Sunday, April 10, 2011

Your Social Action

Since all of you have (hopefully) written your papers by now and have (hopefully) begun working on social action projects, then by now you should be able to tell us about what your topic is and what you're doing.  This is an opportunity to get your classmates interested and, potentially, get them to help you out if your cause is something you need audience participation for.  As usual, 250 word post up by Thursday night (04/14) and 100 word response up by Sunday night (04/17).

38 comments:

  1. My topic is on the rising epidemic of verbal abuse. The reason I chose this as my project topic is because it is such a dangerous aspect in society today. It is also blown off as if it doesn't even happen. People do not realize how serious verbal abuse can be. It can cause people to become addicts or even to commit suicide. Doing research on this topic taught me that this form of abuse is even more harmful to the victim than physical abuse is. So for my social action, I chose to write a sermon about this topic and present it in front of my former youth group. The reason it is my former youth group is because it ranges from grades 6-12 and I am obviously not in high school anymore. Anyways, I took several verses from the Bible, mostly from the book of James, to demonstrate why we should think before we talk. The book of James also talks about the hypocritical nature of man. The verse basically says that with our tongue, we praise the Lord our Father but at the same time we curse men. The Bible calls us out on this so that we can try to avoid this. I hope that everybody that read this got something out of what I had to say and this topic so that when you are about to say something hurtful to somebody, you will think first.

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  2. I chose fitness and obesity awareness. I believe that the recommended 30 minutes of exercise daily is very important for good health, and that everyone should make an effort to do some sort of fitness activity, whether their goal is weight loss or not.
    The obesity rate in the country is quickly rising, and the college age is an important age group to target because those are the years during which people develop the routines and habits that will stay with them for the rest of their life.
    I actually had quite a bit of trouble at first with my social action. I went to USF Wellness and asked them for any sort of brochures or anything I could use, but they had none. I then went to Campus Recreation and asked for a list of their services, resources, and classes, but they never gave me so much as an answer.
    It is now up to me to find out what the school has to offer. I can use this information to motivate people to use the resources available. Because everyone has types of exercise that work best for them, I can arrange a few group activities of different types of exercise.
    In addition, I would like to implement a bike week for nearby usf commuting students. This would require a huge number of people to be involved.
    These are the two things I could use help with from you guys, if you're interested. Spreading both things I will be doing by word of mouth or Facebook would be much appreciated, especially if you'd like to attend once this is more thoroughly planned.

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  3. My social action is in support for the All Children's Hospital network. They are a non-profit organization that supports hospitals all around the country providing free healthcare for those who qualify. Dance Marathon was an event that supported the All Children's Hospital network, raising money with the biggest dance party at USF. We were able to raise over 27,000 dollars and had a blast doing it! Each hour at DM there is a new themed hour that you can play along with and a new dance that the Morale team teaches you. At DM you get a bunch of food drinks and fun! The jail raises a lot of money because you can put your friends in and laugh at them while they beg to get out. Even though the event is 17 hours long and you are highly encouraged to stay, you are not FORCED to. That was one of the biggest turn off's of DM this year. Also there is the halftime show that the morale team performs which is the big showcase of our talents and creative minds. If all those other great things doesn't attract you to DM the halftime show should. Its what we spend all year working on and it does not disappoint. The hospital is supporting the world with a great cause but is always in need of help. Funds are not easy to come by and neither is planning the whole event. Some ways you can help is by volunteering for the E-board, joining the morale team, or just donating money to support the hospital network itself.

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  4. The social action I have embarked on for Project three raises awareness to the many issues in America's current meatpacking industry. After watching the movie "Food Inc." a few weeks ago I decided that this is a topic that interests me and is relatively unknown. What I plan on doing for my actual social action is contact the Secretary of Agriculture, Tom Vilsack and encourage him to look deeper into the issue. My letter not only brings up the issue and encourages him to fix it, but I offered various pieces of advice and plans so that I am giving him some constructive criticism and possible ways to fix the issue. My plan included a more regulated feeding system for the animals so that they are healthier when they are slaughtered and, therefore, produce healthier meat. Also, I suggested a plan for keeping the cattle cleaner before they are killed by giving them more room and keeping them from standing in a foot of each other's fecal matter all day. My suggestions are simple and that was my intention because simple suggestions are much easier to implement than the extravagant plans that never make it to discussion. I really hope that my plans will encourage Tom Vilsack to change the current protocol and we can all be given the quality of service we deserve. Not many people are aware of this issue and I hope my presentation, on top of my social action, could show people what is actually going on.

