Eating cereal for breakfast just got a little less appealing.
The Kellogg Company just announced its third breakfast-related incident in less than a year — the nationwide recall of certain boxes of Corn Pops, Honey Smacks, Froot Loops and Apple Jacks.
The reason this time? An unusual smell and taste coming from the boxes' liner can make people sick.
While the company says the potential for serious health problems is low, it's warning consumers not to eat the cereal.
Kellogg breakfast items are clearly attracting government attention lately.
The FTC stepped in not once but twice this year to slap the company for exaggerating claims that Rice Krispies helps support childrens' immunity.
And in February, the FDA smacked Kellogg after finding Listeria at a Georgia plant that makes Eggo Buttermilk waffles.
Kellogg says the current potential problems are with the cereal boxes that have "Better If Used By" Dates between March 26, 2011, and June 22, 2011 and they have the letters "KN" after those dates.
Consumers reported "stale, waxy, metallic, and soap-like smells" from the tainted boxes, a Kellogg spokesman told us.
"We apologize to our consumers and our customers and are working diligently to ensure that the affected products are rapidly removed from the marketplace," said David Mackay, president and chief executive officer of Kellogg Company in a statement.
Those with questions or who want a replacement can call the Kellogg Consumer Response Center at 888-801-4163 from 8 am to 8 pm Eastern time.
Vocabulary
Write your own definitions of the bolded words in the provided space, be inclusive and/or creative:
Discussion
Do you eat breakfast cereal?
After having considered this article are you worried about the safety of your food?
What other food safety concerns do you have?
Do you think food safety is more of an issue recently than 20 years ago? Why or why not?
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Sorry Folks
Sorry folks, but I'm just too zonked to get anything posted right now, however for your enjoyment, here's some Monty Python (pronounced Monty Pythen, if you know what you're talking about). This is why we call unwanted e-mails, texts and other unwanted mail "spam mail". Now you know, and 'knowing is half the battle' as G.I. Joe used to say.
Sunday, June 27, 2010
ITC Topic Class: Canada Day Activities
Most communities across the country will host organised celebrations for Canada Day, usually outdoor public events, such as parades, carnivals, festivals, barbecues, air and maritime shows, fireworks, and free musical concerts, as well as citizenship ceremonies for new citizens. There is no standard mode of celebration for Canada Day; professor of International Relations at the University of OxfordJennifer Welsh said of this: "Canada Day, like the country, is endlessly decentralized. There doesn't seem to be a central recipe for how to celebrate it — chalk it up to the nature of the federation." However, the locus of the celebrations is the national capital, Ottawa, Ontario, where large concerts, presided over by the governor general, are held on Parliament Hill, as well as other parks around the city and in Hull, Quebec. The sovereign may also be in attendance at Canada Day celebrations in Ottawa; Queen Elizabeth II was present in 1990, 1992, and 1997, and is scheduled to attend the celebration in 2010. The Queen also helped celebrate Canada's 100th anniversary on July 1, 1967.
Given the federal nature of the holiday, celebrating the event can be a cause of friction in the province of Quebec. For example, the federal government funds events at the Old Port — an area run by a federal Crown corporation — while the parade is a grassroots effort that has been met with pressure to cease, even from federal officials. The nature of the event has also been met with criticism from English Canadians, such as Ottawa Citizen columnist David Warren, who said in 2007: "The Canada of the government-funded paper flag-waving and painted faces — the 'new' Canada that is celebrated each year on what is now called 'Canada Day' — has nothing controversially Canadian about it. You could wave a different flag, and choose another face paint, and nothing would be lost."
The July 1 date of Canada Day also coincides with Quebec's traditional Moving Day, many fixed-lease apartment rental terms in the province extending from July 1 to June 30 of the following year. Suggestions that the move was a deliberate decision by Quebec sovereignists to discourage participation in a patriotic Canadian holiday ignore that the bill changing the province's moving day from May 1 to July 1 was introduced by a federalist member of the Quebec National Assembly, Jérôme Choquette.
Vocabulary: Match the vocabulary word with the right definition.
Discussion
What are some things Canadians do to celebrate "Canada's Birthday"?
Where is Canada's birthday celebrated with the biggest/best events/parades etc.?
What kind of things would you want to enjoy on another country's birthday if you were visiting?
What kind of things do people do on Korea's birthday?
Given the federal nature of the holiday, celebrating the event can be a cause of friction in the province of Quebec. For example, the federal government funds events at the Old Port — an area run by a federal Crown corporation — while the parade is a grassroots effort that has been met with pressure to cease, even from federal officials. The nature of the event has also been met with criticism from English Canadians, such as Ottawa Citizen columnist David Warren, who said in 2007: "The Canada of the government-funded paper flag-waving and painted faces — the 'new' Canada that is celebrated each year on what is now called 'Canada Day' — has nothing controversially Canadian about it. You could wave a different flag, and choose another face paint, and nothing would be lost."
The July 1 date of Canada Day also coincides with Quebec's traditional Moving Day, many fixed-lease apartment rental terms in the province extending from July 1 to June 30 of the following year. Suggestions that the move was a deliberate decision by Quebec sovereignists to discourage participation in a patriotic Canadian holiday ignore that the bill changing the province's moving day from May 1 to July 1 was introduced by a federalist member of the Quebec National Assembly, Jérôme Choquette.
Vocabulary: Match the vocabulary word with the right definition.
Maritime Decentralized Federation Locus Governor General Grass-roots Controversial Coincides Sovereigntist |
|
Discussion
What are some things Canadians do to celebrate "Canada's Birthday"?
Where is Canada's birthday celebrated with the biggest/best events/parades etc.?
What kind of things would you want to enjoy on another country's birthday if you were visiting?
What kind of things do people do on Korea's birthday?
ATC Topic Class: The Shame of Honour Crimes
See the full story here: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/opinions/the-shame-of-honour-crimes/article1612108/
Between 2001 and 2004, Haideh Moghissi, Saeed Rahnema and Mark J. Goodman of York University conducted an extensive study of about 2,000 immigrants to Canada from Iran, Pakistan, Afghanistan, the Palestinian territories and Jordan.
Not surprisingly, immigrants experienced a clash of cultures, including tension between individual rights and community loyalty. Another key area was gender equality: Immigrants believed women had more independence and rights in Canada than in their country of origin. Female immigrants believed this to be a good thing; the men weren’t so sure. Unsurprisingly, gender equity was found to be a primary source of tension between spouses. The study did not probe the cultural schizophrenia experienced by immigrant youths, or how families retained cohesiveness in the face of these tensions. This analysis is essential, given the recent murders of young women by family members for pursuing individual choices contrary to tradition.
