Art of the Week

4 March 2010 — Logan Sanderson
Colton Brown

Colton Brown

Stone’s Memorial Service

5 March 2010 — Chantel Pool

An official Memorial Service for our beloved Stone Martin has been set to the date of March 19th at 2:00p.m  in the Meeker High School auditorium.  We hope to see you there.

Analysis of Micro-Organisms at Meeker High School

26 February 2010 — student

By Jessica Mullins

To experiment with first hand results, the Meeker High School College Composition II class swabbed various areas of the school in order to test the abundance of microorganisms in each location. Students swabbed 20 different areas including the upper boys’ bathroom toilet handle, the upper girls’ bathroom light switch, wrestling mats, John Strate’s red SmartBoard pen, Beverly Devore-Wedding’s eye wash fountain, Mary Washburn’s keyboard, the boys’ and girls’ locker room floors, the boys’ and girls’ locker room shower drains, George Henderson’s keys, the cafeteria’s food counter, the main office’s door handle, the fridge handle in Angela Urenda’s room, the stapler in the library, a desk top in Bob Dorsett’s classroom, the pencil sharpener in the art classroom, the main entrance’s inside door handle, a boys’ basketball and football shoulder pads. After seven days of incubation, everyone thoroughly examined their data and discovered that the greatest amounts of microorganisms were found in Devore-Wedding’s eyewash and in the boys’ locker room shower drain.
Each student preformed the same technique by rolling the cotton swab lightly over the agar after swabbing an area to avoid puncturing the soft jelly. If the student were to accidently puncture the agar, the jelly may have suffocated the microorganisms and stopped them from growing.
The petri dish was divided into four equal sections visually with a permanent marker and labeled with a number from 1-20. Students chose 20 difference locations to test and then the students were assigned four different numbers to write on their petri dish representing which areas the student was assigned. After carefully swabbing assigned areas, the possibly lethal petri dishes were sealed and labeled by whoever collected the data. Robinson then placed our petri dishes in Dorsett’s incubator with a temperature that was the perfect temperature for the microorganisms. After seven days, students collected and observed their petri dishes. Each student calculated the approximate percentages of their four sections and recorded them and data from all the other students. After examining the data, the petri dishes were properly disposed of for safety measures.
Discussion
After analyzing the microorganisms at Meeker High School one time, I have concluded that several methods could have been done differently to obtain accurate results for future experimentation. To begin, students testing the same location may have not collaborated on the exact area of testing, so they may come up with completely different results. For example, the students testing Devore-Wedding’s eyewash may have swabbed inside the eyewash and another student may have tested the handle of the eyewash. Simple mistakes like these may have been made frequently throughout the experiment due to lack of clarity in what we chose to title each location. To have more accurate results the next time, students may come up with a better title, for example, “handle of Devore-Wedding’s eye wash” or “inside of Devore-Wedding’s eye wash,” and there would be less possibility for confusion.
Our data does not represent accurate data because each student gave an approximate guess of the percentage of microorganisms covering their petri dish. To fix this problem, very expensive equipment would need to be purchased or borrowed to calculate the exact amount of microorganism growth on the petri dishes.
Due to lack of budget in our school district, funding projects like this are not common which lead us to divide one petri dish into four sections. Because the dividing was only done visually, this opened up an opportunity for the microorganisms grow over the line, which added to complications in approximate calculations as well.

