Week 11

When asked about my favorite food I find it very hard for me to choose just one, and my favorite food often changes. However, as of lately the something that tops the list is a simple, but tasty hamburger. There are many toppings that can go on a hamburger, and I prefer practically all of them when I am enjoying one. For example, ripe and juicy tomatoes, crisp lettuce, sour pickles, and even onions. Hamburgers alone are great, but they're even better when there is a side of perfectly cooked and season fries to go with it.
The history of the hamburger goes a long way back; there are various accounts of “hamburgers” stretching back to the 15^th and 16^th centuries, but these were not even close to the same “hamburgers” that we see today. The first appearance of a hamburger on an American menu was back in 1826 on the menu of a restaurant named Delmonico's, in New York. Even though this is the first appearance on a menu there are many speculations as to who actually invented the hamburger. There are people who say it was a coincidence and that vendors ran out of sausage for sandwiches and were forced to use beef instead. There are also others who believe that a young man started selling sandwiches, made out of meatballs, that could be eaten on the run, and these sandwiches would eventually evolve into the hamburger we know today.
Whatever the story is, I'm just glad somebody was able to come up with such a good tasting piece of food. I love hamburgers, there are so many combinations of different toppings and ways to make them, they personalize the way we eat.

While fixing up the rough draft I pretty much rearranged everything a couple of times trying to get it to sound right. I also fixed a few sentences and moved some of them around. I even go rid of some sentences that didn't fit, but also added others that I felt needed to be there. There were, of course, grammatical errors that I had to go back and fix also.

Week 11: Onigiri

Some Japanese food, like Sushi, is well-known in America. But some popular Japanese food isn’t very well known in the western world. One Japanese food that isn’t very well known in America is called “Onigiri.” Onigiri are rice balls shaped into a circle/triangle, filled with a filling such as a pickled food or salmon, and wrapped with seaweed. Onigiri are also made with some salt so they aren’t bland.

Making onigiri was an activity of my Japanese culture class in high school. The rice was cooked in a rice cooker, and the resulting starchy steam smelled so good at the end of a school day. We dipped our hands in water to prevent the rice from sticking to our hands (which it did anyway). We carefully morphed the rice into a ball and wrapped the salty crispy seaweed around it, enjoying it coming to life and sticking to the rice as it gained moisture. These cute little rice balls have been a part of life since long ago in Japan’s history.

Onigiri has a simple but long history, dating back to earlier periods when there were warriors (a.k.a. samurai). In earlier periods, onigiri were made for samurai to eat while they were outside. The reason they were made to eat outside is because they are convenient to eat and carry, like finger food. Onigiri are still convenient in modern-day Japan and have been lovingly hand-made because they are portable, but that’s not the only reason they are popular.

Onigiri have also gained popularity in Japan because they are now mass-produced and available in convenience stores at a great price, and because they have a homemade touch. They are widely available thanks to the new inventions of machinery. However, the seaweed on the onigiri would wilt, so it is packaged separate from the rice so you can wrap it on yourself before eating. In addition to coming packaged, it is also becoming a popular dish of cafés. Either way, “when you have onigiri prepared just for you or add the seaweed wrapping yourself, you get the warmth of the personal touch,” (Great Balls of Rice!).

Overall, these rice balls are cute, portable, and can make you feel special for eating them because of the care that goes into making them.

***I added the paragraph about making onigiri in my class into the beginning after I wrote about the history. I paid attention to the flow of old information to new information. I also expanded the 4th paragraph topic sentence to include the "homemade touch" idea. Overall, I think writing like this added clarity but seems more redundant. Maybe there's a balance I should try to achieve, in general.***

Works Cited

"Great Balls of Rice! Classic Snack Gets New Lease on Life." Web Japan. Japan Information Network, 21 July 2003. Web. 18 Mar. 2011. http://web-japan.org/trends01/article/030121soc_r.html.

yummmmmm..

