Health Care Reform: Lowering the Standard of Care

Trent Enyart

English 121

November, 23 2013

Key words: Health Care, Premiums, Affordable, Government

Health Care Reform: Lowering the Standard of Care

Americans have recently been informed they will be able to receive cheap affordable health care through the government affordable care act. Americans who have lived most of their lives without healthcare are now able to sign up for government provided insurance plans. The rates of these plans have promised to be so low people are required to have health insurance of some sort or else they will be penalized for being uninsured. People who do not receive Health insurance through their work or spouses work or who may be unemployed will be provided a website which they can sign up for a government appointed health insurance package. This new health care reform has many positive outlooks as well as many negative outlooks, but which side outweighs the other? I have been affected directly by the new healthcare reform because my insurance premium and deductible has risen by 15%. Why should I have to pay more for my quality health insurance plan because Obama wants to provide low rate poor quality insurance to the uninsured?  Millions of hard working Americans, including myself, who have been receiving benefits through their employers for years, are being charged an increased premium and deductible and some people are being dropped completely because of the drastic increase. Bottom line is these employers can no longer afford to insure their employees. These employees who had great insurance plans covered by top name insurance companies, which insured their workers and their families, will now be forced to choose a different plan provided by the government. The problem with the government appointed policies is that the coverage is not nearly the quality of care as these workers had received before.  Coverage will now be limited and regulated by the government causing deductibles to go up and the standard of care they receive to go down. Treatment that was once covered by a quality health care provider may now be denied or turned down by the government’s substandard healthcare system. This healthcare epidemic will affect all of us in one way or another. I fortunately will be able to keep my healthcare plan through Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan but at a price. My premium has increased substantially, about 45%, but that is a price I’m willing to pay for better healthcare treatment. At least I had a choice, many of Americans were told by their employer’s they will be dropped from their benefits plan and need to find their own source of healthcare.  

            From another view point is the American’s who the healthcare reform is intended to help. The large percentage of people who are uninsured will now have access to an affordable health care package. This raises the question what is the government’s definition of affordable? These healthcare packages will be at a lower premium for people but they are not free. There are still millions of unemployed Americans who will not be able to afford these healthcare plans and they will be penalized for not having one. Yes the people who can afford the new healthcare plans will at least have some sort of coverage especially major medical coverage, but these peoples deductibles will still be at a higher cost. People are more likely to go to the doctors for minor injuries and illnesses than a major medical emergency so why make their deductibles so high. Yes I believe that the government should do something about the healthcare epidemic that faces our nation’s uninsured people, but penalizing the hardworking American’s who had exceptional health care by forcing them to switch to a lower standard of care is unjustifiable.  

 

Having It His Way: The Construction of Masculinity in Fast-Food TV Advertising

Having It His Way: The Construction of Masculinity in Fast-Food TV Advertising

Graff, Gerald, Cathy Birkenstein, and Russel Durst. “They Say, I Say”: The Moves That Matter in

Academic Writing : With Readings. New York: Norton, 2012.

Key words: Fast food, Meat, Advertisements, Masculinity

For many generations the masculinity of meat has been long associated with men. Still to this day most advertisements for fast food are still targeting men as their primary consumer. Why is this? Especially with all the feminist groups around today why hasn’t something been done to change this. Even since the beginning of time when cavemen where around it has been perceived that men are the hunters and gatherers of food while the women’s role was more to stay home and tend to the house and prepare the food the men brought home. It seems as though that this belief is still greatly perceived to this day. Fast food chains are making their advertisements so that they appeal greatly towards men rather than women. For example many of the advertisements use pro athletes to promote their sandwiches saying they have enough meat on them to satisfy even the hunger of a pro athlete. If their sandwich can satisfy an athlete then it can surely satisfy a man’s hunger. Many of the ads do use women to advertise but they use women as more of a sex symbol that makes the sandwich more appealing to a man’s taste.

Some of the other issues that arise with the meat and fast food industries are that the food they are advertising is very unhealthy especially in large quantities. The advertisements are selling to men that their sandwiches are the biggest and the best with more meat and less vegetables. This is exactly what is killing most Americans today the over consumption of fatty high cholesterol food which leads to obesity, diabetes, heart disease, and many more highly deadly diseases.

