C-SPAN Civics Bus Visits JMU

Following class this afternoon, several of my classmates and I flocked across the Quad and boarded the C-SPAN Civics Bus, which was parked in front of Wilson Hall today as part of James Madison Week. The inside of the bus was pretty impressive, complete with all sorts of technical equipment that was definitely appealing to a SMAD digital video major like myself. There was even a soundproof interview/edit room in the back of the bus. We were escorted onto the bus and sat down on a couch that faced two large flat-screens. The presenter proceeded to show us a split-screen that demonstrated the difference between C-SPAN's unbiased, non-commentated coverage as compared to the presentations of the same story as presented by other popular news networks, including CNN, Fox News, and MSNBC, in which these stations used split panels in order to emphasize certain aspects of stories. She also showed us C-SPAN coverage of the steroid hearings from several years ago. The sneak peek into the bus was really cool, and it was neat to have an opportunity to take a behind the scenes look and realize that there's more to C-SPAN than just the seemingly neverending telecasts of Congressional hearings.

Advocacy Project Topic in Planning

My advocacy project group met today after class in order to narrow down our advocacy project topic. Initially, we had tossed around the idea of putting together a Fun Run/Walk for kids that would provide healthy snacks for participants, along with display tables that would promote healthy lifestyles at a young age. However, we realized that this would be a pretty large undertaking for only four students without a means of providing funds for this event. We thought about getting sponsors for such an event, but then decided that it would be difficult to get everything together by April. Instead, we have decided to sponsor an on campus lecture in which a panel of speakers in nutrition and health fields will discuss the fallacies of junk food advertisements and how we can advocate healthy lifestyles/eating in a more appealing manner. We still have some specifics to nail down, like who in particular we plan to ask to be on the panel, when/where it will take place, etc. However, we are excited about the event that we are advocating and hope that with the necessary planning and publicity it will be successful in raising students' awareness of the importance of healthy eating.

As always, thanks for reading, and if you have any suggestions for health/nutrition professionals who we could invite, please let me know. :)

Have a wonderful afternoon!

Ehninger & Zarefsky articles applied to argument for healthy eating

We read an article for class this week by Ehninger, who provides various characteristics of an argument.  He says that argument is not the same thing as coersion; arguments always require some type of a risk.  In the case for healthy eating, people must decide whether they are willing to give up their favorite, unhealthy foods in exchange for a healthier lifestyle.  Ehninger also discusses argument as bilateral, where no force is involved, but rather free choice is always employed.  Advocates of healthy eating do not force healthy foods down others' throats; instead, they present reasons (i.e. avoiding health problems, having more energy, physical appearance, losing weight) that encourage other people to adopt a healthy lifestyle.  Argument must end with a compromise.  In this case, that compromise may be that everyone is allowed to reward themselves once in a while with an unhealthy treat that doesn't fit into the typical healthy diet.

In a different article by David Zarefsky, the author presents his belief that reality is constructed through argument.  He discusses his idea that "definition of terms is a key step in the presentation of argument."  He also believes that power lies in the ability to create a definition for the topic at hand. When applying Zarefsky's ideas to my advocacy topic, I realized that the first step is in defining what exactly "healthy eating" is.  This can mean many different things to many different people, so in order to fully present our case in favor of adopting/maintaining a healthy diet, advocates must create a definition of what "healthy eating" means to us.  

My response to the "Learning From Losers" lecture this afternoon

I just returned from Dr. Anne M. Fletcher's "Learning From Losers-Healthy Weight Management for a Lifetime" lecture, which was sponsored by JMU Dining Services. As I mentioned in my previous post, this interested me since it is right on target with my advocacy topic, and it worked out perfectly that both of my afternoon classes ended up being cancelled (for differing reasons), which allowed me to attend the lecture. I arrived approximately 40 minutes early to ensure that I received a free, autographed copy of Dr. Fletcher's national bestseller Thin For Life.  There ended up being a standing room only crowd, likely due to the fact that this was a passport event and several teachers apparently required their dietetics students to attend. However, I can happily say that nobody forced me to go, rather, I attended because I am genuinely interested in diet and nutrition.

