Updated Abstract

300 Million Americans Have Significant Impact

By the 19th century, the world’s population had grown to one billion. Less than 250 years after, the world’s population has reached nearly seven billion. The United States, like much of the rest of the world, has increased its population size as well – however, this increase in population has created a high demand of energy and resources unlike any other major nation.

The population of the United States is relatively small when compared to developing nations with high populations such as India, China, and Mexico; however, the United States is a major consumer of much of the world’s natural resources to meet the demand put forth by its increasing amount of citizens.

My research analyzes and contrasts energy consumption rates and population growth in the United States. High and low end projections for the population size are used to predict the amount of electricity, petroleum, and coal that will be consumed in 2100. Comparisons between the consumption rates of both the United States and India in the past 50 years are made to emphasize the notion that it is generally the first-world, industrialized nations that are responsible for the world’s depleting resources. I also explore the idea of how contraceptives may help reduce the growing world population and, in doing so, also address other world issues.

"...the United States is a major consumer of much of the world’s natural resources to meet the demand put forth by its increasing amount of citizens."

Thesis and Recipe

By the 19th century, the world’s population had grown to one billion. Less than 250 years after, the world’s population has reached nearly seven billion. The United States, like much of the rest of the world, has increased its population size as well – however, this increase in population has created a high demand of energy and resources unlike any other major nation.
It is a common consensus that the current world population size is at fault for high demands of resources and energy; however, when one analyzes consumption data, the notion has little truth to it. What are at fault are small populations of major nations, such as the United States, who consume a majority of the world’s resources. The population in the United States is relatively small when compared to developing nations with high populations such as India, China, and Mexico; however, the United States is a major consumer of much of the world’s natural resources to meet the demand put forth by its increasing amount of citizens.
The following research analyzes and contrasts energy consumption rates and population growth in the United States. High and low end projections for the population size are used to predict the amount of electricity, petroleum, and coal that will be consumed in 2100. Comparisons between the consumption rates of both the United States and India in the past 50 years are made to emphasize the notion that it is generally the first-world, industrialized nations that are responsible for the world’s depleting resources. Because the burning of fossil fuels harms the environment, an effective manner of reducing the impact is to stabilize the growing rate in global population through the use of contraceptives made widely available for all to use.

" What are at fault are small populations of major nations, such as the United States, who consume a majority of the world’s resources."



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Recipe Idea

Lettuce Wrap:

Ingredients:

1 head iceberg lettuce or romaine lettuce leaves (whichever you prefer)
Sauce:
1 tablespoon soy sauce
2 tablespoons oyster sauce
1 tablespoon dry sherry
1 teaspoon sugar
Remaining Ingredients:
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 slice ginger, minced
1 garlic clove, minced
2 green onions, chopped
1 lb meat from chicken breasts or sliced white chicken meat
1 red pepper, seeded and diced
1 can water chestnuts, rinsed in warm running water and chopped
1 stalk celery, diced
1 teaspoon cornstarch mixed with 2 tablespoons water

This seems to be a generic lettuce wrap recipe. There is much more room for improvement/addition.

Food Inc. Reflection

After watching Food Inc. I have come to the conclusion that I am indifferent about the food industry and how modern fast food is produced. To me, it comes down to the fundamental notion that everyone has a choice to eat however they wish. Personally, I feel no concern for how others choose to feed their bodies. Whether they choose to do it between either organic or processed means is up to them – all I care about is how I take care of myself. I don’t feel the need to persuade others to eat certain foods as opposed to other types. It is a common consensus that what you buy from a fast food restaurant is generally not the healthiest choice you can make – why should I care to make it even more abundantly clear (if that’s even possible) that consuming large quantities of cheeseburgers and fries is harmful to the body?

As golden as my intentions may be, I generally am perceived as being rude to comment on someone else’s eating habits. Who wants to be told what to eat? Who am I to criticize someone else’s personal choices? I bring up this thought because Food Inc. was doing just that – criticizing Americans for the way they consume by attempting to convey guilt through all the chapters. It is as if the filmmakers were blaming the viewers for supporting this modern day food industry.

