English 2100 Fall 2023: What Goes Unsaid?

Seasonal depression/winter depression also known as SAD is a phenomenon caused by the reduced amount of daylight throughout the day and or shorter days. The feeling of low energy days, feeling sad more often has affected those across the US. Even reaching Canada with 15% of Canadians experiencing one episode of SAD in their lifetime. Seasonal depression is an issue that isn’t shined light on as much as it should be, affecting people without them even knowing. Ways to prepare for this seasonal depression can start with forms of self care and watching your emotions/mood. This has affected me before and other people around me which can affect my school work and personal life and I believe this issue should be brought to light more.

https://www.cbc.ca/radio/whitecoat/the-dose-seasonal-depression-1.7042171

At the moment U.S Dog moms and dads are experiencing major concern and fear of this new mysterious Dog illness that has yet to have a name. However, it appears to be a respiratory issue that spreads through close contact so it happens to be very contagious and Vet’s say that its way worse than a kennel cough. The symptoms of this new disease include; wheezing, eye discharge, dry coughing, difficulty breathing, and show signs of lethargy. This disease was first discovered and officially diagnosed in Oregon and has spread throughout the west and east coast. However, this disease has yet been officially diagnosed in New York City. There has been some hospitalization and even some fatalities seen especially dogs who happen to be easily susceptible wether because of age or any other diseases they might suffer from. I’ve seen some people even resort to nebulizers to treat the disease because their dog is having a lot of trouble breathing.Personally, as a dog mommy, I’m taking extreme precaution in taking care of Blake (my dog). Such precautions I take is isolating him from any other dogs at the moment like no dog parks and even avoiding taking him to the groomers so I just him a haircut and a bath at home and Vets also recommend to take your dog immediately if any of the symptoms show up that way they can catch it early, and also making sure their vaccines are up to date due to the fact that there isn’t any vaccines at the moment available for this disease. Also, because we like to take him on his daily walks, we wash his paws at the front of the door before he enters the house and don’t pet him when we come back from the outside unless we have washed our hands. I wanted to share because maybe some people don’t know about this and now they do and make sure to take extra care of their fur babies!

Gypsy Rose Blanchard was born on July 27, 1991, and from that moment on, she went through years of abuse at the hands of her mother, Dee Dee Blanchard. Her mother was suspected to have a mental disorder called Munchausen syndrome by proxy, where the caretaker of a child makes up fake symptoms or illnesses to make the child look sick. When Gypsy was three months old, Dee Dee claimed she had sleep apnea and took her to the hospital repeatedly, even though she had no signs of having the disorder. Dee Dee went on to make Gypsy believe she had multiple illnesses, including a muscle disease that would make her wheelchair-bound. Dee Dee convinced doctors Gypsy had all these illnesses, causing Gypsy to get many unnecessary surgeries and medications. 

 As Gypsy got older, it got harder for Dee Dee to control her, and she started to physically abuse her. When Gypsy was around 19 years old, she started meeting people online and making attempts to escape, but they never worked out until she met her online boyfriend, Nicholas Godejohn, in 2012. Around this time, she finally figured out that her mom had been lying to her all her life and that she wasn’t sick like her mom made her believe. So she told her boyfriend everything, and in 2015, she convinced him to kill her mother so that the abuse could end and they could be together. In June of that year, Nicholas stabbed Dee Dee in her sleep 17 times while Gypsy was in the bathroom, covering her ears. They weren’t that good at hiding the fact that they killed her mother, so a couple days later they were arrested. In 2016, Gypsy was sentenced to 10 years in prison for second-degree murder, and in 2018, Nicholas was sentenced to life in prison for first-degree murder.

The question from the article “How Hard is it to Wake Up in the Morning?” was asked to teens in high school. Majority of the students from the response felt it as an annoyance in starting their day. It also felt as struggle for the majority of them. There were students who say waking up in the morning wasn’t a much of a big deal for them. It’s like a routine to them and they like the early morning.

