Lee McKinnis (57)
Kristina Marynczak (37)
Killian Noonan (36)
Melissa Castillo (32)
NikoVelazquez (27)
Shannon Ratzel (23)
Michelle Reyes (22)
Kyle Barczak (21)
Maura Bilek (21)
Susan Bayaa (21)
I’m decided to write about the fair since everyone is doing it. This is a whole new experience because I never took part of any school activities. When Mr. Mc Guire introduces the assignments I was very optimistic to go a second organization and volunteer as if 2 hours were not enough. However He made even harder when we had to volunteer in groups. Picking the group was also a fun activity with similarities in a speed dating show. He gave us a helpful list of different organization and working bikes were the one that we all agree on. After our struggles of arranging a meeting and drive to the organization was such a hassle. This is normal for any group knowing people work and having different schedules. After we volunteer fixing some bikes and jamming while we were doing, I thought to myself, this is not so bad. Mr. Mcguire got more creative and project with 5 ½ by having the group created a poster showing pictures and information about the organization and our experience in display. IN addition to that he wanted us to invite the organization to a college fair that the teacher was working at. Really! Can we actually tell these people, who have their hands full to spared some of their busy life to come to Moraine Valley. I was very optimistic about it. Our next step was to visit Working Bikes again and volunteer for another set of hours. However this time we took pictures of everything, I must say I felt uncomfortable taking pictures and asking other people to take pictures of us. Everyone was working and we were the only ones with our phones in our hands. Overall everything when well and we gather the picture that we needed and a bike wheel. We came home and work in our poster until 11 pm using the pictures that we got, putting some information together and attaching the bicycle wheel to the poster itself. The day for the fair arrive and my team were glad to finish the poster early and we got a lot of good feedback about our creativity. I was surprised that a member of Working bikes show up and not only that but the fair was full of other organization such as Chicago Food depository, The little Red school House, The children Museum which provide some face painting which some people use it at the fair. We had our main speaker which was the founder of Share Your Soles and she gave a very motivate speech and share her story the people. I notice some people asked me about our poster and about the organization. Hopefully someone will donate their bikes or shoes. At the end I overheard some conversation between the founder of Share your soles and the member of working bikes and it seems they knew each other. The founder of working bikes and Share your soles share something in common and that is that they both started from nothing one from his old garage and the other in her house. They are still living a normal life and they are making a difference for those who need a way for transportation either by foot or by pedal.
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Why Sexist Language matters Words like people who occupy certain position in a work place. Names like postman, chairman, Freshman, congressman, fireman. Other words refer to the entire universe of human Beings: “mankind” or “he.” Then we’ve got manpower, man-made lakes. These words are not taken in consideration while writing and they show gender inequality. Words are tools for communication and we use words to maintain a status and it makes a differences. Think about! There is a difference between girl and woman, “negroes” and African Americans. Language during the 80’s was based on skin color instead of gender. Now we have a new problem with language, where the woman is not included in some words. The author talks about the uses of language and one of them was that women want to be included in the term that refers to the higher-status. But while being labeled as “one of the guys” might make women feel included, it’s only a guise of inclusion. If women were really included we wouldn’t have to disappear into the word “guys.” People use language like this not knowing how people will take it. Most people who use male “generics,” don’t have bad intentions. However sociologist knows the important of these language uses and the consequences of these: man words. Millions of people uses them reinforce the message that men are the standard and that women should be subsumed by the male category. Linguists use the strong language of “symbolic annihilation” to refer to the disappearance of women into male-based terms. To make English nonsexist would be hard to accomplish.
Kleinman, Sherry. “Essay: Why Sexist Language Matters.” Qualitative Sociology 25.2 (2002): 299-304. Academic Search Complete. Web. 19 Apr. 2012. -
Zea
One Bicycle at a Time
It all started as an assignment from my English class as a service through writing project. We were giving our project guideline with the title “A Story of Service” we needed to write as field researcher and write everything around a charity organization. We were giving a list of organization in the area and our small group. We wanted to work with our hands and working bikes cooperative fit our description. The one Working bikes cooperative an organization that receives bikes from donation and repair the bikes for either shipped them out to third world countries such as the Gulf Coast, Ghana, Tanzania, Angola, Cuba, Guatemala, and Peru or working bikes fixed the donated bikes to resell them to cover the shipping cost for the previous mention countries. I decided to call the organization and set up a day to visit and volunteer. We decided to check out the organization as soon as possible.
On a Tuesday afternoon around 5 pm my group came to working bike located by western and 24th ave it was next to a Mexican restaurant which I end up loving their guacamole at the end of the day. The first thing I notice is the sign of working bikes cooperative the first “o” is a bike wheel and the double “oo” is a bicycle. I thought to myself the staffs are very artistic. I had hanged out with a few bikers from Chicago and most of them have their own fashion style and are very artistic. A lot of my friends that live around wicker park area are cover by tattoos and dress up in skinny jeans; that was my first thought as I enter the organization. The store closes at 5 pm and we got there just in time for volunteering hours. The first thing I notice is that the first floor is where customers buy the bicycles and their parts. The first floor is use as a store front to sell the bikes that are fixed. Working bikes also repair bikes on site for customers. The profit goes toward rent, staff, and shipping cost. As we enter the shop we head up to the second floor were the fun is about to begin. The second floor was full of all sorts of bicycles, a place where bicycles rule and invade every corner of the walls. We enter the repair room where bicycles were dissembled for parts. There are five working station made for about 12 people. And each corner had tools label for their function. In the middle of the room was the main working station where there is a computer, printer, working instructions for volunteers and the most important an old radio where it kept a groovy mood in the room. Close to the door there were tons of picture of volunteer. There were also announcements for shipping parties and bike drives. I also notice some art made with bicycles parts like a clock with a bicycle chain around it. There were three people that were helping out the volunteers that afternoon one of them is Paul, Kumar and lee. There were about 8 volunteers including my group. We worked mainly with Kumar who was around our station telling us what to take off the bike and what tools to use. One thing that I notice that none of them had tattoos as I previously thought they would. There were a variety of people from different background. We had no experience with bicycles but it took about an hour to get used to it. We manage to take apart about 3 bicycles each group. We started taking the seat, the brakes, the handles, the pedals, the chain, the tires, and all small pieces in the bicycle by leaving the metal frame only. Each part was set in the table and Paul came and pick up the parts and store them. I personally had fun working with bikes in a comfortable environment. The biggest surprise was when I was talking with Gazi, one of my classmates from my group about where we were going to eat after we were finish. I mention we should all go my favorite Chinese restaurant which was a couple of minutes away and in that exact time Kumar came and ask us,” what do you guys what to eat?” One of the volunteers asks Kumar if the food was free and Kumar said yes. We order some food but I thought Kumar read our mind or notice we were hunger. Everyone in the room order some burritos and guacamole with tortillas. At the first bite of the burrito with guacamole I fell in love with the food. Before we left I helped Paul get some bicycle frames to the main dock down stairs where I took a look at some of their bicycles. At the end of the night we finish about 9 pm and I got home with a full stomach and peaceful conscious that I help the organization.
Working bikes cooperative depends on their volunteers and their time to run their organization. Without volunteers it would be impossible to shipped 5,000 bikes to people who are in need of them. Bicycles had changed the world. Before this project my views of a bicycle was a toy to go ride around the park. I personally use my bicycle for exercise but never as a way for transportation. However been surrounded be people who knows that bicycles are an amazing human invention that could always be use. It made me realized how important bicycles are for the world. Bicycles are primary used of transportation for those who cannot afford a car or those people that live in the city and find it better to have a bicycle to get around places. Other uses involve sports and exercise as the primary use of bicycles. Just Imagine a world without cars and people riding bicycles as their mode of transportation not only we rely on our on human power to transport us but we are free from using either animals or fuel. Our bodies would be in better shape and our health problems dramatically decline. It is sad to see that our technology has its consequences. In today’s world gasoline is as important as food. Gas prices could go up and we still need to use it. Our jobs had involved in traveling great distance. Without our cars we feel useless. I admire those people that use bicycles as their main source of transportation because not only they are helping the environment by not using a car but they are also helping themselves by saving money. How much do we spend in gasoline a month? Is it around $600 a month or more! What about violation tickets and parking tickets? Is around $100 or more a month! Cars consume a lot of money, if you sit down and do the math. From registration, car repairs, gasoline, violation, parking, tolls, and car washing. Now compare the cost with bicycles. Registration $0 , gasoline $0 (just make sure you eat ), repair “well once in a while you get a flat tire but it ranges from $25 – $35 to fix a tire, violation never heard of any violation happening while operating a bicycle other than drinking and riding. My point is that bicycles are efficient tools that are both economical and energy efficient. Another interesting fact about bicycles is that some people use it as a water filtration system. The system works with the motion of the bicycle to filtrate the water from one end of the bicycle to another. There is more bicycle modification that has been done in order to find other uses for them. For example; some bicycles are modify to carry heavy loads such as grain. This helps people carry their food to their house without delays or physical deprivation. Some bicycles are use to power some electronic devises like a stoves or blenders. The bicycle is use in many different ways but they are not garbage. We are lucky and curse to have cars, busses and different modes of transportation to get around.