While I’m sure the movie has impacted many viewers, I don’t believe that it did so as effectively as it could have would the filmmakers have chosen to simply educate the viewer by giving the straight facts rather than constantly criticizing the food industry. How else are we supposed to support such a large population? With a population of 300 million people in the United States, what better way to feed them than to mass produce food for a population that is at constant movement.

I believe that if change is to occur, it is through our education system. Beginning at a young age of informing children is the most effective manner of securing a healthy future. All efforts need to be centralized around the children of America. The process of choosing healthy alternatives requires extensive education so that there is little room for doubt when giving in to temptation. An unbiased, melancholy manner is the best way to go about educating Americans.

Despite my criticism on how the movie conveyed its message, I really enjoyed the piece about large entities, such as WalMart, making organic foods more widely available solely due to consumer demand. If one wants to create change, I believe that simply keeping to yourself and buying organic, non-processed food is a silent, effective way of demanding change. Leading by example and informing the public of the positives of eating locally grown, organic food (as opposed to constantly criticizing food processing companies) is the respectful, effective manner.

Two Peer Reviewed Publications

Human Population and Carrying Capacity on Earth

The article states that human's may have entered a zone where the carrying capacity of humans on Earth will be reached. The article summarizes this by comparing two examples: U.N. calculations as well as finding the median of 65 "estimate bounds" regarding carrying capacity. The median for high and low projections is very close to projections made by the U.N. These ranges of human population by 2050 are 7.7 billion to 12.5 billion. The large gap found in this estimates prompt the author to note that the prediction of human population is extremely difficult given the fact that unforeseeable events may occur which may have significant effects on the population.

The second-half of this article presents the reader with methods on estimating the carrying capacity through mathematic calculations. One simple formula that stood out to me was the following: food supply/individual food requirement. This formula helps determine whether or not a human population is sustainable in respect to the amount of food available. The same formula applies to water supply. Overall, it seems that predicting carrying capacity is incredibly difficult due to the fact that in most predictions, limiting factors are left out from calculations which may provide inconsistent data when compared to other studies.

All in all, this article is succinct yet thorough. I will undoubtly use this peer-reviewed article to provide evidence in my research paper when analyzing research methods as well as comparing predictions made by different resources. This research paper doesn't provide predictions, but rather presents how information is gathered and starting points for themes to explore in my research paper.

Population Growth and Earth's Human Carrying Capacity (1995). Web. 25 Feb. 2010. .

Population Growth and Climate Change

In this article, the author is quick to show his opinion on population growth and it's correlation to climate change. The author cites many sources, so it is clear that his opinion is derived from extensive research.

"...1.5 million people need food and somewhere to live. This amounts to a huge new city each week, somewhere, which destroys wildlife habitats and augments world fossil fuel consumption. Every person born adds to greenhouse gas emissions, and escaping poverty is impossible without these emissions increasing."

The author is quick to highlight the how disastrous population growth is to the climate change. Though his example of a huge new city each week is a bit drastic, his point is made - though not to strongest I believe.

However, the point of the article is not to explain the damages population growth causes, but rather present a solution: contraception. The more I read about contraception being a major contributor to reaching a dynamic equilibrium in the human population, the more I become convinced.

"The Optimum Population Trust calculates that "each new UK birth will be responsible for 160 times more greenhouse gas emissions . . . than a new birth in Ethiopia."

The previous quote provides more evidence to the notion that climate change isn't because of such a large population, but rather the demand of the populations in developed or developing nations. This statement, however, seems to retract his initial criticism that highlighted population growth as the major contributor to climate change.

Nonetheless, he makes the point that contraception needs to become available to all women around the world and in the right way. Individual nations, their doctors, and religions must endorse contraceptions not just as a way to control the population growth, but rather to help reduce future CO2 emissions. They should not be forced upon women or couples, but rather inform them of how having a fertility rate of 2.0 helps better the planet for future generations to come.

Guillebaud, John. "Population Growth and Climate Change." (2008). BMJ. 28 July 2008. Web. 25 Feb. 2010. .

