Tanorexia

             If you were doing something that increased your chances of getting cancer, don’t you think you’d stop? Unfortunately, this is not the case for many Caucasian women ages 16-29. This age group makes 70% of the tanning salon patrons. According to American Academy of Dermatology, using tanning beds before the age of 35 can significantly increase your chance of getting melanoma, the world’s deadliest skin cancer.

            Unfortunately, over the years, being tan has developed a positive connotation. Many Caucasians will do whatever it takes to be tan, even if that means paying a hefty fee and damaging their skin. WebMD recommends that anyone under the age of 18 should not engage in indoor tanning because of their rapid growth of cells. This puts them at a higher risk for potentially developing skin cancer. I personally think indoor tanning should be banned for all ages. If the legislation was to put a stop to the use of tanning salons, people would learn to not only embraces their natural skin color, but it would also drastically help the health of their skin.

            For people that feel the need to be tan year round, there are ways to get this healthy glow without exposing yourself to damaging UV rays. The beauty industry has spent years developing lotions and sprays that resemble tan. Not only are most of the lotions cheaper than indoor tanning, but also, they will not damage your skin. So next time you go to step into a tanning bed, think to yourselves, is it really worth it? 

Texting & Driving: Worse Than Drunk Driving

The popularity of cell phones has sky rocketed in the past two decades. Though communicating has become much easier, car accidents related to mobile use has also increased drastically. Reports have shown that texting and driving is more dangerous than drunk driving, according to Virginia Tech Driving Institution. Though there is a law against drunk driving, there is not a law prohibiting texting and driving nationwide. Clearly, this is a serious issue.

            In 2008, 5,870 people died in car crashes related to texting and driving. While over half a million people were injured in texting and driving related accidents.  One would think these alarming statistics would force Congress to take action, but it hasn’t. As of July 2010, only 29 states have ban texting and driving according to Governors Highway Safety Administration.

            People typically think that more teens are using cell phones while driving than adults, but this was proven false by the statistics released in 2010. 34 percent of teens admitted to texting while operating a vehicle, while a staggering 47 percent of adults admitted to it. Despite your age, cell phone use while driving is just simply not safe. There needs to be a law nationwide that bans texting and driving, enough said. 

Let's Put An End To All This Hate

          Cyberbullying has been an issue for many years now, but within these past couple years, the media has covered it more than ever. Cyberbullying has been linked to many suicides, especially among teens. According to Oklahoma Parents Center, bullying includes behaviors and actions that are verbal, physical and/or anti-social, such as exclusion, gossip and non-verbal body language. It can occur at school or in transit between school and home. As of July 2010, forty-four states within the United States have laws against bullying, but why do only five states have laws against cyberbulling?

            With the rising rate of suicides linked to cyberbullying, one would think there would be more laws making cyberbullying illegal. Unfortunately, forty-five states still do not have any laws against this hateful crime. Most states do not consider cyberbullying to be a part of bullying laws because the bullying does not occur face-to-face. One of the most talked about cases of cyberbullying took place in Missouri, the state where I am from. A mother created a fake account and pretended to be a teenage boy interested in Megan Meier, a fun loving 13-year-old girl. After a few weeks, the relationship between the boy and Megan became verbally abusive. The boy began to taunt Megan by saying, “Megan Meier is a slut. Megan Meier is fat,” according to Good Morning America. The young girl could no longer handle the harassment and ended her life October 15, 2006, at the age of 13. Mrs. Meier will never be able to hold her daughter again. Instead, she is only able to hold pictures of Megan and cherish the memories they have together. As of July 2009, the mother who engaged in cyberbullying was only indicted under the Federal Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. 

            With the growing rate of social networks available to anyone, there needs to be a law against cyberbullying in all states. There have been way too many unfortunate incidents where young people ended their lives due to this vicious crime. How many more suicides due to cyberbullying is it going to take for the country to realize enough is enough?

