Gun Control

According to the US news, schools all across America want stricter gun control laws. From the results of a poll on stricter gun laws, almost half, 45% of the students said they felt stricter laws were necessary. One of the proposals was raising the age of being able to own a gun to 21, which many people agreed with. The other proposal was arming our teachers, however over half, 55% disagreed.

According to the US news article, Trump is definitely interested in improving the background check system. He made it very clear that he wants to still support the second amendment. The main consideration for this gun control meeting was to keep schools safe, mental health reform, and also to keep guns away from dangerous people.

A recent poll shows that more than 22% of Americans own one of more guns, this poll also shows that more than half of gun owners are men rather than women. Many gun owners refer back to the Second Amendment when asked about guns. It is said that they own them for the purposes of local home invaders and protection. Different states have different laws, also over time laws have become very different. For example, back in the year of 1643 it was required of at least one man per household to own a firearm for protection against Native Americans. Now, men have the option of owning a gun with a thorough background check, waiting periods, and proper registration to either purchase or sell a gun. On February 20, 2018 the US Supreme Court ruled a 10-day waiting period.
It was not until June 27, 2016 that the Supreme Court ruled that anyone convicted of "recklessly" using a gun would disqualify an individual from being able to own a gun.

For my Civic Engagement blog I chose the topic of Gun Control. Gun Control is definitely a nation wide issue at the moment. I chose to interview 3 different individuals and ask them all the same questions. The questions I chose to interview them with were as follows:

1. Are you pro or anti gun control? And why?

2. Do you believe providing our teachers with guns is a good idea?

3. Do you believe raising the age for owning a gun would help? 

Mario Ramirez

1. "I'm pro gun control, I strongly believe in the right to bear arms. However I do believe there should be a few restrictions when it comes to guns, also a thorough background check must be given. For example, the Las Vegas shooter was completely normal, no history of psychological disorders so it's very unpredictable with people. I do believe letting people make their own choices is very important. The whole country shouldn't be held accountable for the mistakes of others." 

2. "Yes I do however with proper quarterly training every 3 months. Also I believe the teachers should be given a thorough background check as well before given a gun." 

3. "Age isn't the issue. I don't believe raising the age would help. Here in the United States you have to be 25 to be a cop, and 18 to join the military. When it comes to other countries, there are no gun laws like we have. In the third world countries they believe in killing for their religion. Everyone should have the right to make their own choice. 

Ana Ornelas

1. "I'm anti gun control, there's a lot of people who have guns and aren't trained to have them. They're not emotionally or intellectually competent to own them."

2. "No, if I were a teacher I wouldn't want the authority to own a gun. I'd be scared, in a classroom children should feel safe and with a gun kids would be uncomfortable. If a kid gets a hold of the gun it would be very dangerous for everyone as well."

3. "I don't believe it would help completely, however it'd definitely be a stepping stone. I've read somewhere that your frontal cortex which is the part of the brain that makes decisions isn't fully developed until the age of 25. Perhaps raising the age to 25 would be a great start."

Beatrice Ramirez

1. "I'm pro guns, I believe in banning idiots, not guns. If you purchase a gun you should be given a thorough background check. I believe guns are needed for protection."

2. "I believe not. It can be frustrating being a teacher depending on the student. Students have been hit before by teachers, also it'd be difficult for a student to concentrate knowing their teacher has access to a gun. Even if a teacher is armed, there are still possibilities of being caught off guard by a school shooter and still getting hurt."

3. "No, I don't think it'd help because now and days you can get a gun at any age if one really is determined to get one."

Reflection

I chose this topic because I felt it is a very big social topic that many individuals have different opinions about. While interviewing my chosen individuals, I discovered that everyone has a different opinion when it comes to gun control. There are many people for it and many people against it even after the tragic events our country has faced. I did receive feedback that surprised me, for example the question I asked about arming our teachers. Some of the people I interviewed were for arming teachers, they thought it was a great idea when others thought it was a horrible idea. This is a perfect example of how different our society is and shows that nobody's opinion is right or wrong. 