Reflection on Nathan Lewis' Presentation

After watching Nathan Lewis' presentation, I am surprised at how frank and direct Mr Lewis' facts were. I was really interested in how he presented his facts and opinions. The following bullet points highlight key points he made that caught my attention:

- The fact that there is plenty of renewable fossil oil in the world. 2/3 of the world's oil is untapped and the reason we have yet to tap into those two-third's is because it doesn't make economic sense

- Renewable energy will not play a large role in primary power generation. While renewable energy can help reduce the demand for large power generation, it doesn't quite contribute to generating that power enough to make a large difference. This caught me off guard because of how instilled it is into our population to be environmentally cautious and the notion that renewable energy is the way to go is always emphasized. It seems as though we have been paying attention to the wrong energy source.

- Without energy, all other world issues can't be resolved. Doesn't every supporter of each major issue say this in respect to their research?

All in all, his research and data proves invaluable to those that will be researching energy for their Senior Project. That being said, all topics could pull excerpts from his transcript to support their respective research papers. Because my research paper is in regards population, it is easy to take his data of how much consumption will be needed by 2050 and use it as a con for having a large human population.

The more I continue to read and research (prior to writing this blog I wrote out my outline for my research paper) the more excited I am to write this research paper.

Overpopulation and Global Warming

Three Annotated Articles

Article #1:

http://greeninc.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/12/22/population-growth-and-global-warming/

Summary:

The purpose of this article is to compare two major issues - Population Growth and Global Warming - and note how both go hand-in-hand. The main idea the article gets across is that population control is more cost-efficient than investing in energy-efficient technology. The article also states that in order for the amount of C02 being added to the atmosphere to decrease, the number of contributors needs to be stabilized. If the population continues to increase, CO2 emissions will continue to rise as well. Both issues are directly related to each other.

Quotes of Interest:

"Are condoms and birth control pills more cost effective than windmills and solar panels as tools to curb global warming? Yes, and by a wide margin, contends Thomas Wire, a postgraduate researcher at the London School of Economics and author of a recent study asserting that family planning is nearly five times more cost effective in mitigating global warming emissions than green energy technologies like wind and solar power. "

The author states that, based on research, family planning is more cost-effective than "going green". In the long run, a stabilization in the human population can stabilize CO2 emission and - potentially - decrease the amount of CO2 emitted.

"It is easy to see why. Population control measures like China’s one-child policy, and forced sterilization campaigns by various countries during the 20th century, have led many to associate such efforts with racism and totalitarianism."

I find myself agreeing entirely with this statement. People can, at times, be incredibly sensitive on certain topics; this often leads to issues never being highlighted in large conferences. Unfortunately, population control is one that proves to be, at times, an ethical dilemma.

"The United Nations Population Fund’s most recent annual report explicitly linked slower population growth with reduced greenhouse-gas emissions."

This is evidence that backs up the author's claim that with a less-populated world there will be fewer CO2 emissions.

Article #2:

http://www.globalissues.org/article/708/global-warming-and-population#PopulationandClimateChange

Summary:

This article defuncts the notion that CO2 emission is directly related to an increase of population. The following excerpts are statements that provide evidence.

Quotes of Interest:

"For example, the world’s wealthiest 20% (i.e. the rich countries) consume approximately 80% of the world’s resources, while the rest of humanity shares the other 20% of resource consumed, as noted in the consumption section of this web site."

That statement alone is enough to suggest the notion that it is the larger,more developed nations that contribute the most. It isn't the amount of people in a nation - it's about the demand.

"There are concerns, however, that many developing countries are pursuing the same path to development that the current industrialized countries have, which involved many environmentally damaging practices. Ironically much of the advise and encouragement to follow this path comes from the western economic schools of thought. There is therefore an urgent need to focus on cleaner technologies and an alternative path to a more sustainable form of development."

The author of this article acknowledges both sides of the case and claims that in order to avoid developing nations of becoming large CO2 emitters. Because they are following in the footsteps of larger nations, it is important for the leading nations to set a right example.

"The economic, political and technology choices thus have a more important bearing on climate change than “over population.”"