My favorite food in the whole wide world is a hot fudge sundae!! Every year since I can remember my parents have taken me to get a hot fudge sundae for my birthday! These sundaes are not your normal sundaes, they are GIANT and made perfectly every time! The perfect sundae is made layer by layer. It starts with a cold creamy layer of vanilla ice cream followed by a warm rich layer of melted fudge. These layers alternate to the very top of course, and then it's topped with a thick layer of whipped cream. Then the sundae is sprinkled with nuts and topped with a maraschino cherry! Thank heavens for the person who invented this delicious treat. Although, no one has been able to agree on who that wonderful person is. We do know that they came about around 1890. Around that time a law was passed in some places in the mid-west that banned soda on Sundays. So, for ice cream shops the only options left were ice cream and syrup, which gave the treat its nickname.. ice cream sundae.

The first time I wrote this it was really random and a lot of the phrasing sounded really awkward. There were also a lot of mistakes with my spelling as well as my grammar. It was very choppy and did not flow in between explaining the sundae and then giving the history.The rewrite made it possible to organize what I was trying to say and make changes!

Week 11

I love food. Food is so great. There's nothing like eating something that tastes great and is good for you. My favorite kind of food is definitely pizza. I enjoy variety in all things, so variety in food is a big deal for me. Pizza offers many different kinds of variety for me. There are various breads, meats, cheeses and veggies for one to choose from in order to make that perfect pizza combination. Not only is there much variety for what your pizza contains, but there are various restaurants and chains that offer different styles and types of pizza. I enjoy partaking of pizza that is not always the same and that is made differently. Pizza has originated from Middle Eastern and Mediterranean cultures starting in about the tenth century. Pizza was considered a dish of the poor and was not considered to be a kitchen recipe for many years. The ingredients for pizza have evolved over the many centuries, mostly changing when it was brought to America.

I can't remember when the first time I had pizza was, but it must have been sweet. My first taste of it was probably a big turning point in my life, due to the fact that I used to be a very picky eater. Pizza opened doors for me. A nice hot slice of cheesy, spicy pizza sounds good right now. This dish probably made me be more willing to try other foods throughout my childhood. In trying other foods I might discover something new for my taste buds that could possibly be just as good as pizza.

I found some major improvements from my first writing to this revised one. It is amazing how many little errors I noticed. Second drafts are wonderful and make a huge difference. This is why I enjoy the peer reviews that we do in class. I moved so many sentences around in my first draft to make this post make more sense. I moved my history of pizza part around a couple of times trying to make it fit in the best place in conjunction with my more personal stories with pizza.

Week 11-Pasta

My favorite food is pasta. Pasta is generally accepted and being an Italian food. Thank you, Italy. The two basic categories are dry pasta, cooked without eggs and able to store for up to two years, and fresh pasta which must be eaten within a few days. It is made from wheat and some types of pasta have other ingredients, like eggs, added in. When made from scratch, noodles are made by preparing a dough, cutting it into strips, and putting it through a pasta grinder that evens and thins the strips. The noodles are then left out to dry and then boiled. Isn’t pasta cool?? Pasta is so fun to eat too! And there is like…a million different kinds of noodles. You can choose from manicotti, penne, ditalini, fettuccine, rigatoni, ziti, fiori, rotini, tortellini, gnocchi! Just to name a few. There’s stuffed pasta, long pasta, skinny pasta, shaped pasta, wheat pasta, and even designer pasta. I can honestly say that I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve been to a restaurant that offered pasta and ordered something else. Pasta has never failed me. Whether it’s Kraft Macaroni & Cheese or one of everything at Brick Oven, pasta is always a good choice. Any kind of pasta will do, as long as it’s served with a white sauce. Not red. The only times I can remember not liking pasta were when it was served in a marinara sauce. I’m not a fan. It’s so tomatoey…Alfredo sauces are so superior in every way. Remember this next time you’re at a restaurant, imagine that big plate of toasty warm pasta served with garlic bread and meatballs coming your way. It won’t take long for you to figure out what you’re ordering.

It was kind of hard to make pasta interesting to read about, thus the tone I used in this. I know it’s unprofessional and far from academic. However, anyone reading this probably figured out that I freaking love pasta. That was my main intention. I organized it by topic: History and facts about pasta, types of pasta, and my opinions about pasta. Now go eat some pasta.

