Laura

Yogurt dates back to 3,200 years before Christ.  It originated in the Middle East to preserve milk.  Today people eat yogurt mainly because it tastes good.  Most people would not eat yogurt if they knew that it contained bacteria.  A bacterium is viewed as a bad thing that we try to avoid as much as possible.  However, it has been proven that the bacteria found in yogurt do have many health benefits.  Yogurt is proven to prevent and/or treat the following:  HIV infections, yeast infections, diarrhea, rotavirus (a viral infection), eczema (flare ups were reduced within one month), protects the heart, normalizes blood pressure, lower LDL cholesterol, decrease carcinogens (in other words, prevents cancer), and MAY help with digestion.

Yogurt companies have been targeting consumers by promoting the yogurts ability to help the digestive system and promote regularity.  Most yogurt companies say that their product “MAY help with digestion.”  The truth is that yogurt only helps the digestive system in people that are lactose intolerant (people that lack an enzyme that helps them to break down milk sugars). 

A bacterium found in yogurt is good for you and does have many health benefits.  Yogurt MAY help your digestive system, but then again it MAY NOT help.  Over all, yogurt is good for you whether you have digestive problems or not you should be eating yogurt.  Not all bacteria are bad for you, so eat up!

Public Relations (PR) has been around for a long time; so long that the exact date cannot be found.  Public relations is the relationship between an organization and the public.  Public relations is not advertising.  People criticize Public relations, because some people think that public relations is dishonest.  Public relations uses sneaky tactics to get the publics opinion and give them exactly what they want by using spies and wording that is what the public wants to hear, but may not necessarily be the truth. 

Although public relations is not always completely honest (or at least they do not tell the whole truth), jobs in the public relations field is growing at a rapid rate.  Today 500,000 people are employed by public relations firms throughout America.  Most of public relations handle celebrity cases and tell him/her how to behave, what to say, what to wear and so on.  Public relations can save a celebrity’s career! 

Public relations is a broad field that includes research, counseling, and communicating.  The research part of the public relations duties is to search for the answers.  Researching allows for the public relations to see the issue at hand as the general public views the issue.  At times, public relations does not reveal to the public that they are conducting research, but sometimes public relations is very open with the public and will conduct poll/surveys to get the information that is needed.

The counseling part of public relations is to give advice to their clients.  Counseling offers information/ideas on basic decisions and organizational policymaking.  And communication is getting the clients message out to the public through various outlets of media.  The purpose of public relations is to take an issue and twist it into what the public wants to hear and/or what the client wants the public to hear.

It is hard to believe anything that is being said through public relations (if you can tell).  Maybe not everything that is being said through public relations is a lie, but it probably is not the whole truth either.  Public relations can take one issue and twist it (or spin it) in many ways to give the client what they want and gives the client what they want to hear. 

Trick-or-treating is fun for children, but safety is necessary for a healthy Halloween.  Halloween customs should be made of flame retardant in a bright color.  Visibility is important on Halloween.  The child needs to be able to see and to be seen by others.  Reflective tape can be added to the child’s costume and/or trick-or-treat bag to be seen more easily.  Flashlights are important when nigh falls.  To prevent your child from falling, be sure that if the child is wearing a mask that the eye holes are large.  Also, be sure that your child’s shoes fit properly to prevent falling.

If your child is going to be going trick-or-treating without you, know your child’s route.  Explain to your child that he/she must stay with a group or friend and the importance of not going to strangers houses.  Be sure to set a curfew for your child.  Most children enjoy the “tricking” part of Halloween.  Explain the difference between a trick and vandalism to your child to avoid conflicts with your neighbors and the police. 

Once your little monster returns home go through their candy.  Remove any candy that has been opened, ripped, or looks as though it has been tampered with.  Baked goods are a big no, no!  Throw baked goods into the trash.  It is extremely easy for people to put harmful drugs/items into baked goods.  Throw any suspicious treats into the trash. 

To avoid snaking on treats while trick-or-treating, make a nice Halloween meal for you little monster.  Try to space out the consumption of candy.  Also, be sure that the candy is appropriate for your child.  For example, do not allow your three- year-old to eat  hard candy (duh!). 

Remember these tips before, during, and after trick-or-treating.  Have a safe, happy, and healthy Halloween!

News has been around for hundreds of years.  News has come a long way from simple posts on citizens’ doors and people riding through town yelling the latest news.  A variety of mediums have become available to audiences over the past hundred years.  News became available for the first time electronically through newsreels.  Newsreels were first shown in 1909 in France.  A newsreel was shown before a film and displayed current events.

Newsreels were just the beginning of electronic news.  Radio broadcasted current events.  Radio news became popular during 1920.  The radio was a fast and efficient way of delivering news to an audience.  Radio broadcasting was seen as a threat to newspapers; radio stations and newspapers competed heavily.  Radio networks agreed to only report for 10 minutes of news per day.  Radio did not have the intention of diminishing the newspaper sales.  Just like any other business, the radio needed to look out for itself and draw in the biggest audience possible.  News was important to radio networks, because news created a bigger audience.  The radio stations found the “loophole” to their agreement with the newspapers.  The radio networks reported news for 10 minutes per day, but also discussed the news on-air, which is known as commentaries.  People listened to the radio for news, especially breaking news.  However, radio did not affect newspaper sales; people still purchased newspapers.