The author expresses doubt regarding the issue of overpopulation and clearly dismisses it as a major cause of climate change.

Article #3:

http://www.optimumpopulation.org/releases/opt.release09Sep09.htm

Summary:

Similar to the first article, the author emphasizes the idea that population control is more effective than green-alternatives. This article, however, presents more detailed facts and figures.

Quotes of Interest:

"Each $7 (£4) spent on basic family planning over the next four decades would reduce global CO2 emissions by more than a tonne. To achieve the same result with low-carbon technologies would cost a minimum of $32 (£19). The UN estimates that 40 per cent of all pregnancies worldwide are unintended."

Based off of these numbers, family planning is up to 3 times more cost efficient than the eco-friendly technology. It makes sense to invest in contraceptions so that two major issues can be addressed: the excessive burning of fossil fuel and an exponential growth in population.

"This part of the solution is so easy, and so cheap, and would bring so many other social and economic benefits, from health and education to the empowerment of women. It would also ease all the other environmental problems we face – the rapid shrinkage of soil, fresh water, forests, fisheries, wildlife and oil reserves and the looming food crisis."

It seems as though this article suggests that by addressing the over-population crisis we will be able to address other world-issues - including our environment.

"All of these would be easier to solve with fewer people, and ultimately impossible to solve with ever more."

This is a good point to get across to many whom skepticise whether or not we could fix our current major issues. However, I would argue that with a greater amount of people can come a greater amount of wisdom to create solutions.

Conclusion/Reflection

Overall, I have come to temporary-conclusion that population growth and global warming are not directly associated with each other; however, what is the issue is that leading nations are demanding more than ever before. I do not disagree with the notion that humans are causing CO2 emission, but what have problem agreeing with is the idea that an increase of population all over the world and their higher consumption of natural resources is why Global Warming is occurring. In my opinion, it is the lifestyle that people in economically leading nations have for a convinient lifestyle.

The new idea of investing in contraception as an alternative to using "green" technology is certainly one worth pursuing for a possible theme in my Senior Project video. There is no doubt in my mind that green technology is an effective way to reduce CO2 emissions - but if there were a cheaper alternative to reducing CO2 emissions, I would certainly encourage others to atleast take note of the cheaper alternative - not to mention that it could potentially stabilize our world population (a major issue which I respectfully disagree with as of now).


Sources Cited

"CONTRACEPTION IS “GREENEST” TECHNOLOGY." Optimum Population Trust. Web. 11 Feb. 2010. .

"Global Warming and Population — Global Issues." Global Issues : social, political, economic and environmental issues that affect us all — Global Issues. Web. 09 Feb. 2010. .

"Population Growth and Global Warming - Green Inc. Blog - NYTimes.com." Energy and Green Business - Green Inc. Blog - NYTimes.com. Web. 10 Feb. 2010. .

Initial Plant Research

• What I would like to grow is a fruit – more specifically, strawberries.
  

• Generally, Strawberries are planted and grow in Spring. It is when the sun is warm and bright- perfect conditions to grow strawberries under. Blossoms are destroyed by late frost, so the notion of early Spring is perfect conditions.

• From my understanding of the research, you can plant a seed or simply the plant. It seems as though seeds are a bit harder to come by than plants and plants produce quicker results. Given our time-frame, it would seem ideal to grow the strawberries from purchased plants.

• It does matter to me to grow from plants because I would like to see what I could grow in the time I have in this class. I would also like the opportunity to eat a bit of what I grow. I think that my legacy for future classes would be having prepared soil to grow strawberries in. Because it is a common fruit, I'm sure having a plot of our flowerbeds already adjusted to grow strawberries could prove beneficial.

• It is easiest to use cloning method because of how many runners are produced by strawberry plants.

• When using a “matted row” planting method, plants are to be 18 inches apart in rows three to four feet apart. Runners found in the plants will spread out the harvest easier. Given personal observations, it seems as though each plant produces about a pint of strawberries.

• While tilling the planting bed about 12 inches, make sure to remove all traces of weeds and grass. Then, dig in compost and manure to make rich and fertile soil. The pH of the soil needs to be slightly acidic, ranging from 5.5 to 6.5.

