The Onion and Why It's Great

In this particular article from The Onion, Kevin Spyra, 22, was removed from his "hazardous living conditions" by authorities. The Onion continues to explain why his living conditions were hazardous enough for him to be removed by Roommate Protective Services (Figure 2). First off, his room was a mess; dirty laundry strewn about, piles of dirty dishes, smelly bath towels, and overflowing garbage bins. Also, his roommate would not pay his share of the cable bill, which is a tragedy in itself. Last, there have been reports of "Incubus" playing as late as 3A.M. In these living conditions, could anyone survive? I'm sure this woman below (Figure 1) would love to have a roof over her head. I'm sure she's been in worse places than a small apartment owned by two typical 20-year-olds.

Figure 1. A homeless woman sitting on the street next to all of her belongings.

After all, in the United States alone, there are over 3.5 million homeless people (NSCA). Here are a few statistics on New York, New York's homeless population. Every night, roughly 21,000 children experience homelessness (of the 55,000 total homeless every night). Most of these homeless people will seek shelter in various municipal shelters. One municipal shelter houses up to 105,000 different homeless people a year (40,000 children). On a much brighter note, over the last decade, the number of homeless people actually staying in shelters increased by 60% (Coalition for the Homeless). I'm sure the remaining 40% would take Spyra's place for a few nights in a messy smelly room than staying on the streets of New York all night.

Is is possible for Spyra to have actually experienced unsafe living conditions? First, let's look at what unsafe living conditions are. According to the Prince William County, VA government website, unsafe living conditions include, gas leaks, no utilities for extended periods (running water. heat, electricity), and damage to key functions (includes stairs, deck, foundation, roof). I think Kevin could have survived a dirty room (Figure 2).

Figure 2. Kevin being escorted by a Roomate Protective Service agent.

But what if Kevin (or his roommate) was a hoarder? After all, hoarding is more common than people realize (roughly 5% of the population). Also, hoarding can happen as early as puberty. Yes, most people shown on "Hoarders" are elderly, but that doesn't mean Spyra's young roommate couldn't also have a serious mental illness (Discovery Health). According to MayoClinic, hoarding is a serious mental illness that can be the root cause for unsafe living conditions (Figure 3). Unsafe living conditions caused by hoarding include not having a three-foot walkway of available space through out his apartment for emergency personnel to access, blocked windows and doors, extreme joint deformation of the home due to mass amounts of stationary weight, and blocked emergency exits. After all, 1% of U.S. house fires are caused by hoarding, and of those hoarding fires, 25% of deaths in those fires are caused by inaccessibility (Prince William County). The Roommate Protective Service agent may have saved Spyra's life after all. Because the article never shows the extend of trash in Spyra's room, a proper conclusion will never be reached.

Figure 3. A photograph of a hoarder with all her belongings.

The wonderful thing about The Onion is that it mocks modern issues, while bringing other serious worldly issues into perspective. The Onion will catch small things that are taken for granted by almost everyone in America and bring it to attention by writing an entire article on the subject. I will catch myself thinking about how messy my room is every once in a while. This article provoked me to do some research about the homeless and hoarding populations of America. On a related note, every Christmas, my family makes a donation to a charity of choice. This year I am going to choose a homeless shelter. Thanks, The Onion, for showing me a new perspective.

Is Youtube a New Educational Tool?

*Disclaimer - Read the entire article before clicking on any of the links, or else you may never finish!

Here's a question that many people (especially students and teachers) may find interesting; can Youtube be used as an educational tool? PBS Idea Channel produced an intriguing video on this subject. The video displays how Youtube can be used for an educational benefit, and how this addresses the two modern education problems of availability and engagement.

PBS Idea Channel is a Youtube channel that answers many of the Internet's questions, like whether or not Doctor Who is a religion, how Minecraft can be educational, and whether or not Google is considered knowledge. These videos are created and hosted by Mike Rugnetta. Rugnetta likes to play guitar and use computers. He is employed by PBS to create these educationally inspiring videos. A production company called Kornhaber Brown (a team of six people) help to produce these videos. Kornhaber Brown often produces advertisements for companies like Subway and American Express.

Figure 1. Mike Rugnetta hosting for PBS Idea Channel.



Rugnetta starts out the video by showing the audience that Youtube is not just for silly pet videos, and that it actually has some educational value. Youtube can be used to learn how to do "pretty much everything" (Rugnetta), like throat singing, banjo riffs, and how to properly iron clothes. I personally love learning things from Youtube. Two years ago, I decided to solve a Rubik's cube. After endless hours of frustration, I decided to look up instructions via Youtube. Now, not only can I solve a Rubik's cube, but I can solve one in less than five minutes. It's a great party trick to show friends (but I won't actually be bringing a Rubik's cube to a party).

