Prescenzifall2014EH2000

The Nation Environmental Act Policy of 1969 (NEPA) was signed into law by President Nixon.  It was a huge milestone in the fight for environmental rights.  In fact it is considered by many to be the Magna Carta in terms of environmental regulation laws.  The act first came to be when it became apparent that there were many severe and in some cases irreversible effects on the environment due to urbanization, pollution, and many other byproducts of civilization.  The policy ensures that in order for buildings, airports, or any other construction projects to take place, environmental agencies must issue permits and in-force regulations to protect the environment.(http://www2.epa.gov/laws-regulations/summary-national-environmental-policy-act)  This policy sparked a series of environmentally centered laws due to public and professional demand.   In modern days, before a permit is issued a environmental assessment takes place first.  This insures no unlawful manipulations to the environment are being made.  Environmental impact is often unavoidable and alternative ways to complete a task are often considered in order to complete a task.(http://www.gsa.gov/portal/content/104676)  In doing this, NEPA has protected many ecosystems to a further extant than would have been done in previous years.  Environmental laws are also getting stricter in order to meet the impact a growing society is bond to have on our planet.  More and more environmental protection agencies have sprung up especially within the last to decades.  However this is not the case in many countries around the world, especially those developing countries with issues currently being put before the environment.  This is unfortunate because even pollution from across the world, whether it be water pollution, air pollution, etc, can affect other areas around the world.  The world is in fact one big ecosystem.  The National Environmental Act of 1969 was one of the corner stones of the on going efforts to ensure the protection of our environment and is still in full effect today.

Prescenzifall2014EH2000

Fluoride was originally added to the drinking water in the 1940s with the intent to promote dental health.  However, since than some negatives health effects have become apparent.  In terms of the amount consumed needed to be harmful,  fluoride is actually more toxic than lead.(http://fluoridealert.org/issues/health/)  Besides the fact, fluoride is actually considered by many to be one of the top 10 achievements of modern day health.  A lot of the concern resonates from the fact that fluoride is not a one size fits all drug.  It is a fact that many people drink high amounts of water for various reasons.  This include athletes and lots of diabetics.  Fluoride is in 70 percent of U.S. drinking water,(http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2012/08/07/effects-of-fluoride-to-children.aspx)which means it is affecting a huge range of people.  Fluoride only is beneficially topically, which means when its applied to the surface of the teeth.  When it is taken into the body it can be harmful.  This happens when water is swallowed and also when small portions of tooth paste is brought into the body by accident.  Small children are often at a higher risk to this as they are more prone to swallowing tooth paste.  This is scary to many because being that younger children are still developing and have smaller bodies, the fluoride can have an effect on them long term and more so that it would an adult individual.  It is also considered morally unjust by many because there is never a chance to accept or decline the fluoride.  For this reason and many others, is not administered in most european countries.  To much fluoride can actually hurt your dental health.  One in 3 children in the U.S. suffer from flourosis which is white or brown patching on the surface of the teeth.  In severe cases this can lead to decay of the tooth and the gum. The studies in favor of fluoride addition to water are severely outweighed by those that do not support it.

Prescenzifall2014EH2000

John snow is considered to be the father of epidemiology.  He gained his fame from his finding pertaining to the cholera outbreaks in Britain during the 1800s.  John Snow was a bright individual even as a child.  His father worked in a coal yard.  His mother, seeing potential in him,  gathered up enough money to send John to a private school to further his education.(http://www.ph.ucla.edu/epi/snow/fatherofepidemiology.html)   The cause of cholera was at large a mystery during this point in time.  To truly understand the significance of John Snows work one must keep in mind that the "germ theory" was not even in existence and these sicknesses were commonly thought to come from foul or dirty air or from divine intervention.  None the less,  John was determined to find the cause of the illness and came to the conclusion that it was traveling at large by water. There were two large companies providing water to the residents of London.  Both got there water from the same river but at different points.  One got it further upstream than the other.  There was human waste dumped into the river before the point were one company drew in water.  This is how Snow figured out that the disease was spreading by water contaminated from human waste. (http://blogs.plos.org/publichealth/2013/03/11/john-snow-the-first-epidemiologist/)  He found out that people who drank water from the company that was taking in water containing human waste were way more likely to contract the illness than those who drank from the company that took water further upstream.  In fact, he even traced his findings to one well in particular.  He made a very famous map and went door to door seeing who had cholera and charted all of those who did on this particular map.  He found you were extremely likely to get cholera if you drank from this well because it contained contaminated water.  He ordered the handle to be removed later so people could no longer get sick from the contaminated well.  John Snow was the first to make many of these conclusions which is why he is considered to be the father of epidemiology.

Prescenzifall2014EH2000

I am sure if my future self could talk to me today he would have quiet a few highly valuable pieces of advice to share with me today.  Although it is impossible to know for sure  what i would tell myself it is fairly easy to make a few general assumptions.  I know if me a year from now could talk to me now I would be telling myself to take things easy but stay focused on my schoolwork because I am sure I would not mind a little higher GPA.  If me 5-10 years in the future could talk to me now i think he would tell me to enjoy myself because I miss my college years and they will be some of the best years of my life.  I would also tell myself to look forward to what is ahead of me and to work hard to get were I want to be at that point in my life.  Again, its impossible for sure to know what I would tell myself.  For all I know I might tell myself to drop out of college and do something drastic.  Or maybe I would tell myself to live it up now because the future doesn't look to bright.  However, I think future me and present me would probably have very similar.   I probably would tell myself the best investment you can make is an investment in yourself.  So far I have put a lot of my hard earned money into my education and by the end of this year that will have been upwards of twenty thousand dollars.  And by the time I get my degree that number could reach over sixty thousand dollars.  I hope that all this work now and that I have to complete in the near future is worth it.  I am not sure if  will have more fun in the future than I am now.  But life is not all about fun.  For me, being able to pay for my children's college and having a steady income coming from a job I enjoy is a little more rewarding than "fun" in most cases.  However a little fun never did any harm to anyone.