Between 2006 and 2009, at least three women have been killed in Ontario for breaching family “honour.” Recently, a Montreal-area Afghan-Canadian woman was charged with attempted murder of her 19-year-old daughter, apparently after she came home late. While these unproven allegations are shocking, more so are the roles alleged to have been played by victims’ brothers.
In 2006, Khatera Sadiqi, 20, and fiancé Feroz Mangal, 23 were shot to death in Ottawa by Ms. Sadiqi’s brother. Ms. Sadiqi’s father did not approve of her fiancé; brother Hasibullah sought to “restore” the Afghan family’s honour by killing her. He received a 25-year prison sentence.
In 2007, 16-year-old Aqsa Parvez’s brother and father murdered her in their Mississauga home for allegedly “shaming” the Pakistani family with her preference for Western norms. Family members told police that retribution was the price to pay for violating cultural and religious boundaries. Each man received a life prison sentence.
In one other case that has yet to go to trial, so none of the allegations are proven, Zainab Shafia, 19, her sisters Sahar, 17, and Geeti, 13, and their father’s first wife, Rona Amir Mohammad, 50, were found dead in a car submerged in the Rideau Canal. The parents and brother of the girls were charged with first-degree murder. Police hinted they believe “honour” was the motive.
Misogyny over gender equality, tribalism over individuality, control over freedom. One would think that the younger generation would shed old customs in favour of new ones. But according to University of Toronto professor Shahrzad Mojab (who served as an expert witness on honour killing at Hasibullah Sadiqi’s trial), members of diaspora communities tend to cling to their traditions tenaciously in order to preserve a distinct identity. In cultures where control of women represents male control over the family, an individualistic female “tarnishes” a male’s reputation and “shames” the family in the eyes of the community. Honour is “purified” by killing the source of shame.
Write your own definition of honour:
Discussion
What is the motive people have for killing in this article?
What kind of views generally promote the honour killing of women?
Do you think killing promotes honour? Why or why not?
Lets discuss the definition of honour you wrote for this article, what does honour mean to you?
Between 2001 and 2004, Haideh Moghissi, Saeed Rahnema and Mark J. Goodman of York University conducted an extensive study of about 2,000 immigrants to Canada from Iran, Pakistan, Afghanistan, the Palestinian territories and Jordan.
Not surprisingly, immigrants experienced a clash of cultures, including tension between individual rights and community loyalty. Another key area was gender equality: Immigrants believed women had more independence and rights in Canada than in their country of origin. Female immigrants believed this to be a good thing; the men weren’t so sure. Unsurprisingly, gender equity was found to be a primary source of tension between spouses. The study did not probe the cultural schizophrenia experienced by immigrant youths, or how families retained cohesiveness in the face of these tensions. This analysis is essential, given the recent murders of young women by family members for pursuing individual choices contrary to tradition.
Between 2006 and 2009, at least three women have been killed in Ontario for breaching family “honour.” Recently, a Montreal-area Afghan-Canadian woman was charged with attempted murder of her 19-year-old daughter, apparently after she came home late. While these unproven allegations are shocking, more so are the roles alleged to have been played by victims’ brothers.
In 2006, Khatera Sadiqi, 20, and fiancé Feroz Mangal, 23 were shot to death in Ottawa by Ms. Sadiqi’s brother. Ms. Sadiqi’s father did not approve of her fiancé; brother Hasibullah sought to “restore” the Afghan family’s honour by killing her. He received a 25-year prison sentence.
In 2007, 16-year-old Aqsa Parvez’s brother and father murdered her in their Mississauga home for allegedly “shaming” the Pakistani family with her preference for Western norms. Family members told police that retribution was the price to pay for violating cultural and religious boundaries. Each man received a life prison sentence.
In one other case that has yet to go to trial, so none of the allegations are proven, Zainab Shafia, 19, her sisters Sahar, 17, and Geeti, 13, and their father’s first wife, Rona Amir Mohammad, 50, were found dead in a car submerged in the Rideau Canal. The parents and brother of the girls were charged with first-degree murder. Police hinted they believe “honour” was the motive.
Misogyny over gender equality, tribalism over individuality, control over freedom. One would think that the younger generation would shed old customs in favour of new ones. But according to University of Toronto professor Shahrzad Mojab (who served as an expert witness on honour killing at Hasibullah Sadiqi’s trial), members of diaspora communities tend to cling to their traditions tenaciously in order to preserve a distinct identity. In cultures where control of women represents male control over the family, an individualistic female “tarnishes” a male’s reputation and “shames” the family in the eyes of the community. Honour is “purified” by killing the source of shame.
| Unsurprisingly Schizophrenia Breaching Retribution Allegations Submerged Motive Misogyny Tribalism |
|
Write your own definition of honour:
Discussion
What is the motive people have for killing in this article?
What kind of views generally promote the honour killing of women?
Do you think killing promotes honour? Why or why not?
Lets discuss the definition of honour you wrote for this article, what does honour mean to you?
Thursday, June 24, 2010
ITC Topic Class: Street Pianos
Summer brings out fun, sun and public art projects, but here's a project that's truly participatory. For the next two weeks, an art installation called "Play Me I'm Yours" features 60 pianos in the streets of New York. An assortment of upright pianos, painted by artists in odd colors, sit in parks, on sidewalks and on street corners for anyone to play.
Sometimes, the pianos are shyly tinkered with, but then there are people who completely lose themselves. Nina Pike, a 20-year-old visitor from Virginia, recently sat down in the middle of Times Square and improvised a piece.
"To play the song that I played, you have to put up a picture and make the music flow to what the picture made up," Pike says.
The Street Pianos Project was conceived by British artist Luke Jerram, who says he had the idea while visiting a Laundromat in Bristol and saw people consistently keeping to themselves.
"I thought, well, maybe putting a piano into a space like that would shake things up and would act as a catalyst for conversation," Jerram says. "So far, it seems to be working."
Jerram says he is a visual artist. He doesn't read music, although he can play some simple blues.
"It turns ordinary people like me into street performers, and that's magical," he says.
Jerram has placed pianos in nine cities, including London, Sydney and Barcelona. New York is the first U.S. location and the largest installation he's done. He's been moving from piano to piano, watching what happens. The installation attracts a range of talent from entire bands to older blues players and young performers like high-school student Kari Wei.
"I have always had the urge, whenever I see a piano, to play it, so the fact that they have them all over the city is just really convenient," Wei says. "I am kind of determined to find all 60."
At the end of the two weeks, the pianos will be donated to schools and hospitals by the nonprofit group Sing for Hope, in an effort to keep the playing and community-building alive.
Vocabulary
Discussion
What are some of your favourite public spaces in and/or near your home?
What can you do there?
What kinds of public spaces do you like to visit in other countries?
Would you try to play these public pianos, why or why not?