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  5. @Astrid- I like your argument and feel that you could make a very good case. I find it strange that the school had very little to offer to your argument or help for your social action but it is good that you have started to bring light to obesity. The idea to bring various classes offering various exercises is a good idea although the gym already offers something like that. I like the bike week idea because if a few people are doing this than others will be more likely to join and biking is a great way to get out and get active. I hope you can spread the word and get this idea going because I think you have some good ideas.

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  6. My social action for Project Three is why I think America should Decriminalize drugs. There are many reasons why I think America should made drugs legal. I'm not talking about just marijuana (I've never smoked in my life, nor drink alcohol), but other drugs like Cocaine, LSD, Heroin, all of the other hard stuff. America spends so much money every year on the war on drugs and it would be much easier if we would make these drugs available at a pharmacy store and tax it. The drugs would be cleaner, safer, and people would actually use less of it. If you don't believe me look at Spain and Portugal. They decriminalized drugs and they are such a better nation because of it. The goal isn't to use drugs because they are legal, but for America's government to educate people on the side effect of these drugs if they choose to use them for their own personal use. As an adult you can choose to drink, or smoke, but you can't choose cocaine because it's somehow worse than alcohol or smoking? If one drug is illegal, then all drugs should be illegal. They all do damage to your body. But anyways, enough ranting, my initial plan was to write a letter to my Congressman, but if I write a letter about a topic like this, I think I wouldn't get a response from him, but his spokesperson instead. So at the moment, I don't exactly know what I am going to do for my social action yet. But I'm thinking!

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  7. @TTroyer-

    Wow! I can't believe someone is doing a topic based on Food Inc!. I remember when I watched that documentary because I am a huge nutrition and fitness dude and Food Inc TOTALLY changed how I look at meat. It made me go Lacto-Ovo Vegetarian and I don't eat red meat because of it. I'm very glad that you chose to do this topic because it is something I feel as if everyone in America has the right to know what is going on behind the scenes of this industry and how there is a HUGE monopoly that is going on which no one knows about or cares. People don't even think what is in their meat or where it came from, they just dig in and eat and I hope you get a response from the Secretary of Agriculture because I would totally support everything you have to say.

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  8. My social action involves raising awareness about abusive relationships, and (hopefully) also getting people to take a stand against such relationships. Mr. Breckenridge actually helped me come up with the topic, and I thought it was a very good one since there are so many cases of abusive relationships going on even though we rarely hear about them. It is difficult for anyone involved in an abusive relationship to talk about their situation with friends or family, mainly because of shame and embarrassment. I think people in these situations should overcome those feelings, no matter how difficult, and help themselves by speaking to someone and reaching for help. The longer these relationships go on, the more intense they become, and that can cause long term effects like low self-esteem, fear of being in a relationship, etc. Relationships should make both partners happy and comfortable. Every relationship should be a healthy one!
    :)

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  9. What I want to do for my social action is ensure that longboarders and skateboarders have the freedom to skate wherever they want, without having Allied Barton and UPD up their asses about skating in restricted areas or behaving too “recklessly”. Honestly, though, it goes for more than just skateboarders; it goes for bicyclists, unicyclists, rollerbladers, ripstickers, scooterists (hahahahahaha). We can’t skate near doors, we can’t skate in crowded places, we can’t skate in parking garages, we can’t skate in the bike lane, we can’t skate under breezeways, we can’t skate on the roads, we can’t skate in parking lots. We are only allowed to skate to and from class; this limits the only use of skateboarding to commuting, and that’s horseshit. If you ask me, paying $19,000 a year and having part of my tuition go to building a parking garage that I don’t even park in seems a little counter intuitive. Obviously my cause is not as noble as other people’s, but I feel I have a legitimate concern that I want addressed. As my social action, for at least this class, I am going to write a letter to our president pleading for representation, organizing facebook group called USF Longboarding (look it up on facebook and join it), and my best friend Sky and I are designing flyers and stickers and we’re going to try to make the group viral. But I plan on going much further than that. What pisses me off is that a) the school recognizes bicycling as the only legitimate mode of transportation, but I’ve had many incidents where bicyclists have crashed into me or nearly crashed into me because they don’t know what the fuck they’re doing and b) we’re seen as hooligans who like to raise rabble and cause hullabaloo, when that’s clearly a stereotype.