Table 1
This table represents the percentages collected by all of the students and the averages
Items % % % % Average
Boys’ Toilet Handle (upper bathroom) 10% 15% 10% 10% 11%
Girls’ Light Switch (upper bathroom) 10% 15% 0% 1% 7%
Wrestling Mats 25% 115% 65% 10% 54%
Strate’s Smart Pen 20% 5% 10% 4% 10%
Devore’s Eye Wash 20% 80% 15% 2% 29%
Mary’s Keyboard 2% 5% 10% 2% 5%
Boys’ Locker Room Floor 20% 50% 100% 50% 55%
Boys’ Shower Drain 130% 200% 150% 150% 158%
Girls’ Locker Room Floor 40% 9% 5% 20% 19%
Girls’ Shower Drain 1% 60% 80% 90% 58%
Henderson’s Keys 20% 30% 0% 3% 13%
Food Counter 27% 80% 70% 70% 62%
Office Door Handle 15% 0% 10% 0% 6%
Urenda’s Fridge Handle 35% 10% 60% 5% 28%
Stapler in Library 0% 30% 50% 15% 24%
Desk Top in Doc’s 15% 20% 30% 70% 34%
Art Room Pencil Sharpener 20% 40% 5% 0% 16%
Main Entrance Inside 75% 10% 0% 50% 34%
Boys’ Basketball 10% 50% 120% 90% 68%
Shoulder Pads 10% 75% 15% 45% 36%

Who’s Watching You?

26 February 2010 — Katie Morgan

We have all seen those movies of people spying on others through windows and holes. But have you ever thought of someone watching you through your laptop web cam?

A Philadelphia-area school (Harrington High School) issued school laptops to their students during the year.

The purpose of the laptops was to allow students to have access to “school-based resources” at all times, but school officials didn’t tell the students and families that they would have access to their own home at all times.

People started to wonder and ask questions when a student was confronted about being “engaged in improper behavior in his home” Photographic evidence was produced.

“Occasionally a green light would go on on your computer which would kind of give you the feeling that somebody’s watching you,” Harriton High School student Drew Scheier told NBC Philadelphia.

Lower Merion student Julie Reiff said, “It freaks me out because what if I’m home and I’m just changing to go to sleep and my computer’s open.”

Harrington High School have denied all allegations.

Sources:

http://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local-beat/School-Spies-on-Students-at-Home-with-Webcams-Suit-84712852.html

http://news.cnet.com/8301-19518_3-10459240-238.html

Random Fact of the Day

26 February 2010 — Laura Keeler

Every cigarette smoked cuts at least five minutes of life on average, which is roughly the time it takes to smoke one cigarette.

Rockstar Games…Controversy At It’s Finest

26 February 2010 — Evan Jordan

Editor’s Note: Parents! You might want to pay special attention to this article!

It started with the infamous Grand Theft Auto, and now, it has spawned numerous sequels. The series has been deemed controversial because it involved such instances as violence, nudity, drugs, and other adult situations. With one game even having a mod that allowed the player to do explicit things with the main character’s girlfriend. Rockstar did re-release the game, after removing that portion of the coding. There are numerous murder cases where the attorneys have brought the Grand Theft Auto series into play, but all have failed to use the game as substantial evidence. The series is possibly the most controversial video game series ever created; ironically, it is also one of the most popular. Rockstar Games is currently working on another Grand Theft Auto title due to release this fall.

Manhunt, one of Rockstar’s other gems (released on November 18, 2003), is considered one of the most sadistically violent games of all time. In the first Manhunt game, the player controlled a serial killer that lurks through each mission dispatching enemy gang members. Occaisionally, the player kills the victims with a firearm, but primarily with gruesome, over the top action sequences. The more gruesome the kill, the more points earned. There was also a sequel to the game. Manhunt 2 released on October 31, 2007 for the PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable, Wii and PC. In Manhunt 2, the player is a different character named Daniel. The game begins with the player escaping the asylum that they are locked away in, killing everyone who gets in their way. As the story continues, the player moves through multiple different areas, killing off gang members. Sound familiar? Well, they changed the mission structure, so even though there was a story, it wasn’t quite as engaging as the first. However, it was enough to draw the player in and keep them wanting to play the game. The Manhunt series has sold 1.7 Million copies to date. It is unknown is Rockstar will create another Manhunt game in the future.

