Any old teen can do it...

Every now and then a study comes out about teenagers and if they are really contributing to American society. Of course, if they are volunteering for those in need, they have to be helping somehow. But does volunteering really make an impact on a teenager, or does is it simply something to add to the college application? One such research study done by Hayal Kacker, Jennifer A. Schmidt, and Lee Shumow (psychologists) investigated the effects of volunteering, be it babysitting or working at a homeless shelter, on teenagers and whether or not it makes the teen civically conscious in the long run. The article was called “Adolescents’ Participation in Service Activities and Its Impact on Academic, Behavioral, and Civic Outcomes.” Which is a long name for saying that volunteering does have an effect on teens. The general hypothesis was that volunteering both betters the life of the individual devoting time and the lives of those helped.
For students that go to a school that requires so many service hours, research was harder to gather. There were some students there who were predisposed to help the hungry and clothe the needy, but then there were students who would rather sit at home and play on their XBOX 360. For those who would have been at the soup kitchen every Saturday morning anyway, there was no evident gain in their sense of civic responsibility and some even were less involved as they got older. As for some of the couch potatoes, they became so civically conscious that they were much likely to vote and take part in civic issues as they matured. It appeared in a related study that older people got more out of volunteering than teens, but if they don’t start volunteering now who’s to say that they will later on in life? Some public and private schools argue that required service hours teach the students how to interact with others while giving them a sense of community responsibility, yet for the most part, the future civic leaders varied on what type of volunteer work they did as well as how long they were involved.
The type of teenager most likely to do volunteer work varies as well. Not only are the effects variant, the volunteers themselves are different. Young women are more likely to volunteer than young men and it does not hurt if the girl’s parents are educated. Some case studies that were listed showed that educated parents have a large influence on how frequent a teenager volunteers. The idea is that the more education a person has, the more socially conscious they are and the likelihood that they will pass on these traits to their children increases as the level of education increases. Although over 50% of high school students reported doing some sort of volunteer work, the sex ratio is extremely important. In a group of students that were studied, 62% of the girls did volunteer work and only 49% of the boys did any. Not only is gender and education a factor, but the age of the student is also a determinant in how often and how long a student participates in volunteer work. Over 60% of the surveyed high school seniors said they did some sort of volunteer work whereas the freshman had half doing community service and half not doing anything. The students that did the volunteer work out of their own will were typically upper class white teenagers whereas those who were forced to do it were those individuals of ethnic backgrounds. Whether the volunteer work was required or whether it was completely voluntary, the types of activities did not change. Most students find volunteer work around their community through family friends, religious affiliations, or through the school if they are required to do so. Although the range of student volunteers was large, the effects on the students themselves were larger.
A vast majority of students were not required to do community service and yet, they still engaged in it. From a policymaker standpoint, that is phenomenal. With a rapidly growing population, it is important to raise children that will productively contribute to society even after they get into college. The students who participate in volunteer work are likely to have higher grades, less behavior problems, and a greater sense of what they can accomplish in the world since they can see the differences they affect on their community when they help out. Findings from this study showed that any bit of service was better than none. So if a person only has time to walk their neighbor’s dog once a week for free or if they have every single Saturday to devote at the animal shelter without pay, the effects seem to be the same. Students that interact with their community make the community better and if they do it out of their free will, all the better.
It seems that every little bit counts, especially when it helps the people that need it most. Teenagers have a bad rap for not contributing to anything, but as this study has shown, it is just not true. Teens get many benefits from volunteering and everyone benefits from a few extra helping hands; so let’s spread the love and plant some trees and help some old ladies.
Source:
Kacker, Hayal, Jennifer A. Schmidt, and Lee Shumow. “Adolescents’ Participation in
Service Activities and Its Impact on Academic, Behavioral, and Civic Outcomes.”
Youth Adolescence 36(2007): 127-140.

Food that will break your heart

As a high school student, I had the wonderful luxury of eating off campus for three years rather than eating in our school’s cafeteria. I know I know, this is definitely a shock to some of you but to others who enjoy the same privilege, you understand where I’m coming from. The freedom of forty minutes off campus during the school day was regularly too much for me to handle as well. I was left to the wolves a number of times by my teacher who commented on my profuse sweating after throwing the football in the parking lot in the sweltering heat. But it was worth it to me at the time because I could eat real burgers, not ones of a soy bean base. However, after being in college and enjoying a meal plan at a cafeteria that actually has healthy food, I started to wonder about the effects of eating at Wendy’s, King’s Bar-B-Q, Burger King, etc. will have on me down the road. All the recent talk about trans-fats and the banning of these in New York has made me realize that I was not very good to my body for three years of my life. All those trans-fats are probably crystallizing in my arteries right now and I thought I would enlighten the audience on some information I researched recently while my arteries still have some breathing room.

