This week in our sociology class, we have been talking about open-ended insurance programs and if they are good or bad. We had a very good discussion in this class this week about this topic. We had a lot of people that had very good points. In the readings for this week, we discussed how open-ended payments for insurance were effecting the health care field. A couple of the readings suggested that the open-ended payments promote people to take advantage of the health care system. There are also a couple of readings that discuss the fact that open-ended payments do not make people take advantage of the health care system. In Gladwell's part of the book, he discusses how we do not need to worry about these people taking advantage of the health care system because who really wants to go to the hospital when they do not need to. This reading made me actually think about changing my opinion about whether health care is a right or a privilege because he put in so many real life situations. There was one part of the reading that talks about an average American just trying to pay their bills and not being able to afford health care and they did not have enough money to even get teeth pulled when they were badly infected. So they just let them fall out on their own or pulled them themselves. I cannot imagine pulling my own teeth or letting something get to that point when it is so bad. It makes me sad to think about how many people do not have health insurance and have to live without the basic care in their lives.
In the other readings, we discussed how the U.S. needs or does not need to implement the Universal Health Care act. The readings discussed how the U.S. is so much higher in things like infant mortality rate and lower in things like span of life for our citizens. In other countries with universal health care, they seem to take care of their citizens and then they live longer and they do not have as many problems. This is sad but true. To quote the author Henry Aaron, "The U.S. health care system is as large as the entire economy of France." This is very weird to me but after reading it, I understand fully that this is true. We have so many jobs just in health care and this is continuing to grow throughout the years.
The question, "Do you control your health?" came up again in class this week. Everyone had differenct answers once again and people had the answers like, but and kinda. I think you do to an extent. You could have a genetic disease and of course you did not control getting that. But just as an example, diabetes could be genetic or your fault for getting it. You could have type 1, which is usually genetic or you could have type 2 which is your fault usually from being over weight. People could also be genetically prone to heart disease or get it from eating too much fast food, etc. This question will never have a straight forward answer because there are so many things that come into play while answering it.
Wednesday, November 28, 2012
Monday, November 26, 2012
GL 350 Week 5!!
Week 5 has come and gone and I can't believe we just started week 6. These past 5 weeks have been the best in my life thus far and I find myself thinking, "will anything ever come close to this experience?" I can't imagine anything yet...We have seen so much and been to so many places, I cannot imagine going home yet and I can't imagine what life would have been like without going on this trip. I have found myself thinking that I go home in less than 20 days and then it is back to real life America. Back to work, school, and everyday Ohio activities. Being on this trip, I feel as if time has stopped and I will go back to everything just as it was when I left, but I know it will not be like this. I know that things will be changed: the weather, the people, my house will be decorated for Christmas, and most of all I will be a totally different person. I will have been to Europe and many of the countries in the continent, I will be a world traveller. I don't mean this blog to be depressing to all my fellow Romers to talk about home like this, but it is weird to think about, isn't it?
In 5 short weeks, we have seen a lot of Rome and for those of us that went on free weekend trips, we saw many different countries. This is crazy to me. I have learned so much and I have enjoyed every single minute of this experience. I know that when I get home, I will have to tell everyone about my experience many times but it will all be worth it to share my stories. I am so excited to go home and share my experience with everyone and mainly see all my loved ones and more importantly, it will be Christmas time!! My favorite time of the year!! But, before I head home for the ending of this experience, there are many more things I still want to see and 2 more weekend trips that I am stoked about!! Now, I got that off my chest, lets talk about week 5.
In the Italians, the book we are reading for this class, Barzini states, "...when he realizes that things are seldom what they seem , words not always what they sound like, and most of what he learned in school, in the army or from his elders, and what he read in many grave books is complete nonsense." I feel like this quote sums up our whole trip. We are learning so many things about not only ourselves but the world around us through just seeing it and not in the classroom. I love this aspect of the trip since I am a very visual learner and I love learning. I think everyone should have to study abroad at some point in their lifetime since you learn so many things that you would not learn if they did not go on these trips.
