraid of houses. Very great activity for us to do!!

Shar's Learning Activity

For this activity we took an adventure through the home and classified whether items in the home contain harmful allergens and other materials.

The Roof

Problem: The roof of the house that has a hole in it is classified as a damage because it can lead to mold growth which is harmful to your health.


Solution: By fixing leaks right away, you can avoid the problems in the future.

Bathroom:

Problem: The cleaning products on the floor release harmful chemicals in the air that are damaging to your health if exposed for a long period of time.

Solution: Put the items away when not using, use ceiling fans to circulate the air in the surrounding area, and read the manufacturer's instructions when using any chemical products to know their effects.


Bedroom:


Problem: If the plants in a bedroom do not have any fresh are and are surrounded by humidity, they may grow mold and cause allergy problems for some people. Also, the paint in the bedroom needs to be dealt with since they can give off harmful gases.
Solution:

It is important to find the source of the humidity causing the mold to accumulate. The solution for the paint and varnish would be to put away the materials when finished with task and make sure you are surrounded in a ventilated area.


Kitchen:


Problem
: Gas stoves can produce nitrogen dioxide, which irritates the lungs and contaminates indoor air.


Solution
: When using a gas stove, it is important to have a range hood for venting air pollutants to the outside.

Living Room:

Problem: Cigarettes are the main source of indoor pollution in homes. Another problem would be the wood fireplace. Wood smoke releases many harmful substances.

Solution: Have people smoke outside if they must and not inside the house. For the fireplace, keep up with the maintenance of it to reduce accidents.

Garage:

Problem: Exhaust gases from vehicles contain carbon monoxide, a toxic gas. When a car is idling in the garage, carbon monoxide can penetrate into the house.

Solution:
Don't leave your car idling in the garage.


Basement:

Problem: Mold growth in a house may cause respiratory problems and allergic reactions in some occupants. Another problem in the basement is the lack of maintaining, combustion appliances, like your furnace, which can release pollutants such as carbon monoxide, a colorless and odorless gas.

Solution:
Find the source of the humidity and make changes to it. The solution for the combustion appliance is to make sure you get yearly checkups by a specialist to make sure it's working well.

Laundry Room:

Problem: Steam from a dryer not vented to the outside can create excessive humidity, which can promote mold growth.

Solution:
Dryers must be vented to the outside.

The ones that surprised me the most would have to be the plant in the home causing mold. I knew that plants need fresh air and sunlight, but didn't know they would create mold.

Kaileigh's Learning Activity

I really liked this website. I didn't realize that Medicare does not cover long-term health care. I think that long-term care should be more affordable for the individuals receiving the care as well. Like the link said, we don't know what kind of shape we'll be in in the future. Some of the policies are known as "indemnity" or "expense incurred" policies. This means that the indemnity policy pays up to a fixed benefit amount regardless of what you spend. With an expense-incurred policy, you choose the benefit amount when you buy the policy and you are reimbursed for actual expenses for services received up to a fixed dollar amount per day, week, or month.

I also learned the national average costs.

  • Examples: age 65 = 1,337, age 79= 5,330

  • Premiums generally remain the same throughout the years
I thought this was a very good activity because health insurance is becoming an issue for people to afford which decreases as the economy weakens. I did my advocacy project on health insurance which made this topic easier to understand.

Kathy's Learning Activity

DOWN
1. Along with the other effects of lead poisoning,__Fetal____development is effected even with extremely low levels of lead.
3. Pick one: "OLDER" homes or "NEWER" homes may contain lead-based paints. OLDER
4. Lead was banned in this year for residential use. 1978
5. A common misconception or ________ was that the most common form of poisoning was eating leaded paint chips. Myth

ACROSS
2. Other sources that contain lead besides paint is __Gasoline_________.
4. About 2/3 of homes built before this year contain heavily-leaded paint. 1940
6. Lead is found in this item that was put on the walls of houses. Paint
7. Lead also effects reproduction. In men, your count of these little swimmers will go
down. Sperm
8. How many percent of homes in Duluth were built before the 1950's? 80%
9. The most common pathway of childhood lead exposure is through ingestion of small lead particles called__Dust_____.


For the challenge, I had talked to my landlord about the history of our house. She did not have an exact date for when the house was built, but it was definitely before 1950. We had repainted our whole house before we moved in due to the lead paint. I had taken part in painting the house and am glad that we made the adjustments needed.


Heather's Learning Activity I took part in the learning activity "Cost of Care" portion and found a lot of interesting information that I didn't know before. I chose the option of breaking your arm to determine the cost of care for this procedure. These were the results of the medical costs needed (annual). I found this website very interesting since many people are not aware of how much health care costs add up. This definitely showed me how important health insurance is to help you with these expenses.