In conclusion these ads suggest that men should seek immediate gratification of their hunger by eating meat. Meat is identified as being masculine and is intended for only the manliest of men and that healthier foods such as salads and vegetables are more feminine. While these advertisements seem like harmless commercial entertainment they are in fact demoralizing the responsibilities as humans to eat a well-balanced diet. These un-healthy choices of eating will ultimately lead to the downfall of man-kind and shouldn’t be encouraged and exploited by the fast food companies.   

Escape from the Western Diet

Graff, Gerald, Cathy Birkenstein, and Russel Durst. “They Say, I Say”: The Moves That Matter in Academic Writing : With Readings. New York: Norton, 2012.

Escape from the Western Diet

Keywords: Diet, Nutrition, Food, Eating, Disease, Obesity

It is not obvious that Americans have an eating disorder. Everywhere you look there are morbidly obese people who have turned themselves into eating machines. Michael Pollan explains in his writing several theories as to why there are so many fat people today than there were many decades ago. Michael has turned the blame into a coined term known as the “Western Diet”. There are several scientific theories which state that lack of certain nutrients and an abundance of lipids from people’s diets are to blame for such obesities. Studies have shown that people eating a Western Diet are more prone to chronic diseases such as Diabetes, Heart Disease, and Cancer.

 Michael asks why these diseases are so prevalent now as opposed to so many decades ago. For the answer he looks back to when people ate many more whole foods rather than today’s abundance of processed foods. Michael explains that most of the foods we eat today contain way more preservatives and chemicals which were not intended to be in foods. He also explains that we should avoid these foods and instead of worrying about the nutrient content of food we should avoid any food that has been processed so much that it is more a product of industry rather than nature.

Michael also talks about how we should try to escape the Western Diet but it may not be as easy as it seems. Yes, we can try to simply eat whole foods that contain only natural ingredients but we are still surrounded with many processed foods which are very readily accessible. Michael explains that American’s don’t spend nearly the time they used to preparing meals on a day to day basis. We live in a much faster paced world where people look for a quick, cheap and easy meal rather than prepare a complex organic meal which also cost more. Stores now make it incredibly easy to buy quick meals full of inorganic garbage that is leading to all these illnesses and obesity. You can’t drive for more than a mile down the road without seeing a fast food restaurant on both sides of the street anymore. Michael boldly states the best way to escape the Western Diet is to eat “PLANTS”, fruits and vegetables to be exact, because not only are they nutritional but they usually only contain one ingredient, which is the plant itself. Escaping the Western Diet just may prolong your life or at least leave you leading a healthier one.

A summary of Family Guy and Freud

Graff, Gerald, Cathy Birkenstein, and Russel Durst. “They Say, I Say”: The Moves That Matter in

Academic Writing : With Readings. New York: Norton, 2012.

Keywords: Appropriate, Inappropriate, Television, Controversy, Jokes

A summary of Family Guy and Freud

Antonia Peacocke explains in her writing how the animated television show Family Guy pushes the limit of being inappropriate for network television. Her argument is that some jokes are seemingly funny and acceptable for television while others are bold, distasteful, and extremely inappropriate for television. Family guy has been on the national television for over a dozen seasons so far but not without experiencing many bouts of media controversy. The show makes jokes that are aimed towards many celebrities causing serious conflict and aggravation amongst some viewers. Antonia admits the show was too offensive for her liking at first but as more episodes began to air and the show’s popularity grew she couldn’t help but bring herself to watch it. My argument along with Antonia’s is why are so many people offended by a show which is intended to be funny. Seth Macfarlane the creator of Family Guy is not breaking any laws so why is he constantly being harassed and sued for his creation. Antonia explains that people are not forced to watch the show by any means so if they feel so offended by the show don’t watch it. Family Guy is intended for adult viewers and the show even displays a disclaimer that says so right before each episode.

