Thursday, February 7, 2013

Conference






















































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Dear All,

Here the Topic for our Upcoming Conference:


Creating a Better, Healthier, Happier, and More Sustainable and Meaningful Future


Date: Thursday, March 21st
Time: 3:30 to 8:30 pm
Venue: BuTo 599


Presentation time per person: 5 minutes

Presentations will be arranged in groups of approximately 5 presentations per session. At the end of each session there will be some opportunity for audience questions, comments, and discussions of all the presentations of that session.

Please post the TITLES of your presentations - and a brief ABSTRACT in the comment section below by March 7th!

Thank you,

Gudrun


11 comments:

  1. Increasing Physical Activity to Fight the Sedentary Lifestyle

    Physical activity is becoming increasingly important to promote and make easily accessible to all individuals as a result of societies sedentary lifestyle. Obesity is greatly increasing in North America as a result of a 62% inactivity rate. This leads to an increase in cardiovascular diseases and health care spending. By making fitness opportunities more accessible to the working population we can decrease sedentary lifestyles. For example, promoting affordable group fitness classes at lunch times or in the morning before work can help improve the lifestyles of adults. As well, the introduction of fitness equipment in the work place, such as an office, where employees can exercise on lunch breaks, promotes a health lifestyle. Implementing these changes into a community will encourage healthy, active citizens. As well, active parents motivate active children, as children are the leading cause of increasing obesity rates and diabetes 2.

    Personally, I have always lived a very active lifestyle and am currently pursuing a degree in Kinesiology. I have been working to contribute to a decrease in the sedentary lifestyle of individuals by volunteering with the Body Works fitness center on campus since September. Body Works targets faculty members and professors, as well as seniors. They provide a friendly, affordable environment with many classes that can be integrated into a busy schedule. I have greatly enjoyed inspiring others to incorporate fitness into their daily lives, and helping them receive the benefits physical activity provides.

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  3. Organizational culture is a mainstay of an employee’s job enjoyment, and since everyone wants to enjoy his or her job, companies are always aiming to get organizational culture right in order to avoid employee turnover. Because of that, a whole field of study has been developed in hopes of understanding what it is that makes workers happy at work.

    This field of study, organizational behaviour, includes the study of the culture of the organization, and how that affects job satisfaction and productivity. Despite the vast research done by experts, there still seems to be many people who are unsatisfied with their jobs but cannot do anything to change their situation. This research will analyze the existing research for intrinsic causes of job satisfaction as well as develop new methods for employee satisfaction, particularly with regards to employee’s work-life balance and recreational activities.

    In an increasingly competitive world where employees are working longer and more rigorous hours, each employee because more easily subject to job dissatisfaction and stress, which is why they need to revisit their hobbies and establish a healthy work-life balance. Thus, this research will help organizations that are aiming for a better organizational culture to improve their culture in the hopes of increasing employee satisfaction and productivity.

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  4. Reducing the Cases of Eating Disorders amongst Teenage Girls

    Female adolescents are becoming more susceptible to suffering from eating disorders in the past decade. The cases of this new disturbance have become so common that in America, 1 or 2 out of every 100 girls have struggled with some degree of the illness. The most common cases are anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa and they both have extreme effects on the body both physically and mentally. Some of the short-term effects of these disorders are rotting teeth, weak immune systems, stunted growth, dehydration, hair loss, malnutrition, dizziness and lethargy. Long-term effects include irregular heartbeat, malnutrition, organ failure, depression, infertility and suicide, to name a few. Girls at ages as young as 11 have been diagnosed by this mental illness, while the typical age for diagnosis is 17.
    Research has been done to conclude that the underlying reason for these eating disorders are due to low self-esteem, higher body dissatisfaction and warped ideas of what women think their own bodies looks like. These all spawn from society’s façade of what beauty is and the glamorous, irrational world of celebrities and models on runways with the “size zero” propaganda. Unsupportive, overcritical parents or siblings could also be causes of other cases of these disorders, as it has been studied that families with nurturing parents that are assertive and complimenting towards their children raise confident secure adults, whilst the opposite is true for parents who are critical, absent and disparaging.
    I personally have been in close proximity with a person who suffered through anorexia and have seen the dark, uncontrollable demands it put them through. I think changing the way people respond to the world of glamour and changing the way beauty is defined by the industry and by regular, everyday people will help reduce the cause for self-esteem issues among women in general. Plus sized models should be advertised and encouraged as well as movements to ban Photoshop in magazines, brochures, posters and billboards. If the normal, average person has a more realistic definition of beauty, cases of damaged self-esteems and therefore cases of eating disorders will decrease.