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  10. @Cliz- I know your cause is noble, but I find something really ironic with tying verbal abuse and the Bible together. I’m not putting down your faith, I would NEVER do that; you have an immutable right to believe in whatever you wish to, but the Bible is such a source of controversy and of misinterpretation, that it creates such hate for people like homosexuals, women especially, Jews and pretty much anyone who isn’t a Christian. To me, that seems contradictory to your cause.
    Revelation 2:9: "I know thy works, and tribulation, and poverty, (but thou art rich) and I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews, and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan."
    Leviticus 20:13: "If a man lies with a man as one lies with a woman, both of them have done what is detestable. They must be put to death; their blood will be on their own heads."
    You mentioned something about how the Book of James talks about the hypocritical nature of man, yet you fail to notice the hypocritical nature of the Bible; “Thou shalt not kill,” yet “If a man lies with a man as one lies with a woman, both of them have done what is detestable. They must be put to death; their blood will be on their own heads." And the Bible says to “let your women keep silence in the churches: for it is not permitted unto them to speak; but they are commanded to be under obedience, as also saith the law. And if they will learn anything, let them ask their husbands at home: for it is a shame for women to speak in the church.” -1 Corinthians 14:34. That doesn’t sound very tolerant or verbally appeasing to me.

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  11. My topic is special needs children and the bullying they face. Throughout high school I knew it was a serious issue, after working with the students. However, I did not know how high the statistics were until doing the research for this project. Many of these students do not want to stand up to the bullies because they want to be apart of the other groups of students. They want to be treated “normal” and “fit it”, for lack of better words.
    My social project was participating in a golf tournament for my high school. All the money that the tournament raised was for our ESE program, along with Special Olympics. After participating in the golf tournament, I went to my high school to help with our ESE field trip program at Wiregrass Ranch High School. I loved being apart of the trips during high school and enjoyed going back during this project. We take the students to a restaurant and malls or stores. Their parents send money to school with them and they get to buy something from a store we visit. It is awesome to help them and spend time with them out of a strict school setting. We went to Moes for lunch on the trip I recently went on. After lunch, we spent time at Wiregrass mall. I think everyone should get involved to help these students, and they will help you. I have made amazing friendship that I will keep long after this project is over.

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  12. The topic that I chose to do for project three was to raise awareness on the conditions that a lot of farm workers have to live in. one of the reasons why I chose to do this is because my parents and a lot of my family were farm workers at one point and had to struggle a lot to get where we are today. In addition, the conditions and the way that farm workers are treated is an issue that many people do not know of or choose to ignore. Many of the times when people hear about this situation they believe it to be a lie or an exaggeration because they do not think that it can still be taking place today. This is why organizations like The Coalition of Immokalee workers help educate people on the conditions in which farm workers have to live in every day. For this project I hope to do the same but through a different method which would be my social action. Some of the things that I will try and educate the people about would be the average pay of a farm worker and the amount of hours which a farm worker has to put in every day in order to receive something equivalent to minimum wage. Even though I currently have not come up with another social action for this project because the one that I had planned did not work out so well but I do hope to do something that will help educate the people on this issue.

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  13. I did my social action on electronic recycling at USF. This is a very important issue that has not gotten a lot of attention or not as much as plastic or other recycling. People throw away phones, computers, mp3 players and all other types of electronics that contain hazardous material like lead which can leach out into the landfill causing irreparable damage to the environment and cause serious health risks to humans. The benefits of recycling have made it a viable solution. The materials in circutry include gold platinum, copper, and silicon which are cheaper to get from recycling than extracting from the earth. Currently there is no electronic recycling program at USF for students. The closest program available is through each department for recycling of older computers. From the Office of Sustainability their efforts dealing with this is a short paragraph describing what I have stated previously. As of right now I am collecting statistics on the students habits with life cycles for their electronic equipment and computers. From the collected data, it looks to be a sustainable program if USF offered a location for drop off. With this data and some petitions, I hope to get some push through the SGA to get it off the ground. My goal would be to get a program started for students.