Week five was all about leisure time basically. We went to a museum of medical arts on Monday, it was very interesting to see all of the tools that people used back in the day and how they have evolved into what we have now. I already talked a lot about this in my last blog, so I am not going to touch on this as much. On Monday, I went to see the Vatican with a few students since we had some time to kill before we went to see Twilight!! Wahhhhh it was so good!! On Tuesday, we had a student-led tour of the Borghese Gardens by Gabby and Aubree. They did a fantastic job and it was very beautiful to see all the gardens. When their tour was over, we went to the Museum. That was very interesting and it was awesome to see very old pieces of art. It will never get old to see all the pieces of art from so long ago. On Wednesday, we had a free day and we took it for all it was worth and just relaxed since we are on the go all the time. So we got some food and watched movies on campus. On Thursday, you guessed it!! It was Thanksgiving!! We went to an English mass in Rome and it was wonderful!! I had never been to a mass on Thanksgiving, so it was very cool for me. Then we came back and ate dinner at about 5 pm. The food was delicious, as always on Thanksgiving. It was prepared by an American chef that now lives in Rome, we really loved it. But, I can say that nothing can ever compare to my Aunt's Thanksgiving dinner and I think she was very happy to hear that when I told her that haha.
I got to facetime my family while they were at our traditional Thanksgiving dinner, I was so happy to see all their faces. The internet was pretty spotty but I at least got to talk to them for a bit and catch up on what was going on. I got to see my nephew and he is getting so big, he was grabbing at the computer trying to have me hold him, which as you can imagine was heart-wrenching. I get to see him in less than a month though!! I have to admit, I cried after I got off facetime because I missed my family so much last week since there was a lot going on at home with both my parents' birthdays and Thanksgiving. But, I am just excited now to keep sight-seeing and enjoy my last few weeks here! On Friday morning, a little group of us left for Dublin!! It was so exciting to get there, they drive on the left side of the road there!! Everyone was so nice and welcoming, it was awesome. We had the time of our lives and we definitely did not want to leave come Sunday. Emily and I went to the Guinness Factory, it was amazing! I took pictures of every nook and cranny of that place! We went to a few pubs and in case you were wondering, it was just like the movie P.S. I Love You! It was an amazing trip and I cannot wait to go back someday. And that is the end of week 5, I can't believe it but we just started week 6. I am going to make the best of these last few weeks and enjoy them to the fullest!!
In 5 short weeks, we have seen a lot of Rome and for those of us that went on free weekend trips, we saw many different countries. This is crazy to me. I have learned so much and I have enjoyed every single minute of this experience. I know that when I get home, I will have to tell everyone about my experience many times but it will all be worth it to share my stories. I am so excited to go home and share my experience with everyone and mainly see all my loved ones and more importantly, it will be Christmas time!! My favorite time of the year!! But, before I head home for the ending of this experience, there are many more things I still want to see and 2 more weekend trips that I am stoked about!! Now, I got that off my chest, lets talk about week 5.
In the Italians, the book we are reading for this class, Barzini states, "...when he realizes that things are seldom what they seem , words not always what they sound like, and most of what he learned in school, in the army or from his elders, and what he read in many grave books is complete nonsense." I feel like this quote sums up our whole trip. We are learning so many things about not only ourselves but the world around us through just seeing it and not in the classroom. I love this aspect of the trip since I am a very visual learner and I love learning. I think everyone should have to study abroad at some point in their lifetime since you learn so many things that you would not learn if they did not go on these trips.
Week five was all about leisure time basically. We went to a museum of medical arts on Monday, it was very interesting to see all of the tools that people used back in the day and how they have evolved into what we have now. I already talked a lot about this in my last blog, so I am not going to touch on this as much. On Monday, I went to see the Vatican with a few students since we had some time to kill before we went to see Twilight!! Wahhhhh it was so good!! On Tuesday, we had a student-led tour of the Borghese Gardens by Gabby and Aubree. They did a fantastic job and it was very beautiful to see all the gardens. When their tour was over, we went to the Museum. That was very interesting and it was awesome to see very old pieces of art. It will never get old to see all the pieces of art from so long ago. On Wednesday, we had a free day and we took it for all it was worth and just relaxed since we are on the go all the time. So we got some food and watched movies on campus. On Thursday, you guessed it!! It was Thanksgiving!! We went to an English mass in Rome and it was wonderful!! I had never been to a mass on Thanksgiving, so it was very cool for me. Then we came back and ate dinner at about 5 pm. The food was delicious, as always on Thanksgiving. It was prepared by an American chef that now lives in Rome, we really loved it. But, I can say that nothing can ever compare to my Aunt's Thanksgiving dinner and I think she was very happy to hear that when I told her that haha.
