The role of Buddhism in America is evolving towards being more visible and pertinent in modern times. In an age where life is becoming ever more demanding, individuals are taught that they are distinct, unique, and independent; they are told that they are separate from the rest of humanity and somehow not one with the rest of nature. The western capitalist world is fueled by the idea that people should want what they don’t have. Subsequently, those people should earn or buy objects to quench this desire to own more of everything. For a hypothetical-yet-unfortunately-realistic example, one can examine the routine of purchasing food. The average consumer who purchases the cheapest can of mandarin oranges they can find likely won’t consider the implications of such a purchase. They probably won’t think of the massive amounts of environmental harm caused by shipping that can thousands of miles to the store. Nor do they think of the canners of those oranges, living in extreme poverty, unable to support themselves. We, as Americans, are shielded so well from this type of critical thinking that it’s no wonder we only account for 5% of the world’s population, yet consume 24% of the world’s energy, 25% of the world’s fossil fuels, and have built far more shopping malls than high schools (Menzel). Recently, there have been many reforming movements started in an attempt to open the eyes of as many westerners as possible to the basic fact that if our society is to be sustainable, it starts with living more mindfully. Engaged Buddhism is opening up many Americans to the realization that all beings are interconnected. Through this, it stresses the fundamental teachings of Gautama Buddha while allowing practitioners to maintain a society in which all individuals can live in peace and harmony with one another; this not only improves life for its practitioners but also for all sentient inhabitants of Earth.

The origins of Buddhism can be traced back thousands of years to 563-483 BCE, during the time of Gautama, more popularly known as Siddhartha. Gautama was a spoiled prince of present day India. All his life, he was shielded from the horrors and ills of the world. Upon embarking on a quest to see the spring flowers in bloom, worldly godlings caused four figures to “appear to Gautama: one old, one diseased, one dead, and . . . another who was dead to the world” (Urubshurow 307). These figures startled Gautama so much that upon seeing the fourth, he renounced all his worldly possessions and lifestyle of wealth in an attempt to escape from dukkha—the suffering—present in the world. After many years of travel, suffering, and meditation, Gautama awoke to the Ultimate Reality of the world. He realized that as long as a human is a part of samsara, they are trapped in it. Samsara is the cycle of rebirth of a being’s soul. An enlightened being can choose to escape samsara and cease their soul’s rebirth, thus ending of a life of suffering. This is considered the ultimate goal for most Buddhists.

Buddhists see Gautama’s awakening as his ascent to Buddhahood. ‘Buddha’ is not a name; rather it is a type of title, similar to ‘Dr.’ or ‘President’, used to denote one who has transcended the boundaries of anatta (non-self), anicca (impermanence), and dukkha (suffering), thus escaping the cycle of samsara (Dumoulin 29). He understood the impermanence of all worldly things, the suffering inherent in possessing consciousness, and the fact that fundamentally, the ‘self’ of each being is an illusion created by consciousness itself. Acceptance of these three truths can bring one to a better understanding of Engaged Buddhism.

Dukkha is a result of anatta and anicca. To understand each concept’s role in the creation of Engaged Buddhism, it is necessary to examine all three, both individually as well as in relation to each other. Thich Nhat Hanh is regarded as the first to coin the term “Engaged Buddhism” several decades ago, and has lectured on the importance of these three truths of the world. He spoke of anatta as it relates to the importance of Engaged Buddhism when he taught, “it is precisely because of its impermanence that we value life so dearly. Therefore we must know how to live each moment deeply and use it in a responsible way” (Queen 52). By meditating on the implications of being a living creature, and knowing that one day, their existence will be no more, one can come to understand the concept of anatta on a more personal level. When one meditates on any government entity, they can understand that the government is impermanent; constantly in a state of change, the ruling body cannot be steadfast in any of its facets forever. The concept of anicca, impermanence, teaches the importance of being compassionate towards others and respectful of all life, as it exists in the universe. Through this concept, it becomes apparent that it benefits all beings to be compassionate towards others and to embrace what we all have to offer the world. It is from this concept of anicca that the Buddhist value of nonattachment is derived. According to the second of Hanh’s 14 precepts of Engaged Buddhism, it is imperative to “avoid being narrow minded and bound to present views . . . [one should] learn throughout [his or her] entire life, and . . . practice nonattachment from views in order to be open to others’ viewpoints” (Hanh, Interbeing 17). It is when one clings to their own viewpoint as the only correct one that they are confronted with dukkha. Not only does their attachment to being ‘right’ isolate them from others, it also leads to suffering on the part of the other person. No war has ever been fought on the idea that the “enemy” may be right… rather, they are fought on the premise that their truth is the only truth. Enter: the importance for anicca, openness to learning, and an understanding of the phrase ‘the only thing which can be certain is change’.

Anatta, or non-self, is a more difficult concept to grasp, especially for westerners. In American society, a doctrine of individuality is continually taught, beginning almost as soon as a child is born. In pre-school, children are taught that what they own is theirs, and what another person owns is not theirs to use freely without permission. Throughout their development into adulthood, the concept of individuality is repeatedly reinforced. Layer upon layer of programming the ego to want what it does not currently own leads to a society of people who can never be fully satisfied. In addition, reinforcement from the media and from those in power leads individuals to blindly accept society’s functioning quo. Taught to believe in absolute truths, those who do not conform to what benefits the status quo are either regarded as abnormal or odd and are often given medication to stop their ‘hallucinations’, ‘abstract thought’, ‘selflessness’, or other affliction that the American Psychology Association has determined not normal. It is a vicious cycle of the machine that society uses to ensure those at the top to remain at the top; and that those at the bottom remain at the bottom. Divisions are created amongst races, genders, social classes, sexual identities, and physical appearances. Buddhists believe that Mara, the lord of illusion, created these divisions in an attempt to trap conscious beings in the cycle of samsara. For instance, take the gender division; “[Mara] might advertise the differences between a woman and a man, but any enlightened being knows for sure that the mind is free of the body’s accidental properties. Being a woman or a man is due to karma, and perhaps has relevance in the world. But as for enlightenment, wisdom has no sexual orientation and is not tied to bodily form” (Urubshurow 334). By non-self, Buddha imparts the knowledge that we are not as we appear to be through our five senses.

Try to answer the following question: Where do you end, and where does the world begin? Realize that air is made up of many invisible molecules of nitrogen, oxygen, hydrogen, etc. Miniature organic machinery in your cells, upon each breath intake, utilizes these elements to function. Upon exhaling, your carbon dioxide output is absorbed by plants and becomes part of their physical structure. The vegetables you eat, previously growing in the dirt, become part of your skin, hair, and internal organs. Where do you end, and where does the next person begin? This question requires a moment of meditation in order to appreciate the intricacy of the unity in our world. It is important to understand this concept fully: we are all one. “Engaged Buddhism . . . is rooted in an insight into the reciprocal interconnectedness of all existence” (Queen 423). Its most fundamental tenet is that every thing is a part of everything. When looking at a plant, Buddhists try to see a bit of themselves in it. When looking at another human, they see both the differences and the similarities—the one-and-the-sameness that consumes all that makes up our universe. It is through this understanding that Engaged Buddhists see the necessity in doing good deeds for all beings in the world. The term for this, coined by Thich Nhat Hanh, is “interbeing”. He defines interbeing as “a global network of all being and phenomena, mutually connected and contained” (Queen 423). Buddhists recognize the self in everything and see everything in the self. Therefore, they are compelled to assist others who are ill, disenfranchised, and suffering. According to Hanh’s fourth and fifth precepts, Engaged Buddhists should “not avoid or close [their] eyes before suffering, [and should] not accumulate wealth while millions are hungry. [They should instead] live simply and share time, energy, and material resources with those who are in need” (Hanh, Interbeing 17). Indeed, an Engaged Buddhist should follow these precepts because the people suffering are none other than another dimension of their own being.

 It can been contended that Engaged Buddhists and Buddhists are one and the same; that the mere term ‘Engaged Buddhist’ creates another delusion that must eventually be shed by humans. However, it is notable that the concept of Engaged Buddhist has caught on in the Western world. The term ‘Engaged Buddhist’ refers to Buddhists who are not solely focused on living a monastic life, turning their attention only further inward so as to gain freedom from dukkha. It gives a distinction to those who are actively using the teachings of Buddha to improve the conditions of the world for all who inhabit it. One of the many goals of Engaged Buddhism is to create peace and harmony in the world. The Buddhist Peace Fellowship (BPF) is an international nonprofit organization that aims to “trace the foundations of social and political concern . . . forge a language of social engagement in Buddhist terms, and report upon the myriad forms of institutionalized suffering in the world” (Queen 67). The BPF distribute a widely successful journal called Turning Wheel to practitioners of peace around the globe.