State of Emergency, Rockstar’s action-adventure that released in February of 2002, was also controversial. However, there was not as much negativity thrown towards State of Emergency, as there was titles like Grand Theft Auto and Manhunt. However, it was still not liked. It was considered controversial because of it’s military-style level of violence, and it’s coup d’etat content. Such as political assassinations of corrupt government officials. The game was degraded by Washington politicians for it’s similarity to the 1999 World Trade Organization Riots in Seattle, which caused about three million dollars in damage. The game featured the fictitious, “American Trade Organization”, as the antagonistic establishment. The game was given average-low review scores, and was never more than just a mediocre attempt at a well thought out idea.

Then, they brought us the school-time madness of Bully. This third person action-adventure sandbox  game took place at Bullworth Academy, a fictional private school. The main protagonist of the story is James “Jimmy” Hopkins. A 15-year old, well, bully. He has been expelled from every school he has ever attended, and that’s how he ended up here. As far as being controversial, this is possibly the most non-controversial game Rockstar has released. The only controversy was the fact that there was sexual themes, and violence amongst teens. The sexual material involved things such as pinching the buttocks of female classmates, kissing female classmates (and in a few instances male classmates), and a gym teacher that hit on the female students. The violence was that of fights, shooting students with slingshots and other weapons, and playing dodgeball in gym class.

Rockstar Games is one of the most daring, and successful game development companies in the world,  gaining and losing much respect from people all over the world, throughout their entire existence.

Google Name Search Results

26 February 2010 — Chantel Pool

Have you just typed random peoples name into Google and found some stunning results.

Type your name in to see what comes up, for some people their names are so unique their names show up five times on the first page of Google, others they don’t show up at all. Everybody says “every person is unique and nobody is like you” but does your name fall into that category. Type in your name and location and see what comes up on the first few pages of Google.

A couple of people in the Journalism class did this test and were surprised to what they found.  Kaitlin Pollock said “It’s scary because, I’m being stalked. There is like 3 things on the first page. They have my Myspace and one of my Cowboy Roundup articles on Google. It’s scary, scary/cool because I’m famous too!”.

Goolge shows just how “safe” the internet really is.

Meeker has history!

26 February 2010 — Kaitlin Pollock

There is a history behind this town it wasn’t just built out of know where. Some of these buildings have been here for a long time.

The hotel and cafe were housed in an adobe building, which had been used as a military barracks, and it has been there for 125 years.  Teddy Roosevelt stayed in that hotel. Meeker was incorporated in 1885 and remained the only town incorporated in northwest Colorado for twenty years.  Charlie Dunbar  was a gambler and was shot and killed a few month’s after the cafe and hotel as opened.

Doodles for Google!

26 February 2010 — Christy Marquette

If you have ever been on Google, which I’m sure every American has, you have probably seen the different ways to write Google on the homepage. There’s been one for just about anything you can think of. There’s Elvis’s birthday, The Olympics, Valentine’s Day, Halloween and Christmas. Then of course there are random ones just for fun. Well I guess Google must be running out of things because now they are asking new people for drawing designs…you! You can submit your drawings of the Google logo and Google could review them and keep them for further use, or if you’re lucky, publish them right on their homepage! They can be a random drawing of something as crazy as unicorns, or something to do with a holiday, celebrity’s  birthday, or even an anniversary of a death!  To submit a design or a design idea send them to proposals@google.com.

Webcam Spies

26 February 2010 — Ana Santillan

Web cams can be a useful source. Spying can be a  useful source, but it is not okay to go beyond the limits?

At Rosemont Harriton High School, in Rosemont, PA.  the district administration is being blamed for the remote-controlled Webcam spying on 42 students. Students were given laptops to be used at school as well as home. This means that these students were being spied upon for a 14-month period. This was proven because a student, Blake Robbins was being accused of selling drugs and he wondered how was he being accused and viewed out of school grounds. So it all led to being found of this monsterous action. The school has violated the fourth amendment of the US Constitution, yet the school district says that the remote-controlled Webcams were activated so that they could locate if a laptop was missing or stolen.  Why not use a GPS system?

