Speeding Through Your Studies

    

 While reading the online version of the Daily Campus, I stumbled upon an article about a man named Howard Berg. Howard Berg, the Guinness Book of World Record’s “World’s Fastest Reader”, has the amazing ability to read up to 80 pages of text in a single minute. Berg claims to have completed a four-year psychology program in one year, a graduate course in educational psychology in seven hours, and a six hour test in 50 minutes all due to his ability to read at such a fast pace. Because of his obvious success in using his technique, Berg has started his own speed reading program, which he claims will improve reading speed by 100%.

     Ever since I can remember, I have been a slow reader. I can do math problems quickly and with ease, but it will take me months to complete a novel of 500 pages. It’s not due to my lack of interest, but my inability to read at a quick speed. I have found this to be very frustrating in my first months in college. Studying and learning in college requires a large amount of reading, no matter the subject or class. In hopes of improving my ability to speed-read, I enrolled in Oracle at the beginning of the semester. I quickly learned that the class was focused more on improving study habits than the ability to read quickly. I ended up dropping the class, but I was still curious about potentially finding a way to teach myself how to quickly pick up information in order to better my college studies. I have always been skeptical of these speed-reading courses because I don't understand how something can completely alter the way someone has been reading for their entire life. I was excited to find a link in the article to a list of Berg’s introductory tips, and I plan to go over them soon. It will be interesting to see if these tips are beneficial. Faster reading will lead to better learning, something I know we could all use.


    Does speed reading seem like a scam to you? I never believed that a class or a tutorial could actually improve my reading speed. However, I see no harm in trying it. As they always say, "practice makes perfect!"

Taking the Toys

     Santa Clara County in California has passed a new law banning toys in kids' meals in fast food restaurants with high calorie and sugar content. The aim of this bill is to stop rewarding children for making unhealthy food choices. Other legislatures are thinking of implementing this law in their regions as well.

     By passing this law, fast food joints are forced to create healthier options for children. One of the most exciting parts of getting a Happy Meal when I was younger was seeing which kind of toy I would find in the bag. I can only imagine the decrease in sales once children across America realize they wouldn't receive a prize with their fast food anymore. This change will also make it easier for parents to steer their children towards healthier eating habits. It must be difficult for parents to say no to their child when a toy is involved. If fast food chains want to keep up, they must increase the nutrition in their meals. McDonald's has already jumped on the bandwagon. Recently they have added things like 2% milk, apples, and yogurt to Happy Meals in order to give children healthier options.

  

    This law is one small step that could make a large impact on ending childhood obesity. Fast food is one of the major components of this pandemic because it is fast, cheap, and for the most part tasty. Children are getting hooked on it at an early age and the problem only progresses over time. Although it may seem untraditional and almost cruel to take the beloved kids' meal toys away from the children of America, it is an effective way to move towards ending childhood obesity.

Better Safe Than Sorry

    One of the lead stories in the news recently is the bombs found flying on passenger airplanes. The bombs were said to be designed to detonate themselves. Investigations are still being held on the exact origin of the bombs but are said to be linked to al Qaeda. Both of the packages were addressed to synagogues in Chicago. 

     This terrorist scare has affected everyone throughout the nation. The fear of flying that was once settled after September 11th has re-entered the minds of Americans. Luckily, I do not have to fly very often because I live a driving distance from home. However, I have several friends that do not have the same luxury. A friend of mine is flying to California next weekend and is terrified because of this recent outbreak. 

     It seems that with all the new advances in airport security someone would have been able to spot a self-detonating explosive. One of these new advances, the full-body scanner, could be a fool-proof alternative to airport security. However, this invention has caused much controversy throughout the American population. People are appalled that an airport security officer would be able to see their exposed body for safety precautions. Personally, I think my safety is worth a quick invasion of privacy.


 Hopefully this bomb scare will serve as a wake-up call for airport security world-wide. The threat of dangers on an airplane are far from over. People like the al Qaeda bombers are coming up with new ways to work around it. Many people complain about the hassle of going through security at an airport, but I have never seen my safety as a nuisance. I for one, am very thankful that airports go to such lengths to ensure our safety. My safety is worth taking a few extra minutes to search every person before entering a terminal.