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  14. For my topic in my paper I did raising money for cancer. I’m sure everyone has met or herd of someone who has or had cancer in their lifetime. Personally I had an amazing science teacher, who I had for two years, be diagnosed with breast cancer when I was in eleventh grade. This topic really hit home for me so I did relay for life for my social action project. I did it as part of the USF NROTC unit. Basically all the services (Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force) as a joint team came out and walked, ran, played games, and did several competitions. It was a really good experience, I’m positive that everyone that attended had a great time. It was really awesome that we did it jointly as well because not only did each individual branch make a personal contribution to the cause, the Joint Military Association, who are in charge of the CWY Bill Young Building, made a donation as well. Each branch also held a fundraiser where you could buy stars that are now displayed in the lobby of the JMLC. I participated in all of these events. I bought and sold stars, helped set up relay for life, and participated in the event itself. As of now we are still standing by to get the final results of funds raised and total number of participants (including no registered walk ons). Overall it was a great experience, and I think we did a great job, and I’m excited to hear the results.

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  15. For my project I did a paper on the Relay for Life that was at USF campus on the soccer field. Relay for Life is a fundraiser that helps cancer victims and I helped out by walking around the track field and I donated money by doing some of the activities that the booths had to offer. I did this for about three hours because I mostly walked around the track field the whole time and I was able to spend about $30 playing in the booths. This fundraiser was able to help raise money for treating cancer victims and helps in cancer research. In my paper I am trying to encourage people to be involved and help out in Relay for Life to try to raise money because the people need as much support as possible. I had never heard of Relay for Life until the the day of the event and I did not think much of it until I got involved. It was really fun and I had a great time enjoying it with my friends and meeting new people and understanding the cause. In the end it felt good to do something for a good cause. When I did more research on Relay for Life I read more about cancer and how much it really helps the patients. It is rewarding to do something good for people who are in most need and I am planning to be involved next time the schools hosts another Relay for Life.

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  16. HIV and AIDS have been around for over thirty years has claimed nearly 25 million people. 1 person is infected with HIV every 11 seconds around the world. This global epidemic needs to be addressed because people are still being infected and people continue to die. People believe that HIV does not affect them because they do not live in Sub-Saharan Africa which has 22.5 million people currently infected with HIV. In America’s population it is estimated that more than one million people living with HIV and more than half a million have died after developing AIDS. This virus is preventable but not curable and thus needs more attention. Condoms are the most effective way to prevent HIV transmission during sex. For my social action project I put together a packet that has information on how HIV is transmitted as well as a free condom, and I handed them out to people. I am hoping that awareness is raised about HIV and people think before they have sex with another. You never always know whom your sleeping with so wearing a condom or asking for a condom to be worn is the best protection. If not, abstinence is the only 100% way not to get HIV though sexual contact. I just want people to know that HIV is a major problem and needs to be addressed and that is where my project came from.

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  17. I decide to focus my social action project on the need for adequate housing. Many people don’t realize that having a roof over your head doesn’t constitute a home. There are families of 4 who live in basically a studio apartment because they cannot afford anything else. When the opportunity arises for them to get a larger area for the number of persons in the family, the utilities are not well managed. The electric wiring in the building may be faulty and sanitation may be poor for the community and the building they are staying in. Many don’t take note that an adequate home can lead to a solution for many problems that we face in the world. More specifically in Hillsborough county, there are families who cannot afford a place that is suitable for themselves, a spouse, and their small children. For my social action I am cooperating with Habitat for Humanity, and organization that helps families with financial stability and helping to build credit by providing a suitable home for the family. Traditionally an eco-efficient house is built from the ground up from the use of volunteers and donations. In speaking to a Habitat for Humanity chairperson, they have now taken on replenishing old homes along with replenishing old furniture. They take any and all volunteers. Although my social action does not require other people to take part in volunteering with Habitat for Humanity it would be great if people would offer their services. I will be volunteering in the Re-Store where they replenish and sell old furniture for my social action specifically. I’ve helped on the construction of a home previous to this project but I’ve never experience working in the Re-Store so I am looking forward to it.