Can a Nap Make you Smarter?

26 February 2010 — Laura Keeler

Everyone knows the a much needed can catch you up on missed sleep, but can it really make you smarter?

Studies show that a nap in the afternoon is not only good for the body, but for the brain as well.  Scientists believe that this rest prepares the brain to retain information.

Although the results of many tests are preliminary, this breakthrough was proved to increase memory, even when the brains functionality is thought to go down (noon to 6 pm).

So if you are looking to ace your test at school or remember the names of important colleagues, a short nap  in the afternoon is your key to success.

The scene today-Meeker High School-May 14, 1971

26 February 2010 — Ahatch13

This far-fetched, creative  editorial was written by former MHS student Tom Allen who later became a legendary band instructor at our school.  He is so old, he has since retired;-)

One of the greatest mysteries in our school is the faculty lounge.  Being editor of this paper I have taken it upon myself to inform the students of the faculty lounge.  When I decided to visit the lounge I picked a day when I would really see what was going on:  the sixth day of the school week, Module 23.

Upon entering the lounge I saw that there only a few teachers there.  Ecology Etter met me at the door, took my pulse, strapped a gas mask on me and made me recite “inhaling may be hazardous to your health.”  (which is terribly difficult to do while wearing a gas mask by the way).  While my eyes were adjusting to the haze).  I discovered the marble game that was taking place (the hard way).  After helping sly (Mrs) Starbuck and dare-devil Dunham off the floor and returning sly Starbuck’s favorite tiger marble I preceded on.

It was now 5 minutes after the teachers began rushing in. The hospitals emergency volunteers were there handing out sedatives and blankets and using Irwin as a demonstrator of shock.

All of a sudden I was gasping for air.  Switching on the emergency valve I realized I was in the middle of Killer Klinglesmith and Tricky Tucker’s dart game. The target was the class sponsors poster on the wall.  They both lost.

By now all the teachers were in the lounge making it very crowded and uncomfortable.  Especially when Frissy Fandrich came in the lounge pulling a couch from the library.  I couldn’t quite understand what she was mumbling (because of the three lemons in her mouth) but it sounded something like “This is the absolute last time they are moving the couch down to the girls restroom.”

While all this was going going on I was carefully edging my way over to the mirror to see exactly what I looked like with a gas mask on.  Have you ever had to compete with Jim Dandy Jens for a mirror.  His diamond studed brush sparkled so much I had to resort to wearing sun glasses.

With all this going on I had completely exerted myself and headed over to the pop machine.  I was violently mowed over as Zippy Zeigler raced by on his hot wheels with Maniac Martinez in close pursuit yelling, “Yo quiero las ryedas  calientes con rayas azules de currera”  (translation- I want the hot wheels car with the blue stripe.

Picking myself up I cautiously advanced to the rest of the way to the pop machine where i discovered the Kooky Kings were busily picking the lock of the machine.  It seems Mrs. King had forgotten her purse and when the machine ate Mr. Kings slug they then resulted to using a pin out of her hair (?)

When I saw this all I wanted to do was leave but I wasn’t exactly sure what the best route wa to take.  I could take the North route but that would mean breaking into the conversation that Ace Ackerman and Slicky Stoddard were having on the “feeding and care of human hair.”  Or else I could have gone the route were Sneaky Starbuck was trying to show Hairless Holmes how to give someone a headlock but couldn’t get any grounds.

Or then i could take the route where Big Boy Blanke was busily baiting the couch with pop-up snakes and lizards in order to scare Horrified Holmes and Harangued Holland (and it worked!).  The only one who wasn’t active wasCalm Cogswell who was quietly sitting on the couch plotting how to get even with the boys in Biology.

Fast Flaherty never made it to the lounge because he found me cojing out and took it upon himself to usher me to the office to get a swat.  (well it was either that or take a bribe and you know how honest I am).                                                                     -Your Ernest Editor.