Buddhists have also engaged the educational institution, which has been wildly successful in the US. Naropa Institute is a school of higher education founded in 1974 in Boulder, Colorado. Over the years, many influential Buddhist monks and educators have lectured and taught courses at Naropa. Students are taught based on the Shambhala teachings of Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche, who was also the founder of the Institute. Rinpoche’s Shambhala teachings “promote a path of social action that confronts the politics of domination with clarity, gentleness, love, and sanity” (Queen 331). This method of learning at Naropa is called contemplative education and encourages students to actively meditate on the lessons they learn, rather than blindly accepting them. Naropa claims its goal is to foster “an environment of gentleness and discipline in which to cultivate ‘discoverers’ and innovators who will actively work in the world for the benefit of others” (Queen 333). All degree programs require students to practice meditation. What benefit could come from such a school? The practice of meditation engages students to actively think about and digest the material they have been taught. This aspect of critical thinking and digesting of material is disappearing, and altogether absent at many schools in the US. Instead of forging their own path, students today envision an end goal, such as medical school, and are told that they must first pass through the “weed out” classes, which they normally do with much disdain. Imagine a university where students were assessed on their depth of understanding rather than spitting back facts. That is Naropa’s contemplative learning strategy at its finest. 

The final example of Engaged Buddhism comes form South Africa, a country with a long history of injustice, exploitation, and separateness. Skin color has been a constant dividing line for the country, and Engaged Buddhists have been trying to reform this and other social divisions for quite some time. In April of 1994, a group of monks led by Reverend Shoju Sawaguchi undertook a “pilgrimage for peace” in which they “walked three hundred miles from Phoenix, Durban, through a region covering some of the most serious areas of violence in South Africa” (Queen 447). In April 1987, Nara Greenway made another display for peace in an Engaged Buddhist way. Greenway “undertook a forty-day fast in Cape Town in which she prayed for the release of children from detention without trial” (Queen 448). Greenway and Sawaguchi’s calls for action and peace resonated throughout the Buddhist community, and still do today. They embody the concepts of anatta, anicca, and Engaged Buddhism, encouraging peace and harmony amongst all people through their outward manner of helping those in need.

There are many more embodiments of the Engaged Buddhist structure in the world today. As humans use up more of the Earth’s precious resources, hopefully there will be a more widespread awareness of the anicca that permeates all existential things. As the population of the world increases, space diminishes, and many in the developing world go hungry and get sick, hopefully the western world will embrace the concept of anatta. One day, it will become necessary for the rich to learn to live with less so that the extremely poor can live at all. Engaged Buddhism is joining the lead of many already established religious aid organizations, and is becoming a prominent force in the way humans view and treat those beings who are suffering. Through the teachings of the ancient Gautama Buddha, in addition to the modern-day advice of Thich Nhat Hanh, along with many other prominent Buddhist leaders around the world, people are learning that to embrace the dharma is a two-fold task. They must not only seek within their own soul for their salvation, but also seek to spread their positive energy upon all other beings that are, in actuality, one with each other.

Human beings have always eaten a diverse cornucopia of foods.  Among many types of foods, spicy food reigns supreme as the bringer of tears and a burning sensation in the mouth.  This is due to the properties of capsaicin, a chemical found in peppers, and peppers being used in many spicy foods.  Capsaicin affects the heat receptors in the mouth, causing calcium channels to open simulating a burning sensation of the mouth.  Many times this response causes a person to either drink a liquid to cool the sensation, or eat some non-spicy food, often resulting in what is called the “losing of a bet.”  Shortly after the ingestion of capsaicin, the body begins to respond to the fake “heat” by appropriately trying to cool itself down through sweating and vasodilatation.  Due to this response we feel that the ingestion of capsaicin would effectively cool the body and the temperature of the body would be lower than what it was before.  In addition we thought that peripheral body temperature will increase and blood pressure and heart rate will decrease.

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Fast Food on Every Block

America is the land of plenty.  Its citizens have more money, more jobs, more food, more technology, more land, more schools, and the list could keep going.  They also have become a nation that is carrying around more weight.  In the last half century America has turned into a nation with more than 60 percent of its population over weight, or more than 100 million Americans being over weight,.-2,3.   The number of obese adults has doubled since 1980 and the number of obese adolescents has tripled since then.²  It is necessary to define what classifies a person as obese.  By definition, obesity is having a BMI(Body Mass Index) of more than 30,.-4(3).  BMI is a measurement that compares body weight to height.  The more weight on one’s body for his given height, the higher his BMI.  It is possible, however, to have a high BMI and be in very good physical condition, like most athletes.  BMI does not take in to account the distribution of fat on the body.   Lean athletes have muscle mass that contributes more to their weight than fat contributes,.-5(191).TABLE 1 Your body mass index

On any given day of the year, nearly one out of every four Americans eats at a fast food restaurant and McDonalds contributes to that by serving more than 43 percent of the fast food eaten daily in the US and serving more than 430 million people a day, worldwide.²   Exercise and physical activity is really lacking in America.  More than 60 percent of Americans do not get any form of exercise during the day aside from walking in and out of their work place or doing every-day tasks.²  Obesity is increasing and it’s increasing at an alarming rate, it is even starting to rapidly increase in children.

The days of eating every home-cooked meal at the dining room table with the family are gone, for the most part.  Americans live in a society that is always on the go and always worried about the next task at hand.  They like convenience and they like easy.  Fast food caters to their lifestyles because it is fast and easy.  Within fifty years, fast food restaurants have multiplied at exponential rates and are now located on every block and in every strip mall across America.  It seems they are everywhere.  One is almost guaranteed to find at least one McDonalds in any given city in the United States, regardless of the size of the city.  This food is very easily accessible to everyone and it is relatively inexpensive.  In 1970 Americans spent approximately $6 billion on the fast food industry; in 2000 they spent an astounding $110 billion.  Americans spend more money on the food industry than they do on things such as college, computers, vehicles, and technology,.-6(3).  One can call to have a greasy, large pepperoni pizza delivered to his door, or spend three minutes in the Wendy’s drive thru and grab dinner for the whole family.  People can even order food over the phone and go pick it up. The fast food industry wants them to buy their products so badly, that they are willing to make it available to them in the most convenient ways possible. Because Americans love convenience, they are willing to pay a little extra money for it. 

With this change in lifestyle has come a change in eating habits.  On average Americans are simply eating more food.  A study showed that the average American male consumed an extra 168 calories per day in 2000 than the average male in 1971.  The women consumed an extra 335 calories per day,.-4(2).   These extra calories ultimately lead to extra pounds gained, which leads to being over weight.  One of the most significant changes over the past fifty years has been portion sizes.  According to Harvard Men’s Health Watch, some of the largest increases in food in the last decade were in soft drinks, salty snacks, French fries, and hamburgers.  Not surprisingly, the greatest increases have been seen in the consumption of fast food,.-4(2).  Although it is probably safe to say that the general public is aware that fast food is generally not helpful to their bodies, they still eat it.  Some people eat fast food as many as three times a day, with most people eating it at least once or twice a week.  Most nutritionists would say that it is best not to eat any fast food at all if it can be avoided.  If one must eat fast food, they would suggest only once a month.² 

Less Nutrition, More Convenience

Not only have Americans been eating more, but they have been eating more foods that are low in nutritional value.  A small french fry at McDonalds has approximately 200 calories; the Super Size french fry has about 600 calories.²   It used to be that there was only one size of french fry and it was just called a fry. Now there are sizes all the way up to super size and most people tend to eat the large or the super size, especially when offered.  Americans also drink copious amounts of soda and carbonated beverages.  This nation has more than three million soda machines in its schools, malls, zoos, offices, shops, and just about everywhere else.  That is approximately one machine for every 97 Americans.²   They drink an average of 65 gallons of soda per year per person,.-6(53).  In addition the the lack of nutrition in soda beverages, there is also poor nutritional value in almost any item on any fast food menu.  For example, the Wendy’s Jr. Bacon Cheeseburger has 380 calories, 170 of which are calories from fat.  It contains 19 total grams of fat, 55 milligrams of cholesterol, which is 18 percent of your daily value, and 34 grams of carbohydrates.  Here are a few more examples of the nutritional information on some popular menu items from very well-known fast food restaurants.

These foods share a lot of the same trends: high calories, fats, carbohydrates, and sodium.  There are few vitamins and minerals to speak of and over all, poor nutritional content ,.-7.

One doctor has placed the blame of American obesity on the shoulders of the fast food industry itself.  Dr. Robert Lustig, professor of pediatrics at the UCSF Children’s Hospital in San Fransisco says “We’ve been fructosified and defiberized by the food industry,.”-8(4).  The industry has taken almost all of the fiber out of its foods because fiber does not freeze very well or long, which does not allow much time for the food to “keep” as long as they would like.   The fast food world also puts high fructose corn syrup in almost all their products because they know people will buy the food.  It tastes good.  And because the marginal cost of adding this corn syrup is low, the companies add it to everything,.-8(5).  Since Americans are eating more fast food, they are eating more sugar and less fiber.  Fiber is what slows down the absorption of sugar into the blood stream, so with out fiber in the food people eat, the sugar hits their digestive systems rapidly and is converted into fat if not used as immediate energy.

