Essay Questions:
1. Since the 20th century the U.S. has tackled the issue of becoming a powerful, independent nation. How did the leaders of the U.S. impact this plan in the 20th and 21th century?
2. Starting with the 20th century, how has the role of gender and class changed throughout Americas history? Especially the difference of gender roles between WWI and WWII.
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Sunday, December 6, 2009
Current Events
How toxic are our Surroundings?
After a long day at school and work, do you usually throw something quick into the microwave? With people’s lives as busy as they are today, this has become a common trend. What’s the problem with this? Nicholas D. Kristof informs us in his article. Breast cancer has become a disease that many women, Americans in particular have been fighting more so since 1975. The breast cancer rate has risen from 1% in 1975 to 12% today, as well as asthma and leukemia in children has increased over the years.
Since World War II 80,000 new chemicals have been created, and not all of these have been tested for toxicity. One theory was that ethnicity has something to do with this increase. But, this was proven wrong when a study done by Dr. Goldfarb showed that when the ethnic woman moved to the U.S. she encountered a higher risk of getting breast cancer. This shows that something in our environment is harming us.
Western women have gradually started their menstrual cycle earlier and earlier since the year 1800. The earlier you start your menstrual cycle, the more likely you are to get breast cancer because you have been opened up to pesticides. Other chemicals classified as endocrine disruptors have become a major concern. These chemicals are found in a number of plastics and even the makeup we wear. These endocrine disruptors can trigger hormonal changes. These disruptors are similar to estrogen therefore they trick the body into these hormonal changes.
A representative of the House, Louise Slaughter, wants to put a system into effect that will monitor these endocrine disruptors. Until this becomes a reality, you can try to prevent your chances of breast cancer by not microwaving things in plastic containers, and not putting plastic in the dishwasher. The more heat exposed to plastic containers, the more likely it is that chemicals will seep out, and get into your system.
Hogwarts for College Anyone?
When your parents applied to college, it wasn’t based off of whether the school was “hogwartsesque” enough. Times have definitely changed since then. Schools such as Dartmouth, Cornell, Harvard, and Boston College have quickly caught onto selling the Hogwarts look to their students. Dartmouth has a room that is known for its “Hogwarts feel.” Cornell was ranked in the top five colleges in America that resembles Hogwarts the most. This ranking obviously attracts Harry Potter fans from across the globe. At Harvard, a tour guide told his group that their intramural sports were very similar to the Hogwarts House Cup. All of these colleges sound great, right? Everyone dreams of going to Hogwarts after seeing the movies and reading the books.
The Problem: these schools are placing a fantasy world into reality, which takes the goal off of education. They’re trying too hard to attract students to their schools by making it more “hogwartsesque.” Schools such as Swarthmore and Williams focus on education, not the fantasy world.
When choosing your school, make sure to keep reality in check and your fantasy getaways remain a fantasy.
After a long day at school and work, do you usually throw something quick into the microwave? With people’s lives as busy as they are today, this has become a common trend. What’s the problem with this? Nicholas D. Kristof informs us in his article. Breast cancer has become a disease that many women, Americans in particular have been fighting more so since 1975. The breast cancer rate has risen from 1% in 1975 to 12% today, as well as asthma and leukemia in children has increased over the years.
Since World War II 80,000 new chemicals have been created, and not all of these have been tested for toxicity. One theory was that ethnicity has something to do with this increase. But, this was proven wrong when a study done by Dr. Goldfarb showed that when the ethnic woman moved to the U.S. she encountered a higher risk of getting breast cancer. This shows that something in our environment is harming us.
Western women have gradually started their menstrual cycle earlier and earlier since the year 1800. The earlier you start your menstrual cycle, the more likely you are to get breast cancer because you have been opened up to pesticides. Other chemicals classified as endocrine disruptors have become a major concern. These chemicals are found in a number of plastics and even the makeup we wear. These endocrine disruptors can trigger hormonal changes. These disruptors are similar to estrogen therefore they trick the body into these hormonal changes.
A representative of the House, Louise Slaughter, wants to put a system into effect that will monitor these endocrine disruptors. Until this becomes a reality, you can try to prevent your chances of breast cancer by not microwaving things in plastic containers, and not putting plastic in the dishwasher. The more heat exposed to plastic containers, the more likely it is that chemicals will seep out, and get into your system.
Hogwarts for College Anyone?
When your parents applied to college, it wasn’t based off of whether the school was “hogwartsesque” enough. Times have definitely changed since then. Schools such as Dartmouth, Cornell, Harvard, and Boston College have quickly caught onto selling the Hogwarts look to their students. Dartmouth has a room that is known for its “Hogwarts feel.” Cornell was ranked in the top five colleges in America that resembles Hogwarts the most. This ranking obviously attracts Harry Potter fans from across the globe. At Harvard, a tour guide told his group that their intramural sports were very similar to the Hogwarts House Cup. All of these colleges sound great, right? Everyone dreams of going to Hogwarts after seeing the movies and reading the books.
The Problem: these schools are placing a fantasy world into reality, which takes the goal off of education. They’re trying too hard to attract students to their schools by making it more “hogwartsesque.” Schools such as Swarthmore and Williams focus on education, not the fantasy world.
When choosing your school, make sure to keep reality in check and your fantasy getaways remain a fantasy.
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Obamas Speech on Afghanistan
Barack Obama’s speech about our involvement in Afghanistan was very straightforward, and informed the American people by laying out the facts. Our reasons for being involved in Afghanistan are: prevent the Taliban from taking over the government, to break Al-Qaida’s momentum, and to train leaders in Afghanistan to protect the civilians and security of the country. These main points were then followed by Barack Obama’s plan to resolve these issues. The plan is to take military action by sending 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan by early 2010. The reason for doing so is to break the Taliban’s momentum and increase Afghanistan’s way of ruling themselves in a safe environment. The key to America’s success is when our troop’s transition out of Afghanistan, back home, but Afghanis can stand on their own two feet to lead themselves and be secure while doing so. The Afghanistan people can only be safe though when the Taliban and Al-Qaida has been successfully repressed, which is part of Barack Obama’s plan. Once this has been accomplished and the Afghanis are leading themselves, they also need to take full responsibility for their actions, which will hopefully lead to a partnership between the U.S. and Afghanistan.
Another topic that Barack touched on was American values. He states that we must go back and remember the heart of our values, even though we face different challenges in the world today than previous ones. Values such as opportunity and respect for others have been the core of our values, and will remain no matter how different occurring challenges may be today. While our values play a huge role in our decision making as a country, we must remember our legacy. The U.S. has always strayed away from dominating another country or place, and Barack Obama made a strong point about this situation. We aren’t in Afghanistan to dominate them, but to help build them into a stronger nation. We have fought against domination (WWII) before, and we continue this trend today to have a brighter future for the better of our country, and children.
Another topic that Barack touched on was American values. He states that we must go back and remember the heart of our values, even though we face different challenges in the world today than previous ones. Values such as opportunity and respect for others have been the core of our values, and will remain no matter how different occurring challenges may be today. While our values play a huge role in our decision making as a country, we must remember our legacy. The U.S. has always strayed away from dominating another country or place, and Barack Obama made a strong point about this situation. We aren’t in Afghanistan to dominate them, but to help build them into a stronger nation. We have fought against domination (WWII) before, and we continue this trend today to have a brighter future for the better of our country, and children.
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