I got to facetime my family while they were at our traditional Thanksgiving dinner, I was so happy to see all their faces. The internet was pretty spotty but I at least got to talk to them for a bit and catch up on what was going on. I got to see my nephew and he is getting so big, he was grabbing at the computer trying to have me hold him, which as you can imagine was heart-wrenching. I get to see him in less than a month though!! I have to admit, I cried after I got off facetime because I missed my family so much last week since there was a lot going on at home with both my parents' birthdays and Thanksgiving. But, I am just excited now to keep sight-seeing and enjoy my last few weeks here! On Friday morning, a little group of us left for Dublin!! It was so exciting to get there, they drive on the left side of the road there!! Everyone was so nice and welcoming, it was awesome. We had the time of our lives and we definitely did not want to leave come Sunday. Emily and I went to the Guinness Factory, it was amazing! I took pictures of every nook and cranny of that place! We went to a few pubs and in case you were wondering, it was just like the movie P.S. I Love You! It was an amazing trip and I cannot wait to go back someday. And that is the end of week 5, I can't believe it but we just started week 6. I am going to make the best of these last few weeks and enjoy them to the fullest!!
Wednesday, November 21, 2012
Sociology 490 Week 4
We ended week four in Rome by going to the Museum of Mental Health. It was on a Thursday and we were all very excited because that was the only thing that we had to do that day besides have class. So we hopped on the train to Rome and then caught the metro to go to a bus stop to head to another train station. It was a lot of traveling and by the time it was over, we had decided we weren't even in Italy any more. When we got to the stop of the museum, we had time to have our Sociology class. We had class on a few benches outside and I personally love it when we have class outside, it makes it so much more enjoyable to be outside discusses important topics. When we had finished class, we headed to the museum.
The museum had previously been a mental health hospital. The hospital was started in 1913 and had been open until the middle of the 2000's. The hospital had a lot of patients that were young orphans in its day. Many children went into the hospital to ask for help when they were sick and they were admitted because the doctors thought that they were 'crazy'. One patient, an orphan, was admitted and they later discovered he had a learning disability, but being in the hospital for that long of a period, he had become crazy. This is so sad to me that a child had to spend his whole life in a hospital because they did not understand at that time how to help him.
The museum is in a building that used to be a ward of the hospital. The museum was very interesting, they had the original camera that was used to photograph the patients as they were admitted to the hospital. We got to sit where they sat and get our picture taken too. There was another room where you would sit at a desk and put your elbows in designated spots with your hands over your ears. When you did this, you would hear voices in your head like they heard throughout their life. I must say, it was very faint noises but it was very scary to hear lose and hearing them for an extended amount of time would make anyone go crazy. It was a very cool place to visit and I am glad that I got to go with a professor that was not in my major of study since I get to see so many things that are interesting in their field of study.
On Monday of the 5th week, we went to the National History Museum of Medical Arts. It was very interesting to be there and see all the instruments throughout history. The first room that we went into was a teaching room. The things in this room were used to teach medical students about the human body. There were reconstructions of the human body where you could see everything about it. There were even real babies in jar conserved to teach them about distortion that can happen in the whomb. It was very sad to see babies in jars but seeing them you know that they went to a good teaching purpose to further our medical sciences. There were instruments from all throughout history and they were very old, as you can imagine. They looked basically the same as the ones we have now just a little more basic. This was a very interesting place to visit and I learned a lot about the medical science field just from visiting.
In our syllabus, the discussion for this week's blog is 'what can we take from the Romans to make our own health better'. From being on this trip, I have learned a lot about the Italian culture and they way that they live and especially EAT every day. The first thing that they told us at the dinner table on the first day, was that there will be salad at almost every meal but no dressing. (WHAT?!?!?!) We were all like, what about our ranch dressing?? On their salads, Italians eat olive oil and vinegar which is extremely healthy. They only eat this, no dressing. So where did italian dressing come from then?? lol it is an Americanized Italian thing. I think that this is a very good thing to practice in America. It is very good for you and tastes good too! In America, we are always so centralized around rushing and this in turn makes us eat very unhealthy. We just grab a hamburger from the local fast food joint instead of sitting down and eating pasta, etc. I think that if we took from the Italians and ate like they do, we would all be a lot healthier.
One more thing about the Italians and their health is the way that they use public transportation. Most Romans do not have cars so they take the public transportation, that is always crowded by the way. They also ride their bikes a lot and this in turn makes them a lot healthier. You will always see someone riding their bike down the street, in Florence bikers were every where. Romans also walk every where, which is very unusual to Americans. We just hop in the car and drive to the local grocery or market instead of just walking there because it is quicker and easier to drive there. I personally am loving everything about Rome and will take with me some of their customs and traditions back with me to Wooster.
