HeLa

This week we had a very long, very tedious presentation.

I shouldn't say that. I'm sure it was very informative and interesting...if it wasn't reiterating everything that we read in the book. Every. Single. Thing.

I am a fan of learning. I like learning new things. However, that was not a learning experience. I found it to be redundant, and I'm sure anyone that actually completed the book would have as well.

To top that off, I experienced sleeper's guilt for falling asleep during the presentation. Given my new affinity for waking up at unreasonably early hours, it wasn't a lot of guilt, but still. It was disrespectful and normally I would give my entire attention span (or what's available) to such a presentation. I reiterate: it was a pointless presentation.

What truly made me upset was that within the presentation itself, facts were reiterated again and again. I could understand a few points, but most points were described three times (minimum) and it was just too much.

I'm sorry for my rude rant. I just did not enjoy that at all.

Medical Justice: Universal Healthcare in broadest terms

Healthcare, healthcare, healthcare. It's all anyone seems to talk about, and with good reason. It shut down the government for sixteen days, it splits the Republicans and the Democrats, and it costs far more than it should. When talking about healthcare, universal healthcare always seems to come up. The interesting thing is that, while many form polar opinions about it, not many understand what it actually is.

            According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the goal of universal health care is "to ensure that all people obtain the health services they need without suffering financial hardship when paying for them."  But that isn't all that universal healthcare needs to be; it needs to include an efficient healthcare system, a way to pay for healthcare, access to healthcare, and a healthcare system of qualified employees.

Universal healthcare is a system that some countries are adopting as an alternative to a system similar to what the United States has—where healthcare is a for-profit business.  It’s difficult to define universal healthcare with a solid definition of how it applies to a country as it is applied in different ways in the countries that have it. However, the underlying point—some degree of healthcare paid for, at least in part, by the government. Of the countries that have adopted a form of universal healthcare, some of the more prominent, or wealthier countries, include Qatar (which is ranked as the wealthiest nation in the world, according to per capita earnings, or GPD), Luxembourg (ranked number two by the same standards), Singapore (ranked third), Norway (fourth), and fifth ranked Brunei. The United States is sixth on the list, and the first to break the trend.

With the United Nation’s stance on universal healthcare, it isn't surprising that many countries are either working towards universal healthcare or already there. On December 12, 2012, the United Nations made their stance clear: “Recognizing the intrinsic role of health in achieving international development goals, the General Assembly today – through the unanimous adoption of a resolution on global health and foreign policy – encouraged Governments to plan or pursue the transition towards universal access to affordable and quality health-care services.

Despite the support of the United Nations, universal healthcare remains a controversial topic on the global and national level. Tax payers ask why they pay taxes for people who don’t take care of themselves—people who don’t exercise, who smoke, or who do drugs. Canadians and Germans are trying to switch back to privately insured healthcare to cut back on wait times to get treatment. There is a general complaint that government pay means lack of incentive; employees are paid less, and therefore have less incentive to do their job. Third world and developing nations have difficulties establishing universal healthcare systems because of the lack of money on all levels. The push for universal healthcare is balanced by the potential and real drawbacks.

With the Affordable Care Act and the United Nation’s push for universal healthcare, it isn't likely that it is an issue that will go away in the near future. There are definite pros and cons to having a bureaucracy controlled healthcare system or having a private, for-profit healthcare system. Right now it seems that the United States is trying to split the difference; it will be interesting to see which side comes out on top.

Paying it Forward

Today, we had a meeting about our new group. I would use its name but...we haven't gotten that far yet. We know what we want to do, though.

When I went to the meeting, I wasn't...happy. Some people noticed, I wasn't happy Monday either.

However, I'm getting there, and it is due in large part to everyone that came up to me and had a genuine interest in how I was. I don't think I could smile at all if it weren't for the wonderful people that I have the privilege of knowing and living by.

Here is how I connect that to the meeting: I want to pay it forward. I've had so much love in the last couple of days that I felt like that was something I could do within our new group. My subcommittee is literally called "Pay it Forward." I want to share the love that I receive every day with people that may not have that same feeling. So if you're interested in (Insert Group Name), or you want to try to create a more positive environment, please don't stay away. Even if it sounds far to aggressively cheerful.