Starbucks: The Money Monster

Each morning as I stumble out of bed at 7:15 am, I think to myself, “ah I could really use a Starbucks.” This is something that has run through my head each morning for almost 5 years. Growing up, I have always been a coffee drinker. As a freshman in high school, occasionally, I was able to convince my dad to take me to get my morning coffee fix from Starbucks. As years passed, the occasional morning Starbucks run turned into a something that was almost a daily routine. What was initially just a venti coffee at a little under $3, was now I venti ice caramel macchiato at a whapping price of almost $4.50.

            How much is too much to spend on a cup of coffee? A poll done by the Consumerist showed that 73% of Americans think Starbucks is overpriced, while 21% are unsure. Falling into the endless cycle of spending $4.50 on a cup of coffee added up fast. In one month alone during my senior year, I managed to drop almost $300 at Starbucks. Needless to say, dad was not too happy about this.


            Since entering SMU and not having a Starbucks conveniently located near my dorm, I have almost completely given up my daily coffee run. Looking back, I was stupid to spend $4.50 on a cup of coffee on a daily basis. Starbucks’ coffee prices are outrageously expensive and though the coffee is good and all, you are primarily paying for the logo on the cup. I have found that homebrewed coffee can satisfy my caffeine cravings and help cut back on the expenses.

How Thin Is Too Thin?

Do people find underweight, frail bodies to be attractive? No. Yet, these are the types of women we see strutting down the runway. There seems to be a false belief that high-end designers find to be true: the skinner the girl, the better their clothes will look. Unfortunately, this is sending the wrong message to young girls all across the world.

Girls are willing to take desperate measures to achieve the “perfect body”. They have a set image in their head of the women they see on the runways and the celebrities they see in magazines. The media can have an overwhelming impact on girls’ body image, as I read in an article by Associated Content. Attempting to achieve the body of their dreams, often leads to a form of an eating disorder. This can often take a toll on many girls’ self esteem, which can ultimately lead girls to self-hatred or even engaging in self-harm.

Laws need to be passed forcing models to have a certain body mass in order to continue with their modeling careers. We need to turn to Spain as a prime example. In 2006, underweight models in Madrid were not allowed to walk the runway due to unhealthy body weight. Reps for the fashion show explained they wanted promote the idea of a healthy body image. I truly think this is the best thing that has ever happened in the fashion world. I believe fashion magazines need to recognize the issue of unhealthy body weight and ban skinny models. Finally, we need to put a stop to the belief that what you see on TV is realistic because it’s not. The media needs to put more effort into promoting the idea that curves are beautiful and that they are something girls need to embrace, rather than hate.

Lions, Tigers, Bears...OH MY!

For Chicago Bears fans like myself, this season has come just in time before all hope was lost. For years, each season begins with high hopes and expectations, and each year, I am yet again let down by my team’s record. With the arrival of Jay Cutler in 2009, I was more enthusiastic than I had ever been. I would brag and yell at my friends, “Bears are going all the way for sure!” However, right when I thought the bears had turned a new page, Jay Cutler succumbed to the quarterback curse that has haunted the Bears for the last 25 years. He tied a record for the most interceptions in a single season, and the team finished with a 7-9 record, just a few games short of the playoffs. Over the last year, I have grown accustomed to friends and family members telling me that Cutler is useless and that the Bears are just going to falter again due to his horrible performance; but each time I tell them that one day, he will shine. It seems to me that that day has arrived.

On Monday night, the Bears defeated their most hated rival, The Green Bay Packers, to claim the top spot, not only in the NFC North Division, but also the entire NFC. They remain the only unbeaten team at 3-0. What happened the last time the Bears went 3-0 to start the season? Superbowl XLI happened. Could it be that the Bears are Superbowl bound in 2010? It has been four years since they lost the last one, but much of the original team is still intact. The only real difference is that Jay Cutler, not Rex Grossman, who can barely hold his own in the NFL, is the quarterback. On top of this, we are witnessing a new Jay Cutler. The 2010 Jay Cutler is tougher, stronger, and doesn’t throw an interception every other drive. He keeps his cool in the pocket, even when under pressure, and performs like a professional athlete should in every game. As of last Sunday, the monsters of the midway lead the league in defense against the rush and claim 5th place in passing yards per game.

