Proposal

Eight months ago my dad was hospitalized having suffered a severe heart attack mainly from the effects of smoking. Most of us know the consequences of smoking, just as he did, but realistically, smoking only gets attention in schools. Once and awhile you'll see a "Stand" commercial urging people not to smoke, but they really they never mention side effects outside of lung cancer. Smoking does more to your body than just your lungs. You will never hear this on CNN or NBC. Five and a half trillion cigarettes are produced every year for six billion people. At the same time, the government seems to open their arms to tobacco companies, because they can tax their products. The government has done little to control tobacco companies and can really only be thanked for requiring a surgeon generals warning on every pack of cigarettes.

Proposal

Why is anorexia not talked about more? Why do so many people try to keep this disorder in the dark? We know so much about anorexia and its consequences, and this information needs to be shared. Young children should not be kept from this information. Anorexia should be talked about more so that these facts can be shared, and by doing this hopefully younger children will be able to learn at an earlier age how serious of a situation this disorder really is. Talking about such a serious topic openly may make many people uncomfortable, but this is not something that should be hidden anymore. There are so many ways to get help for this disorder and the only way for people to become aware of this, and to find out that they are not alone, is for everyone to become less shy about this situation and learn that talking about this disorder might be able to save someone’s life.

An Inconvenient Truth-- "Cancer in a Box"

Almost everybody knows somebody who either passed from or survived cancer, and how many are from skin cancer? From my experience, I have learned that the amount is most likely very high, yet people continue to lay out everyday in the summer or ‘fake-bake’ in the winter. This is due to a few things, one of which being the worldwide obsession over body images and “being beautiful.” Turn on the television and numerous tanning commercials will come on with young, tan, and beautiful spokes models sending out the wrong message. Another reason is the ethics of the industry, or lack thereof. Tanning salons are a particularly negative influence, bringing in tanners, getting them addicted to being tan, and profiting from damaging skin. Proper warnings and limits are not being set and followed by the public, causing them to hurt themselves due to lack of knowledge in the subject. Such is unethical and must be addressed and terminated.

If anybody has any good ideas, please let me know! Thanks :)

Proposal

Humanpapillomavirus (HPV) is in many ways “inconvenient.” Teens are engaging more and more in sexual activity irresponsibly these days. Many guys can say “ Oh yeah, sure I’ve been checked for STD’s. I’m Fine!” Unfortunately there is no test available to check for HPV in men so that line really doesn’t cut it. HPV can occur in both male and female genital areas that are covered or protected by a latex condom, as well as areas uncovered. The use of condoms associated with this disease is still unknown, but they have been linked with showing a lower rate of cervical cancer. Many people don’t have symptoms, so how would they even know if they are spreading the infection? Genital HPV is very common; estimating that up to 75% of women will carry one or more types during adulthood. There is no “cure” for the HPV infection, although in many women the infection can go away on its own.

Proposal

The inconvenient truth of college binge-drinking lies in the fact that parents and officials have convinced themselves that the tightening of laws about underage and the increase of punishment will deter kids from drinking. As the laws change hardly a single person will stop drinking, the fact that it is more illegal will not change the habits ingrained into college society for the past several decades. This will only cause kids to lie their parents and make bad decisions, they worry more about the consequences of being caught drinking than the consequences that could occur from hopping behind the wheel of a car.

Proposal

Obviously the situation in Sudan is a huge problem in our world today. The UN is now aware of the crisis ongoing in this country, and steps are slowly being taken to try to help solve this problem. Nonetheless, thousands of people are being killed through this method of genocide every month by the rebels with little to no resistance against them. Even when the refugees are able to escape the horrendous conditions in Sudan, they are faced with conditions in refugee camps that aren’t much better. Hepatitis, cholera and many other diseases that spread throughout the camps are refugees’ new fear and enemy, with thousands more dying from the deadly diseases.

Proposal

When college students are at a party, and have to choose between a wild and crazy night of sex or sleeping alone, they usually choose sex; for three reasons. First, they are uneducated about the effects of sexually transmitted diseases. Two, they believe they’re invincible. And finally, and possible the most important factor, sex is fun. The reason STDs are such a problem among college students is simply because they love to have sex. Students tend to ignore facts about the dangers of STDs because they’re a nuisance. They don’t want facts about the horrible symptoms of gonorrhea or HIV running through their mind, interrupting their flow while they’re going at it with a person they just met--a person that might be freely giving away their own disease. “It’s not going to happen to me” some may say. These apathetic, or “I’m invincible” attitudes are exactly why STDs on college campuses have become such an epidemic. While using a condom in certainly more safe than unprotected sex, they’re not a one hundred percent safeguard. The only one hundred percent way to be certain to not catch one of these nasty little bugs is abstinence, but that’s no fun.