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  18. For my social action project I decided to focus on dance awareness on campus and everyday life. I love to dance and I feel like I want people to notice why this should be recognized by others. Dancing is a way to get in shape and just relieve yourself of your problems. There are so many dance programs that are offered on campus for free and nobody even knows about it. I want these clubs and organizations to be noticed. I also think dancing is a way to experience different types of culture. For my social action I decided to put together a flash mob! Another classmate and I have picked one song and is getting different forms of dance and perform it with other groups. We have at least forty plus people that are willing to participate for the cause. The flash mob hasn't been done yet, but we have everything organized. I'm so excited to show the class the hard work we have all put together to show everyone at USF what we love to do the most and that is to dance!(:

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  19. The topic that I chose to do my project on is the homelessness in the Tampa Bay area and Orlando. I believe that this is an issue that a lot of people don’t consider serious, when in reality it is. The majority of people would think of a homeless person as a drug addict or alcoholic that cannot get his life straight and as a result from his addiction is living on the streets. While there is a significant amount of homeless people that are in fact drug addicts and alcoholics, the majority of them are people that are going through very serious financial problems and cannot pay for a house. In high school, I had the opportunity to volunteer at a homeless shelter giving food to homeless people. This experience changed the way that I thought about the homeless and taught me a lesson about prejudice. I got to meet and talk with some of these people and listen to their stories of how they ended up in the streets. I remember some of them telling me about the dangers of alcohol and drugs, but I also remember the ones that told me that they had lost their jobs and did not had any other choice than to move out of their houses. I am planning to do the same thing for my social action. These are people that are going through a lot in their lives and they need our help. I encourage everyone to go and volunteer at a soup kitchen or homeless shelter, it is a wonderful experience.

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  20. The topic I chose to do my paper on was All Children's Hospital. All Children's Hospital helps children with certain diseases and families who cannot afford to pay for the child's care. For my social action project, I went to Dance Marathon, which took place on March 26th,2011. For Dance Marathon, I participated in dancing every hour and putting people in jail by paying for their bail. All proceeds went to children who were in need, and overall it was a good cause. Doing Dance Marathon made me realize how much families and children were in need, and how much help they needed. The overall cause of All Children's Hospital was to help children and I loved how they brought children who were cured by the hospital to the event. I spent the full 17 hours at Dance Marathon, and each hour represented 17 million children who were saved from the hospital.

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  21. I decided to do my project three on human trafficking in tampa. I wasn’t initially going to do it on this topic because honestly I think I’m a little too sensitive for this issue. My mom told me about a current issue going on in a third world country. I can’t remember exactly what it was about but it was something about rebels corrupting their city and human trafficking was one of the activities of corruption they used. I wasn’t really educated about the issue when I chose it and my mom warned me that it was pretty bad but I thought it would be interesting so I stuck with it. Deeper in my research I kind of wished I chose a different topic. I found out some gruesome information that made me question humanity, however I have learned a lot about this issue and educating your self of the problem is the first way at solving the issue. I’ve deciding to do my social action on campus in the marshal center. Human trafficking is a form of slavery so I’m going to get some friend together (preferably those who are fun-sized) to represent the young victims of trafficking and some of my more adult looking friends to represent the pimps and have them walk around with the victims in the marshal center on leashes. When we reach the center of msc I’m going to put up facts about human trafficking with poster boards and include a site people can go to for more education (kind of like the tobacco commercials). I may need helping finding men who have a more mature, and rough look to heighten the effects, so if anyone knows where I can or wouldn’t mind participating please contact me.

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  22. My social action was to participate in American Cancer Society’s relay for life. This Relay is a life-changing event that gives everyone in communities across the globe a chance to celebrate the lives of people who have battled cancer, remember loved ones lost, and fight back against the disease. This event was created in May of 1985 to help fund raise to find cure for cancer. Cancer is a disease where cells multiply without control and destroy healthy tissue. There are many types of cancer. The most common is skin cancer. However cancer in general is one of the top killer diseases in the U.S. and many other countries. My first participation in Relay for life was when I was a junior in High School. It’s exactly what the title states; it’s a Relay for Life of those who were diagnosed with cancer. I saw all the efforts that volunteers put in to help support this wonderful cause. It also reminded me so much of my grandmother who died from breast cancer. Many of you probably have a loved one, or just someone you know that has suffered or still suffering from this terminating disease. More than half a million in the U.S. alone develops a type of cancer, and 550,000 deaths a year. Wouldn’t it be nice if there was something we could do to help our loved ones who suffer from this disease? That is exactly what American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life’s goal is. I stood up against cancer, isn’t it time that you did too?