The museum had previously been a mental health hospital. The hospital was started in 1913 and had been open until the middle of the 2000's. The hospital had a lot of patients that were young orphans in its day. Many children went into the hospital to ask for help when they were sick and they were admitted because the doctors thought that they were 'crazy'. One patient, an orphan, was admitted and they later discovered he had a learning disability, but being in the hospital for that long of a period, he had become crazy. This is so sad to me that a child had to spend his whole life in a hospital because they did not understand at that time how to help him.
The museum is in a building that used to be a ward of the hospital. The museum was very interesting, they had the original camera that was used to photograph the patients as they were admitted to the hospital. We got to sit where they sat and get our picture taken too. There was another room where you would sit at a desk and put your elbows in designated spots with your hands over your ears. When you did this, you would hear voices in your head like they heard throughout their life. I must say, it was very faint noises but it was very scary to hear lose and hearing them for an extended amount of time would make anyone go crazy. It was a very cool place to visit and I am glad that I got to go with a professor that was not in my major of study since I get to see so many things that are interesting in their field of study.
On Monday of the 5th week, we went to the National History Museum of Medical Arts. It was very interesting to be there and see all the instruments throughout history. The first room that we went into was a teaching room. The things in this room were used to teach medical students about the human body. There were reconstructions of the human body where you could see everything about it. There were even real babies in jar conserved to teach them about distortion that can happen in the whomb. It was very sad to see babies in jars but seeing them you know that they went to a good teaching purpose to further our medical sciences. There were instruments from all throughout history and they were very old, as you can imagine. They looked basically the same as the ones we have now just a little more basic. This was a very interesting place to visit and I learned a lot about the medical science field just from visiting.
In our syllabus, the discussion for this week's blog is 'what can we take from the Romans to make our own health better'. From being on this trip, I have learned a lot about the Italian culture and they way that they live and especially EAT every day. The first thing that they told us at the dinner table on the first day, was that there will be salad at almost every meal but no dressing. (WHAT?!?!?!) We were all like, what about our ranch dressing?? On their salads, Italians eat olive oil and vinegar which is extremely healthy. They only eat this, no dressing. So where did italian dressing come from then?? lol it is an Americanized Italian thing. I think that this is a very good thing to practice in America. It is very good for you and tastes good too! In America, we are always so centralized around rushing and this in turn makes us eat very unhealthy. We just grab a hamburger from the local fast food joint instead of sitting down and eating pasta, etc. I think that if we took from the Italians and ate like they do, we would all be a lot healthier.
One more thing about the Italians and their health is the way that they use public transportation. Most Romans do not have cars so they take the public transportation, that is always crowded by the way. They also ride their bikes a lot and this in turn makes them a lot healthier. You will always see someone riding their bike down the street, in Florence bikers were every where. Romans also walk every where, which is very unusual to Americans. We just hop in the car and drive to the local grocery or market instead of just walking there because it is quicker and easier to drive there. I personally am loving everything about Rome and will take with me some of their customs and traditions back with me to Wooster.
Monday, November 19, 2012
Week 4 Is Over Already!!
Week 4 quickly came to a close yesterday and it was eventful to say the least. On Monday, I was supposed to do my walking tour with my roommate, Danielle, but unfortunately I was too sick to even get out of bed so she had to do it by herself, tear. :'( Everyone said that it went well but it was sad not be there and enjoy giving the tour since we had worked so hard to put it together. On Tuesday, we went on a student-led walking tour of the Pantheon and surrounding area by Rachel and Aimee. They did a fantastic job and it was very interesting. The Pantheon was way bigger than we had all expected. It was very interesting to be there and to see how amazing the building really was. I really enjoyed it, pictures to come soon!!
On Thursday, we went to the museum of the mind right outside of Rome. The museum used to be a mental health hospital in the 1900's. It was very cool to be there and to see what it was like to be in a mental hospital back then because it so much different than the way that we are today. We got to hear stories of people that went into the hospital and most of them were not even sick, they were just orphans. By the time that they had spent so many years in the hospital, they had gone crazy from being around so many mental patients. It was sad to hear peoples' stories about how they had gone into the hospital and had to stay there because they were seen as 'crazy' because they had a learning disability. The hospital was very interesting and I am very glad that we got to go there and see it.
