What do we watch throughout the Days of our Lives?

A question brought up in class, and a survey given out asking what kind of media consumer are you?

While I enjoyed filling it out, I was suprised actually what kind of consumer I was.

While I love certain shows like Project Runway, CSI, Days of our Lives and sometimes National Geographic, I didnt realize how much time I spent watching t.v. waiting for these shows to come on.

I also am a huge movie buff. But Blockbuster that is. I rent move movies than I go see them. However, Beerfest was a hilarious movie I saw this past week. (If you liked the Super Troopers, almost all of them are in this...or if you like beer....a solid funny movie.)

I used to read quite often before I went to bed. Books about the lives of Frank Sinatra, Jim Morrison, Jimmy Hendrix and Marilyn Monroe.

I read the Spartan Daily faithfully, mostly for the crossword puzzle, but often find that articles uninteresting. I tend to only enjoy reading one article or so per paper.

Within other areas of media, I listen to cd's in my car....but honeslty rarely other than that (aside from whats playing at the bar that weekend.)

I do waste my money on magazines like cosmopolitan, and trash like InTouch, Life and Style, and Us Weekly.
Though I dont pour over the articles unless they strike me as entertaining celebrity news. Sad..I know.

When reading magazines or watching television, I notice the advertisements, yet find them annoying. I realize they are a huge part of our culture and media...being advertisement puts out yet recieves large ammount of cash. Just recently in another class we were talking about Sex and the City . Every show, the shoes that "Carry" wears, sell out the next couple of days by consumers who watch the show. Its amazing how advertisement oriented our society has become.

I realize that I could be what you call addicted to television. However, it is when I am watching my favorite shows is when I am most relaxed. I plan to TRY to cut back on the useless hours I watch t.v. and send more time reading more books, or finding other interests. I will plan to browse around Barnes and Nobles to find books I normally wouldnt pick up. I would love to expand my book preferences. I think I will continue to watch "my shows" but will do something during the time I do not have a show on. It really is amazing how our lives often revolve around sorts of media. What would the world be like if we had never created t.v? I cant even imagine.

The New HPV Vaccine...Cure of the Future?

A new vaccine on the market claiming it can prevent HPV. HPV is a very common sexually transmitted virus. Most people pick up HPV at some point in their lives. The virus doesn't usually cause any symptoms and in most people, it often clears up on its own. There have been cases where HPV lingers in the body causing serious cases of cervical cancer. Cervical cancer claims the lives of 270,000 women every year. Human papilloma virus (HPV) is almost always the cause of cervical cancer. So a new vaccine can help prevent thousands of women every year from obtaining a serious form of cancer and death.

The 3 series shot will help prevent cervical cencer with antibodies within its vaccine. The vaccine lasts 4 years.

The new idea with this vaccine is to impliment it with teenage girls physicals when entering high school. This would help prevent many sexually active teenagers from simply getting HPV.

This vaccine is a milestone in the world of medicine. However, religious based organizations are claiming that if young girls were given these shots it

Are Hollywood's actresses giving the O.K. to anorexia?

Are Hollywood's actresses giving the O.K. to anorexia?

Hollywood has been shrinking. Todays starletts are becoming ever so thin. The waif thin gals seem to be in competition with one another to see whom can weigh less. A dangerous game? These women have been gracing our movie screens, our television sets, and our magazines for years and recently they are physically disappearing.
Actresses including Nicole Richie, Kate Bossworth, Lindsey Lohan are losing weight at rapid speed and shocking the world and their fans with an eyesore or skin and only bones.

America's young girls are being exposed to celebrities with weight issues. This subject is always a touchy one. Weight is often a woman's most feared body issue. So when our favorite actresses are sickly, it sends a message or thoughts to fans that thin is in. Can it send a girl struggling with weight issues to limit her caloric intake just so she seek to look like her favorite icon.

Recent magazines show Nicole Richie at her lowest weight yet this year. When doctors estimate her weight at roughly 90 pounds, it makes every girl feel heavy or overweight. Though many see her struggle with this eating disorder, young girls may see it as "I want to look like that" or "I am not thin enough...I am too heavy."

Is the spotlight from stardom feeding these celebrities to barely exist? I feel the competitive edge in the star circle can keep an actresses weight at bay. Maybe its for a role, or maybe its to fight the media of looking average. Well this issue can be passed down onto viewers and fans.

Actress Mary-Kate Olsen suffered from anorexia. The media sought after her like sharks at feeding time. A illness of this sorts should never be highlighted. She was publicly criticized, however, she eventually broke the cycle and confronted her demon. She recieved treatment and came back to normal life and size. She spoke out about her stuggles to help young girls and her fans realize the dangers of anorexia.

Will the other actresses follow down her path? Will it get so bad they need extreme treatment? Will it lead little girls who love these celebrities to take the plunge into the world of eating disorders? One can only hope that these women realize that curves and being healthy is the optimal goal, and slowly bring back the image of a normal woman into persepective. It may take some work to stop the cycle of vicious eating disorders and critical body image, but for the sake of our peers and future generations....it needs to be done.