The food that is served in fast food chains is processed, pre-cooked, shaped, and frozen before being sent to the restaurants.  About 90 percent of the money that Americans spend on food is spent on foods that have been processed in factories hundreds of miles away,.-6(121).  Their food is going through a process that the industry calls “throughput”,.-6(67).  They may not even realize this, or just don’t care enough to think about it.  The food goes through an assembly line very similar to that of a factory.  The burgers at a Burger King restaurant are placed on a conveyer belt that takes them under the broiler where they are cooked evenly for ninety seconds.  McDonald’s ovens look like “commercial laundry presses” with giant hoods that cook the burgers in a standardized way,.-6(69).  Every patty looks the same and is constructed the exact same way.  Uniformity is the key.  The burger patties, chicken, and fries are frozen and the shakes and sodas all start out as syrups and powders when they arrive at the restaurants,.-6(69).  At Taco Bell restaurants, the workers do not prepare the food.  They just add hot water to almost everything and it’s ready to go.  The refried beans are dehydrated flakes; the taco meat is frozen and vacuum-packed in a bag,.-6(69).  

The only food preparation that the employees do at fast food restaurants is push a few buttons, thaw, reheat, and stick the food in containers to keep it warm.  Food preparation has gone from slicing the tomatoes and onions on the spot to thawing and reheating the frozen patties that are produced hours ahead of time.

The lack of variety and choice in fast food started to become a topic of concern in recent years.  It wasn’t until the past five years that fast food restaurants started to offer some variety to their menus.  For a long time McDonald’s only offered burgers, fries, and a drink. There was no choice in what the consumer could eat.  Now fast food chains are starting to catch on to the healthy trend and they are offering healthy choices.  The lack of variety, until recently, also contributed to the poor nutritional values found in fast food.  We were eating a bunch of fat, carbohydrates, sugar, and salt.

In 2001 Morgan Spurlock conducted his own experiment on himself and made the well-known documentary “Super Size Me.”  In this film Morgan ate McDonald’s for thirty consecutive days, three square meals a day.  He had to eat everything on the menu at least once.  He had to finish all of his food, and if he was asked to Super Size, he had to say yes.  After thirty days of nothing but McDonald’s it was painfully obvious that fast food can seriously hurt a person’s body and health.  Morgan’s body paid the price.  He gained an astounding 25 pounds in those thirty days; his cholesterol sky rocketed by 65 points and his body fat percentage increased from 11 to 18 percent. He doubled his chances for heart disease and almost killed his liver by virtually turning it to fat.  In eating McDonald’s for thirty days straight, Morgan managed to consume a cumulative 30 pounds of sugar,.-2.  His results prove that fast food is not healthy and it has detrimental effects on the human body if eaten too often.

The best foods that can and should be eaten more regularly are those foods that have high healthy nutritional values. This means avoiding foods that are high in sugar or fat.  Jeanne Jones, a nutritionist, suggests eating foods that provide protein, fiber, good carbohydrates, and good fats.  A good carbohydrate would be any complex carbohydrate which includes all grain products and vegetables.  These take longer for the body to breakdown and they are full of vitamins, minerals, and fiber,.-9(7).  The best proteins to eat are lean meats such as fish or poultry.  It is good to occasionally eat red meat, but it’s not something that should be eaten on a regular basis because red meat has a lot of fat and cholesterol,.-9(9−10).  When you are avoiding foods that are high in sugar and fat, try going for fruits and vegetables.  Eat a medium-sized apple instead of a medium-sized cookie.  It will take you much longer to eat it and you won’t be tempted to go back for three or four more because it will fill you up, unlike three or four more cookies,.-4(4).

Large Portions, Large Bellies

Another significant change that has been seen in the eating habits of Americans has been portion size.  Portions are now about three times the size that the human body needs.  Americans feel they need to get their money’s worth and they want to eat everything that is on their plate because they paid for it,.-3(4).  Many people go out to eat on the weekends and they could walk into a steakhouse and eat a 16 ounce steak with a mountain of mashed potatoes to go with it,.-3(4).  Don’t forget the endless, free refills of soda beverages, too.  In 1978, the average teenage boy drank 7ounces of soda a day.  Today he drinks nearly three times as much.  This same trend has been seen in teenage girls as well, who have doubled their intake of soda per day. Twenty five years ago teens drank twice as much milk as they did carbonated beverages, but now that ratio is reversed,.-6(54).  Weight gain could be controlled very easily if people just watched the amount of food that they eat.  Instead of eating every morsel on the plate, ask for a to-go box and eat the other half of the meal the next day.  This practice will also save money in the long run.  And it is not necessary to completely omit one’s favorite foods, but portion control can really go a long ways when it comes to losing weight or maintaining a healthy weight.

One obvious and large contributor to the major weight gain of Americans is the change in life style.  Advancements in technology have allowed them to move off of the farms and into large cities where they now work office jobs.  Millions of Americans drive to work every day, take the elevator up to their floor, and sit in front of their computer until their lunch break.  At that point they typically go out to lunch with some colleagues and then return back to their cubicle.  When the day is over they take the elevator down to the first floor, get in their cars and drive home. While these changes are nice and have their benefits, they simply do not force a person to be very active like in times past. It’s not just adults whose lives have become less active, but children’s as well.  The typical American kid watches TV an average of 21 hours a week, not including playing video games or watching movies,.-6(46).  About 25 percent of 2-5 year olds have a television in their room.  Even kids, the ones who have the most energy, are less active than they used to be.  It doesn’t take much to be active and burn off some energy.  The US Surgeon General recommends at least 30 minutes of moderate exercise every day, which could be simply walking the dog through the neighborhood,.-4(4).

The Target Market: Kids

One of the biggest changes in the food industry is the shifts in advertising. The food industry has now started advertising and marketing toward kids,.-6(3).  The average American kid sees more than 10,000 food advertisements on TV a year.  And of those 10,000 ads, 95 percent are for cereal, pop, fast food, or candy,.-2. Thirty years ago only a small amount of American companies directed their advertisements towards children, but today almost all companies do this.  Studies show that small children can recognize popular brand logos before they can recognize their own name,.-6,43..  Companies realized that children have a large influence over their parents.  The kids see the advertisements, go to their parents and beg them to buy that product for them.  Some of the tactics that are used in the fast food industry are things such as toys, playgrounds, and characters like Ronald McDonald.

McDonald’s Corporation now operates more than eight thousand playgrounds at its restaurants in the United States.  Burger King has more than two thousand.  A  manufacturer of “playlands” explains why fast food operators build these largely plastic  structures: “Playlands bring in children, who bring in parents, who bring in money.”… Every month about 90 percent of American children between the ages of three and nine visit a McDonald’s.  The seesaws, slides, and pits full of plastic balls have proven to be effective lure,.-6(47).

Aside from the playgrounds, kids are also drawn to the toys and the characters.  It’s no secret that kids love toys and the food industry has capitalized on this fact.  Most fast food restaurants offer  a kids meal that comes with a small toy and when these companies advertise the new toy sales always increase in the kids meals,.-2.  Morgan Spurlock surveyed five first graders by showing them pictures of several famous Americans.  Most of them could not identify George Washington or Jesus, but every single child could identify Ronald McDonald,.-2,4. 

The food industry goes out of its way to make sure that the American public sees its advertisements and buys into them.  A study shows that in 2001 McDonald’s spent $1.4 billion worldwide on direct media advertising which includes radio, TV, and print.  Pepsi spent over $1billion and Hershey’s spent nearly $200 million on these same advertisement methods,.-2.  In its peak year of advertisement, the Five Fruits and Vegetables Campaign spent a lowly $2 million dollars on all advertisements, not just direct media advertisement,.-2.  It is not surprising that the foods that are advertised the most are the foods that are purchased the most.

Not only is fast food pushing marketing more now than ever, but its marketing is now in our children’s schools.  Many middle schools and high schools across the country offer child favorites such as chicken fingers, French fries, burgers, ice cream, cookies, fried burritos, chips, soda, tater tots, chili cheese fries, and pizza.  A lot of this is not branded fast food, but can still be classified as such because it is fried, broiled and loaded with sugar.  However, several schools do have branded fast food in their cafeterias.   The food chains make deals with school districts and offer funding for sports and other events in the schools.  In return the companies ask that they be allowed to advertise and sell their products in the schools that they are helping to sponsor,.-6(51).  These companies advertise in schools through promotions, games, and contests which they offered to the students and the community.  Morgan Spurlock visited several schools during the filming of his documentary and he found that most schools claim that they are doing the right thing for the students.  The schools say it is up to the student to make the right decisions on what to eat and that the student could choose to buy an apple and a sandwich instead of french fries, cookies, and a coke,.-2 . 

Schools do not want to discontinue these fast foods to their students because they do not want to lose the funding they receive from the food companies.  Likewise, the companies object to the banning of their products in schools because they want to make as much money as possible.  Kids are one of their largest customer pools.²

However, there are some schools that are trying to change this unfortunate norm in America.  The Appleton Wisconsin School District is one district that does offer entirely healthy, rounded meals to its students.  The cooks prepare the food from fresh, raw ingredients.  There is more baking and preparation involved.  And, perhaps most important, they do not offer any soda or sugared beverages for sale at all.²  The Appleton School District also says that this fresh food method costs about the same as pre-packaged, frozen and prepared meals which so many other schools offer.