Vocabulary
| Participatory (adj.) Assortment (n.) Tinker (v.) Installation (n.) Urge (n.) Determined (adj.) | 1. A collection of various kinds; a variety. 2. Committed to do something 3. A large work of art that does not move 4. To change, or play with in a minor way 5. A strong desire or feeling to do something 6. The quality of being able to use/get involved |
Discussion
What are some of your favourite public spaces in and/or near your home?
What can you do there?
What kinds of public spaces do you like to visit in other countries?
Would you try to play these public pianos, why or why not?
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
ATC Topic Class: Death By Firing Squad
Utah death-row inmate Ronnie Lee Gardner is set to be executed by a firing squad on Friday. Thirty-five states allow the death penalty, but death by firing squad remains an option only in Utah.
For 25 years, Gardner has tried to evade the death chamber. And for 25 years, VelDean Kirk has waited to see him walk into it.
"It'll be a closure, because for 25 years, it hasn't closed a bit," says Kirk, whose husband was shot by Garrner.
Every detail of April 2, 1985, is burned into her memory. Gardner was in court on a murder charge when he tried to escape. An accomplice slipped him a gun, and he shot and killed an attorney and also severely wounded George "Nick" Kirk, who was a bailiff. Kirk didn't die, but VelDean Kirk says he wasn't the same active, cheerful man anymore. She says his final years were marked by excruciating pain and depression from a sedentary life.
His daughter, Tami Stewart, feels sorry for Gardner, but she can't forgive him. She imagines him in the death chamber. "He's going to feel that fear that he put into every one of those men. He's done. We've given him more than enough," Stewart says.
Gardner did get one choice: how he would die. In court, after being told he'd exhausted his appeals, the 49-year-old made his preference known.
"I would like the firing squad, please," he told the court in April.
Trent Nelson/AP
Donna Nu gives a statement during Gardner's commutation hearing. Nu was the partner of Michael Burdell, one of Gardner's victims.
And with those words, Utah officials expected they would soon be fielding calls from CNN and the international press. Utah's last firing-squad execution 14 years ago attracted more than 150 news crews from across the globe. They were interested in one thing: the method of execution.
Lawmakers, upset by the media circus, voted to eliminate the firing squad as an option. But the law they passed has a grandfather clause for the five death-row inmates who chose the firing squad before the ban.
Utah historian Will Bagley says the reason this method of execution exists is rooted in Utah's history as a Mormon sanctuary. "I think we need to be honest about it. We have the last firing squads in the country as a legacy of Mormon theology," Bagley says.
Some early Mormon leaders believed in blood atonement for the most egregious sins. "To atone for those, Jesus' blood didn't count. You had to shed your own blood," Bagley says.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has since renounced any connection to blood atonement. And the belief has all but disappeared among Utahns today.
Donna Nu calls the firing squad barbaric. Nu was the partner of Michael Burdell, the attorney Gardner murdered. She and Burdell's family said Michael wouldn't have wanted Gardner to die. "He certainly wouldn't want to be the reason that Ronnie Lee was killed," Nu says.
Trent Nelson/AP
Family members of George "Nick" Kirk, the bailiff Gardner injured, react as the Utah Board of Pardons denies the death-row inmate's request for commutation.
But for VelDean Kirk, death by gunfire is appropriate for the man she says destroyed her husband's life.
She remembers once seeing on TV a lethal-injection chamber used for a notorious killer. "That just looked like a hospital," Kirk says. "I didn't like that a bit. I didn't think that was fitting for a person that had done the crimes that he had done."
Gardner himself believes the firing squad is easier, with no chances for mistakes. Barring any last-minute appeals, a five-man team of executioners will take aim at Gardner just after midnight. Four of the rifles will be loaded; one will have blanks to keep anonymous the shooter who fires the bullet that kills Gardner. A black hood will be placed over Gardner's head, and on the chest of his jumpsuit will be pinned a white cloth target.
Vocabulary
Discussion
Is the death penalty common in Korea? What methods are used?
Are you opposed, or for the death penalty? Why?
American law has restrictions against cruel and unusual punishment> Do you think there are any cruel and unusual punishments still in practice today?
What would you consider cruel and unusual?
Vocabulary
| Closure Firing squad Mormon Lethal-injection Atonement Sanctuary Egregious Media circus Grandfather Clause | 1. Law that allows some old practice to continue for a few people. 2. A feeling of finality “Resolving one’s 한” 3. A method of execution by poison 4. A method of execution by guns 5. A payment for sin 6. Extremely terrible 7. A Christian sect from different views 8. An event where reporters flock to get some interesting story. 9. A safe place for people to hide, a place set apart for religious purposes. |
Discussion
Is the death penalty common in Korea? What methods are used?
Are you opposed, or for the death penalty? Why?
American law has restrictions against cruel and unusual punishment> Do you think there are any cruel and unusual punishments still in practice today?
What would you consider cruel and unusual?
Monday, June 21, 2010
ITC and ATC Class: I'm going experi 'mental!'
Tomorrow we'll be trying out some new activities so there will be either no, or only very short reading. Yesterday I bought a game called "Apples to Apples". And I've also made another activity for powerpoint.
Friday, June 18, 2010
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Thursday, June 17, 2010
ITC Topic Class: High-speed train pushed by Quebec, Ontario
Ontario and Quebec say the dream of a high-speed train link between Windsor and Quebec City may finally be picking up steam — if only Ottawa would get aboard.
On Wednesday, Quebec Premier Jean Charest said the idea, which has been tossed around for more than decade, is drawing more interest from Washington than from Ottawa.
Speaking at a news conference alongside Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty, Charest recalled that U.S. President Barack Obama has expressed interest in linking to an eventual rail network between the provinces.
When Ottawa was distributing stimulus cash last year, it was targeting infrastructure projects that would generate jobs and kickstart the economy quickly.
"Let's stop a moment to appreciate the situation here: it would, after all, be ironic if we actually did more with the federal government of the United States than we did with the federal government of Canada on developing a fast train," Charest said.
"We want to bring our full support behind this project, so absolutely, the federal government needs to be part of this, and every political party we expect needs to speak to this.
"It's that important a project and one that Dalton and I are totally committed to."
The premiers said early research indicates a high-speed train network between their provinces would be viable.
McGuinty predicted a rail link would enhance economic productivity and improve quality of life for 16 million Canadians. "It is a game-changer," McGuinty told reporters in Quebec City.
"So when we build this line here, it's more than just connecting 16 million Canadians together, strengthening our regional economy, better protecting our regional environment.
"It's going to plug us into a North American network of high-speed rail."
Charest said the Obama administration has shown interest in connecting U.S. cities to any eventual bullet-train network in Canada, including routes from Montreal to New York and Boston.
When Quebec and Ontario ordered an update to the feasibility studies two years ago, the federal government offered to take part, Charest said.
But Ottawa has yet to hop aboard.
"This is a once-in-a-lifetime, it's a unique opportunity, it is historic and I think we need to seize that opportunity," Charest said.
