Advocacy Project: My Political Representatives

President: Barack Obama
Party: Democratic
The White House1600
Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500

Comments: 202-456-1111
Switchboard: 202-456-1414
FAX: 202-456-2461

There is also a form on the website that you can fill out:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/




U.S. Representative: James L. Oberstar
8th District
Party: Democratic-Farmer-Labor
DULUTH
Southern Aitkin, Carlton, Cook, Lake, southern St. Louis
Duluth Federal BuildingRoom 231
Duluth, Minnesota 55802

Phone:(218) 727-7474
TDD: (218) 727-7474
FAX: (218) 727-8270
Jackie Morris
Dave Boe

Form on website:
http://oberstar.house.gov/index.asp?Type=NONE&SEC={4E1243F8-F46E-46FC-BA7B-EE69C9105D5C}




U.S. Senator: Amy Klobuchar
Party: Democratic-Farmer-Labor
Senior Senator
Washington Office:
302 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510

Phone: (202) 224-3244

To email:
http://klobuchar.senate.gov/emailamy.cfm



State Representative: Thomas Huntley
Party: Democratic-Farmer-Labor
585 State Office Building
100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
Saint Paul, Minnesota 55155
Phone: 651-296-2228
E-mail: rep.thomas.huntley@house.mn

More information:
http://www.house.leg.state.mn.us/members/members.asp?district=07A



State Senator: Yvonne Prettner Solon
Party: Democratic-Farmer-Labor
Capitol Office:
75 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
Capitol Building, Room G-9
St. Paul, MN 55155-1606
Phone: 651.296.4188

More Information:
http://www.senate.mn/members/member_bio.php?district=07&status=active



Minnesota Governor: Tim Pawlenty

Office of the Governor:

130 State Capitol

75 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.

St. Paul, MN 55155

Telephone:(651) 296-3391

Toll Free:(800) 657-3717

Facsimile:(651) 296-2089

E-mail:tim.pawlenty@state.mn.us

More Information:

http://www.governor.state.mn.us/contacts/index.htm

1st District Commissioner: Dennis Fink
Board Chair

Room 208

100 N. 5th Avenue West
Duluth, MN 55802

Phone:(218) 726-2458

More Information:

http://www.co.st-louis.mn.us/slcportal/SiteMap/HomePage/Departments/CountyBoard/tabid/554/Default.aspx

Duluth Mayor: Don Ness

Mayor's Office

Room 402

411 West First Street

Duluth, MN 55802

Email:dness@duluthmn.gov

Phone: (218) 730-5230

Fax: (218) 730-5904

More Information:

http://www.duluthmn.gov/mayor/

Reflections: Weeks 7 and 8

Week 7
To start off week 7, I was one of the people assigned to do the reading of chapter 16. I couldn't decide if I really liked the reading, but I think that it was trying to send a good message! It also tied in really well with the documentary titled "Green" that we watched. The documentary focused on chemical plants along cancer alley, and how it is affecting all of the people living around those areas. It is causing rare cancers to occur more frequent. Also the plant moved people right on top of a dump site, and after people began to complain to fix the problem they decided to remove the top 2 feet of the ground off, but there is 17 feet of dump underneath them. That is NOT going to fix the problem! I think this really opened up my eyes, because I didn't know that this was such a huge problem and how much we are contributing to it by buying the products these plants make.
We also were assigned an eye opener called Environmental Working Group, which allowed us to pick out products that we used in our everyday lives and see what they contained and how they affected us. I ended up chosing contact solution and my results were scary! I think that most of our class was shocked to see what their products actually had in them! I really liked that website and am gonna use it to look up other things that I use and what products compare and are better!

Week 8
We had a discussion on the reading Privatizing Water. I didn't even know that this was going on at all. I think that water is a human right and companies shouldn't be allowed to own any water. If companies start to take over water what will we have as a human right? The companies are just going to jack-up the prices for the poorer nations and people won't even be able to afford water, which we need to survive! I couldn't believe that it took a 17 year old to be shot and killed during a riot for the government of Cochabamaba to take back their contract and make water private.
This week we started to watch a documentary called, "Thirst." This is an appropriate name considering it talks about water being privatized. In the movie it also showed a poorer city with a very limited supply of water and how they overcame it. The idea spread throughout the country and they are now able to have a larger supply of water! I didn't have any idea that they were actually trying ot privatize water in a city in California either. On top of that the mayor wasn't even going to let the people of the town vote on what they wanted to do. I think that is wrong, because that is a right and in America we vote!!

