Reflections: Week 9 & 10

(Photo taken at the Apostle Islands)

These past two weeks have been a whirlwind!

Week 9:



During this week, we were taught about advocacy and the importance of it. We were taught the ethics of it and how it relates to our Seven Responsibilities of Health Educators. I thought that this was interesting becaus it's always nice to see what you're learning and how will relate to the responsibilities of a future job possibility.



Throughout this week we also did a project on our Political Representatives. We were asked to make a blog post that have all of the following information: our President, State Legislatures, Governor, City Counselmen and Duluth's Mayor. This was interesting to me because I did not know that Duluth had different counselmen for the different Districts. After looking into this more, I found that I live in the District 2 area! :)





Week 10:



This week we did not meet as a class (as well as two of my other classes :) ) but we were assigned a project to have finished this past Thursday for Dr. V to look at once she returned to lovely Minnesota weather... This project was a photo essay. My original idea (littering of the rivers, streams and lakes in Duluth) for this project was ruined by the snow, so I had to go back to the drawing table and think of something else. I did a little research and the area I had traveled to over spring break, Jekyll Island, GA, and found something quiet interesting about the bridge I had a picture of. The brigde that connects Jekyyll Island and Brunswick was built in 2002 and while in the process of building, the builders had taken into account the animals that live in the swampy areas underneath. Each year, turtles migrate to Jekyll Island and in the middle of the night, by moonlight, the leave the island to find new areas to live. The builders paid attention to this aspect and installed lighting system that provides enough light for drivers on the bridge but won't effect the turtle who will be navigating by the moon. Cool right?!

Well, that's it for my Week 9 and 10! I look forward to the rest of the semester and seeing what we talk about as a class and what information I will take away as an individual!

Eye Opener: Photo Essay

When I decided what I was going to do for this project, my idea was immediately ruined by the snow... So, I thought of what I did over spring break and if there were any pictures that I could use for this project... Here's what I came up with!

The bridge that is seen here is the Sidney Lanier Bridge that is located in Brunswick, Georgia. The original bridge was built in 1956 and has been recently re-built and improved! (It was originally built by the same company that had built I-35W that had collapsed in 2007).



After visiting Georgia, I did some research. I found that this bridge, which is a cable-stayed bridge (cables support the bridge deck) completed back in 2002, actually is environmentally friendly!

The most southern part of Georgia is VERY popular for turtles and where they lay their eggs... Once the turtles are hatched, they end up migrating back to the water by following the moon light. Since the Sidney Lanier Bridge is a popular port in Georgia, it is very important for there to be proper lighting for ships entering and leaving the area. It was important that "to keep lights on the 4,000 foot-long, cable-stayed Sidney Lanier Bridge from disorienting the migrating turtles, the Georgia Department of Transportation worked with the U.S. Coast Guard and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to install a minimum number of lights on both the bridge deck and the approach road and to use shielded low-sodium, low-wattage lights that cut glare and light scatter. Since every season there are an estimated 100-120 turtle eggs laid in each nest on the island beaches and on average approximately 64,000 of the nestlings make it to the water, the lights may protect a large number of turtles. "

I found it VERY interesting that the people who built this bridge, were looking out for the turtles and doing whatever possible to help continue their migration in Brunswick, Georgia!

Share and Voice: Spring Break (part II)

For me, finding just one image that would be a great reflection of my spring break was difficult! So here's a few:

The first weekend was spent in Cumming, Georgia watching men's ultimate, in the rain...

Pier at the end of Jekyll Island, GA

Jekyll Island nature area


Spending a week with Allan in Georgia and Illinois :)...


and playing ultimate with some of my favorite ladies!

Advocacy Project: My Political Representatives

My Political Representatives

PRESIDENT

Barack Obama
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW
Washington, DC 20500

CONGRESSPERSON'S

-House

James Oberstar

United States House of Representatives

2365 Rayburn House Office Building

Washington, D.C. 20515-2308

-Senate

Amy Klobuchar

United States Senate

302 Hart Senate Office Building

Washington, D.C. 20510-2304

GOVERNOR

Tim Pawlenty
Office of the Governor
130 State Capitol
75 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
St. Paul, MN 55155

STATE LEGISLATORS

-State Representative
Thomas Huntley
District: 07A
Party: DFL
585 State Office Building
100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
Saint Paul, Minnesota 55155

-State Senator

Yvonne Prettner Solon

District: 07

Party: DFL

75 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.

Capitol Building, Room G-9

St. Paul, MN 55155-1606

COUNTY BOARD PRESIDENT

-County Administrator
Alan Mitchell

- 1st District
Commissioner Dennis Fink
Board Chair
Room 208
100 N. 5th Avenue West
Duluth, MN 55802

- 2nd District
Commissioner Steve O'Neil
Room 208
100 N. 5th Avenue West
Duluth, MN 55802

- 3rd District
Commissioner Chris Dahlberg
Room 208
100 N. 5th Avenue W.
Duluth, MN 55802

- 5th District
Commissioner Peg Sweeney
Room 208
100 N. 5th Avenue West
Duluth, MN 55802

CITY MAYOR

Don Ness
Mayor's Office
Room 402, 411 West First Street
Duluth, MN 55802

Reflection: Week 7 & 8

Reflections: Week 7 & 8

Week 7:

• This week started with an eye opener, titled Environmental Working Group.For my facial product, I chose Vaseline Petroleum Jelly. I found out that there not many concerns that is product is linked to, but that there are concerns about it that were not listed in the activity. I went further into research, and found what Vaseline had to say about their animal testing and did a little more looking around on Vaseline's website.
  

