Group+6+Wiki


 * __Wiki 5__

Introduction**

If there is one social problem where its effects are only partially seen right now but will have disastrous effects in the next 30-50 years, this problem would be overpopulation of humans on Earth. Webster’s Dictionary defines over population as “the condition of having a population so dense as to cause environmental deterioration, an impaired quality of life, or a population crash” (Webster). This epidemic or problem of overpopulation of humans on earth will soon do just what the definition states. If nothing is done resources will become very limited, quality of life will decrease, and eventually lives could end because of this increase in the costs and competition for resources. By looking at this problem through the eyes of a Structural Functionalist, we will see in their mind how this problem became to be what it is now, what institutions can do to try and solve this problem, and what affects that the actions of institutions will have on the population.


 * Theory**

The Structural Functionalist perspective views society as a vast network of connected parts, each of which helps maintain the system as a whole (class notes 2010). Also the perspective emphasizes that parts of a society are structured to maintain is stability (class notes 2010). These parts can be considered institutions like family, educational system, and government (class notes 2010). These various institutions are supposed to help people adapt to the environment, realize social goals create social cohesion, and maintain cultural patterns. There can be one of three functions for an institution. The first is manifest function, which is the intended result of an action of an institution. The second is latent function, which is an unintended or neutral outcome of an action from an institution. The third is dysfunctions, which are the unintended, negative outcomes that come from institutions(class notes 2010).To look at how overpopulation became a problem in the world, a functionalist would look at how and what institutions have done to increase awareness of overpopulation, trying to slow down the reproduction of the human race, what can be done to reduce the growing population, and how to save the resources that we are using up very quickly. To resolve this problem, action needs to happen. The public needs to be made aware of the situation, the government needs to step in and create ways of slowing down population growth, and humans in general need to be more responsible for their actions. Once these actions are into place a functionalist will look at the positive, negative, and neutral outcomes of the actions.

__**Literature Review**__

Overpopulation, along with any other social problem, you can identify the cause or what brought about this problem, what’s happening and going to happen because of this, and how a functionalist would solve the problem. Benedict Zwane states that overpopulation is " characterized by the inefficency of a given economic system in a given country to sustain a quantity of people" (Zwane). The causes of overpopulation are pretty simple to understand. When a countries birth rate continues to increase, immigration occurs, and people living longer all contribute to overpopulation. Humans are increasing at a rate of 1.18% a year, and around 1% in the U.S.(Earth Island Institute). In the article in Earth Land Institute it states that the economy if directly correlated with the population of a country. For example from the 18th century to the middle of the 20th century there was a huge increase in population on Earth and the economies grew exponentially. This is good until a population outgrows the land it is on, then it becomes a problem. As a result in overpopulation there is a decrease in wages and job stability, and stress put on the government and other institutions to solve the problems that over crowded countries suffer from(Earth Land Institutes). Immigration needs to be cut down drastically and have restrictions on who can and can’t come into a country. 80 years ago the U.S. immigration rate was 200,000 a year, now its right a round a million. This immigrants occupy the land and take jobs from American born citizens. This needs to be cut to help out the U.S. economy and population. The effects from overpopulation will start to been seen in a short amount of time. Ever year China must find new resources for 8 million more people. The U.S. makes up 5% of the worlds population, but use 24% of the worlds energy. Every day the human race burns up energy that took the planet 27 years to create(Earth Land Institute). The U.N. predicts that by 2025 1.8 billion people with be living where water is scarce. The public and world need to start caring about this issue because if this goes unaddressed, humans will destroy them selves. Humans will continue to reproduce, use up resources until competition is fierce, destroy the environment for the need of the growing population, and eventually destroy ourselves. We will reproduce so much that we will destroy the way of life that we live now. There are programs, projects, and institutions that are fighting this problem. Its hard to slow down the increase of humans, but we can save resources and preserve the environment.. A popular, will known campaign to help out the planet is Going Green. Going Green is a way to create awareness of being more eco friendly, saving resources, and by limiting wastes by recycling. Going Green has been sponsored and advertised by companies like ESPN and Walt Disney. The lack of government control over populations has a drastic effect. Very few counties are like China which mandate how many children one can have, most countries don’t have such a thing and that’s why in Africa over the last thirty years the number of malnourished individuals has grown from 80 million to 200 million, and will only continue to get worse(Byrne). Even worse in the 1970's people living in East Germany were paid up to 10,000 dollars if they could produce three children(Byrne). Not a lot is being done to stop humans from reproducing but there are and have been a lot of efforts to save the resources that humans are using up at an alarming rate. Contraception, which would undoubtedly lower the birth rate if readily availabe, is wanted by some 200 million women who dont have access to it (Gribble). This issue needs to be addressed.

A Structural Functionalist would have to look at the government institution as the cause of the problem of overpopulation. At first governments wanted there people to reproduce frequently because the manifest function of this would be a larger nation size, increase in military size, and an increase in economy. The latent function would be a growing number of people occupying the land belonging to the nation. The dysfunction is the overpopulation that results from little or no government control of how many children one can have. However a functionalist would believe that if the government now puts restrictions on population size and immigration there would be much change in society. The manifest function would be a decrease in birth rates, less job competition, less strain put on institutions, decrease in poverty, a rise in economy, and a better quality of living. The latent function would be a decrease in population, consumption of less resources, and government attention could be focused on other issues. However the dysfunctions of these kind of action could led to a revolt by the people for not finding the laws constitutional, the economy could not get any better, if called to war the country would have less people at their disposal, and a decrease in diversity of a country. Regardless of how action is done something needs to happen. Increased awareness and new technology constantly help conserve natural resources but it is up to humans to be responsible for the planet we live on. However it is unlikely that in most countries there will be restrictions put on population size until it poses immediate emanate danger.