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  23. My Social Action is to bring awareness to the homeless around the Tampa area. I decided to group up with a friend who is in another comp 2 class and we went and created a video. We had two components in the video. First, we created a seen of a homeless man and people just clearly ignoring him. Next we decided to go on Fowler and ask some homeless people some questions. We found a lady and a man and asked them about their story and how society can really help them and the situation they have right now. Both people we talked to were big fans of a shelter called The Shop. They said they would rather have people donate here than the Salvation Army. This place provides them with food, water, clothing, and a place to spend the night. So, we created this video and we posted it on youtube, and sent the link to many facebook friends in order to create awareness. Also, we are looking to get this video onto a major homeless organizations website. We are going to send it in to many organizations and see what they think. Throughout this experience I have been able to learn a lot more about the situation that people are in. I think are video will be very effective because it has actual homeless people saying what caused them to become this way and how we can really help. Most of them became homeless due to losing their job and not having family close by so they use The Shop as a home until they can get back on their feet again.

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  24. @TTroyer
    I feel like your topic is a real issue that many people are not aware about. The meat packaging companies really are not doing their best to create the healthiest choice for our society. Your letter is also a great idea in order for them to see what people actually think. You have given them great ideas to think about and hopefully they really consider them and try to make a change. This issue is overlooked some times but it is important that people stick with it and try to create more awareness in our society.

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  25. @ Everyone who participated in Relay for Life:
    First of all, thanks for your support. As someone whose family was touched by cancer, it means a lot that there are people out there who truly care enough to help raise money for future medical advancements so we can have even more cancer survivors.
    I also participated in it, but not for my project. I participated with the USF Quidditch team, we staged a demonstration and participation games, and also raised money by being thrown in jail. Overall, we all had a lot of fun, and I hope you did too.

    By the way, I am hosting two events as part of my project. I have tried my best to promote them, but unfortunately I don't lead a very social life, so any help raising awareness for these would be appreciated. I am also hosting one jointly with USF Quidditch.
    During all of these events some information will be passed out about on-campus fitness resources. I am hoping these events will be fun and productive.

    https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=179272632124901
    https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=179533045428228
    https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=117002565046842

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  26. @Carlos As a fellow longboarder I agree with you on that. We get no respect while riding on the sidewalks to and from class. I see people always get scared when I longboard near them or am going really fast, sometimes people freeze up and just stand there then I have to move out of the way and jump off. In those situations I'm seen as the bad guy which really annoys me because I could have easily avoided her if she didn't stop causing everyone to stop and leaving me with no where to go but off the sidewalk. I know that we're not supposed to go down parking garages but it is really the most entertaining thing a longboarder can do. Its just more fun with a little hint of danger in your life.

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  27. @Astrid
    That's great that you are taking responsibility for your project and try to spread the word about fitness and wellness. I agree that it is big deal to start caring about being healthy and in shape. Most people misunderstand that your don't have to be really skinny or built to be considered "in shape". I think it is all about having a healthy lifestyle and staying active. That's strange that USF is always promoting fitness and they had no information to give. I just call those lazy people that are not doing their job. I hope you have a great turn out with your bike week. I'll spread the word for you! (:

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  28. @Hubbard
    I really like your social action project. I’m a very aware of electronics recycling and how that can affect the environment. Personally I recycle all of my phones when I’m back at home in Pittsburgh. I do it through a program that donates the phones to homeless shelters so that if the homeless are attacked, or robbed they have the ability to call 911. I have also recycled my computers through a Department of the Interior program. Electronics recycling needs to receive more attention, many of the things in computers can be reused, and many things like lithium ion batteries can be dangerous in landfills.

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  29. @carlos
    Your passion is admirable for the rights of skaters. You mentioned that USF recognizes bicycling as the only legitimate mode of transportation but I see people skating to and from class and the library all the time. The stereotype of skateboarders and longboarders might be the biggest thing you have to overcome. True, it’s unfair but it’s very difficult to change people’s opinion. I hold skaters in the same regard that I hold bicyclists. I am neither of the two but I do feel like they all deserve the right to go to and from class. I think the biggest thing about the restrictions is that USF does not want to be held liable. Good luck on trying to get other people who aren’t longboarders or skateboarders to support of your cause.