We left for Florence on the fast train on Friday morning and it only took about an hour and a half to get there. The train ride went by quickly since most of us slept the whole way. We got to our hotel and it was by far the nicest that we have stayed at this trip. We went on a short walking tour of the city with the group, professor, his wife, and Danilo. They showed us around and then we got free time to explore the city on our own. We went shopping of course, it is a leather capital. :) We went out that night to an Irish pub and it was very interesting to see so many different people there not only Italians. The next morning, we got up and went to the Uffizzi Museum as a group. This was an amazing place, there was so much art there and we all enjoyed it a lot. We got to spend 2 hours there, but I could have spent the whole day there. After we left the museum, we went to the Academia to see the Statue of David. It was amazing to see it in real life since it was so much bigger than anyone had thought it was. We did more shopping and then on Saturday night we had a traditional Tuscan 4 course meal, it was DELICIOUS!! We left on Sunday after having a little bit of free time and none of us wanted to leave since we had such a great time. We all became closer on this trip and are becoming such a big family!! During this trip, we got lost as a small group and found ourselves seeing a lot more being lost. This just goes to show M=EA (Mishap equal Excellent Adventure).
On Thursday, we went to the museum of the mind right outside of Rome. The museum used to be a mental health hospital in the 1900's. It was very cool to be there and to see what it was like to be in a mental hospital back then because it so much different than the way that we are today. We got to hear stories of people that went into the hospital and most of them were not even sick, they were just orphans. By the time that they had spent so many years in the hospital, they had gone crazy from being around so many mental patients. It was sad to hear peoples' stories about how they had gone into the hospital and had to stay there because they were seen as 'crazy' because they had a learning disability. The hospital was very interesting and I am very glad that we got to go there and see it.
We left for Florence on the fast train on Friday morning and it only took about an hour and a half to get there. The train ride went by quickly since most of us slept the whole way. We got to our hotel and it was by far the nicest that we have stayed at this trip. We went on a short walking tour of the city with the group, professor, his wife, and Danilo. They showed us around and then we got free time to explore the city on our own. We went shopping of course, it is a leather capital. :) We went out that night to an Irish pub and it was very interesting to see so many different people there not only Italians. The next morning, we got up and went to the Uffizzi Museum as a group. This was an amazing place, there was so much art there and we all enjoyed it a lot. We got to spend 2 hours there, but I could have spent the whole day there. After we left the museum, we went to the Academia to see the Statue of David. It was amazing to see it in real life since it was so much bigger than anyone had thought it was. We did more shopping and then on Saturday night we had a traditional Tuscan 4 course meal, it was DELICIOUS!! We left on Sunday after having a little bit of free time and none of us wanted to leave since we had such a great time. We all became closer on this trip and are becoming such a big family!! During this trip, we got lost as a small group and found ourselves seeing a lot more being lost. This just goes to show M=EA (Mishap equal Excellent Adventure).
Monday, November 12, 2012
GL 350 Week 3
Week 3 in Roma during my study abroad was not as exciting as the second but it was just as fun. We went to my favorite place thus far on Monday, the Catacombs. They were breathtaking, I could not wrap my head around the fact that so many people were buried there and they had been buried there so many years ago. The Catacombs, if you are not familiar with them, is a place where the earliest of Christians were buried when it was not okay in the Roman empire to be a Christian. They are underground below a church and they are 4 levels down. It was cold down there and some people were freaked out by it but I was amazed with them. We were not allowed to take pictures or else I would show everyone the amazingness that I fell in love with. We had a tour guide and she was the best that we had had thus far. The tunnels of Catacombs are 11 miles long and it is a maze down there so as you can imagine, we stayed very close to the tour guide so that we did not get lost.
That same day we had a student-led tour by David and Emily, they did a fantastic job. That Tuesday, we had a free day since we were all exhausted from traveling to Venice the following weekend but we had Italian class that night. A few students, along with me, played Pine Cone Bocce Ball. It is like Bocce Ball in the states but instead of a ball, you use a pine cone that you pick out. It was a lot of fun and Mike even gave us Jif peanut butter for playing, yum!! And that night we had a campus movie night and watched Bridesmaids, that movie gets me every time, it is so funny!
