Blost Post 9

For the final blog posting, I chose to review my friend Sam Edmiston’s blog. The post that I was most interested by was his post on celebrity endorsements. He talks about the lovely Jessica Simpson and her endorsement of Proactiv. Mr. Edmiston feels that Simpson is an appropriate choice for a celebrity endorsement of this product because she is known for having beautiful skin and she claims to have used the product in the past. He goes on to talk about how she obviously has no idea how the product works, but she has a pretty face and she is well known by many people.

Later on in the post, Edmiston talks about how he feels the endorsement will have the desired outcome that it is looking for. “Jessica Simpson is a very popular figure who has had experience with the product. There are a ton of people out there, especially young girls, who look at Jessica Simpson and want to look the way she does. They would love to try the product if it is working for a Jessica Simpson and the results are clear.”

I agree with Sam’s opinion on this matter. I happen to think that Jessica Simpson is a very attractive woman and she does have a pretty face. If it is true that she got her face this way by using Proactiv, then I feel that there isn’t a better person to endorse the product than her. I have known Sam for quite some time and I feel that he is a well educated gentleman whose opinion is someone that everyone should take into consideration. He has other very interesting blog posts including his talk about the controversy over whether college fooball should have a playoff or keep the current bowl system.

Blog Post 8

For this post I will express my final feelings on the topic of the death penalty. The death penalty is a topic that had received a lot of press in the past; however, the press that it has gotten has been for the most part directed at abolishing it. I feel that the death not necessarily a good thing, but it is a necessary evil. The fact is that many people agree with my opinion of this matter. People who are in favor of the death penalty choose not to speak out about it because they feel it is a personal opinion. The majority of people who speak out about the death penalty are against it. The reason they speak out is because they want to see change.

A main topic of debate is the cost of the death penalty compared to that of life imprisonment. There is no question that the upfront cost of the death penalty is much higher compared to life without parole cases; however, when the overall cost are compared after the variable of time is added, the totals are surprisingly different. The cost of LWOP can be estimated to be around $34,000/year. If a person is in prison for 50 years and the annual cost increase at 3% and the price for trial and appeals around $75,000, the total for one inmate with a LWOP sentence is about 4.04 million dollars. The cost of a year on death row is approximately $60,000/year. If a person is on death row for 6 years with a trial and appeals cost of 1.5 million dollars and the same annual cost increase of 3%, the total cost of one execution comes out to around 1.91 million dollars.

This is just one reason why capital punishment is something we should keep in our courts. There are many other reasons why its positives outweigh its negatives

Blog Post 7

For this blog post I researched a product endorsed by a celebrity. I chose the greatest person in Hollywood I could think of: Chuck Norris. After a little bit of thinking, I realized that Mr. Norris has been a long time endorser of the Total Gym.

The Total Gym is a piece of exercise equipment that has been around for many years. It does not have any free weights and consists of pulleys and a bench that can be put at different angles. The main selling point of it is that it is extremely versatile and easy to use. Also, Mr. Norris talks about how much fun it is to use and how the user can see results fast. The slogan he uses is: it takes just 10-20 minutes a day to reshape your body into the body you've always wanted.

I feel that Chuck Norris is an excellent endorser for this product. He has been in numerous awesome movies and he is known for being a real ladies man. He also kicks some real butt in his TV show “Walker Texas Ranger.” Everyone knows who he is and he gives the people watching him the feeling that he is a personal individual who cares about his fans. Chuck also has many hilarious jokes about how big of a BA he is.

I think that Total Gym has definitely had the effect they were looking for. When people think of Chuck Norris, they think of the exercise equipment he has been modeling for many years…along with Kristie Brinkley. Chuck is what I like to consider a true example of what all Americans should strive to become. He has helped to improve many peoples’ lives by choosing to endorse Total Gym.

Blog Post 6

The topic that I have chosen to research for this blog post is gun control laws. Being that I am from a very rural area and that I have been exposed to guns my whole life, gun control laws are something I am strongly against. I researched this topic on CNN and found two very opposing articles.

