Persuasive speech review

I choose to give my persuasive speech on farmed fish; most people do not know the dangers farmed fish can have on a person and how it can affect our society and economy. Educating the class off the negative consequences of farmed fish as well as the positive influences that farmed fish can have allowed every one to form their own opinion to support this industry or not.

While reviewing my flip video online there was parts of my presentation that I thought went well, and parts I thought didn’t go as well as I would have preferred. When I started my presentation I thought that I did an excellent job of presenting my outline to the class to try to make my presentation easier to follow. Other parts of my overall presentation that I liked was my counter arguments; although farmed fish might be overall bad for the economy I made sure to present reasons why some people might like promoting farmed fish because it can give access of fish to all people of the world easier. Making eye contact, talking loud, and flowing in and out of each topic is important in a presentation to engage the audience in what one talks about, and I thought I did a good job of this engaging the audience as much as possible.

Some critiques that I have from watching my presentation online was that I paused a lot, mostly because of nerves, which also led to me saying “uhm” and stuttering to try to think about the next point I wanted to articulate. With having so much I wanted to say in a short amount of time, it was frustrating not being able to thoroughly talk about each point I was trying to make, which made me mumble at some points when I was trying to talk too fast. Using hands in a presentation is important to stay active and alive, but I think that I used my hands too much to the point where they were becoming annoying. I am taking this assessment into consideration for my next presentation and I do hope it will make my stage presence better and hopefully keep my audience’s attention in the future. Though I do believe I made my points well in my powerpoint talking about the effects of farmed fish, and I strongly believe that every one in my LSC 100 class will think twice when eating fish.

Prepare A Meal

The first chapter in In Defense of Food try’s to make consumers think about the food one chooses when they look to buy a meal. Does one make a point of buying low-fat, low-cholesterol or high fiber foods? If so, do you look at the ingredient list to see how this is achieved? Do you think it's better for you to eat these more "nutritious" foods than the original versions? If you do look at the ingredient list, do you avoid those with the huge ingredient list of substitutes and just go for the originals? These are just a few questions that make consumers think and realize that the meal one is making could be made healthier just by buying a few alternative products.

A meal that I have prepared for myself consists of a appetizer such as a ceaser salad, an entre of chicken breast, and a small desert of like jell-o. The stages of this process would consist of me first going to a grocery store, probably the Madison Market, which is very close to where I live. After going to the store I would find a head of lettuce, ceaser dressing, chicken, seasoning, jell-o mix, and probably some milk to drink also that would end of costing 25 dollars. After taking what I bought back to Witte I would cook in the basement in the kitchen and cook the meal. It would probably take me a while, considering making each part of the meal needs to be taken care of at different times. Each step made my experience more irritating, it took a few hours to buy the food, take it back, and cook it and by that time I did not really even care what I was eating as long as it was food.

I agree with Michael Pollan’s statement that the “damaging innovations” America has become an acquired custom to this country and believe that as long as a food is low fat it is healthy. Though I do agree with Pollan’s statement, it ultimately does not affect how much I eat. Because I am an athlete here and work out up to five hours a day, I am not watching my weight as much as other people and do not worry necessarily about the nutrition of the food I eat but rather the carbs and proteins to help me recover from a workout.

An article I found, http://host.madison.com/ct/news/opinion/column/guest/article_50282fa5-2d5e-5373-99ec-e1b10aeabe10.html states that Pollan’s book is “simplistic and unscientific”. Pollan’s idea that everyone needs to eat healthier and be more conscious about food is true, but so is people exercising daily and making other lifestyle changes to be healthier.

In Response To Kevin

In response to Kevin’s blog post about illegally downloading music, I am going to have to agree with the points he makes. The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAS) does not understand that the amount of money itunes and Amazon ask for customers to pay for a single song is outlandish. There is no such thing as “virtual stealing” but rather “virtual sharing”; websites such as www.demonoid.com support the idea that people can download their music onto the website and others can use a Torrent (a file sharing application) that allows one to download the shared files. The technology that the 21^st century has given us has allowed the consumers to be in power of downloading music. Companies want to make a bigger profit than they can handle, and we as a people are stopping them. The point that Kevin makes that recording industries are making enough of a profit from going on tours, selling apparel and being a celebrity to make up for their lowering CD revenues is completely correct. With recording industries finding different ways to make money, why not give the people the legal ability to download or share files on the internet?