Midterm Project

http://prezi.com/mcvzhc-p_jeg/?utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=copy&rc=ex0share


Updated, enjoy!

And Everything Was Just Fine

At the last possible moment, our government finally came together and agreed to not cause even more damage.

In many ways, I approve of the way our government is set up. I approve of how ridiculously long it takes to get anything done because a deliberate pace is necessary when an entire nation can be impacted by your actions.

I do not approve of how the country has not been run for the last sixteen days. That was ridiculous. When worked in daycare, if a group of children couldn't agree to compromise, they couldn't do whatever it was they were doing to begin with. That was my rule; you play well with others or not at all. I wish there was a more direct way to let our congress know that the rule still holds; if they can't play nicely, they don't get to be in our government. It's a sure-fire way to not be reelected. The problem is, this reaction isn't immediately realized, so it isn't a good threat system.

My problem was that the American people didn't almost cause our country to default. The congressmen did. But the consequences would have been felt most by our citizens. Congress is made of mostly upper class. So when the price of milk skyrocketed, the effects wouldn't be as tangible. But those who didn't almost cause a global economic crisis would have born the brunt of the burden. And that isn't fair.

And none of this happened, so me complaining about it holds even less weight than it normally would.

Voting Rights ...and those who shouldn't use them. Also, an apology.

Blaise, I am sorry for being mad at you. I didn't think it was funny, but I understand that it was meant to be humorous and not at all what your group actually thought.

I don't know the statistics of those who vote that are illegal immigrants. I don't know a lot of statistics about much of anything. I do know that making illegal immigrants have an easier time of becoming citizens would probably decrease the amount of money spent on this issue, and, with the nation's debt at an all time high and with a debt ceiling looming, I feel like that should be a priority.

So we allow people to become citizens. They can then vote. Citizens should be able to vote. 

Here's the thing. States legally lose their congressional voice if they make laws that don't allow their citizens to vote. Or they would, if loopholes didn't exist. They lose their voice specifically:

"When the right to vote at any election for the choice of electors for President and Vice-President of the United States, Representatives in Congress, the Executive and Judicial officers of a State, or the members of the Legislature thereof, is denied to any of the male inhabitants of such State, being twenty-one years of age, and citizens of the United States, or in any way abridged, except for participation in rebellion, or other crime." 

Which was later ammended to include all citizens eighteen years and above.

The point is, any law made that discludes citizens from voting is unconstitutional. This is why I am passionately against such laws that are in existence, such as voter ID laws. I support the Constitution; inherently, I support the right to change it if it doesn't work. 

This cyclical reasoning--that we support it until we don't like it, in which case we change it, but at all times we uphold it--leads me to my next thought.

I don't want uninformed people to be voting. Period, end of story. This just perpetuates what chaos we have now--we are about to default on loans to other countries due to a debt ceiling that we are about to reach but can't agree to vote about, which would cause global economic challenges. And these are the people we elected. 

I have this problem where I understand my ideals; I know exactly what I think should happen with taxing. I know that I support a less involved government, and I know that economically, many of my views put me on the fast track for being a Republican.

Which, coming from a person with social views as liberal as my own, is a conundrum. 

I DON'T LIKE ANY OF THE PEOPLE I CAN VOTE FOR. 

I don't feel represented in Congress, and because of this, I don't like voting (I say with my year's worth of experience of being a voter).

In the end, what I want is a government that isn't bipartisan. I want options, and my country doesn't give them to me. So there's that.

Don't forget to sweat the small stuff

But really.

I am passionate about alternatives to our current educational system. I think it isn't working. I think that there are people that don't get what they need from our primary education system. I know that in many ways, I wasn't pushed enough by my schooling.

So when we discussed this revolutionary new approach, I was a little curious. Overwhelmingly though, I was frightened.

I am frightened of how our country has fallen from being the best to what is just potential to be the best. I believe that part of that comes from trying to make everyone the same on an educational level.