The first one is written by Tom Pate, a journalist out of Los Angeles. He was a former editor for the LA Times and is for gun control. Pate makes a point that far fewer guns in the United States would result in far fewer deaths. He also points out that he was recently robbed by an armed man so he obviously hasn’t had a good experience with guns in general. He also brings up the Virginia Tech shooting and talks about how the students were killed by guns, not a person so to speak.

The next article I read was written by Ted Nugent, a former singer/songwriter and avid hunter with his own hunting show. Nugent points out that there have been many instances where people who have had concealed firearms have been able to stop massacres before they begin to unfold. He also points out that the building of the Virginia Tech shooting was a “gun free zone.” This didn’t stop the shooter form carrying a gun and killing others. Nugent makes valid counter arguments to Pate’s article and really points out flaws in Pate’s thinking.

After reading both of these articles, my opinion about gun control laws has not changed. I believe that gun control laws do nothing more than keeps good people from owning guns to protect themselves. Bad people are always going to have guns and use them the wrong way. This is just a fact of life. The thing that can change this is if more people are able to protect themselves if they encounter a bad situation and need to defend themselves.

5th Post for LSC100

The article that I choose to read for this blog post was Food Lobby Mobilizes, as Soda Tax Bubbles Up. I choose this one because it seemed like a very interesting topic that can affect everyone. After reading it, I decided that the companies with the sugar drinks are being made into the scapegoat for our nation’s health problems. It almost seems as if the politicians in Washington are looking for any way they can to get extra revenue and to make a solution the fastest and easiest way possible.

I feel that obesity is not the soda companies fault because all they have done is put a product out on the market that people were willing to buy. I can agree in part with the fact that, in Washington’s’ eyes, a sugar tax on sodas would be a good decision because it would probably cut down on consumption, but the sugar tax also calls for a tax on flavored juice drinks and chocolate milk! I think that is just ridiculous. Drinks such as Snapple and Hawaiian Punch are less harmful alternatives to soda for people. If these healthier drinks are taxed, the whole purpose of alternative beverages is defeated because the tax would be like saying choosing something else other than soda is bad in the eyes of the government.

In the end, I feel that this proposed tax will fall through because it won’t get enough support to pass. The article mentions how a few senators were against the idea because of their ties into sugar and corn. It seems that even though this whole idea stemmed from an unfair accusation of the soda companies, it will be eventually shot down by politicians who ultimately have the intentions of helping out their own interests.

Demonstration Speech: How to Stick Handle

To be totally honest, I was a little afraid to do this demonstration speech. I have had a lot of practice as far as talking to groups of people goes, but it is always something that I get butterflies doing. I choose stick handling because it is something that I have done for a very long time. I think that my intro was fairly decent and that I was able to keep the audience interested throughout the entire speech. I was able to incorporate my visual aids well because they were such key parts to the whole presentation. My delivery was the part of my speech that needed work. I had good pace and body contact, but I needed work on my volume being consistent. There are parts where it is hard to hear what I am saying. I could have looked at the audience a little more as well.

I think that overall, my speech was very informative and interesting because not many people realize how much work goes into being a great hockey player. My length was good and the audience gave me a fairly positive feedback after the speech was finished. One thing that I would really have to work on if I had to do another one is I used “um” quite a bit and it made me seem unsure of myself at times. This is something that would disappear if I just practice my speeches a little more.

For the most part this was an enjoyable experience for me. I also enjoyed listening and learning from other peoples speeches as well. I think everyone should learn to speak in front of a group of people and this is a great way to learn how.

4th Post for LSC 100

For this blog post, I have researched the new and very popular Nutrisystem to see if it is as wonderful as all of the ads claim it to be. Many commercials for this plan claim that one can eat real food that tastes great and still lose weight. Also, their ads show very attractive women who claim to have lost a whole bunch of weight solely on their product. While looking around the internet, I came across a blog website that gave me a lot of information about this program. Nutrisystem provides a couple of different types of weight loss plans. They have a couple of specialized programs including a diabetic one and a senior citizen one. It turns out that Nutrisystem main selling point is actually convenience as opposed to how their food tastes. The average customer stays with the Nutrisystem plan for about nine weeks. By this time the majority of users become very tired of the food because all of the food is pre-packaged and processed. Nutrisystem is a good choice for a way to lose weight, but whether or not the weight stays off is a different matter. Many people use the programs as spring boards to help them lose a certain amount of weight, but then switch to a different diet.
In conclusion, I feel that Nutrisystems claims can be correct if the person buying the product has the will power to follow through with the meal plans and has the stomach for the type of food that is offered. In reading some blogs of health sites, I found that some people feel that the product is totally worth it and the taste of the food is not that bad. However, other people feel that the product is only useful for a short amount of time and that the food is not very good at all. The biggest point overall is that Nutrisystem can help an individual to lose weight.

