TOW #16 - How Not to Die (IRB - Second Post)

When it comes to health, you would be surprised how much nutrition factors into the prevention of many common diseases. Dr. Michael Gregor, an internationally-renowned nutrition expert and founder of nutritionfacts.org would attest to this. An advocate of a plant-based, herbivore diet, Gregor takes his readers illness by illness in proving that the "standard American diet" is really standard for disease. He examines 10 of the most common leading causes of death in book How Not to Die.

Gregor not only shows the fault in our diet and perception on health, but he also recommends substitute products in place of the "garbage we call food". For example, prostate cancer is linked to the consumption of cow’s milk (which makes sense, as their milk was not meant for us to digest). If we eliminate dairy from our diet, and replace it with a tablespoon of flaxseed a day, any hereditary linkage to this type of cancer can be avoided.

It is easy to turn a blind eye to things that do not affect us in the present. For example, if you do not have breast cancer, it might be hard to imagine having it; ergo, steps taken to avoid it may seem unnecessary. In addition, people do not like to do things outside of their comfort zone. If you have grown up on cheese and assorted meats, it might seem impossible to live without it. This makes Dr. Michael Gregor’s argument more challenging (and all the more important) to attack. In teaching an audience who might not see the long term effects of a healthy lifestyle, it’s important that you are forward, but not too complicated with your presented evidence. Gregor does just this. He presents his findings and explains their significance, adding just enough detail to earn him credibility while not being too complicated.

How Not to Die is the perfect book for people who are interested in improving their health but are unsure how to go about this (which is quite fitting for the New Year)!

TOW #15 - Professor misses class thinking school starts next week (Satire)

With the current semester at colleges and university starting off, The Oakland Post leaves room for humor. In "Professor misses class thinking school starts next week". student Nowshin Chowdhury writes a story describing a mishap at Oakland University in order to satirize a society's principals. She uses irony and parody as a way to make evident to her audience the ridiculousness of our emphasis on school.

She uses irony when writing, “I am not in denial,” professor Ian Denyle said to his wife on Jan. 4. “School starts next week. I’m still on vacation. Oakland is a great institution that recognizes our hard work and rewards us with much-deserved, long holiday breaks.” Obviously, the professor has said the opposite of the outcome of him missing the first day of class, thus satirizing teachers for being miss informed. In case of parody, the whole article is filled with specific times, like so: "At 4:20, students left the room, and the lights went out in the empty classroom." This kind of specifies gives off the effect that the manner is serious and that exact times are crucial to the situation. Chowdhury does this as a way to ridicule her readers of college students, who might feel worked up over the little details of their current schedule.

Nowshin Chowdhury proves to be a successful writer in the field of satire, a talent very admirable for someone of collegiate-age. She remains respectful with her subjects, while poking fun at them and their need to stress over their education. I think a great tie in to the theme of this essay is to quote Mr. Yost: “Relax; it’s just school.”

TOW #14 - To Help the World's Poor, Give Them Real Jobs

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2013-07-07/to-help-the-worlds-poor-give-them-real-jobs

In a country with arguably the richest humans, Charles Kenny makes the argument that this make poverty in turn, inevitable. The U.S. unemployment rate is 7.6 percent, which is seemly lower than that of the national average (6 percent). How can we change this? Kenny suggests that we create an environment with self-employed jobs, like farming, are more prevalent.

In supporting his synthesis, Kenny uses comparison to the two countries, India and Pakistan. Kenny tells how in these countries, more families are able to be more self-sufficient in the job market. In turn, unemployment rate is less than 5 percent. Kenny uses logos in his argument to describe the tradeoffs of this difference in economy. For instance, he states "Survey evidence suggests that being in the bottom fifth of India’s income distribution means your children have around a 12 percent chance of dying before their fifth birthday, compared with a countrywide average of closer to 8 percent." By using statistics and giving information on how other countries improve in this specific area, the readers are able to have a better understanding on this complex subject.

I think Kenny makes a valid argument, although I notice that he does not cite any of his sources. Perhaps this is because he is a senior fellow at the Center of the Global Development, therefore does not see it necessary here. He also contradicts himself when comparing our economy to that of developing nations, and it seemed to weaken his stance and credibility. I would be curious to read more from this author.