From the Meeker Cowboy Roundup May 14, 1971

16 February 2010 — Christy Marquette

From May 14, 1971

Meeker A Dead End?
Are things as bad as they seem? Is Meeker, Colorado really Dead Endsville, U.S.A? Are we really surrounded by gossipy closed minded people, as many people seem to believe exist in small towns?
In order to find this out I decided the best method would be comparison. So I interviewed students who had moved here just recently.

Make your own conclusions.


Dennis Piper-Hawaii

“The kids are better here, a little conceited. There was more to do there but here it’s more fun. In Hawaii you can’t get drunk until you’re 21, or they will put you in jail for a whole year. The parents here are a lot more open minded than in Hawaii. I like school better here, less people and better looking ones. In Hawaii the principals didn’t swat you, here they do plus expelling you.”


Dannette Devereaux-Green River, Utah

“The people in Utah are more open minded. The kids aren’t any wilder. This isn’t a very interesting place, so I can’t say anything interesting about it.”


Carla Overton-Denver

“This town is boring. The people are friendly when you first get here, but then they get back in their groups and act snobbish.”

Mike Gregory-Dallas, Texas

“Meeker’s smaller and friendlier. I like this school better, each day is different.”


-Roberta Nieslanik

Updates on the Martin Family

16 February 2010 — Chantel Pool

If you’re  concerned  and want daily updates about Alahna and her family that the Cowboy Round-up has not been able to give, there is a website that gives updates on Alahna and her family. If you would like to see it,  go to www.themartinbox.com  It is very convenient and easy to use.

Meeker’s Got Talent

16 February 2010 — Laura Keeler

You may have heard of Britain’s Got Talent a popular TV show, but yesterday February 11, 2010, Meeker residents got a chance to stand in the limelight.

The Meeker Chamber of Commerce put on a community wide talent show!  The winners from previous auditions Performed at the annual dinner.

Talent acts included:

  • Father/Daughter Singing Team – Kevin and Annelise Amack
  • Choreographed Dance  Team – Loran Casia and DeLenn Mobley
  • Classical Viola – David Cole
  • Jazz Vocal and Alto Saxophone – Bob Eggebraten
  • Piano Solo – Krystal Otwell
  • Hawaiian Hula Dance – Bronwyn Schindler
  • Drum Solo – Evan Edwards
  • Vocal Solo – Stephanie Joos
  • Hip Hop Dance Routine – Legit [Pearl, Kevin, Isabella]
  • Vocal Solo – McKenna Kummer

Evan Edwards won the talent show and received $500 with his victory.

The contestants and the Meeker Chamber of Commerce would like to thank everyone who came!