I agree with Antonia that some of Macfarlane’s jokes may be a little distasteful and are border line inappropriate for television but that is what makes the show so funny and popular. The show stirs up all these controversies which make people eager to watch the show week after week to find out what Macfarlane will make fun of next. I personally will continue to watch the show not because it is popular or controversial but because it makes me laugh. After a long stressful day at work there is no better way to relax on the couch then to sit and laugh my ass off for thirty minutes of humor about the taboos of current events. Obviously the show must be doing something right because it has so many viewers and has been on network television for so long. Simply put if you don’t like the show and it offends you in anyway don’t watch it and leave it for the people who are entertained week after week.

So What? Who Cares?

Graff, Gerald, Cathy Birkenstein, and Russel Durst. “They Say, I Say”: The Moves That Matter in

Academic Writing : With Readings. New York: Norton, 2012.

Key words: So What, Who Cares, Interesting, Claims, Arguments

“So What? Who Cares?”

            The overall goal in writing a piece is to make sure that it is interesting to the reader. If your literature is not interesting you leave the reader saying so What? And Who Cares? Having a strong thesis is very important to a good paper but also don’t forget to address the crucial questions of why their arguments matter. This the key to writing something interesting. Rather than assume that the reader will understand what you are talking about as a writer you need to answer the two questions so what? And who cares? The so what tells the reader about real world applications and consequences of your claims and what kind of differences they would make if they were accepted. The who cares? identifies to the readers a person or a group of people that care about your claim.  The best way to answer questions about the claims you are making is to appeal to something that your audience already cares about. Give an example that appeals to everyone like overall health and well-being, something everyone can relate to.

            What about the readers who already know why it matters? Should we answer the so what and who cares questions in everything we write? What if your audience is someone that you know already cares or that it is obvious that they are interested in? Even though it may seem so obvious to the reader why your claim is so important it is still a general rule that you continue to answer the two questions. If you don’t answer these questions it will possibly make your knowingly already important work seem less interesting. Although some expert readers may know what you’re writing is important and why your claims matter, even they need to be reminded sometimes. “When you step back from the text and explain why it matters, you are urging your audience to keep reading, pay attention, and care”.

 

Blue Collar Brilliance

Blue Collar Brilliance

Works cited: Graff, Gerald, Cathy Birkenstein, and Russel Durst. “They Say, I Say”: The Moves That Matter in Academic Writing : With Readings. New York: Norton, 2012.

Key words: Blue Collar, Work, Intelligence, Education, Experience, Skills

In the short reading entitled Blue Collar Brilliance Mike Rose starts by talking about growing up in the  1950’s, and sitting in a restaurant with his father waiting for his mother to get off of work. He describes how his mother, a waitress serving tables, moved about the restaurant with such grace and being able to cater to everyone’s need with great ease. Mrs. Rose was able to multi-task and work so efficiently she would even have time to sit down with customers and chat with them while still keeping an eye on all other customers. With such great customer service she made great tips and was very well liked becoming very successful. She even had created her own type of restaurant lingo where she could communicate much more effectively amongst the other staff members. This type of ingenuity is what made her so great at her job.  Fascinated with observing and studying the habits of blue collar workers Mike Rose decided he wanted to pursue a career in psychology.

I myself can relate to working in a restaurant because I worked in one for fourteen years. It is a very fast paced job that requires multi-tasking and using different methods of fast communication. I Like Rosie would devise memory strategies to remember who had ordered what and how long each customer had been waiting. These types of technical skills are not acquired overnight and are not something you can just read about and start doing. These skills come with experience of working day in and day out at the same job. The goal of learning these strategies is to make the job easier by taking less steps and movements but in the end still achieving the same results. Work smarter not harder!

Mike Rose eventually goes to college to study psychology and education. Through his studies he incorporates not only his mothers work habits but the working habits of all types of blue collar workers. Mike was taught through school that intelligence is closely related to the amount of education a person receives. Today he realizes this is not always true amongst blue collar workers that they develop a sense of skill and knowledge through everyday experience on the job. Mike’s uncle Joe worked a job on General Motors assembly line and after thirty three years he had worked his way up to foreman of the plant. He eventually learned more and more about the automotive industry through everyday experience and through that experience he began to develop skills to help him and the rest of the workers to become more efficient. He created new ideas and products to help save the company money and made other workers happier.