Working bikes cooperative started in a small garage and a retire man by the name of Ravenscroft collected some bikes to sell for scrap but realized that he was making a small profit. Soon he started fixing them in his garage and sold bikes to UIC students soon he started a new movement and got bikes donated to him for a greater cost. The organization was born and now working bikes cooperative receives large bicycle donation and the bikes are send to different international and local programs that distribute bicycles for those who are in need of them. There are people who use bicycles as their main source of transportation and they need them as tools to survive. Some of the bicycles are refurbish and sold in the store to cover some of the shipping cost and business expenses. Overall I think Working bikes is making a positive change to the world with the use and appreciation of bicycles.-
Taylor Wolff
Your choice of service was really neat because I’ve never heard of any such organization. It’s not your average volunteer work I guess is what I’m saying. I like it because it is not typical, like donating food and clothes, things of that sort. Bikes are really useful and most people take them for granted when there are cars, buses, and trains to get people around. When you think about it, if people do not have the means of supporting themselves, thus placing them in a position of need, they will not have means of transportation either. Transportation is so important, and as a first world country, we forget that there are many others that must travel miles just to get water every day. This was a very unique way to work in service to the community as well as the world. You were really descriptive in your paper as well. This is good because it gives the reader the closest thing to a sense of actually being there. This makes the reader feel like they are in the experience with you and that is what we want to obtain in this project. The reader should want to go out and work here after they are done reading. Perhaps one thing that you could go back and take a look at is perhaps the addition of more senses. You go into good detail explaining the work environment, as well as the tasks at hand. I got a sense of what it was like to be there. I also like how you include your personal opinions on the matter at hand. That is nice because the reader gets a sense of who you are and what you value. You go into what the bikes are used for, and where they go, as well as the benefits of riding a bike as opposed to other methods of more harmful transportation. With gas prices so high, not only could people in need of these donated bikes, but we could as well. One area that I think could use some help in your paper is grammar. If you did not type it in a word processor, copy and paste it into Microsoft word so you can fix the mistakes. This will make a huge impact on your paper because proof reading is essential in producing a nice quality piece of writing. Another nice part of the research/field documentation is the pictures you have attached. It is nice to be able to see what the place looks like so people can see what it looks like, and what they are getting into before they go and volunteer. Another way you could improve your service research is include interviews with the head of the organization. Who are they? What do they look like? Find out what they have to say regarding the organization and your field work. If you did not get the opportunity to speak with someone, maybe call them and give a short interview over the phone. Interviews and quoted words are good evidence to provide in your service learning project.
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Tom Rybovic
I really enjoyed reading about your experience. This is definitely something different when it comes to thinking about any kind of volunteering. This is definitely different and not seen any day. This is something I have never even heard of. It is great that they have places such as this because I feel like bikes are very cool. Bikes are great way of transportation but people definitely do not use it to the fullest extent nowadays. There are people from all around the world that take a bike to be their value possession and might be their only way of transportation. Transportation is a must and bikes are sometimes forgotten about. I feel like bikes are not looked as important as they are in the world that we live in today. Prices of gas keep sky rocketing and bikes do not even use gas! I like the way you went into detail about what it is like to be there and volunteer. I got a sense of feeling of what it would be like working there from first-hand experience. It was great getting to know the way you felt about the whole experience as you did this project. I think it is great because it gives the reader a little feeling of who you really are. It lets the reader flow with the work more often because of the way the writer can be perceiving things. I also really liked when you talked about what the bikes are used for and most importantly where they go. I think that this is a great volunteer opportunity and I’m very impressed that someone from my class found such an opportunity. I enjoyed seeing the picture that you posted along with your work. it really gives the reader as sense of felling of being there. I think that was a great way to get anyone interested in this service project. The one thing I did not see mentioned in your work was some kind of interview with someone from the organization. I would like to know much more about the people that work there and how they exactly got involved. Overall this was a great paper that was very interesting and unique to read. It was completely different from all of the other papers because everyone talked about donating simple things such as food or clothing such as my group. The one thing that does need a little more focusing on is your grammar. I do not have the best grammar either but I recommend going back and checking some of your work. Other than the grammar, everything seems pretty smooth. Once again I really enjoyed reading your piece of work and hope everything goes as planned.
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Alex Velez
Tony, I like your intro into giving background why you are doing the paper in the first place of the service. I like how you describe coming up to the conclusion that you guys would want to do a service opportunity using her hands. The description upon first entering the facility describes a lot of detail and you put the reader right there. I almost have a good idea of what the place looks like as well as the atmosphere when you add the music in the background. You also give your assumptions and what you would you thought you would expect and how it was different from what you experienced. Also, I love guacamole! It’s really easy to make and I’ll get you the recipe next time we are in class. Adding the restaurant is a good touch as well. You could probably be a little more descriptive in your writing and im saying this after looking at the picture you published in your paper. There seems to be a lot going on in the facility where all of this is happening. Maybe even incorporate more sounds in addition to the type of music which was playing while you were working. This would put the reader more in tune with the environment. I will also add more sound associated with the environment in my work piece as well. This actually has given me more ideas for my paper. Include the sounds of people working perhaps along with music such as the ratcheting sound of socket wrenches or something to that affect. There seems to be more body in your intro and your last paragraph than in your actual description of volunteer work, you could probably add more detail with the above suggestions. Come on tony, bikes can work in the city but I’m not biking 20 miles one way to go to work in the suburbs. So although thoughtful, your pros/cons with comparing bikes and cars falls short in convincing me in our environment it would be better for everyone to own a bike. In your closing paragraph you mention a good history about how working bikes cooperative started out and how they function today. I think it’s cool how they are basically self-sufficient with what they do. The business model seems to work out for them and for those people they satisfy whether being in need of a bike or someone who is looking to buy used. Overall I liked your paper and I really like the organization you volunteered for it seems really cool and something I would definitely like to try out for myself.
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Zea
As I read this long essay about Ruptura (Acknowledging the lost subject of the service learning story). I began to understand the true goal of service learning or writing through service. The teacher wants to make an impact for both the world and the student, to force a student to think outside their comfort zone and to be able to express him or herself through writing. I feel that in a sense this helps our writing improve because we are putting more emotion into our papers. To write something that is fictional or something about history is easy because we could either look for material or make it up. The challenge is to write about a certain issue and to get involve into it. I personally would not find the courage to take action without that “push.” As the essay states about Ruptura; “ Fundamental to question of citizenship and to good writing is respecting others as capable and contributing members of a multicultural society. The act of narration is a basic way that we understand others, and ourselves and service learning is one way to accomplish the civic learning necessary for a multicultural democracy. “ The use of the words are strong and complex but I do agree that service learning will help us understand ourselves. Our school system has forgotten that learning also comes from personal experiences and service learning. As much as I don not like to be out of my comfort zone, I am willing to improve my writing because writing is important and it will help me through out my life.
Carrick Tracy, Himley Margaret, Jacobi Tobi. “Ruptura” Language and Learning Across the Discipline. Pg 298-308. http://www.splatter.writing101.net April 11, 2012. -
Zea
For this week I decided to talk about Working Bikes Cooperative is a nonprofit organization that accepts bicycle donation from people. The bicycles are repair and sold to fund the shipping of bikes to third world countries. In addition, Working Bikes uses that money to provide bicycles to charity organizations within Chicago land. The goal is to help address poverty and mobility through the promotion of the bicycle. Countries such as Africa rely heavily on the use of bicycles as their primary source of transportation. We all know how important it is to get to our jobs on time or to attend class on time. Each year Working Bikes gives away over 5,000 bicycles locally and internationally. They worked with different partners to get their bicycles distributed around the world. About a week ago my group volunteer at Working Bikes Cooperative and It was a fun experience to fix a bicycle and then socialize with the whole staff. I became aware of the issue of a reliable transportation. In the United States it is cheap to buy a bicycle, it may cost about $20 dollars but in other countries those $20 could range to about $1000. This is the reason that organization like Working Bikes Cooperative is important. Helping a family survive through their struggle by providing them the tool they need to move from place to place.
“About Working Bikes | Working Bikes.” Working Bikes. Web. 06 Apr. 2012. . -
Zea
My journal entree for this week is from a past reading assignment on chapter 5. There were three sections with in this chapter that caught my attention: How Google Works, Goggling Is Not The Same as Thinking, and How Wikipedia Works. I am a huge fan of Google and Wikipedia because it makes it easy to access any information and the search takes one second. I guess we all find the easy answers and don’t search text books. However one down side of textbooks is subjects or studies that had been updated it, Is that why we have so many textbooks today. While the internet source is always been updated it and has the most recent article or news. The problem relies on its credibility, who wrote it and what credentials does this person has. We are lucky that most libraries are working on their own search engines that address this issue. However there are still subjects that do not change. For example: History, if there is a new artifact it only supports the same idea. The only way is to find an artifact that contradicts the previous finding which is a very odd thing to happen. I disagree in some parts of the writing about Wikipedia in this chapter. There are some scholars that contribute to this website because they see its popularity. Some topics had about 10 outside sources that are valid. Yeah anyone could change the definition in Wikipedia but people who are mayor contributor will fix this as soon as possible. It is true we all have to be very careful using Wikipedia because some articles are bias towards a topic or does not contain all of the information.
- Mcguire, Michael. Why White Rice? Googling Is Not The Same as tTinking. Kendall Hunt Pub, 2010. 118-122. Print -
Zea
As soon as I read the cycle of socialism I immediately thought about the national geographic documentary about the “white movement” It talk about the National Socialist Movement, Neo-Nazi in America and the Aryan brotherhood. I could not believe the world we live in. where people are still to this day have racial discrimination and still in the cycle if socialization. Why can we all get along? Why are we still fighting until this day and judge one another for the color of our skin, our sexual orientation, our religion and our ethnicity. As I saw this video, I saw hatred from both the white supremacy and those who goes against it. Those who follow the white movement when as far as when so far shooting Jewish school to show their hatred. I thought that the discrimination for the Jewish people would had ended in Germany and the Nazi symbol would had being a thing of memory. The hatred has not stopped; this group has draw attention to themselves for hating everything besides their white culture. They believe that Immigrants had taken all the jobs in the United States and are responsible for the unemployment. They also go against the Jewish and are afraid of their political power and the involvement in the United States economical system. How could they be so closed minded and think of themselves as the only American. What really determines who should be called Americans? They are caught in the cycle of socialism and are too proud to listen to other opinions. I hope groups like this come to realize that the cycle of hatred has to stop. This has created the amount of gangs that are killing each other in the streets.
Harro, Bobby. “The Cycle Of Socialization.”2012: 15-21. Splatter.writing101.net. Web. 23 Mar. 2012 -
Zea
Obama seizes control over all food, farms, livestock, farm equipment, fertilizer and food production across America
BY Mike Adams(NaturalNews) “We told ya so” just doesn’t quite cut it anymore. As the American sheeple slept, selfishly refusing to take a stand against tyranny, the Obama administration has been plotting what can only be called a total government takeover of America.