Education as Protection

If schools assume that most middle school and high school students already possess the knowledge to make the right decisions on what to eat, then based on how these students are showing their “knowledge” it is clear that they need to increase education on the matter.  Many students really don’t have a good understanding of nutrition and being healthy.  Jones suggests that it is best to follow the 5 to 1 method.  Eat five times as much fruits and vegetables as you do protein, in weight,.-9(41).  When this method is followed, one will automatically be eating healthier and getting the variety of food that he needs.  People also need to watch their caloric intake.  Calories come from four sources: carbohydrates, proteins, fats, and alcohol.  The most calories per gram are packed into fats with 9 calories.  Alcohol follows with a close second containing 7 calories per gram of alcohol,.-9,30., 10. 

The basics of a healthy diet are not difficult.  Americans just need to have a better knowledge and understanding of what to eat that will best benefit them.  It is recommended that each person  gets at least 55 percent of his daily calories from carbohydrates, preferably complex carbohydrates.  These are foods such as whole grains, vegetables, and fruits.  Protein should only constitute about 12-15 percent of the daily calories and should come from lean sources.  This means avoid cheeseburgers and steaks with a lot of marbling.  Also, it is recommended to try to limit sodium intake to 2,400 milligrams per day, which is not a lot, and avoid sugary foods,.-10(12−13). 

It is perhaps most important to talk about fats since fast food is saturated with it.  Fat contains about twice as many calories as carbohydrates and protein,.-10(24).  The best kind of fat is unsaturated fats that come from plants and fish.  The worst fats are saturated fats that come from animals,.-10(25).  Most fast food has saturated fat because it keeps longer and doesn’t spoil as fast.  Saturated fat is a big contributor to high cholesterol, which can cause arteries to clog and cause heart failure.  Over all, try to eat as many fruits and vegetables as possible and stick to eating fish or poultry.  Avoid red meat when possible or eat it only on special occasions.

Correlating Health Problems and Their Increase in Numbers

Heart Disease, Diabetes, and Cancer

Countless studies and reports have proven that being over weight or obese increases the risk of heart disease and countless other health problems.  A small list of health problems associated with obesity includes but is not limited to: hypertension, cardiovascular disease, diabetes mellitus, gall bladder disease, gout, osteoarthritis, pulmonary disease, renal disease, fatty liver, coronary artery disease, and heart attacks,.-4,1.,11(40). Approximately 300,000 people die each year from illness that are related to obesity and unfortunately mortality increases as excess weight on the body increases,.-12,246.,11.

One of the biggest topics of discussion is hypertension.  Hypertension is most simply having a high blood pressure.  Statistics show that hypertension is more prevalent in obese people than in normal weight people,.-11(40).  When someone has high blood pressure it means that the blood is flowing at an increased volume in comparison to the size of the arteries, which puts a lot of strain on the heart.  The adipose tissues, or fat cells, on over weight individuals means miles more capillaries for the blood to flow through and this just puts added stress on the heart,.-12(572).  Hypertension causes increased cardiac work as well.  Cardiac output is elevated in obese people because their stroke volume is higher.  Output equals stroke volume times the heart rate,.-11(43).  The stroke volume is higher because there is more body mass for the blood to deliver oxygen and nutrients to, which causes extra work for the heart. If hypertension continues to elevate, it could lead to an enlarged, weakened heart, which leads to an aneurysms.  The ultimate stopping point is death,.-12(572).

Another very common health problem seen in obese individuals is diabetes mellitus or type 2 diabetes.  Type 2 diabetes makes up 90 percent of all diabetic cases and 80 percent of those with type 2 are over weight,.-5(189).  One out of every twenty people in the United States has diabetes,.-2.  It ranks number seven among the leading causes of death in America and is more likely to develop in an obese person than in a normal weight individual,.-12(577,247).  In type 2 diabetes fat cells do not respond to insulin as well as they should, so the pancreas is stimulated to make more insulin which raises the blood glucose levels because the fat cells are not able to take up the glucose.  Eventually, type 2 diabetes develops,.-12(578).  This disease is characterized by high blood glucose levels, abnormal insulin secretion, and insulin resistance.

It used to be that type 2 diabetes was mostly in older adults who were over weight.  In the past 25 years, the number of adolescents and young people with type 2 diabetes has skyrocketed.  Because children are constantly eating fast food and eating a lot of it, they are putting on extra weight.  This extra weight can in turn lead to diabetes.  There is a direct correlation between these two variables.  A study also showed that direct medical costs related to diabetes have doubled in the past five years, as of 2002; having spent $44 billion in 1997 and $92 billion in 2002,.-2.  If trends continue as they are, studies show that one out of every three children born in the year 2000 will develop diabetes at some point in their lifetime,.-2.  If a person gets diabetes before the age of fifteen, statistically he loses 17-27 years off of his life.²  These numbers are staggering and should cause concern to people who have not been careful about what they are putting into their mouths.  For many people type 2 diabetes is something that can be avoided.  It all comes down to what a person decides to put in his own mouth and what he does with his body.

There is also a correlation between extra weight and many cancers, although the exact reasons for the correlation are not fully understood.  According to a 16-year-long study, “over weight and obesity may account for 14 percent of all cancer deaths in men and 20 percent in women,.”-4(2).  One example of a cancer enhanced by extra weight is prostate cancer in men.  The risk of death from prostate cancer rose by 8 percent in men with a BMI of 25-30, 20 percent with BMI of 30-35 and 34 percent with a BMI over 35,.-4(2).  This tells us that increased weight definitely increases risk for certain cancers.  A different study also showed that men who eat the most calories were 3.8 times more likely to develop prostate cancer in the first place than those who eat a lower amount of calories,.-4(2).  It is also known that extra weight increases infertility and sexual performance in men.

Shortened Lifespan

Extra body weight has great affects on a person’s lifespan.  Since bodyweight is a factor in longevity it is important to be aware of your own physical condition,.-11(152).  It is normal to gain weight as you get older, but not healthy to gain excessive amounts of weight because the older you become, the more problematic it can be to your physical health to have excessive weight.  It can bring an onset of numerous problems for you.  A 25-year-old man who is morbidly obese can expect to lose about 13 years of his life and a 40- year-old man who is just overweight can lose around 3 or 4 years from his life,.-4(1).  Several authors agree that people who are obese as children likely will be obese for the rest or a large majority of their lives,.-11(156).  This shows that obesity can be brought on by eating habits and what you learn from an early age.  Adults should take some responsibility in teaching their children to make better food choices early in their lives so the children can carry that knowledge on with them throughout their adulthood.  One suggestion is to limit the amount of times you take them to McDonald’s or any fast food restaurant.  When a parent takes his child to a fast food restaurant three times a week he is teaching the kids that it is okay and acceptable to eat fast food often; there’s no harm in it.

There is a clear and distinct connection between child obesity and the rise of the fast food world.  Because children visit fast food restaurants so often, and it has been determined that excessive amounts of fast food is not healthy, it is not surprising to see that children are paying the consequences with their own health.  According to several studies, there are many reasons why children are becoming more over weight than in the past.  Some suggested reasons are excessive snacking and a fast food diet,.-13.  Americans spend an average of $1 billion dollars a day on snacks, which turns out to be the equivalent of a fourth meal,.-13.  And although Taco Bell has even capitalized on this notion of a “Fourth Meal” in the middle of the night, it really is not healthy for you.  A large portion of this billion dollar fourth meal is being accounted for by children.  They are surrounded by vending machines in their schools that are filled with sugary beverages and candy snacks. 

The numbers of childhood obesity and overweight are startling.  Children should be some of the healthiest people and yet they are being diagnosed with diseases related to weight as early as three or four years old.  According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), the percentage of overweight children in the United States has doubled since the 1980’s and the trend is even worse for adolescents.  They have risen by more than 300 percent,.-13.  One out of every five children in the United States between the ages of six and seventeen are considered to be overweight.  About 25 percent of white children and 33 percent of African children are overweight,.-13. The increase in health problems are there to prove these numbers, too.  Of the children with type 2 diabetes, 85 percent of them are obese.  20 percent of the newly diagnosed cases of childhood diabetes turn out to be type 2 diabetes,.-13.  Normally, children with diabetes would typically have type 1 diabetes, not type 2.  These illnesses are being seen across the board and should cause great concern to every one who cares about his health or the health of his family.

Other Contributors of Obesity

These statistics show a clear and sad connection that cannot be ignored.  Americans are eating too much of the wrong foods and they are hurting themselves by doing it.  Although genetics do play a role in being overweight, the blame cannot be put solely on this.  It takes thousands of years for genes to modify themselves; the rise in obesity has just happened within the past thirty to forty years,.-13.  Most of the blame should go toward our diets- diets that are full of fat, sugar, and empty carbohydrates.