See this here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CmPTZgFP3iY

 It's about thirty minutes long, but I've found it inspiring on many levels and in many situations. Right now, though, I want you to focus on the educational portion of the speech. We need to have more focus put on learning, and learning more in the classroom. I feel that this independent movement has the potential to teach students how to learn, but then again, will they learn what they need to? We no longer know as much as we used to as a whole. Important things slip through the cracks. Who knows anything about being a citizen? Probably not me. I took government in highschool, but I doubt I could pass a citizenship test today. Things are being forgotten that we can't afford to lose.

Side note: I don't care what your political beliefs are. If you are actually planning on watching the video, watch it with an open mind and take the lessons from it that are intended to be taken; I take with me that, because I can think, I should have no excuses. If you're a die-hard democrat, like my sister, you probably won't enjoy this as much as I did, speaking from a more conservative standpoint. However, my religious ideologies do not stop me from learning a lesson from the religious aspects of what was said in the speech. While this is definitely rambling, my point is that regardless of who is talking and what their opinions are, you can always learn a lesson, even if that lesson is only about yourself.

This is my rant about phones. Carry on.

Everyone needs to be as excited about the future of phones as I am.

For those of you who might know of my lack of proficiency where technology is concerned, there may have been a double take. But really. Get excited.

Go look at this link.

http://www.phonebloks.com/

Watch the video, and appreciate.

Here's why I am fascinated with this. I like the idea of all of the companies working together to make lego phones--let's get real, that's what these phones are. It means a higher degree of specialization in each company, making a better overall product. It's customizable, so I would get the old person, low technology phone and it would work for me. 

See, I have a lot of technological waste already accumulated under my name. It makes me uncomfortable to tally it up, but the reality is, a lot of it is avoidable. I want to replace only my screen when it breaks, only the keyboard when the buttons don't work, and only the battery when it stops holding a charge. I want to be less wasteful.

I also don't think this will ever happen because large corporations suck and nobody likes to work together. But that's an entirely different rant.

I enjoyed last week's discussion over the pros and cons of No Child Left Behind and tracking. This might seem weird for a Bio major, but last year, I was impacted by an educator and her drive to change the way we teach.

My role model, for lack of a better word--because truly, she is more of a friend than anything else--has the remarkable idea that she can teach every single one of her students. She believes she can do this through IEPs, or individualized educational plans, to be used on every student. Through this, she will teach all of the necessary skills, and grade upon whether or not they can demonstrate said skills in a portfolio type format. This way, poor testers do not necessarily have poor grades. They can demonstrate that they know a skill in class.

Another advantage of this system is the ability to give students assignments that appeal to the student, which can self-motivate the student to learn. In an ideal world, the assignment would be cross-disciplinary and would help reinforce concepts taught in other classes. In effect, it would teach students to connect ideas taught in all classes and help them incorporate this type of thinking into their everyday life.

My teacher had a better way of describing it, but I don't remember it anymore and I lack the ethos to preach. But I do know that I want my children to go to school in a system where the teachers want to help their students as much as she did.

Ferp derp der derp Speaker

So, I'm just going to put this out there...
FERPA isn't a very interesting subject. It just isn't. And while I approve of my information being protected, it just wasn't a topic that I'd care to go over ever again.

That being said, what happened after being informed about FERPA was quite excellent. Speaking as a freshman, I feel like some essential things, essential information things, were left out of our O-Week. Or possibly overloaded on us. I was unaware of the function of the Student Senate, which, speaking as one of those students that is being represented in the Student Senate, shouldn't be the case.

I also had less of an idea about the hierarchy of who can help me; I am aware that there was a presentation over it, however, said presentation was given at a point in my life where I couldn't comprehend what would apply to me. I didn't know that our speaker was my representative, although it was probably brought up, because it was introduced as an idea before I had background knowledge about who I might need to know about.

I don't really know where I'm going with this. Possibly I am just dissappointed about how O-Week was presented. Possibly I'm just extremely tired from a week of not sleeping despite having the time and the inclination to do so. I don't know how to fix the system, or really that it's broken, because, honestly, I could have just not been paying enough attention.