On March 16, 2012, President Obama issued an executive order entitled, “NATIONAL DEFENSE RESOURCES PREPAREDNESS.” (http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2012/03/16/executive-order…)
This executive order states that the President alone has the authority to take over all resources in the nation (labor, food, industry, etc.) as long as it is done “to promote the national defense” — a phrase so vague that it could mean practically anything.
The power to seize control and take over these resources is delegated to the following government authorities:
(1) the Secretary of Agriculture with respect to food resources, food resource facilities, livestock resources, veterinary resources, plant health resources, and the domestic distribution of farm equipment and commercial fertilizer;
(2) the Secretary of Energy with respect to all forms of energy;
(3) the Secretary of Health and Human Services with respect to health resources;
(4) the Secretary of Transportation with respect to all forms of civil transportation;
(5) the Secretary of Defense with respect to water resources; and
(6) the Secretary of Commerce with respect to all other materials, services, and facilities, including construction materials.
This takeover is designed, in part, to “stockpile supplies” for the U.S. military. Authority for this total takeover of all national resources is granted with nothing more than the writing of a single statement that claims these actions are necessary to “promote the national defense.” As stated in the order:
the authority delegated by section 201 of this order may be used only to support programs that have been determined in writing as necessary or appropriate to promote the national defense:
(a) by the Secretary of Defense with respect to military production and construction, military assistance to foreign nations, military use of civil transportation, stockpiles managed by the Department of Defense, space, and directly related activities;
What all this means is that the U.S. government now claims the power to simply march onto your farm with guns drawn and demand all your crops, seeds, livestock and farm equipment.
Think I’m exaggerating? Read it yourself!
And for those living in denial who refuse to accept the reality of what’s happening in America, remember the following:
• When NaturalNews reported on the existence of the NDAA, we were told our reporting was misleading because Obama opposed it and wouldn’t sign it.
• When Obama betrayed America and signed the bill, we were told our reporting was misleading because “it didn’t apply to Americans.”
• When Obama admitted it did apply to Americans, he announced that he would choose “not to use it on Americans” but only by the grace of his restraint. Nobody who previously accused us of misleading the public had the integrity to offer us an apology and say, “Gee, you were right, it DOES apply to Americans!”
• Now Obama has seized control over all food, farms, livestock, water and transportation across America. How many brain-dead Americans will continue to live in denial and try to convince themselves this is not happening? Sticking your head in the sand does not make this go awa
Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/035301_Obama_executive_orders_food_supply.html#ixzz1pnx0qb4m
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Holman Zea
When I read this I was shock ! Our government can take over anything they want. Where is our freedom, our we rely on our government when there is a national emergency. Is this one way that our government has the power over our lives. Is this good or bad ?
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Zea
A Package of Hope
My experience on my volunteering service at feeding my starving Children was something different. I had volunteered before at a homeless shelter and the experience was more personal. It all started as class assignment in class that led to an experience somewhere in a warehouse, where my assignment was to pack food for starving children. The organization does a great job on organization and has a very systematic approached. I felt as I was working in a factory rather than making differences in someone’s life. The time passed by some quick that I did not felt like I accomplished anything. However my hands helped packed about 32 boxes that contain 6912 meals that feed about 19 children In a 2 hour period. Even if I did not felt like I accomplished something I believe that the program is designed to make it feel that way. We are all busy in our daily task that we don’t have time to help others. I admired the organization and the volunteering program that FMSC had developed. The organization heavily relies on volunteers. Each year more than 565, 0000 volunteers helped packed 133 million meals for children around the world. The two hours that I spend volunteering does make a change.
When I arrive to the warehouse I walked to a small room where a group of people was gathered to see a video about the organization. The video talk about hunger in different parts of the world and mentions some sad facts about world hunger. It also mention about the main product used in the organization to feed the starving children. The Manna pack rice: contains rice, extruded soy nuggets, vitamins, and dehydrate vegetable. The MannaPack Rice food formula was designed to meet the needs of the most severely malnourished children around the world. The MannaPack Contains: vitamin B12, vitamin C, vitamin D, zinc, fats, magnesium, iron, vitamin A, vitamin B6, copper, niacin, calcium, biotin, protein, and carbohydrates. The MannaPack is scientifically proved to improve the health of a malnourished child. The cost of producing each meal is about 22¢ which is efficient and economical. Not only is the product efficient but also the organization itself. About 93% of the donations will go directly to food and shipping cost. 7% is towards administration and fundraising programs.The second video talks about the impact of the organization towards the starving children. One video mentions a boy who is near death; we could observe his delicate body and his flesh hanging from his bones; Omar an 8 year old child weighting about 19 pounds with not a single hair in his head. In a few weeks after Omar started eating MannaPack rice his health suddenly improved. After a few months Omar regains his hair and gain extra weight. Omar is one of many children who rely on MannaPack to survive hunger.
After the video was done, a staff member of FMSC who was also a volunteer gave us some instructions to move to the packing room. We all wash our hands which conveniently the washing station was close to the doors. As I walked toward a narrow corridor I saw quotes from the bible written in the walls. Some of them which are all over the FMSC web site is a quote from the book of Probers 22:9 blessed are those who are generous because they feed the poor. That encourages anyone who walks with in these halls to donate and helped the poor.
I arrive to a large room that contains several of food preparing station. Each station contains its own division. The way that it worked is that one person opens the bag and puts the rice and handles it to the next person who will put the proteins. The bag will go to the person who will put the vegetable and will handle it to the person who will seal the bag and check its weight. Once the bag is seal it is put in this table where it would be ready to pack in one box. Each box contains 32 bags which is seal and put in a pallet. My job was to prepare the boxes by labeling them by date and location. Once a team was done with their 32 bags I when to the station and helped them pack it and carry it to a table where I check the weight and seal the box and set it to the pallet. While I waited for a team to finish, I also helped preparing the containers that has the food. For example a team finishes their rice, I would come and take off the empty container and bring a new one full of rice. I also prepare the vegetable and the proteins. During the 2 hours that I was working, I never stop working with my hands. In fact nobody was stopping because we were all one team and we rely on each other’s duty to finish packing.The environment was very energetic and we work as an assembling line. We had music playing people were active. It was a life changing experience that lasted in a short amount of time. At the end we were surprised that we needed to go because we were finish. Most of us wanted to stayed and work some extra hours. Well that’s my opinion because I felt as time just passed by really fast. At the end some of us pray for the food that we packed. We all knew that our work will help those who are hungry. The food that we packed will change the life of many children.
The service through action helped me realized that we could all give our time or money to help organizations that are willing to help people in need. I would encourage people to go volunteering and give two hours to help those who are in need. The volunteering helped me get more attached to my subject and become more involve and aware of the current issue.
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Taylor Wolff
I think that this sounds like a really good experience despite all the religious references. I don’t like when organizations push religion when that is not what the point of the organization is about. Besides that, it sounds like you guys really got a lot done and a lot was learned. I really liked that you included the numbers in here. It really makes the impact. I think doing a service project is good, but it makes it better when you know what kind of dent you are making. It really helps other people to get into the essay as well because they think, as the reader, that wow, one person really can make a difference. It says so right in here. I think that is probably the strongest part about your paper. It really gets the reader interested in what you did, and that is a big help to getting more people the commit to service work. It also is a good think that you remembered certain parts about the project, and went into detail about what you did there, and what the jobs were like. One thing that I think you could use some work on is just the simple grammar issues. Perhaps type it into word and copy paste. That way, you have the used of spell check. I get the overall impression that you really enjoyed yourself and helping out for a good cause. I feel like this is something you would recommend to someone else, or maybe you might want to do it again. I liked that the essay was pretty much written in the order that events took place.
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Tom Rybovic
I am impressed Zea. Your paper talks about something that I have never done before. I have done very little community service such as you have but I am surely working on it. I am writing this right now before I even move on to reading anything other than your first paragraph. Your first paragraph is very strong and bold. I really like the way you constructed it and the way you explained yourself. It gave me a great visual aid on how the place was worked and definitely gave me a boost in maybe one day volunteering for such an organization. The few sentences I am about to retype are the ones that I felt were the most important in your first paragraph that made it as strong as it is. “I felt as I was working in a factory rather than making differences in someone’s life. The time passed by some quick that I did not felt like I accomplished anything. However my hands helped packed about 32 boxes that contain 6912 meals that feed about 19 children In a 2 hour period.” This showed me a lot about the way you go about things and also how the organization goes about organizing the events. Another thing that was completely necessary for a great strong finish to your first paragraph was you last sentence. “Each year more than 565, 0000 volunteers helped packed 133 million meals for children around the world. The two hours that I spend volunteering does make a change.” This actually impressed me considering I have never even thought about volunteering there before. This is an astonishing number and I would actually like to help it increase.
Wow, as I read your second paragraph I kept reveling myself to be more and more entertained by your great writing. There are a few grammar errors but that is something you can definitely work on and fix. Other than that the writing itself was very meaningful to me. It inspired me to get involved in this organization that seems to be so well run and managed. I found it very impressive that every meal costs only about twenty two cents. The most eye opening thing that you mention in the second paragraph was how many good vitamins and nutrition was in each meal. It really does show that this organization is very efficient and gets things done.
