Paul Duvillier – Frequent Soda Consumption
Paul’s project touched on the affects that soda has on people long-term, like obesity, diabetes, and heart problems. I was not aware that frequent soda consumption reduces the effectiveness of some drugs and cancer treatments, which did slightly change my opinion on soda. While I do agree that soda is bad for you, I still went on to drink 2 cans of soda later in the day, so my actions did not change based on this new information. The comment that Paul made about a soda tax would be interesting to see if it would reduce soda consumption in the US, and I would like to see if passed. While most Americans agree that soda is bad for them and know many of the risks of soda, we still drink it because of the addictiveness of the sugary ingredients.
Bailey Thayer – A battle worth fighting
Bailey’s project described the support networks available for siblings and families during a patient’s cancer treatment through research and a personal experience. Bailey also noted that Child-cancer has one of the top 3 lowest survival rates of all cancer in the country, but only gets 1/25 of the research money given for cancer. Childhood cancer has a lower survival rate than breast and lung cancer, which account for roughly ½ of the research grants from the cancer research funds. Bailey also said that hospitals need to provide more in hospital resources for siblings and families who are dealing with a loved one in the process of cancer treatment. While I cannot relate because I have no personal experience with long-term hospitalization of a loved one, the two-three days that my dad was in critical care this past school year, I received no support from hospital staff and had to reach out to outside sources and friends for support. I can see how the lack of support for siblings of cancer patients/long term hospitalized patients is and becomes problematic quickly, leaving young children to deal with the hardships of dealing with the situation virtually on their own. While I don’t believe it should be the doctor’s jobs to support families and loved ones, I do think that hospitals should provide funding for support of families.
MJ – Picture Imperfect Family
MJ touched on what life is like, living and growing up in a family that is either a single parent, another relative, or an adopted kid. A few things I learned that I was somewhat aware of, but not sure: Growing up with a single parent makes kids two times more likely to have a drug or alcohol addiction. Often, adopted kids feel abandoned and have identity issues, but it isn’t all that way with adoptions, because Travis feels that he is treated just like a normal child with loving parents. I did get the wrong sense from MJ’s video that she was condoning kids who have drug addictions, because I still do believe that there are other ways to escape identity and rejection issues besides drugs and alcohol. While that is a common way for teenagers especially to escape problems, I don’t believe that this behavior is acceptable, even if there are in house problems. Domestic violence also runs as an issue with imperfect families, where either the mom or dad was abused, and the relationship splits, and the child gets stuck in the middle. Adults mistakes often affect children more than the adults themselves, because the children don’t receive the proper love and affection they need to grow up healthy and fully emotionally developed.
Liz – Domestic Teen Violence
Liz’s project described teen domestic violence and it’s (to me) surprising prevalence in today’s society. People between the ages of 16-24 hold the highest rate of domestic violence in the country right now. Dating violence is most prevalent with teenagers and young adults in college or coming out of college. The control and isolation of people or a significant partner leads to teen domestic violence. By the age of 18, 25% of girls have been abused either physically or sexually before they compete high school. This issue remains close to my heart as well, because I have a best friend who was stuck in an incredibly abusive dating relationship for about a year, and struggled to get out. The guy she was dating was abusing her personal boundaries, and taunting her with other girls and hook ups while they were dating. Teenagers are the most vulnerable and most dangerous, because they are still developing, and also like having maximum control over situations and realize that using people for their own good is wrong but believe they can still go through with it because of the vulnerability of people at this age.
Gredys – CULTURE
Culture, as defined in his video, is a set of teachings or beliefs passed down from generations. Religion, food, ethnicity, ways of life, and living habits all are defined as part of culture. America is very multi-cultural, which allows people to practice their own cultures and adopt teachings or beliefs from other cultures. Culture defines America, the people of America, and the people around the world. I believe the reason America is so multi-cultural is because we open up doors for so many people to move here without too many limits. While the process of moving here continues to get more difficult, the cultural aspects that continue to define America and America’s people will exist through the next century through the passing on from each generation.
Pro Athletes and Crime - Cole Botsford
From Cole’s senior project, new discoveries in rape, violent crime, and DUI’s was surprisingly lower amongst professional athletes than I thought. While athletes are highly publicized, especially when they commit a crime. The numbers that Cole cited in his video, less than 5% of athletes commit felonies, was surprisingly low in my opinion. In college, ⅓ of all the sexual assaults are committed by athletes. This number isn’t surprising, because colleges do prioritize their athletes above other students, using the atheltes for the college’s benefit. And the NBA having a larger rate of crime than the NFL also surprised me, considering that the most headlines in mainstream media are NFL players. I believe that cole brought up a good point that athletes do get away with things, because of their powerhouse lawyers and money, but also because they feel that they are better and higher up than other people because of their fame and fortune.
Amanda’s project:
Amanda’s project highlighted the faults in our legal system, specifically the prison system and it’s overcrowding issues, as well as states and national government’s failure to adequately address this situation. I completely agree with her project, and actually have explored this topic myself outside of school. New information, including prisoners being released after only serving 5-10% of their sentencing was surprising. I do agree that we need alternate options for prisoners, especially non violent crimes. But i believe that this system of bringing about systems or the systems that already exist could have been explained or elaborated more in the project. Overall, the project was well made and very informative.