Steak

People have been eating beef since they figured out how to graze and butcher livestock. But when it comes to beef, there is only one way to enjoy its maximum potential and that would be in the form of a well-cooked steak. The best steaks come from the hindquarter cuts of a cow. There are several classifications of meat, the most important being the USDA evaluation. If the USDA gives a selection of beef the grade of “Prime,” you know you have found yourself a good piece of meat. I personally prefer my steak somewhere in that medium medium-rare range. That places the internal temperature of the meat at around 145 F when it is finished cooking. I love steak when it is warm, tender, and juicy. I really don’t care how large my selection of meat is, my priority is to be able to savor each bite to the fullest of its potential. People who order and eat those forty ounce steaks are missing the point in my opinion. I don’t have anything against them, but how much you enjoy your steak shouldn’t be measured by how much meat you can eat, or how fast you can shovel it down. Rather, I believe that every morsel of a great meal will be appreciated and enjoyed by the partaker, not quickly throw down into a bottomless and never satisfied pit of hunger. I first began to enjoy a good steak when I was a pre-teen. I began my relationship with food like all other children who enter this world. First I drank milk, and then expanded my horizons progressively to foods that were more solid. I have a very interesting relation with dairy products. Milk, yogurt, and ice cream, are just some of the delicious members of this food group. I developed a particularly strange attachment to cheese as a child, an attachment which has recently displayed itself again. I think I will enjoy a mission in France, where people place a high value on the quality of dairy products such as yogurt and cheese, as well as the simple things such as bread and vegetables.

My first draft was significantly different than my second draft. In the first draft I rambled aimlessly about my topic and its history. As I thought about my history with food, I simply listed off foods that I liked as I thought back through my childhood. Obviously my second draft is a little more formal and conveys a more direct and comprehendible message.

Week 11: The Cheeseburger

A meal that is representative of a turning point in my life is the introduction of crab into my life. At first the thought disgusted me, but upon trial during a vacation to the Oregon Coast at the age of 10, it instantly became a lifetime favorite of mine. Another turning point in my life, food-wise, would be when I first started ordering food at restaurants that weren’t hamburgers. Cheeseburgers have been my favorite food ever since I can remember, and it’s is all I ordered growing up. I ordered spaghetti one time in place of my burger, and regretted it. Nonetheless, I found it a stepping stone of diversifying my food choices. Upon some quick research, it may interest the masses that the hamburger originated in the United States and Germany and that the term “patty” is never used in the UK! Exciting stuff, eh? It can be served as pork, turkey, or tofu patties or a combination of meats, but is normally served in the beef form. Crisp lettuce, fresh tomato slice, thin onions, and a hybrid of mayo and ketchup are the elements that are optional to my favorite food: the cheeseburger. However, required are two lightly toasted bun halves, which serve as the security blanket to encompass the, also required, succulent beef patty. American cheese settles atop the patty, but has reached a temperature that lowers its viscosity and permits the free flowing of cheese whichever way gravity feels. No combination of ingredients can imitate such euphoria as does the cheeseburger. This is a meal that I simply love. Other than this meal, the meals I’ve loved have been those that were outside my comfort zone; crab, sushi, and a sandwich with questionable lunch meat. They are the most memorable and have all turned out delightful. I have only hated one meal, and that’s because it caused violent food poisoning; curse family reunion tamales.


At first i began with the description of my favorite food, but after revising I decided to open with the meals that were represented as turning points in my life because the topic of "meals" is more general and then i could eventually lead to the specific topic of hamburgers.I also moved the research portion of hamburger to right after the turning point section because it didn't flow well to read facts about hamburgers after a savory description of hamburgers. Then I transitioned into all kinds of meals i enjoy and left the meals I hate at the end. Because i thought it was funny to end on.