• It doesn't seem like the strawberry plants need much watering. Young plants require at least an inch of water a week. No more than two until the fruit is completely developed.

• Companion Plants: beans, borage, lettuce, onions, spinach, and thyme.
  

• Non-Companion Plants: Cabbage, Brocolli. Brussels Sprouts, Cauliflower, Kohlarbi.

• Helpful Plants: Borage to strengthen the plant's resistance to insects and diseases and Thyme to deter worms.

• Interesting Fact #1: Strawberries are not fruits! They are enlarged receptacles of the flower and are considered secondary fruits!

• Interesting Fact #2: Fresh juice from strawberry pulp helps recover from fevers. Strawberry juice when combined with honey can reduce inflammation.

  
  Resources:
  
  1. http://www.ehow.com/how_2000_grow-strawberries.html
     
  2. http://gardening.about.com/od/fruitsberriesnuts/a/Strawberries.htm
  3. http://www.ghorganics.com/page2.html#SAGE:
  4. http://www.buzzle.com/articles/facts-about-strawberries.html
     

Senior Project Initial Research

Three Annotated Articles

Overpopulation: The Perennial Myth

Summary: This article presents a great alternative point of view of the crisis regarding overpopulation of humans on the Earth. While many seem to be concerned with the supposed lack of resources including food and living space, the author provides information that disregards these concerns. The author uses historical analysis as well as provides facts and data. The direction I would like to take with my Senior Project is to tackle both sides of the issue: the current threat that an overpopulated world presents and the notion that the issue is not quite an overpopulation of humans on this world, but rather an underpopulation. This article provides information that can help with the latter subject of my project.

Quotes of Interest:

“And the fear of overpopulation did not begin with Tertullian. One finds similar concerns expressed in the writings of Plato and Aristotle in the fourth century B.C., as well as in the teachings of Confucius as early as the sixth century B.C.”

According to the author, the prediction/scare of an overpopulated world stretches back centuries – however, such predictions have never actually come true. This may say something about human's and their constant worrisome of the end of the world in some form or another.

“As any population graph clearly shows, the world has and is experiencing a population explosion that began in the eighteenth century. Population rose sixfold in the next 200 years. But this explosion was accompanied, and in large part made possible, by a productivity explosion, a resource explosion, a food explosion, an information explosion, a communications explosion, a science explosion, and a medical explosion. “

This notion has been overlooked by many of the articles I have read as well as most of the folks that I have spoken with in the past regarding overpopulation. The notion that population growth is related to the industrial revolution is an interesting one. If there are more resources, food, and technology advancements, there must be a correlation with birth rates increasing. The rest of the article goes more in depth on this quote.

“Many experts believe that even with no advances in science or technology we currently have the capacity to feed adequately, on a sustainable basis, 40 to 50 billion people, or about eight to ten times the current world population. And we are currently at the dawn of a new agricultural revolution, biotechnology, which has the potential to increase agricultural productivity dramatically.”

This quote disregards the concern of not being able to feed a largely, populated world. Unfortunately, most third-world countries don't have such luxury of advancement in technology. The issue doesn't seem to be how meet the demand of food, but rather the methods in providing the food to everyone.

The Overpopulation Lie

Summary: This article also provides facts and figures regarding the false fear of an overpopulated world and presents the argument that the world will soon face an underpopulated crisis. The article focuses on third-world countries. While the article is an excerpt of a cover story, it provides excellent facts and helps me lead in the direction I would like to go with this side of my project.

Quotes of Interest:

“Yet, while the one-billionth citizen of India was born last year, Japan, if it continues its current abortion policies and fails to raise its average birth rate of 1.4 children per married couple, will have fewer than 500 people by the year 3000. This is not a prophecy of the mad Aum Shinrikyo cult, but rather a pronouncement of Japan's Ministry of Health and Welfare.”

It seems as though in the attempt to curb the growth in population, nations are creating a new crisis: underpopulation. In an underpopulated world, advancements in technology become more difficult – thus limiting ourselves.