__**Solution**__

For the solution too overpopulation we have come up with several ideas or theories on how to solve the problem. Some of them may be irrational or harsh but they are just one possible way to end the problem because no one single method is going to save the world from overpopulation its going to take several ideas. The first idea would address the birth rate in the world. We propose that governments put a higher spending of contraception so it is more available, set up more programs to give contraception to the poor, make a bill or law that all women that are healthy have to been on birth control tell at least 18 too eliminate teen pregnancy and lower birth rate, set up a certain number of children that one women can have and penalize if exceeded this mark, and lower the cost of adoption and abortion. Though these are multiple ideas and some could be hard to come by if put into place there would definitely be an decrease in population size in the long run. The hard part would be joining forces with the government officials to get these laws made. The next solution would be to increase awareness of the amount of resources used by people every day. To do this we would need to set up programs in schools teach students about how to not waste resources, create institutions that fund events of helping out the environment like planting tress, and start limiting how much electricity one can use at a time or any action that prevents selfish acts of wasting resources. As a group by ourselves we cannot do much to stop the world from overpopulating. We cannot start a war to increase death rates, we do not have the power to stop other people from reproducing, and being college students we don't have much say on capital hill. What we can do is watch what resources we do use, join forces with programs that help restore the envrironment, and help create programs that increase awareness of the problem of overpopulation because the first step in any battle against a social issue is to make people aware.


 * Annotated Bibliographies**

Sarah Mies Annotated Bibliography of earthisland.org, Earth Land Institute.

This article’s focus is on how, because of human population growth, the earth is running out of natural resources. The population growth is something that needs to be looked at before we run skim on resources vital survive. Though reducing the population seems necessary in the long run it is feared that if we can somehow reduce the population it would turn the economic world into ciaos because “economic growth to date consist of population growth” (John McNeill). Later on in the article John McNeill states that “population decline would certainly slow the rate of economic growth, but it would not necessarily reduce per capita wealth.” While showing how population decrease could destroy the economic world it also touches base on how too many people in the population can destroy it as well. If you have more people to work that means less amount of wages to be earned. The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is also mentioned. The GDP used to be a very easy way to track how a country’s population is changing; but because of how, in recent years, less and less people are staying in one state, or country their whole lives makes it more difficult to track population growth. According to this article there are two ways to achieve an equilibrium. That is to match high birth rates to high death rates, and to match low birth rates to low death rates. It would “change the demographics of many countries as the ratio of younger people to older people declines.” (Earth Island Institute). The article also thinks that a way to lower population growth is to put emphasis on the value of the good, not the quantity.

Byrne, Donn. "The People Glut: Societal Problems and the Sexual Behavior of Individuals." //Journal of Sex Research// 15.1 (1979): 1-5. //Academic Search Premier//. EBSCO. Web. 29 Apr. 2010. By Andrew Leathers There are many problems when we start to think about overpopulation: “energy, foot jobs, the cost of living, crime, housing, and the ‘quality of life’” (Byrne 1). Only 9000 years ago the entire world population of 5 million could all live comfortably in today’s Chicago, and it wasn’t until 1800 that the 1 billion mark was met. At the current growth rates the population doubles every 35 years, which means in the year 2011 the world population will be eight billion. If we don’t change out procreative habits, in the year 2310 there will be 4 trillion humans and in 6,000 years there will be so many people that every piece of matter in the world will consist of human flesh. One of the main problems that are contributing to overpopulation is when countries such as East Germany pay families for having kids. As of 1978, East Germany was paying families 1000 dollars for their first kid, 1500 for the second kid and 10,000 for the third kid and each kid after that. There is a much greater problem that contributes to this overpopulation. Different ethnic groups such as Muslims, Jews, African Americans, and Hispanics, despise population control because they think it was inspired by a different ethnicity. The Jewish Population Regeneration Unit was organized in New York City to urge each couple of the Jewish faith to produce 4 or more offspring. The World Moslem League believes that birth control was invented by the enemies of Islam. Blacks in the US stray away from family planning centers as a white-inspired attempt to maintain mainstream ideals and hence political dominance.

Josh Burgoon Annotated Bib Overpopulation is in some eyes seen as a creation of, in most cases, white oppressive groups who are looking to seize and control populations of larger countries. For instance a place like Botswana with a surface area of 222,000 square miles and a population of 671,893 is seen as overpopulated but England with an area of 94,216 and a population of 55,347,000 isn’t considered to be overpopulated. Obviously somewhere there has been a stigma put on what is considered overpopulated and what is not. Then there is the definition that links a countries ability to provide for a certain population economically. The theory is that the more people that the country cannot care for economically the more overcrowded the country must be. Generally the economic inability to provide for its population is linked with a nations ability to provide food for those people. This also could lead someone to link overpopulation with a countries inability to grow food for its people. As you can see the true definition of what overpopulation really is has been skewed. This also begins to separate the social classes. Populations that are seen as wealthy nations are almost never seen as overpopulated whereas nations who are seen as third world are often times always seen as overpopulated.