Dear Media,

One day I'm going to have a family. When that time comes I'm going to teach them that the reason we are on this earth is to ultimately create and be a part of a family. To reach this goal they're going to need to understand that a family was meant to be made up of a father, a mother, and their children. Not two dads. Not two moms. Not one dad. Not one mom. Not a bunch of parentless kids running wild through the streets of Tree Hill. How dare you put it in their minds that any of these options is more desirable or even equal to a traditional nuclear family? Your influence reaches far and wide, poisoning the minds of our society until it reaches those who make the laws in our land. The thought of my kids going to elementary school and learning about same-sex marriage as an equal alternative to heterosexual marriage makes me ill. I am not passing judgment on any individuals, however, I don't want my kids to be conflicted on where they stand on this issue because what they hear at home is the opposite of what they're taught at school. Media, you have done this. I may very well now face the difficulty of combating both the media and school in my children's beliefs. If my children enter into homosexual unions their chances of staying together are significantly lower than if they were in a heterosexual marriage. If a union is broken, the biological parent or legal adaptive parent will automatically get custody of the child. The other former partner gets nothing, not even legal visitation rights. I don't want this mess for my kids or grandkids. I realize that a divorce isn't a piece of cake either, but why add to the complications? The things shown on TV don't ever give proper attention to these complications or many other consequences for that matter. The social effects of being gay are occasionally looked at, if it adds drama to the show. But in my opinion being gay, for the most part, isn't even depicted as an alternative lifestyle anymore. Being gay or straight is portrayed as being as inevitable in society as have people who are white or black. I don't claim to know why people are gay. I actually have no opinion on the issue and even though I don't agree with homosexuality, I believe with all my heart that everyone deserves to be treated with kindness and respect. My kids will grow up knowing this, even if the media doesn't always teach it. However, they will also know that we believe in the traditional nuclear family, since media, you refuse to teach this as well.

Peace media.

P.S. This doesn't mean I don't love Modern Family...conflict of interest, I know.

Week 11

Dear dumb parents,

Although you may think you're doing just fine and dandy only watching PG-13 movies, you may be wrong. One of the most vital aspects to understand when discussing ratings and their debatable accuracy is "ratings creep." To be put simply, ratings creep is the change in content of lower rated movies, specifically them becoming more extreme over time, such as PG-13 movies now containing the more graphic violence or gratuitous profanity which would formerly only be in an R-rated film. According to the Movie Picture Association of America's (MPAA) frequently asked question guide, there are "no specific rules with which ratings are assigned." Although off handedly one may remark that PG-13 films can only contain 1 "f-word" and only a certain amount of sexual activity, a look at their actual guidelines reveals this to be simply a trend. They do indeed contain specifics such as R-rated films being the only to contain "sexually oriented nudity" or "the f-word in reference to sexuality in some form." However, the CARA ratings board within the MPAA is given complete liberty within broad terms such as these, and the majority vote of which rating to be assigned is taken, only to be reconsidered if under appeal by filmmakers. Essentially, the system is being exploited, resulting in the bar being pushed just a little bit further every time as movies contain more and more edgy content. As this brief summary of ratings creep has shown, using better judgment before letting yourself or your children watch even lower rated movies is needed. Perhaps try kids-in-mind.com 's more detailed, number based ratings system, to check the appropriateness of films before letting them into your home.

Sincerely,

Ben

Letter to my Senator

To the Honorable Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison:

Dear Senator Hutchison,

Greetings from the campus of Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. My name is Chad Sorensen. I am currently enrolled as a full-time student at Brigham Young University, but I am a citizen of the state of Texas. Consequently it is to you that I address my remarks.

Teenage pregnancy is a serious issue in society today. It is an especially serious problem in the state of Texas. Only Mississippi has more live teen births per 1000 teenagers than Texas does. Another point of concern is that women between the ages of fifteen and nineteen account for more than one out of every ten pregnancies in Texas. Something must be done in an attempt to combat statistics as startling as these.

It has recently come to my attention that research has been conducted which links teen pregnancies to the amount of sexual content viewed by teenagers. In a study published in 2008, in the journal Pediatrics, researchers concluded that teenagers who viewed low amounts of sexual content were half as likely to be involved in a pregnancy as teens who viewed high amounts of sexual content.

