Response to Comparing Articles: The Debate over the College Football System by Dylan Ferro

I was reviewing the blog, Comparing Articles: The Debate over the College Football System by Dylan Ferro, which was about the overtime system for college football. The article compared to contrasting articles which debate whether or not they should have the system in place.

The first article that Dylan reviews argues for the playoff system to be in place. The article is a good choice as it uses good arguments and facts to make its stance. While Dylan also analyses another article, that takes the opposite side of the first. This is also a well structured argument that is very persuasive with facts and figures to reinsure it point of view.

Dylan agrees with the first argument and believes that the playoff system should be in place. While Dylan’s blog is meets all the criteria it would be more substantial if he add the articles names and authors.

Drinking Age in Australia

My blog will be discussing the highly debated topic, which is increasing the drinking age from 18 to 21 within Australia. There are two articles I have read that have opposing views on this topic.

The first article, Call to lift minimum drinking age to 21 by Paul Bibby, reported that the drinking age should be increased to 21. This stated that if the government is serious about stopping the violence while under the influence of alcohol, they would double the cost of alcohol and raise the drinking age to 21. The article uses relevant facts and opinions from experts such as Professor Ross Homel, of Griffith University to make its claims.

In contrast to the first article, If we're old enough to sign up, we're old enough to drink by Terri McCredie argues the opposite opinion. This article declares that the drinking age should be kept at 18 and utilizes ethical evidence. The article states that if person can serve and defend its country, than they should be able to purchase and drinking alcohol.

Of these two articles, Bibby’s(2010) Article, which focuses on the forcing the increase drinking age is more convincing then McCredie article(2010). Bibby’s(2010) has a well structured argument that is supported by facts and research where as Terri’s article has no fact’s and is based on an ethical argument.

While I agree that Bibby’s(2010) argument is more convincing, this has not changed my opinion on the topic. I still believe that the drinking age should be kept at 18 throughout Australia. I feel that changing the drinking age will not stop adolescents from drinking or stop violence related to alcohol abuse.

I am writing in response to Darius Feaster's Blog “Real vs Fake Food: Peaches”. The blog discuss how today Polans believes today society eats fake food in comparison to whole food. Darius agrees with Polans theory and believes that is healthier for humans to whole foods.

I agree with both Darius and Polan that eating whole foods is better than eating fake or processed foods. Darius discusses how actually enjoys the taste of none processed peaches over canned but due to a lack of money and time he is forced to eat canned. Convince is the reason for society ways of eating.

Darius goes into some depth about how the canned peaches are different to the peaches his mum brought back from the market. Just like other processed foods there is a lot of sugar added. Darius briefly mentions a website that supports his arguments that canned peaches are not as healthy and picked peaches. The website that Darius choose supports his argument well but he could have used it better to support his argument.

Perparing a Banana Smoothie

When asked to prepare a meal I thought what is it I enjoy to make to for myself. In a matter of seconds I had realised the meal I enjoy the most is my banana and berry smoothie. I make this meal on a daily bases and usually this is right before I go to bed.

For the smoothie to be delicious you have to plan a few hours ahead of time. You need to cut up a banana and place it in the freezer. You also need rice milk and frozen berries. When preparing the meal you simply put these three ingredients into a blender and blend them for a few minutes.

I agree with polans statement the eating has a nobler purpose than the gratification of appetite and the sense of taste. I also agree with his statement that food should not just be eaten because it tastes good. The reason I prepare this particular meal for myself is because of diet that I personal stick to due to my athletic commitments. While I extremely enjoy the smoothie, it has no added sugar or preservatives in but three whole foods.

I am a big believer in attempting to eat whole foods over supplement or fortified foods. The following article “Healthy whole food eating-Basic” by Bethany Kulg agrees with my polans theory of eating whole foods. The article goes into depth about how you can retrieve all the vitamins and nutrients from eating a variety of whole foods. The article also demonstrates how much healthier it is to eat whole foods.

Overall I believe in the theory of eating whole foods over fortified foods or supplements and i try to live by this theory to the best of my ability while being a college student.