Articles

Sarah-http://www.earthisland.org/journal/index.php/eij/article/hold_steady/

Josh- http://www.jstor.org/stable/2934895?&Search=yes&term=overpopulation&list=hide&searchUri=%2Faction%2FdoBasicSearch%3FQuery%3Doverpopulation%26wc%3Don%26dc%3DAll%2BDisciplines&item=3&ttl=2654&returnArticleService=showArticle

Andrew- http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?vid=7&hid=119&sid=b0f413a1-b945-4660-bb6d-397b30cdc869%40sessionmgr104&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=aph&AN=5692821

Dylan-http://www.prb.org/Publications/PolicyBriefs/contraceptives.aspx **//__Contraceptive Use Across the World__//** There are five major upsides to contraceptives: “they let women choose when they actually want to have a child, save money in the long run, prevent unintended pregnancies, avert maternal and child deaths, and prevent abortions.” There are still over 200 million women in the world that do not use contraceptives. The explanation for this is simply lack of knowledge. If a woman is born into a family in the middle of Africa she is obviously not going to learn about the difference between protected and unprotected sex. Researchers however are working on alternate methods to improve availability and affordability of contraceptives that should be available within the next five years. Another reason some people may not use contraceptives is because of their religion. For example, according to the Catholic religion the only reason to have sex is to produce an offspring, so contraceptives would be unnecessary and pointless. I believe that majority of young Catholics today are not aware of this. I believe that they just believe the idea of using contraceptives is a sin, not having non pro-creation sex. This is a problem, for this could possibly lead to more pregnancies because the young Catholics would engage in unprotected sex thinking that it was fine if they did not use a contraceptive. The source of this problem among young Catholics is still the lack of knowledge about contraceptive use, just in terms of the bible. The young Catholics are not aware of why they should not use them, so they simply just do not use them. The reason they do not use them is because they do not want to sin, but the reality of it is that the sin is actually having sex while not attempting to conceive a child.


 * ​WIKI 3

Introduction: **What exactly is the American Dream and who does it apply too, can be asked by many Americans and non-Americans. The American Dream is derived from democratic ideology in which there is a promise of a prosper and richer life for its people. This is no doubt some of the thinking our forefathers used, came from this ideology when writing the Declaration of Independence, because the second sentence states “ all men are created equal” and that “they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights including… Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." The best definition of the American Dream. was created by American writer James Truslow Adams, and it states that “The American Dream is that dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for every man, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement“. How long and easy it takes to reach this dream differs from person to person but it can be obtainable to everyone. Age, gender, race, wealth status, and education all play major factors in the achievement of the dream, and for some the dream will never be obtained. Poverty and inequality amongst people have stricken numerous Americans through out history and will continue into the future. By looking at this problem from the perspective of the Structural Functionalist we will determine if the American Dream is equally available to all Americans..

__**Theory**__

The Structural Functionalist perspective views society as a vast network of connected parts, each of which helps maintain the system as a whole (class notes 2010). Also the perspective emphasizes that parts of a society are structured to maintain is stability (class notes 2010). These parts can be considered institutions like family, educational system, and the economy (class notes 2010). These various institutions are supposed to help people adapt to the environment, realize social goals create social cohesion, and maintain cultural patterns. There can be one of three functions for an institution. The first is manifest function, which is the intended result of an action of an institution. The second is latent function, which is an unintended or neutral outcome of an action from an institution. The third is dysfunctions, which are the unintended, negative outcomes that come from institutions. How these varying institutions contribute to the life of an individual could be a major factor in the success or downfall of an individual. In relation to the American Dream a structural functionalist would look at institutions and how they affect several attributes of a person so see how obtainable this dream is. These attributes include wealth of the family you are born into, social status, amount and quality of education an individual receives, education of the parents, family life at home, and how the economy and government affect ones life.