Vocabulary: Match the word or phrase with the correct definition
Discussion
1. What are some of the advantages and disadvantages of building a long rail line for high speed trains?
2. What changes has high speed rail brought to Korea?
3. Do you enjoy taking the train or bus long distances, and if either, why?
4. Do you think high speed rail is a good or bad idea in Canada and the U.S. ? Why?
On Wednesday, Quebec Premier Jean Charest said the idea, which has been tossed around for more than decade, is drawing more interest from Washington than from Ottawa.
Speaking at a news conference alongside Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty, Charest recalled that U.S. President Barack Obama has expressed interest in linking to an eventual rail network between the provinces.
When Ottawa was distributing stimulus cash last year, it was targeting infrastructure projects that would generate jobs and kickstart the economy quickly.
"Let's stop a moment to appreciate the situation here: it would, after all, be ironic if we actually did more with the federal government of the United States than we did with the federal government of Canada on developing a fast train," Charest said.
"We want to bring our full support behind this project, so absolutely, the federal government needs to be part of this, and every political party we expect needs to speak to this.
"It's that important a project and one that Dalton and I are totally committed to."
The premiers said early research indicates a high-speed train network between their provinces would be viable.
McGuinty predicted a rail link would enhance economic productivity and improve quality of life for 16 million Canadians. "It is a game-changer," McGuinty told reporters in Quebec City.
"So when we build this line here, it's more than just connecting 16 million Canadians together, strengthening our regional economy, better protecting our regional environment.
"It's going to plug us into a North American network of high-speed rail."
Charest said the Obama administration has shown interest in connecting U.S. cities to any eventual bullet-train network in Canada, including routes from Montreal to New York and Boston.
When Quebec and Ontario ordered an update to the feasibility studies two years ago, the federal government offered to take part, Charest said.
But Ottawa has yet to hop aboard.
"This is a once-in-a-lifetime, it's a unique opportunity, it is historic and I think we need to seize that opportunity," Charest said.
Vocabulary: Match the word or phrase with the correct definition
| Picking up steam Get aboard Alongside Viable Plug into |
|
Discussion
1. What are some of the advantages and disadvantages of building a long rail line for high speed trains?
2. What changes has high speed rail brought to Korea?
3. Do you enjoy taking the train or bus long distances, and if either, why?
4. Do you think high speed rail is a good or bad idea in Canada and the U.S. ? Why?
ATC Topic Class: 'A Little Book' Helps Kids Learn To Love Language
Some linguists lament that in the digital age, once-sacred grammar skills will be lost in the shorthand shuffle of texting and tweeting. But language expert David Crystal isn't worried. In A Little Book Of Language, he writes about how kids actually do love words. The book, geared toward young people, traces the history and the future of language.
A Little Book Of Language is an echo of an earlier title, E.H. Gombrich's A Little History of the World. Gombrich was inspired to write the book because "a little girl wrote to him and said, 'Please tell me about the history of everything,' " Crystal explains in a conversation with NPR's Neal Conan. Crystal says he read the book years ago and found it fascinating; it inspired him to write a book that would "be of interest to young teenagers, who desperately need this kind of awareness of language," yet would not be off-putting to older readers.
One of the most noticeable aspects of language in the present generation is the pace at which it is changing — "thanks largely to the Internet," says Crystal. At first glance, language online might not seem like a revolution, "because most of the language you see on the Web, or in a blog, or in a tweet ... is pretty familiar," he explains.
But there are aspects of online communication that are distinct from the way we use words everywhere else. Take hypertext, for example: "When was it ever possible previously to take a piece of language and click on it, and end up somewhere else?" Crystal asks. The closest comparison is probably to a footnote, but Crystal argues that hyperlinks are more essential to online communication than footnotes in books. "The Internet could not exist without those links," he says.
Within each passion is an element of language — the written or spoken word, Crystal says. We just have to remember to look for it.
Vocabulary: in the space provided write your own guess for a definition of each word. As we discuss correct it accordingly.
Discussion
1. Do you feel you have a high level of grammar and an adequate vocabulary in your native language? Why or why not?
2. Is the internet changing spoken and written Korean? If so how? If not why not?
3. Do you worry about a possible decline of Korean language? Is it possible people are abandoning Korean as a language?
A Little Book Of Language is an echo of an earlier title, E.H. Gombrich's A Little History of the World. Gombrich was inspired to write the book because "a little girl wrote to him and said, 'Please tell me about the history of everything,' " Crystal explains in a conversation with NPR's Neal Conan. Crystal says he read the book years ago and found it fascinating; it inspired him to write a book that would "be of interest to young teenagers, who desperately need this kind of awareness of language," yet would not be off-putting to older readers.
One of the most noticeable aspects of language in the present generation is the pace at which it is changing — "thanks largely to the Internet," says Crystal. At first glance, language online might not seem like a revolution, "because most of the language you see on the Web, or in a blog, or in a tweet ... is pretty familiar," he explains.
But there are aspects of online communication that are distinct from the way we use words everywhere else. Take hypertext, for example: "When was it ever possible previously to take a piece of language and click on it, and end up somewhere else?" Crystal asks. The closest comparison is probably to a footnote, but Crystal argues that hyperlinks are more essential to online communication than footnotes in books. "The Internet could not exist without those links," he says.
Within each passion is an element of language — the written or spoken word, Crystal says. We just have to remember to look for it.
Vocabulary: in the space provided write your own guess for a definition of each word. As we discuss correct it accordingly.
Lament | |
Shorthand | |
Geared toward | |
Desperately | |
Off putting | |
Distinct |
Discussion
1. Do you feel you have a high level of grammar and an adequate vocabulary in your native language? Why or why not?
2. Is the internet changing spoken and written Korean? If so how? If not why not?
3. Do you worry about a possible decline of Korean language? Is it possible people are abandoning Korean as a language?
Next Month's Schedule For Group Class
For everyone's information my group class schedule is posted in Google Calendar, you can access it through the "Group Class Schedule" page link at the top beside home. Oh, and a quick note: my poll crashed so I had to take it down. 짜증나요.
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
ITC Class Topic: Awareness Of Outside World Growing in North Korea
See the full story and listen here
Conventional wisdom holds that the people of North Korea are trapped in a world of rigid conformity, totalitarian discipline and complete isolation from the rest of the world.
But increasingly another picture is emerging: North Koreans are far more aware of the outside world, according to evidence provided by North Korean refugees, South Korean humanitarian aid workers, Chinese traders and others.
It is rare for an American to travel to North Korea, and even rarer for an American to spend much time there. Steven Linton has done both.
"In general I think North Koreans are clearly growing in their awareness of the rest of the world. I think there's no question about that," Linton says.