Legalization of Gambling: Patrick Aceves
The beginning of the project was very difficult to follow, but from the entire project, I gained the knowledge that people who have gambling addictions, like other addictions, tend to lie about details, leading to the stories not making sense. I thought the hands on project that Patrick did was a great edition to the documentary, providing both funny moments and insight into the topic that Patrick was trying to further that people gamble/play differently when money is on the line. One of the facts that I found very surprising was that 93% of money gambled is won back by players. I thought personally that the house kept much more than that. Overall, the project was informative, but could’ve been presented in a more interesting tone.
Misrepresentation of Women - Andrea
While this movie was very similar to the documentary we watched in small group in global, the newer insights and hooking entry that displayed real life evidence of how women are used in today’s media. The idea that the media sells the looks of girls and women and uses them as objects rather than people is really nothing new, but our world is becoming more aware of this reality today more than ever. I thought that Andrea’s documentary was a very good mix of outside videos and resources and her own voice. Women in the media, as Andrea said, is much less than men, despite being more than 1/2 of the United States population. The documentary was very well put together, and very interesting :)
Military’s use of children - Frida
While I was aware that some children are used in military warfare, I didn’t realize the extreme risks and the surprisingly young ages of children used in warfare. Friday’s documentary was well put together, with a good balance of information and video clips to reveal her main points. Frida’s documentary described the ways children are used in warfare, often as the messengers or spies, some of the most dangerous positions in the army. The fact that countries are taking steps to get children out of warfare is great, but of these children getting taken out of the army, there are very few resources available for them once this happens. 12 million children are left homeless after their use in warfare. The rate of PTSD in children is also higher. While countries may be desperate for soldiers, Frida’s point resonates well that children should never be used in warfare to start with, despite the situation.
What casino’s don’t tell you - Kyle
Kyle’s intro was very good, hooking me immediately. Similar to Patrick’s Project, Kyle relayed that the house has a 5%-10% advantage on the players when gambling. Kyle’s project focused more on the decision making behind the casino doors, not the person. He pointed out that very few casinos have windows or clocks, causing you to lose track of time and the amount of money you have spent. Casinos try to make it seem like there is no sense of time or needing to be anywhere, to lure customers in, and make more money for themselves. Kyle’s overall project could’ve been produced in a more interesting tone of voice, but overall very informative about the casino industry
Rastafarians - Jess Houdek
Jess’s project had great video graphics and interviews throughout, and I thought was very well done. The ideas were clear, and the graphics went along well with the ideas. I had never heard of the rastafari until today, but am now intrigued by their culture and lifestyle. They all have long dreadlocks as part of their culture, to represent freedom strength, and rebellion from society. The rastafarians are not necessarily a religious group, but do believe in a higher power. There are 12 tribes, and their goals unite: to build a better tomorrow. On a side note, they smoke weed and worship weed like a holy chalice, and believe it provides happiness to the people.
Child abuse and serial killers - Claudia Gomez
Claudia’s documentary depicted the relationship between child abuse in early stages of life and serial killers later in life. While her introduction was clear, the ideas needed a little more explanation rather than just facts. I learned that Child abuse is extremely common in the United States, about 3.6 million children are affected each year. And I also learned that there are three types of serial killers: medical, organized and disorganized. I wished to see more evidence linking child abuse and serial killings, but all the facts were there and displayed in an organized fashion. Overall, very informative documentary. I also wish there was something at the end that described what the US is doing or what you would recommend they do to help this problem of child abuse.
Trevor - Participation Trophies?
I really enjoyed Trevor’s project, as I have grown up playing sports all my life and had leagues with both participation trophies and just champions trophies. I believe his project overall relayed the point that participation trophies were beneficial for children. He relayed the point that participation trophies boost a child’s self esteem, and are key especially at a younger age. I completely agree with his project, that at a younger age, participation trophies are key to keeping the child interested in playing sports and staying active and enjoying the game. For what it’s worth, there’s more to be gained from sports than just winning, and I believe participation trophies instill this at a young age.
Samantha - Planned Parenthood Funding
Samantha’s Planned Parenthood Funding documentary was very informative and well made. Although, the interviews could’ve been edited better to be included within the content rather than on their own. Before, I thought that planned parenthood was mainly there as an abortion clinic, and had heard all the rumors/truths that they were selling baby parts. PP provides contraceptives, as well as STI/STD testing. And surprisingly, they help people without insurance get abortions that otherwise could not have been accessed. While my opinion on funding PP has not changed, I still believe that this was informative for myself and the general public.
Caden - Beautiful Minds, Special ED teaching
Caden’s documentary was well put together, with a good balance of interviews, live videos, and pictures along with his voice recordings. Also, it gave me insight on the special ed programs, which I had very little knowledge of before this. The ideal learning environment would be 1 on 1 teaching, however that is very unrealistic with the constraints of money and funding. In 2004, bush passed a bill for special ed (no child left behind). Private institutions are becoming ever more desirable for special ed children, as most have the 1 on 1 education needed for a special ed child to thrive in that type of environment.
Drones - Cristian
Cristian’s video was well put together, but i thought maybe instead of his face during the voice recordings, maybe some pictures or a video clip. It also had humor (whether intentionally or not) that I very much enjoyed. He talked about the US drone usage for the war on terror, and how we are in fact creating more terrorists and suicide bombers because of these deadly killings of innocent civilians, despite maybe hitting the targeted “terrorists” as well. There is also a security issue within the US with drone usage and surveilance cameras on drones watching us, which many americans feel is against the US constitution. While the US has very little options in Iraq or Iran because of the no capture zones besides drones, they still should consider another option as Cristian said. Overall, very informative and interesting documentary to listen to.
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