Thursday, we got back to educational things as we has a free day on Wednesday as well since we are scheduled to have Wednesdays off. We had Sociology class with Professor in the morning and then caught the train into Rome for our guided tour of the Aqueducts, they were amazing. If you do not know what the Aqueducts are, they are where the water that Rome drinks comes from. The Romans had built them when they were in power so that they could have clean drinking water. It was a very good tour and we all thought that they were very interesting. That night we had my roommate's parents for dinner, they are really enjoying their time in Italy.
That night we checked our for our free weekend, my group and I went to London, England!! I was so excited, I couldn't even contain myself. We had to fly into Germany to have a short layover and then we continued our journey to London. We had such a great time, we stayed in a hostel there and it was not too bad. There was a bar right under our hostel so we went and had a few drinks and met some other people that were staying there as well. England was my favorite weekend so far and I cannot wait to go back again someday. I bought so many souvenirs, I could barely fit everything in my suitcase, so if you are family, you can probably be expecting something from London for Christmas! We flew back through Germany on the way back and then finally got back to Rome. It was a great weekend but it was very good to be back at our temporary home once again.
Now on to the educational part of my blog. In the Smiles of Rome, our textbook for class, we read sections of St. Peter and on St. Paul. The section of St. Peter discusses on pg. 75, keep yourselves free from the selfish passions that attack the soul while you are visitors or pilgrims. I am seeing this more and more during our stay in Rome, we must act as though we are foreign diplomats. Our actions will be judged not just personally but for our whole country and for Walsh University. We will be judged on our actions and it is important to act the way we would like to be seen and I would say we are all doing a great job so far. Just from reading these sections, it is very religious and this can be seen everywhere in Rome. I have strayed from my religion the past couple of years and I am taking advantage of this experience to make myself come back to my religion and so far it has been successful. We have mass every Wednesday and I have been attending and it is becoming more and more comfortable again. I can't believe it but we are in week 4 now, so here goes nothing!!
That same day we had a student-led tour by David and Emily, they did a fantastic job. That Tuesday, we had a free day since we were all exhausted from traveling to Venice the following weekend but we had Italian class that night. A few students, along with me, played Pine Cone Bocce Ball. It is like Bocce Ball in the states but instead of a ball, you use a pine cone that you pick out. It was a lot of fun and Mike even gave us Jif peanut butter for playing, yum!! And that night we had a campus movie night and watched Bridesmaids, that movie gets me every time, it is so funny!
Thursday, we got back to educational things as we has a free day on Wednesday as well since we are scheduled to have Wednesdays off. We had Sociology class with Professor in the morning and then caught the train into Rome for our guided tour of the Aqueducts, they were amazing. If you do not know what the Aqueducts are, they are where the water that Rome drinks comes from. The Romans had built them when they were in power so that they could have clean drinking water. It was a very good tour and we all thought that they were very interesting. That night we had my roommate's parents for dinner, they are really enjoying their time in Italy.
That night we checked our for our free weekend, my group and I went to London, England!! I was so excited, I couldn't even contain myself. We had to fly into Germany to have a short layover and then we continued our journey to London. We had such a great time, we stayed in a hostel there and it was not too bad. There was a bar right under our hostel so we went and had a few drinks and met some other people that were staying there as well. England was my favorite weekend so far and I cannot wait to go back again someday. I bought so many souvenirs, I could barely fit everything in my suitcase, so if you are family, you can probably be expecting something from London for Christmas! We flew back through Germany on the way back and then finally got back to Rome. It was a great weekend but it was very good to be back at our temporary home once again.
Now on to the educational part of my blog. In the Smiles of Rome, our textbook for class, we read sections of St. Peter and on St. Paul. The section of St. Peter discusses on pg. 75, keep yourselves free from the selfish passions that attack the soul while you are visitors or pilgrims. I am seeing this more and more during our stay in Rome, we must act as though we are foreign diplomats. Our actions will be judged not just personally but for our whole country and for Walsh University. We will be judged on our actions and it is important to act the way we would like to be seen and I would say we are all doing a great job so far. Just from reading these sections, it is very religious and this can be seen everywhere in Rome. I have strayed from my religion the past couple of years and I am taking advantage of this experience to make myself come back to my religion and so far it has been successful. We have mass every Wednesday and I have been attending and it is becoming more and more comfortable again. I can't believe it but we are in week 4 now, so here goes nothing!!
Wednesday, November 7, 2012
Sociology 490 Week 2
I believe that healthcare is a privilege and I am firm in my opinion and always fight this way in class. I have many reasons for the fact that I believe that it is a privilege, but I am going to put all those aside in this blog to fight for the other side. It is true that your argument for any type of fight will be better if you understand the opposing side of your argument. So for this blog, I will be arguing for the side that healthcare is a right. This blog and the arguments that I make in it will only make my argument better by me understanding the opposing side.
