Category: Student Blog Writing

In 2009 the first-ever “Cryptocurrency” was created by an individual with the pseudonym, Satoshi Nakamoto who created the first cryptocurrency, Bitcoin. Since its release, cryptocurrency’s popularity has exponentially increased over the past decade. An example of its viability can be illustrated by Tesla’s founder and billionaire, Elon Musk, who has purportedly invested 1.5 billion dollars in Bitcoin over the past decade (Forbes “TITLE”). These types of high-profile investments and general market enthusiasm about cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin have led investors and financial experts to predict the continual rise in crypto’s popularity. They predict that cryptocurrency will eventually rise to the point where it will replace monetary currency in the next few years. However, in this essay, I will argue that ultimately, crypto will be unable to replace monetary currency due to inherent issues of stability in its design and a larger market and governmental forces. 

 

Since the creation of smartphones, the world is revolved around their presence and use. Smartphones have become a necessary piece of technology that everyone needs in their pocket. Smartphones are used for everything, from tracking your text messages to using apps. People carry their smartphones everywhere they go, and the use of smartphones is so prevalent that it has become engrained in society. However, despite these benefits, smartphone addiction has taken over the world. Smartphone addiction is a condition in which people use their phones so frequently that it becomes hard to establish relationships or other valuable personal connections. This perspective will explore some of the negatives of smartphone addiction and how it can cause more harm than good.

People must understand that the music industry is all a business. Labels will do anything they can so that their artists can get as much exposure as possible. However, there are some ways that artists can gain traction without labels having to do much and that is through ‘Vigilante Marketing.’ This is a form of marketing in which the fans create videos to a song which is commonly seen in the famous social media platform TikTok. However, in 2013 when Intagram wasn’t as popular and TikTok didn’t even exist there was YouTube. Jordan Gamble points out that, “although they are often successful at enhancing record sales for artists, record labels generally do not appreciate the loss of control” Gamble, Jordan. “A new era of consumer marketing?” European journal of marketing. Vol. 14. (2013) which is why it is seen as ‘Vigilante Marketing.’ Regardless, it still brought up sales since people have a tendency to follow up on the latest trend. While large record sales is an accomplishment itself, it can also lead to more popularity in an artist because of the simple fact that they produce a large quantity of sales. It makes people who aren’t familiar with the artists wonder “Who is this person and why do they generate so many sales?”

Obesity is a major problem in the United States. The US obesity prevalence was 42.4% in 2017 to 2018. Food companies are put on the spotlight for as a positive contributing force to the growing amount of obesity. Numerous companies label their products as “low-fat” which is proposed to increase food intake. A study finds that companies that label their products as “low-fat” their consumers increase food intake of the product because of increased perceptions of appropriate serving size and decreased consumption guilt (Can “low-fat” nutrition labels lead to obesity). Their findings strongly supported that “low-fat” nutritional labels is a contributing factor to obesity. This finding can be juxtaposed with how companies are labeling their serving sizes as ½. The ½ serving size promotes positive feedback that could make consumers misinterpret food products and consume more. The obesity problem promotes buying products that are low on calories and people can misinterpret the ½ serving size label as 1 serving size.

   Happiness means the satisfaction that you find worthy. Since happiness is an exceptional experience, the elements that promote happiness can obviously be diverse for everybody. Notwithstanding, logical exploration over the most recent 20 years has made considerable progress to distinguish numerous normal factors that add to our happiness. Money is one of them. At the point when we experience the inquiries if feeling cheerful is connected with cash or not, some will utilize their pick for cash. Notwithstanding, the others, including me, guarantee money plays a little part and comes not in the main positions when contrasted and different impacts. In its easiest structure, we can say: Indeed, money is influencing our happiness. Nonetheless, after this sentence, I can add a sentence that beginnings with “But.

The issue of plastic pollution is a growing dilemma that if not resolved now will become a permanent problem to our planet. One major problem, caused by plastic pollution, is its effect on the ocean. Over thirteen million metric tons of plastic end up in the ocean each year, that being bottles, straws, bags, shoes, cups, and more that were littered by the people. There are many places that people could litter in, the streets, their backyards, private property, public property, and beaches. All that plastic garbage that was littered will travel so much that it will eventually end up in the ocean affecting marine life. That plastic that ends up in the ocean will not only be there for days, weeks, or months, it will stay there for hundreds of years because garbage does not decompose as easily as people think. In the article, Plastic – A Time Bomb Waiting To Explode. Environmental Impacts of Plastic That Will Shock You, Felicia Nazareth (8), states, “Decomposing of the plastic product can last from 400 to 1000 years with newer “degradable” compounds. Before that degradation can happen, waste plastic will continue to clog our waterways, oceans, forests, and other natural habitats filled with animals who mistake dangerous plastic for food.” Not only does plastic take hundreds of years to decompose, it also stays in the ocean in the quality that it came up evading the lives of the innocent animals.