References

“Background of the Issue - Gun Control - ProCon.org.” Should More Gun Control Laws Be Enacted in the United States?, gun-control.procon.org/view.resource.php?resourceID=006436.

“Home.” NRA.ORG, home.nra.org/.

“Poll: High School Students Overwhelmingly Support Stricter Gun Control.” U.S. News & World Report, U.S. News & World Report, www.usnews.com/news/data-mine/articles/2018-03-22/poll-high-school-students-overwhelmingly-support-stricter-gun-control.

work in rogress

Obesity Among LA (Emily Waldrup)

Research 
When we think about epidemics what comes to mind is usually a breakout of a virus such as the measles, chicken pox, or AIDS, but what never comes to mind is obesity. Obesity is a rapidly rising epidemic that is rising among the world, especially in America. What is obesity? Obesity is an issue where someone has excessive body fat, or having a BMI over 30. Obesity consequently leads to cardiovascular disease, a range of cancers, and diabetes.  What seems to be common among obesity is that they affect people of low income. According this image, we can see that the highest obesity prevalence lies within East Compton, Inglewood, and south LA, which are low income areas. A study was done to see how the relation between low income and obesity rates. A study among women and their income rate showed that "higher minimum wage showed more underweight in women", meaning less obesity. (

This an huge issue for our healthcare system and causing more debt in medical bills. According to the  California Center for Public Health Advocacy, obesity is costing the state of California around $41 billion dollars a year. Los Angeles spends around $11.9 billion a year from health care costs concerning obesity. This is insane! Obesity is causing people to have so many health issues that they have to constantly visit the hospital racking up medical bills. Obesity is also causing people to become so ill that they can't work, digging the whole deeper for financial instability. Why is the rate of obesity rising so rapidly? I think this has a lot to do with convenience, money, and our social culture. A lot of low income families put a lot of time into work and how easy is it for a parent or an adult to just grab FAST and CHEAP food for themselves and their family. After a long day at work you just want to relax and not meal prep for who know how long, so fast food seems to shed the brighter light. America is a fast past country and as time has progressed, so has technology. We as Americans are living more sedentary lives. "Between 1910 and 1970, the share of people employed in jobs that are highly active like farm workers and laborers fell from 68 to 49 percent." Even today people are much car dependent, rather than expending energy in public transportation." In order to decline obesity rates it's important to provide people with knowledge and help them become more aware. Many people believe it's cheaper to eat fast food all the time, in actuality it's less expensive to grocery shop and prepare meals. America has really lost touch with their relationship with food and the beauty of cooking.

Personal
Obesity and poor eating habits affect me now and in the future. I have a lot of friends who issues with eating poorly and who are battling with obesity. This issue will affect me in the future because I've chosen to study nutrition and plan to be a nutritionist or a registered dietitian. This field of work deals widely with low income families and people who are in a constant battle of eating healthy or finding the knowledge of a healthier pathway. Ever since high school I've been trying to help friends and family members to choose a healthier lifestyle. It hurts me to see people want to try to be healthy and change their ways, but continue to struggle or find motivation within them. I used to visit my mother in Europe in the summer and winter breaks and I would come back to America with a little bit of culture shock. The culture shock was stemmed how much America eats so badly and the size of people in America versus the size of people around Europe, it's very alarming and scary. Being a nutrition major your natural instinct is to truly make a change and really help and understand people battling health issues and obesity. This is an issue that will be live on for a long time, so it's important to take action as soon as possible.

"I'm from Northern California and when I moved to Los Angeles for college I was so shocked to see prevalent obesity was. I'm a soon to be registered nurse so people battling obesity will always be a big concern to me."

