Goal 5: Improve Maternal Health

The United Nations are trying to improve maternal health around the world. Not only does this mean that they are trying to lower infant mortality rates, but they are attempting to lower mother mortality rates as well. This topic interested me because it deals with the field of work I would like to go into. I believe that every birth should be a safe and healthy one.

Here are the targets outlined by the United Nations:

“Target 5.A:

Reduce by three-quarters, between 1990 and 2015, the maternal mortality ratio.

Target 5.B:

Achieve, by 2015, universal access to reproductive health.”

http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/maternal.shtml

So far, progress is being made, but both targets need more work to be able to meet the goal. Maternal mortality rates have dropped 45% from 1990 to 2013. In Northern Africa, Southern and Eastern Asia, mortality ratios have declined by about two-thirds. However, with this good news, we are still finding that regions less developed have a maternal mortality ratio that is 14 times higher than other fully developed regions. In order for the targets to be met, we must do something to provide better healthcare for under-developed regions.

This relates to our society because we still see women wanting to have children at home. Doctors suggest that women should give birth in a hospital environment so that help is there if needed. If the mother is still determined to have her child at home, doctors will recommend that a trained professional or midwife be in attendance to help in case of emergency. Insuring that births are attended by professionals trained in the field, leads us one step closer to lowering maternal mortality rates.

A Word, Please: Why Punctuation, Grammar are Important

I was intrigued to respond to this article because in the beginning it talks about how new technology has influenced our writing. One quote that really caught my eye was when June wrote, “In a Twitter-centric world where people write “some1” in place of “someone,” these fears seem valid. But linguists beg to differ. Language, their work has demonstrated again and again, polices itself according a simple law: the need to be understood.” I really enjoyed this quote because it explains that different styles of writing are acceptable in certain cases. In a formal setting, formal language should be used. However, on social media and messages between friends, proper language is not as important.

Throughout the article, June explains that some businesses might not be as professional as they seem. She points out many grammatical errors found on the website of a realtor’s office, and clarifies that when someone is trying to appear professional, they need to proof read everything they write before publishing it. She also states that she would not rely on a business that publishes unprofessional writing. I agree with this statement because if the business doesn’t care enough to proof-read their writing, how is the customer supposed to believe that the business will care about them.

Link to Article

 

This picture stood out to me because it relates to the article. If someone writes with incorrect grammar, they can not expect to be seen in a proffesional light.

Start Something that Matters

OAK lifestyle: LINK

The OAK lifestyle is a company focused on providing homeless and impoverished children with backpacks filled with school supplies in order to further their education. Every backpack that someone buys from the company, send another backpack filled with school supplies to homeless children in the US or impoverished children in Rwanda. With the money they won, they are making more colors available and advertising their company so that more people can contribute to the cause.

I was very intrigued by this idea because it's something so simple that has such a large impact. Buying one backpack can create the possibility of education for another student in our country and around the world.

Sanitation Creations: LINK

Sanitations creations in an organization determined to better sanitation on a world-wide scale. Many countries don’t have sufficient plumbing or toilets like the US. Sanitation Creations are developing porta-potty type toilets that kill pathogens and give back to the environment. Later on, the waste can be used as energy and fertilizer. This provides more sanitary environments for other countries and also cuts back on their water pollution.

Honestly, this story caught my attention because the author stated that he started drawing designs for toilets on everything. When I started to read a little bit further into the story, I realized what a good idea this is. All countries should have the same sanitary precautions that we do and the fact that it actually betters the environment is just the cherry on top.

Good Spread Peanut Butter: LINK

This company helps prevent malnutrition by providing therapeutic meals for children in Africa dying of hunger. Good Spread is the name of an all-natural peanut butter that they produce and sell to restaurants around the US. Every packet of peanut butter sold, provides a child with food.

I love this idea because there are so many children around the world dealing with hunger every day. This program sparks a fire of hope that we can eradicate hunger across the world. If we had more companies and programs like this, we would be able to save a great amount of children dying of starvation every day.

Mycoskie's Questions:

1. If I did have to worry about money, I would travel the world and embrace the culture of every country on earth.

2. I would love to adopt children from all over the world and give them a good life. My job would be simple. I would be a loving and supportive mother to all of my unique children.

3. I would support the cause of eradicating homelessness. I believe that no child should have to live on the streets and I would do my best to find each homeless child a warm place to sleep and eat.

Pecha Kucha: Possibilities

Pecha Kucha: Possibilities

     I watched the presentation on possibilities and how they can affect our lives. The presenter did a very good job of relating her experiences to the topic she is talking about. Her tone and pace was slow and easy to understand. I loved how she showed the progression of her painting throughout the presentation. Her painting's step-by-step progression and development showed how she changed as a person throughout her experiences and choosing what path to take for her future.

     I think she really needs to work on getting her main ideas across with more detail and less "umm" and "like" words. There were also points in her presentation that she laughed. That was very distracting for me as an audience because I want to know more about the topic. I don't want to take time and pause for her to laugh. I think that if she had rehearsed it a little bit more, it would have flowed better.