It was rather impressive what you had to say about the way you actually spent your time volunteering there. It really sounded like you guys were doing a great job and working like a team. I would love to do something like this just because of the way you explained how everyone relied on their team. I am a team worker and this sounds like something I need to get involved in. I have had not as good experiences with volunteering which made me feel like I was not even helping the issue at all. It seems when you help out this organization with packing food and such that you actually get a feeling that you helped individually pack and help children all over the world. I really enjoyed reading your work and I might actually be able to say that this is by far my favorite peer review I had to do. Great job man. -
Alex Velez
Sharing your volunteering experience with homeless people was a good way in opening your paper. Especially making brief comparison of the two and how one was more personable than the other. Your description of the operation is great, it gives someone a glance at what type of environment one would be working in. I also liked the description of the process as a “systematic approach” and you go into the actual process. The “systematic approach” is a good description of the process and then you get right into why you called it systematic with figures, and facts. Although you feel as if you didn’t accomplish anything the figures speak for themselves. I would look at the figures and feel very accomplished. Your very thorough in describing exactly how many boxes you helped pack, the amount of meals in said boxes, and how many children it will help feed in a two hour period. You end up spewing some more facts on the actual meal being shipped to children around the world. I learned a great deal about the manna pack, and it felt like I was there reading the nutrition facts on the package myself. The cost of producing the meal and shipping was also interesting. I found your first paragraph to be very informative about the process, intention, and product. Its pretty amazing that an 8 year old boy can way 19 pounds and with the help of the manna packs can look well, like a normal 8 year old boy should look like. I also like the description you gave as you actually walk into the halls to your objective and describe the quotes from the bible on the walls. This description put me right there with you all the way to when you start to work. You give a good description of the experience more specifically, into your work when you describe the energy of people and how they had to work like one organism otherwise the assembly line would come to a screeching halt. I also like how you describe the atmosphere as being energetic with music playing while you work. also, going back to more statistics helps me tie in how much work you did and what to expect when I go there so if I ever go there I would be more prepared. By this I mean the description of packing bags, labeling, checking the weight, and packing the boxes. I felt the same way when I was done with my service activity at share your soles. I felt like I wasn’t there for 3 hours when it was all done and I would want to do it again. You’re lucky that you had a service activity that would inspire you for your paper as well. I really liked your description of events and it really put me there.
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Zea
5 myths about hunger in America 1. Hunger can’t happen in America because is the most power country in the world. It only happens in third world countries and places where there are droughts, storms or famines. But the truth is that hunger strikes in every corner of the world. As long as poverty exist so there would be hunger right besides it. According toa a new report conducted by the U.S Department of Agriculture there are 17.4 million American families facing food insecurities. Obesity is related to hunger. According to the Center of Disease Control and Prevention there more than 30 percent of adult facing obesity. Those who are obese are not eating the right food and they are having heath problems. We need a better nutritional system because obesity will cause us $147 billion annually is use to treat obesity. Obesity also affects our solders and our criminal system. Children, mothers and seniors are facing hunger and food insecurities. United States throws about 40 percent of the food that produces. Many of these products have unnecessary expirations dates. In 1996 Bill Clinton signs “The Bill Emerson Good Samaritan Food Donation act of 1996”. Where pounds of food are donated from restaurant and hotels to feed the hungry and to provide culinary training. There are a few programs that are helping to fight hunger. Those are Supplement Nutrition Assistance Program and WIC. However it seems that is not enough to decrease the number of American people suffering from food insecurities. The positive side is that United States is not facing starvation.
Egger, Robert. “5 Myths about Hunger in America.” Washington Post. The Washington Post, 21 Nov. 2010. Web. 08 Mar. 2012. .-
Alex Velez
Tony, I like your opening line on 5 myths of hunger and you go right for the jugular and say” hunger cant happen in America because is the most powerful country in the world. It only happens in third world countries and places where there are droughts, storms or famines.” This is a good way to grab the editor’s attention as well as your audience in general. Then you go right into it and use a fact by a credible source in the US Department of Agriculture in explaining how “17.4 million American falilies face food insecurities.” But then you go into obesity and lose me. I thought your paper was on world hunger not malnutrition? This is ok I just read another version of your paper which didn’t really put a lot of emphasis on obesity. Your main focus I thought was starvation and food insecurity. If you are going to also focus on obesity you picked up on a couple of good points I would probably use malnutrition possibly as a description to kind of tie your two issues together somewhere in your letter. I totally agree about a better nutritional system and by addressing the issue with a dollar amount puts more emphasis on the problem of obesity. Overall, I liked your letter and it had some good points to it.
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Lee McKinnis
malnutrition can lead to that, poor people wat shitty/non-healthy food as it’s cheaper which is also malnutritional.
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Lee McKinnis
As a fun fact to point out, for the “Great Depression” era USA it was estimated that there were ~2 million excess deaths which came from that era (based off your sources/biases – some russian researcher claimed it was 7 mill excess deaths). AFAIK a decent portion of that WAS starvation, people literally starving to death in the streets. Point out that happened within living memory, to show that is possible to happen.
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Taylor Wolff
I will start off by saying the letter sounds good with the statistics you provided. it is always good to have information like that to make yourself sound credible to your audience. I liked that you included the part about people not noticing that there are people going hungry in the United States. I think one of the reasons people don’t notice it is because of the pride we are supposed to have in our nation. We are supposed to be the ‘big bad USA” and help others.
One thing that i think could help your letter is if you maybe tried to cite your statistics. You kind of do, but maybe something more along the lines of “according to so and so..” It will strengthen your argument by letting the audience know you are not fabricating your evidence, because after all, everything is an argument. One thing that I was confused about was the contrast between obesity and hunger. It was a little unclear as to whether you are addressing hunger, obesity, or eating/ nutrition in general. This is important because you do not want to confuse the reader or they can’t follow your point. other than that, you have the technique, all you have to do is clarify.
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Zea
Dear Editor
I’m writing this letter to you about a concerning issue in our community. We had seen our economy suffer and many families losing their home. Our unemployment rate is going up and many people are losing their jobs. Although these issues are at hand I am concern about the heath issue of those who are suffering from these issues are also suffering the most important need which is food. There are 845,910 individuals in Cook County are food insecure. We need to address the basic human need for those who need it. Without it their health will decrease, they would not have an opportunity to work due to health issue and they could remain in their harsh conditions. Our food stamp program and our food organization are not covering all the families and we need to make our society aware of the issue and have collaboration with people and business to address this issue. If we could make this happen we will set an example for other states and put an end to hunger is America.
Sincerely,
Holman Zea-
Tom Rybovic
Honestly, I do not think that hunger in America is nearly as big of an issue as it is in other more in need countries. There are countries that are far worse off than America when it comes to dealing with hunger. There is a small percentage of people in America that suffers from food shortage. There is no one that is actually starving in the U.S. There are huge numbers of people that are actually starving in other countries. Some of those people are to the point of starvation. They dedicate their whole day to hunting and other ways to get food just to get through the day. It is very sad to know that there are people out there that have to go through such hard times when here in America food is being wasted every day. With that being said I don’t think America is off on a bad foot. Sure there are people that don’t always have food but at least we know that no one is really starving to death in this country. I think we need to focus on the other countries where food is a much bigger problem than back here in the U.S.A.
It is true that more and more people are suffering from the hurt economy. What I do not agree with is that the economy will much have an effect on the people’s health. This can be true one way or another but I don’t think it is a direct problem we need to worry about. Sure people are going to downgrade in what they buy as their wallet shrinks but I do not believe it will affect their regular eating habits. If it were to affect a few people, I feel like it would be to the bare minimum.
Other than food shortage what I liked from your writing was that you talked about food stamps. I definitely think that our country should improve on the public food system overall. There needs to be a better managed way of distributing these stamps. I also believe that there has to be a beet solution in the way the food stamps are earned. What I mean from that is they need to make the requirements for being legible for food stamps harder to get. In order to cover more people that are in actual need, we need to focus in on those individuals.
This has affected me in a few different ways. It made me feel lucky to be in the position I am in right now. Made me appreciate what I have in many more ways. Food insecurity is a position that I would not like for anyone to be in. It is hard to distribute public stamps correctly considering we do not exactly know who needs it and who actually could get by without them. I am glad you have brought me the attention of people with food insecurities in the U.S.-
Lee McKinnis
People STARVED TO DEATH in Great Depression era USA in the middle of the streets. Remember that isn’t too far away.
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Alex Velez
You letter is well thought out you stay right on point with the issue. Your message is processed with a factual number of people with food insecurities in Cook County. You also state some of the reasons for this to happen. I do question some of the motives for this like “we need to address the basic human need for those who need it. Without it their health will decrease, they would not have an opportunity to work due to health issue and they could remain in their harsh conditions.” I can see health suffering due to malnutrition but a fact would be a good thing to back that up when you make these claims. Like x amount of people suffer from a “blank” insufficiency because they don’t get the daily minimum of nutrients they need to get though the day. Or something like the average food insecure person will only consume a fraction of calories of what a secure person will have in a day. As far as a solution, are you just saying that we should make people aware of it? What should we do to actually take action? And what type of action are you looking to do? It leaves some questions to be answered but you’re on the right track.
P.S
I thought your Egger, Robert article was your letter to the editor sorry, i ripped egger a new one though. -
Lee McKinnis
Point out that the food stamp programs has some weird things, i.e. no getting ‘hot’ food or anything like that. There’s some weird things I remember the Link card program having for food stamps, eligibility and what you can do with it. The letter is short enough, it shoul be reformatted slightly.
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Zea
Thoughts on chapter 2 The first reading on “Risky Business Indeed writing outside your comfort zone” by Michael McGuire What a strange coincidence at the age of 19 I also crap in a car with a few friends and my cousin to go skydiving at skydive Chicago. I bet we rode the same small plane without seats and one door that is barely close. I also notice that the airplane had duct tape on its wings. I fear that if I stay in that airplane it might just crash. I would prefer jumping out of an airplane as many time as is needed in order to avoid writing and sharing my personal experience. My second reading; “The machine That is Replace Me Is Getting Cheaper Every Day” by Troy Swanson My high school experience was neither fun nor educational. During my first year in high school, I when to a special school were the GPA had to be above 3.5 and the classes were from 7 am to 5 pm Monday to Friday. The school was isolated from society a couple of miles from any town. We had dorms and strict rules. I manage to pass my classes and keep the minimum GPA requirements but I made a mistake during my last weeks of school that force the school to kick me out. I thought I could sneak to the girl’s dorm to see my girlfriend. Huge mistake that made both of us get expel. My second year of high school, I when to a regular school and manage to be on top of my class. I try to re-apply for my old high school but my family decided to move to United States and everything change. I move to Colorado and study my junior year in boulder. All my classes were in English and writing class was a huge challenge. I do not remember any of my high school teachers because I never stay in one single school. After I finish my junior year, I move out to Chicago and did my last year in Argo High school. Never had steady friends to begin with, I was always the “new kid” in school. The only experience I might it had was the differences in school systems.
