Research Log #1

MLA Citation:

Hill, Amelia. "Make-Up Kit Holds Hidden Danger of Cancer." The Observer. 7 Apr. 
     2002: The Observer. Web. 22 Mar. 2011. <http://www.guardian.co.uk>.

Summary:

            This article was about toxins in our cosmetics products that are now found to cause allergic reactions, reproductive damage, cancer, and many other unknown problems. I liked that this article gave different stories about people who had reactions to cosmetics, like the story of Denise Santamarina, who suffered from 10 years of chemically induced lupus because of her cosmetics. She states that, “I started getting sick when I began taking cosmetology classes… Over the next 10 years I suffered from a string of digestive problems, sinus infections and excruciating pain in my back, ribcage and arms. There were days when I would crawl across the floor in pain.” Also, there was very interesting information that I learned from this article, like, “Unlike food or drugs, cosmetics and their raw ingredients are not subject to review or independent pre-market approval”, and “Compared to the toxins found in our air, soil and waterways, cosmetics seem a trivial pursuit to many environmental health and consumer advocacy groups, but many of the same poisons that pollute our environment, from dioxins to petrochemicals, can be found in the jars and bottles that line our bathroom shelves.” Some companies are changing their ways by riding their products of toxic chemicals, but unfortunately, it is hard to know if these companies are being honest.

Response:

            This article was very informative for me because these were the first real cases that I have heard where women have had reactions to these products. I never thought that something as simple as nail polish or shampoo could affect someone’s bone marrow or cause lupus for years! This article makes this problem more of a reality because it shows that these chemicals are nothing to mess around with. If food is tested for these chemicals then why aren’t the products tested? I hate that these companies actually get PAID for this immoral behavior. It makes me sick. I was amazed by this because it seems like so much time and money goes into the regulation of food, but absolutely no attention is given to the products we use multiple times a day, such as lipstick, toothpaste, and make-up. It worries me that people do not know about this problem, because that means there is not going to be any change until people are informed.

Next Steps:

            I found this article because one of the books I am reading for this project used it as a source. I am very happy with this article because it gave me real situations where women have been affected by these toxins. This source raised many questions for me, such as: Why aren’t these chemicals regulated? Why are companies allowed to hide certain chemicals on the ingredients label? Now that I read this article, I will start to go into deeper research and find the loopholes that these businesses made for this corruption to be possible. 

Blog due March 1, 2011

I think it is important for others to know about what ingredients are in all of the products they use. I recently found out that most cosmetics, fragrances, and most bathing products have harmful toxins in them that are not displayed on the bottles. The chemicals found in these products are known carcinogens but the companies are not required to say anything on the labels! Most products used today have been proven to cause cancer, birth defects, organ damage, and many other long term problems.

A question I would like answered is, “What happens after death and is there a god?” This is such a huge debate in the world. I would like to know the real answer to it because so many of my other questions would be answered. I have been struggling with my beliefs my whole life because Christianity has always been pushed on me, but I have had a hard time completely understanding it. There are things about Christianity that I don’t believe or things that do not make sense to me. Also, I’m not scared of death, but I am definitely curious about what happens after. Is there a heaven and hell? I

I have always used singing as a creative outlet. I didn’t sing in public until recently, but I would always sing my heart out in my room or whenever I am driving in my car. Singing always makes me feel better. I am just starting to sing more because I have always been really nervous to sing in public. This will be my creative outlet once again because I lost my main outlet when I stopped taking art classes.  

Can there ever be world citizenship?

This article was very impactful because the author brought up a few very interesting points. I realized from this article that our process of the United Nations does not work very well right now because everyone is so selfish. There will never be world citizenship if people continue to go after one another. We need to come together and accept that we are all, “a family that shares the earth with all living things.” I think Boulder makes a good point when he states, “If children in every country grew up learning about the United Nations and how it works, and how their country works in the United Nations…  Getting to know their United Nations citizenship would be part of the great learning adventure of growing up on a planet earth and becoming familiar with all its diversity of people, states, sociocultures and bio cultures.” I completely agree with this because then children would learn that there are more people in the world than them and that what their country does can affect the whole world.

This article relates to a few of the readings we have had in class already. The ones that stick out to me are “Make Our Ugly Discourse Better” and “Why I like vicious, anonymous online comments”. The ideas in Make Our Ugly Discourse Better were very similar to the ideas of Boulder because they both believe that there are more peaceful ways to change the world. Fighting and butting heads does not change peoples’ minds. If you calmly explain what you want and feel then people respond better.

Why I like vicious, anonymous online comments is relevant to Boulder’s article because it shows what the world is becoming, cruel, vicious, and detrimental. Until people learn to be more civil toward one another, the world will not get better. It’s time to change by being more positive and connecting to our worldwide family!

So the answer to this question is, Yes, there can be world citizenship, but not until everyone is willing to give and become civil with one another. 

Generation Y

These articles were difficult for me to read because I disagree with a lot of what these writers are saying. Our generation has potential to be the smartest and most innovative group of people this world has ever seen. Yes, there is a significant chunk of us who would rather paint their nails or watch football than get a job, but sooner or later they will learn that life is not that easy. Also, we were brought up this way because of all the influences we have in our life. If athletes and celebrities weren't praised so much for their performances, and if YouTube didn't get so much attention from the generation BEFORE us, then we would not have any desire to be like these people. Raina Kelley states in her article that, "The famously egocentric

wide receiver Terrell Owens declares at a press conference that being labeled selfish is fine with him. Donald Trump names everything he owns after himself and calls his detractors "losers."' These are the people we are growing up and idolizing. Are they in Generation-Y? I don't think so.