Radio could be reported live.  World broadcasting was made available to wide audiences.  News was the main focus of radio networks until the 1960’s.  Television became more popular and radio began to provide more music.  However, some radio stations remained strictly news stations and have become very successful.  Radio was still used for news and television was used for entertainment.

Television audiences began to grow in the 1950’s and newscasts were shown through the newest medium (television).  Journalists reported the events occurring all over the world.  The events recorded for television were not always live most were filmed and some were even pseudo events (events that never would have happened if the television crews were not there to record them).

Television was able to broadcast news quickly and efficiently.  Television news broadcasts have become more reliable over the past years.  Audiences of television news, as well as other mediums, wanted news at the tips of their fingers as it was occurring. News on demand became available with the invention of the internet.  The fastest medium is the internet.  Live broadcasts can be done, reviewing of past news broadcasts, and newspapers were also made available on the internet.  News can be updated quickly and it is accessible to very large audiences.  News can be heard/seen on the internet over and over again on the internet through video on demand.

With all of the news that is readily available to an audience the broadcasting companies must appeal to an audience.  One way of getting an audience is to be a biased broadcasting company.  Most people are either liberal or conservative thinkers and therefore they are more prone to listen/watch a news program that has the same views as them.  News is used to provide facts, biased or unbiased.  News is important because it delivers the facts, but today the news is also used for entertainment purposes.  Audiences want to be entertained through all mediums of the news.

Finding a person by goggling them is like trying to find a needle in a hay stack.  I tried to google myself and got a whole lot of nothing.  Apparently there is more than one Laura Anne Wampler.  I spell my middle name AnnE.  When I googled my name the data base gave me two Laura Ann (notice that there is no e on the end of Anne) Wampler’s.  I also got a lot of other Wampler’s and Wampler genealogy.    

I tried to search for someone that I knew a couple years ago, but I had no luck searching for him either.  His name was Patrick Scott.  I can’t remember when his birthday is or where he lives anymore.  I met him while I lived in Virginia in 2005.  He went to Norfolk State, but he was originally from Jacksonville, Florida.  I googled him and got the same junk that I got when I googled myself. 

I have come to the conclusion that in order to find someone on the internet you have to pay a fee.  There are search engines that can locate people, but I did not want to pay money to locate myself or Patrick.  I wonder if search engines on the internet even work.  I would guess and say that they probably don’t.  The search engine would probably pull up a couple different people with the same name; unless you have the location, phone number or other basic information of the person you are looking for, but then why would you even need to search for that person by using a search engine?  Search engines are not a great, easy way for finding anyone. 

‘Tis the season for colds.  Everyone has their own way of fighting a cold and getting rid of a cold.  Some people drink orange juice by the gallons because they’re positive that the vitamin C found in orange juice prevents and cures colds.  To anyone that thinks orange juice prevents/cures colds, I hate to burst your bubble but POP!  Vitamin C does NOT prevent or cure colds. 

The common cold is caused by a virus; not a bacteria.  Antibiotics will not cure a cold.  Cold medications can help, but sometimes you just simply need to listen to what your body is telling you.  If you’re tired then you should sleep.  If you’re not hungry then do not eat a big meal.  This seems like common sense, but some things that can prevent/cure colds are not so clear.

Your body needs more fluids then normal when you have a cold.  On a daily basis, that average person should be drinking 8 glasses of 8 ozs. of water.  When you have a cold you should be drinking MORE than 8 glasses of 8 ozs. of fluids.  Fluids do not just mean water.  Fluid means water, juice, tea, coffee, chicken noodle soup, and so on.  The fluids will help to loosen the mucus throughout the body.

It is important to drink properly while you have a cold, but it is also important to eat right.  Limiting your sweet intake is important.  Sugars hold no nutritional value.  Your body is fighting off a cold and needs energy from foods with a nutritional value.  It is also important to eat foods that are easy to digest (for example, a banana).  Your body is working hard enough just to fight off the cold.

Foods that help to cure colds are the following:  chocolate, bananas, and chicken noodle soup.  Chocolate is proven to stop coughs.  Bananas help with upset stomachs.  Chicken noodle soup (a fluid) helps to uncongest you. 

To prevent a cold, you should consume Allicin.  Allicin is found in foods such as garlic. During cold season, you should be washing your hands frequently and always keep your hands away from your face. 

‘Tis the season for colds.  Prevent and cure colds a more natural way. 

Over-the-counter drugs made for infants (children age 2 and under) is very small; however, there are some over-the-counter drugs that can be purchased when needed.  This raises the question of when is it okay to give your baby medicine and when is it not okay to give your baby medicine. 