It is true that diet is not the only factor that can cause a person to be overweight or obese.  One important factor can be genetic predispositions.  The role of hormones is being studied closely to see the correlation between hormone secretion and eating.  Many scientists believe that these type of hormonal signals are what give a person the urge to eat and they believe that obese people may have an imbalance in these hormones that causes them to over eat,.-3(2).   One example of a hormone that controls appetite is Leptin, stimulating the hypothalamus, which controls appetite.  A study done on mice showed that obese rats could not produce leptin and they continued to gorge on food, never stopping.  In turn, the mice gained weight.  When the scientists gave the mice leptin, their appetites suppressed and the weight eventually came off,.-3(2).  This would suggest that obese people may have a problem producing leptin and that contributes to their being overweight.  They never feel as though they are full.

Another argument for genetic predisposition to obesity is ancestry.  In many cultures of the world, people had to worry about survival during periods of famine or drought.  Their bodies were genetically modified to be able to make it through the long periods with no food.  One example is the Pima Indians.  The Pima tend to be more overweight than most people.  Their fat cells are expanded and try to store as much fat as possible which puts extra weight on their bodies.  This happens because their ancestors, thousands of years before, had to survive long periods with no food; their fat cells stored extra fat automatically,.-5(184). 

Each person is born with a given number of adipose tissues.  When a person gains weight, the cells expand and if too much weight is gained the cells multiply.  Once fat cells are created, they can never be destroyed.  It is well known that fat cells product many substances that are necessary for life, but when you have enlarged fat cells, these substances may be released in larger quantities into your body,.-14(50). Some doctors may suggest that these excessive amounts of chemicals and hormones may be what lead to the related health risks of obesity and some people are genetically wired to be heavy set or more overweight than others,.-14(50). 

In some people, obesity may be due to defects in the hypothalamus.  Tumors or a lower amount of neurotransmitter receptors may affect the proper functioning of the hypothalamus, thus having an affect on a person’s appetite,.-5(186).  Although some cases of obesity can be attributed to this disorder and others similar, most cases of obesity in America can be attributed to the simple facts of over-eating and eating too much fast food.

There are other factors that contribute to obesity, but this disease has become such an epedimic in America because we eat out and seem to over eat often.  Our choices to grab a burger or eat a 16 ounce prime rib are hurting our health.  If we can start to get a control over this crisis and make it smaller, then we will be adding many healthy years back on to our lives and will reduce many illnesses that are realated to obesity.  But once we do get a grip on the fast food world in which we live, there is still the issue of physical activity and exercise that could be addressed.  Losing weight and being healthy is never easy, but the solution to this problem does not need to be surgery or ridiculous weight loss schemes.  “Each year Americans spend more than $30 billion dollars on diet products and weight loss programs.” They are spending twice as much money on these products than on health and exercise,.-2. If people would put more conscious effort into watching watch they eat and how much, and put in about thirty minutes of physical activity into their days, then this problem with obesity would dramatically decrease and not get larger so quickly.  It is obvious that Americans wants to lose the weight, but we want a quick fix.  The best way to lose the weight and gain a healthier life is by putting in the effort.  It takes hard work to exercise and be conscious of what you eat. Something worth having is worth working for and I believe our personal health is worth the effort.

Resources

1.     DeNoon DJ. Study Suggests 10 New Obesity Causes. International Journal of  Obesity [serial online]. 2006. Vol 27. Available at:             http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/06/27/health/webmd/main1757772.sht            ml Accessed October 7, 2008.

2.     Super Size Me[DVD]. Spurlock M., editor and producer. United States: Fortissimo Films; 2004. 1 video disc: 115 minutes.

3.     Why Is Obesity a Growing Problem in America? JoslinDiabetes Center’s New Obesity  Research Head Comments… Ascribe Newswire: Health [serial online]. July 24, 2001: 4-9. Available from: Health Source- Consumer Edition, Ipswich, MA. Accessed October 7, 2008.

4.     Obesity in America: Large Portions, Large Proportions. (Cover story). Harvard Men’s Health Watch [serial online]. January 2006; 10(6):1-5. Available from: Academic  Search Premier, Ipswich, MA. Accessed October 7, 2008.

5.     Westerterp-Plantenga M, Fredrix E WHM, Steffens AB. Food Intake and Energy Expenditure: Open University of the Netherlands. 1994.

6.     Schlosser E. Fast Food Nation: the Dark Side of the All-American Meal. New York (NY):Houghton Mifflin Company. 2001.

7.     Fast Food Facts| Calories, Fat and other Nutritional Information. 1999-2008. Available at  www.fastfacts.info. Accessed October 26, 2008.

8.     Napoli M. Why is America Fat? Another Hypothesis to Be Tested. Health Facts [serial online]. January 2008; 33(1):4-6. Available from: Health Source-Consumer             Edition, Ipswich, MA. Accessed October 7, 2008.

9.     Jones J. Eating Smart. New York (NY): Macmillan Publishing Company. 1992.

10.  Margen S M.D. and the editors of the University of California at Burkeley Wellness Letter. The Wellness Encyclopedia of Food and Nutrition: How to Buy, Store, and             Prepare Every Variety of Fresh Food. New York (NY): Health Letter Associates. 1992.

11.  Schemmel R. Nutrition, Physiology, and Obesity. Boca Raton (FL): CRC Press, Inc. 1980.

12.  Whitney EN, Rolfes SR. Understanding Nutrition. Eighth edition: Wadsworth Publishing Company. 1999.

13.  Obesity Statistics-Children. Obesity Statistics for Obese Children, teenage and Adolescent Overweight. 2000-2007. http://www.annecollins.com/obesity/child-            obesity-stats.htm. Accessed October 26, 2008.

14.  Why Too Much Body Fat is Bad for Your Health. Nutrition & Weight Control for Longevity serial online]. January 2006:50-51. Available from: Health Source-Consumer             Edition, Ipswich, MA. Accessed October 7, 2008.

Corn, as it is today, is a result of a long history of humans changing the land, its flora and fauna. Corn produced today is the product of thousands of years of humans selectively breeding corn’s ancestors for beneficial traits.  The corn we are all familiar with originates from the domestication of a grass called teosinte, or “grain of the gods” by the early farmers of central Mexico between seven and ten thousand years ago.  Theses farmers and had a keen eye for observation, and recognized that they could selectively breed teosinte for more fruitful and productive traits by breeding the more suitable plants with one another.  Now that corn has spread throughout South America, North America, Europe, Africa, Asia, and Australia, it is one of the more heavily produced and relied upon foods of the world.  Billions of acres of land bear the mark of corn production.  Because of corn’s integration into the global food system there is a plethora of land and water use issues associated with its growth, use as animal feed, additive in food products, and biofuels.

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On the 20^th of January, 1961, millions of Americans watched as young John F. Kennedy, only 43 years old, took the oath of office.  On that same day 32 years later, the equally charismatic Bill Clinton was sworn in as the President of the United States of America.  Throughout the years, this simple “passing-of-the-torch” ceremony has been adorned with fancy dinners, parades, and poetry.  The latter has accentuated the symbolic nature of the inauguration.  Some of America’s most well-renowned poets have been called upon for this tradition.  For Kennedy, Robert Frost wrote “Dedication,” but on a cold, sunny afternoon in Washington, a blinding glare prompted him to recite another poem, “The Gift Outright,” by memory.  This poem, while not as obvious in its purpose, was still fitting for the occasion, highlighting American ideals through an allusion to the country’s Revolution.  For Clinton, Maya Angelou recited “On the Pulse of Morning,” which emphasized reaching out to a diverse America through three natural symbols: a rock, a river, and a tree.  Though their deliveries were set 32 years apart, both poems capture the hopeful spirit of the inauguration, referencing examples of American ideals throughout the country’s rich history.    However, while Frost glorifies the will of the 18^th century colonists, Angelou condemns their use of violence, representing the oppressed from America’s past.

In both poems, one of the first and most prominent American ideals discussed is the meaning of destiny.  Both explore this theme, yet while Frost offers an absolutist view, Angelou’s view is up to interpretation.  The first line of “The Gift Outright” reads “The land was ours before we were the land’s.”  Here, Frost presents the idea of manifest destiny – the belief that the American land was ordained by God for the American people.  He suggests that fate inevitably endowed the land with its “outright” citizens.  Thus, while England may have ruled the colonists, their governance was a mere roadblock to our destined “land of living.”  In the end, it was the colonists’ apprehension that was “withholding” themselves from their land (10).  In “The Pulse of Morning,” Angelou offers a different opinion.  Rather than being an absolute end, she suggests that “destiny” is determined by action.  The rock in “On the Pulse” invites all to stand on its back to “face” their “distant destiny” (12).  In contrast to a divine “gift,” Angelou’s definition refers more to an uncertain future.  Her emphasis isn’t so much on the end result as it is on the process.  If one “crouch[es] in/The bruising darkness” or lays “Face down in ignorance” (16-19), it becomes impossible to look forward.  On the contrary, righteous living and hard work allows for growth to one’s fullest potential, which is “Only a little lower than/The angels” (15-16).