__**Literature Review**__

How equally people see each other can depend on someone’s status. An individuals status “is influenced simultaneously by race, gender, parents’ status, occupation, wealth, education, and other characteristics; these are largely inseparable in experience” (Jackson 60). When the Europeans migrated to America, they were in search of equal opportunity and creating a land of the freedom for all of the inhabitants. After a few hundred years in America the concept equality and inequality were defined and put to use by enlightenmentalists like Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, and Jean-Jacques Rousseau, when they started blaming inequality on social institutions, other than the fact of life (Jackson 60). With the changes in the economy and varying wealth distribution among individuals, the equality of individuals started to be more present. The wealthy lived and socialized with and only the wealthy and the poor did the same with the poor, because they can find more in common with each other and talk about how their advantages are good and their disadvantages are unfair(Jackson 60). There are two different types of inequalities, inequalities of positions and inequalities of individuals. “We may perceive inequality among individuals or organizations; among segments of a population, such as ethnicities or those in rural versus urban areas; among positions, such as occupations or locations in a hierarchy; and among nations” (Jackson 59). Structures of inequality endure when social mechanisms ensure that each new generation replenishes the full range of positions vacated as older generations die. In contrast, mechanisms of social exclusion, discrimination, and culturally sustained hostilities are more important in the preservation of status inequalities like race. Gender inequality and racial inequality have different relationships to structures of positional inequality. An end to gender discrimination would mean that women could, in theory, get equal access to the privileges of class in just one generation. But if racial barriers were similarly removed, a group concentrated toward the bottom of the hierarchy, like African Americans in the United States, would still have formidable economic obstacles to overcome. They would be burdened by the weight of class inequality. A structural Functionalist would point to the fact on how institutions shaped the events that lead to this separation of social status and equalities. The poor cannot receive and education and continue to stay poor, while the rich continue to live the life of luxury. Also a Structural Functionalist would look and see how institutions affect wealth, unemployment, wages, and poverty in the United States. The distribution of wealth in this country shows why there are inequalities and injustices happening everyday. The top 20% of Americans control 57% of the wealth in this country, and when comparing the top10% to bottom 90% its 46% of the wealth versus 54% of the wealth respectively (wiki worksheet). This has not just been a problem in the last decade, its been this way for the last 40 years. Over the last 40 years the income and wealth of the top 10% has increased and the wealth and income of the bottom 90% has decreased. Unemployment can be a contributing factor to this statistic (wiki worksheet). Over the last 40 years rates of unemployment have risen and fallen and are currently at one of the highest points in the last 40 years. Blacks and Hispanics face higher unemployment than whites and men face higher rates then women (wiki worksheet). A third factor contributing to the distribution of wealth in this country is the wages Americans are paid. Currently only 28% of Americans possess good jobs, and the minimum wage in this country is just enough to survive (wiki worksheet). Though education is a major contributor to the wage an individual receives, race and gender can also play a part in the amount an individual earns. The wages one earns can directly determine if they will live in poverty or above the line. When we think of poverty we may think of the person on the side of the street asking for money, or rural countries where most of the citizens have little money. What we don’t realize is that poverty is very common in America, and most people will fall into poverty at least once. Depending on age, race, gender, family status, community of residence, education, work skills, and physical disabilities 11-15% of Americans have lived below the poverty line (Rank). Usually these short spurts of poverty are caused by loss of job and its pay or change in family situations such as divorce. By the age of 30 the number of adults who have been in poverty for at least a year pops is 27%, and by the age of 50 it jumps up to 42% (Rank). not being prepared for “unanticipated” events such as unexpected medical attention, little government help for those in financial trouble, and that there are not enough high paying jobs and not enough jobs in general are just three factors contributing to poverty in the United States (Rank). The United States has a 17% poverty rate on the world scale right now and its only getting worse. Blacks and Hispanics have higher poverty rates then whites but never the less; poverty is still a very prevalent issue in the U.S. The big question is inequality necessary for a country to survive or should it try to be removed. A number social scientists, or Utopian novelists, say yes inequality is needed for things to run smoothly in our lives. “The similarities in inequality across nations do suggest that similar causal processes are at work, as well as diffusion and borrowing, but they do not offer support for the mechanism that Davis and Moore suggest—the need to offer unequal rewards to allocate people to functional positions” (Jackson 61). Other people say that American needs to adopt the practice of European countries where the government and other institutions provide a number of services and have anti-poverty programs in place. America does have some programs like welfare and food stamps, but it still seems like it is not enough. Regardless despite what America does or any European country poverty is still going to be an issue along with a number of other things that trouble societies.

__**Methods**__

When all the research had been collected and all the articles read and interpreted in the perspective of a Structural Functionalist. We examined in the United States the distribution of wealth, unemployment rates, wages, and poverty. Also read an analyzed two articles about the inequality and equality in the U.S. and the other describing the amount of poverty in the U.S. From all this data we determined that because of the wealth distribution, discrimination among race and gender in the job market, and the effect that institutions have on citizens that our hypothesis is that the American Dream is not equally available to all citizens. A Structural Functionalist points at institutions has the backbone for society, keeps things running smoothly, and responsible for any change. For this research the independent variable are the institutions, and how they run and operate. The dependent variable is the resulting effects from the actions of the institutions like the poverty and unemployment rate. //Hypothesis// : The American dream is not equally available to all American citizens __**Results**__

In our research, looking through the perspective of the Structural-Functionalist, we found information on regarding the plausibility of the American Dream being equally obtainable for each American citizen. The wealth distribution in this country is completely skewed. Through out history the wealthy only get more wealthy and the less fortunate become even more less fortune. With the poor staying poor, through out time their accessibility towards resources like an education, money, and a stable life become diminished. The poor are not the only ones affected by the American workforce. There is plenty of discrimination among race and gender as well. Historically out of blacks, Hispanics and whites, whites have had the lowest unemployment rate followed by Hispanics and then blacks. According to the Devah Paper and white man with a criminal record is more likely to be hired then a black man with out one which is a shocking statistic in itself. In the workforce women are more likely to be hired then men, which shows a small form of gender discrimination in the workforce. Throughout the last forty years the unemployment rate has been as low as 4.9% in 1970 to currently, as of 2010, at an all time high of 9.3% but this is due to the recession (wiki worksheet). Even though the U.S. is currently in a recession that is still an alarming amount of Americans unemployed. The amount of jobs available to the amount of people that need them has also risen in the last ten years, which it is currently at 6:1 (wiki worksheet). Looking through the eyes of a Structural-Functionalist what should be done? There needs to be changes made in the institutions that make life better for those in poverty, provide better education for those who are in need, create equal opportunity for the good jobs, change the cultural of the work place, and new programs made for individuals in need. Also some institutions just need to be strengthened like supporting families in need, charities, and other programs that are struggling to survive. Without any changes the trend will continue, which is that the American Dream is not equally available to all citizens. The dream is not reachable due to factors that include race, gender, education level, and social status. Although with the certain determination, hard work, and right opportunity given the American Dream can be reached by a less fortune individual. It is not impossible for anyone to get what they want, there are just a number road blocks, some more than others, that anyone individual can face depending on there individual circumstances. From all the research we have come to determine that with out a change in the institutions like family, schools, economy, and the work place that the American Dream will not be accessible to all citizens.