Along with smoking, food causes approximately 70% of all cancers, including gastric and prostate cancers. While we may believe we are eating healthily because we are religiously following the advice of the South Beach Diet or exercising like that workout machine Tony Little (check this guy out at http://www.tonylittle.com/), we may be (and are likely) mistaken. These diets usually focus on one aspect of eating such as eliminating excess carbs, rather than focusing on eating foods that will provide us with a balance of what we need. Just because we don’t super-size that number four combo doesn’t mean we aren’t putting dangerous things into our bodies. We may be cutting carbs, but what are we overlooking in this attempt.

Look, I realize you only live once and if you want to get that McRib that is OK with me, but do it in moderation. Even The Rock indulges in a cheese pizza every now and then. It’s not just the fact that certain foods are extremely hazardous for you, but naturally occurring agents in your food also pose a risk. I had no idea to what extent it is now generally accepted that many cancers are caused by chemical processes that result from certain environmental agents such as chemicals, ionizing radiation, infection and inflammation. In some form or another, these agents can find ways into our foods naturally as well as through improper packaging. For example, and not to get too scientific on you, the naturally occurring fungus Aspergillus flavus can survive in hot and humid environments and a consumer may find it in nuts and grains. This can occur naturally if the nuts are harvested in a humid area or if they are improperly packaged before a consumer buys them. Not an appetizing thing to hear.

The way in which food is cooked can also be problematic to our health. Foods that are cooked at over 180 degrees Fahrenheit are subject to (*deep breath) heterocyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. In plain English, bar-b-q’ing, frying and heat processing all fall under this category. In certain cases, more than ten of these hydrocarbons have been identified in cooked meats such as fish and pork. While the presence of these chemicals can depend on the packaging methods for these meats, the way in which these meats are cooked also influences the presence of the hydrocarbons. Try Menshealth.com for some alternate ways of cooking meats.

Not only are foods liable to cause cancer but drinks may as well. Coffee and whiskey have been reported to induce certain cancers, one being ovarian cancer. Fortunately for everyone in this class and our target audience, excluding myself and the teacher, whiskey is out of the question because no one is 21 yet, and we are all law abiding citizens. But watch out for that coffee, because drinking four or more cups a day is reported to be a likely cause of cancer. Try going to bed a little earlier if you are chronically tired.

You may be thinking “Everything these days causes cancer Will” and that is probably true to some extent, but you wouldn’t stick your face up to the gas pump and in the same way, you probably shouldn’t eat three meals a day of only processed food. But just when you thought giving up eating might be a good idea, scientists bombard you with the pluses of eating certain foods and the cancer-preventing potential of these foods.

Some foods, particularly fruits and vegetables, are known to slow the growth of tumors by acting on the cycle regulators in these tumors which are responsible for the tumor’s growth. Certain foods like tomatoes protect against lung cancer while yogurt is considered to help prevent colorectal cancer, something that none of us want by the sound of it.

The key word for healthy foods is antioxidant: a compound that plays a part in a defense system for the body along with vitamins, mineral and amino acids. Antioxidants can neutralize damaging chemicals and protect against certain chronic diseases. Antioxidants also boost the effectiveness of Vitamin C, a protective substance for the body against disease.

This may seem like a lot of science, but actually you hear this every day. You should know by now that drinking soft drinks and eating processed foods routinely is not a healthy habit. You’ve always known that eating fruits and vegetables is better for you than eating 3-5 servings of Snickers bars a day. You may not understand the specific scientific reasoning behind all of this, but you should be able to understand the basics. It’s impossible to fully escape from the bad agents in what we eat and it’s probably psychologically important to indulge in some bad food every now and then but it is more important (if you desire a healthy body) to watch what you put into your body. Not only will you look and feel better but your body will have what it needs to fight off dangerous cancers which seem to affect everybody in some form these days. Also, now that you have read this, you do not have an excuse to sue McDonald’s if you continue to eat there everyday and have a heart attack at age 27.

Primary Source

Banning, Maggie. “Nutrition Management: The Carcinogenic and Protective Effects of Food.” British Journal of Nursing (BJN). 11/10/2005, Vol. 14 Issue 20, p1070-1074, 5p.