Resonse to Austin Sphon Blog

I have chosen to respond to Austin Spohn blog, Tiger’s Gatorade Endorsement. Austin exams how Tiger Wood’s is one of the top athlete in the world and how this reflects on him endorsing Gatorade.

Tiger Wood’s is a big celebrity that is known throughout the world and can therefore be used as an effective marketing tools for any company. Gatorade believes Tiger Wood’s was such a big celebrity they made a product with his face on it.

Austin agrees with Gatorades decision to indorse Tiger as he believes Tiger has the perfect credentials to endorse their products. I agree with Austin as the Tiger ill straights the same values and mottos that Gatorade is trying to establish in their product.

The article that Austin uses “Woods close to mega deal with Gatorade” is useful to his topic and helps strengths his argument he does not use it effectively in his blog. He does not go into any depth explain the article and what opinion it has on the topic.

Overall I agree with Austin’s blog and Gatorades choice to endorse Tiger Wood’s

Speech Review: Informal Speech

I presented an informative speech on the sport AFL (Australian Football league) and how to kick an AFL football. This was an extremely broad subject to explain in five minutes therefore, I gave a very simple and basic outline of the game. I feel that I did a good job explaining the rules and a better job explaining the 3 simple steps of how to kick a football. The relevance of my topic can be question but I feel I did a good job proving that AFL can have relevance to all people.

Throughout the speech I had good energy and enthusiasm which, was seen in my volume and visibility. However, I was a little hard to understand at times and I feel this was because of my accent.

I maintained good eye contact throughout the presentation by using placement cards. I feel one of strengths was physical demonstration of the topic, as I used my visual aids appropriately and effectively. By handing out a piece of paper to each student, containing pictures the field, the football, player positions and teams within the league was very effective and helped the audience get a better understanding of the game.

I am disappointed that I let my speech go over time by two minutes. All though I did rehearse my speech I did not adjust for it taking two minutes to help teach the volunteers how to kick a football. This is an area that I could improve on by simply being more prepared and only using one volunteer instead of two.

Overall I feel I could have done a better job explain the topic however, with the limited time I had, I would not have been able to explain the game in great depth and demonstrate how to kick a football. But I did a good job covering the basics as well as using my visual aids and in physical presentation.

Ponting Endorses Valvoline

Rickey Ponting is one of most well known faces within Australia. The Australian cricket captain, who has rewritten the record books, is a sporting hero and idolized by the entire continent. With this fame comes the endorsement which Rickey has more than his fare share. But does Rickey really take pride know what it is he is endorsing or is it matter of who will write the bigger check?

One of Rickey’s biggest sponsors is Valvoline who are makers of automotive lubricants. In 2007 Rickey Ponting became Valvoline brand ambassador and according to Naven Gupta, managing director of Valvoline Cummins, “Valvoline today stands for superb performance and reliability which Rickey Pointing’s ideologies correlate with”.

There is no debate that Rickey Ponting has great ideologies of high performance, reliability and leadership, as displayed by his cricket ability however, this does not relate to automotive lubricants. In the Valvoline commercials Rickey talks about how Valvoline improves the performance of your motor vehicle.

Rickey does not have the expertises to make these comments and realistically is not an appropriate choice for this endorser. It would make more sense for Valvoline to use a Formula One driver to endorse their product.

The article “The original salesman packs up his pitch” by Deborah Cameron in The Sunday Morning Herald also agrees Ricky Ponting is not a suitable endorser for Valvoline. The article discusses how the previous spokes person John Laws, has done an incredible job promoting the company and how can Ricky fill Johns shoes, especially when he has no expertise in the industry.

While Rickey is not an expert on automotive lubricants there is no doubt, that the advertisement will be successful. Rickey is a celebrity within Australia and also throughout the world and anything he puts his name beside will benefit.

Response to "Analysis of a Celebrity Endorsement"

I have chosen to respond to Louisa Daniels about Analysis of a Celebrity Endorsement. Louise looks into the Kim and Khloe Kardashian endorsing the diet product called Quick Trim. The blog discusses what the Quick Trim diet offers and how it works as well describes how the Kardashian sisters are used to promote and advertise this product.

