Blog 15- Haitian Workers

The documentary, Mickey Mouse Goes to Haiti, was a good portrayal of the conditions workers in other countries face to provide America with goods (National Labor Committee, 1996).  The documentary speaks to the incredibly low wages given to Haitians.  The workers were under paid, harassed, and kept from voicing concerns. The Disney Company, of course, would not speak to the National Labor Committee.  The workers were fearful to even speak to the camera, in fear of losing their jobs. Their wages were so low; they had to live off of credit for their children to go to school.  They were unable to provide food for their families.  Families shared a one bedroom home for 8 people.  However, the documentary only showed one family's living conditions. That could be a poor representation of the conditions of all Haitians working for Disney, but I imagine the rest are not doing much better.  It is difficult to think of workers not being paid properly for their work as we have unions to prevent that injustice, but we need to take a stand for workers in other countries providing us with goods. Americans' already have a bad name around the world and not paying our workers properly is only adding to our bad reputation. It is very disappointing seeing that from a company we know and love like Disney.  I wonder if the conditions have improved for these workers since this video was made. 

National Labor Committee. (1996). Mickey Mouse Goes to Haiti. Retrieved from: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_OXhtgHBxk&feature=player_embedded

Blog 14- Reducing Risk for Assault

As a woman, every time I step out of my door at night to walk to my car, I think am I safe?  It is a constant fear many women face. There are steps women can do to reduce their risk for assault.  One thing women can do is be aware of their surroundings.  When walking to your car or to your door know who or what is around.  We should always call security to walk us to our cars if leaving a location after dark. When parking, women should chose a well lit area, close to the entrance for safety. People may say women should not dress provocatively, but that is saying it is the women's fault they are being attacked. Women should be able to dress however they choose, but be aware of their environment for safety.  Women should always leave a location after dark in groups of two or more. When at a bar, women should never put their drink down and take their eyes off of it; someone may put something in it.  Education, as with every blog I have posted, is key.  Knowing things to look for in environment  (making sure a van is not parked next to your car) and taking self defense courses to increase confidence are ways women can educate themselves.

Blog 13- Jail or Rehab??

Should a person with an addiction go to jail or rehab? Honestly, I believe it is a combination. When someone commits a crime, they should go to jail. However, if that person has an addiction I believe a mandatory stent in a rehabilitation/treatment facility should go hand-in-hand with their sentence. The jail time is necessary to fulfill the punishment for their crime, but if they are not treated for the addiction, their behaviors will not change once released. Drugs are easily accessed in prisons. Their addictions are only being fueled in that environment. The disease must be addressed if we expect any change to come from their incarceration. Who should pay for the time in rehab? That is a hard call to make. If it is required as part of their sentencing, the burden would be placed on the government. I wouldn't imagine someone with a substance abuse problem being able to afford a few months in an inpatient rehab facility. We have to allow them a chance to change and if we throw them in jail with no counseling or detoxing time, we are setting them up for failure. I do believe that if a crime is committed, the person should pay their debt to society and serve jail time. With over-crowding in the prisons, it may be more cost effective to send them to treatment facilities rather that jail, but I believe some time in jail is necessary. The jail time proves the seriousness of the crime. Most people don't want to go to jail and a few months in a comfortable inpatient rehab wouldn't be as bad, so they wouldn't be paying for their crime. There has to be punishment, but there has to be rehabilitation. I do not think it is one or the other, jail or rehab, it is both.

Blog 12- Stigma with Mental Health

The stigmas that surround mental health, limit people from receiving treatment.  It is an area that should be addressed in order to provide people with the care needed to be productive members of society. Education is the key to eliminating stigmas. National organizations involved in the research and promotion of mental health could provide PSAs on the common types of mental disorders and their prevalence.  When people realize how commons their symptoms are, they may be more likely to reach out for treatment. Education in the school systems at an early age to prevent some of the illnesses common with adolescents (i.e. eating disorders) could assist with them getting treatment sooner as they know the consequences and their friends know the warning signs.  Another way to prevent stigmas is education throughout communities through support group for people with mental illnesses as well as their family members to prevent prejudice after diagnosis. Mood disorders are so common know, I believe there has been a shift in people's thinking with regards to mental illnesses. However, there are still so many unanswered questions and lack of knowledge in communities about schizophrenia and serious mental disorders; we need to continue providing education to eliminate the stigmas.