Rugnetta claims that educational Youtube videos address two serious problems with modern education; availability and engagement. There are thousands of educational lectures posted on Youtube from professors all over the world. Now instead of paying an arm and a leg for tuition to attend MIT for electrical engineering lectures, many of these lectures are posted online for everyone to view. Now quality lectures are available to everyone with access to internet and a computer. Some teachers are creating accounts and posting their lessons online for students (and anyone, really) to view. One handy educational channel is Khan Academy, which provides educational help using Youtube videos and apps for your smartphone. I personally used Youtube to teach myself derivatives. After three class periods of not understanding exactly what a derivative was, I took it upon myself to find out. I discovered a great video explaining what a derivative was, how to find it, and what it means. Needless to say, I scored an A on my derivative test.

Figure 2. A screenshot of "Slow Motion Cat Flipping Physics"

 

Online videos obviously address the availability problem, but what about engagement? There are many educational Youtube videos that are for entertainment and education. One of my personal favorites is the science of why cats always land on their feet  (Figure 2. I found this through PBS Idea Channel). Most people would think a cat's tail is what allows the cat to land upright, even when dropped upside down. Actually, the cat uses the law of conservation of angular momentum to flip itself over. This is proven using physics, and the fact that Japanese Bobtail cats can land on their feet without a tail (Figure 3).

Figure 3. A Japanese Bobtail Cat

Even though Youtube can be used as an excellent educational aid, there is still one major problem; Youtube is distracting. After watching a video, at least twenty new video thumbnails pop up on the computer screen, begging to be clicked. As a matter of fact, when researching for this blog entry, I was distracted for nearly an hour by educational videos. In this time I found out about the Fibonacci sequence in nature, how to create Nepal's flag, how to draw fractals, why a cat lands on its feet, how to make a hexaflexagon (and I did end up making one), and why there are many different types of infinity. This can be a very time-consuming flaw that is a procrastinators worst nightmare. One option to combat this would be a filter to allow only educational video to be viewed (set up by teachers during a class). Also there could be a limit to how many videos one can watch in an hour. Furthermore, a section of Youtube could branch off (possibly called Youtube.edu) if internet education is going to be more than an aid. This is a new sensation, so these flaws will remain where they are for some time. In the end, Youtube may never be more than an educational aid with plenty of cat videos for all to see.

The Meaning Behind "Thrift Shop"

Many of us have heard the name Macklemore at some point or another. For those who have no idea who he is, Macklemore is a recently famous rap artist who released an album titled The Heist in 2013. One song in particular, "Thrift Shop," is the second single in history to reach the Top 10 Billboard without a label, as an independent artist. Macklemore is praised for his different twist of modern rap music. "Thrift Shop" is unique because not only is it considered a parody of modern rap music, but it sends a positive message to the audience through verbal and visual queues.

One of the main humor elements in "Thrift Shop" is the fact that Macklemore is mocking modern day rap. One current theme in modern rap is what material items the rapper owns. Most rappers will talk about their designer clothing, Rolex watches, nice cars, and other excess items. "As Biggie Smalls notoriously rapped, 'Money, hoes, and clothes, all a [sic] knows.' Accordingly, brand names take center stage in many rap songs, and cars and jewelry are often flaunted in music videos" (Mendelman). Macklemore uses this common theme and puts his own spin onto it. Instead of rapping about designer clothing and expensive items, he raps about all the cool things he bought at a thrift shop. He often states the price of the item. "Draped in a leopard mink, girls standin' next to me ...But shit, it was ninety-nine cents!" (Macklemore). 

Another element in which he mocks modern rap is how he talks about wearing that "big ass coat" and looking incredible in it. Modern rappers are often seen wearing giant coats as a fashion statement (see figure 1). Macklemore is seen through out his video wearing giant coats (see figure 2).

Figure 1. Big Boi wearing a giant coat.

Figure 2. A screenshot from "Thrift Shop" where Macklemore is showing off his big coat.

Macklemore has other elements in his video that mock popular rap videos, like always being surrounded by women (again, see figure 2). Instead of rolling up onto the scene in a fancy car, Macklemore prefers cycling on a blue bicycle that is much to small for him(figure 2). Also, parts of "Thrift Shop" take place in a club, which happens to be the setting for many other rap videos (like 50 Cent's "In Da Club).