Judith Warner states that, "with their seemingly inexhaustible well of positive self-regard, their refusal to have their horizons be defined by the limitations of our era, they just may bear witness to the precise sort of resilience that all parents, educators and pop psychologists now say they view as proof of a successful upbringing." This shows that we were brought up this way because people think it is "the right way". Why are we being blamed for something that PAST generations have created?

Out of the two articles, The Why-Worry Generation by Judith Warner was the most irritating. The question I ask to the author is, what is wrong with aspiring for "a job that’s not just a job but an expression of their identity, a form of self-fulfillment"? Is it really so terrible that we want to work for a company we love and believe in? The people in Generation-Y are already proving to be more intelligent and capable in the work place than past generations. The difference is that we are adapting to the change in technology and our environment. There are entrepreneurs out there who are younger than 16 years old. I haven't heard of many of those in the past. We understand that it is a competitive world out there, and the people who decide to be lazy will most likely end up homeless. These articles make students seem like they don't have to work hard to get what they want. What about the massive decrease in college acceptance letters or the limited number of scholarships given out to students in need? There is plenty of competition, just different than what past generations are used to.

I do agree with one statement from Genertion Me by Raina Kelley, though. She states that Generation-Y is, "without the resiliency skills they need when Mommy and Daddy can't fix something." This is definitely true because we grew up believing that two people can fix all of our problems by a short email or phone call. I think we rely on our parents too much these days, because of the way we are brought up. In the past, it seemed like parents were a lot less intrusive on their childrens' daily lives. Now, our parents need to know where we are or what we are doing at all times. When there is a problem, they fix it, because they want what is best for their children. Children need to experience the consequences of their actions or else they will never learn. Hopefully this is one thing that will change in the future.

In conclusion, I find these articles altogether ridiculous. They are hypocrites in my opinion, because they do not see how their generation has impacted us. They are critiquing Generaton-Y for their passiveness on the current recession, when they are the reason we are in this recession in the first place. Obviously something needs to change. Maybe this new narcissistic attitude will prevent things like poor presidency, or an economic crash from happening in the future.

The Ways We Lie

The White Lie
A white lie is one of the most common lies that people do. They are common because it's so easy and often undestructive. An example of a white lie would be if a friend asked you if they had anything in their teeth and you answered No to protect their feelings or to make them not feel embarrassed.

Facade
An example of a facade lie would be if a person went on a first date and talked themselves up in order to impress the other. Like if a man were to dress up nicely to look wealthy or if he told his date that he had a mansion and nice car.

Ignoring the Plain Facts
I've been involved in a situation where my coach would ignore the plain facts on our soccer team. An upper classman used to mess around with the freshmen (often times it was me) on a regular basis. I informed my coach of the problem but he chose not to do anything because the girl was one of the best players on the team. Losing her, even though she was a horrible teammate, would most likely cost our season. She never got any consequences for her actions.

Deflecting
I think deflecting is used in situations such as anorexic people in order to fool everyone into thinking they are eating. If they are asked, they usually change the subject of the conversation so that people forget about what they were talking about before.

Omission
An omission lie would be used when a person is telling her boyfriend about her night but leaves out the little parts that would make him upset. Like, not saying that there were any boys at the get together they went to or that she didn't drink any alcohol.

Stereotyping and Cliches
A common stereotype is that women should always be "in the kitchen". I hate this stereotype because I usually hear stupid comments like, "Make me a sandwich, woman!".

Groupthink
A groupthink lie would be if a group of people, for example a soccer team, underestimates the team they are playing in their upcoming game. Since the other team had a poor season they think they could beat them without trying. Unfortunately when gametime comes around, they lose because they didn't try hard enough to win.

Out-and-Out Lies
This type of lying reminds me of when a student forgets to do their homework and their excuse to the teacher is, "My dog ate my homework." or something bizarre like that.

Dismissal
A dismissal lie could be told when a boyfriend cheats on his girlfriend and he still continues to say that he is faithful. He would be dismissising the fact that he was not faithful in the past and ultimately lying to his girlfriend.

Delusion
A delusion lie is commonly used among students when they think that they are "bad" at a subject or that they just dont get it. The reason why they don't get a subject would only be because they haven't put all the effort needed into understanding it. The reason they are "bad" at it is because they need to try harder to learn.

Rant about teachers who give homework over the weekend

I don't understand why teachers in middle school and high school always feel the need to give homework over the weekends. IT'S THE WEEKEND. That is why we have Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, AND Friday to do our work. Do they not realize that we are KIDS that have other things to do other than read a chapter of a stupid boring book or practice ridiculous math problems? I would much rather go outside and enjoy a nice day instead of spending all day in my room, doing work on MY time off. They always complain when we take up their time during class by talking or goofing off, but what do they expect when OUR time is taken up by their stupid assignments? We only get two freaking days out of the week to enjoy ourselves but usually they are occupied by essays, math, or reports that are due that Monday! Why can’t they be due on Tuesday? Do they not remember what it was like when they were kids and wanted to go out and have fun? Maybe children would start liking school if the teachers respected their free time more. Just because we are kids does not mean we don’t have rights. Would you want to work overtime on the weekends? I don’t think so. Most of us have sports, jobs, hobbies, or other things that we need to focus on instead of another assignment that should have been given on one of the WEEKDAYS. We only get two out of seven days anyway! Don’t punish us because you feel like grading more papers or because you can’t organize your coursework better. 

Online Guidelines

1. Have comments forwarded to your Facebook page so that others can see what you post.
2. Don't let comments be anonymous anymore. Require mandatory log in in order to post comments.
3. Encourage users to flag or report vicious comments.
4. "Bleep" out profanity.
5. Suspend account from website if comments are a problem.
6. The people who post articles can choose whether or not they want anonymous comments on their post.