Assignment: Global Health Discussion-Board 5
Assignment: Global Health Discussion-Board 5
Assignment: Global Health Discussion-Board 5
Original Contribution: Based on the 2009 article in Scientific American (attached), “Could food shortages bring down civilization?” Answer the following questions:
Do you think Plan B includes all the necessary components?
Do you think these components or goals will be met in 50 years? Why or why not.
Response Post: Does your classmate effectively argue his/her opinion? If yes, state why you agree. If not, explain what you think the student’s argument is missing. Ask a question about something he or she has stated in a post (or response) to get clarity or to push the discussion further.
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Classmate’s response-
The entire global population is facing a great risk of catastrophic food shortages, perhaps at a faster rate than assumed in previous decades.1 There have been many proposed causes for this shortage, as well as some new concerns developing with modern geopolitical changes.1 It is important to study these causes for food shortages now, so that we can be proactive, rather than reactive to the situation.
One reason blamed for the shortage is the fact that the global diet has transitioned from less locally sourced meals, to a greater emphasis on processed foods. This has removed the local agricultural market from the equation, and making populations more dependent on large corporations and increasing food prices.2 Another issue to blame is the water shortage and degradation of soil in improperly farmed areas.2 Lastly, another reason that could possibly lead to the global food shortage is climate change, which transitions the growing seasons of many areas from adequate to not enough.3
In order to prevent the food shortage itself, as well with the accompanying humanitarian concerns, plans have been proposed to various approval.1 Plan B is an expansive measure that has been proposed to specifically target the myriad of factors leading to the food shortage.1 This measure involves a complete rehaul of normal operations of our societies processes today.1
I believe the first component, the drastic reduction of carbon emissions by 80% will greatly mitigate the effects of global warming if it could be done by 2020.1 The next aspect, stabilization of Earth’s human population will prevent unavoidable over-demand that outpaces food supply.1 The elimination of poverty, which accelerates food shortages and exacerbates its effects is another important step.1
Lastly, if the quality of farmable environments around the world, including water and soil, can be improved and maintained, we will be able to adequately feed the population of Earth under the new Plan B paradigm.1 I do believe that these measures are attainable in the next 50 years, or even shorter, because it is the only hope to continue to feed the human population. Without these changes, we may likely end in a global food shortage emergency.1
Matthew
References:
1. Brown LR. Could Food Shortages Bring Down Civilization? Scientific American. United States:Scientific American, Inc; 2009;300:50-57.
2. Popkin BM, Adair LS, Ng SW. Global nutrition transition and the pandemic of obesity in developing countries. Nutrition Reviews. 2012;70:3-21.
3. Mittelstaedt M. Global Warming May Cause Food Shortages. Current Controversies: Global Warming. 2008
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You must proofread your paper. But do not strictly rely on your computer’s spell-checker and grammar-checker; failure to do so indicates a lack of effort on your part and you can expect your grade to suffer accordingly. Papers with numerous misspelled words and grammatical mistakes will be penalized. Read over your paper – in silence and then aloud – before handing it in and make corrections as necessary. Often it is advantageous to have a friend proofread your paper for obvious errors. Handwritten corrections are preferable to uncorrected mistakes.
Use a standard 10 to 12 point (10 to 12 characters per inch) typeface. Smaller or compressed type and papers with small margins or single-spacing are hard to read. It is better to let your essay run over the recommended number of pages than to try to compress it into fewer pages.
Likewise, large type, large margins, large indentations, triple-spacing, increased leading (space between lines), increased kerning (space between letters), and any other such attempts at “padding” to increase the length of a paper are unacceptable, wasteful of trees, and will not fool your professor.
- The paper must be neatly formatted, double-spaced with a one-inch margin on the top, bottom, and sides of each page. When submitting hard copy, be sure to use white paper and print out using dark ink. If it is hard to read your essay, it will also be hard to follow your argument.
ADDITIONAL INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE CLASS
Discussion Questions (DQ)
- Initial responses to the DQ should address all components of the questions asked, include a minimum of one scholarly source, and be at least 250 words.
- Successful responses are substantive (i.e., add something new to the discussion, engage others in the discussion, well-developed idea) and include at least one scholarly source.
- One or two sentence responses, simple statements of agreement or “good post,” and responses that are off-topic will not count as substantive. Substantive responses should be at least 150 words.
- I encourage you to incorporate the readings from the week (as applicable) into your responses.
Weekly Participation
- Your initial responses to the mandatory DQ do not count toward participation and are graded separately.
- In addition to the DQ responses, you must post at least one reply to peers (or me) on three separate days, for a total of three replies.
- Participation posts do not require a scholarly source/citation (unless you cite someone else’s work).
- Part of your weekly participation includes viewing the weekly announcement and attesting to watching it in the comments. These announcements are made to ensure you understand everything that is due during the week.
APA Format and Writing Quality
- Familiarize yourself with APA format and practice using it correctly. It is used for most writing assignments for your degree. Visit the Writing Center in the Student Success Center, under the Resources tab in LoudCloud for APA paper templates, citation examples, tips, etc. Points will be deducted for poor use of APA format or absence of APA format (if required).
- Cite all sources of information! When in doubt, cite the source. Paraphrasing also requires a citation.
- I highly recommend using the APA Publication Manual, 6th edition.
Use of Direct Quotes
- I discourage overutilization of direct quotes in DQs and assignments at the Masters’ level and deduct points accordingly.
- As Masters’ level students, it is important that you be able to critically analyze and interpret information from journal articles and other resources. Simply restating someone else’s words does not demonstrate an understanding of the content or critical analysis of the content.
- It is best to paraphrase content and cite your source.
LopesWrite Policy
- For assignments that need to be submitted to LopesWrite, please be sure you have received your report and Similarity Index (SI) percentage BEFORE you do a “final submit” to me.
- Once you have received your report, please review it. This report will show you grammatical, punctuation, and spelling errors that can easily be fixed. Take the extra few minutes to review instead of getting counted off for these mistakes.
- Review your similarities. Did you forget to cite something? Did you not paraphrase well enough? Is your paper made up of someone else’s thoughts more than your own?
- Visit the Writing Center in the Student Success Center, under the Resources tab in LoudCloud for tips on improving your paper and SI score.
Late Policy
- The university’s policy on late assignments is 10% penalty PER DAY LATE. This also applies to late DQ replies.
- Please communicate with me if you anticipate having to submit an assignment late. I am happy to be flexible, with advance notice. We may be able to work out an extension based on extenuating circumstances.
- If you do not communicate with me before submitting an assignment late, the GCU late policy will be in effect.
- I do not accept assignments that are two or more weeks late unless we have worked out an extension.
- As per policy, no assignments are accepted after the last day of class. Any assignment submitted after midnight on the last day of class will not be accepted for grading.
Communication
- Communication is so very important. There are multiple ways to communicate with me:
- Questions to Instructor Forum: This is a great place to ask course content or assignment questions. If you have a question, there is a good chance one of your peers does as well. This is a public forum for the class.
- Individual Forum: This is a private forum to ask me questions or send me messages. This will be checked at least once every 24 hours.