• We also watched a documentary titled "Green". It is a documentary created by a grad student, and is about the controversies along "Cancer Alley" which is a 100 mile stretch between New Orleans and Baton Rouge, Louisiana. All of the large corporations in this area are polluting the air, land and soil that many poor individuals and families find themselves having to live on, and try to raise healthy children. One fact that stood out to me about this that in some areas, the soil was contaminated 17 FEET under people's houses! This was causing many diseases and other health concerns to the people living in that area, and growing gardens for their families food supply. Worse of all, the people working at these companies believe they're doing their part at home because they have flower gardens and are providing a place for birds and other wildlife to retreat to.

Week 8:

• This week I was assigned the article review titled "Privatizating Water". Basically, this is an article that highlights the advantages and disadvantages of privatizing water. It also goes into detail some of the controversies certain areas of the country are facing, and clearly depicts a riot that broke out in the city of Chochabamba which is located in Bolivia. This reading was interesting to me because it stated that currently, there at 36 countries that have very minimal water supply and are using many different methods to preserve and catch their rain water. I was even more surprised when it continued to say that within the next 6 year, SEVEN more counties are going to join the rankings of having the least amount of drinkable water for their citizens. Something is wrong here...

• We also watched the documentary titled "Thirst" this week. Thirst is a documentary that depicts the real life issues, in our own country and throughout the rest of the world, about water privatization. It makes the watcher debate the question of "Is water a human right or a commodity to be bought and sold in a global marketplace?". When looking on the Thirst documentary website, I was shocked to read that "over a billion people lack access to safe drinking water. Each year, millions of children die of diseases caused by unsafe water. The numbers are increasing." How can we fix this? How can the diseases and deaths numbers be reduced? Since the Thirst documentary has been released, there continues to be conflict and disputes, only they are now more intense.

Share & Voice: Spring Break

This year for spring break I am going to Atlanta and Jekyll Island, Georgia as well as Chicago, Illinois. I am driving down with my teammates from the ultimate frisbee team and we will be spending our time basking in the sun, playing a little ultimate (THREE days worth!) and camping for a week :)

This is a challenge... I want to know what each of you are doing over your break! Only don't just tell us what you did... post a picture and a short description of whatever you are doing, place you visit or people you spent your time with and I will do the same! :) It doesn't have to be something "environmental", just post ANY picture from your week off from school and show us what you had done :)

Hope you all have an amazing and safe spring break! :)

Review of Reading 31: Privatizing Water

On April 8, 2000 a riot broke out in a city called Cochabamba located in Bolivia. The riot had killed one 17 year old boy while hundreds of other protesters were injured. What was the riot over? Privatization of the countries water. The World Bank had threaten to withhold $600 million in the countries debt relief if they did not privatize their water. Because the privatization of water had not happened, water bills in the average house hold rose 35% per month. Protesters were able to declare victory. The city ended up privatizing their water, resulting in an end to the riot.


In 1992, when world leaders at the Rio earth Summit recognized water as an "economic good", they were mainly acknowledging the failure of their government to provide clean drinking water to over 1.1 billion people. The government saw this as an opportunity to collect profits, even though water should be considered a human right.


Currently, there are 36 countries (which are all in Africa, Asia or the middle east) that do not have a large enough water supply to meet the needs for industrial, municipal, and food production purposes. By the year 2015, seven more countries will join these rankings. See something wrong here?


In the United States, we have been rather slow in privatizing our water systems and if we were to privatize more of our water, our country would have the chance to attract the" private capital and expertise needed to build and expand expensive water system, and help connect the millions who currently make do without piped water". Could you imagine NOT drinking water from a pipe, and pulling it up from the ground yourself, from a well or some other way?! Small and poor communities are continuously drinking from questionable water resources and expensive suppliers. Poor residents in El Alto, Bolivia are drinking water from tanker trucks, which is MORE EXPENSIVE than the piped water wealthier residents are drinking from!


Many countries, people believe that water should be delivered at a low cost, or for free. Do you agree with this? As cities grow and expand, it is much more difficult to raise money to maintain or expand current water systems.


"Privatization of water has resulted in drastic rate increases, significant job cuts, fewer environmental safeguards, dropped conservation initiatives and halted service to poor or remote communities".


The gist of it, privatizing water does not benefit anyone but the supplier. If water is privatized, there are less employees working in a company which results in a larger profit for them and in return the population receives less than par service, little to no water depending on the salary of a household, higher water bills and a loss of local control and accountability.


My thoughts: There should not be counties in this nation that are going without water. Can you imagine how horrible you would feel not being hydrated?! Imagine living in a country like Africa or somewhere in the Middle east where temperatures are not comfortable and not being able to have a refreshing glass of water to cool down... I have lived out in the country before, and the water we had gotten in our house then came from a well. Still, it was running water, through piper, and had been fortified with vitamins. I could not imagine having to fetch my own water, or drink water from Lake Superior without it being filtered and okay to drink. No one should have to drink from a sketchy water resource! Although I believe that water is difficult to maneuver from place to place, it should not be so expensive since it is something we, as humans, need to survive! I understand that it is expensive for water treatment plants to run and expand, but shouldn't the health and hydration of all people be a priority?! Personally, I think other countries are in more need than we are. To have 35 countries running low on water and seven more about to join those rankings by 2015 is devastating. What do you think we can do to help?!


Terms:
World Bank- committed to reaching the poor with a sanitary water supply

International Monetary Fund - Temporarily finances countries