In our books, it explains on page 28 that if we had universal healthcare we would correct the internal inequities would save the U.S. billions of dollars and improve the healthcare system. This basically means that if we had this universal healthcare, we would actually have better healthcare in turn and more Americans would have healthcare. If we had universal healthcare, a lot of new laws would also be passed to improve healthcare regulations since we would all be underneath the same healthcare unless we chose to pay for more coverage. I think this will help Americans to have better healthcare because if everyone has the same basic coverage, then people in power would be more willing to help out the poorer population.
The media sensationalizes the fact that most people that are for universal healthcare are only for it because this means that they can stay living off of other peoples' money and taxes and off the government. This is not true. The American people as a whole, do have some people that leach off of the government and taxes but there are good people in the world that just need a boost to get back on their feet. This healthcare solution would help out those people since they would be able to get the healthcare that they needed and then when they could afford, get better healthcare than just the basic. But, on the other end here, wouldn't having universal healthcare be just like what we have now? The people that can't afford health insurance now would just have the government appointed health insurance and the people that could afford health insurance now could get the basic plus a complimentary health insurance plan if they wanted.
If we had universal healthcare, everyone that works in the healthcare field would actually be an employee of the government. If we kept the same regulations that we have now for government employees, the healthcare employees would actually enjoy working for the government. The doctors and nurses working in hospitals now would be better off working for the government and they may actually get paid better if they were government employees. The last argument that I will be discussing is the fact that a lot of children in America do not have healthcare right now because their parents cannot afford it. This is very wrong, we need to be helping out these children because if we don't then who else will? Just because their parents cannot afford healthcare does not mean that a child should be turned down if they need to be seen by a doctor because they do not have health insurance.
In the prompt that we are supposed to write is about how the Cleveland Clinic is one of the best hospitals in the world yet the county that it is located in is not a very healthy county. I believe that this is because not everyone in the county keeps themselves healthy. I would like to see statistics about how healthy this county is compared to every other county in America. This also may be because this county has a lot of poorer people in its tiny boundary. There are many people in this county that live in the inter-city Cleveland area. As everyone may imagine, many of these people cannot even afford to feed their family let alone have healthcare.
This blog was very difficult to do since we have to fight for the other side of this argument. I did not feel right arguing this point since I do not believe fully in it. I am very big on arguing your point and knowing what you believe in and fighting for what you think is right. So, this assignment made me very uncomfortable and made me feel as if I was lying during this whole blog. That being said, after I did all of this, I do feel like I have a better understanding of the opposing viewpoint and in turn I have a better understanding of my side. After doing this blog, I feel more confident in my ability to argue my point since I know more about the opposing view.
In our books, it explains on page 28 that if we had universal healthcare we would correct the internal inequities would save the U.S. billions of dollars and improve the healthcare system. This basically means that if we had this universal healthcare, we would actually have better healthcare in turn and more Americans would have healthcare. If we had universal healthcare, a lot of new laws would also be passed to improve healthcare regulations since we would all be underneath the same healthcare unless we chose to pay for more coverage. I think this will help Americans to have better healthcare because if everyone has the same basic coverage, then people in power would be more willing to help out the poorer population.
The media sensationalizes the fact that most people that are for universal healthcare are only for it because this means that they can stay living off of other peoples' money and taxes and off the government. This is not true. The American people as a whole, do have some people that leach off of the government and taxes but there are good people in the world that just need a boost to get back on their feet. This healthcare solution would help out those people since they would be able to get the healthcare that they needed and then when they could afford, get better healthcare than just the basic. But, on the other end here, wouldn't having universal healthcare be just like what we have now? The people that can't afford health insurance now would just have the government appointed health insurance and the people that could afford health insurance now could get the basic plus a complimentary health insurance plan if they wanted.
If we had universal healthcare, everyone that works in the healthcare field would actually be an employee of the government. If we kept the same regulations that we have now for government employees, the healthcare employees would actually enjoy working for the government. The doctors and nurses working in hospitals now would be better off working for the government and they may actually get paid better if they were government employees. The last argument that I will be discussing is the fact that a lot of children in America do not have healthcare right now because their parents cannot afford it. This is very wrong, we need to be helping out these children because if we don't then who else will? Just because their parents cannot afford healthcare does not mean that a child should be turned down if they need to be seen by a doctor because they do not have health insurance.