Why White Rice? Dubuque: Kendall HUnt, 2010. 25-30. Print.-
Prof McGuire
This citation is not complete.
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Zea
After I wrote my 2500 word essay talking about world hunger, my last assignment made me think about a more narrow issue. I wanted to narrow it down to Hunger in America. If I talk about hunger in the third world countries my issue will be come to overwhelming. In my paper I wrote about some of the causes of world hunger and I could not get any straight answer on how to end it. World Hunger is more that food supply not being equally share; is about government and corporation controlling trades and the food market. Africa has the land to makes its own food, but it lacks to the tools to make it happen. The government has economical issues that prevent the country to be depended of humanitarian aids. Africa’s government has to deal with their crimes, international policies and their debts. In addition the develop countries control trades and controls the price of food and what country could afford to buy it. Anyways, my paper talks more about this issues and they are overwhelming. I came upon the topic of hunger in America and it took me by surprised that a develop country that is responsible for Hunger in other countries actually has the same problem at a lower scale. It is an irony that united States have both hunger and obesity problems. The essay wrote by Chilton Mariana and Rabinowich Jenny presenting the issue on hunger and food insecurity in the U.S suggested a few ways to end this issue. To end World hunger it is a goal that would be hard to reach, but to end hunger in United States it seems that we have the resources to end it. We need to give this issue a priority and give awareness to the public. They mention four steps to end hunger. Step number one is to to understand the scope and demographics of hunger in this country. Step number two is to improve government agency coordination and cooperation. Step number three is to accountability. The last step is to ensure the adequate public participation in the development, implementation, and evaluation of a national strategy to end hunger.
Chilton, Mariana, and Jenny Rabinowich. “Ending Childhood Hunger In America.” Human Rights 37.1 (2010): 15-16. Academic Search Complete. Web. 23 Feb. 2012. -
Zea
Elevator Speech
Topic: Hunger Cruises in America
We all heard and seen news or commercials about starving children in third world countries. Children are dying of hunger every three seconds. However hunger is actually closer than you think. There are more than 17 million children who experience hunger and food insecurity in the United States.Why should we be concern?
We should all be concern in ending hunger in United States. We should not have this issue in a country that throws 40% of the food production in the garbage. In addition, United States has 12.5 million of children facing obesity problems. We should end hunger and obesity in the United States. This two issues proves that the problem isWhy does it affect us?
It is a painful experience for those people who face hunger. It is a serious public heath issue. Food insecurity amount children is associated with poor heath, poor education, it increases suicidal rate, and leads to depression. As Unemployment rates are raising, so is the rate of homeless, therefore homeless people face hunger problem.Why do we need to end it?
If we manage to end Hunger in United States, we will at least maintain our health problem under control and we will provide at least one of the essential human needs. We will also lower the use of our health. Lower our mortality rate; improve the health care of our future generation. To give a meaning of the word “United”What can we do to help?
We need government intervention as well as individual participation.
Our Nation has to analyze and identify the number of people who are facing food insecurity. We need to create a strategy that national agencies, organization, corporation (especially in the food market), citizens and government.
We need a plan that could balance our nutritional deficient and end our current issues on obesity and hunger. We need to created nutritional programs that aid people who need it. As individuals we need to become aware of the issue and support organizations that are working towards a goal to end it. Address the issue to our government, who are ignoring the issue.Get involve with a local organizations that works either locally or internationally.
http://www.centerforhungerfreecommunities.org
The Greater Chicago food depository
Feeding America -
Zea
World Hunger, Is There a Solution to This Crises
As I read my assignment for my English class, I start thinking of what topic to choose. There are a lot of social issues that I would like to write about. At first I was thinking of topic like human cloning, or stem-cell research. These two topics were interested because our technology is improving our health treatments, however there are people who oppose such movement because they believe scientist are “playing God.” These topics would be controversial and the information would be overwhelming. My next topic in consideration was Homeless because I had meet people who are currently living in shelters. I had volunteer in soup kitchens and talked to some homeless people and I heard their stories. My last volunteering experience took place at one of the Feeding My Starving Children center, I view a video of the hunger issue in the world and I began to think about my topic. Usually there is a pattern to this issues; Unemployment leads to Poverty, which leads to homeless, which leads to Hunger, which leads to illness, which ultimate leads to death. I spend several of hours reading and pondering which topic to write about and decided to talk about Hunger. I started to get some motivation through videos, pictures, and facts about Hunger in the world. Two things capture my attention; Kevin Carter’s Pulitzer Prize photography taken in Sudan in the African’s continent. This picture shock the world with a heartbreaking image of a starving child barely alive crawling to the nearest food camp. In addition, there is a vulture following the child waiting for the child to die, so the vulture could eat him up. This picture broke my heart and it made me realized how lucky and bless I am to have food in my table every day. I will not taken things for granted because there are less fortune people out there. I wish I could be there to help the child in the photography. This photography made Kevin carter famous and won many trophies in photojournalism. However, there were many critics wondering why he did not aid the child. Kevin just captures the photography and left. After, two months Kevin carter committed suicide leaving a note saying he was depressed. I know the guilt will consume me and I would never forget about that child, especially if I was able to help aid him or her. Then the second thing that captures my attention is the overwhelming fact that 18,000 children die of hunger each day. That’s about 750 children per hour, that about 12.5 children a minute, and by the time you read this 50 children had already die of hunger. This fact shocked me knowing that the child in the picture is not the only one who is going to be eaten by a vulture. Millions of children die each year of hunger and malnutrition. While United States and United Kingdome throws away and eats up in the waste. Not only we are throwing food away it is also costing us money. While millions of people are dying of hunger others are dying of overweight due to obesity. Why is this world so imbalance, well develop countries consume too many junk food which ends up in obesity while others do not have the proper nutrients to survive. Another depressing fact is that instead of funding towards a solution to end hunger our government and other organization funds other projects. We must taken action towards ending the hunger in the world if we all work together.
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Hunger is an international issue that in some countries is higher than others. The cause of hunger is link to poverty. Some causes of hunger are due to the lack of technology and education. Some farmers do not have the right tools to irritate the land and protect it from insects. Other causes are government influences in the food trades. There are many political issues that cause hunger in some areas. For example the farm Bill sets competition among farmers and their products. Putting the value of food cheaper in some areas and making third world countries to lower their prices in order to compete. Some countries do not have the same technology as the North America do so we produce more and set cheaper prices. The market is also control by the corporation building their industries in foreign land in order to get cheaper resources and cheaper labor. The production goes towards countries that could afford buying the products. These monopolies corporations profit from the third world countries extracting them from their natural resources. The problem also relies of the ownership of land; whoever controls the land controls the food, and the economy. Another issue is that the land is use for no-food products such as coffee, tea, cotton, flowers, tobacco and other products that are use as commodity food. In my personal opinion tobacco should be exterminated from this world. It contribute to world hunger, it uses a vast amount of land and in top of that is bad for the human body. Another product that is not necessary is coffee. The production of coffee has significant effects on the environment by damaging the ecosystem. The production of coffee requires a lot of pesticide that reduces the insect population and interferes with the recycling of soil. In addition, the waste from the production of coffee beans is dump in the rivers. Many people think that coffee will get them through the day. Another is the flower industry as beautiful as they are the flower has its dark side. The flower industry uses child labor, and large amounts of pesticide that causes several health problems, in woman rate of miscarriage increases due to the pesticide. It is more of a luxury rather than a necessity. Another cause of hunger is the livestock industry. Millions of acres are use to pasture cattle. The cattle use a significant amount of land, water and energy. In addition livestock contributes to the green house affects. Cows emit a massive amount of methane. Cows contribute 14% of the world’s greenhouse gases. The shocking fact is that cows pollute more than cars. Also one third of the world’s grain is used to feed livestock. Livestock occupies about 24% of the land in the whole world. Livestock uses too many resources and it effects the environment. Another factor of hunger is the increased of Biofuels. The increases use of Biofuels drives away the production of food and it is use to grow ethanol. Biofuels have forces food prices to increase. Farmers had being persuaded to use land for Biofuels production. The grain that is used for food has been produce ethanol and biodiesel. “Biofuels may be responsible for some 30-75 millions additional people being driving into hunger.”
The issue is not only in the third world countries, it actually closer to home. I know we all see the tragic videos of Haiti, Africa and Vietnam of children suffering from hunger. But we don’t see this issue in our own land. Although the issue I greater in third world countries there is a great fraction of Americans suffering unemployment and sometime they do not have food to purchase. According to a new report by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, 17.4 million American families–almost 15 percent of U.S. households–are now “food insecure.” At first I was skeptical to think that a developed country suffers from hunger. Another fact is that According to the greater Chicago food depository In the City of Chicago, the rate of food insecurity is 20.6 percent; 845,910 individuals in Cook County are food insecure; Nearly 1 in 4 children. This fact may surprise a few but the fact is that we also have food necessities in our own neighborhood. As I navigated through the greater Chicago food depository I notice an online interactive in hunger 101. It shows different scenarios where low income people cannot afford to purchase food. People that are struggling to pay rent bills and other necessary bill leaving them with less than $20 dollars for the groceries. The food stamp application takes 30 days to give you a response and if your income is about $1,000 you do not qualify, and they may assist you with about $30 dollars at the most. People struggle to find food in Chicago and some end up in soup kitchen and visit different shelters. About a year ago I volunteer at a soup kitchen and the line was long and the food was gone in about 30 minutes. Soup kitchens does not fix the problem for providing a warm meal for those who need it, it covers about a fraction of those who need it. There are also about 750,000 homeless people in the United States. Unemployment is increasing and people are ending up in the streets, and losing their homes. We all had seen it that the house market is at his lowest. People are losing their home and struggling to pay their bills.The increased of the house market and low income has taken Chicagoan’s ability to secure sufficient food. The food pantry is not sufficient to feed those who are in need for food. The food runs out and the soup kitchens are overcrowded. Food pantries are looking to get more food donations in order to help those who are in need. In a more broad view in the world; the hunger issue is not being solved. We need to raise awareness of the situation and if we all donate money and time, we will give a child a second change to live. Donations help fight the immediate hunger problem. Donating money is a direct approach to the issue. Recent news the famous Michael Jordan donated 14,000-pound refrigerated mobile pantry worth $125,000 that the Bobcats in Charlotte. To fight hunger, we need to fight together.