Supplemental Information

-McDonald’s Nutrition Facts

http://www.mcdonalds.com/app_controller.nutrition.categories.nutrition.index.html

-Fruit’s Effect on the Flu

http://www.menshealth.com/cda/article.do?site=MensHealth&channel=health&category=colds.flu&conitem=289197bd6bfd6010VgnVCM100000cfe793cd____

-Image Link

http://images.search.yahoo.com/search/images/view?back=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.search.yahoo.com%2Fsearch%2Fimages%3Fp%3Dclogged%2Barteries%26ei%3DUTF-8%26fr%3Dsfp%26x%3Dwrt&w=200&h=155&imgurl=www.nutritionsupplements.com%2Fimages%2Fother-pics%2FCloggedArtery.jpg&rurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nutritionsupplements.com%2Froyal_arterial_flush.html&size=5.8kB&name=CloggedArtery.jpg&p=clogged+arteries&type=jpeg&no=1&tt=397&oid=886299ef0e2e7606&ei=UTF-8

Having some "sheepless" nights?

Since pre-school, we’ve all looked forward to the activity of the day: NAP TIME! From Kindergarten to the fifth grade, things couldn’t be better. Sleep was a necessity and each day rounded up to a total of 8 or so hours each night. But as we left the sandboxes and made our ways toward Middle school, we left our behind pleasant dreams. Now, more classes meant more work, which meant less sleep. And for many of us, High School is where we experienced our first all-nighter. Whether it was completing a history assignment, or writing that 10 page senior exit paper, sleep became a thing of the past. The tendency for us to sleep the average amount needed to fully function during the day began to decline as we progressed throughout secondary school. While we believe running off of 5 or 6 hours of sleep is sufficient, Americans now sleep 20 percent less than a century ago. A century ago when children were able to sleep for 8 hours now results to only 6.8 hours. According to the US National Science Foundation, the lack of sleep is also linked to mood swings, depression, anxiety, and other health related issues. In this Nature article with the support of other journals, the importance of sleep is highly stressed bringing into consideration the health and mental effects of loosing too many hours of sleep.
Nature magazine first argues that the medical profession is in part responsible for people not realizing the seriousness of their neglecting to sleep. According to Nature the medical professions have not been attention to their patients who claim to have had any type of sleep problems. Sleep research has shown that sleep is very important when it comes to the body and mind. When we are sleep, the mind is very active with rapid eye movement the reoccurring dreams of us dating a celebrity or winning the billon dollar jackpot. The switch in the brain from sleeping to awakening is called the hypothalamus and when we throw the brain off by randomly sleeping throughout the day or in this case not getting enough sleep at all, neurogenesis slows down and the brain is not able to function well with practical daily activities.
Not only does the lack of sleep lead to the inability to function, but research from Ronald Dahl of Phi Delta Kappan notes that insufficient amounts of sleep also leads to adult diseases such as diabetes, and insomnia. Health effects are also noticeable in adolescents such as ADHD, and even symptoms of epilepsy. An Eastern Virginia Medical School noted that people who sleep 16 minutes less per night than the average sleeper is more at risk of becoming severely overweight. As a problem for most entering freshman, gaining 15 pounds from working and not sleeping is the last thing anyone wants to be worried about. Just think---missing what only seems to be a few measly hours of sleep can ultimately cause a 10 percent increase in body mass index.
Aside from the health proponents associated with the neglecting of sleep are four main mental and physical effects of choosing to sleep less. The first most obvious and common result of lack of sleep is feeling tired. Classes that call for a physical attribution can easily cover up the sleepiness of a person. However, if trying to write a paper at your desk or read a chapter out of a biology book, one is more than likely to fall asleep within minutes. Sometimes, Dahl mentions, even during class, one may not even notice that they are micro-sleeping in lapse intervals of. Although it seems as if our bodies can function with the minimal amount of sleep, other factors prove otherwise. That’s why on Thursday nights when at the club until three in the morning with an eight a.m. class, sure you’re hyper for a while; consequently, when it is time to wake up, you’re body tries to make up for the lost hours of sleep.
Another symptom proposed by Dahl is tiredness which makes it difficult to complete tasks that requires thinking and processing. The brain is unable to process the information that we take in because the front of the brain (prefrontal cortex) also suffers when we deprive ourselves of sleep. The third, emotional changes, comes in many different aspects. The emotional states of people who do not sleep enough vary depending on what the activity calls for. When it comes to students in school it is easy to become agitated, impatient, and intolerant when they are not completely focused. Research showed when the brain cannot fully function, quick emotional changes becomes out of ones control. It is recognizable in students who are forced to complete challenges especially with word processing. Outside of the learning environment, uncontrollable emotions may also lead “to aggression, sexual behavior, alcohol usage, and risky driving.”
Lastly, most common in adolescents is the sudden change in ones attention and performance. Even though one may try to succeed in tasks, sleep loss leads to short mental lapses while trying to pay attention. As mentioned earlier, with the quick dozes, it is probable that one will develop ADHD or easily be distracted by almost anything as the mind is unable to perform and maintain control of attention.
So as you get ready to enter into college life, prepare yourself for less hours of sleep; however, do so with consideration. With the competition to stay ahead, stress from multiple tests and papers, and the desire to maintain a social life, keep in mind that sleep is a necessity. It does no good to stay up and cram for a major chemistry test, or that five page English assignment for that 8 a.m. recitation.. It is much safer, if not most satisfying to just sit it all aside and take a nap. Rather than risk gaining 10 pounds per semester stressing over a report, get a good night sleep, and go at it some other time. Wouldn’t it be nice if sleep came as easily as when we were in Kindergarten? While that may only be a figment of the past, adding a few hours can make all the difference. After all, it would not be a good idea to fall asleep during a front row lecture. Such a bad first impression!