“Rather than booming, as one might expect in the face of such plenty, the world's population is aging and in decline. As fertility rates fall and abortion, contraception and life spans increase, the world will soon enter a new paradigm in which the elderly outnumber the young. In 1975, the mean global age was 22. In 2050, it will be 38. Europe, South Korea and Japan will be particularly hard hit by this phenomenon.”

These are facts that the article presents. It provides evidence that the world's population is in decline. It also presents the idea that that there will soon be more elderly people than younger. The comparison between the decline in fertility rates and life spans is an interesting one.

“By 2050, the population of Russia will be down to 150 million. In the 1970s, Russia's population rivaled America's, at more than 225 million people.”

This is also an excellent example of the an underpopulated crisis. It is a statistic that counters the argument of the world facing an overpopulation crisis.

Population and Resources: How Can Population Growth and Resources be Brought into Balance

Summary: Rather than to focus on the idea that population growth shouldn't be the concern, this article presents facts and figures about the overpopulation crisis that the media seems to be interested in. In a way, it is a counter-argument to ideas presented in the two previous articles.

Quotes of Interest:

“New agricultural approaches will be needed, such as meat production without growing animals, better rain-fed agriculture and irrigation management, genetic engineering for higher-yielding crops, precision agriculture and aquaculture, drought-tolerant crop varieties, and saltwater agriculture on coastlines to produce food for human and animals, biofuels, and pulp for the paper industry as well as to absorb CO2, reduce the drain on freshwater agriculture and land, and increase employment.”

This idea provides a guideline in what will be required to meet the demand of a larger population. Specifically, new agricultural methods will be required to provide for such a large population.

“To reduce the economic burden on younger generations and to keep up living standards, people will work longer and create many forms of tele-work, part-time work, and job rotation.”

This quote is related to the previous article which states that there will soon be more elderly than younger people. It states a new challenge that will be faced if this prediction becomes a reality.

“Conventional breeding techniques can take 9–12 years; hence, a food crisis may be inevitable. To keep up with population and economic growth, food production should double in 30 years and animal protein may increase 50% by 2020, which increases demands on water and land, further increasing prices and competition between rural and urban requirements.”

This excerpt states that in order to keep up with the growing population, new methods of growing food will need to be developed – ultimately leading to more processed foods. It seems as though traditional, organic food growing may no longer be suitable to provide for a larger population.

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After much thought and consideration regarding what theme my Senior Project will highlight, I chose to do a bit of research on the notion of our world being overpopulated by 2110. Initially, I thought my research would yield results that supported the concern of overpopulation – however, as I dug deeper, I found out that the growth in population that is currently occuring is not only going to peak within the next fifty years, but also some nations will face a new form of crisis: underpopulation.

There are certainly concerns about an overpopulated world. These concerns include damage to our environment, how to feed such a large number of humans, and where to place them. As the population increases, the rise in hunger will rise and creating sufficient food will be a challenge. Living space is also a large concern that will need to be addressed with the increase in population. By 2050, the world's population is expected to grow to 9.2 Billion. According to my research, the number of people that currently live in the slums will double.

Despite many concerns that go alongside an overpopulated world, it seems as though the real concern is underpopulation. There are currently 18 nations in the world that have low fertility rates. The average fertility rate to keep a sustained population is 2.1 – however, many nations have a fertility rate lower than that with signs of a continued decrease. This creates many concerns for these nations and has prompted world leaders to provide incentives to promote women to conceive more. These large nations include China, Russia, Germany, Italy, and France. Other nations are still over the fertility rate, but signs of decrease are beginning to emerge. This underpopulated world will cause an inbalance between the young and elderly. With younger people, a larger work force will be needed which may cause the retirement age of the elderly to be pushed back. This could possibly decrease life expectancy, which has had an increasing rate in since the boom in population.

While the notion of overpopulation is certainly present today more than ever, I believe new focus should be put on the idea of an underpopulated world. I would like to convey this new concern through my Senior Project. The idea of my Senior Project is somewhat simple: create a video highlighting the effects of an overpopulated world and what new problems will arise within the next fifty years due to an increasing population as well as present the idea of an underpopulated world. From what I can tell in my initial research, there is plenty of data to support both ideas to create an informative, high-quality video to present. I do not want to disregard both concerns, which is why I believe the best way to approach the theme of population is to highlight both sides of the theme.

