Blog 7: The State of Mental Health in the United States

https://twitter.com/NVPUSAHealth/status/663736625160171520

1. This article discuses mental health statistics across the United States. It shows how many people are affected by mental health issues and why more awareness for these diseases need to be raised. Often times individuals cannot gain access to the resources they so desperately need due to financial difficulties and the stigma that comes along with admitting you have a mental health issue. 1 in 5 American youths are affected by mental illnesses and 60-70% of youths who struggle with substance abuse also have some sort of mental health issue. This research is incredibly eye opening and shows how much work our country
2. The research pulled from many reputable sources found linked from a Huffington Post article. The statistics that related to the amount of individuals who suffered from and later died form mental illnesses came from the CDC. The statistics that discuss substance abuse came form research preformed by the American Psychological Association.
3. My question is why do so many people have such a hard time talking about mental health issues. I feel that is is so stigmatized, people are unable to seek treatment, even if they are financially capable (this article shows many are not) due to fear of being judged.

Blog 6: Payrolls decline in 27 states in September, led by Missouri

Payrolls declined in 27 states in September, led by Missouri https://t.co/M3wJ6SpCp3

— St. Louis Post-Dispatch (@stltoday) October 20, 2015

1. This article discusses how Missouri led the nation with a 16,500 decrease in employment in the month of September being closely followed by Pennsylvania. According to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the loss of jobs shows that there is not much growth occurring in overseas markets and rock markets are causing employers to lay off staff. The last time Missouri had this high of an employment decrease was during March which was attributed to the rough winter and a lack of investment in energy-related capital. Texas and New York were two states whose employment levels actually increased. Overall, throughout the country 142,000 new employees were added to payrolls in September and the unemployment rate is still at an average of 5.1 percent.
2. The data was collected from the United States Labor department in Washington D.C. which are released on the first Friday of every month. The Post-Dispatch sats that these figures from the various states can have higher sampling errors because they come from small surveys.
3. Why was Missouri affected so negatively in March due to last winters “harshness” and more northern states with worse winters did not have payroll declines because of it?

Blog 5: Worst College Majors for a Career

1. This article discusses the 10 worst majors an individual can choose in college. I found it particularly interesting because I’ve always heard my major (History) is a highly undesirable and unemployable field, yet it isn’t on the list. The study shows the average starting salary of these careers as well as a mid-career salary. Along with that it showed projected growth in the field. Education degrees are considered to be highly undesirable currently, but the teaching field shows potential for a lot of growth in the future.
2. The data for this article was collected via Kiplinger which is a publisher that discusses business forecasts and personal finance advice. Kiplinger looked at data from Payscale to learn beginning and mid-career salaries for the listed majors along with College Board to see the popularity of certain majors and how many individuals were seeking jobs in that field.  The also looked at research from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics to see the growth in a certain field over a span of the next 10 years.
3. The data collected shows the most undesirable majors, however I am interested in knowing the most popular majors. I also wonder how much hard work and dedication to your field plays part when it comes to becoming employed. I feel like this article doesn’t necessarily show the passion some individuals have for their “undesirable majors”

10 Worst College Majors for Your Career http://t.co/LIiwhDn1wy

— WVSU Upward Bound (@wvstateub) October 19, 2015

Blog #4 Twitter and the Papal Visit

In media narrative of Papal visit, material from social networking sites played limited role http://t.co/pwCgyo8AA1 pic.twitter.com/zDxuZKSeth

— Pew Research Journalism (@pewjournalism) October 7, 2015

1. This article discusses how even though people were in a social media frenzy discussing the Popes visit, many of the articles and reports done on his visit used personal interviews and encounters with the pope himself. The public played a huge role in documenting his stay in the U.S. however, media outlets did not use this as a primary source. 25% of stories that discussed the Pope and his involvement in the political realm included quotes form th ePresident, Presidential candidates or members of congress.
2. This study was conducted by Pew Research on October 7th. Pew researched looked at 60 various stories that had posts from social networking sites and found that only 12% used a social networking site to tell the story. Pew research observed the stories from 12 different popular news outlets from September 22nd through the 26th.
3. The biggest question I have after reading this research is why do people down play the role of the media. This article made me realize that even though social media can give individuals really easy ways to interact with each other, we still need reporters and the media to gather evidence from popular and credible sources. I also wonder how many times journalists are forced to lean on bystanders social media accounts of an incident in order to effectively tell a story. The article mentions how reporters aren’t always on scene when freak accidents occur or random natural disasters strike so social media is how they gather a lot of their preliminary info!

Blog 3: Clinton falls in popularity to Sanders

https://twitter.com/savrpeterson/status/678324808103256064

1. This article discusses the recent outcomes of a poll done on presidential candidates from both parties by way of NBC News/Wall Street Journal. Hillary Clinton is only leading Bernie Sanders by 7 points with the Vice President in the race and 15 points without him in the race. Clintons popularity over time is dwindling and while she is still the first choice for the democratic party, she is not leading by much. The article also discusses how Donald Trump is leading the Republican party closely followed by Ben Carson.
2. The information and statistics were retrieved through a poll done by NBC News and the Wall Street Journal. They surveyed 256 Democratic Voters and 230 Republican votes shortly after Scott Walker suspended his campaign.
3. I personally do not feel that this survey group was big enough or detailed enough. Surveying 230 Republicans in an extremely conservative state like Texas would be far different than surveying republicans from a more liberal state like Vermont. The article does not say how they spread out the amount of people being surveyed.

https://twitter.com/savrpeterson/status/648687697012199425

Blog #2: Syrian Crisis

Constant violence has forced millions to flee Syria. A look at what they’re facing at home http://t.co/fqWJCM848f pic.twitter.com/7NyvhwhDd5

— The New York Times (@nytimes) September 15, 2015

1. This article is about the recent deaths in Syria and the overall death count during the 4.5 years of their civil war. I have been interested in learning more about the refugee crisis in Eastern Europe which lead me to find more information on it. The article discusses how Syria is getting more and more dangerous and how the refugee crisis could be worse.
2. The Chairman if the United Nations panel who is investigating Syria right now did the majority of the research on the death toll and said it was hard to be sure of an exact number. However, the Syrian medical society has been keeping tabs on where individuals are trapped throughout the country and where the highest numbers of death will occur. The physicians for human rights association discovered that there have been almost 300 attacks on hospitals in Syria, all done by pro Assad forces.
3. I think my biggest question about this article is how has this been happening for so long without U.S. involvement? I have no doubt that we will get involved, the question is just when. I also am curious to see what the actual death count is and how many individuals will be able to find a safe place to be a refugee.

http://nyti.ms/1Kbg9cx

Blog 1: Mount Denali

“Ohio Republicans are freaking out about the Denali name change” -Mother Jones @motherjones

August 31st, 2015

http://bit.ly/1NSu9Ll 

1. I choose this as my blog post because I was able to see Mt. Denali in person a few years ago and always noticed how the locals in the park never referred to it as Mt. Mckinley and would frown upon people who did so.
2. The research in this article came from PBS. Most of the data presented was fairly well known facts about the history and why Mt. Denali was called Mckinley. PBS provided evidence on the various dates of US happenings when Mckinley was president.
3. I’m curious as to why the individuals in the article whose negative response on twitter to the name change were so upset. Clearly, the mountain wasn’t named in his honor that much and I don’t see why it matters now that it goes by his original name. I also am assuming the natives of Alaska are pleased with this name change, but I would be interested to see any public support.