A Personal Solution to Obseity

Earlier this evening, I was watching Anderson Cooper 360. They were doing a special on the medical impact of obesity. While I was watching it, I was reminded of when I was in high school. The State of New York requires school children to be physically active by requiring some type of physical education course (dance is allowed, if offered). My school extended it to if a student was on a sports team, he was exempt from gym classes for the season.

The Phys Ed teacher I had for 3 years was and a great guy, but he had a very narrow-minded view of sports that should qualify; if he had it his way, the list would consist of football, basketball, and baseball. He thought that track shouldn't be allowed since anyone can run; swimming was running through a thicker medium. He never seemed to make a position a position on wrestling, rugby, tennis, hockey, or soccer; it went without saying that he did not like the bowling or golf teams.

He is the problem that I had: none of those sports were really ever my thing. My gym classes would typically consist of either playing touch football or basketball (neither of which were that appealing so I ended up looking "active" by shooting free-throws). My school had a weight room and I would frankly have preferred to spend my gym class there, but that option was rarely available.

Here is what I think should happen: make it a legal requirement to provide for independent physical education studies. What do I mean by this? When Tony Hawk was in his senior year of high school, he and his classmates had the option of independent study for their physical education requirements. The typical list items were offered as well as surfing. There was an asterisk at the end of the list which allowed for writing one's own course of study to be approved by the school board. Take a wild guess what Tony Hawk got approved.

The reason I feel that our youth is so inactive is that they fall into a donut hole if they are forced into two things they dislike so the school can continue to be accredited. I am an avid skier. I would have loved to get school credit to do something I enjoyed. And if my teacher wanted to say that skiing is not a sport, I would have liked him to see how much ones legs could hurt from the muscle tonnage of the sharp turns required to speed down a run roughly three-fourths mile in length in about 3 minutes (I once timed and measured the route on a map and that's what it came to) about eight times in one day and then say that skiing should not qualify.

If Tony Hawk could get proper credit to prove that he was skateboarding, why couldn't I do something to say that I was out skiing? It is not that young adults are inactive, but that they have been put into a mindset of apathy towards exercise and activity.

Ethnicity on the Courts

Most people have heard Judge Sonia Sonomayor's statement about reading the law as a Latina versus a [white] man. This has been construed to mean that she will legislate from the bench (because of, also, a butchered joke) and is a reverse racist.

It is impossible not to be an impartial judge. I know that that is a radical thing to say, but if you think about it, it is not that absurd. Everyone is different. We all have biases. We all have inclinations. We all see things differently than everyone else based on our intelligence, upbringing, culture, race, religion, experiences, affiliations, and etcetera. So, of course, we will use our individuality in deciding.

Last night, on Anderson Cooper 360, John King asked that if a judicial nominee said that he would read the law in terms of a white man, would the person be confirmed. The politico said that no judicial nominee would have a history of such statements. Before I went to sleep last night, I thought about this topic. If you say "White man," an image of some type of dominance comes to mind. Similarly, if you say "black man," one would think of someone who was once marginalized. There are so many stereotypes that this plays for:

Latino

lazy

blond

dumb

Irish

drinker

Asian

good at math

red-head

angry

southern

racist

north-easterner

conceited

person wearing glasses

smart

I know that this sounds bigoted, but realize that society has somehow (I'm no sociologist, so I don't know how) implanted these thoughts in our heads. Of course, however, most people know that these stereotypes are not true. What I think Judge Sonomayor was meaning by her statement was merely an embrace of her ethnic background. Embracing one's heritage is nothing of which to be ashamed. Tell me, what high school did not have an Asian-American club, an African-American club, an Irish-American club, a Polish-American club (you get the point)?