Share and Voice: Northland Country Club

HEY GUYS!!!

I work at Northland Country Club (NCC) here in Duluth. For those of you who don't know anything about it, it is a private country club where you have to have a membership to go there. We serve food there, we have a bar, and also a golf course. It is pretty expensive and the members want to have everything at their beck and call! I am a server there, and I love it! Anyways, about a week ago my boss and some members who are on the board had a meeting and when my boss came back from the meeting he was telling us some of the changes they are gonna make. The first thing out of his mouth was that this summer they were going to get bottled water for out on the golf course. I immediately interrupted him and told him how bad bottled water actually is for our environment, especially considering that NCC is trying to go "green" as much as possible! He didn't believe me at first until I started giving him statistics about how much emission one bottle produces and he was shocked! He actually ended up wanting me to make print outs of things we use at NCC and how much emissions they produce and how it effects our environment. He also now wants me to start attending the board meetings so I can have my input and help educate our board members on what is going on since they don't take the time to research it.




I have to say that this is probably one of my favorite classes and out of all my college classes that I have taken so far I know I will get the most out of this class. It is really nice to be able to take something that I have learned from a class and apply it in my everyday life. It is really interesting to me! I also think that this example just goes to show that even one person voicing their opinion actually can make a difference. I think that it is up to those of us that know what is going on to step in and try and help educate others on what we know, even if we aren't experts!

Eye Opener: Environmental Working Group

All I can say is AHHH! I chose to do contact lense solution, and the one I use is Bauch & Lomb ReNu Multi-Purpose Solution (with Hydranate)



First off, It is rated at a level 3, which is of moderate hazard. At first I wasn't feeling quite so bad since it was a 3 out of 10, but I found that there is an ingredient called Boric Acid, which just sounds bad anyways, that is rated at a level 7! I looked up the definition for Boric Acid, and found that it is used in flame retardants..hmm I think maybe I should start reading the labels of ingredients before I use stuff. I don't think that I like the word "acid" being used in something I put in my eye!

I then proceeded to read on to what some of these ingredients in the solution are linked to. The very first one on the list is cancer, and if that isn't enough to scare you out of using this product, it also can lead to developmental/reproductive toxicity. WOW!! Neither of these sound like fun! I looked up a website for the developmental/reproductive toxicity and it is really scary to think about. It can make you infertile, or effect the development of your child. These two weren't the only harmful links to this product either, they are also related to organ system toxicity and a few others.


I have to say that after reading all about this product I am actually really scared to use it now. I also consider myself to be a little paranoid that I have something wrong with me, since I always seem to get weird illnesses. They are never really serious, but I always seem to get them, for example I get kidney stones. Getting kidney stones always makes me a little paranoid when my kidney hurts that I am having another attack. After reading this information I am probably going to go look up all the symptoms of all the things it can cause, which will probably lead me to believe I have one of these problems! HAHA..ugh! Anyways I am going to be throwing out my contact solution tonight and going and buying some with NO risk factors! Why would I risk all of this when I don't have to?


A couple of things that this article made me contemplate though, is if some of the ingredients in this product actually clean your lenses better than those without it? Also I found it kind of funny that they are telling all the bad risks about the product and then on the page they also have a link of where you can go online to purchase it haha!


Dr.V, thanks for this website, it is really cool to find out what is in all the products we use and how they can effect us!!:) Even though it did scare me a little bit!

Reading Review:III Winds: The Chemical Plant Next Door

This article was written by Becky Bradway. It starts off talking about her life growing up in Buffalo, Illinois. She talks about living in a small town and how much she loved it, because she didn't have a care in the world. She admits that she didn't realize all of the "grown-up" issues that her parents and other adults in the town were facing. Buffalo is actually being polluted by a chemical plant right down the road, Borden.

Borden and Buffalo

Borden is the chemical plant that is only a little ways from Buffalo, where Becky and her family lived. Her mom got sick and Becky was sure it was from the chemical wastes that Borden was putting into the water. There were fish dying and floating in the water. People from Buffalo and other towns surrounding Borden were the ones working there and supplying the wastes into the water. People around there didn't have much of a choice; it was a job! Little towns yield little power, and many kids growing up there think they should lead the life their parents did. By going to work at the factory, have children, then their children have children and so on.