Not only does Macklemore mock modern rap music, but he sends a positive message to his audience. First off, none of the girls in the video are wearing extremely revealing clothing. As seen in figure 2, both girls are showing no cleavage and have their shoulders covered while still looking beautiful. This particular element is sending the message that you don't have to dress explicitly in order to be beautiful. At one point in his video, Macklemore features a plus size woman. This is something that is almost never seen in modern rap videos (see figure 3).

Figure 3. A plus-sized woman is featured in "Thrift Shop".

A common theme heard through out "Thrift Shop" is that cheap clothing can look fabulous. Macklemore talks about going to the club wearing a unique piece of clothing he found at a thrift shop, and comparing himself to the man wearing a Gucci shirt. The man wearing the Gucci shirt spent $50 on it, and there are five other people in the club wearing that same shirt. However, Macklemore's shirt is unique, therefore he is noticed (Macklemore). This message is very powerful, because most people seem to think that money is needed to become popular. Macklemore demonstrates that it's not about the money, it's about being unique. He also shows that an individual can still look great while on a budget.

Not only did"Thrift Shop" make a massive leap onto the Top 100 Billboard this year, but it is also comical in many ways. It mocks modern rap themes, like taking place in a club, wearing expensive clothing, owning fancy cars, but it also sends positive messages to the audience by showing modestly-dressed women. At one point, a plus-sized woman is featured. In the end, life isn't about the money. As Macklemore clearly points out, you can dress fabulous and shop on a budget at a thrift shop.

"Blame the Lifestyle"

 

"Fat Teens Sue McDonald's," "Teenagers' Suit Says McDonald's Made Them Obese," "McDonald's Blamed For Making Teens Fat," are just of the few headlines that bombarded the news late 2002. With the arrival of this lawsuit, David Zinczenko published an article to the New York Times convincing the mass public that these insignificant teenage girls had quite a significant point to make. Not only was nutritional information on fast food practically inaccessible, but most people had nowhere else to eat, whether it be because of cost, time or location. Zinczenko relates these issues with the sharp increase of Type 2 diabetes and obesity in children. To sum it all up in one phrase, "don't blame the eater."

Zinczenko grew up in Pennsylvania with divorced parents eating Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, Kentucky Fried Chicken or McDonald's every day for lunch and dinner. By age fifteen he weighed 212 pounds, for which he blames on his diet. Zinczenko then "got lucky" and joined the Navy Reserves and became involved with Men's Health Magazine (which to now he is the editor-in-chief as of 2000). Although he may have shared with us his past to persuade people that food is the cause of obesity, this is where I begin question his argument. If he lost all of that weight by joining the Navy Reserves (which requires a substantial amount of physical activity), is it possible to be relatively healthy and eat McDonald's every day?

Don Gorske was the first name that popped into my mind. My first and only memory of Gorske was from the film "Supersize Me," known as the man who ate a Big Mac every day for some ungodly length of time. I recall him having quite normal cholesterol levels and being quite thin and a good head of hair. After researching more about Gorske I discovered he recently ate is 25,000th Big Mac.

Fig. 1.1 Don Gorske eating a Big Mac at a McDonald's

With my recent purchase of a Fit Bit came the information that in order to maintain a healthy lifestyle, one should walk (or run) 10,000 steps a day, or roughly five miles. Dave Whitehurst is a man whose life was changed by walking. Weighing in at 300-plus pounds, Whitehurst decided to change his lifestyle by walking five miles a day. After thirteen consecutive years of walking daily, his weight has leveled out around mid to low 200 pounds.

There have been discrepancies about the "Supersize Me" data results; no one could replicate the experiment and obtain similar results. One prime example takes place in a Swedish university where a group of healthy students were put on a high calorie fast food diet, similar to that in "Supersize Me". Overall there was about 5%-15% overall weight gain and no significant changes in cholesterol. What do college students do more of than most of the general population? Walk.

According to my Fit Bit, my days at home in Ann Arbor, MI consisted of walking roughly 5,000 steps a day, or about 2.5 miles. I worked at Quizno's Subs five days a week for roughly five hours at a time. During my first week of college, my maximum daily score was 17,654 steps (7.8 miles).

Fig. 1.2 A screenshot of my record-breaking day at college

After talking to a few of my newly acquainted friends, they seem to agree that college involves over twice the amount of walking that was done at home. If college kids were asked to eat a high calorie diet, they would be less susceptible to weight gain because of their activity level. Is it just me, or am I seeing some sort of correlation between the amounts of physical activity one completes in a day and one's overall health?

To answer my own question from earlier, it is quite possible to frequently eat fast food, as long as you live an overall healthy lifestyle with plenty of physical activity. Who knows, I may be performing this experiment on myself someday. If only I can get some funding for all those Big Macs!



Testing, testing!
The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.