How could it be that a team that was ranked 17th in passing YPG and 23rd in rush defense is all of the sudden finding itself at the top of the ranks in the NFL? The answer is determination. Not only is Jay Cutler performing better, but the offense and defense as a whole is playing with a determination and motivation never before seen in Chicago. The Bears possess some of the most impressive stats they have seen in a long time. With Brian Urlacher healthy and Matt Forte getting his run back, the Bears are destined to make it to the playoffs and possibly another Superbowl. I can picture Cowboys Stadium, home of the 2010 Superbowl, filled with blue and orange jerseys and being overtaken by the brute force of a team so good that no one will come close to stopping them. The Bears have a lot to look forward to this year, as do die-hard fans like myself. I’ve gone through pain and hardship as a Bears fanatic over the last few years, but those days are over. Bears are number one…Period.

Goodbye Phone Calls

What is a cell phone? Is it a device we use to make calls? Or is it so much more than that? In today’s society, people no longer use their cell phones to make calls. They use it to browse the internet, text, email, check the stock market, store music in the music library, play games…you get the point. Over time, cell phones have evolved from being a chunky gray brick to being a sleek and skinny touch-sensitive device. But which device is better?

The evolution of the cell phone has eroded people’s social skills. Many people resort to texting or emailing rather than picking up the phone and making a call. They let these small devices hold the conversations for them. In the New York Times Idea of the Day blog, some people are making the assertions that phone calls are dead and I have to agree. What happens when you see someone on your caller ID that you don’t want to talk to? You most likely ignore it and will text them later. This is a habit I have often found myself resorting to multiple times a week and I am sure many people are just as guilty.

Cell phones are no longer just phones; they are people’s lifelines. Most people will not leave their house unless their cell phone is in hand. On a daily basis, I bet you can easily spot a handful of people more focused on their cell phone than the people surrounding them. Studies have shown that nearly 50% of teenagers agree that their social life would be over if they were unable to text. Unfortunately, the majority of the time people spend on their cell phones are not for making calls, but rather texting and emailing. You will find many people of older generations asking themselves this question, what has this world come to? 

Bad Dog!

"What happens when you put good people in an evil place? Does humanity win over evil, or does evil triumph?” Phillip Zimbardo once said. This same man is the man who conducted one of the most controversial experiments in history, the Stanford Prison Experiment.

During the summer of 1971, Phillip Zimbardo gathered a group of young college students and placed them in an environment that resembled a prison. He assigned each of the men to either be a guard or to be a prisoner. The experiment that was supposed to be conducted for two weeks, abruptedly ended after only six days due to the unethical violence the guards were inflicting on the prisoners. Phillip Zimbardo realized that the guards and prisoners became so psychology trapped in their roles, they forgot their true identities. This resembles a scene in the Zeitoun where the mentally disabled man was sprayed with pepper spray and verbally harassed because he was unable to control his actions.

How far is too far? Is screaming profanity okay? Spraying an innocent man with pepper spray because he cannot control his actions, is that all right? How about treating guiltless people like high profiled criminals? When asking these questions, anyone would agree that this is a violation of human rights. The guards were sent to New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina to protect the citizens not to torture innocent victims. Unfortunately, many of the guards took their roles to the next level and behaved in ways that were uncalled for and inappropriate. One may agree that this seems rather similar to the Stanford Prison Experiment.

Reading how the men acted during the time of distress almost mirrored the behavior of the guards during the Stanford Prison Experiment. It seems as if the men were so psychologically involved in their roles, that they were unaware of their actions. Again we ask ourselves, "What happens when you put good people in an evil place? Does humanity win over evil, or does evil triumph?” Evil triumphs.