Linton has been going to North Korea for many years. He is engaged in a campaign to combat tuberculosis there, and he says North Koreans are soaking up information about the rest of the world.
One of the most underrated realities about North Korea is its very dynamic relationship with China, and the amount of information that flows across that border. Students, business people, it's a continuous stream of traffic.
"One of the most underrated realities about North Korea is its very dynamic relationship with China, and the amount of information that flows across that border. Students; business people; it's a continuous stream of traffic," he says.
With that traffic come thousands of DVDs, CDs, cellular telephones, used computers and videotapes — many of them from China and South Korea.
Vocabulary
Discussion
Conventional wisdom holds that the people of North Korea are trapped in a world of rigid conformity, totalitarian discipline and complete isolation from the rest of the world.
But increasingly another picture is emerging: North Koreans are far more aware of the outside world, according to evidence provided by North Korean refugees, South Korean humanitarian aid workers, Chinese traders and others.
It is rare for an American to travel to North Korea, and even rarer for an American to spend much time there. Steven Linton has done both.
"In general I think North Koreans are clearly growing in their awareness of the rest of the world. I think there's no question about that," Linton says.
Linton has been going to North Korea for many years. He is engaged in a campaign to combat tuberculosis there, and he says North Koreans are soaking up information about the rest of the world.
One of the most underrated realities about North Korea is its very dynamic relationship with China, and the amount of information that flows across that border. Students, business people, it's a continuous stream of traffic.
"One of the most underrated realities about North Korea is its very dynamic relationship with China, and the amount of information that flows across that border. Students; business people; it's a continuous stream of traffic," he says.
With that traffic come thousands of DVDs, CDs, cellular telephones, used computers and videotapes — many of them from China and South Korea.
Vocabulary
| Conventional (adj.) Holds (v.) Totalitarian (adj.) Emerging (v.) Engaged (v.) Soak up (v.) |
|
What did you think about North Korea before reading this article?
Did your opinion change?
Have you ever lived in a 'totalitarian' society?
Do you think information about the outside world will help North Koreans?
Have you ever been ignorant about something but when you found out the truth it changed your life?
ATC Topic Class: Medical Marijuana A Patient-Driven Phenomenon
See the full story and listen here.
Fourteen states and the District of Columbia have launched a medical experiment that doesn't follow any of the rules of science.
By approving the use of marijuana as a medicine — with varying kinds of restrictions — these jurisdictions are bypassing the federal government's elaborate processes for approving medicines.
That's highly unusual. In fact, it's only happened once in recent memory: In the late 1970s, about half the states legalized the use of laetrile, an extract of apricot pits, as a cancer treatment. At least 50,000 cancer patients took it before it was exposed as totally useless.
Nobody argues that marijuana is the new laetrile. For one thing, nobody's claiming it cures any fatal diseases. But it is a departure from the usual rules of evidence for drugs.
Struggling With Chronic Illness
If you want to understand why it's happening, you should spend some time with Ellen Lenox Smith of suburban Rhode Island: a lively, petite, 60-year-old grandmother, former schoolteacher and one-time master swimmer.
When you meet Smith, you don't suspect anything's seriously wrong with her health. But in fact, she has two incurable diseases: One, called sarcoidosis, is ravaging her lungs. The other makes her tendons and ligaments loose and fragile.
"My knee tore, and two weeks later the other knee tore," Smith says. "And the same thing with my shoulder. It was one shoulder and then the other shoulder. So I was tearing like tissue paper, and no one knew why."
After years of misdiagnosis and surgical repairs, Smith learned she has a rare genetic disease of connective tissue called Ehlers-Danlos syndrome.
"My condition causes pain throughout the entire body," Smith says. Most people with Ehlors-Danlos "live on morphine and OxyContin," she says, but she has bad reactions to these and nearly all other painkillers. "I can't tolerate them."
An Unlikely Prescription
Feeling desperate with pain and suffering sleepless nights, Smith consulted pain specialist Dr. Pradeep Chopra. This was about four years ago, just after Rhode Island became the 11th state to legalize medical marijuana. Chopra had never recommended marijuana to a patient, and he never imagined he would.
But in Smith's case, he says, "she had absolutely no other option. So very, very hesitantly, I said, 'Listen, why don't you try medicinal marijuana?' "
Smith says, "I can remember laughing and thinking, 'I wish my parents were alive to hear this conversation!' You spend your life being told to stay away from certain things, and here I have a doctor suggesting it could help me."
Smith appealed to one of her adult sons, who scrounged some pot from a friend. Because of her lung condition, she couldn't smoke it, so she soaked it in oil and stirred the oil into applesauce.
"I tried it that night — scared to death! I mean, I had no idea what to expect," she says. "The only time I'd ever tried marijuana was once in college, and it was so horrible. So I was really nervous about it.
"But it was so amazing! I took this oil, went to bed, and the next thing I know, it was morning," Smith says. "I had literally slept through the entire night for the first time in months."
Vocabulary
Discussion
1. Do you agree or disagree, marijuana should be legalized for medical purposes.
2. What is the general public opinion of marijuana in Korea?
3. Do you think the philosophy "If it works do it." is a safe one for medicine?
4. Have you ever wanted to try something not normally accepted but possibly helpful?
5. Do you think if something is natural it always has a beneficial use or not?
Fourteen states and the District of Columbia have launched a medical experiment that doesn't follow any of the rules of science.
By approving the use of marijuana as a medicine — with varying kinds of restrictions — these jurisdictions are bypassing the federal government's elaborate processes for approving medicines.
That's highly unusual. In fact, it's only happened once in recent memory: In the late 1970s, about half the states legalized the use of laetrile, an extract of apricot pits, as a cancer treatment. At least 50,000 cancer patients took it before it was exposed as totally useless.
Nobody argues that marijuana is the new laetrile. For one thing, nobody's claiming it cures any fatal diseases. But it is a departure from the usual rules of evidence for drugs.
Struggling With Chronic Illness
If you want to understand why it's happening, you should spend some time with Ellen Lenox Smith of suburban Rhode Island: a lively, petite, 60-year-old grandmother, former schoolteacher and one-time master swimmer.
When you meet Smith, you don't suspect anything's seriously wrong with her health. But in fact, she has two incurable diseases: One, called sarcoidosis, is ravaging her lungs. The other makes her tendons and ligaments loose and fragile.
"My knee tore, and two weeks later the other knee tore," Smith says. "And the same thing with my shoulder. It was one shoulder and then the other shoulder. So I was tearing like tissue paper, and no one knew why."
After years of misdiagnosis and surgical repairs, Smith learned she has a rare genetic disease of connective tissue called Ehlers-Danlos syndrome.
"My condition causes pain throughout the entire body," Smith says. Most people with Ehlors-Danlos "live on morphine and OxyContin," she says, but she has bad reactions to these and nearly all other painkillers. "I can't tolerate them."