Three Main Kinds of Autism Spectrum Disorders

16 February 2010 — Kathleen Kelley

Krystal N. Otwell
Pat Robinson
College Composition II
February 10, 2010

John’s early history resembled a normal child’s development, by age two he could speak in sentences, and his development appeared to continue to appropriately progress. At age two and a half years, he abruptly revealed a period of marked behavioral regression shortly after the birth of a sibling. He seemed to have lost previously acquired skills in communication and no longer became bathroom trained. He seemed uninterested in social activities, and various unusual self-stimulatory behaviors became obvious. Comprehensive medical examination failed to reveal any conditions that might account for his developmental deterioration. Behaviorally he exhibited features of autism. At a follow up appointment at age 12 he no longer talked apart from an occasional single word, and attends a school for the severely disabled.
Autism is a complicated developmental disability that typically develops in the first three years of an individual’s life and affects a person’s ability to communicate and interact with others. A certain set of behaviors called a “spectrum disorder” defines autism. The “spectrum disorder” affects individuals differently and to varying degrees. Autism spectrum disorders range from a severe form called autistic disorder to a milder form, Asperger syndrome. Other rare but very severe disorders included in the autism spectrum disorder consists of Rett syndrome, childhood disintegrative disorder and pervasive developmental disorder.
First described in 1040s by Viennese pediatrician Hans Asperger, Asperger’s Disorder affected boys who seemed to have normal intelligence and language development but had difficulties with social and communication skills. A much milder form of autism and commonly known as the “high-functioning autism” regularly describes Asperger’s disorder. Asperger’s Disorder may only mildly affect children causing them to frequently have good language and cognitive skills. Children affected by the Asperger’s Disorder may seem like a normal child behaving differently. Children with autism generally do not take interest in others; however, with Asperger’s Disorder individuals usually try to fit in and have social interaction with their peers except they do not know how to achieve this desire. They may act socially awkward, not understanding the conventional social rules and show a lack of empathy. They may have limited eye contact, seem to have broken conversations and cannot understand the use of gestures. Asperger’s Disorder affects individual’s interests in a particular subject to cause obsession. Children with Asperger’s Disorder love to collect categories of items such as rocks, bottle caps and stamps; they may become experts in specialized information such as baseball statistics, biology or even Latin names of flowers. They may have good rote memory skills but they have difficulty with abstract concepts. Also, children with Asperger’s Disorder normally have good language skills; they simply use language in different ways. Their speech patterns may be unusual with lack of inflection and rhythmic nature. In addition to all this, children with Asperger’s Disorder possess average to above average intelligence.
Rett syndrome is a disorder of brain development that occurs almost exclusively in females. Girls with the classic form of Rett syndrome usually start developing severe problems with language, communication, learning, coordination and other brain functions after six to 18 months of normal development. Early in childhood, girls affected with Rett syndrome lose purposeful use of their hands and begin making repeated hand wringing, washing or clapping motions. They generally grow slower than other children and have noticeably smaller head sizes. Other signs of Rett syndrome includes breathing abnormalities, seizures, an abnormal curvature of the spins called scoliosis, and sleep disturbances. Rett Syndrome slowly progresses until the patient enters their teen years. Around the teen years, the symptoms may improve; for example, seizures or breathing problems tend to lessen in adolescent years. Children with Rett syndrome develop differently. Usually, a child with Rett syndrome sits up properly but may not crawl. For those who do crawl, they might scoot along on their tummies without using their hands. Similarly, some children affected with Rett syndrome can walk independently within the “normal” age range, while others do not learn to walk at all or only start learning to walk until late childhood or early adolescence years. On the other hand, children with Rett syndrome may lose their ability to walk properly, even though they used to walk for a few years normally. The average life expectancy of a girl with Rett syndrome on average lives until around their mid-40s. Death often relates to seizure, aspiration pneumonia, malnutrition, and accidents.
Very few children who have an autism spectrum disorder diagnosis actually meet the criteria for childhood disintegrative disorder (CDD). This rather rare condition was first described in 1908 many years before autism became a recognized disability. Children with CDD develop conditions similar to autism but only after a relatively prolonged period, usually two to four years of clearly normal development. The long period of normal development before regression helps differentiate CDD from Rett Syndrome. In CDD the loss of skills such as vocabulary becomes more noticeable than in classical autism. The diagnosis requires extensive and pronounced losses involving motor, language, and social skills. Accompanying CDD includes the loss of bowel and bladder control and oftentimes accompanied with seizures and a very low IQ. CDD clearly differs from autism by the patterns of onset, course and outcome. Due to the rareness of this condition, many believe that it has frequently been incorrectly diagnosed. Perhaps ten times less common than the strictly defined autism, CDD affects more boys than girls.