Angelou and Frost’s dissenting beliefs on destiny are directly correlated to their clashing views on another theme discussed in both poems – war.  Because “The Gift” endorses fate, Frost justifies all necessary means towards acquiring our predestined land.  No matter how violent or unethical, any “deeds of war” were necessary steps to a greater cause: the “giving” of “ourselves outright” (12).  In Angelou’s view, no “deed of war” should or could ever be justified.    Likewise, acts of violence are not only unnecessary, but counter-productive to reaching one’s own destiny.  The river in “On the Pulse” condemns past “armed struggles for profit” because they did nothing more than leave “collars of waste upon [its] shore” (29-30).  This “waste” is a stain on America’s history.  In stark contrast to “The Gift’s” nationalist praise, Angelou describes history to be of “wrenching pain” (22).  She believes that, rather than glorifying, we should be learning from America’s past mistakes.

This reference to America’s violent history is further interpreted in the context of another theme – sacrifice.  Both poems refer to sacrifices made for America’s advancement, yet they differ in points-of-view, from the sacrificer to the sacrificed.  Frost capitalizes on colonial America’s inhibiting inner conflict.  He suggests that the colonists were “withholding” from their own “land of living” (10) due to the “salvation in surrender” (11).  More specifically, Frost alludes to the 100 or so years where the American colonists unhappily, yet tacitly, faced scrutiny and indentured servitude in their own land.  As Frost explains in a clever contradiction, the colonists were “Possessed by what we now no more possessed” (7).  However, when provoked by unfair taxes, the colonists stepped out of their comfort levels and revolted for justice, “possessing” their land once and for all.  Essentially, the poem is a commemoration of this revolution, and the bravery that was crucial towards its commencement. Given “The Gift’s” nationalist nature, Frost pays tribute to the colonists, but ignores other groups who have suffered throughout America’s history.

All who Frost excludes, however, Angelou memorializes.  In what could be read as a direct response to the absences in “The Gift,” she attempts to give all of the oppressed their due in a comprehensive list (42-47).  She recognizes the adversity many of these groups faced through the tribulations of American history.  Though Angelou does not mention the colonist’s internal struggle, she pays reverence to the “Cherokee Nation” who were “forced on bloody feet” (58-59) in their relocation to Oklahoma along the Trail of Tears; to the “Ashanti, the Yoruba, the Kru” who were “bought, sold, stolen” (63) in the Atlantic slave trade.  Angelou’s careful inclusiveness stresses the diversity of the American experience, while again offering American history as a lesson for the future.

At the conclusion of both poems, the poets ponder the future of America.  Of all themes, this is perhaps the only one both poets can agree upon.  Both examine the future with uncertainty, but also with hope.  In “The Gift Outright,” the last three lines describe America as ever-growing.  Frost compares our country’s present potential to that of when she was on the brink of westward expansion.  The country was “unstoried, artless, [and] unenhanced” before it doubled its size, explored its new territory, and progressed to become a thriving nation.  Furthermore, the nation can be described the same way now because its potential is limitless.  For all intents and purposes, America is always writing its story.  Angelou, likewise, is ultimately optimistic about the future.  She writes “Each new hour holds new chances/For new beginnings” (85-86) as an underscore of the ample opportunities offered in this country.  As long as people seize their days and live virtuously, the nation as a whole should flourish.  This hopefulness is exhibited in the core of the title, “Pulse of Morning.”  Describing each morning with a pulse reveals the livelihood of the American experience, present and future.

With America’s rich tradition in poetry, it is no surprise that its recitation, in the last three inaugurations, has become a staple of the occasion.  For John F. Kennedy and Bill Clinton, two of America’s essential poets were chosen to capture the spirit of American ideals in prose.  But what are American ideals?  Robert Frost and Maya Angelou prove that while the nation’s traditions and idyllic code have become standard, interpretations can greatly vary.  In the end, however, a hopeful outlook is imperative to the country’s well being.

Works Cited

Angelou, Maya. “On The Pulse Of Morning.”  

Gifts of Speech: Women’s Speeches From Around the World. Ed. Liz Kent. 1993. Sweet Briar College. 3 March 2009 <http://gos.sbc.edu/a/angelou.html>.

Frost, Robert. “The Gift Outright.”

JFKLibrary.org. Presidential Library & Museum. 2009. Boston. 3 March 2009 <http://ww.jfklibrary.org/Historica+Resources/Archives/Reference+Desk/The+Gift+Outright.htm>.

In 1928, women wearing bright dresses, silk stockings in every color of the rainbow, and bobbed hair could be seen strolling down 8th street next to men wearing Panamas hats and buttoned waistcoats.  They were well on their way to an elite party celebrating the opening day of the newly erected Tiger Hotel.  This was the hotel that people had never before even dreamed about.  This nine-story building was proof that Columbia was soon to become an “up-to-date little city,” lauded businessmen.  James Garth, a hotel resident in 1977, was among the partygoers.  This was “quite the party,” he announced, and recalled that bootleg whiskey abounded because Prohibition laws had just started up.   And he was among the spectators when a car pulled up right to the steps—this was Mr. Sweet, the head of the chain that managed the Tiger Hotel.   The crowd swarmed to gather around Mr. Sweet and cheered for this monumental moment in Columbia history. 

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All Mizzou students have one important thing in common: they are writers. Thanks to the writing intensive courses across the University, students have the opportunity to experience different writing situations in every discipline. Mizzou students learn that different writing contexts demand different sets of strategies. Not only does the content change, but the way research and arguments are presented also change. The essays featured in Artifacts Issue 3 reflect the variety of writing that Mizzou students create every day. From technical reports to historical research to literary analysis, these essays are all snapshots of the Mizzou writer at work.

In “The Right to Life, Liberty, and Poetry,” Steven Hsieh examines two memorable inauguration poems: Robert Frost’s “Dedication” and Maya Angelou’s “On the Pulse of Morning.” While both poems meditate upon historical national symbols, they arrive at different versions of our nation’s history.  Hsieh’s essay won the 2008-2009 Mayhan Award for best essay in English 1000.

Becky Sorensen considers the links between fast food and the growing obesity problem in the United States. Her essay, “Obesity in America and its Children: Affecting the Lives of Millions,” essay is a good example of how students can incorporate research into argumentative writing. Sorensen wrote her essay for Dr. Marty Townsend’s English 2010.

Aaron Chambers’ essay, “That’s-a-spicy-meatball! The effects of capsaicin on blood pressure and other processes in the human body,” explains how capsaicin, a chemical found in peppers, affects blood pressure. Chambers wrote the formal report for the Animal Physiology Lab (Bio 3700 Lab), which required each lab group to design and conduct a research project.  Dr. Rachel Ruhlen remarks, “I particularly enjoyed Aaron’s paper which described the experiment and their results in an entertaining way.” Chambers shows that being a good technical writer does not mean you have to give up your sense of humor.

“Discovering the District: A Look at the History of Downtown Columbia” is a textual documentary written as part of the capstone course for English seniors. The three authors–Julie Miller, Megan Rau, Colleen Kelly—used archival research in order to write the histories of several historic downtown buildings in Columbia. Miler, Rau, and Kelly spent hours in the Western Historical Manuscripts archives, where they worked closely with archivists in order to research the stories behind each building. Their final project shows a strong ability to make research both informative and lively, all at the same time. 

The buzzer sounded in the district championship of my senior year in high school. As I walked off the court in defeat, I took a glance up at the scoreboard, and the clock read all zeroes. It was really over. The pain began to set in, for it would be the last basketball game I would ever play. A few weeks went by, and I was feeling a void in my life that desperately needed to be filled. I knew it was now time to face the difficult task of finding a replacement for what I loved most, so I began my search. Eventually, I found what I was looking for: rap music. Like basketball, rap involves the combination of natural talent and acquired skill, but also a unique expression of identity and reality that allows me to explore the seemingly limitless capacity of my mind. Read the entire PDF version of Scott’s essay.

“A Tradition of Greatness: The Stories of Three Men at MU’s School of Medicine” and “A History of The Maneater” both draw on primary research from the University archives. “Critics of America’s Engineers Form Bashing Squad Following Katrina” is a close analysis of the criticism engineers faced after the deadly events in New Orleans. “Whitepaper on Design and Collaborative Practices” is a professional analysis of successful website design. The student group examined designs of several university websites that offer student support services.

We found the essay “Rap, Dogs, Human Nature” to be an unusual example of life writing. Author Scott Thode layers a performative, visual narrative on top of a traditional narrative about personal memory. His English 1000 instructor, Rebecca Roma, explains the assignment like this:

In this essay the student was challenged to bring disparate interests, large and small, into conversation with each other. By interrupting what would be a “standard research paper” with digressions, images, and tangents on a different aspect of his personality, the student was able to establish unlikely connections and insights. Demonstrating the diversity of the individual’s multiple layers of interest, the composition of the essay, itself, is multifarious. The two topics, though not seamlessly blended, provide interesting juxtaposition and enhanced meaning to something which may otherwise have become habitually familiar.