An Unlikely Prescription
Feeling desperate with pain and suffering sleepless nights, Smith consulted pain specialist Dr. Pradeep Chopra. This was about four years ago, just after Rhode Island became the 11th state to legalize medical marijuana. Chopra had never recommended marijuana to a patient, and he never imagined he would.
But in Smith's case, he says, "she had absolutely no other option. So very, very hesitantly, I said, 'Listen, why don't you try medicinal marijuana?' "
Smith says, "I can remember laughing and thinking, 'I wish my parents were alive to hear this conversation!' You spend your life being told to stay away from certain things, and here I have a doctor suggesting it could help me."
Smith appealed to one of her adult sons, who scrounged some pot from a friend. Because of her lung condition, she couldn't smoke it, so she soaked it in oil and stirred the oil into applesauce.
"I tried it that night — scared to death! I mean, I had no idea what to expect," she says. "The only time I'd ever tried marijuana was once in college, and it was so horrible. So I was really nervous about it.
"But it was so amazing! I took this oil, went to bed, and the next thing I know, it was morning," Smith says. "I had literally slept through the entire night for the first time in months."
Vocabulary
| Experiment Jurisdiction Elaborate Legalize Petite Incurable Appeal |
|
Discussion
1. Do you agree or disagree, marijuana should be legalized for medical purposes.
2. What is the general public opinion of marijuana in Korea?
3. Do you think the philosophy "If it works do it." is a safe one for medicine?
4. Have you ever wanted to try something not normally accepted but possibly helpful?
5. Do you think if something is natural it always has a beneficial use or not?
Monday, June 14, 2010
Announcements!
Please note two things: 1. the new poll about my site redesign 2. there is now a Google translate utility on the sidebar so you can use it while you're reading, if you read ahead of time. Let me know what you think! Also I've added a few standalone pages like "Board Writings Archive" and "Why I'm in Korea", so check 'em out!
ATC Class
Hey ATC class, sorry my lesson didn't turn out as planned. Next time I WILL have the game board for the assign-opinion game. Fear not! It will be challenging and you will mess up and you WILL learn, I hope.
ITC Topic Class: Waiting In The Wings With Broadway's Understudies
See the full story and listen here.
So, imagine what it must be like to understudy both Tony-nominated stars of the Tony-nominated revival of La Cage aux Folles, Kelsey Grammer and Douglas Hodge. That's Chris Hoch's job.
He says both roles are enormous, but "Doug's is the more terrifying — not only the parameters of the role itself, but his performance is just so outside the box, you have to give a flavor of that and it's absolutely terrifying! I wake up every morning and I pray for his health!"
Most Broadway insiders consider the British-born Hodge a lock to win the Tony for Best Leading Actor in a Musical, playing the fluttery drag performer Albin. In one number, Albin literally applies makeup and gets dressed in front of the audience. To prepare himself as an understudy, Hoch says, he's not only memorized the lines and the staging, but he's gone to transsexual sites on the Web and, during off hours, descends the four flights of stairs from his dressing room to get comfortable walking in high heels onstage.
"I mean, it's funny," he laughs. "I go down every once in a while and just walk around in the heels."
Boneau/Bryan-Brown Twice As Nice: Chris Hoch understudies two Tony nominees in La Cage aux Folles: Kelsey Grammer and Douglas Hodge, the favorite to win Best Actor in a Musical.
Hoch, who also plays the masochistic stage manager in La Cage, has understudied in several Broadway shows, and is well aware that he may never get the call to step into Hodge's pumps. He says actors shouldn't take the job expecting the lead actor to get sick and to become a star themselves.
He brings up the famous Bette Davis movie All About Eve, in which Davis' evil understudy conspires to keep the star offstage. "An Eve Harrington moment is always, I think, frowned upon by the company, for good reason," Hoch explains. "You have a big responsibility to your fellow actors when you do it, more so than you do to yourself."
Vocabulary
Discussion
What is the job of an understudy?
Have you ever been in a play? What was that like?
Have you ever been in-line for a promotion as soon as someone leaves?
Have you ever, conspired to do something evil? Explain.
Have you been jealous of someone in a higher position than you? What about a lower position?
Do you believe in conspiracy theories?
So, imagine what it must be like to understudy both Tony-nominated stars of the Tony-nominated revival of La Cage aux Folles, Kelsey Grammer and Douglas Hodge. That's Chris Hoch's job.
He says both roles are enormous, but "Doug's is the more terrifying — not only the parameters of the role itself, but his performance is just so outside the box, you have to give a flavor of that and it's absolutely terrifying! I wake up every morning and I pray for his health!"
Most Broadway insiders consider the British-born Hodge a lock to win the Tony for Best Leading Actor in a Musical, playing the fluttery drag performer Albin. In one number, Albin literally applies makeup and gets dressed in front of the audience. To prepare himself as an understudy, Hoch says, he's not only memorized the lines and the staging, but he's gone to transsexual sites on the Web and, during off hours, descends the four flights of stairs from his dressing room to get comfortable walking in high heels onstage.
"I mean, it's funny," he laughs. "I go down every once in a while and just walk around in the heels."
Boneau/Bryan-Brown Twice As Nice: Chris Hoch understudies two Tony nominees in La Cage aux Folles: Kelsey Grammer and Douglas Hodge, the favorite to win Best Actor in a Musical.
Hoch, who also plays the masochistic stage manager in La Cage, has understudied in several Broadway shows, and is well aware that he may never get the call to step into Hodge's pumps. He says actors shouldn't take the job expecting the lead actor to get sick and to become a star themselves.
He brings up the famous Bette Davis movie All About Eve, in which Davis' evil understudy conspires to keep the star offstage. "An Eve Harrington moment is always, I think, frowned upon by the company, for good reason," Hoch explains. "You have a big responsibility to your fellow actors when you do it, more so than you do to yourself."
Vocabulary
| Understudy Nominated Revival Parameters Fluttery Literally Masochist Conspire | 1. flapping about as if with wings 2. selected as a possible winner 3. someone who enjoys pain 4. a person who is a backup for a star 5. actually 6. the limits/extent of something 7. to make an evil plot 8. to bring back to life, to do again |
Discussion
What is the job of an understudy?
Have you ever been in a play? What was that like?
Have you ever been in-line for a promotion as soon as someone leaves?
Have you ever, conspired to do something evil? Explain.
Have you been jealous of someone in a higher position than you? What about a lower position?
Do you believe in conspiracy theories?
Sunday, June 13, 2010
Friday, June 11, 2010
The English Turing Test
For more info on the Turing Test see here, specifically the "immitation game" portion.