References
Alexander Westphal, M.D. Childhood Disintegrative Disorder. 2010. 04 February 2010 .
Autism Society. Autism Society – Improving the Lives of All Affected by Autism. 30 January 2008. 02 February 2010 .
Autism Society of America/Oakland County Chapter. Childhood Disintegrative Disorder (CDD). 2008. 04 February 2010 .
Autism Society. What’s Unique about Asperger’s Disorder? 03 February 2010 .
Genetics Home Reference. Rett Syndrome. 31 January 2010. 04 February 2010 .
Heidi Liss Radunovich: Department of Family, Youth and Community Sciences, University of Florida, Gainesville. Autistic Disorder . 2009. 02 February 2010 .
Morris, Barry K. Help with Autism, Asperger’s Syndrome & Related Disorders. 2008. 04 February 2010 .
National Institute of Neurological Disorders adn Stroke. NINDS Asperger Syndrome Informaition Page. 19 October 2009. 03 February 2010 .
Office of Communications and Public Liaison. Autism Fact Sheet. 19 October 2009. 02 February 2010 .
—. NINDS Rett Syndrome Infromation Page. 18 December 2008. 04 February 2010 .
—. Rett Syndrome Fact Sheet. 18 December 2008. 04 February 2010 .
Songswift. History. 2008. 04 February 2010 .
—. What is Rett Syndrome. 2008. 04 February 2010 .
The Nemours Foundation. Asperger Syndrome. 1995 – 2010. 03 February 2010 .
Voorhees, Benjamin W. Van. Childhood disintegrative Disorder. 13 June 2006. 04 February 2010 .
WebMD, LLC. Asperger’s Syndrome – Symptoms. 2005-2010. 02 February 2010 .
—. Autism Spectrum Disorders Health Center. 2005-2010. 02 February 2010 .
Zieve, Neil K. Kaneshiro and David. Rett Syndrome. 01 December 2008. 04 February 2010 .

Micron Purchases Numonyx

12 February 2010 — Evan Jordan

Micron Technology is a company most famous for producing DRAM (Dynamic Random Access Memory), a type of flash memory for computers. They are the largest memory chip producer in the United States, and are based in Boise, Idaho. They have announced that they will be purchasing Numonyx Memory Solutions, another huge flash memory company. They will make the purchase for $1.27 billion.  No date has been set yet, but the agreement has been made. So, that being said, Micron is going to be impossible to catch, and will have a monopoly in the flash memory business sooner or later!