The Kardashian sisters are big celebrates that are known throughout the world and can therefore be used as effective marketing tools for any company. Louise argues that Kardashian sisters have no right to promote this product because they have no medical knowledge or degree. While this may be true, the two celebrates are only promoting the product by saying that the product worked for them. They are not reporting scientific evidence but rather their own experience.

From here the sisters recommended the product for other people but at no point do they guarantee it will work for any particular individual. The article Louise refers to QuickTrim skeptics claims that the diet pills this product offers are not effective for long term weight loss. However the article also says that Kim Kardashian has been on the product and has loss ten pounds.

I believe that the two sisters are most likely promoting a product that is not good for long term weight loss and has little scientific research behind it. But Kim Kardashian has personally proven results with the product and therefore has the right to promote and advertise Quick Trim.

Real vs Fake
As young children we eat from the hands of our mothers. This leaves great responsibility for our mothers, who live in a world of the western diet. There are two simple choices: eat the convent, good tasting processed foods or eat the healthy, natural non-processed foods.

Fortunately for me, my mother chooses to eat healthy, natural, organic products. One of my childhood memories is after dinner being forced to eat my mum’s homemade custard. She made this custard from scratch four days per week. I remember it took twice as long to eat a bowl of mum’s custard than to eat my entire dinner.

The taste was horrible and the smell was even worse. When the custard was left to cool for a couple of minutes, a thick layer would congregate over the top of the custard. This layer would leave a texture that would not appeal to any child. But no matter how much I did not enjoy eating this, mum would convince me that it was good for me and I would finish the bowl.

Mum continued to make homemade custard until I was 8. At which point she had three children; two in elementary school and one in preschool. On top of this she had just started working part time. Due to a lack of time homemade custard was no more; I was ecstatic.

Homemade custard was replaced, with what my brother and I referred to as “proper custard” which came from the store. This new processed custard taste, felt and smelt great. Custard was now something my brothers and I looked forward to after dinner. However from a nutritional point of view we had taken a backward step.

The “proper processed custard” was over packed with both fat and sugar. The box claimed that it was a nutritionally superior to mums custard with added vitamins and minerals. Sarah Dobec’s article “Whole Foods – Whole Health” discusses how processing food leaves deficiency in nutrients and the health repercussion this will cause. Sarah believes that eating more natural foods will lead to a healthier life style.

The unfortunate fact is the majority of people will go for convince and taste over health and that is what my family was forced to choose. I am sure that if my mum still had time or could find time in the future we will all go back to eating that disgusting but nutritional custard.

Nutritionism: nutrients over foods

Before eating my granola bar early in the morning, I check for the nutritional facts on the back of package. I analysed the small print for nutritional details, Iron (6% DV), vitamin A (3% DV), dietary fiber 2g (8% DV) and protein 4 grams, I think to myself so far so healthy. I continue reading, sugar is 11g and total fat is 6g divided between trans and saturated fats. I think to myself these are bad and I begin to reconsider if I should eat the bar.

This is how my brain has been programmed to function; I see certain nutrients as good and others as bad. According Michael Pollan’s book “In the Defence of Food” we are in the age of Nutritionism. The primary focus of the book is that the western diet is situated around consuming individual nutrients instead of whole foods and that the western diet is a key source for all western diseases.

The theory of Nutritionism suggests that the point of eating is to maintain bodily health. Pollan discusses that we are now eating scientifically in order to meet our biological necessities. Where as we use to for eat culture, pleasure or expressing our identity like we did historically. Pollan’s theory has change the thoughts of many.

“Nutritionism Defined” by Leisa on July 8, 2008 supports the idea that eating whole foods is more beneficial then eating by individual nutrients. Leisa discuss how she made the change from eating nutritional supplements to whole foods and now how her health has improved. However this anecdote evidence in the scientific world but it does imply that the individual supplements may not be the way to go.

I put the granola bar away and found myself an apple. I looked up and down the apple, there are no nutritional facts stamped on the apple. It doesn’t need to promote that it’s a health option. No its the food that nature intended us to eat. We have been eating and enjoying it for millions of years and it hasn’t made us chronically ill.