After recently reading an article about a Korean middle school girl who achieved a perfect score on a standardized multiple choice English test (TOEFL) I had to say to myself, wow, this girl studied very hard, and did a good job. Good for her. But my next thought was, is a multiple choice test a fair measure of language ability? There's no multiple choice merger negotiation, or essay. I have yet to see a multiple choice public interview. [perhaps I don't understand the test properly?]
One of the things we have yet to enable computers to do is to beat the Turing test. How is this relevant you might ask. The Turing test involves sitting a human at a computer terminal and trying to figure out if the messages on the terminal are coming from a computer or a human. The means of responding to the person includes a language element. Language ability is one defining characteristic of humans that distinguishes us from a machine. The second point of my argument is that since the machine can evaluate the answers to the TOEFL test, because it is a multiple choice test and not an open ended test, I propose the machine could theoretically learn/study for, and also pass the test. This machine, mind you, not is not yet able to pass the Turing test. So you have a non-human like machine able to pass what supposedly is designed to test what only humans are extensively proficient in. This means you're not really testing the critical, in my opinion, or what I might call the 'organic' or 'human' part of language.
I propose a different kind of test: an "English" Turing test. Here the test taker would attempt to respond in English to a native English speaker mediated through some means. The native speaker or speakers, or perhaps English scholars or some other authorities on English would then have to decide whether or not the "person behind the curtain" was a native speaker or not. If the expert deemed them a native speaker then they pass. If not then they fail. Obviously there are problems with this test that would have to be addressed first, like discovering the probability of false negatives on the control groups of natives, and some way of determining an acceptable way of mediating the subjectivity of what constitutes a positive or negative, however it would be interesting to see if this is an effective testing method. Maybe this has already been proposed, but I think if it hasn't it ought to be attempted.
After recently reading an article about a Korean middle school girl who achieved a perfect score on a standardized multiple choice English test (TOEFL) I had to say to myself, wow, this girl studied very hard, and did a good job. Good for her. But my next thought was, is a multiple choice test a fair measure of language ability? There's no multiple choice merger negotiation, or essay. I have yet to see a multiple choice public interview. [perhaps I don't understand the test properly?]
One of the things we have yet to enable computers to do is to beat the Turing test. How is this relevant you might ask. The Turing test involves sitting a human at a computer terminal and trying to figure out if the messages on the terminal are coming from a computer or a human. The means of responding to the person includes a language element. Language ability is one defining characteristic of humans that distinguishes us from a machine. The second point of my argument is that since the machine can evaluate the answers to the TOEFL test, because it is a multiple choice test and not an open ended test, I propose the machine could theoretically learn/study for, and also pass the test. This machine, mind you, not is not yet able to pass the Turing test. So you have a non-human like machine able to pass what supposedly is designed to test what only humans are extensively proficient in. This means you're not really testing the critical, in my opinion, or what I might call the 'organic' or 'human' part of language.
I propose a different kind of test: an "English" Turing test. Here the test taker would attempt to respond in English to a native English speaker mediated through some means. The native speaker or speakers, or perhaps English scholars or some other authorities on English would then have to decide whether or not the "person behind the curtain" was a native speaker or not. If the expert deemed them a native speaker then they pass. If not then they fail. Obviously there are problems with this test that would have to be addressed first, like discovering the probability of false negatives on the control groups of natives, and some way of determining an acceptable way of mediating the subjectivity of what constitutes a positive or negative, however it would be interesting to see if this is an effective testing method. Maybe this has already been proposed, but I think if it hasn't it ought to be attempted.
Thursday, June 10, 2010
ITC Class
Tonight we're gonna play some language games. Maybe ATC will be jealous, don't worry ATC you'll get your chance.
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
ATC Topic Class: Lingua Globa- How English Became 'Globish'
See more and listen here: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=127221336
How did a mongrel tongue born on a small island in the north Atlantic become the globally dominant language now known as English?
That's a question Robert McCrum tries to answer in his new book, Globish, which explores the way English took the world by storm over the course of several centuries. It's a story that begins back in the first millennium, when the language spoken in England wasn't even called "English."
...
"Although [The Anglo-Saxons] came as raiders and were warriors when they landed, they soon became farmers and artisans and a kind of pastoral people," McCrum tells NPR's Renee Montagne. Pastoral Anglo-Saxon words — "sheep," "earth," "plow," "dog," "wood," "field" — provide the "building blocks of the language we use today," says McCrum.
...
The French Normans, led by William the Conqueror, crossed the Channel and imposed a French way of life on the English people with what McCrum describes as "tremendous zeal" and "some ferocity." Norman words that survive to the present day, such as "fortress," "siege," "assault" and "prison," indicate the cruelty of the invasion.
But while the Normans used their native French as the language of the court and of literature, English became the language of England's common, conquered people. Compare English words that come from that time — "fire," "work," "strong," "heart" — to French words from that era: "glory," "cordial," "fortune," "guile" and "sacred." As McCrum explains, English disappeared from the written record, but survived "underground on the lips of ordinary people." As a result, the language became democratized very early on.
That democratic character, according to McCrum, is partially responsible for English's eventual global domination. While French imperialists forcefully imposed their own language on foreign countries in a "top-down" manner, English imperialists took a "bottom-up" approach. English would not be "imposed from above by the government" in the colonies, says McCrum. Instead, "the troops would arrive, and the language would flow again from the ordinary people."
Today, English is "everyone's second language," says McCrum. "It is completely global. It is the default position — if one foreigner meets another foreigner and they can't communicate, they are very likely to default to English. And so we might as well know where it came from."
Vocabulary:
Will English always be the dominant global language?
If you could choose the dominant global language would you choose Korean? Why or why not?
What are some other global trends you notice aside from langauge?
Are there some cultural or social norms in your country that you wish were global?
What social or cultural trends have you noticed in other countries you wish were here?
How did a mongrel tongue born on a small island in the north Atlantic become the globally dominant language now known as English?
That's a question Robert McCrum tries to answer in his new book, Globish, which explores the way English took the world by storm over the course of several centuries. It's a story that begins back in the first millennium, when the language spoken in England wasn't even called "English."
...
"Although [The Anglo-Saxons] came as raiders and were warriors when they landed, they soon became farmers and artisans and a kind of pastoral people," McCrum tells NPR's Renee Montagne. Pastoral Anglo-Saxon words — "sheep," "earth," "plow," "dog," "wood," "field" — provide the "building blocks of the language we use today," says McCrum.
...
The French Normans, led by William the Conqueror, crossed the Channel and imposed a French way of life on the English people with what McCrum describes as "tremendous zeal" and "some ferocity." Norman words that survive to the present day, such as "fortress," "siege," "assault" and "prison," indicate the cruelty of the invasion.
But while the Normans used their native French as the language of the court and of literature, English became the language of England's common, conquered people. Compare English words that come from that time — "fire," "work," "strong," "heart" — to French words from that era: "glory," "cordial," "fortune," "guile" and "sacred." As McCrum explains, English disappeared from the written record, but survived "underground on the lips of ordinary people." As a result, the language became democratized very early on.