Proposal

The current world population is well over six billion, and is continuing to climb. Nearly half of the population is already malnourished. Production of cereal grains has continued to decrease over the past twenty years, despite advances in biotechnology. These facts present a very startling problem that we are already facing: how to produce enough food to feed the entire population. Genetically modified crops have been a huge part of trying to fix this problem. However, there is also a large focus on organically grown crops, due to the risks of genetically modified foods.
As the population continues to grow, food production will also need to increase. We need to continue agricultural research in order to save the already malnourished nations and to help keep more from becoming malnourished. This is where genetically modified crops have made, and will continue to make a huge contribution. With their enhanced characteristics, we are able to produce much more crops than ever before. We could very easily produce enough food for the entire world. However, there are the risks of genetically modified crops to take into account. Although they do not have the enhanced characteristics that genetically modified crops do, organically grown crops are healthier having little to no chemical use.

proposal

Although it is hard to believe, the topic of endangered animals really is “an inconvenient truth.” Everyone always says that everything possible should be done to save animals on the endangered list, but following through on this statement is a different story. Most of the animals that are on the endangered species list are there because of human activity, which is a very broad subject. Humans cause endangerment through habitat destruction, such as cutting down forests or causing forest fires. Another way that humans cause endangerment is through putting exotic animals in a new environment. This can be harmful to both the exotic animal and the animals that are native to that area. Humans also have hunted and exploited some animals to the point of endangering them. Two other factors that humans are indirectly responsible for are disease and pollution. Saving these endangered species means giving up our way of life and, sadly, many people do not seem to think that this is a worthwhile sacrifice

Proposal

There is not enough attention being paid to eating disorders, not only among athletes but also among general citizens. It is a known fact that eating disorders are a prominent disaster that our society is faced with but they are not an issue that gets discussed or inhibited to the extent that they need to be. There are millions of people who deal with these disorders around the world and it would be almost impossible to cure every one of their negative tendencies dealing with food and weight. Also, it is so common for athletes to have fit bodies and be the spitting image of what everyone should look like that no one puts emphasis on how exactly their bodies look the way they do. Of course it is known that many athletes have eating disorders but our world wants to make citizens believe that society is perfect, so in turn we are not prompted to think about the flaws that are all around us and that embrace our lives.

Proposal

One of the major concerns of having a child or becoming a parent is to do so when you're old and mature enough to take on the responsibility. One of the problems in today's society is teenage pregnancy. The risk of pregnancy in teenagers is increasing largely. Many teenagers don't know how big of a responsibility it is to raise another human being when they themselves still have a lot of growing up to do. Teenagers need to be more educated about themselves and their bodies as well as ways to protect themselves from getting pregnant if they're sexually active. Becoming a teen parent automatically gives you a big responsibility to deal with. This means that all of your personal priorities are set aside and that your child comes first. Most teens don't even know how to take care of a child. Taking care of your own child isn't like babysitting it is a full time job. Dealing with children involves a lot of patience, which a lot of teens don't have. More and more teens have taken the option of abortion and even abandonment of their child because the job of parenthood becomes too demanding and exhausting. Although this inconvenience of teen pregnancy has declined in recent years, there is still a considerable amount of teen pregnancies that can be avoided.

Proposal

Much of society ignores the most important part of exercising. This is where aerobic exercise becomes inconvenient. Today’s society worships the man with big muscles, the big time football player, but doesn’t seem to recognize the tri-athlete or any other focused aerobic exerciser. The focus of exercise has changed from the primary goal of staying healthy to the goal of looking like one is fit. Just because someone looks strong or lifts a lot of weight does not mean they are necessarily healthy people. Another aspect making aerobic exercises inconvenient is that young adults don’t realize how this kind of exercise improves your life style. Most importantly, it increases oxygen flow throughout their body making their organs, especially the heart, lungs and brain to stay functional as they age.
Living a sedentary lifestyle is suicide in itself. Too many have thrown away the evidence that has proven time and time again that aerobic exercise leads to a better and healthier life, just because of a disinterest in physical activity.

proposal

The psychological damage of racism on children is my topic. It is about how racism affects a child mentally and causes them to do bad things or hurt themselves. The topic consists of how small children are taught things through parents and society that is hurtful to them and others and how they interpret it. Small children store things that they learn from their parents, then when they get older they use what they know when they come to a similar situation. The only problem with this is that children get hurt by many things as a child like racism, abuse, etc that they can’t process what to do correctly (Jacob Holdt). The topic talks about how different races offend each other and how the children see this and think it is okay. Statistics show that all minority groups are affected by racism, but it is most evident in young children.

Racism is more than just black and white. It is a combination of all races. For example the Middle Eastern race goes through it too because since 9/11 everyone thinks that their families are terrorists or have family members that are. It could happen to whites because they can become hurt from different races because they are looked at as the bad guys of racism. Many people may think it is a small problem, but it isn’t at all. It is something that needs to be resolved or so many children will continue to grow up with problems. In today’s world it is almost as racism does not exist, it is invisible to many, but if you look around it is happening everywhere. Some people contribute to racism and seem to not care or understand that they are doing it; to me this is one of the major reasons why the psychological damage of racism on children is so inconvenient and the fact that people think it is does not exist.

Please give feedback on what would be interesting to talk about.