Blog 11- Living for the Future

I think about the future all of the time. What will my finances be when I retire (even though it is FOREVER away)? What will my health be like when I am older? Will I have kids that excel the way I want them to? How much longer will my parents be around? What will global warming do in the future?

These are questions that deal with the future that I ask myself often, but I wonder if I am really living for the future. If I were, what would I do differently? For starters, I would eat healthier. We all want to be healthy and live forever, but the choices I am making now do not support that desire. Exercising goes hand-in-hand with eating healthier. As we age, it is better for our balance and overall energy level to exercise. With my parents, I am not doing things now to keep them health either. We go to dinner for get togethers rather than a hike or bowling. Anything active would be better than sitting around and eating. When we cook for birthday celebrations, providing healthier options for the meals, especially with my father being a diabetic is another way to take better care of my parents. With the environment, if we were living for tomorrow we would be more aware of our effects we would be more “green”. Things like recycling, taking public transportation, shorter showers are all areas in which to save our environment.

It is easy to think and worry about the future, but it is difficult to put the plan into action for truly affecting the outcome. 

Blog 10- Disease Prevention

Academic institutions can play an important role in the prevention of disease for women.  Education, as with anything, is crucial.  Institutions offering more courses either required portions of the curriculum or electives, which promote health awareness, are one way to further education required for disease prevention.  If women know prominent diseases faced by their gender and common signs and symptoms, they will be more likely to catch diseases while still treatable.  Some institutions are beginning to host walks (5k or marathons) to promote awareness of certain diseases as well as health fairs to cover general health issues (high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and obesity).  Academic institutions with open campuses requiring students to walk to class rather than park right at the building will increase physical activity of their students with the hopes of increasing their health. Requiring a course with physical activity (even if it just bowling) will help students be more active.  A gym membership can be expensive, and most college students are living on a budget; providing a free gym to students would not only provide a place for them to work out, but provide a place for students getting degrees in athletic training etc. to get hands on training and learning.  Intramural sports are typically a part of the college experience.  I always participated in softball, bowling, and flag football.  Those intramural sports were a great way to meet people and be physically fit. There are many opportunities for academic institutions to provide education and increased physical activity.  The key is many students do not know all of the options available. Providing information through flyers, emails, and announcements in classes is one way to get the word out on campuses.  Students will not remember all of the activities available if the information is provided during orientation when they are already in information-overload.

Blog 9- Regular Exercise

When it comes to eating healthy and exercising regularly, I have a difficult time.  Eating healthy is difficult for me because it is so easy to go pick up dinner from a fast food place than to come home and cook. My commute to/from work takes an hour each way. So by the time a work an 8+ hour day and drive two hours, I am looking at a minimum of a 10 hour day. Who has the energy to cook, much less work out, after a day that long? I am in the process of finding an apartment closer to work so that should help with my lack of time.  My apartment complex has a gym, however there is only 1 treadmill and someone is always on it. On a positive note, my work just opened a free gym to employees. Hopefully after I move closer, I will have more energy to go workout before or after work.  I have over the past month, been exercises 1-2 times a week. I would like to increase that to 3-4 times. I feel when my commute is cut way down I will have more energy and time to increase the number sessions per week.

Over the next 5 years, I see my challenges only increasing for working out.  Marriage and kids are in my 5 year plan and that comes with it's own set of time challenges. I hope to have developed fairly sensible eating habits (rather than eating out so much) that I can carry over to my kids. I do not want my children to have to deal with food issues as I have. I want to teach them to eat healthy from the start.

My goal is to just find a workout routine and stick with it and maybe no matter the obstacles with time management I face, I'll be able to continue the routine.