• Why did you choose this topic?
  I choose this topic because I think women's rights are often looked past and in the time of elections people get very uptight about pro-life and pro-choice but don't take into consideration the women's feelings. 
  
  
• What did you like about this project? What was most challenging?
  I think the challenging part was deciding how to convey what we wanted to say and finding the most effective way to do it. 
  
  
• Describe the most interesting fact or event that you investigated.
  The most interesting fact that we investigated was the fact that in 2002 a study about sexual behaviors in children showed that girls are having sex as young as 12. 
  
  
• How could this project be improved?
  We could have put movie examples and real world examples. 

• Where did you run into trouble with the project?
  We ran into the most trouble submitting the project because our video wasn't the right type of file and converting the project took alot longer than we had expected. 
   
• What went well with this project?
  The amount of participation we received from students was surprising. I usually try not to count on people willingly working on a video because of time constraints or people just not volunteering but this time was completely different. 
  
  
• If you had it to do over, what would you change about your decisions or your process?
  I think we would have really used the last day to super edit and just tighten the project up more. 
  
  
• What did you learn?
  That people really do want to have health education !!!

• Dominate something. 
  The way I decided to communicate with my representative about my lobbying topic was to call the office at the same time everyday. I thought that by being consistent with how I handled my situation they would know that I was serious about this issue and that sooner or later they would have to address me.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Do a few things well 
  They never called back and very seldom did they even answer the phone. I was upset and almost outraged at the fact the office of the man that was elected to represent my interest was never available to actually listen to my needs. I was persistent in calling but I started to vary the times. I didn't want to change my strategy because it was a good one it just wasn't as effective as I would've hoped. 
  
  
• Make the strategy personal.
  The strategy became very personal as I felt my voice wasn't being heard. I think now I will change my strategy looking back because there was no progress with calling. Now I will draft one letter addressed to the representative and ask that every senior in the school email it to him. Or invite him to the school so that we could have a group discussion on how to move forward. 

Pasta Salad Recipe: 

1 Can of Diced Tomatoes

¾ Bottle of Fat Free Italian Dressing

A Pinch of Salad Supreme McCormick Seasoning

Hodgson Mill 100% Wheat Noodles

A Teaspoon of Butter

Instructions:

Boil a pot of water and place the teaspoon of butter in the boiling water. This is also the time where you add your salt and pepper (optional).

Break the uncooked noodles in half and place them in the pot.

After 5-8 minutes strain the water out of the pot so the noodles don’t overcook in the bowl.

Open the can of diced tomatoes and empty the can in the bowl.

Pour ¾ of the Italian dressing into the bowl and add the pinch of seasoning.

Enjoy !!!

Analysis:

         For my recipe I mostly used foods that weren’t processed. For the healthier ingredients I used wheat noodles, a natural spread for my butter and McCormick seasoning and the processed foods were the diced tomatoes and the Italian dressing.  My complete recipe was around 550 calories in total. I believe that per serving size this dish was not unhealthy but it isn’t something I would recommend people eat everyday. If this were a daily meal you would probably have high blood pressure from all the sodium.

            Everything was made in America but most of the things weren’t locally grown. I think out of all my foods either the canned diced tomatoes or the salad dressing traveled the farthest. But there isn’t a very effective way to figure out how far everything came from.  This meal costs around $8 dollars because I purchased everything from fresh grocers where things are a little more expensive than at a store like Wal-Mart or Shop Rite. Even with that being said I still think this meal is cheaper than fast food because it can be refrigerated and because of the amount that was made it will also last longer than a $5 burger from a fast food place.

            If I were to grow the tomatoes myself as apposed to purchasing them to me the biggest differences would actually be that they weren’t store bought and also that there would . I don’t think the impact on the community would even be that great because there are local farms that grow tomatoes. Another major difference I’m seeing is that I don’t actually know how to grow tomatoes or keep the bug and insects away form them like an actual farm would so overall I think it’s a healthier decision to farm.

Personal Reflection:

            In this quarter we have talked about food for the last three weeks and I can honestly say I’m shocked. I always knew the food industry and the things we eat aren’t exactly up to par and periodical but after re-watching the movie Food Inc. I don’t really know what to think. In the movie there was a chapter about cleaning beef. This chapter was confusing to me. This piece talks about how beef needs to be cleaned before serving because it’s harmful but at the same time what they use to clean the food is just as harmful.

This unit has taught me that eating healthy is more than just a life style it’s a job. You need to know what you eat, where it comes form and the truth about how it’s made. I always thought people that lived a healthy eating lifestyle took it too serious, but after hearing the little boy Kevin’s story I understand. If you don’t watch out for your food no one else will even when it’s his or her job to. Also I never thought it was worth spending the money but I know now that if you don’t pay for it now you’ll pay later in the medical expenses and everything else. I feel that I’ve learned a lot, and have shaped the view eating healthy. 

• Explain your decision making for choosing the bill.

• Why did you choose the particular presentation format?

• What challenges did you overcome in completing the project?

• How would you do the project differently if you had to do it over again?

• What did the research and investigation tell you about the creation process... from idea to bill to law?

• Was the process easier or harder than you imagined based on your particular bill/law research?

5th District Council Representative DARRELL L.CLARKE

           I’m lobbying for better advocacy for homeless teenagers and children in the city of Philadelphia. Often time the people of Philadelphia will look down on homeless people and families not realizing that sometimes good people get caught up in unfortunate situations. I think that if we start to change the way the homeless are viewed than homeless teenagers will feel more comfortable seeking help.         

            In 2008 The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia’s Homeless Health Initiative confirmed that “the number of children under the age of 17 experiencing homelessness in Philadelphia grew from 3,433 in 2008 to 3,582 in 2009 — a four percent increase.”  With more and more children and teens becoming homeless every year it’s clear we have a problem.

And the two biggest supporters of the cities young homeless population are the Interfaith Hospitality Network of Northwest Philadelphia and “CHOP’s” Homeless Health Initiative. IHN is designed to help find housing for or give referrals to the homeless while HHI help to provide dental and medical services to homeless children.

            Currently there is no law in place to advocate for the homeless youth to find shelter, have access to clean resources or help them get into contact with companies that might know how to help them. However they are laws that state that homeless children are still required to go to school.  To me there is a disconnect in our thinking and I would like to propose that we change how we define homeless youth so that more children can be helped and that we mandate that children under 17 be forced to live in a shelter and be accounted for as opposed to wandering the streets.

Links:

Interfaith Hospitality Network: http://www.philashelter.org/

Homeless Health Initiative: http://www.chop.edu/about/chop-in-the-community/homeless-health-initiative/home.html

On Monday October 3^rd, the Supreme Court had a hearing for a public case that dealt with California’s health care providers moving to cut reimbursements for Medicaid care. In 2008 and 2009 the state legislature lowered the amount of possible reimbursements to the health care companies because they were having financial troubles. As expected there was a great fall back on the poor and disabled who are the main beneficiaries of Medicaid. This case isn’t as much about whether the health care cuts are legal because no one has a legal right to Medicaid, but whether or not independent parties have the right to sue to make sure the policy is working the way it should.

There is still however the question of whether or not it’s constitutional. The supreme clause says that the U.S. constitution is the supreme laws of the land and that state judges must follow federal law when there is conflict between state and federal law. Because the U.S. department of Health and Human Services is who enforced the federal law for each state to have an approved plan the change to the plan has been considered unconstitutional.