Citations:
*Lawson, Willow. "The sleep equation: even minor sleep loss may make you gain weight.(ASK PT)(Brief article)." Psychology Today 38.6 (Nov-Dec 2005): 20(1). Expanded Academic ASAP. Thomson Gale. University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill. 5 Feb. 2007 .
*Dahl, Ronald E. "The Consequences of Insufficient Sleep for Adolescents Links Between Sleep and Emotional Regulation." Phi Delta Kappan 80.5 (Jan 1999): 354(1). Expanded Academic ASAP. Thomson Gale. University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill. 5 Feb. 2007 .
* Nature 437, 1207 (27 October 2005) doi:10.1038/4371207a. 26 October 2005 http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v437/n7063/full/4371207a.html#top#top
Pictures:
www.apa.org
www.getodd.com
www.thegoodsleepstore.com

Pluto's still there, you know. And now he has friends!

Now, I know pretty much everybody was upset when Pluto was unceremoniously demoted from its planet status last year. Honestly, I was pretty depressed by it too. Until, in my truly nerdy style, I watched a documentary on The Science Channel that explained the entire thing so well that I made up my mind to be excited about the infamous demotion. So I figured I’d try and explain it to the world wide web the way that television explained it to me.

Professors Iwan Williams and Jocelyn Bell, both members of the International Astronomical Union (IAU), can explain the whole thing much better than I ever could, so I’ll let them do the real work and I’ll try and translate it into English for you. The article that they’ve written is a cross between a first-hand experience geared at others in the Astronomy field (since they were at the actual IAU meetings) and some gentle explanations of what really went on during the General Assembly last August.

For a little bit of context, Pluto was discovered in 1930 and became an instant cultural phenomenon. Not only was there an element and a cartoon dog named after it, the newly-classified planet captured the imagination of early-Depression era America. In 2001, a team of astronomers discovered other Pluto-like bodies in the same general area, leading to the conclusion that there was a large asteroid belt beyond the reaches of Neptune. And they were right! The Kuiper Belt (as it’s called) is the second asteroid belt in our solar system and Pluto holds the honor of being the first Kuiper Belt object ever discovered… which unfortunately demotes it from its planetary status.

Now, while the media simply hyped up on the amount of siblings our planet had—be it 12, 8, or 9—the real issue under the knife at the IAU General Assembly was the concrete definition of a planet… because there wasn’t one. Ever since the word “planet” was created by ancient Greek astronomers there has never been a concrete definition of what types of celestial bodies the term really encompassed. Until now.

There were three definitions coming into play during the meeting: the first was based entirely on size, the second suggested that there be a very loose and informal definition of a planet (according to what people felt like calling an object), and the final definition based planetary status more on how an object affected the other objects around it. The definition that won was, as we all know, the first which claims that anything smaller than Mercury (or somewhere in the neighborhood of 4000km) cannot be a planet. But since Pluto has enough gravity to form in a spherical shape, it is classified as a “dwarf planet” along with numerous other recently discovered Kuiper Belt objects.

Now honestly, even looking at the orbit of Pluto, it’s obvious that there’s something screwy with the “planet.” Defining it as a dwarf planet and Kuiper Belt object just seems to make more sense. And really, it’s just a big abnormal hunk of rock surrounded by ice. Despite the cultural attraction we have to this eccentric oddball, it’s not like we’ve really lost lone Pluto way out there in the reaches of space. We’ve just given him a few friends. And we may have lost a planet but we gained a completely new classification of astronomical bodies. How cool is that?

Williams, Iwan, Jocelyn Bell. “What it takes to make a planet.” Astronomy & geophysics : the journal of the Royal Astronomical Society. 47.5 (2006): 5.

(images from here, here, and here. The last one is a very large image of the Kuiper Belt orbits and such (the last image in my post) and if you're really interested I'd highly advise looking at it.)