Los Causantes de Obesidad

9 February 2010 — Cameron Glasscock

Cuando estuve escribiendo una lista de los alimentos que ingería versus los alimentos recomendados específicamente para mí, me lleve una gran sorpresa. Alimentos procesados tienen muchas calorías, colesterol, carbohidratos, y grasas saturadas y no saturadas. En general, la gente no sabe lo que contienen los alimentos. Desde 1906, cuando Upton Sinclair publicó The Jungle, muchas formas de medios de información han tratado de exponer lo que comemos. Recientemente, Super Size Me, una película de Morgan Spurlock, reveló los efectos en la salud de la industria de “comida chatarra.” Aunque la ley requiere que los factores de nutrición tienen que anotarse en los embases de los alimentos que el público puede comprar en las tiendas, no es lo mismo con las comidas de restaurantes. Para muchos americanos, es muy difícil de vigilar que ingieren.
Yo usé un “Calorie Counter” (calculador de calorías) en el Internet a www.caloriecount.about.com. En esa página, yo entre información sobre mi altura, peso, tamaño de mi cuerpo, y el ejercicio que hago cada día. El calculador de calorías calculó mi consumo recomendado de colesterol, carbohidratos, grasas, y calorías. Según este, yo debo ingerir 300 miligramos de colesterol, 319 gramos de carbohidratos, 20 gramos de grasas saturadas, 45 gramos de grasas no saturadas, y en total 2031 calorías cada día.
Cuando escribí mi lista de los alimentos que ingerí por dos días, estuve sorprendido. En ambos días, desayune un burrito (250 calorías, 11 gramos de grasas (6.0 gramos saturadas), 160 miligramos de colesterol, y 24.0 gramos de carbohidratos), un queso cuerda mozarela (50 calorías, 2.5 gramos de grasas (1.5 gramos saturadas), 10 miligramos de colesterol, y 1 gramo de carbohidratos), y una botella agua con saborizante que contuvo mucho sodio. En el primer día, yo comí un bocadillo para el almuerzo. El bocadillo contuvo pan, pavo, queso, mostaza, y mayonesa (con un total de 383 calorías, 15.9 gramos de grasas (4 saturadas), 33 miligramos de colesterol, y 14.7 gramos de carbohidratos). El segundo día, almorcé 4 trozos de pechuga de pollo y un medio vaso de Sprite con un total de 628 calorías, 20 gramos de grasas (2.5 gramos saturadas), 56 miligramos de colesterol y 91 carbohidratos. En la primera noche, cené un biftec muy rico, una ensalada con “Ranch dressing”, una papa asada con crema agria y queso. Los totales de todas las comidas en esa cena son: 1013 calorías, 13.31 gramos de grasas (1.4 gramos saturadas) 10.7 miligramos de colesterol, 72.39 gramos de carbohidratos. La segunda cena consistió en una hamburguesa con queso y tocino, papas fritas, y gaseosa Dr. Pepper. Esa comida tuvo 812 calorías, 29.7 gramos de grasas (9.1 gramos saturadas), 63 miligramos de colesterol, y 100.4 gramos de carbohidratos.
El gran total: en el primer día, consumí 1,696 calorías (335 menos que lo recomendado), 29.21 gramos de grasas (15.79 gramos menos que lo recomendado), 12.9 gramos de grasas saturadas (7.1 menos que lo recomendado), 213.7 miligramos de colesterol (86.3 menos que lo recomendado), 112.09 gramos de carbohidratos (206.91 menos que lo recomendado). El según día, consumí 1740 calorías (291 menos que lo recomendado), 63.2 gramos de grasas (18.2 más que lo recomendado), 19.1 gramos de grasas saturadas (0.9 menos que lo recomendado), 289 miligramos de colesterol (11 menos que lo recomendado), y 216.4 gramos de carbohidratos (102.6 menos que recomendó).
¿Entonces, por qué es una sorpresa? Porque los alimentos en los Estados Unidos son muy horribles, y contribuyen mucho a la mala salud de la gente, me lleve una sorpresa. Consumí menos de lo recomendado en casi todo. Si yo intentara guardar notas de los alimentos que consumiría, yo pondría atención a la cantidad de sodio (sal y azúcar especialmente). Jarabe de maíz alto en fructosa que se encuentran en casi todos los alimentos americanos podrían ser los causantes de obesidad, no solamente calorías, grasas, carbohidratos, y colesteroles altos.

What Is Music?

9 February 2010 — Ana Santillan

From many years back until this day people have been listening to music, it doesn’t matter what type or kind it is but everyone somehow lives for it. It depends on moods and the way you relate to it. Some people think certain types of music are annoying or too slow or way out of control. Behind all this, what is music honestly? Well it’s an artistic form of auditory communication incorporating instrumental or vocal tones made to be listened. There’s around 8,000 musical genres in the world but only a handful are only known. Music expresses certain opinions –  it could be about someone or about something related to you in general. Maybe even about one as a whole. Music can be dedicated to a special someone to say emotions that can’t be put into words. Overall I think everyone really loves music for the reason it makes each individual feel. The beat or the tone  has us under the spell of music.

MAG Review

9 February 2010 — Evan Jordan
MAG is, in my opinion, the most finely tuned first-person shooter on the market. The game has massive online battles, c0nsisting of 256 real players from all over the world. The game, on start up, asks players to choose a Private Military Corporation (PMC) to fight for. They can choose from Raven, Valor, and S.V.E.R. (Seryi Volk Executive Response). Depending on the faction chosen, the weapons and characters will change. The game does not feature a single player mode, but it makes up for that with the amazing online game play. There are intense close quarter shootouts, and heated, long range sniper battles; all mixed in with fast-paced, bomb planting and vehicle chases. For anyone who owns a PlayStation 3, or is thinking about buying a PlayStation 3, this game is a must buy.
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