As a recent high school graduate, I do not find this statistic particularly shocking. The majority of my peers who were involved in sexual behavior preceded such behavior with a high intake of sexual content from various media sources.

Senator, based on the evidence noted above, as well as countless other studies and statistics that have been completed or are being conducted currently, I am suggesting that a change be implemented. We need a solution to better protect the youth of America, and more specifically, the youth of Texas, from the dangers of media sexuality. I am asking for your help in finding a solution to this current problem.

Of course there are several Constitutional issues that could arise if the government were to attempt to increase its regulation on the media. However, I do not think that voters would disagree that small changes could be implemented to help protect teenagers from the dangers posed by sexual content in the media. Perhaps a restriction upon the amount and type of sexual content that can be displayed in a show would help to slow the tide of the media onslaught that our youth are facing. Even if this is not possible, I am hoping that by bringing this issue to your attention that steps will be taken to help combat the problem of teenage pregnancy.

May God Bless You in Your Endeavors,

Your Concerned Citizen
Chad Sorensen

Dear Media,

WHAT do you think you are doing? Trying to make nurses look bad on national television. That is completely uncalled for. Thanks to your shows of Grey’s Anatomy, House, and ER the public’s perceptions of nurses are totally wrong. Nurses are not incompetent, ditzy, or to say the least non-existent. Nurses are not the doctor’s servant and handmaiden.They are the ones who take care of the patients constantly, checking their statuses frequently, and truly being the patients’ advocates. I do not appreciate what you are doing the the image of nursing. Not only are you helping contributing to the nursing shortage, but you are making nurses themselves feel like they are nothing. They are starting to have low self-esteem and are unconfident in their daily tasks. This prevents nurses from performing their activities with an assured mind. That in return makes a situation more dangerous for the patient. Also, it is said that if registered nurses were increased in the hospital so many more lives would be saved. Who would not want that to happen? Obviously you don’t want it to because of all of your bashes against nurses in your television shows. Another thing that upsets me and all of the nurses in the world is that you rarely ever have male nurses appear on your shows. This is showing the public that male nurses are frowned upon. Many people believe that male nurses are wanna-be doctors and are not smart enough to be accepted into medical school. This is horrible to think. Nursing is an awesome job and is an educated career. Nurses go through many years of school and are taught so much important information. They perform difficult tasks everyday and it is them who help save patient lives. The next time you decide to put another untrue thing about nurses in your shows, take a minute to think about it or give nursing school a try and see how it is truly hard and rigorous. Thanks for your time.

Mykenna DiGiovanni

Week 10

Dear Jimmer,
Have you ever been listening to music and singing along with the team and you suddenly realize what you are singing? There are so many songs that have a great beat and are fun to sing along to that have themes glorifying the use of alcohol and drugs. Peers are the greatest influence on the music that adolescents listen to. Teens are exposed to hours of music every day around 77% of that music makes reference to the use of these substances. Teens hear and see celebrities that they like singing about the fun that comes from this substance abuse and gain a good impression of the substances. When a time comes that these teens are confronted with using drugs or alcohol they remember the fun that they observed in the music videos and songs that they have heard. There are additional harmful affects that this music has on teens. Studies have shown that depression and aggression also increase as a result to music containing lyrics glorifying substance abuse. So Jimmer please for the sake of all of BYU please don't listen to bad music, and make good choices.

And, thank you for the big win, 52 points... UNREAL!!