Mike isn’t saying that education is not important. He is saying that many of the tools to become successful in the work place become routine with observation and trial and error. Education is still a very important tool but learning how to manipulate that tool and use the skills learned in the working environment to make plans and solve problems. This is what hard work is all about!   

Reading for the Conversation

Graff, Gerald, Cathy Birkenstein, and Russel Durst. “They Say, I Say”: The Moves That Matter in Academic Writing : With Readings. New York: Norton, 2012.

Keywords: Motivation, Argument, Translation, Readings

“What’s Motivating this Writer?”

Reading for the conversation

Most writings by authors include a specific topic which is arguable by many. We as the readers have to decipher the author’s argument and decide what is the motivation of their argument? As a student when we begin to analyze the argument we arise new but similar arguments which we can all relate to. This is the act of communicating with other people about pertinent issues.

Deciphering the Conversation

When reading someone else’s literature we must visualize them speaking to a group of people with different opinions. “The trick in reading for the conversation is to figure out what views the author is responding to and what the author’s own argument is”. Basically what is the “They say” and how does the author respond to it.

When the “They say” is unstated

Sometimes the author’s argument is not clear to the reader and must be deciphered by the reader. The author assumes the reader is familiarized with their views and sees no reason to summarize them. As a reader you have to identify the author’s thesis and try to define what argument they are trying to make.

 Reading particularly challenging texts

Sometimes the author’s words are too complex for the normal reader to understand. To understand difficult writings like this they must be broken down and put into your own words. The writers may not distinguish their views in a way that is recognizable to the average viewer. This leaves the reader to question if the writer’s argument is one of their own or one that they are challenging. I like many people find this to be confusing but also interesting because it leaves the interpretation of the reading open to the reader. Sometimes the writer will include unfamiliar text which may be confusing to the average reader. This may cause the reader to stop and look up the words in a dictionary or it may be intimidating for the reader and may deter them from further reading the material. To understand difficult readings such as this, the reader must be able to translate the material and put into their own words. By doing this you must not translate the writer’s thoughts into your own beliefs but stick with the original beliefs of the author and allow your own beliefs to be challenged. Even if you disagree with what the author is saying you must read it with an open mind and show that you have listened to what he or she is saying.

 

Entering the Conversation

Graff, Gerald, Cathy Birkenstein, and Russel Durst. “They Say, I Say”: The Moves That Matter in Academic Writing : With Readings. New York: Norton, 2012.

Keywords: Writing, Reading, Creativeness, Argumentative

Entering the conversation

Everyone has special skills, but we’re not born with these skills. The ability to do something well is achieved over time, through practice, and repetitiveness. The same applies to writing. Great writers have acquired the ability to write informative and controversial pieces over time by learning the basic rules of writing and also reading many other peoples writings to hone their creative skills.

 

“Academic writing is argumentative writing”

Being a great writer requires a person be a critical thinker. Critical thinking helps the writer enter the conversation when they express input and beliefs of their own ideas as well as others. A well put together piece of writing has two ways it can be looked at by different readers and raises a strong argument between the two readers. No one wants to hear a person ramble on about what they think and why it is so important because in the end it leaves the reader saying “so what and who cares”. Readers want to be able to see both sides of the argument and then be able to choose their stance on which side they agree with. If your writing is non- controversial and contains nothing but facts that no one can disagree with then it can be considered boring and flat.

“Agree and disagree at the same time”.

This is a very good way to make your writing interesting because you avoid allowing the reader to choose a yes or no response. By using the template “On one hand / on the other hand” you can create a much more compelling argument for the reader. This will also help the writer add quotes to their writing. You can write “So and so say’s”, on one hand I agree, but on the other hand I disagree because”. Templates like these are the foundation for writing a great argumentative paper. By listening closely to others who disagree with us and engage with them, in the end it may even make you change your original opinion.

“Do Templates Stifle Creativity”?