Kevin’s blog post ensures to look at the opposite end of the issue because the law is the law and ultimately pirating does not give back to the artists recording the music. Though they need to realize that if they want pirating, illegal downloading, or sharing, whatever it is called to stop recording agencies need to be more realistic. Kevin sympathizes with the industry while also stating that it is not as if he does not want to reward artists for their music, but would rather go see an artist live at a concert. Finding a common ground with how to approach music downloading can make music downloader’s and musicians to be satisfied with allowing everyone being able to hear their songs.

Response to Warren

Not only is Devin Hester an excellent person to endorse Under Armour, Under Armour is very lucky to have Devin Hester want to be endorsed by them. In Warren’s blog post he gave the background to Devin Hester and Under Armour but failed to mention two very important aspects that Devin and Under Armour both share; they’re both American grown. Under Armour was a company started in the U.S. and has kept factories open only in America, being able to wear “American grown” products makes me feel good knowing that I’m supporting our country and our countries workers. Devin Hester has also been living the American dream; he attended school at the University of Miami where he played college football all 4 years and graduated. With the average number of football players graduating from college being about 79%, it’s impressive because even though Devin was clearly a phenomenal athlete this shows how much Devin appreciates and cherishes what an education means. What I liked most about Warren’s blog was how he noted that athlete’s will be drawn to this product because they see superstar’s like Devin Hester wearing Under Armour; these consumers will also believe that they can achieve the same athletic ability as Devin Hester. While this might not necessarily be true, it still allows children and adults everywhere to want to train at the best of their ability and represent Under Armour as they want to.

Fish Farming: helping or hurting?

The two articles I were titled .">Fish farming can help feed the world and .">Fish farming is environmentally destructive. These two opposing articles were arguing if fish farms can help feed the all people of the world because of how versatile fish is to all different cultures, or if fish farmingis hurting the world’s economy, environment, and people that live in it. The article for fish farming states how the idea of aquaculture (fish farming) can help feed the one billion people worldwide who are dependent of fish as a major source of animal proteins. The more that the people working fish farms can feed the fish proteins to enhance their nutritional value the better off people can be because of how the supply of fish will not diminish. While this article is convincing that fish farming can be a good service to all kinds of people, it doesn’t do good in looking at the underlying facts of how fish farming hurts local commercial fishermen who are doing good for people and the economy. While in theory having fish farms would be more nutritious for people because what the fish eat can be controlled, that’s not the facts. Farmed fish are known to have higher levels of mercury which is very deadly to our bodies. Another problem with farm fish that the article Fish farming can help feed the world failed to mention was that by being held in a fish farm factory they are highly more susceptible to obtaining diseases than wild fish are. The opposing article I read Fish farming is environmentally destructive does well in looking at all sides of the issue and applauds fish farms for the attempt to try to do good for the world, though in reality nothing can beat how a wild fish is naturally born. Wild fish are never fed artificial preservatives and are not only limited to swimming in circles it’s whole life rather than embracing the ocean for what it’s worth.

Presentation Review

By choosing to do a demonstration speech on oatmeal raisin cookies I thought it was original because most people don’t know how to make oatmeal raisin cookies or have never tried them, and especially by showing the class a homemade recipe it gave a nice alternative.

When I was watching my presentation over online there was parts of it I l thought I did well on, and parts that I thought I didn’t do so well on. Some critique’s I had of myself was that I stuttered too much; this was partially because I was nervous and kind of scared of being on stage. This also led to myself saying “um” quite a few times and overusing my hands. I thought that it would be been beneficial for me during my speech to make more eye contact with the audience to make everyone more comfortable to ask questions at the end if they wanted to, which is something else that I forgot to do. These are all pretty nit-picky critiques about myself but all in all I thought I was engaged in the presentation.