Relics Remain

Even years after living there the towns remained the same. Borden was now specializing in resins and formaldehyde, Elmer's glue and a type of saran wrap. Years ago the plant used to produce milk. What is scary is that the plastic wrap we use goes into the food when you microwave it and Elmer's glue would have non-toxic levels of some chemicals. The plant also produces polyvinyl chloride (PVC), which is used in tile, plastic water pipes, siding, and wire insulation. People who work in the plant making PVC have higher rates of breast and liver cancer. PVC can stay in the water that they pollute for decades and gets into the fish. The plant has been sued several times for the amount of stuff they claim they "accidently" polluted into the water and air. Borden also owns other plants throughout the country, and they also cause many problems. Not counting accidents, the plant releases 65,000 pounds of vinyl chloride and 40,000 pounds of vinyl acetate into Central Illinois air every year!

Blue-Collar Risks

Even those who didn't work for the factory faced harships with their jobs. Becky's family owned their own construction business, but that can be very hard on the body. They never could get away from the plants pollutions though. They had to drink the water and breathe the air. Although Borden isn't the only plant causing pollution into the river, it does its fair share. It is killing many fish in the water and is causing many people to get cancer and die, including Becky's mother and uncle.

My Thoughts

I am surprised that these plants are allowed to dump as much as 800,000 pounds a day of pollution into the water. I don't understand how the government agencies allow it. Also the pollution seems to be linked to the increase of certain cancers in that area, so I think that something should be done about it. I am also from a small town of about 1,200 people and I understand what she says when people just repeat what their parents do. I like to call it getting stuck in the small town "rut," but I don't really agree with her. There are so many opportunities and ways that you can achieve them these days that I don't think living in a small town and being stuck in those ways is an excuse. Someone from those towns should try and do something about it and get involved to help fix the problem!

Links

This link tells a little more about the formaldehyde production http://www.allbusiness.com/company-activities-management/company-structures-ownership/6637337-1.html

This link is really neat. You can click on any of the topics and it will give you information regulations and laws for chemical plants. I especialla like the Environmental Protection Agency link! http://people.clarkson.edu/~wilcox/Design/refsafe.htm

Vocabulary:

Resins: Any of various yellowish viscous liquids or soft solids of plant origin; used in lacquers, varnishes and many other applications.

Herbicides: A herbicide is used to kill unwanted plants. Selective herbicides kill specific targets while leaving the desired crop relatively unharmed.

Pesticides: A substance or mixture of substances used to kill a pest. A pesticide may be a chemical substance, biological agent (such as a virus or bacteria), antimicrobial, disinfectant or device used against any pest.

Industrial Chemicals: Comprises the companies that produce industrial chemicals. It is central to modern world economy, converting raw materials (oil, natural gas, air, water, metals, minerals) into more than 70,000 different products.

Reflection: Weeks 5 and 6

Ok, so I know that most of you have already commented on my post, but I honestly didn't put a lot of time into it, so I am going to fix it. I didn't have my computer for the past week, because it had a virus on it, so I completely forgot that this was due and didn't realize it til' Sunday. I freaked out and hurried up and wrote something lol! UGH..what a struggle!

Week 5
We had to do another eye opener called CSPI. It showed us how the amount of certain foods that we eat effect the environment. My intake of meat definitely was bad! I was really shocked to see my results, because I didn't think I was really that bad. I have since been looking into some other options so I still get my protein and other nutriets from meat without actually having to eat them as often.
We also go to watch the documentary, "Diet for a New America." I admit there were parts in this movie that kind of grossed me out! One of the things that really stood out to me in this documentary were that they would put a bunch of animals in very small areas so that they couldn't move very much, which would then allow the meat to stay more tender! SO SAD!

Week 6
In this week we watched a Documentary titled, "The Future of Food." I found this documentary very interesting. I can't believe that we eat HMO foods and don't know we are eating them because they aren't labeled! Also it made me very mad that Monsanto is suing 9,000 small farming businesses for "stealing" their seeds. I think that Monsanto should be responsible for watching where their seeds float off to! It kind of scared me too, to think that our food supply could be in danger because off all the big corporations that are trying to "own" certain seeds and types of food!
We also were assigned individual readings. I really really liked my reading. It was really interesting to me! It was fun to read everyone elses posts on their readings too. Some of them made me want to go and read their whole article as well! Everyone did a really great job on this assignment!

My Thoughts
I can't believe that these 2 weeks are over already!! It is crazy, our semester is almost half over! I feel like I have already learned so much! It also seems that everyone has the hang of blogging now, which is good. Personally, I really enjoy blogging in my free time. (Kinda nerdy haha) I can't wait to see what is in store for us the next 2 weeks! Keep up all the great posts!!:)