There are many struggles dealing with the hunger issue. Hunger is link to poverty which is an issue that it hasn’t been resolve. Many countries are in debt and private corporations control the market. The grain is overpricing due to the use in Biofuels and livestock. Crimes and political disputes cause hunger in a country. The misuse of land for other purposes is also adding to the cause. Unemployment is one of the leading causes of poverty. There a few of myths about hunger; first one is that we need to produce more food in order to feed the hunger. While in reality there is an abundance of food supply. The problem is that people are too poor to purchase the food. The second myth is that Nature is the one to blame for famine. Weather is not the problem, during the winters in Chicago there is not food production and some homeless people die during the cold weather. However, those who have money will always have food. The third myth is that there are too many people. Birth rates are falling rapidly and we also have to take account of death rates. There is not a solid prove that hunger is related to the overcrowd countries. For example, Costa Rica with only half of Honduras’ cropped acres per person manages to keep high life expectancy. The problem is that low income families tend to have more children and it made it hard to provide for a large family. Those who could afford to have children could feed every one of them. I do agree that low income families should get educated and think before having children. To bring a child to the world and not be able to feed him or her is a sin. Therefore too many people are not the problem because some of the third world countries are reducing their population growth. The fourth Myth is the environment versus more food. The efforts to feed the hungry are not causing an environmental crisis. The environment crises are cause by large corporation looking to gain a profit by cutting trees in order to have more land. The problem relies on non-food products that are damaging the environment.There are a few non- profit organizations that are willing to make a change and to address the situation. I encourage you to donate your money and to give a few of your time to volunteer; it is all for a good cause. Some of the local organization is The Greater Chicago Food Depository. This organization helps the community by gathering food and distributing it to local pantries, soup kitchens, and shelters. The food come for a local food company, Government programs, food drives, purchases and Feeding America. This food then is given to those who need it. Many donations come from local stores, and individuals. The organization is unique and works with the community to fight the hunger in our neighborhood. In addition it gives people the right information on issue of hunger in Chicago. The website provides all the information needed to support them. It gives their Financial statements, provides information about hunger in Chicago, it gives an interactive game that shows the user the life of a person in need of food. It also provides information to get food stamps. It gives an opportunity to volunteer in different areas. Some volunteering opportunities include Food repacking which is sorting food in the right amount and to check expiration dates. Other duties are loading food in the dock, produce delivery, and food drive pickup helpers. Administrative help which may include date entrée. A person could also volunteer during an event or a food show. The Greater Chicago Food Depository gives everyone an opportunity to make a difference in Chicago. Another good organization is Feed My Starving Children. This organization focuses on providing a scientific formulated manna pack to third world countries. The organization relies on volunteers and donation to achieve their goal. The organization has different partners in order to get their food across the sea. Donations includes buy a box that contains 216 meals for $52.00 or 2 hours of your time to pack the food. It is a great experience to go volunteering for two hours. I personally wanted to stay there longer. Take action and make a change to give a child a chance of survival. Help stop the vulture from eating a dying child.
In conclusion, to end hunger requires some critical changes in our life style. But if we could all do something different to end the hunger in the world we could achieve it. First of all become aware about politics and analyzed the pros and cons of each move that the government makes. For example the Biofuels sounded like a smart way to be less depended of petroleum and it help decrees gasoline prices but it had a negative effect towards the value of grain. Making the grain expensive and making the world compete for it. Also the meat industry plays a role in the grain price by feeding the livestock with one fourth of the grain produce in United States. The steak may taste good but it is not worthy. The livestock has a negative effect in both our economy and our environment. Finally contribute to global assistance programs by donating money to fund their cause. The fifth myth is that The Green Revolution is the answer. I had read about the Green Revolution that helps the environment and creates more food. However, this technology is distributed for those who could afford it. It creates inequality between countries. One way to end hunger issue is to lower food prices, share the biotechnology to every part of the world, be equally fair to employee around the world, and creates laws that protects from large corporations.
For more information one could visit these three sources
1) http://www.globalissues.org
Topic: Causes of Hunger are related to Poverty
Although this web site has not credentials on the written information, the writer Anup Shah using outside sources to get the facts from Thames valley University, News articles from different news papers. Some of the sources are from United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization. The following information talks about facts about the hunger. Some of the examples: are that 9 million people die worldwide each year of hunger, 1.2 billion people suffer from obesity, Food wastage is high in both United States and the U.K. In the article it also mentions the tobacco industry and the effect that it has on poverty. In addition, it talks about products that have a negative effect on the world economy, and that indirectly affects world hunger. Other topics include the impact on the fast food industry and the beef industry. It also includes a link that transfer to another page with vast information on the cattle industry. Some points includes that cows eat one third of the grain harvest in the United States. Another important point is the increase of Biofuels. It mentions that Biofuels force the price of grain by 75% may be responsible for the cause of hunger. While I was reading the information post it by Anup Shah in his web site, I compare it to other sources and the information provided is similar.2) Moore Lappé, Frances, Joseph Collins, Peter Rosset, and Luis Esparza. “12 Myths About Hunger.” Food First/Institute for Food and Development Policy. Ed. Melissa Moore. Institute for Food and Development Policy Backgrounder Institute for Food and Development Policy Backgrounder Institute for Food and Development Policy Backgrounder, 8 Feb. 1998. Web. 21 Feb. 2012. .
In summary, it talks about a few myths that answer some critical question such as why so much hunger and what can we do about it. A few of these myths: includes not enough food to go around, nature’s is to blame for famine, there is too many people, the food industry is damaging the environment, It also mentions about The Green Revolution as the answer to hunger, It mentions about the need of larger farms, The free market can end hunger, Free trade is the answer, Hungry people are too weak to fight for their rights, More U.S aid will help the hunger, We benefit from their poverty, and last myth is curtail freedom to end hunger. Some topics are beyond my understanding, however I do agree with the majority of myths surrounding Hunger. This information was collaboration by Frances Moore Lappe is the author of 18 books cofounder of three organization including Food First: The Institute for Food and Development Policy and, more recently, the Small Planet Institute. The second person to contribute is Joseph Collin and Peter Rosset, with Luis Esparza . Institute for Food and Development Policy Backgrounder
Summer 1998, Vol.5, No. 33) Egger, Robert. “5 Myths About Hunger in America.” Washington Post. 21 Nov 2010: B.2. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 21 Feb 2012 .In summary talks the hunger issue in United States. According to a new report by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, 17.4 million American families–almost 15 percent of U.S. households–are now “food insecure,” It also mentions how our food lacks of nutritional values and that we face and obesity problem. It talks about the effects of obesity in our medical system and in our national security. It mentions that most of our elderly cannot afford food because they have to cover rent and medical bills. It also mentions that we do have food but we don’t have the income to pay for it and the number of hungry people has not decrease during the past years. Robert Eggers is the founder and president of D.C Central Kitchen and the Campus Kitchens Project.
Bibliography
Citation (MLA):
• Egger, Robert. “5 Myths About Hunger in America.” Washington Post. 21 Nov 2010: B.2. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 21 Feb 2012.
• “Jordan, Struggling Bobcats Assist in Hunger Fight.” SI.com. SI.com, 12 Feb. 2012. Web. 21 Feb. 2012. .
• Moore Lappé, Frances, Joseph Collins, Peter Rosset, and Luis Esparza. “12 Myths About Hunger.” Food First/Institute for Food and Development Policy. Ed. Melissa Moore. Institute for Food and Development Policy Backgrounder Institute for Food and Development Policy Backgrounder Institute for Food and Development Policy Backgrounder, 8 Feb. 1998. Web. 21 Feb. 2012. .
• Paarlberg, Robert. “Attention Whole Foods Shoppers.” Foreign Policy Iss. 179. May/Jun 2010: 80-85. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 21 Feb 2012.
• Pugh, Tony. “Rise in U.S. Hunger Slows, but Remains High.” McClatchy Newspapers. 15 Nov 2010: n.p. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 21 Feb 2012.
• Shah, Anup. “Causes of Hunger are related to Poverty.” Global Issues. 03 Oct. 2010. Web. 21 Feb. 2012. .
• Silverman, Jacob. “Do cows pollute as much as cars?” 16 July 2007. HowStuffWorks.com. 21 February 2012.-
Alex Velez
World hunger is a tough topic to tackle so I give you props on accepting the challenge. You really grab my attention with the image of Kevin Carter’s photograph of the child who’s dying of starvation and is trying to make his last crawl towards a food camp, while being stalked by a vulture that’s waiting for him to die. It really does put things in perspective, we have food, we have clothes, we have a roof over our heads. It also seems like throughout your research paper children are the most affected by world hunger. I actually had more of a question specifically to the amount of land consumed by the commodities you mentioned in your research paper. You explain the land that’s consumed as vast which leaves the reader to translate the size to their imagination. I would want a survey of exactly or roughly how many acres or square miles of land that’s being consumed. This will put things in perspective for your reader. I also found some information being very surprising, such as the amount of land cows consume in the world. I also found at interesting on how much greenhouse gases cows emit, but also found it amazing that they emit more greenhouse gases than the cars in the world. Locally, I would have never thought that roughly 845,910 persons are food insecure in the cook county area, I find this number extremely alarming. I see that incomes over $1,000 don’t warrant food stamp aid maybe because it’s pretty impossible to survive on that budget in an urban setting. I wonder if the government set such an improbable number to save money and to motivate those persons to find another means of supplementing themselves. I would find out why that number is so low and why? I would also be interested in finding why that food insecurity number is so high? There are jobs out there and if one is able to live off of $1,000 throughout a year I’m sure they can work at McDonalds and triple their yearly salary. Addressing the myths of hunger was a great way of organizing your message as well. One of the points in this segment that caught my attention that you mention involving the myth that “there is not a solid prove that hunger is related to the overcrowding of countries. For example, Costa Rica with only have of Honduras’ cropped acres per person manages to keep high life expectancy.” Perhaps, there is something in their governmental model that can aid in remedying the problem abroad? You also mention how large companies are cutting trees which have an adverse effect on hunger as well. I would like to know how? As far as the ways I can help make a difference these are great service opportunities but are there something greater I can do to actually make these services obsolete by ridding the world of hunger? Ultimately, we need to help these other counties as well as our own to find a way to sustain them so hunger doesn’t run rampant throughout the world.