Week 10

Dear Earnest,

The globalization of media has impacted the world. Many great new innovations have come about in the recent decades that have made it possible for you and I to be able to find out information instantaneously. I know that your are just as big of a sports fan as I am, and like to use certain media outlets to acquire information about your favorite athletes and teams too. Athletes are always being conversed about through television, radio, newspapers, and the Internet. So much of what athletes say and do affects the perceptions of you and I. The media makes all of this possible. Remember when we talked about Tiger Woods and that character Brett Farve? We said that those guys are idiots for the recent negative media attention they have been getting. The media has made our perception of these guys seem not as 'professional' as we thought they were. We looked up to these guys as kids but now we look down on them. Tiger is an adulterer, and Brett likes to send lewd pictures of himself to others. Dude, we had some really great heroes that we looked up to right? Not quite, my friend. The media has ultimately destroyed our childhood heroes and makes us look negatively upon them. It is good that the media gets out the truth so that athletes don't continue on with their horrible actions but the media should be a little more careful in what they broadcast to the public. The media should stop hounding on the stories of these athletes because it is ultimately giving the athlete more attention that they enjoy having. When you are a role model for children across the world you would think that you might want to conduct yourself in a matter that is appropriate for young kids that want to copy your life. This is why athletes should be more cautious in their dealings with the media. Every move they make or word that comes out of their mouth can be broad casted to millions in seconds. The vicious media, looking for any new breaking story, puts athletes on display to be negatively viewed by the public and its perceptions. There goes our so-called heroes...

Till we meet again Earnest.

Week 10

Dear Jordan,

Have you heard about the lockout that is supposed to take place in the NFL if they do not come to agreement for the terms of the new contract? Both the players and the owners of teams are in a huge debate over what the salary cap should be and how much the players should earn. This debate has been going on since the end of the 2010 season which was played without a salary cap. If there were to be a lockout many people would feel the repercussions of this event. One group that would feel this a lot would be the new incoming rookies that are looking to be drafted. Yes they are still planning on having a draft this year which means those rookies would be drafted, but the ones that end up not getting drafted would not have the choice of trying to go walk on to a team after the draft. The rookies that would be drafted would not necessarily be given a salary for the next year. This means that all these kids fresh out of college who were banking on the NFL as their job no longer have the NFL as an option to make money for a year. Many of these kids would not have a good back round to fall back on if they cannot make money because their entire focus in college was football. This is just one of the major problems of the lockout and there are many more that are out there and if you look at the big picture, almost everyone in the nation is going to be affected in this lockout whether the effect be big or small. This is an issue that you should probably keep your eye on because it will affect you in a way that will not be beneficial to you whether it be big or small.

Week 10: Dear Andy

Dear Andy,
How’s the family? I heard about that homeless woman beating you up. That’s pretty crazy, man. Anyway I’ve heard some talk on the radio about a possible reinstituting of the Fairness Doctrine. You know what I’m talking about? It’s the doctrine that was introduced in 1949 and then upheld by the Supreme Court in 69’ that would allow the FCC to regulate and force equality in broadcasting. Well it was abolished in 1987 during the Reagan administration, but now there’s talk on the news that democrats are trying to bring it back again. It makes sense that they would want to do that though. I mean it is conservative media that is the most popular in the country by far; liberal talk shows don’t even compare in listener numbers. I just don’t see the “fairness” in the whole deal. I mean, sure, people should be able to hear both sides of the story, and that option exists! It’s just the liberal talk shows aren’t nearly as popular as conservative talk shows. Why would this be? Probably because they haven’t got much to offer to the table other than saying things like “Hope” for a better tomorrow, while republicans can use facts and logic to point out problems that our country is facing, but that’s just me. I don’t see why the Liberals can’t just let the conservatives dominate one portion of mass media, I mean let’s be honest, democrats own pretty much every other form of media: cinema, television, and music, to name a few. If there is going to be regulations for equal representation on the radio, it certainly seems fitting to institute a similar regulation on all forms of media, I mean as long as we’re talking about “fairness.” It’s just something to think about. Some democrats are denying that there is even a push to get it passed, including Obama, but at the same time there are liberals openly expressing a need for bringing it back. So just keep your eye out, it could make a comeback here pretty soon. The more successful conservative talk shows get, the more they’re going to want to silence them.

