The Explorer » Health

Keeping it active

adviser — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 17:09:32 +0000

One-two-three-four-five. Now the other leg. One-two-three… These are the typical sounds we hear from PE classes as they begin with their stretches. But if the current pattern continued, we may not hear these sounds any longer.

Across the country, students from elementary school to high school are dealing with the sudden decreases in Physical Education classes. Although there are plenty of justifications, the debate continues about whether this decrease is right for the future of America.

“Physical Education is more important now than ever before,” Athletic Director Christine Krisman said. “With the childhood obesity epidemic, and the rise in stationary activities like computers, and video games, it is important that students learn alternative activities as well as the value of physical activity.”

According to a 2009 Center for Disease Control study, 46% of high school students are not attending any Physical Education class at their school. In addition, only 3.1% of elementary schools provide daily physical education.
“It is most important to teach young children in the elementary schools the importance of physical fitness,” said PE teacher Janet Chrisman. “Patterns developed during this time that will carry through the rest of their lives. Unfortunately, these are the places that Physical Education was first cut.”
One of the many reasons why schools are taking away the class is due to increased pressure to increase standardized scores, says a report by Stewart Trost, an assistant professor of exercise sciences at Oregon State. By taking away P.E. and focusing more on academics, schools believe they can increase their students’ scores.
However, a number of studies have shown otherwise. This includes a 2007-2008 study of 2.4 million students found that students who were more physically fit from PE, are more likely to do better on standardized tests than those that are not.
“I don’t think it is okay for schools to get rid of PE to focus more on academics,” senior Anuraag Kumar said. “Growing as a student happens in other places besides the classroom, like in PE”
But the encouragement to take PE classes is definitely decreasing
“Universities are creating an environment where high school students need such heavy academic loads because of admissions requirements, often neglecting PE.,” PE teacher Logan Irons said. “This is done to the detriment of the student’s physical well-being and [the PE department] finds this upsetting.”
Another reason why Physical Education is decreasing is because of the current state of the economy.
“Our current economic climate is not creating enough tax revenue to continue to fund public school Physical Education,” PE teacher Andrew Cotter said.
Today, less than 31% of students in California passed the physical fitness exam, according to the Los Angeles Times. Linda Hooper from the State Education Department believes that the budget cuts are to blame for the small percentage. She said, “With the budget crisis, PE and athletics have become less important.”
“P.E. is important, with or without budget cuts,” senior Savanna Ulloa said. “It helps increase the health of our society and decrease the child obesity epidemic.”
In fact, up to $14 billion dollars are spent annually on obesity related health care costs. The overall annual cost is $177 billion dollars.
With this epidemic in mind, the PE is emphasizing the need to teach life skills and an overall appreciation for fitness.
“It’s like the saying ‘if you give a man a fish, he eats for a day. If you teach a man to fish, he eats for the rest of his life,’” Irons said.

Laptops: a pain in the neck?

adviser — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 06:08:36 +0000

Being at Moreau, we all have learned how important our Macbooks are. Without them, things like doing homework and visiting social networking sites on the go would be nonexistant. But even though our laptops are useful tools, they may not be so good for our health.

According to Daily Mail Online, millions of people complain about back and shoulder problems related to laptops, in part due to the large increase in laptops beings sold. For students like us, who use laptops daily, this problem is very relevant.

Even freshman are now having to deal with pain in their upper body. “I use my laptop the whole day,” freshman Adrienne Gamillas said. “I usually get pain in the shoulders and around my neck.”

The position in which we use our laptops is very important as well. If you have ever used your laptop for a long time, you may have noticed your upper body becoming stiff.

“When I use my laptop and lay down for too long, I get really bad pain in my shoulders,” senior Francis Delfino said. Like many of us, Delfino feels the strain of putting our body in an awkward position.

So what can we do to help solve this problem? According to NHS.com, investing in good posture is one solution. Having good posture is a great way to begin relieving stress on the shoulders and back.

Next time you’re using your laptop, be mindful of how you are positioned. “If your back begins to hurt, then just switch your position,” senior Kristine Herce said.

A little common sense can relieve you from a lifetime of aches, pains, and expensive doctors visits.

Entering the Dream World

adviser — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 17:46:41 +0000

About 30 minutes after falling asleep, you realize that you’re sneaking into Six Flags, with a random man, and all of a sudden you’re a spy. Having a dream is like entering a whole different world. Some of the weirdest things happen to people in their dreams. Ironic how this is the time when the body is supposed to be resting.
“I wake up in the middle of the night and realize that I was crying in my sleep,” junior Jasmine Dhillon said. “I don’t even know why.”
Forgetting your dream right away is very common. The average human forgets 50% of the dream he or she had five minutes after waking up. People even forget that they were sleepwalking.
“One time, I got up from my friend’s room in the middle of the night and went over to their fish tank and was murmuring something to the fish,” senior Crystal Pereira said, “The next morning her mother told me and I didn’t believe her, at first.”
Not only do people forget their dreams, but they also have dreams where the most random events come together.
“I had a dream once, that a dinosaur on a motorcycle was chasing me,” senior Katie Pruneda said, “it was really weird.”
It would actually be quite interesting to see a dinosaur on a motorcycle in the future. Fortunately, it has been scientifically proven that dreams cannot predict events that have not yet occurred.
Another shocking fact about dreams is that a man is more likely to dream about another man in his dream.
“I think that’s really weird,” Dhillon said, “they should be dreaming about other woman.”
The fact is that dreams tend to represent a reflection of the dreamer themselves. If a man dreams more about other women, then it is likely that he views himself as a woman.
“Men often are concerned with how they measure up to other men,” psychology teacher Colleen Galloway said. “So I think it makes perfect sense it that may spill over into their dreams.”

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admin — Sat, 17 Apr 2010 19:54:28 +0000