Many students argue that using template for writing takes away from their own creativeness and ability to write a good paper. Also students complain that it will make all their papers sound the same like they are some kind of writing robot using the same templates time after time. In fact these templates will do the opposite making their papers sound more original and creative when used. Some of the most creative writings ever written were done using the same established patterns and structures found in the book “They Say I Say”. You as a writer can be as creative as your imagination will allow. The templates are used only as a guide to format your writing and how you say it. Many students will also argue that using templates is plagiarism. Using words that are found in every day conversations like “a controversial issue” and “on one hand / and on the other hand” can never be claimed as a person’s own work. If the works used to fill in the blanks between these templates is not cited properly then that is considered plagiarism.    

 

 

   

Video Games: An Escape From Reality

Graff, Gerald, Cathy Birkenstein, and Russel Durst. “They Say, I Say”: The Moves That Matter in Academic Writing : With Readings. New York: Norton, 2012.

Keywords: Video games, Politics, Change, Escape, Reality

Extra lives: why video games matter.

Tom Bissell explains clearly that in 2008 he was more interested in a new video game than the presidential election of a new commander in chief. It seems that this is not only true for Tom but millions of young American youths and also American adults as they feel that a new video game takes higher precedence than a history changing event. I believe that most youths find politics to be boring and confusing and find ways to escape being involved in democracy by resorting to video games. I myself am not a video game extremist but can understand why someone would rather be playing a video game than watching the presidential acceptance speech. During the election and especially on Election Day there is nothing on television to watch besides political media which will cause any normal human being to go insane. This results in people turning to different means of entertainment such as video games.

Video games, as described by Tom Bissell, are a way for humans to escape reality and create their own personal freedoms where they are not controlled by government. Whether it be raining terror in Washington or shooting up the streets in California it allows a person to create their own world of anarchy. I agree in a way that these games can be therapeutic to some who do not agree with political views which are being forced upon them by the American government. I believe that it is better that a person takes their aggression out in a virtual reality rather than the streets of public society.

Tom best describes a video game on page 360, “The best part of looking up at a night sky, after all, is not any one star but the infinite possibility that is between stars.” This describes that there are an infinite possibility of outcomes playing new video games and that every action that you make in the game will result in a different outcome. When I think about this I see how it relates to politics that every political choice has a different outcome but unlike a video game cannot be erased by the push of a power button.

In conclusion, I believe that video games are a great way to escape from the reality of life and create a personal world where your own choices can be made with resulting consequences but eventually the game ends and can be started over. On the other hand the choices that are made by congress cannot be erased and the effects of their choices are very life changing.

P.S If you love your Country Vote “Republican”      

A Summary of Summarizing

Graff, Gerald, Cathy Birkenstein, and Russel Durst. “They Say, I Say”: The Moves That Matter in Academic Writing : With Readings. New York: Norton, 2012.

Keywords: Worldview, Main Concerns, Perspective, Balanced Ideas

 

 (page 30)  Definition of Summarizing: Refers to any information from others that you present in your own words, including that which you paraphrase.

Creating a strong summary takes perspective of the writers ideas and simplifies them into a quick easy to read short sentence or paragraph which will allow readers to gather the main concerns and issues without having to read the entire text. The objective of this brief paragraph is to capture the readers attention and excite them so they will want to further read the authors text.

Quote: (page 31) ” As a general rule, a good summary requires balancing what the original author is saying with the writer’s own focus.”

Being in agreement with this quote, I support what the author is trying to emphasize to create a summary with a good balance of ideas. As a writer you want to express how your feelings about the text that is being read, but also compare and contrast those ideas to the authors original ideas. By doing this it will give the reader an overall better worldview of main concerns of the authors ideas. In addition to a broader view this will stray the writer from becoming a victim of writing a “list summary” which can be defined as someone who simply repeats in order the points the author has made. This makes for a boring summary and will cause the reader to lose interest in the subject.

Summarizing Satirically: For the most part of this blog I have been expressing that a good summary requires a balance of ideas. There is one exception in writing a satirically summary where the writer deliberately gives their own twist on the authors argument in order to take a stance against the authors statements and try to ridicule them for what they are saying by taking their own words and using them against them to critique their opinion or ideas.