What I especially liked about my presentation was that I talked loud; some of the people that did their presentations didn’t talk very loud which led me to not get a full glimpse of what they wanted everyone to get out of their presentation. My power point presentation was a good visual to show everyone how making the cookies what it looked like making them from a home. Having pictures of me making cookies at my home allowed me to also explain that people can have fun with a recipe and change ingredients to what they want

In my introduction and conclusion what I was trying to convey to the class was that cookie’s can be an enjoyable experience that can bring a family together, and as long as that is what the class took away from my presentation, then I met my goal.

Response to Jake

On March 5 Jake did a blog post asking why Gatorade would endorse Tiger Woods. Athlete’s are idolized in this world for their amazing abilities that set them apart from everyone else. Regardless of how exhausting golf might be Gatorade is beneficial for all athletes. The ad that Jake attached to his blog noted that Tiger Woods was an athlete that is “out of this world” the end of the ad states that Gatorade tiger specifically has 25% more electrolytes than normal Gatorade which helps your body remain hydrated and have energy. In golf one's body does need electrolytes or else one can not perform to their best potential. This is why I do not necessarily agree with Jake’s statement that it was wrong for Gatorade to want Tiger Woods to endorse them.

Though once the scandal with Tiger Woods about a month ago broke loose, Tiger had no place being endorsed by Gatorade. With Gatorade being a company that is easily influenced by children and people everywhere, having their name associated with Wood’s private affair’s publically is not good for business or what they want to promote. This part of Jake’s argument I do believe with; Tiger Wood’s has a big impact of public opinion. This scandal has given not only Gatorade but all of Tiger’s endorsement companie’s publicity that they don’t want or need.

In response to Jake’s blog post I can see that he has some strong points as to why he doesn’t believe that he shouldn’t of been sponsored by Gatorade in the first place. Some people don’t see golf as a contact sport that requires energy and therefore don’t need an energy drink like Gatorade. I think it would be a more accurate argument if Jake would have played devil’s advocate and been able to look at both ends of the issue and allowed readers to form their own opinion.

Post number 3: Lebron James is "Lovin' It"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PmrTDZy3f2M Here is a video of the McDonald's commerican featuring Lebron James.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=4867029 Here is an article that was an announcement of McDonald's endorsing Lebron.

Recently in the news Lebron James (famous basketball player who currently plays for the Cleveland Cavaliers) has been spotted endorsing McDonald’s. I would like to applaud McDonald’s and James’s decision for wanting to be apart of McDonald’s positive and family friendly atmosphere. Stever Stoute, the chief creative officer of Interpublic Group’s Translation Marketing made a public statement saying, "I think that it says a lot about LeBron James that, despite the atmosphere around athletes, they did this in this climate". Lebron has always been a great role model for children; The James Family Foundation every year since Lebron was in high school has supplied 1,000 students in the Akron and Cleveland area with backpack’s and school supplies. What seperates Lebron from most other professional athlete's is that he regularly helps out his local community and appreciates that if it wasn’t for all of the supporters he had during his childhood, he wouldn’t be the man he is today.

It’s clear to me that Lebron James is not being endorsed for the money but rather for the internal satisfying gratitude that this endorsement can give him. Some people might think that this endorsement may not be good publicity for Lebron to have his name associated with McDonald’s, one of the biggest fast food chain’s in the world, but what Lebron is doing is different than that. In a news conference releasing Lebron announces that, “We share many of the same core values, including a commitment to excellence and giving back to the community. I am also excited about the opportunity to work with Ronald McDonald House Charities, which helps improve the lives of so many children and their families around the world.” Beyond his involvement in charity work with the company, Lebron will be part of TV, print and online advertising campaigns for McDonald’s, which operates more than 31,000 restaurants in 119 countries. Lebron is helping promote a healthy lifestyle by teaching children how to make better choices in all aspects of life, and with McDonald’s menu healthier than ever, maybe children will listen. And I think it’s safe to say that if the children are going to listen to anyone it’s going to be Lebron James.

Response to Ryan

Carrie Underwood's choice to be endorsed by the Humane Society was made because of her strong desire to help and protect animals. By promoting the idea that animals should get spayed and neutered she is helping pet owners open their eyes to the responsibility they signed up for. With more responsible and informed pet owners in our country the saying, “owning a pet should be a privilege, not a right” could become a reality.