Finally, we are delighted to include maybe the first hip-hop piece ever written for a first-year writing course. This audio/musical essay shows that writing happens in many forms. While it does not resemble a traditional academic essay, it is a strong example of how to craft a persuasive message for a particular audience. We published this piece because we believe writing includes auditory and visual realms.

February 11, 1839 was an historic day for the state of Missouri. In fact, it was an historic day for the country; on this day was founded the first school of medicine west of the Mississippi River. The Missouri government had passed legislation to institute the school at the University of Missouri. The very next year, Joseph N. McDowell, a professor of surgery and surgical anatomy, gave a speech at the laying of the cornerstone for the edifice of Kemper College’s Medical Department (which was actually in St. Louis). His words were noble:

Our motto must be – peace, and to our posts … the wind of persecution may howl a hurricane, and the lightning of malice may fall upon us, but if our good ship be tight and free, our gallant mast may be bent but not broken. And like the proud eagle soaring aloft, she will ride the billow to its top of foam, and glory in the strength that overcomes the storm .

If perhaps a little melodramatic, McDowell’s words would actually prove to be quite accurate. Little did he, the attending trustees, or listening professors know, but the school would face a veritable “hurricane” of adversity. The medical school at the University of Missouri has undergone many changes and has resisted even more.
The school has certainly had a colorful history. Upon hearing about its very founding, let alone the many controversies regarding its rightful location, one might be surprised to know that MU Medical School stands now in Columbia, MO. In spite of such facts, the story of interest isn’t about the location of the school, its curriculum, its many consecutive residency accreditations, or its rank in the nation’s top medical education facilities. Over the years, many great minds have contributed to shaping its future; how these people strove for academic and medical excellence is a wonderful story.

Discussing all of the people involved in making the School of Medicine what it is today is unfeasible in a normal-sized novel and absolutely impossible in a fifteen-page documentary. Firstly, the entire history of the school from its founding to the present spans 150 years. Secondly, considering the time frame in tandem with academia’s dynamic nature, the number of people involved in a narrative history of the school would be massive. Lastly, justice would not be done to many of these people without chapters upon chapters to relate their accomplishments. Even though a short documentary does not have room for the many chapters needed to encompass the lives and careers of these figures, an effective narrative can still be written by focusing on only a few individuals and by supplementing it with sufficient background information.

Many people, including students, professors, deans, doctors, and legislators, have influenced the School of Medicine at Mizzou. It is easy to see how the school could have been directly affected by some of these men and women; for example, Missouri legislators voted for the creation of the school in the mid-nineteenth century. Deans concentrated on improving the school as a whole and appointed leaders who have direct say on decisions for entire departments. On the contrary, professors and students left subtler changes in their wakes, perhaps affecting a course with a question or by writing a new lab manual. Whether they were lasting or short-lived, large or minute, all of the mutations induced by these individuals stayed with the school. Adhering to this line of thought, the stories of three different men at the School of Medicine will be told: that of a professor, a doctor (and student), and a dean.

The School

The School of Medicine had a tumultuous beginning. After the opening of the Medical Department at Kemper College in 1846, there was a period of ten years during which a two-year medical schooling program existed. It was, however, in 1873 that the existing Medical Department was established. M. Pinson Neal, a doctor at MU, would state in 1970 that the school had “a humble infancy” and “a quarrelsome adolescence. ” He describes in the same document that the University of Missouri established its own medical school and offered a two-year degree until 1891, when the program was extended to three years and then subsequently to four years in 1899. Unfortunately, the curriculum was cut to two years again in 1910 due to limited resources and, in spite of an attempt at resurrection in 1931, would last for a long forty-six years.

The University of Missouri was not immune to the Great Depression of the 1930’s, and it almost immediately thwarted the attempt at restoring the third and fourth years at Mizzou. Six students, nicknamed “the Big Six,” did manage to complete their third year at Mizzou, were granted full credit by other schools, and were admitted to these schools as seniors. The push to bring back the two years would be felt into the 1940’s, at which time the country was battling in the war in Europe and Asia.

While the war raged on overseas, there was a smaller one unfolding just west of the Mississippi. The Missouri state legislature nearly did bring the lost two years of the medical curriculum back in 1945, but the plan asserted that the final two years be taught in Kansas City. House Bill No. 138 was written “authorizing and directing” the Curators of MU to carry out this plan. In response to the bill, Guy A. Thompson, a curator of the University at the time, wrote a rebuttal to this bill, implicating that the move to Kansas City would not only be unconstitutional, but would undermine the purpose for which the School of Medicine was created:

I remind you that the major portion of your profession is practicing in urban areas. I remind you that the rural areas are the ones which feel they have been neglected by the medical profession. I remind you that a majority in the House of Representatives in the General Assembly come from the rural areas. I remind you that they must be convinced that any proposed program will solve their problem.

The House decided to reevaluate the proposal, and the two-year program at Kansas City was never created. During this same time, as the war was steadily reaching a climax, thousands of men were working and fighting for the U.S. Government. While many men were leaving the country, a man named Wesley Platner worked as an aquatic biologist for the United State Department of the Interior. Dr. Platner would soon find his way to Columbia, marking an epoch in the history of the University of Missouri.

The Professor

Dr. Wesley Platner came from the northeast of the United States. He was born in Newark, New Jersey and received a Bachelor of Science and a Masters while attending schools in Pennsylvania. He received his Ph.D. in mammalian physiology from MU in 1948 and was shortly thereafter offered a position as an associate professor. He was also a loving husband and father, which is quite evident in the many letters he received over the years while being away from his wife. The letters are so multitudinous that they could probably be used to construct a detailed account of his life of traveling. However, this discussion is about the career of Mary Platner’s “darling Wes” at the University School of Medicine.

A wealth of information about Dr. Platner’s teaching is left in the University Archives at Mizzou; one document in particular is a treasure in this trove. E.K. Leslie sent a questionnaire to the professors at the School on May 1, 1979, which Platner completed. By this time he had already been teaching full-time for 34 years, averaging 10 credit hours per year.

Question four of this survey is perhaps the most significant – it shows that Platner enjoyed teaching. That fact in itself suggests that he was a good teacher, as do his other responses. His answers to questions seventeen and eighteen on the list show that he cared about the success of his students, who benefited from his helpfulness and enthusiasm. On May 2, 1975, a student wrote Platner a letter to thank him for sending a final exam to Kansas City, as the student was not able to sit the test in Columbia. The student also wrote, “…thank you for your assistance to me in during the lecture…your help was valuable in guiding me down the correct paths of thinking.” Interestingly, the survey also shows that Platner felt that research was held in higher regard than teaching and led more often to salary advancement. Did Dr. Platner enjoy his teaching more than his research? The survey does not give a definitive answer, but it does suggest the possibility.

In the 21st century, teachers have access to unlimited amounts of multimedia for use in the classroom; with widespread computer and internet use, educators have little problem obtaining resources to assist them in teaching their courses. Wesley Platner didn’t have that luxury in the late 1950’s. During that period, teachers could request, for a fee, reels from companies who produced educational videos. Essentially, these video reels had to be rented by mail, shipped, and shipped back. Dr. Platner had to deal with this process many times and did not always have success. For example, Dr. Platner sent a letter to Armour Laboratories requesting three films for certain dates. Mary Z. Sanders of Armour’s Audio-Visual department responded thusly: “We have arranged bookings on the dates requested… We suggest that you send in your request well in advance.” The individuals who had reserved the reels for the requested dates had apparently done so more than five weeks in advance. It is interesting to note such day-to-day differences for a teaching professor.

Dr. Platner was also active in creating new courses for the University Honors College; in 1980 he wrote a proposal for a “Physiology of Environment Stress” course. According to a letter from Ted Tarkow, the current Honors College Director, the Honors Council enthusiastically approved the course and believed it contributed to their “top-notch” schedule. A handout from the class lists some of the more major stress factors one can experience. The stressors range from minor violations of the law (lowest), to divorce or death of a spouse (highest).

In addition to being a professor of the School of Medicine, Platner was busy with research. He had already gained research experience while working for the U.S. Government before coming to the School of Medicine. He had tested water for various analytes, such as nitric and sulfuric acid in Roché Perché Creek in Columbia, Missouri, and made evaluations as to whether or not treatment for the water was necessary. At Mizzou, Dr. Platner engaged in animal research, something more related to his specialty in physiology. He believed in animal rights, a concept which not all researchers considered important during this time. The Columbia Missourian featured an interview with Platner about the MU Medical School’s attentiveness to the comfort of their animals; Christine Stevens of the Animal Welfare Institute in New York read the article and praised him in a personally written letter. His research often focused on variations in temperature, including induced hypothermia, and the fluctuation of Magnesium levels in the body.

In 1959, Platner was selected as one of twelve professors from around the world to travel to Buenos Aires and give a lecture at the 21st Annual International Congress of Physiological Sciences. It must have given him and the MU School of Medicine a sense of great pride to have heard the news. His trip was quite an adventure, and he took time to travel around the continent. He recorded many of his experiences on various sheets of paper; it seems he used whatever he could get his hands on. He related his experiences with the non-English-speaking natives, with the cuisine, and other aspects of the culture. On the flight to South America he kept a journal with pieces of notepad paper stapled together. “Venezuela is known for diamonds, gold, and short-lived dictators. I will not bring any of them home,” he quipped in his makeshift diary. He also wrote:

Stewardess served cocktails. Now we were really flying high. See many clouds below and its getting rough. Captain said he was changing to superchargers and noise would be less but can’t notice any difference, better have another cocktail.

