Clean Air is Essential to our Wellbeing

Today in the Los Angeles Times I read the article "A bad air day beats cabin fever" which described how due to the recent fires the air quality has been deemed unhealthy, and many have chosen to skip outdoor activities and stay inside in order to avoid serious health problems. While I feel sorrow for the victims of the fires and I wish the fires never occurred, part of me wonders if we can at least learn something from this tragedy, and that is that the quality of our air is absolutely vital to our health and our quality of life.

Most people would agree that having to stay indoors because of the poor air quality was not enjoyable. In my case, both of my small children were not allowed to play outside at school, and my son's soccer game was cancelled. My friends who are parents complained that their kids' eyes and throats were burning, and that asthma was exacerbated. Doctors reported that they were seeing cases of asthma in children who had never suffered from it before.

I hope people stop to consider, what if it were like this all the time? Unfortunately, after the soot, ashes, and particles from the fire clear, our air quality in Los Angeles leaves much to be desired. With the predicted increase in population over the next 20 years, the air quality is bound to get worse as more people means more cars and pollution. If we do not want to end up with unbearable air quality such as in China, we would be wise to pass legislation to clean up our air.

In class and also on blog post 10-21-07, we discussed Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. We mentioned food, water, shelter, and health care as examples of our essential physiological needs. I would like to add clean air as an additional basic biological need that must be satisfied before we can progress up the triangle and aspire to reach the most highly evolved versions of ourselves.

Do you agree that clean air is a basic biological need of great importance to our overall wellbeing? If so, what are some concrete actions we can take either on a personal level or the governmental level, to clean up the current state of our air in Los Angeles, and also to prevent our air quality from worsening in the future?

Conduct a Freudian Personality Analysis

In class, we conducted a Freudian analysis of Britney Spear's personality. I invite you now to undergo your your own Freudian analysis of a person of your choice. The person you choose to analyze can be a celebrity, a famous person from history, or a fictional character from a film or book. Try to include the concepts of the psychic structures (Id, Superego, and Ego), defense mechanisms, and fixations from the psychosexual stages.

Schwarzenegger Vetos Fast Food Bill

I read with interest "Fast food makes a big fat mistake" by Patt Morrison in today's Los Angeles Times. Apparently, Governor Schwarzenegger vetoed SB120, the bill that "would have required chain restaurants of 15 outlets or more to post some combination of information about calories, saturated fat, trans fats, carbs and sodium on each menu item". Morrison uses the useful analogy of fast food compared to the tobacco industry when he writes, "Like the warning on a pack of cigarettes, a nutrition chart puts consumers on notice."

Do you agree or disagree with Governor Schwarzenegger's decision to veto the bill that would have required fast food restaurants to clearly label nutrition information on all menu items?

Obesity and the Right to Sue

In our text Psychology-Concepts and Connections by Spencer Rathus we learned that "Children in the United States are exposed to an average of 10,000 food commercials a year. More than nine out of ten of theses commercials are for fast foods (like McDonald's fries), sugared cereals, candy, and soft drinks". We also learned that there is currently an obesity epidemic in the United States in that 66% of American adults are either overweight or obese.(Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 2003-2004) Rathus writes that "Obese people encounter more than their fair share of illnesses, including heart disease, stroke, diabetes, gall bladder disease, gout, respiratory problems, even certain kinkds of cancer."

My question is: do you think obese people sufferring from health problems have the right to sue McDonald's and other fast food establishments? Why or why not?

How Do You Feel About Bush's Veto?

In class we examined Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs which includes the idea that an individual must have his or her physiological needs met first before one can progress up the triangle towards self-actualization. Examples of physiological needs include food, water, shelter, and medical care.

I read this past week in the Los Angeles Times about Bush's veto of the bill to expand healthcare for children, followed by the inability of Congress to obtain the two-thirds majority necessary to override Bush's veto. I was wondering: In light of Maslow's theory that health care is a basic physiological need that must first be met before a person can fully reach his or her true potential, how do you feel about Bush's veto of the bill that would expand health care for our nation's children?

Hair- An Altered State of Consciousness

Have you ever wished that you could step into a time machine, and travel back in time to another place and era? If so, which decade would you choose to travel to? If you chose the sixties, then you should check out the latest version of "Hair" playing at the Met Theatre in Los Angeles for a limited engagement.

My husband and I recently attended a very special performance of "Hair". It was a benefit for the documentary "Arlington West", a powerful film created by artists Peter Dudar and Sally Marr about a war memorial located next to the Santa Monica Pier every Sunday. (See blog entry September 6 to see short video of Hair cast) The proceeds of the show went towards producing more copies of the film, to be distributed for free to students and youth as a counter military recruitment effort. The film seeks to show the side of joining the military that the recruitment officers neglect to mention.

When we entered the theatre, it felt like we crossed through a portal into the sixties hippie movement. We arrived a little early, but the small theatre was already filled with just a few seats left. The 30 member cast was on stage in full costume acting as if they were at a party. A few were kicking around a hackey-sack, playing the drums, and amiably hanging out. Many of the cast members were interacting with audience members, so that it was difficult to ascertain what was real and what was staged.

Throughout the entire performance, I sat mesmerized by the amazing singing, dancing, and acting from the talented cast backed by a fantastic band. Two of my favorite acts were "Hippie Life", and "Hair" which to me express the dissent and rebellion of the time. While the entire cast is wonderful, performers that really shone were James Barry who played main character Claude and Amber Allen who played Darlene.

The main point that I was left with after the show, was how the themes of protesting war and speaking out for nonviolence remain so relevant today. Didn't we learn any lessons from the Vietnam War? The sixties have passed, but the need to question the government and express dissent is still very much alive and necessary today.

In class we learned about different ways to alter one's consciousness. For me, attending the rock musical "Hair" brought me to an amazing altered state of consciousness that was completely drug free. My question is: what was the last drug free experience you had that altered your consciousness?

Are We Experiencing a Shift in Consciousness?

Yesterday I was thrilled to read "Peace prize for Gore stirs hope and speculation" in the Los Angeles Times. Al Gore was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize "for helping push global warming into the public consciousness" through his book and Oscar winning documentary "An Inconvenient Truth."

In class we have discussed different meanings of the word "consciousness". In the case of the article mentioned above, I believe the word "consciousness" refers to a state of heightened awareness. Al Gore was given this prestigious award because he successfully increased awareness about the existence of global warming and how the actions of any particular individual have a direct impact on important issues such as climate change, preservation of our environment, and human rights. In fact, many believe that we are currently experiencing a dramatic shift in global consciousness in terms of coming to a universal understanding that we are all connected.

Do you agree or disagree that a dramatic shift in consciousness is occurring right now? What examples do you see in your life that support or disprove the idea of a shift in consciousness taking place?

J. B. Watson Quotation

Watson said, "Give me a dozen healthy infants, well-formed, and my own specified world to bring them up in, and I'll guarantee to take anyone at random and train him to become any type of specialist I might select: doctor, lawyer, artist, merchant-chief, and yes, even beggar-man and thief, regardless of his talents, penchants, tendencies, abilities, vocations, and race of his ancestors".

Do you agree with Watson's assertion that he could mold any individual into a productive member of society or a common criminal using the principles of learning theory?

To put the question another way, do you believe that our actions and behaviors are determined by outside environmental stimuli or do we exercise free will?