    I think that the Pecha Kucha form of presenting is very upbeat and interesting. It keeps your audience involved and focused. I also allows them to retain more information because they are more focused on what you have to say and they aren't trying to read a paragraph off of a slide. I think this will be a great project for all of us, however, I'm a little worried about the timing and getting my point across. I think ten slides is a good amount for a presentation, as long as I can get the main points of my information across in 20 seconds for each slide.

Response to Face to Face:

Response to Face to Face:

I found the stories from Face to Face to be very interesting. The three that stood out the most to me would be the accounts from Anjum Mir, Toru Saito, and Sayema Hameed.

Anjum Mir tells a story about the aftermath of 9-11 and how it effects her because of her religion. I understand why it would effect her, but I find it sad that it does. Just because one bad thing happens because of a group of people, doesn't mean that everybody else with one thing in common will do the same thing. It would be the same way if one group of Caucasian American's decided to blow up a library, but the majority of people wouldn't start accusing other Caucasian or becoming suspicious of them. It's a prejudice. That's all it is. No excuses.

Toru Saito's story is about the first time he was called a derogatory term, a "Jap". He was so young that he didn't understand what it meant and he asked his mother about it. She refused to tell him the definition of the term, but he knew it was bad because of the way it was used and how it was said. It's so sad to hear about how a little child who had no involvement with the war itself, was impacted greatly.

Sayema Hameed talks about a time when her cousin was stopped in an airport because of the way his name sounded and its Arabic origin. I found this astonishing because they are clearly judging other races and organized religions. The fact that they could do this to a Muslim and not do it to a Christian or someone who is Catholic. It's the same as the first story. It's simply not fair or equal.

Reading Response #4: Plagerism Lines Blur for Students in Digital Age

Reading Response #4: Plagiarism Lines Blur for Students in Digital Age

       This article spoke of many real experiences of plagiarism and the action taken to discipline the students committing the act. There was also an analysis of why plagiarism has become so wide spread in the generation of technology. The author of the article writes in a very passionate voice, almost attacking the younger generation as a whole. He makes an assumption that most people growing up in this generation have either already plagiarized, or will in the future. 

       I found this article to be very interesting. I agree that plagiarism has increased since technology has advanced. However, I don't believe that it is due to the information seeming to be "our work" because we don't have a tangible book or article in our hands with authors clearly printed on them. I believe it's because students have just become lazy. We simply don't think we have time to create our own work, so some of us copy other works. We have a huge problem of procrastination because of all the activities and sports we participate in and trying to juggle that with every other class’s work that must be turned in. There is no excuse for plagiarism, but I see the reasons behind it a little bit differently than the article.

Here is an example from the article showing their ideas on why plagiarism has become so wide-spread and a link to the article itself:

"Ms. Brookover, who works at the campus library, has pondered the differences between researching in the stacks and online. “Because you’re not walking into a library, you’re not physically holding the article, which takes you closer to ‘this doesn’t belong to me,’ ” she said. Online, “everything can belong to you really easily.” -Plagiarism Lines Blur for Students in Digital Age by Trip Gabriel

Article (click here)

       Yes, the information of a article is more easily accessed with computers, but I don't think it changes the way a student sees the ownership of the information. Students know the words aren't theirs. They choose to use them anyway because it saves time. 
Like this picture states: 



Link to site of picture

Reading Response #3: The Sweet Far Thing

     The Sweet Far Thing is the third book of the Great and Terrible Beauty trilogy. Gemma has just finished her first complete year at Spence Academy, a school for girls and has dealt with many changes in her life. After coming to Spence, she found out a lot more about her mother’s death than she ever knew and discovered another world outside of reality. She suddenly has a lot more to worry about than just becoming the perfect wife.

      In Rebel Angels, Gemma bounded the powers of the realms to herself in an attempt to keep the power away from evil forces. However, the next time they see Pippa she looks mysteriously different. This makes Gemma uneasy because she knows that the evils of the realms can influence a human the longer it stays.

      The Order, a group her mother was a part of, desperately wants control of the realms and will do anything to get Gemma to release the power. Gemma can’t trust anyone, not even her old friend Kartik. As Gemma struggles trying to determine who her real friends are, she has to decide what she will do with all this new found power. Will she give it away? Or will she learn to control it?

 

This photo represents Circe; Gemma’s biggest enemy in the realms. Circe usually appears as dark black smoke, but can sometimes take shape of other things or other people.

Excerpt:

"What would you wish for, Gemma? What do you want?" Felicity asks.

     What do I want? Why is that simple question, four little words, so impossible to answer? I would wish for things that cannot be: my mother alive again, my father well. Would I wish to be shorter, fairer, more lovable, less complicated? The answer, I fear, is yes. I would wish to be a child again, safe and warm, and yet I would also wish for something far more dangerous: a kiss from a certain Indian boy whom I have not seen since Christmas. I am a jumble of passions, misgivings, and wants. It seems that I am always in a state of wishing and rarely in a state of contentment.

     They are waiting for my answer. “I should wish to perfect my curtsy so that I might not scandalize myself before Her Majesty."

This except helps show the inner turmoil Gemma faces trying to decide the ultimate fate for her power and the realms.

      Libba Bray does an amazing job keeping the reader involved. She allows the reader to hear every thought Gemma has and see the realms and reality through her eyes. She takes you back to a time that was so different than it is today, but also to a place that nobody has ever been before.