__**Annotated Bibliography**__

Jackson, Robert Max. (2007). “Keyword: Inequalities” Contexts. American Sociological Association by Andrew Leathers ** Main question ** Why are there inequalities? How do they affect our daily lives? ** Findings ** As humans, we recognize both inequalities and equalities. Inequalities and equalities are established when we see that another person has less or more opportunity as us, how people are treated, and “… some have less desirable lives that we pity, but others we envy” (Jackson 59). Equality established its modern concept in the 17th and 18th centuries when three men produced laws of order based on equality. Using enlightenment ideas from Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, and Jean-Jacques Rousseau, people started blaming inequality on social institutions other than the fact of life. Our ideas of inequality and equality come from our experiences of it and our efforts to understand it. All people encounter inequality every day. Although we all experience inequality, the meaning and understanding of that are different according to our status. “A person’s status is influenced simultaneously by race, gender, parents’ status, occupation, wealth, education, and other characteristics; these are largely inseparable in experience” (Jackson 60). People of the similar status tend to have more contact, treating each other equally and creating their own worldview understanding. This is because they can find more in common with each other and talk about how their advantages are good and their disadvantages are unfair. “People of similar economic status share neighborhoods, schools, colleges, houses of worship, and places of recreation such as parks or bars” (Jackson 59). This shows that people with the same social and economic status stick together. “…gender or racial inequality may contribute to or mask economic Inequality” (Jackson 60). The article also says that “ Inequality divides us into separate nations or communities; we generally accept the boundaries as simple, obvious, and unchangeable” (Jackson 59). There are two different types of inequalities, inequalities of positions and inequalities of individuals. “We may perceive inequality among individuals or organizations; among segments of a population, such as ethnicities or those in rural versus urban areas; among positions, such as occupations or locations in a hierarchy; and among nations” (Jackson 59). Occupations or ranks of wealth can be social locations that are considered positions. “The varied systems of inequality that social theorists identify are often hard to distinguish clearly in real life because they all are at work at the same time, often mixed together” (Jackson 60). Structures of inequality endure when social mechanisms ensure that each new generation replenishes the full range of positions vacated as older generations die. In contrast, mechanisms of social exclusion, discrimination, and culturally sustained hostilities are more important in the preservation of status inequalities like race. Gender inequality and racial inequality have different relationships to structures of positional inequality. An end to gender discrimination would mean that women could, in theory, get equal access to the privileges of class in just one generation. But if racial barriers were similarly removed, a group concentrated toward the bottom of the hierarchy, like African Americans in the United States, would still have formidable economic obstacles to overcome. They would be burdened by the weight of class inequality. Transforming tension between resistance and discipline from isolated individual actions into organized struggle is one of the most asked questions. For this to happen, “…the disadvantaged must have sufficient resources and freedom to organize themselves; they must embrace an ideology that declares inequality unnecessary and unjust and suggests that overcoming it is a practicable strategy; they must accept a common identity; and they must believe that collective struggle is a more promising or more noble strategy than personal advancement. Most social scientists, or utopian novelists, ask the question, is inequality necessary? The answer to this is yes. Inequality is needed for things to run smoothly in our lives. “The similarities in inequality across nations do suggest that similar causal processes are at work, as well as diffusion and borrowing, but they do not offer support for the mechanism that Davis and Moore suggest—the need to offer unequal rewards to allocate people to functional positions” (Jackson 61).
 * __Inequalities__**

Annotated bibliography of “As American as Apple Pie” By Sarah Mies Depending on age, race, gender, family status, community of residence, education, work skills, and physical disabilities 11-15% of Americans have lived below the poverty line. By following particular families it is shows that most people are below the poverty line for only a short time. Usually these short spurts of poverty are caused by loss of job and its pay or change in family situations such as divorce. By the age of 30 the number of adults who have been in poverty for at least a year pops up to 27%, by the age of 50 it jumps up to 42% and a shocking 68% of people live close to the poverty for at least a year. The first reason for risk of poverty mentioned in this article is not being prepared for “unanticipated” events such as unexpected medical attention. The second reason being little government help for those in financial trouble. The third and final reason is not enough high paying jobs and not having enough jobs in general.
 * Main Questions:** How likely is it for Americans today to fall into poverty? How is the risk of poverty so high?
 * Main Findings:** For many people poverty seems like something that isn’t a dominant commonality in America. When we think of poverty we may think of the person on the side of the street asking for money, or rural countries where most of the citizens have little money. What we don’t realize is that poverty is very common in America, and most people will fall into poverty at least once. This article shows the statistics of adults who fall into poverty and why the number of unemployed is so high.