What Students Are Saying About Waking Up in the Morning – The New York Times (nytimes.com)

With the help of local police a wealthy businessman from Kansas hands out between 100,000 to 200,000 dollars each december near the holidays in form of 100 dollar bills. He saids he looks out for people who look like they have sadness in their hearts and faces and he gives them the hope that their life can be changed. This mystery santa has been doing this for the last 16 years and it is truly beautiful to see. It’s something you definitely don’t see everyday and i think it inspiring. He makes people want to give a little something of their own especially during the holiday where many people don’t have the luxury to even enjoy. So it’s wonderful to see someone light up people’s faces annually. When things like this happen it makes u restore a little faith in today’s humanity with so many things happening around the world this type of kindness is rare in today’s society.

https://youtu.be/YXklnloWA6E?si=Tz9FtE7lDCLC-Rek

I have realized that the United States, specifically, takes tipping really seriously. Even though it’s not a legal obligation to tip, leaving a little tip or no tip may be considered rude. There are countries such as China, Korea, and Japan that don’t practice tipping, since they find it offensive that they are given “handouts”. In America, the typical tip amount would be 15-20%. Tipping became more popular after the Civil War when restaurants started to hire newly freed slaves but offered them no wage. This meant that the workers had to rely on tips to make up for their pay. “It’s the legacy of slavery that turned the tip in the U.S. from a bonus or extra on top of a wage, to a wage itself,” explains Saru Jayaraman, co-founder of Restaurant Opportunities Center United. In today’s economy, inflation and low wages are nothing new, especially in America. Tipping culture has gotten out of hand when even self-checkout kiosks ask for a tip. Tips should be a form of gratuity of how well the service is, and should not feel like an obligation. I had a time in middle school when I ate at a restaurant with my friends. The food was mediocre and the service was not as good as we would like it to be. When the bill came, we had just enough to cover it leaving $5 as a tip. However, the $5 was less than the percentage shown on the receipt, less by $2. The waitress chased us down when we exited. We were in middle school and we gave them all the money we had with the tip we felt they deserved for their service. With inflated prices of goods and low wages, I understand that many have to rely on tips to make up for their wage. The U.S. should do something about the unbalance between inflation and wages.

On June 21, 2023, the FDA and the USDA has officially approved the sales of lab-grown meat from California companies, Upside Foods and Good Meats. Lab grown meat is the proccess of re-creating the taste/texture of real animal meat from animal stem cells.

Lab Process: Stem cells or “special stored egg cells” are taken from animal eggs and placed into nutrient bath that helps the cells grow. Those cells are placed into a large device (bioreactors) that grows organisms, where they develop fat and muscle fibers. Then the fibers and fat is shaped into the desired meat such as steak and chicken.

Why is this such a big deal?

Although this procedure is designed to decrease the unethical slaughter/treatment towards animals and have meat become environmental friendly. It has been scientifically proven that since lab grown meat is based off of animal cell culture, it is developed in high tech facilities which is worse for the envirnoment because it has higher production of carbon footprint/energy. It has also been proven that lab grown meat will potentially cause health issues for humans such as autoimmune issues, which is when your immune system mistakenly attacks healthy cells in your body. Interestingly enough, Italy was the first country in the world to ban lab grown meat to protect the health of Italians and to protect the Italian food heritage.

Unfortunately, I still have not had a response to my request for a computer lab for today’s class. However, I still want to move forward on our research projects, so please, if at all possible, come to class with a laptop or tablet. You can check out a laptop or tablet at the Technology Loan Desk on the third floor of the Newman Library . Feel free to email me if you have questions about this.
Sorry for the short notice!!!!

See you soon,
Professor Sylvor

• No class on Wednesday, November 22nd!
• By midnight on Wednesday, please log onto the blog, scroll down to the post “Homework for Sunday, November 19th” and in a comment on your original comment, share an update on your Analytical Research Paper topic. What topic have you settled on? How have you refined or modified your topic? What is it you are hoping to learn about this topic?
• Reach out to me via email if you have any questions about this assignment (or anything else).
• Check your Baruch email and this blog for information about a possible room change for Monday, Nov. 27th.
• Have a wonderful Thanksgiving Break! I hope that you will take some time to do whatever relaxes and restores you. I am grateful to have such smart and committed students and appreciate all the effort and good cheer you’ve brought to our work together!