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Taylor Wolff
I liked you chose to write your paper on a topic that is related to mine. I chose to write on the benefits of vegetarianism and problems with our country eating so much meat. I could see how the topics are related with the statistics about the livestock. I know my topic like the back of my hand and I feel like by reading your paper, I have gained even more knowledge, like an extension to mine. I think that you did well by using the reference to the prize-winning photograph. I think that if you maybe tied it together later in your paper as well it would work wonderfully. Another issue that stood out to me was grammar. Maybe try typing your paper into Word and pasting it here. It will help you to pick out mistakes you missed as well as reading it over. Sometimes if you leave your paper alone and come back with a fresh set of eyes, you can pick out things you didn’t notice before. Your paper definitely makes the reader want to take action, and you made sure to include ways for the reader to learn more and how to get involved without having to spend a lot of time or money. I liked that you included easy ways to get involved. As sad as it sounds, many people do not help serve for good causes because they are too lazy, or think if it as a waste of time. The only other thing i see that you may want to take a look at is organization. The paper is a bit disorganized and it would not take a tremendous amount of work to fix, but it would make a big difference. In the paragraph that you discuss the utilization of the land and what the problem with that is, you stray from the topic of hunger and put in your opinions. Opinion is good, but make sure it is relevant to your topic, and if not, get rid of it. Also, perhaps add some evidence to back it up so it sounds more credible.
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Lee McKinnis
The IMF and WTO have a nasty hand in being part of the reason parts of the world are fucked over by the corporations and whatnot. I remember someone mentioning financial aid programs to be used in say Africa which does more of “giving money to PAY for the food” instead of “shitloads of food aid which drives down food prices and knocks local farmers out of business”. Also overpopulation may be exxqagerated and the world human population may adjust and contract later on, still there is something innately ‘weird’ about 7 billion people on the planet and I believe that should be reduced, preferably via space emigration.
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Zea
From the readings of chapter four “You Can Do It the Garden or in an Elevator” written by Eric De Villez It is talking about the benefits of writing. I agree that writing is use to think critically and it helps express a deeper though. It we know the statue “The Thinker” we could all have different points of view of this man sitting and thinking really hard. His body poster is universal and it could have a different meaning. This essay talks about how we do stuff during the day without thinking too hard. It seems that the day passes by and we forget about the important things that surrounds us. He mentions about his grandmother during her final days. He puts himself in her situation been in the hospital with some broken bones and closing in her final days. Also, thinking about the years that had passed by and the life that she lived. As he writes about her grandmother, He starts to remember the smallest details that made him love his grandmother. His point is that our mind expands as we write. The more we write, the more our critical thinking enhances. The statue is a picture of us thinking and when we look at it our minds is curious and wants to fill up the gaps. In my opinion, I agree with the writer that writing forces us to think. That the more we write the better writer we become and our ideas could come out easier.
DeVillez, Eric. “You Can Do It in the Gardern or in an Elevator Writting Is Critical Thinking.” Why White Rice? Dubuque: Kendall HUnt, 2010. 77-79. Print. -
Zea
Blessed are those who are generous, because they feed the poor. – Proverbs 22:9 This bible verve really stands out and it touched my heart. As I sat down for the orientation, the video talked about starvation in thirds world countries and how in America we have a problem with obesity. We waste a lot of food daily and we eat more that our bodies require. The video focus that we could change the world by feeding kids who need food. On February 7, 2012 for 2 hours of my time I volunteer to pack food for the starving children in Haiti. Our group packs 33 boxes which will feed 19 kids for a year. Each box contains 216 meals. It may seem surprising that two hours of my time could make such an impact on a stranger, a kid who is grateful for the food that he is getting. When I was in the packing room, my job was simple but it required me to be active. I mark the boxes with the correct date and identification tag. After I was done, my job was to seal the boxes that were full of manna rice. I had to weight it and put it in a pallet. My colleges were packing the manna rice by following some steps; First a large spoon of protein with chicken flavor, then a large spoon veggies powder. The following steps were the soybeans and the cup of rice. After the ingredients were in the bag we seal it and pack it. I do want to make a difference to others and I know it is hard to create such a movement like Fmsc org did but I know I could join their cause and try to help out as much as I can. I have some ideas to create a fundraiser help the organization and to feed starving children. My goal is to get the school involve and specially my com 102 class to be driven by this fundraiser and see if we could feed 25 school children for a year. I know it may be a lot of money but if we all work together we could actually help some kids in Haiti. This need us and we could make this possible. I’m jogging some ideas but I’m sure I need some good feedback from my peers. Do you guys think a poker fundraiser in the school would be a good idea? We may need a space somewhere in the cafeteria or in the basketball court. We could set up some tables, rented out the poker chips and cards. We could charge set a minimum of 20 chips to join a table each chip is worth $1 dollar. The theme could be play for a cause. We could get some of the brochures, posters, and the video from the Fmsc organization. The “house” will collect %40 of the winnings and that will go for the fundraiser. Let me know what you guys think.A
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Kristina Marynczak
I really am glad this expiernce has touched you. Also that you are desciding to take Action and continue your service beyond the service project. I personally dont think gambeling is such a good idea for your fundraiser although you have a good start in your plan. I think you should get some feedback from staff and the teacher to help with these descions along with your peers. I just dont think poker is the best idea because its gambeling regardless if one doesnt profit from it and the school might not approve it. I can’t think of any ideas to help you but will ask around and get some feedback. REgardless, the fundraiser is an awesome idea and you should do whatever it takes to make it happen. keep us posted.
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Holman Zea
The player will profit but I dont know if the school will alot it. for example each table consist of 5 players each plays a minimum of $10 dollars the winner will collect %60 of the winning leave %40 to the house. all that money will go to the organization. Is either that or just talk to some people in school and see if they want to donate some money. maybe with the help of other organizations with in the school. I also want to see if the department of fine and performing arts will be willing to donate at least a $1 dollar for each ticket they sell at certain event. there just got to be a way. I do not want to sell chocolates; that bring such a low profit.
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Kristina Marynczak
Yea the whole winner gets profit is not a good idea. I mean I personally would like it but it’s if-ee. The game idea might be good if you can come up with a way to play is for donations only and try with the fine arts department because that seems workable. You are on the right track though. Just keep asking around and you will be able to make something happen.
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Zea
In the story, what it means when a crowd in a farway nation takes a solder representing your own nation, shoots him, drags him from his vehicle and then mutilates him in the dust. My opinion is simple, who ever did such a cruel action was obviously trying to send a message to the enemy country. There are different war methods to intimidate the rival. It may seem humane but this has been done in different times in hystory. In the last sentence where it said the man is watching the smoke from the factory,and though there are many things he could do that day, he will do none of them. This man saw and felt the agony of seeing a man who serve his country dead and drag in public yet he does not take any action to make change. This man could be representing us in a sort of way. We heard about our solders fighting in war in a far way nation and yet we don’t take any actions to bring them home. We see poverty striking our nations yet we sit in our house eating and feeling bad for them. We need to take action and start contributing into a solution. In addition to the cruel dead solder I realized that the man was studying the picture trying to figure out the cause of the solders death. Asking himself Where is gun shot and is there any withnesses. Also the character in the story felt that he has to do something but he couldn’t do it .
— Eggers, Dave. “How We Are Hungry.” What it Means When a Crowd in a Faraway Nation Takes a Soldier Representing Your Own Nation, Shoots Him, Drags Him From His Vehicle and Then Mutilates Him in the Dust. http://writing101.net/learning/wp-content/readings/what_it_means . McSweeney’s, 2004. Web. 2/1/2012 -
Zea
Throughout history there had been a few people that lived for their freedom and others that died for their religious beliefs; people that had changed the world and inspired a movement. For example; Nelson Mandela an anti-apartheid activist who was arrested and sent to jail and after serving 27 years in prison he created a movement that end up apartheid. Nelson became the president of Africa and made his dreams reality. Another example of my favorite shows is; Spartacus, a slave who became a gladiator; a gladiator who became a leader. Spartacus, a leader that led a rebellion in Rome in order to free the slaves, and make Rome tremble in their knees. There are many people in history that changed the world and they were not heroes. They were normal people who found the courage to stand up for what they believe in. However, I am neither Spartacus nor Nelson. I live for myself, and I have some individual values that are important to me. I will die and kill for to protect the people I love.
I live for myself, it may sound selfish, but I bet I’m not the only one who thinks the same way. Everything we do is for the benefit of oneself; getting a degree, applying for job, going out to eat, or taking vacation. All of these activities are for our own benefit. We are seeking for a better life and to satisfy our own human needs. One could say I care about family: when in reality the only family that one could care for his or her own. Answer yourselves these questions; which family do you care about, who are you spending your money, and who you would die for? Most of us care about our own family; it is human nature to protect the ones we love. It may sound cruel and selfish but we put ourselves first before anything else. How could we help others when we don’t even help ourselves! We tend to help others when our needs are satisfied and when we have a surplus of money that we could use to help others. It is a cruel world, but that’s how I see society. We see in the news and hear throughout history. However not everything is negative; there are people that live for more than their human needs, and those who fight to make a better world. Thanks to those people who gave their life to change the world, we live in freedom. The world is constantly changing towards a positive tomorrow; we still need people who are willing to stand up for what they believe in.