In the prompt that we are supposed to write is about how the Cleveland Clinic is one of the best hospitals in the world yet the county that it is located in is not a very healthy county. I believe that this is because not everyone in the county keeps themselves healthy. I would like to see statistics about how healthy this county is compared to every other county in America. This also may be because this county has a lot of poorer people in its tiny boundary. There are many people in this county that live in the inter-city Cleveland area. As everyone may imagine, many of these people cannot even afford to feed their family let alone have healthcare.
This blog was very difficult to do since we have to fight for the other side of this argument. I did not feel right arguing this point since I do not believe fully in it. I am very big on arguing your point and knowing what you believe in and fighting for what you think is right. So, this assignment made me very uncomfortable and made me feel as if I was lying during this whole blog. That being said, after I did all of this, I do feel like I have a better understanding of the opposing viewpoint and in turn I have a better understanding of my side. After doing this blog, I feel more confident in my ability to argue my point since I know more about the opposing view.
Monday, November 5, 2012
Week 2 in Rome
This week was amazing, it was very different than the first week. The first week was filled with getting to know everyone and getting into a schedule. This week is more about getting into seeing Rome and knowing our way around the city instead of gazing at the wonders of this magnificent city. This week was full of exploring the city on our own and knowing where to go and what train to take. We are getting really good at navigating our way through the city at this point. On Tuesday, we went to the Spanish steps for our first walking tour led by students, Cierra and Sydney led the first tour. They did a really great job and I am sure that they are glad to have that over with first off. On Wednesday, we had a free day and Danielle (my roommate) and I went to do some educational things in the pouring down rain. We needed to look for Bernini statues for a project to get class credit. We did our own little walking tour and it was a blast, but it rained and the winds were crazy the whole day. We had our umbrellas up the whole day even though the wind was going strong the whole day and we were dying of laughter every time the wind blew our umbrellas inside out. The day was full of laughter and fun with a little bit of misery when the weather was crappy the whole day. On Thursday, we went for an 8 mile bike ride along the Old Appian Way. This bike ride was completely exhausting, but it was such a blast. The sites were beautiful and it was very historic. To be on the same road riding bicycles that so many famous people before us had been on was completely extraordinary. In our Barzini books, he states that people find it hard to leave Rome and most find themselves coming back sooner and sooner throughout their lifetime and some never ever leave. This is definitely becoming the story of my life. It is so beautiful here and it is so historical that I have fallen in love with everything about the city. The fact that you can go down a street and see a monument that is 2000 years and right next to it see a modern building. On Friday, we left early in the am for Venice. We got into Venice at about 9am and then went to explore the city. We saw many things in the short 3 days that we were there. We went to the Murano glass factory on Saturday morning and it was completely amazing. The glass master made the figurines in about a minute. He has been doing this for about 50 years and it runs in the family, so his children did the job as well. On Sunday, we went into the San Marco's Square and went to mass. It was all in Italian (obviously), but it was amazing just to be there and see the mass with my own eyes in a different country. We then went to the Hard Rock Cafe, it was a good sense of home in such a far away place. I got the local legendary burger, it had pesto and parsley (i think) on it. It was was very delicious yet different. The trip was a blast and it was so different than Rome in so many ways. We had to take a ferry everywhere since the whole city is practically under water. On Sunday, we headed to the airport and everyone got off the stop but me since no one would let me off with my baggage and such. I had to push and shove my way to the front of the boat, but by the time I got up there everyone was off the boat and I just waved at them and got off at the next stop. The Italian director here came to get me and was so worried that I was freaking out but it was totally fine since I just got off at the next stop. I had my reuniting moment with the group and then we headed to the airport. While we were in Venice, by the way, we stayed on and island called, Lido. It was very peaceful and it was nice to stay away from the city. We went to the beach while we were there and got pizza at Fabio's, this little homemade pizza place on the island. Their pizza was delicious and so cheap!! People in Venice also take their dogs everywhere, hilarious! While we were there, we wore our rain boots everywhere since it was wet most of the time. On Sunday, when we left the church and the whole city was flooded. We walked out and the water was ridiculously high, we had to walk on the platforms that they had there since the water was so high. It was so nice to be back in Rome home when we got back yesterday. And we start back at it this week for week 3. I am having a blast and I am enjoying every minute of the trip and getting so excited about what we will see next!!
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)