Annotated bibliography of "unemployment" by Dylan Meisenheimer **// __Unemployment__ //** When examining employment rates of America’s population and labor force from 1970 to now it is clear that the percentage of the population that joined the civilian labor force has increased. This sounds like a good statistic, however, in 1970 the percentage of unemployed people in the labor force was 4.9% compared to 2009 in which 9.3% of people were unemployed. Although the percentage went up while comparing these two years, the percentage of unemployed people in the labor force was inconsistent if an individual were to examine the percentages year by year. There’s no question about whether or not the unemployment rates from February 2009 to February 2010 increased or decreased. The rates averaged an increase of about 2% in every social class. The most dramatic increase though came within male, African-Americans that were either divorced, separated, or widowed, in which they had an increase of 6.65%. The only decreases in unemployment rates from 2009 to 2010 came with Hispanics. In fact, male Hispanic rates decreased a whole two percent. In December 2009, the amount of job seekers per job was slightly over six. This is clearly a problem because out of those six openings, only one of those people will get the job leaving the other five jobless. In December 2000, the amount of job seekers per job was just above one. After 2000 the amount of job seekers rose to three per job by 2003 before decreasing back down below two between 2006 and 2007. After 2007 however, the amount of job seekers climbed until its peak in 2009. The unemployment rates are higher compared to those of the peak rates of the 1980’s regardless of education. The rates are obviously higher for individuals lacking a high school education, but only 10% higher than individuals who have a college degree. The lowest change since the peak of the 1980’s came with individuals with a college degree. I believe the reason for this is because as time elapsed, the importance of a college degree increased dramatically so more people started to earn degrees. If two people are applying for a job and one possesses a degree and the other one only has a high school diploma, then the person with the degree is going to get the job. It is almost impossible to get a high-paying job now without some kind of post-high school education. When looking back at unemployment trends, it is clear that there are more black people unemployed than any other race. I do not see this as a problem but merely a “still-developing” social class. African-Americans have not had the same rights that whites have had until the 1960’s one might argue. I believe that eventually they will catch up to white people but they do not need help from the government. For example, affirmative action was designed to improve working statuses among minorities. I do not agree with this policy because I believe that jobs should be given out according to credentials and talents, not to balance out minorities in the work force.

Poverty By Josh Burgoon Poverty has been a problem not just for the United States but for the world since 2000. The United States has struggled more than other countries that are not seen as nations of poverty. The United States has a 17% poverty rate on the world scale. Ireland also has a high poverty rate with 16.5%. There are many countries that have high rates of poverty among children. This is exceptionally disappointing when children are not capable of standard living conditions. France, New Zealand, and the United States have the highest poverty rates while Switzerland and the Netherlands have the lowest. We also can look at poverty from a race perspective. Studies show us that African Americans as well as Hispanic Americans show a much higher rate of poverty than whites do. The African American poverty rate climbed as high as 35% at one point. This is opposed to 10% being the highest the white poverty line has climbed. We can also look at poverty from a economic standpoint. A single mother working two jobs at $8 an hour can expect to be in debt up to $17,000 dollars at the end of the year with yearly living expenses and taxes. This is a key contributor to poverty among single parent mothers. Overall poverty is a very serious issue in our world that can be found to stem from many sociological issues.


 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">

__WIKI 2 Introduction__ ****<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 10pt;">__:__ **

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">A growing problem that is sometimes overlooked and is now an epidemic is obesity. Obesity is a medical condition in which excess body fat as accumulated to the extent that it may have an adverse effect on health, leading to reduced expectancy of life and increased health problems. Obesity rates in the United states among adults and children has doubled and tripled respectively in the last thirty years (CDC). With obesity being the second leading preventable cause of death next to smoking(Obesity epidemic in US), there is a reason why it is such a big issue in the United States. Being that it is a problem all over the country, it is a problem in many towns and cities like Atchison, KS. Atchison is a city in northeastern Kansas that borders the Missouri River and has a population of around 10,000. Obesity in Atchison has become an issue with all the poor eating habits and lack of physical activity. For this research project we are given the problem: How can Atchison, KS address its growing obesity epidemic? We are given a perspective on how this problem came to be and are asked to come up with ideas on how to slow down or put an end to this epidemic. Our given perspective is symbolic interactionism.

<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;"> Using the perspective of symbolic interactionism, and applying it to the epidemic of obesity, you have to examine several factors. These factors include: how symbols affect what, where, why, and how we eat, how symbols affect exercise, symbols that the media put on society, and the symbols that we put on ourselves. When choosing what kind of food or how much of something, there are always symbols associated with it. Is if full or carbs, full of protein, low fat, good for you, bad for you, one hundred percent organic, or deep fried fast food. Various foods are associated symbolically different with different people. For example look as food from McDonalds. Middle aged people see it as the worst thing you can eat, teenagers see at as something quick that taste good, children see it as a special occasion because a toy usually comes along with there meal, and lower class people see it as cheap food that they can put on the table. So to different people McDonalds has a different symbolic meaning behind it and the same is true for all kinds of food it is how people are who they are. Never the less the symbolicness plays a key role in the eating habits of Americans which correlates to the weight of Americans. The way we as Americans stay fit or become fit has symbols behind it as well. Whether you are on a team, wanting to join a team, member or a gym, wanting to become a member, or don’t do anything there is a symbolic reason behind your decision, and your level of fitness is affected. If you are apart of a sports team or are joining its probably because you like the sport and want to compete, not to get in shape. That is just a result. Same for being the member of a gym its because you like exercising and staying in shape, or you are unhappy with your appearance. Regardless there is a reason for a decision. If you don’t exercise then you have your own reasons as well. The symbol of exercise, gyms, sports, and doing nothing, has different connotations to different people but most of America has a huge infatuation with appearance and exercise is a big factor which can be a major praventer of obesity. Also the costs of all of this puts a lot of pressure on people because they cannot afford a gym or to put there child in sports, which in turn will have a negative effect on ones health. The symbols the media the puts on society has an affect on the obesity in America. The constant commercials for food that is over portioned, has multiple chemicals, and high level of fat content is being advertised to Americans daily. Also usually on TV, in magazines, and in movies the people are models and that can put pressure and cause negative affects on peoples thoughts because they will never look like that and they eat there pain away. With all these factors in mind all our choices in life that relate directly to our eating and exercising have a greater significance to the choice which in turn has an affect on whether most Americans are obese or not. So to say that symbols affect the human diet and level of fitness is a justifiable accusation.
 * <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">__Theory:__ **