Upon his arrival in Rio de Janeiro (one of the connecting cities during his flight), Platner received a personal welcome note from the mayor ; at that moment he must have felt proud that his work had made such an impact on a world-wide scale. Wesley Platner left a legacy of diligence and excellence at the MU School of Medicine, the level of which one would be hard-pressed to attain. Some would arguably do just that.

The Doctor

In 1958, a seven year-old girl named Paula came to the University of Missouri hospital with a seemingly incurable disease. No one expected her to be able to live a normal life; she became short of breath at even the slightest exertion. Paula had hole inside her heart. The wall between her heart’s atria had never been sealed, and now she had an egg-shaped gap which was causing poor circulation throughout her body. The doctors of the hospital surgery department, headed by the young Hugh Stephenson, Jr., had their work cut out for them. But thanks to a new apparatus called the heart-lung machine and this team of surgery professionals, Paula’s heart was repaired. The leader of the team, Hugh Stephenson Jr., was a native of Columbia, Missouri and graduated in 1943 from Missouri University School of Medicine. He would go on to become one of the most influential men in the history of the School.

Dr. Stephenson was, in 1957, the youngest doctor in the United States to be the Chief Surgeon of a University Hospital and chairman of the Department of Surgery in a School of Medicine. Thanks to his intensive research, he made great contributions to the treatment of cardiac arrest. The Missouri Alumnus featured him in an article titled, “More than a Surgeon,” in which they outlined his many achievements:

He designed and developed the first Mobile Cardiac Resuscitation Unit which makes it possible to have at hand all necessary resuscitative material to avoid irreversible brain damages that occur after a four-minute delay in heart stoppage. Dr. Stephenson helped establish the first course in Cardiac Resuscitation… He designed a cardiac defibrillator for shocking the heart, one of the current means of starting heart action after arrest. Royalties go to the University.

Dr. Stephenson was also instrumental in the reinstitution of the four-year program at Mizzou, traveling to over 160 medical institutions worldwide to study their programs. He personally spoke to legislators in the Missouri House of Representatives about the state’s need for a four-year program at the University, and, soon enough, construction began on the new facilities in Columbia.

Such a man might be seen by some as being larger than life or perhaps unapproachable. Indeed, some patients are sometimes afraid to bother their doctors because of a physician’s busy workload. Dr. Stephenson would be on the extreme side of this spectrum; however, many patients wrote personal thank you letters to him. One patient wrote on October 25, 1960:

Two years ago in November I entered the Hospital with infection in ulcers of both legs thinking both legs would have to be amputated … And this year [I] was dismissed, not completely healed but so much better … I will always thank god for the wonderful Dr. at the Medical Center.

Patients also spoke highly of Dr. Stephenson to their other physicians. Dr. Gerard Zauder, D.O. wrote:

This morning I removed the stitches from [your patient] as you directed … His praise of you, your associates, residents, nurses, and hospital personel (sic) was so great and so sincere that I am prompted to add my thanks … I am sure that the anticipated growth … of the University of Missouri Medical Center will be reached with this type of patient care and relation that you fostering; that the University of Missouri Medical Center will find its place among the great medical teaching institutions of the world.

Since retiring after an illustrious career, Hugh Stephenson Jr., MD, BS Med., John Growdon Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Surgery, has become the unofficial MU School of Medicine historian. His book, Aesculapius Was a Mizzou Tiger, contains over 1000 pages of history and photos pertaining to Mizzou’s School of Medicine; Stephenson personally witnessed over fifty years of this history. In fact, Dr. Stephenson spoke highly of one certain man in interviews and in his book. This man was another of Mizzou’s strong leaders, but he was also a compassionate professional.

The Dean

Imagine being a new medical student at Mizzou and attending the White Coat Ceremony, a welcome for future doctors at MU since 1997. A man in a suit and bowtie stands at attention on the stage, but he has a friendly look about him. He greets all of the students personally, making sure that a white lab coat with the proper fit is found for each. This is the man who served as Dean of the University of Missouri School of Medicine for ten years, fourth longest of any Dean in the history of the school, and the man whom Dr. Hugh Stephenson has called “a kind and sensitive human being.” His name is Lester Bryant.

Dr. Lester R. Bryant was a brilliant man. He graduated first in his class at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine in 1955. He served as chief resident surgeon at the school. A Kentucky native, he later received a Doctor of Science degree in surgery from the University of Kentucky and soon became a professor there. He was also active in research, having been cited as author or co-author in over 150 peer-reviewed scientific articles. In addition to giving dozens of lectures about surgery across the globe, he served in various leadership positions in medical education facilities. He accepted the position of Dean at MU School of Medicine in 1989.

One of the things that distinguishes the School of Medicine from nearly any other medical education institution is its unique curriculum. One of the first things Dean Bryant did upon his arrival was to appoint a task force to examine the traditional curriculum. In an interview by the Missouri Medical Review, Bryant says that “[m]ost people who talk about my era at this medical school remember me for coming here and being impolite enough to suggest that this institution had a very good 1960’s medical school curriculum. ” Under Dean Bryant, the new Problem-Based Learning curriculum was established; Mizzou was the first to adopt a curriculum which completely excluded the traditional lecture-based system.

Compared to the traditional lecture-based system of teaching, the School of Medicine’s new method is rather radical. The problem-based learning system gives a small group of students a weekly real-life medical dilemma which they must solve. The idea is to expose students to clinical medicine immediately, as opposed to going straight into the raw science of medicine. The PBL system, in theory, helps prepare students to be doctors from the beginning. Moreover, the system encourages students to be actively thinking. Melissa Threlkeld of the Columbia Missourian compares the students to detectives as she writes:

Stoshski had been a patient before, so his case was familiar. His file indicated he was having difficulty breathing during his stay in the coronary care unit. The attending physician indicated that Stoshski’s chest congestion had gotten worse … With all the information at hand, it was then up to the student sleuths to decide what other tests needed to be ordered for diagnosis and treatment.

In the Columbia Daily Tribune, Janice Winters writes further about the PBL system. She states that “[the] risk has paid off in motivated students, stellar examination scores (unparalleled in MU history) and rejuvenated faculty.”

Establishing the lauded new curriculum was not Bryant’s only commendable labor. He also helped to create the MU Area Health Education Center in 1994, whose Rural Medical Scholars Program is designed to expose medical, nursing, and allied-health students to rural medicine and to encourage them to return there after graduation. The Dean, who was familiar with rural Kentucky, Louisiana, and West Virginia, knew about the struggle to provide quality health care in such areas. He explains that “those of us who become healthcare professionals generally train in an environment where the specialties are represented.” In other words, doctors don’t tend to worry about a broad skill range because they can generally refer patients to the appropriate specialist. In rural areas, doctors don’t have this luxury. Bryant worked to have part of the physician training experience include time in the rural communities of Missouri.

It is interesting to note that not only is Lester Bryant remembered for improving the School of Medicine and University Hospital system, but even more so is he respected for his magnanimous personality. Many have called him a sensitive man, and more still have been surprised by his ability to remember the names of the seemingly endless number of people he has met, thereby conveying an even greater sense of his personable nature. Hugh Stephenson wrote in his history of the Medical School that Dean Bryant had a particular persuasive ability. Bryant was able to persuade Missouri Senator “Kit” Bond to expand the heart surgery program at the Veterans Administration Hospital as well as that of a new ambulatory care facility.

Certainly, there have been many great leaders, including Deans, in the history of the School of Medicine. Today’s dean needs a wide knowledge of the institution and its assets, but also a broad knowledge of medical education in general . Lester Bryant had just that. Although he has retired, moved to North Carolina, and often spends time with his family in Kentucky, the work that Dean Bryant did at Mizzou will not be easily forgotten. Bryant’s face remains in the medical school on a plaque on display next to former deans, and his name lives on in the Lester R. Bryant Auditorium, the current site for the White Coat Ceremony.

Indeed, there have been a great many people who have helped to build the School of Medicine at Mizzou into its current thriving state; for over 150 years these individuals endeavored for excellence and fought to expand the School’s programs and potential. The three men discussed here certainly rank as some of the greatest. In 1854, when the first students of the School of Medicine at MU were attending their graduation, a professor named John Barnes gave an inspiring valedictory speech. He quotes the words of Sydney Smith, a British writer from the early nineteenth century. The words were not only inspiring to the graduates who heard them, but seem to describe those people who came long after the words were spoken – striving for greatness and unrelenting in the face of adversity.

In conclusion, permit me to remark, in the language of one of the brightest spirits of the age, “that the fire of our minds is like the fire which the Persians burn in the mountains – it flames, night and day, and immortal, and not to be quenched!”