Week 10

Dear Amanda,
We've both played lacrosse. We know about the absolutely ridiculous rules involving the women's "no contact" sport. But it almost makes the sport more challenging if you think about it. Instead of using contact and checks to maintain ball control, it's all strategy and mentally being stronger than the other team. In men's lacrosse their pocket is 5x bigger in their sticks and the fact that their goalies can have longer poles, thus resulting in much longer throws (especially from a goalie's standpoint), makes it a lot easier to get the ball from one end of the field to the other. Remember the one time that for practice instead of warming up by doing our regular passes with balls we used water balloons instead? It improved our stick skills so well because of the slack that we had to give every time we caught a balloon.
Sometimes I regret switching from girls' to guys' lacrosse, but in the end it definitely challenged me more. The ball can be thrown up to 90mph with the amount of whip boys have on their pockets compared to the girls average 60mph shots. And knowing that I wouldn't get punished for stepping out of my goal circle; Practically a dream come true. But at the same time, lacrosse goes back to the Native Americans, who used to play lacrosse instead of fighting war! They didn't hit each other or check each other's sticks. They played it more as a relaxation and meditation routine than a physical, rowdy sport. Women follow those rules and history a lot more closely.
It just feels like sometimes men and women should be allowed to do things the same way.

Peace out home-skillet.
-Rachael

Forgot to put my Citation for my Pencil Blog :/

Pencils, CategoryCarpenter. "Pencil History." Pencil, Pencils, Buy Pencils. 2010. Web. 08 Mar. 2011. .

(Week 10) Sex in the Media and the Lives of Adolescents

In most recent years, sexual activity has become extremely prevalent among adolescence. The use of the word adolescence is in reference to those within the age range of twelve years old and eighteen years old. Teenagers have adopted a new curiosity and pursuit for sexual experiences. This early desire to participate in what is normally considered, by society, to be an adult experience, is concerning to both parents and the public alike. This concern begs the question, what is causing this early onset of sexual curiosity. Some believe it is the influence of their peer that causes adolescents to pursue such activities and yet still there are others that blame the media. The media does play a significant role in the lives of adolescents and influences much of their perspectives on sexual activity, especially that which is viewed in movies and on television. It seems that the early onset of sexual activity in adolescence is a result of explicit movies and television.
However, despite there being a large amount of sexual content in media, it can be argued that parents are the ones to blame for the viewing of such sexual content in the first place. There may be sexual media in the world, but it would not exist if there weren’t a demand or desire for it. With that in mind, parents have the ability these days to control much, however not all, of the sexual content their children view. Parents can use parental controls on their TV’s and computers to prevent their children from watching inappropriately sexual TV shows and viewing images or reading about inappropriately sexual media. Parents have the ability to prevent their children from watching R-rated, or other inappropriately rated, movies. Also, parents can prevent the media that their children do view out of their control from causing their curiosity to become action through consistent and frequent conversations pertaining to sexual activity. If parents were more aware and open with their children, perhaps adolescents these days would not be so prone to early sexual activity. Sexual media isn’t something that can be discontinued in a day, however if parents were to take action pertaining to the matter, perhaps that wouldn’t be necessary.

Ahh.. I forgot to add the Citation:

Rosenberg, Jennifer. "Bubble Gum History." 20th Century History. Web. 05 Mar. 2011. .

Bubble Gum

I absolutely love gum, especially bubble gum! There is nothing more enjoyable to me than chewing on huge piece of pink bubble gum, blowing a giant bubble, and the waiting for that bubble to explode all over my face! Gum has been all around the world for a long time, although, bubble gum was first discovered by accident in 1928. Walter Diemer was an accountant for Fleer Chewing Gum Company. In Walter's spare time like to do some experimenting of his own with gum. One day while experimenting with some recipes he formulated a gum that was not as stick as the gum at the time and was more flexible which made it perfect for making bubbles. When we think of gum we commonly think of bright pink blocks wrapped in paper. The reason Walter Diemer made his gum pink was because it was the only option that he had, and i guess it stuck. Walter began selling his new bubbley bubble gum and soon it became a hit. The first day that he took his gum out to sell in stores it sold out! Walter then quit his job as an accountant and opened his own bubble gum company "Double Bubble". Double Bubble was the only bubble gum company clear till World War II, till other companies picked up on this great idea. Today, there are so many different kinds, flavors, and colors of bubble gum to choose from!