3rd post for LSC 100

The other day I made myself a roast beef sandwich. The first thing I did was take my bun and cut in open. Next, I placed the roast beef on the bread and I even put some of the broth from the meat on the bread to soak in. Next, I put a mixture of cooked onions and mushrooms on top of the roast beef. Finally, I finished off the preparation of the sandwich with some Heinz 57 special sauce, just to add a little bit of spice to it. I must admit I was quite proud of myself after I finished eating the sandwich because it was so delicious. I normally don’t prepare meals for myself so it was kind of a personal achievement for me.
After reading pages 54 and 55 in Michael Pollan’s book I feel that I agree with his claims that Americans seemed to have accepted low fat foods just because they were something new and exciting. The companies selling these products sold them on the lines of that they are healthier for the human body, but this isn’t necessarily the case.
The meal that I prepared really had no effect on my opinion. The bread was wheat and the beef was of a high quality. My vegetables were boiled so there were no preservatives or fake butter products used in that. The only thing would be the Heinz 57 sauce. I really have no idea what they put into that so that would be the only possible low fat food; however, I don’t think that Heinz is too terribly worried about that in their sauces just because it says right on the bottle all the foods that it goes well with. Most of the foods listed aren’t very healthy in the first place.

2nd post for LSC100

Before moving to Madison, I lived in a very rural area where many families chose to buy beef either straight from a butcher or from local farmers in the area. This meat was available at the local grocery store as well, but if a family could afford to buy a half of a pig, they would most certainly do so. Also, there was such a large amount of pride in the community during the county fair where young adults would show off their livestock that they had been raising for the year. The best animals would receive ribbons and would be sold to people. This was meat much different in taste than what you would buy at the store, and it was much better for you. There were no preservatives and no special health claims. It was just local people trying to sell a locally raised product.

Here in Madison, I eat whatever I can get a hold of for a reasonable price. I can’t really ask questions about where it is from or what is actually in it. If I go to the Commons and get whatever it is they are serving that day, I would almost guarantee that the meat they serve probably wasn’t raised on a small town farm; however, I understand that to do this for a dining place that serves hundreds of people in a day is extremely illogical and would drive up the cost of a meal a substantial amount. The average person probably wouldn’t be able to tell the difference anyway.

When I am finished with school and I have a reasonably well paying job, I will be able to purchase meat that is home grown and organic. Until then, I will eat what I can afford as a poor college student.

1st Post for LSC100

For this blog, I am required to talk about my reaction to the reading of Micheal Pollan's book "In Defense of Food." At first I was quite skeptical about having to read this. I have been raised to believe in eating meat at every meal and always as the main dish, but after reading the first forty pages my views are being challenged by this new information. I thought that this book was going to be very biased and persuasive, but so far, it has been more informative than anything else. The main point that caught my attention in the book was that throughout the last few decades, the food industry that produces items such as meat and dairy has been mostly trying to save itself from loosing its customers. Micheal made a great point about this when he discussed the various cover ups dealing with healthy choices.When Senator George McGovern had hearings on why the public had an increase in chronic diseases, the committee released guidelines telling the public to cut down on red meat consumption. The response to this by the meat and dairy industry was very surpising to me. I found it amazing that these industries pulled so much weight in congress that they could cause the committee to changed their original statements to benefit their own industries. I also agree with Micheals' points that scientists may not know as much about food as they think they do. The example of margarine and how much it has changed with what they put into it really made me think about what I actually eat when i use margarine. This article that I found deals with eating less meat and how much it can change your health. I am very excited to continue reading this book. It has really opened my eyes so far. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/20/AR2005062001056.html