Socratic Seminar

The socratic seminar we had Friday afternoon in class was thought-provoking and fun to participate it. The main topic referenced an editorial written by Michael Pollan - Farmer in Chief.

Going into the socratic seminar, I predicted that the seminar would focus on ideas of how to change America's obsession with junk food; sure enough, quite a bit of the seminar did focus on this. Many of the ideas that were presented seemed more idealistic than realistic, but it was interesting to hear what my classmates thought. I had hoped we would be able to focus more on the reading itself and analyze Pollan's ideas, but the direction it took was just as interesting.

What I found most interesting was the idea of banning junk food - or atleast smearing the image of it. I thought many of the ideas presented were very socialistic. I was hoping to explore the notion of banning junk food further because it is certainly something I find interest in. While I disagree with the notion of banning junk food, I'm perfectly open to the idea of creating public awareness campaigns regarding the health issues found in the fast food industry. However, despite the dislike I have fast food, I believe it is ultimately up to the individual to choose what they eat. The government shouldn't decide for it's people what to eat for dinner; if people decide on unhealthy meals, then so be it. Let them suffer the long-term effects and realize their own mistakes. However, a public-awareness campaign to inform even more than before should be implemented. This can be a method of indirectly telling the public what to eat without the use of force. In this instance, fear (the fear of long-term health effects) should be an excellent tool. I find the use of fear, in this case, completely justifiable because junk food is a threat to living a healthy lifestyle and should be feared if you are to care for yourself.

Family History on Farming

Friday night, I asked my Mom and Grandma about our ancestral history and whether or not we had farming experience in the family. Having known that my ancestors from the state of Puebla, Mexico lived off of the farm, I hoped they would be able to give me great information. Unfortunately, both my mother and grandmother knew little about how they worked the land. They did tell me, however, that my grandmother's father lived off of farming and selling the crops.

Although they may not know very much about farming, both know plenty when it comes to gardening. There wasn't much they could explain to me about their gardening skills, but both offered to provide advice and suggestions if our class chose to plant flowers in the school garden.

The Universe

As I was out on my evening jog, I couldn't help but look up at the stars and remember the slideshow John presented the class earlier today. What I find most interesting (among thousands of other interesting tidbits regarding the Universe) is the notion of Earth being here - inhabited by thousands of different species. The perfect conditions that created Earth and eventually created humans are just astounding - and with the number of other galaxies found in the Universe, it is only natural that there are other, living beings among them. Given the vastness of it all, it dawned on me that there is a great chance that we will never meet any of them. The technology that is necessary to travel to distant planets is so advanced that I fear humans will cease to exist before they ever begin to reach the nearest planets outside our Solar System - let alone any other Solar System!

Although the idea of it all may make some feel insignificant, I appreciate simply being alive and experiencing life as I know it. Although what we, as humans, do within our ozone layer is irrelevant to anything else outside our atmosphere, I feel the motivation to do the best I possibly can with what I am given and make my mark on this planet.

What makes me wonder...

If I were to choose a natural occurrence that makes me wonder from time to time, it would have to be the evolution of man.

Having been raised a Catholic, I was taught the creation story from an early age. As I grew older and began to develop my own beliefs and thoughts, the notion of evolution bedazzled me. The idea that humans today have gone through numerous physical appearances is insane to me. Considering the fact that humans have been around for 200,000 thousand years (which also seems like an incredibly long time - though hardly much at all when compared to how long Earth has been a planet), I find it intriguing that humans once resembled primates.

My biggest question is regarding intelligence: why are humans the only species on Earth to have developed a comprehensive language system and make technological advances. By saying that I don't intend to put-down other species, but it seems as though through evolution, Humans have become the dominant species - why? What in our natural development gave way for intelligence to be much more dominant in humans than in any other type of species?

It's nice to wonder things such as these - when people wonder, advances are made.