In the last thirty years research has shown that obesity has become an epidemic. The rates of obesity have double since the 1970’s says the article “The obesity in the US….a systematic review". Which is a major concern among Americans considering the death rates from obesity has increased and the increase in health care for obesity has increased as well ( CDC). The food we choose to eat and how much of it is a concern among Americans. When the price of healthy food went up, only the wealthy could afford to eat healthy. Economics first law of demand implies that a decrease in the price of food will cause consumption to increase” (Finkelstein 244). The price of healthy foods went up so much that they never were purchased by the consumer, therefore, they stopped making many of them. With the more healthy food available and at a cheaper costs would make it more possible to eat healthy. There is obesity in this country because we are obsessed with eating large amounts of unhealthy food, lack of commitment to exercise, and the unwillingness to commit to a healthy lifestyle (CDC). Programs are being planned in individual states to make awareness about this problem to the youth as well as adults (CDC). The best way to prevent this epidemic is to get all the facts out, like in these articles, and create opportunities to help slow this problem down and hope people make the change in their life.
 * Literature Review: **

**__Hypothesis:__** The way food and exercise is symbolized by the general public in Atchison has a direct correlation with obesity and therefore the general health of the city. The independent variable would be how the people of Atchison view food and exercise, and the dependent variable would be the overall health of the city and the people as individuals. In order to perform this experiment and collect this information several things could happen to test this theory. We could open up a free gym for a month and see the number of members that attended, close all the fast foods restaurants for a time period, not show commercials of unhealthy food, lower the cost of healthy and organic food, observe people based on their economic status and see what they and if they exercise, and implement different programs that increase fitness and promote healthy eating in schools. There are numerous ways of collecting data for this but any of the ways listed we would have to employ the idea for research and collect the data.
 * __Methods__**

Annotated Bibliography Article one Andrew and Dylan Pages 1 through 11 are about the main causes of obesity in the United States. Three of the main causes of obesity are Increase of healthy food prices and decrease of unhealthy, packaged foods, the change in technology, and reductions in energy expenditure. When the price of healthy food went up, only the wealthy could afford to eat healthily. “Economics first law of demand implies that a decrease in the price of food will cause consumption to increase” (Finkelstein 244). The price of healthy foods went up so much that they never were purchased by the consumer, therefore, they stopped making as many of them. Technology has affected the obesity of Americans drastically as well. Fast food restaurants all have drive through windows and it makes getting food easy and convenient for people. Healthy places to eat all take a longer time to prepare the food than fast food so they are unable to have drive through’s. Energy expenditure is another reason that America is obese. When factories and businesses all got machines that did a man’s work twice as fast and just as good, people started getting lazy and not doing as much physical activity as they used to. “…the portion of homes with washing machines and dishwashers rose from 55%to 77%and from 7%to 43%, respectively, between 1960 and 1979, but only slightly further to 79% and 54%, respectively, by 2001” (Finkelstein 241). Pages 11-22 are about the effects of obesity on the amount of income an idividual makes. According to “Pagan & Davila (52) the average obese woman are found far more in low-paying jobs than in high paying jobs. (Haskins & Ransford (36)) took information from an aerospace industry employer and found out that 65% of normal-weight women are in high-paying jobs compared to the mere 39% of overweight women. (Sarlio- Lahteenkorva et al 64) reports that obese women are 2.5 times more likely to be unemployed for an extended period of time than normal-weight women. After eight studies were done using information from NLSY they were still unable to figure out the effects of weight on wages. However, (Gortmaker et al 28)focused on obesity furing adolescence and found out that female adolescents that are obese have a 22% lower income than normal weighted woman seven years following adolescence. These results may vary according to race. According to studies done by (Averett & Korenman 4 ) white women that are obese earn 17% less income than those that are not obese. There was no effect on black women however. When (Averett & Korenman 3) studied the effects of obese adolescents seven years later they found that men who were obese have 9% lower income than normal-weight males.
 * Finklestein, Eric A, Christohper J. Ruhm, and Katherine M. Kosa. “Economic Causes and consequences of Obesity. Annual Review of Public Health.” (2005) **

The Reading suggests that technology may play a major role in obesity. Advancements allow us to do the same amount of work with less effort. Obesity is responsible for causing total annual medical ezpenditures to total $139 billion per year. Many people who have maintained a healthy lifestyle in the past find it hard to stay healthy in today’s society. In today’s society it is cheaper to lead a non-healthy lifestyle due to time, money, and opportunity costs. The reading talks about one of the factors of obesity is lack of self control. People want to live healthier but actually fail to follow through. Americans spend on average more than $40 million a year on diet foods. One suggestion on fighting obesity is limiting food portions.