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  30. @Eric. This topic is huge. I agree with everything you say about how Americans believe that they are not affected by this disease. It's ridiculous how oblivious we can be. Also the statistics that you put on your post were very grabbing. I read the first three sentences of your post and it hooked me right away. I hope you added those in your paper, but I am sure you did because they can easily grab an audience. I also like your social action idea. People want your package because you have free condoms but you put the informational packet in there and while some will not read the packet, some will. These people will be affected by this packet somehow. Good idea on your project!

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  31. @Julie-Ann

    I had the chance to peer review your paper for this project, and I think your topic is great. There are a lot of people who don't realize that there are many families out there who can't afford adequate housing and definitely deserve some help in acquiring stable and accommodating homes for their families. In hard times like these where everything is getting more expensive and finding stable jobs is difficult for many people, being able to find and afford a welcoming home is becoming difficult as well. I hope your experience with Habitat for Humanity is a great one ! :)

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  32. @Aquela. I think that the topic that you chose is a very good one. A lot of people think that because they do not see it on the news every day, it is not happening. I do not know if you have watched a movie called Trade, and if you haven’t I recommend you watch it because the plot is about human trafficking in America. I think that what you are planning to do at the Marshall Center is a very good idea since people are going to be shown a dramatization of the horrible conditions that some human beings go through.

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  33. @ThomasRia
    It sounds like you had loads of fun dancing and putting people to jail. At first when you said that you were putting people in jail, I was very confused but I realized it was only pretend lol. But it was still nice to do something fun in order to raise money for a good cause. I admire your hard work and determination to stay at dance marathon for a whole 17 hours even though it was very late and I would have walked out just to go to bed. It was very nice of you to do that so good job.

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  34. @Astrid
    Obesity is a large problem plaguing America today. The issue though is not only about fitness; it is also about the correct diet choice. Moving around and staying active is all good and well, but if I am as active as ever and eat Micky D’s all day long is the fitness really going to help me? But it is admirable of you to try to motivate people to try and work out and be healthier, but I think that coupling that with diet will help people to tackle the obesity problem even faster.

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  35. @Paula: Relay for life is a very helpful organization that helps people with cancer and I am glad you took time out of your day to go to it. I also went to Relay for Life, and paid at the booths. It was a lot of fun, and I had fun playing the games at the booths. Working at a booth is something I plan on looking into next year, and organizing, or helping to organize the big event is something I plan on doing. This time last year my aunt was dealing with breast cancer, and I went on walks for her, and the other million people dealing with it. I am very glad that you went to the relay, because it touched me personally.

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  36. @TTroyer
    I like your argument and I also like how you are not only presenting Tom Vilsack with the facts and the problem at hand but that you are also providing him with solutions to the problem. i feel that your social action is very well planned out and holds a strong argument. In addition I am glad that you chose to raise awareness on many of the issues in the meatpacking industry because not many people realize or know how animals like cows and chickens are raised before they are killed. Hopefully Tom Vilsack will take your point of view into consideration and do something to fix these issues.

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  37. @ Astrid- You’re welcome. =) I did it because I was touched by cancer as well. I see that there are others who decided to do Relay For Life as their social project too. Like Astrid said, I would like to thank you guys. Cancer is a real big issue in our society, and I’m sure many of us would like to find a cure for this disease. New developments are in the John Kanzius Cancer Research Project, which might just be the cure for cancer. A man who died from cancer, yet was able to start this research that might just be the end of this horrible disease.

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  38. So, I ran into some "administrative" trouble when trying to implement said bike week. They told me that as a student and not a "partner", I couldn't ask them to sponsor anything. I don't know many (or any, really) commuter students, so my bike week plan would not work without a lot of help from facebook-spreading or word-fo-mouth since I can't advertise it entirely on my own. I am not expecting many students to even give it a second look since it's student-organized and not organized by Campus Rec or Wellness, so... I do have two events (I had to cancel the last one due to a personal emergency) coming up, I hope that will be enough since my project just keeps getting shot down...
    I have passed out flyers to people about campus rec and their services / resources right outside the MSC on my free time, but I know that will not suffice. I was hoping for more support from Campus Rec / Wellness, but there isn't much I can do about that at the moment. At least I have the support of my friends at USF Quidditch.
    So guys, I will ask you one last time to please come out or at least spread the word about these events. It will really help me.
    I have Ultimate Frisbee going on at 7pm tonight at the MLK field, and a quidditch open session tomorrow at 6 by the Fine Arts field. Anyone at all is welcome to take a break from studying and and participate.

    Thanks in advance...

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