Beside the human needs, there are individual values that are important to me. Some values that are important to me are honesty, fairness, family, love, hope, knowledge and humor. I value honesty especially with-in friends and family. I hate liars and people who make false promises. I also believe in fairness were everyone should get what they deserve. I believe in family who supports me in life, and without my family I would not be the person I am today. Love is pretty simple; life would be dull and boring without that warm feeling that sometimes it makes me vomit. Hope in my mind is always set for a better tomorrow. Especially on the days that things go wrong and when I feel like giving up. Knowledge, for me is like fruit that my mind devours, and after it is done, it feels satisfied. There are many things to seek and many things that I want to learn. I also believe that humor could make strong bonds. Humor brings laughter when life gets serious and dull and brings a sense of joy in any type of occasion. Humor has changed the way I am, and the way I react to tough situations. Whenever I am mad or sad, I act goofy to ease the pain. It is not because I’m ignored or that I don’t understand the situation. It is the way I deal with things and the negative emotions that run in my head. Laughter it is a gift; an emotion that brings joy to life and is also healthy for your body; trust me living a stressful life without humor will bring a lot of illness.I would die to protect the people I love; although it is against my beliefs to commit suicide or to risk my life for others. Life is a gift from God, and he is the one who can take it. I do not choose what I would die for. I believe that nobody chooses their execution. The only character that I know that die for us is Jesus Christ-a holy man that believed in humanity and showed us how much he loved us. He led a Christian movement and changed the world. Many of his followers were killed for their faith. In fact many devoted Christians are still being persecuted. Other events on history were the Buddhist Monk, Thich Quang Duc, who burned himself to protest and started a revolution. After his death he inspired people to follow his beliefs. I would not die for a thing like that since I have to be in their shoes or be put in that situation. If some weird alien race took over the earth and in some strange way I am the only one who could save humanity by sacrificing myself; I would do it. At least my name would be remembered for generations to come.
I would kill for a zillion dollars! This is an impossible amount of money. Killing has never passed through my head and I hope it never does. However I will also killed in order to protect my life and the people I care about. Another situation that I would kill for if I were a Jew and I was facing Nazi persecution I would killed Adolf Hitler. I know is a sin to kill, but I would seek justice in my own hand to stop the killing of my people. However, I would not kill if there was not cause to kill an individual. I would prefer not to be put in any situation that pushes me to the point of becoming a killer.
In conclusion, I value myself and everyone that I love; I value honesty, fairness, family, love, hope, knowledge and humor. I will die for the people I love or to save the human race. I would kill for in a force scenario where my life and the life of the people I love are in danger and kill those who put my safety and the ones I care about in risk. I know there are many other values out there that people live for, but most of them were given to them, for example apartheid was unjust and those affected in a negative way were encouraged to make a change. I haven’t been in those situations where my human rights had been violated. I know if I seek outside my own world, I know I will find the courage to fight for others and stand up for what is right.
CITE
LA style: “Nelson Mandela – Biography”. Nobelprize.org. 30 Jan 2012 http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/1993/mandela-bio.html
ORTH, ROBERT F. “How a Single Match Can Ignite a Revolution.” Week in Review. New York times, 21 Jan. 2011. Web. 30 Jan. 2012.-
Lee McKinnis
Brutal Honesty is awesome at times. It cuts through the web of deception that some in society set up in order to mask themselves. Instead of such lies, truth cuts through like butter. Pointing out that you will mainly live for yourself is well, honest especially given this is being posted on an online site. Then again people have written “worse” things , more socially unacceptable things and used their ‘real name’ still it is awesome. Also, Spartacus is awesome – I’m Spartacus http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-8h_v_our_Q
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Lee McKinnis
Also, fighting off the alien invaders is fun too. You can pull a attack like in here, and of course going and committing some suicide attack in the war against the alien invaders is cool. Too bad you have to you know, DIE in order to commit the suicide attack. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pV1cttqcofo&feature=related
But Ac
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Lee McKinnis
wait. Wrong link for the second post. Sorry http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pV1cttqcofo&feature=related
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Taylor Wolff
In the essay, you touched on many ideas. You took on a very cynical point of view which was at times perhaps frustrating to me, as well as thought-provoking. I thought that it is a sad truth that many people do live solely for themselves and their own benefit. I believe living for yourself is a great thing, but when you place yourself ahead of all else, where is the value in that? It may compromise any possible connection to readers. I think the references are well used, although you may have spanned them out too much. You do not want to stray off topic. I really liked the part that you included, “life would dull and boring without that warm feeling that sometimes it makes me vomit” because it adds character to the piece and helps to equal out some of the seriousness of the topic at hand. This being the last essay I had to read, I am glad you decided to have a different take on what you hold to be worth living for. Most people talk about the bigger, most obvious choices, but you look at the little things, such as humor, that really play somewhat of a large role in making life bearable. As I mentioned before, be careful of straying too far from the topic. Tangents will lose the reader’s focus. All in all, the different perspective serves as a fresh essay.
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Alex Velez
Steve Zea opens his article with a statement that definitely catches my attention, and as I read on changes my first impression of the article. Living for yourself doesn’t sound selfish, everything we do is aimed at making us better in some way whether feeling better about ourselves, or making ourselves better people. I also agree with Steves beliefs when he describe his values “honesty, fairness, family, love, hope, knowledge and humor.” I also believe in fairness were everyone should get what they deserve. As a matter a fact, when professor McGuire gave us our “ what is important to you” sheet to fill out, I specifically said “fairness” when asked what I stood for. I also enjoyed Steves feelings on knowledge, “knowledge, for me is like fruit that my mind could devour and after it is done I feel satisfied”. That’s an awesome way to put it. When he writes about what he would die for, he sees himself dying for a bigger purpose. I can relate to sacrificing oneself for the greater good, because I wrote something similar in my article. When asked the question what would you kill for? He, like most of us theoretically put himself in a scenario that pits him against a choice of life or death for his parents. Steve gives a religious undertone in this article that reveals a little more about his background. He appears to be a fair person that wouldn’t ask someone to do something he himself wouldn’t do. His structure is pretty standard with an intro body and conclusion. It was pretty easy to follow and it captured my attention. I enjoyed reading a lot of the articles because there were a lot of similarities between my own opinions and those of others, including Steve.
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Tom Rybovic
I agree with you a whole hundred percent from the way you opened up with your story. It is completely true in my opinion that everyone lives for themselves. It is not selfish at all in times like these. Everyone is doing everything they can to benefit from it in any way possible. Believe it or not, everyone is doing it for themselves or their own family just like you pointed out. It is courage one must find in order to go out and do well for the world. It is truly amazing for someone to actually bring humor into what they live for. I think this brings up a very good and important point. What would life be without humor and laughter? I really like that you put that into your writing. “Laughter is a gift, an emotion that brings joy to life and is also healthy for your body; thrust me living a stressful life without humor will bring a lot of illness” shows just how important humor in life can be.
I strongly agree on your viewpoints of dyeing for something. There is nothing that is as important as a living body. Life is a gift from God that should not be taken away by anyone or anything but faith. I believe it is not up to anyone to decide when it is our time to go. It is only when the world needs you that would be okay to be willing to sacrifice your own life. Just like you said yourself, we have to value life.
To kill for? This is a tough question that everyone had to really think about. I do not believe that any person knows what they would seriously kill for right off the bat. Everyone has their own extremes they are willing to go to in order to meet a certain need. Family is one that almost everyone brings up. Everyone says that they are willing to die for their loved ones. Is it true? Think about it? Would you actually be able to put your life right on the line? Other than a scenario where someone is holding a gun to your head or a loved one, would you actually be able to take a life away to benefit from it? I feel as if people do not place themselves in an actual position in which they actually have to decide whether to take a life away or sacrifice their own.
On a general note, I agree and enjoy reading your story. There are points that I completely agree with although there are a few that I would like you to go back and critically think about. The position in which an alien species takes over the world is kind of unreal. Try to put yourself in a position in which is possible in the near future. This, I believe, is the way to truly figure out your own self from deep within.
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Holman Zea
aliens could exits … who knows they may attack us. but thanks for the feed back I just wrote that to add some humor to the essay.
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Holman Zea
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Zea
To my understanding of ecological literacy is the way we co-exists with the world around us and how we as a whole collaborated into a” web of life”. Animals are ecological literal and it is something we should apply to our own living. However, we are living in a fast lane; where we want things to be done fast and really do not care about the environment. I blame the market for their persuasion over the products that burn energy and harm the environment. For example if I go to home depot or any other market I will find it cheaper to buy a regular light bulb rather than an energy saver light bulb. Some of us do think about the future and ways to save money; but most of us just buy whatever works. We punish our future children and our generation to come. The market for Eco-friendly is expensive and it on a selected stores. There is still hope to become ecological literal and is our job to speak our ideas to generation to come. We our voice to our politics who has the power to change the country we live on and we could set an example to the world. The ideas and views by Capra will change the future and save humanity from them. I am willing to change my ways starting tonight, I’m going to turn off the light before I go to sleep and read other articles that discuss about this issue because I am not ecological literal.
Capra, Fritjof. “Thinking Ecologically.” The Web of Life: A New Scientific Understanding of Living Systems. New York: Anchor, 1996. 81-86. Print -
Zea
I agree with it but what about attendance and do you have a tardiness policy. And I think there should be at least one extra credit or something to eliminate a strike and be back into the b track as long as you are willing to put effort into it. In case you fall back … anyways is a good contract
Kyle Barczak, 
Alex Velez, 
Tom Rybovic, and 
Taylor Wolff are discussing. 
Holman Zea is discussing. 
Lee McKinnis, and 
Kristina Marynczak, and 
Klem Bachleda 10:40 pm on May 1, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
HA…. seriously… pink spider?
Prof McGuire 12:11 am on May 2, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Awesome! Thanks for getting in the spirit of things. Damn, I wish I’d thought to take photos. (Zea–or anyone who else who might have taken photos–can you share more?) Thanks, guys.
Alex Velez 12:20 pm on May 2, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
klem, your trying so hard to be serious in this pic lol!!
Kyle Barczak 12:15 am on May 3, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
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