Dr. Fletcher started her discussion by sharing 2 disturbing statistics: 1 out of 3 teenagers and 2 out of 3 adults in the U.S. are overweight. Surprising? Unfortunately not, but certainly not something to be proud of. She then discussed obstacles that prevent college students from maintaining healthy diets, such as stress, lack of sleep, less physical activity than in high school, unlimited choices/portions in campus dining halls, low budgets of off-campus students, and last but certainly not least, partying.  Regarding that last factor, she then displayed a chart showing caloric value of some common alcoholic beverages:

• 12 oz. beer=160 calories
• 5 oz. glass of wine=100 calories
• 8 oz. margarita=270 calories
• 2 oz. shot of liquor=128 calories

Obviously, college students are not prone to being satisfied with only 1 drink, so multiply any of the above by 3 and that's at least 300 extra calories, (and on any given Thursday, Friday, or Saturday night, you would need to multiply that number by many more than 3).  Not to mention the fact that alcohol consumption lowers inhibitions and makes you likely to eat incredibly unhealthy food that you might not eat if you were thinking clearly (Chanello's at 3 am anyone?).  These facts alone are enough to make anyone run to UREC the next afternoon to work off all those empty calories, but even a rigorous workout won't be able to undo all of the damage.  Some students may not see signs of this yet, but my guess is that college partying behavior will catch up to their waistlines sooner than they might think.  Dr. Fletcher didn't elaborate about college behavior as much as I just did, but the information she shared was enough to make me start analyzing the situation.

She also shared her "12 Keys to Success" for losing weight and keeping it off.  This list included tips ranging from the obvious (i.e. not skipping meals, exercising, down-sizing portions, keeping track of what you eat, etc.) to ones not quite so typical ("Be realistic-find a comfortable body weight," "Don't deprive yourself," and "Get rid of the diet mentality").  In her book, Dr. Fletcher tells the stories of people whom she calls "masters of weight"-adults who diet, lose weight, and successfully keep the weight off for years after they lose it.  Their stories serve as an inspiration for others who want to be successful at maintaining a healthy diet.  Many times, we only hear negative stories and statistics about dieters who lose weight and then gain it back, so the author feels it is important to share success stories in order to motivate others and make them realize that this not an impossible feat.

Following her talk, attendees were invited to a mini reception next door where Dining Services had prepared several of the healthy recipes that Dr. Fletcher includes in her books.  Overall, I enjoyed the lecture, and I can't wait to delve into her book whenever I get some free time....whenever that might be. LOL.

Have a wonderful evening everyone, and as always, thanks for reading! :)

Now, go eat an apple! :P

Best-Selling Health & Lifestyle Author to Speak at JMU

From the JMU Dining Services website:

In partnership with JMU Dining Services, Anne M. Fletcher, M.S., R.D., a best-selling health and lifestyle author, will make an appearance at the Festival Ballroom on Tuesday, February 10 at 2:00 pm. Fletcher has appeared on the Today Show, The View, CNN, the CBS Early Show, and Good Morning America. Come and hear firsthand her secrets and tips for maintaining a healthy weight and making healthy eating selections a part of every day life. The first 50 attendees will receive a free copy of her national bestseller, Thin For Life, and there will be a question and answer session at the end of the presentation.

I am looking forward to the lecture and will hopefully have time to post a response sometime tomorrow evening. Hope to see some of you there!

Follow Up on Yesterday's Post...

