Response to Brianna Decker's Endorsement Post

I think Brianna makes a very valid point. Having Sidney Crosby promoting Reebok has done a lot for their company. He is very talented and relatable to younger athletes more so than other professionals because of his young age. Reebok is very lucky to have an athlete as popular as he is promoting their product. I don't know if you can directly correlate him promoting their gear to their increase in sales. I'm sure it has some role in their increase in sales but I don't think celebrity endorsements can necessarily make or break a company's successfulness. There are many factors that can effect a company's success rate, things as simple as the quality and style its self. I don't know a whole lot about hockey equipment but I know that is a business that goes through a lot of changes. Keeping up with these changes and making the improvements before other companies is a huge factor in a company's successfulness.

Crosby has done a lot for Reebok with promoting their company. He is an extremely gifted athlete who has many admirers. He will forever be remembered for his excellent performance.

Abortion?

Abortion is a very controversial topic that many people have a very strong opinion about. I read the two following articles and will go on to further explain what I learned about the issue.

The first article I read argued that abortion should not be an option. It provides a lot of statistics that would lead the reader to not want an abortion. But, not until the end of the article does it state the argument that it has intended. I think if they wanted to make their article more persuasive they should have started off with a stronger start than just jumping right into the facts. The facts them self are persuasive because they show the negative side effects of having an abortion but the author doesn't state their opinion until the end.

The second article I read was an article that was pro-abortion. This article started off by presenting their stance on the issue very clearly. They went on to talk about the legal rights of abortion and how it effects women in our society. This article also informs women that they are not a lone and that there are "many" women out there who have had abortions.

I thought that each argument had strong points. The facts in the first article stood out more to me than the second article which had virtually no facts. The second article did voice their opinion more and tried to catch the reader on more of an emotional level. I learned a lot from both articles and my personal view has not really changed. I believe that each individual should have their own choice in their given situation. It is unfortunate for the child who may be lost in the process but I feel like you need to take care of your self first before you bring another life into the world. I think that people should just be more careful in the first place. If you decide to be sexually active, then you should know how to be safe and protect yourself.

Self Evaluation

I taught the class the basic warm-up for yoga. Yoga is a growing activity and for anyone who hadn't experience yoga they were able to get a first hand explanation of some of the basic steps. I went through each phase of the sun salutations. I performed the step as well as instructing a volunteer how to do each of the phases.
I really enjoy yoga so I had a very positive and energetic attitude while giving my speech. I think I could have talked a bit louder and a bit slower. I was a little nervous because I gave the first speech and I think that had a bit of a negative effect on my performance. I think I had good eye contact while giving my speech. I fidgeted with my hands a little bit too much at the beginning but once I started giving the demonstration I had a more confident posture.
I dressed up in yoga apparel to dress the part for my demonstration. I could have brought in a yoga mat that is usually always used while doing yoga but since I didn’t have enough for everyone I decided not to bring one in. the students who hadn’t tried yoga before seemed very interested in learning some of the basic techniques of yoga. Others who were already familiar with yoga didn’t seem quite as interested because they already knew how to do it.
I think I would choose my topic again if I had to redo my speech. There were enough students in the class who were interested in the topic to have it be worthwhile. There aren’t really any changes I could have made in my visual aid, I think it was as good as it could be. I would have tried to tie the introduction and the conclusion together better. I should have had a saying that I could talk about to introduce and conclude my speech better.

Celebrity Endorsement

Jennifer Aniston promotes St. Judes Children Research Hospital. She has done a few commercials with some of the children that are patients in the hospitals and helps them tell the viewers their story.




I think that Jennifer is a credible person to endorse this hospital. She has a great charm that can really help reel in money for the hospital. I don't know if she has any personal experience with close friends or relatives who have dealt with some of the disease that the hospital does research for. She is helping promote a very good cause that I think everyone should be aware of. Having Jen on the hospital's campaign has brought in a lot more money than before she was a part of their program, I think they have had a lot of success that the hospital can give a lot of thanks to her.


The link that is attached to this heading is part of the St. Judes hospital website. It gives special thanks to Jennifer and her efforts she has put into campaigning for their hospital. I think it is amazing how much effort she has put into the campaign and they are very appreciative of her efforts.

"Real" vs. "Fake" food

While I was growing up, my family always used regular butter. Now that I am in college and buy most of my own groceries and make all of my own food choices I use margarine. I personally don't notice much of a difference between the two. They both look the same, smell the same, taste the same and can be used for all the same purposes. Margarine is said to be healthier for you and I would agree with this. Studies have shown that margarine is better for your heart than butter is (shown in the link). Margarine is also said to have less saturated fat content and less cholesterol. Obesity is a growing problem in the U.S. and I think many families could benefit from using margarine in place of butter.
As I stated before, I started using margarine more often once I got to college. Margarine is less expensive than butter and I find it healthier. I don’t think I will ever go back to using butter. There is no difference in my eyes and margarine works just as good for me as butter. The one occasion I think I would use butter again instead of margarine would be baking cookies. Cookies usually always call for butter and I think with using a large amount of butter like you do with cookies it would have an effect on the texture of the cookies. Other than baking I think I will be using margarine on a daily basis from now on in place of butter. It is proven to be healthier than butter so I don’t see any reason to go back to using butter.

Reaction to, In Defense of Food, by Michael Pollan (Introduction- Chapter 4)

As I read the introduction and first 4 chapters of Michael Pollan book, In Defense of Food, I had a few main points really stick in my head. The first being when he stated how its hard to find "real" foods these days. He went on further to explain that many foods that claim to be fortified with nutritious vitamins and minerals don't really give you all those extra things you need. Eating the "real" food is what you need to eat to stay healthy. Eating the stuff that says all the healthy advantages of eating their product really don't have everything you could be getting if you just ate normal food. I personally found this very interesting and it left me with a new eye for the food industry and the fad foods they all advertise.
I came to further understand the battles of many scientist trying to make the “correct” claim about which nutrient is most important. There were claims comparing proteins against carbs, carbs against proteins, and fats against carbs. It all ended up sounding kind of corrupt to me. If scientists can’t get it right then I’m not sure who can.
After reading the first part of this book it has become more apparent why our country is the way we are today. Struggling against heart disease, cancer, obesity and diabetes. Over the past decade we have had all different types of self-proclaimed experts (scientists) try to say what is best for us with someone right behind them telling us something different. People have tried the diets that these experts claim will give you the best health with only to turn out malnourished. I hope that these experts stop making rash claims because it has obviously hurt our country in the past.


My link represents an expert from today's opinion on carbohydrates and protein.