That democratic character, according to McCrum, is partially responsible for English's eventual global domination. While French imperialists forcefully imposed their own language on foreign countries in a "top-down" manner, English imperialists took a "bottom-up" approach. English would not be "imposed from above by the government" in the colonies, says McCrum. Instead, "the troops would arrive, and the language would flow again from the ordinary people."
Today, English is "everyone's second language," says McCrum. "It is completely global. It is the default position — if one foreigner meets another foreigner and they can't communicate, they are very likely to default to English. And so we might as well know where it came from."
Vocabulary:
| mongrel dominant millennium raiders pastoral imperialist imposed |
|
Will English always be the dominant global language?
If you could choose the dominant global language would you choose Korean? Why or why not?
What are some other global trends you notice aside from langauge?
Are there some cultural or social norms in your country that you wish were global?
What social or cultural trends have you noticed in other countries you wish were here?
Monday, June 7, 2010
ITC Topic Class: That Not-So-Healthy Glow: The Dangers Of Tanning
Find the full transcript and audio here: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=127349804
Heard on All Things Considered
June 2, 2010 - ROBERT SIEGEL, host:
At the end of the school year, teenage girls often head to the tanning salon, hoping to look fit and glowing in their prom dresses. But evidence is mounting that too much indoor tanning increases the risk of skin cancer.
As NPR's Patti Neighmond reports, the Food and Drug Administration is taking steps to make sure that teens take the risk seriously.
PATTI NEIGHMOND: It was right before the prom eight years ago. Seventeen-year-old Brittany Cicala was really excited. She was going with the boy she would eventually marry and her dress - well, it was beautiful: delicately beaded lace and spaghetti straps, an elegant A-line in white.
Ms. BRITTANY CICALA: Everyone around me was telling me, man, you would look so much better with a tan and your teeth would look whiter, your acne would go away.
NEIGHMOND: So pale-skinned Brittany did what lots of her friends did; she did what a lot of teens in the U.S. do. She went to a tanning salon. In fact, she went to the salon five, six, often seven days a week, and lay in the tanning bed for 20 to 25 minutes each time.
Ms. CICALA: I called myself a tanorexic, because I would look into the mirror and never see myself as dark as other people would see me - much as an anorexic would never see themselves as thin as other people would see them. So I kept going.
NEIGHMOND: Tanorexic? Yes. That's what a study from psychologist Catherine Mosher, of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, recently confirmed. Mosher analyzed data from more than 420 college students, and had them answer questions typically used to screen for alcohol and substance abuse but modified to ask about tanning habits.
Dr. CATHERINE MOSHER (Behavioral Scientist, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center): Do you try to cut down on the time you spend in tanning beds or booths but find yourself still tanning? Do you feel - ever feel guilty that you're using tanning beds or booths too much?
NEIGHMOND: Mosher found the majority of kids answered yes to one or more of these questions, which target addictive behavior. After three years of routine indoor tanning, Brittany Cicala ended up with a serious health problem.
Ms. CICALA: My mom noticed a mole on my back - about the size of a nickel -the summer of 2004. She kept bugging me about it: Brittany, that doesn't look right. You really should go get that checked out.
NEIGHMOND: But Brittany stalled and kept tanning. Then the mole started to bleed. Her doctor took one look at the mole, and scheduled a biopsy for the next morning. Brittany had melanoma, the most aggressive form of skin cancer. Two weeks later, she had surgery to remove the mole, which left a seven-inch scar. Since then, Brittany's had 34 surgeries to remove suspicious moles.
Vocabulary: Match the word with the definition
Discussion:
Think about these questions:
1. What are some common beauty treatments or things that people do to look good?
2. Are any of them dangerous?
3. What kind of things will you go through just to look good every day?
4. Do you think that culture shapes people's ideas of what is beautiful?
5. Is appearance a good way to judge character?
Heard on All Things Considered
June 2, 2010 - ROBERT SIEGEL, host:
At the end of the school year, teenage girls often head to the tanning salon, hoping to look fit and glowing in their prom dresses. But evidence is mounting that too much indoor tanning increases the risk of skin cancer.
As NPR's Patti Neighmond reports, the Food and Drug Administration is taking steps to make sure that teens take the risk seriously.
PATTI NEIGHMOND: It was right before the prom eight years ago. Seventeen-year-old Brittany Cicala was really excited. She was going with the boy she would eventually marry and her dress - well, it was beautiful: delicately beaded lace and spaghetti straps, an elegant A-line in white.
Ms. BRITTANY CICALA: Everyone around me was telling me, man, you would look so much better with a tan and your teeth would look whiter, your acne would go away.
NEIGHMOND: So pale-skinned Brittany did what lots of her friends did; she did what a lot of teens in the U.S. do. She went to a tanning salon. In fact, she went to the salon five, six, often seven days a week, and lay in the tanning bed for 20 to 25 minutes each time.
Ms. CICALA: I called myself a tanorexic, because I would look into the mirror and never see myself as dark as other people would see me - much as an anorexic would never see themselves as thin as other people would see them. So I kept going.
NEIGHMOND: Tanorexic? Yes. That's what a study from psychologist Catherine Mosher, of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, recently confirmed. Mosher analyzed data from more than 420 college students, and had them answer questions typically used to screen for alcohol and substance abuse but modified to ask about tanning habits.
Dr. CATHERINE MOSHER (Behavioral Scientist, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center): Do you try to cut down on the time you spend in tanning beds or booths but find yourself still tanning? Do you feel - ever feel guilty that you're using tanning beds or booths too much?
NEIGHMOND: Mosher found the majority of kids answered yes to one or more of these questions, which target addictive behavior. After three years of routine indoor tanning, Brittany Cicala ended up with a serious health problem.
Ms. CICALA: My mom noticed a mole on my back - about the size of a nickel -the summer of 2004. She kept bugging me about it: Brittany, that doesn't look right. You really should go get that checked out.
NEIGHMOND: But Brittany stalled and kept tanning. Then the mole started to bleed. Her doctor took one look at the mole, and scheduled a biopsy for the next morning. Brittany had melanoma, the most aggressive form of skin cancer. Two weeks later, she had surgery to remove the mole, which left a seven-inch scar. Since then, Brittany's had 34 surgeries to remove suspicious moles.
Vocabulary: Match the word with the definition
Prom Take seriously Beaded Spaghetti traps Acne Anorexic Analyzed Behavioral Bugging Biopsy |
|
Discussion:
Think about these questions:
1. What are some common beauty treatments or things that people do to look good?
2. Are any of them dangerous?
3. What kind of things will you go through just to look good every day?
4. Do you think that culture shapes people's ideas of what is beautiful?
5. Is appearance a good way to judge character?
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