-Heather Camerer

"I grew up eating fast food, this was because I grew up in a low income family and the easiest affordable food was fast food. Because I ate so awful when I was younger it kind of changed me and now I'm a gym freak who is constantly obsessing about I eat."

-Devin Deshaun

"I grew in LA and saw a lot of my friends fall into bad eating habits and being less physically active. My whole life I've been eating healthy and I've been trying to influence my friends to try healthier options and become more active such as playing golf, which is actually my favorite hobby."


-Kim Lang

References   

Cutler, D. M., Glaesar, E. L., & Shapiro, J. M. (2003). Why Have Americans Become So Obese? Journal of Economic Perspectives, 17(3), 93-118.

J, F., & A, N. (2007). Economic policy and the double burden of malnutrition: cross-national longitudinal analysis of minimum wage and women's underweight and obesity. Public Health Nutrition.

J, F. (n.d.). Public Health Los Angeles. In Obesity and Morality Rates in Los Angeles County . Retrieved from http://publichealth.lacounty.gov/ha/reports/habriefs/2007/Obese_Cities/Obesity_2011Fs.pdf

Healthcare - Anna Kazaryan

Having access to proper healthcare is an important issue in our community. From young age to old age, we can experience health conditions that need to be taken care of properly. Yet, free healthcare is not accessible to everyone in our country.

Accessibility to good healthcare can be affected by various factors. The National Healthcare Disparities Report (2011) finds that racial/ethnic minorities and individuals with low socioeconomic statuses are not proportionately represented in having access problems (2011). The substantial cost of medical expenses can be a burden for middle class individuals, let alone low income individuals. Without access to healthcare, screenings and prevention to diseases or disorders is postponed, and often it is too late to do anything about it.

            The Affordable Healthcare Act of 2010 did increase the amount of people insured. However, gaining healthcare does not even people get the coverage they need. There are disparities between people as the healthcare system is not the same across populations. 

“Health insurance coverage helps patients gain entry into the health care system. Lack of adequate coverage makes it difficult for people to get the health care they need and, when they do get care, burdens them with large medical bills.” (healthypeople.gov)

According to healthypeople.gov Uninsured people are:

• More likely to have poor health status
• Less likely to receive medical care
• More likely to be diagnosed later
• More likely to die prematurely

My community is filled with individuals of diverse backgrounds and most are low income families like my own. Therefore, this issue is of relevance to my family and me as well. Furthermore, within my family and acquaintances, there are older individuals with health issues that need attention. Even the young can need healthcare. I myself have a health issue that requires me to have access to healthcare and be able to get my prescriptions every month. If it was not for my access to healthcare, then I would not be able to diagnose my disease quickly or be able to maintain it like I have for the past five years. However, I only hope that my coverage does not change or else it would be costly and perhaps I will not be going to checkups as often.

 

“My name is Harry and I myself can attest to the issue of the health care system in America. It is not affordable for low income families like mine. I didn’t have health for the last eight years, and because of the new law I ended up getting fined for not having insurance. Now I pay a monthly premium for something I use year to year.”

                                      

  

This is Ruzanna, she was recently diagnosed with a blood cancer called myeloma. This also caused her to have kidney failure. Thankfully her healthcare allowed her to proceed with treatments such as chemotherapy and hemodialysis. However, this month she received news that her insurance company was closing and was assigned to a new company. Unfortunately neither of her current specialists, nor her primary care physician is in the new medical group. Even in her condition she faces the disparities of healthcare coverage.

 "As an American who has had both free healthcare in a low income household and paid healthcare after working, I believe health care coverage should be provided without a cost by the government. Not every working person can afford or have access to decent coverage, and not all policies are created equal."

 References:

Access to Health Services. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.healthypeople.gov/2020/topics-objectives/topic/Access-to-Health-Services 

Highlights From the 2011 National Healthcare Quality and Disparities Report. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://archive.ahrq.gov/research/findings/nhqrdr/nhdr11/key.html