Broken Arm

Condition Cost Data (annual)

Median Typical Range

Total without pharmacy $1,545 $ 915- 2,710

Total with pharmacy $1545 $915- 2,745 Detailed Treatment Cost Data
General
ER visit $145- 480
Arm Casting $80- 800
Follow-up Office Visit $55- 115 X-Ray of arm $20- 55



Monday, May 4, 2009

Share and Voice: Highway Cleanup



Hey bloggers! Well, this is going to be my proudest share and voice yet! I am currently a member of Eta Sigma Gamma which is a national professional honorary for men and women in health education in case you didn't know. We had the opportunity to participate in the highway cleanup the other day. It was a very interesting experience to say the least. I was suprised to see how many animal bones we had found throughout the cleanup. We found a large group of deer bodies along with a dead duck and skunk. I'm not going to lie, I got scared a couple times as I grabbed for a piece of garbage and saw a dead animal right in front of me. Haha!! I'm sure people in a 1 mile radius could've heard me scream! and Here are some of the pictures....











I thought this was a very great activity for us to do since we're learning about the environment around us so much in this course. I feel like everyone should take part in cleaning up highways and other areas in their community to improve the appearance and well being.

Share and Voice: Tips for Going Green


Hey Bloggers! Since this school year is soon to be over, many of you are probably considering moving to another house or apartment. It can be quite a stressful event going through all your "junk." I have become a huge pack rat this last year since I have an interest in refurbishing my old junk and making into something useful. Spring cleaning is one of the most irritating things to do especially in a house of 6 people (my house). We all are planning on working as a team to get the job done. That's when I realized all the alternatives you can use instead of using harmful chemicals.


Home cleaning supplies

Baking soda and hot water can get your house sparkling clean at an affordable price. The chemicals in something such as Windex glass cleaner are very harmful to your respiratory system when breathed in. It's a better idea to use cloth material to clean verses paper towels as well.When going through things such as magazines and clothes, there are many alternatives to dealing with them. You can recycle, donate, sell, or reuse them instead of throwing them away.

Click on PLANETGREEN to get more tips around the house! This website is amazing and offers other alternatives for topics such as: Ways to green your fridge, keeping paper towels out of your house, how to go green spring break, eating green, and also offer news articles about people going green. I really like this website and plan on looking at it on a regular basis to improve my ability to go green!

Advocacy Project:

Hey Bloggers!
Well, since my topic discusses Health Insurance, I found it difficult to find an interactive way for you to participate. I hope you like what I've come up with. I found a clip for you to view and let me know how you feel about making health insurance more affordable. I just wanted to refresh you on what I've been doing my Advocacy Project on....

Overview of Issue:
The issue in my advocacy project is to increase the amount of people with health insurance. Many lower class individuals are faced with problems affording the proper health insurance for their families. Health insurance is a often offered through employment but not all the time. What about families that have no job? Not only the parents, but the children are greatly affected. How can we make health insurance more affordable for these individuals?


There are currently 44 million Americans are living without health insurance. There are many consequences involved if people continue to live without health insurance. Many individuals with health conditions will begin to avoid going to the doctor if they cannot afford the care necessary creating more severe problems in the future.Uninsured children are more likely than insured children to not receive medical care for common conditions like ear infections- illnesses that if left untreated can lead to more serious health problems. If children are left untreated, more problems may arise causing life-long conditions.I have the freedom to go to the doctor if I have any concerns regarding my health while people have to live with their health conditions due to financial reasons.

Instructions:
Click on this link to tell me what you felt about the
Health Insurance Game shown. What do you think about the way the video was demonstrated? Do you think they portrayed the information bias or equal? If you have any additional information to add that you felt the video should have been presented, please feel free to do so.

Additional Information:
The information below was provided on the link above

This humorous video was written by supporters of HR 676, the single payer national health care bill in Congress (John Conyers - Michigan). All other industrialized countries have universal national health care. They spend half as much as we do in the United States on medical care but their health outcomes are as good or better. Americans have seen their health insurance premiums increase by 87% from 2000 to 2006 while their earnings only increased by 20% and the average rate of overall inflation was 18% during the same time period (Kaiser Family Foundation). Why does your health care cost so much? 30%-35% of each dollar of your premium goes to pay for: executive salaries, administration, lobbying, marketing and other non-health care related costs. It's time to eliminate the for-profit private health plans who take up to 1/3 of each premium dollar but add no value to our health care delivery system. It's time for HR 676.

Why is this important?

Many of us are currently covered by our parent's health insurance. I don't think we really know how important it is that we are covered. If you didn't have health insurance, would you go into the doctor for any injuries or illnesses you may have? Would you get your yearly checkups? It is known that people who are uncovered are less likely to go to the doctor or local physician. That's why I believe that health insurance should be more affordable for everyone so that we are not faced with these issues in the future.

Sources:
Source 1: Healthcarenow.org
Source 2: Health Crisis
Source 3: Esurance

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Share and Voice: Super One Foods



Hey Everyone! I'd like to take this time to thank Dr.V and SuperOne Foods for getting us these awesome new bags. I've always wanted one, but never got around to getting it. I have definitely used it since we've received them. Thanks again!!!