Cold medicines are often abused by teenagers and adults.  It is one thing to abuse a drug yourself (I do not condone any type of drug abuse), but it is another thing to abuse drugs that you give to your child.  Infants depend on their guardians to provide care.  It is up to the guardian to decide what will be best for their child.  If a parent decides to give their baby medicine that is their decision, but sometimes parents give their infant too much medicine and that can have negative effects on the infant.

It is important to know that by giving your child too much medication you are not helping them, instead you are harming your baby.  Giving your baby too much medicine could result in death.  It is important to know that infant cold medicine can result in death whether you intended to give your child too much medicine or unintentionally give your child too much medicine.

The FDA (Food and Drug Association) pulled the cold medicines off of the market today (October 11, 2007) that was aimed for infants under the age of 2.  Parents are encouraged to use salt water remedies (salt water that is inserted into the infant’s nose and then suctioned out).  If a child does not need medication then why give it to them in the first place?  The human body is made to fight off infections.  Colds are nothing serious.  Low fevers and coughing are the body’s way of getting well.  Babies do not need over-the-counter drug medicine. 

A good article about the infant cold medicines can be viewed at    http://www.ksdk.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=131538   A list of alternative actions to using cold medications can be viewed at this site.  This is something every parent should read. 

Television seems to be one of the most important things to most Americans, as well as other countries throughout the world.  It is one past time that we do for hours (on average, more than four hours per day).  Americans watch so much television it makes me wonder what we would do without televisions.

The first commercial television (in the United States) was built in 1932 by David Sarnoff.  Television sets were too expensive for most people to afford when they were first introduced.  The programming was unlike the programming that we have today.  People were amazed just to watch a broadcast of the sun setting.  There were only four networks that were broadcasting on the early television stations.  Three out of the four networks were on the radio before they were on television.

Television became more and more popular and attracted more viewers.  During the 1950’s some of the most popular classic television shows debuted, such as The Honeymooners and I Love Lucy.  Both programs showed women as housewives (stereotype) with a comical twist.  In the 1950’s most women were housewives.  Today the life of a woman is much different from that shown in I Love Lucy or The Honeymooners. 

The way women are viewed is not the only thing that has changed over the past years.  Family life has changed.  Today families sit around the television and hardly speak two words to each other.  Parents use the television as a form of entertainment for their children and then later blame the television for causing their child to have A.D.D. (Attention Daffiest Disorder).  Years ago, before the television had been invented, families interacted with each other and held conversations.  Children used their imaginations and read books to stay occupied.

Despite the negative impacts on family life, the television industry was creating more programming, more ways of delivering programs (for example cable), and improved television sets.  The television industry was a huge success.  Networks needed to give the people what they wanted.  VCR’s, digital recordings (DVD’s), high-definition televisions and on-line television were created to give the people more of what they wanted; more entertainment at their convenience.  People set their demands and the networks supplied the people with what they wanted.   

Music has been around since the beginning of time.  By the Renaissance period composers began to write down their music.  By the 19^th century people were buying music to play on their own instruments.  In 1877, the fist recording machine was invented by Thomas Edison, it was called the “phonograph.”  People paid money to listen to the phonograph.  The music audience spent their money to buy their own phonograph or gramophone (another machine that played recordings) and bought recordings to play in their homes. 

The radio was invented in 1920 and had a major impact on music history.  When the radio was first introduced it helped to sell more recordings by playing them on the radio.  Once the depression hit, poor people could not afford to spend their money on recordings.  The radio was free to listen to and provided more than just music.  Stories and news reports were broadcasted over the radio.

Mainstream music was popular with various types of people, but teenagers wanted something more.  In the 1950’s, Elvis Presley impacted the music industry with rock and roll.  He gave the teenagers something different.

As time pasted the format wars increased when tapes were invented along with compact discs (CDs) in 1983.  One of the newer ways to listen to music is on an MP3 player.  Music is downloaded off of the internet and held digitally on a compact device.  The music can be downloaded legally (paid for) or illegally (not paid for; stolen). 

It takes a lot of people to produce an album.  The record label is one of the most important factors in producing the album along with the recording artist. 

Is obesity a cause of depression?  Absolutely.  Obesity can lead to a person’s depression and depression can also lead to a person’s obesity.  According to Keecha Harris, Dr. PH., R.D. for MSN, there is a link between the two conditions.  It seems to be a never ending cycle.  You’re depressed because you’re obese and you’re obese because you are depressed.  Will this cycle ever end?  Yes, all it takes is will power and knowledge.  You should always talk to your doctor before attempting to diet or exercise.

Loosing weight is not just dieting; it is about changing your entire life style.  Making better food choices, knowing when you are hungry, knowing when you are full, exercising and so much more.  This may be difficult for some people, but you do not have to face these challenges alone.  There are professional doctors that can help with providing support and alternative options to dieting (depending on the individual’s situation). 

By loosing unwanted weight, it will cause your mood to change for the better.  Chemicals in your brain control how you feel.  Endorphins (a chemical found in the brain) are released when you exercise that make you feel happy and better about yourself.   Endorphins can help you to feel less depressed.

Loosing weight does not happen over night.  It may take a couple months to a couple years for you to reach your goal weight, but it can be done.