The Humane Society's mission statement specifically states that, "We work to reduce suffering and to create meaningful social change for animals by advocating for sensible public policies, investigating cruelty and working to enforce existing laws...". While I do believe that the Humane Society has the ultimate goal to protect animals, they have been known to stray from this idea.

Ryan makes a clear, concise argument by looking at both sides of the issue of how the Humane Society portrays what they stand for. He understands why Carrie has decided to be endorsed by the Humane Society; her childhood consisted growing up on a farm which correlates with having a soft spot for animals. Although some imperfections the Humane Society has developed is that currently in the legislation there are laws trying to be passed that would ultimately hurt dairy farms as well as pigs in poultry farms. This statement can open people’s eyes that no matter how convincing a mission statement sounds, people need to be critical of what they decide to believe.

I agree with Ryan’s blog that Carrie Underwood has lost sight with what the Humane Society’s is trying to accomplish. Carrie needs to realize that the Humane Society is going to have to continue to misconstrue the American people by stating they are only looking after animal’s well being if they want to keep up with the 113 million dollars assets they made last year.

Post number 2: "real" food vs. "fake food"

Growing up my mom wanted to make us happy; whether it was taking us to the park to play, allowing us to occasionally stay up an extra 30 minutes at night to read us a story, or even give us a peanut butter and jelly sandwich on Wonder white bread for lunch. Little did by mother know at the time just how bad wonder bread/white bread, can be for your body.

Wonder white bread looks, smells, and even taste's more "appealing" than a piece of whole grain wheat bread. Wonder bread has a soft, smooth texture that comes from refined wheat flour. Refined wheat flour has had the natural wheat fiber removed. This explains why Wonder bread taste's so delicious; although when you eat this bread you lose the nutritional benefits natural wheat is supposed to give your body.

What Wonder white bread lacks is fiber; fiber is important to the body because it helps regulate the digestive system. Eating fiber regularly also lowers the level of cholesterol in your body and reduces the risk of colon cancer. This Wonder white bread creates a "full" sensation in your stomach that can help with weight control.

I switched from eating Wonder white bread to whole wheat bread when I was probably about 15 years old when I started to understand what nutritional facts are and how to read them. Reading In Defense of Food also helped me open my eyes to the world of what is "nutrition" and how America needs to be careful what we eat and that food companies protray their food better than what it truly is. To know more about what some differences are between these two breads, this website was helpful, http://www.streetdirectory.com/food_editorials/pastry/bread/white_bread_vs_whole_wheat_any_questions.html.

Post 1: Responce to In Defense of Food

In the beginning of In Defense of Food Michael Pollan states his aim of the book to be to "help us reclaim our health and happiness as eaters" (7). Pollan assures his readers that there are edible food substances in the world - but that we as consumers have become too lazy to eat healthy food or even prepare a meal. Another one of Pollan's arguments is that the food industry is the reason we have become lazy about what we eat. “The Western Diet” is the term that describes our countries current eating habits; this term explains our naivety about the food we eat and what we are told we are eating. Pollan notes that “most of the nutritional advice we’ve received over the last half century has actually made us less healthy and more considerably fatter” (7). An interesting article I found on WebMd http://www.webmd.com/heart/metabolic-syndrome/news/20080122/western-diet-ups-heart-diabetes-risk address how our western diet eating lifestyle is increasing one’s risk of a heart attack and diabetes. This book and article is a good way to allow readers to understand the long term effects of our choices we make today.

In the second half of the reading Pollan compels readers to realize that we have been fed the idea that having an amount of nutrients can be a substitute to eating healthy food. Pollan states it perfectly with the quote, “even processed foods may be considered to be healthier for you than whole foods if they contain the appropriate quantities of some nutrients” (32). An example of this could be Cocoa Puffs cereal, on the box there is a “Whole grain guaranteed!” statement. Is this account supposed to do justice for the high amounts of sugar, calories, sodium, and carbohydrates Cocoa Puffs contain? Being able to read in between the lines and understand what healthy foods truly are is crucial in being a smarter eater. So far in this book Pollan doesn’t put the blame on anyone for America’s bad eating choices, but rather looks at ways to change the way our country eats and learn how to appreciate food again.