As I mentioned in my previous post, I personally strive to maintain healthy eating habits, and (as many of my family members and friends will tell you) I sometimes attempt to impose those habits on the people close to me. I won't bore you with a laundry list of items that are included in my diet, but here's a basic overview: I don't eat red meat. Instead, I get my protein from hummus and tofu. I am also overly obsessed (and willing to admit this fact) with strictly watching my intake of unnecessary fats. Pretty much everything I cook or bake (including desserts) is either low in fat content or fat-free. I enjoy trying new, healthy recipes and then testing them on my loved ones. For instance, one of my specials is Tofu Spinach Lasagna...but when I serve it, I fail to mention the tofu part until they've eaten it. (Cruel huh?)

Thinking back on it, I guess my awareness regarding the importance of a healthy diet came to full bloom during my senior year of high school. In my agro-ecology class at governor's school, we spent a decent amount of time focusing on nutrition and healthy eating. Assignments for this unit included reading Eric Schlosser's eye-opening novel, Fast Food Nation, and viewing Morgan Spurlock's documentary Super Size Me. Then, with a newfound interest in the subject, I chose to read Spurlock's book Don't Eat This Book: Fast Food and the Supersizing of America. Let me just say that after being exposed to all of this disturbing information, I had never been happier to be a semi-vegetarian! Now, don't get me wrong, the occasional enjoyment of unhealthy food is okay as long as it is done in moderation. However, based on statistics, it seems that many Americans choose unhealthy foods more often than they opt for fruits and veggies.

So, I hope this gives you some background on why I choose to advocate healthy eating habits.

Thanks for reading!

Advocating a Healthy Lifestyle

Okay, so after thinking about my advocacy topic over the past week, I have decided to shift gears from my usual pro-environment concerns to another issue which I find to be incredibly important: maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Of course, there are many components involved in living a healthy life, including diet, exercise, proper ways of dealing with stress, and lifestyle behaviors (such as drinking or smoking), among other factors. Narrowing this down, I intend to focus on the importance of healthy eating and nutrition as part of every person's ongoing daily routine. This is a topic that I have been advocating informally for several years now, and I feel that society as a whole would greatly benefit if more Americans became more health conscious. Some individuals may argue that their personal eating habits are their own choice and do not affect anyone other than themselves, however, in a country where obesity rates continue to climb (and thus the number of people suffering from obesity related diseases like Type 2 Diabetes also increases), we will all eventually suffer from increased insurance rates in order to cover these costs. I feel that steps are being taken in the right direction in order to overcome these circumstances (i.e. schools replacing soda machines with bottled water), however, there is still a long way to go. This issue is really important to me, and I look forward to working with several classmates on an advocacy project that will promote healthy lifestyles.

I will post again later regarding my personal eating habits and the amazed reactions I sometimes receive when acquaintances first become informed of my non-mainstream diet. But alas, that post will have to wait until late tonight or tomorrow...class awaits. Have a wonderful Thursday everyone! :)

My First Semester as a....SENIOR!!!!

It hit me yesterday that this upcoming semester will (hopefully) be my last spring semester at JMU (thanks to transfer credits from governor's school and taking extra credit hours during several semesters...guess that stuff was worthwhile after all! Haha). I still can't completely grasp the fact that I'm set to graduate next December. Then I'll be forced to enter the real working world...which should prove to be interesting based on the current job market. Ah well, in the meantime, at least I have another year left to enjoy college! Speaking of which, the whole initial point of this post was to inform you all that for the third semester in a row, I again have Mike as a professor for political communication. This semester, I am taking his Argument and Advocacy class, and yet again, he is requiring that we maintain a blog. The difference is, this time we have to blog about a single topic that is important to us. This may come as a big shocker to most of you (insert sarcasm here :P), but I'm strongly leaning toward focusing on conservationism. I'm going to think about it a bit more before I make my final decision though. Another exciting, yet challenging component of this course is to complete an advocacy project concerning the issue that we blog about. So in other words, if I choose conservationism as my advocacy issue, then I will have to organize a campus or community-wide event that puts my advocacy into action (i.e. a park clean up day). I'm open to any ideas/suggestions about this, so please feel free to comment with any ideas that you may have.

Thanks for reading and have a wonderful week! :)