Here is an excerpt from the intro of my essay.

Have you ever satten down at a McDonald’s, or any fast food place for that matter and wondered “What is this stuff made out of?”. Or, as a better example, have you ever seen that one youtube video where the guy is in a French school and is observing the students eating their lunches? The main takeaway from that video is the massive difference between American lunches and European lunches. Now I am not going to be researching what is the difference in food, but rather what goes into the food. It is known for the most part that American food, particularly fast food and school lunches, is crap. Not even just the way the food looks, but the ingredients themselves. I remember back when I was in public school, the kids would joke about how the burger patties were made of rat poop and slime because of the way the inside of it looked.

From the seventeenth century through the twentieth century, women were limited and restricted from communicating in a man-centric framework that for the most part would not allow legitimacy to a woman’s perspectives. Social and political reforms during these hundreds of years brought attention to various issues affecting women. These issues included women being denied the right to an education and not being able to possess anything or even having an opinion of their own. The social structure constrained a woman’s involvement in anything other than practical domestic pursuits to commit to the amelioration of the family, more particularly for the husband. As time passed by, the most valiant females decided to take a stand to propel for their political and social rights. These two specific women from Mexico, living in two different centuries, were finding ways to break through these restrictions. Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, who was a nun and a poet from Mexico, is one of those women that helped break through gender orientation impediments. During the Hispanic Baroque, she was considered to be an extraordinary writer. She was also seen as a role model for women during the Latin American colonial period. Being a writer and spreading knowledge or even obtaining knowledge as a woman during the time period of her life was a reach due to being the inferior gender and having restrictions placed on what she could and could not do. The other woman was Frida Kahlo, who was a painter from Mexico known for her folk art and self-portraits. She was a woman, feminist, and artist that held a certain sense of masculinity within her. Frida Kahlo was rebellious towards the gender roles and it is shown through her work and her lifestyle. Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz was a poet and a scholar that did extraordinary things in the 17th century for the purpose of being able to obtain an education.  It is amazing how these two women, who had never met each other yet lived in the same country, did something contrary to what was expected from female figures during these time periods to disintegrate the gender roles. So, therefore, to what extent did Sor Juana Inés de La Cruz and Frida Kahlo repudiate the socialist gender ideology in the 17th and the 20th century?

 

In order to find out if there was a relationship between mental health and diet I read an article, “Diet, Stress, and Mental Health”. The author of this text asserted that there was a connection. From a non-biased perceptive, mental health and diet can be bidirectional. Meaning that psychiatric disorders can develop from a poor diet, while having psychiatric disorders can mess up the way you eat and lead to binging or starving yourself. It is proven that changes in your metabolism or being obese ca lead to PTSD and Depression. The study focuses on a Mediterranean Diet. This diet includes consuming a low amount of meat, a high amount of nutes, fruits, and vegetables, and healthy fats. Many people who follow this eating lifestyle live a long life, have weight loss, and low rates of cardiovascular diseases. Although not directly correlating, these factors can lead to mood increase and happiness. Other issues such as stress can cause overeating which then leads to obesity. Being obese usually results in stress, depression, and anxiety. This then develops into psychological issues like being self conscious about your appearance. In a more fact based perspective and not generalizing, eating a diet high in fats interfere with the synthesis of serationi, the “happy” chemical in our brains. Overall, this overwhelming evidence leads the authors to conclude that a healthy diet will lead to a better mental health state opposed to someone who has an unbalanced diet.

As we are reaching towards the end of 2021, we still have the problem of COVID-19 holding weight in our society. With that problem being said, the question arises, should schools require the COVID-19 Vaccine for in person learning? In my situation, Baruch, which is located in the heart of NYC, requires proof of vaccination to enter any building on campus and to attend in person classes. Baruch offers in person and online classes and most students schedules are consisted of both types of classes. Before the semester began, students were required to upload photos of our vaccination card to the CUNY First website as proof. Many students question themselves if all of this is necessary to attend class, and this is a problem that is going on all around the world. I personally believe that schools should require the COVID-19 Vaccine for in person learning because it creates a lower chance of people getting sick. Classes range from having 15-200 people depending on if it is a lecture or not. When you are in a room with that many people, everyone is breathing in the same air, and if one person is sick, and some aren’t vaccinated, they are at a higher risk to getting sick.