Josh Burgoon and Aaron Kranz annotated bibiolography of article two “**The obesity epidemic in the U.S : Gender, age, socioeconomic, racial/ethnic, geographic character: A systematic review and meta research analysis”.**

,The National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) provide comparative descriptions of the current situation of obesity based on gender, age, socioeconomic status, and race. These surveys are self-reported surveys and are often biased. This skews the numbers up to 9.5%. The World Health Organization defines “obesity” as the condition of excess body fat to the extent that health is impaired. There are ways of determining obesity such as BMI or body mass indication as well as waist circumference. In some surveys of men and women 20 years old and older approximately 66.3% were determined to be overweight or obese. In a survey of people 60 years and older approximately more than 70% were considered overweight or obese. Overall there are more overweight or obese men than there are women. All of the predominant races were surveyed to compare obesity rates. Asians were determined to be the least obese of any race. Asian Americans are half as likely to be overweight or obese. A cross test was done that determined that an Asian who was born in the United States was 5 times as likely to be overweight or obese than an Asian who was foreign born. Association between Social Economic Status or SES and obesity varied among races and gender. SES effects obesity in body image, life style, and social and physical environments. If someone has less than a high school education then obesity is more prevalent. Among African American men, obesity increased at a faster rate for the mid to high SES groups than the low. We also see obesity become more of a problem for certain regions. For example the south has the highest prevalence of obesity in the United States. Between 1971-1974 and 1999-2002 on average U.S. children and adolescents BMI increased by 1.4 and 2 points for boys and girls. What this statement says that over the last thirty years young people in the U.S. have become more and more over weight, and the risk of them becoming overweight has increased 30%. There are also considerable racial/ethnic disparities in obesity among the U.S. Between races Asians are the least obese followed by Hispanics, whites, blacks, and native Americans. Studies have shown that in the last thirty years that between blacks, Asians, and whites on average the obesity rates have doubled from 15% to 30%. In general, Mexicans are more obese then blacks who are more obese then whites. People with a higher SES had lower BMI then those who are lower in SES because of their financial situation. Black women have the worst obesity problem in the country. In the next five years 86% of black women are going to be overweight. Where people live also can be a factor in the weight of a person. There is only a slight difference between urban and rural settings. In urban settings young people are more likely to be overweight and in rural settings older people are more likely to be overweight. The US in general is an obesagenic society which means we are supposed to take in lots of energy and put out low amounts of energy. One reason why this is a problem is because portion and composition of the food is out of control. People are going to supermarkets over grocery stores, gyms are too expensive, and schools need to help more. The problem of obesity is not just localized to one race or group of people but it’s a problem for the whole country. It is an epidemic that with planning and prevention and be stopped.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">Aaron Kranz annotated bibliography of article number three: **Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 2009**. “Obesity: halting the epidemic by making healthy eating easier“.

1. The main problem 2. How to solve the problem 3. How this relates to the research.

1. In the last thirty years in the United states there has been a huge increase in obesity in both adults and children, so much that it has been declared an epidemic. Between adults and children the rates of obesity have double and tripled in the last thirty years respectively(33% for adults and 16% for children). From this dramatic increase in obesity, new alarming health problems are rising, especially in children and therefore health care costs have spiked.

2. The Center for Disease Control or CDC, is developing new programs for the United states as a whole, as well as different programs for different states to reduce obesity and its problems. To solve the obesity problem the CDC is trying to encourage physical activity and healthy eating habits. Also the CDC is providing technological and leadership assistance to states to develop detailed plans, by identifying problems and stopping them. The CDC has seen that there plan has been working with no significant increase in obesity in the last eight years. With the partnership of multiple organizations and programs, the CDC will continue to fight obesity especially in children, until the problem subsides and this country is healthy again.

3. This article has direct correlation with the research we are doing. In trying to identify the problems with obesity in the United states and finding solutions for them, we can take what the CDC did for the U.S. and apply that to trying to solve the obesity problem in Atchison, KS. Atchison, like most other cities has an overweight problem among its inhabitants and it needs to be addressed. A solution needs to be developed that is feasible for the city of Atchison to implement into the people so obesity will be stopped.

Sarah Mies


 * Laura Kettle Khan et al. Recommended Community Strategies and Measures to Prevent Obesity in the United States. 2009. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report** 58: RR-7

How can environments/communities change towards promote a healthy lifestyle and what strategies and plans can help prevent obesity?
 * The Main Question: **

This reading is about the Common Community Measures for Obesity Prevention Project Team’s 24 strategies can help prevent obesity. These 24 strategies were separated into 3 sections: 1. “Strategies to promote the availability of affordable healthy food and beverages” a. In this section all of the strategies suggested that more amounts of healthy foods and beverages should be available to the public. Meaning more healthy choices in school cafeterias, more affordable healthy foods, more supermarkets in underserved communities and the encouragement of local farms. 2. “Strategies to support healthy food and beverage choices” a. This section focuses on restricting the availability of less healthy food and beverages, smaller portions of meals, limitations on unhealthy advertisements that are focused on children and teen audiences, and discouraging children and teens to reduce their sugar-sweetened beverage consumption. 3. “Strategies to encourage physical activities or limit secondary activity among children and youth a. This section talks about how physical education, an increase of activity in PE programs, the ability to workout in safe, easy, and accessible areas, and reducing television watching in public areas (such as day cares) is important to obesity prevention
 * Findings: **

This article relates to preventing obesity in Atchison because the article is directed towards preventing obesity in communities. All of the strategies in this reading could prove useful to reducing obesity in Atchison.
 * How it Relates: **