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  5. Creating Jobs for the Homeless through Social Enterprise

    Vancouver’s income gap is well known and is nicely illustrated by the Burrard Inlet: on one side, the people of the Downtown Eastside struggle to make ends meet, while on the other side, the wealthy reside in mansions in the British Properties. A fact of living here is that people almost exclusively associate and engage with other members of their socio-economic group. I propose to create a city-wide program that provides incentives for local businesses to hire and create opportunities for the underprivileged. The program would send out consultants to work with businesses, providing them with the tool to become more socially responsible and aware. In addition to receiving great publicity, the entrepreneurs would benefit from a slight municipal tax break. Lower income workers would receive work experience and an income, while having access to free rehabilitation and therapy services offered by the program. My initiative will help build a stronger, more engaged community, make entrepreneurs more socially responsible, and give the underprivileged valuable experience that will allow them to better their lives.

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  6. Title: Weighing the Risk - The Epidemic of Obesity.

    Obesity is an epidemic of global proportions for public health at the moment. An increasing number of individuals are being diagnosed as clinically obese because of a multitude of factors including a sedentary lifestyle, poor dietary choices, medication and genetics. There is also a lack of awareness regarding healthy food choices and other variables such as the general economic condition, availability of food, convenience and disposable income shape the choices an individual makes in terms of health.
    There are a number of solutions that can be looked into; the cornerstone of which is formed by a good diet and physical activity. Additional measures include increasing awareness regarding the negative implications that an individual’s habits have in terms of obesity and what the government in terms of rules and regulations to curb this problem. I am currently majoring in food, nutrition and health, and I am passionate about going into education for my grad studies in order to allow me to influence and imbue healthy habits in children during their formative years. Thus, enabling them to make healthier choices later on in life.

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  7. Areas of Growth for Online Education

    Online education is one of education’s fastest growing fields. There is now plethora of online educational services encompassing a range of fields. Some of my favourite include iTunes U, Codeacademy, Khanacademy, Vsauce, Google Apps for Education, and Quora. Not to mention every major university, which now all offer correspondence courses over the internet. You may be thinking at this point that online education sounds like a saturate field. I argue that although there are an increasing number of online education sources, if there is anything the internet boom has taught us, it is that there is always room for new ideas. As such I will propose new ways in which internet technology could be used for education, and evaluate their feasibility.

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  8. Eat Local for Global Benefits

    With the growing concern for our planets environment, the actions that we make on a day to day basis are becoming increasingly important. Food represents one of the largest types of goods transported both on our own roads, and internationally. With the average North American meal traveling 2400 km from farm to table and with it containing ingredients from over 5 countries, a simply changing where we get our food from can create profound, positive changes on our environment. David Suzuki’s foundation “Nature’s Challenge” ranked eating locally as one of the top 10 things you can do to reduce your global footprint.

    Eating local food not only has a positive impact on our environment, but also for our economy and our own health and well-being. Seeing as its extremely easy to find and buy locally grown food and it promotes many improvements in our lives is why I urge everyone to try and make a change to their mindset on where our food comes from. Instead of only shopping at the supermarket, try visiting the farmers market for some local, fresh produce, or support a program that provides local food in your community. Each small change that you make has an impact, and the more people who make these changes, the greater the benefits for the planet, and for us.

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  9. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vVwXPkeUK4g

    Later on in class, I explained what I can do to make a difference. I suggested that my future social status would influence my actions on making a difference. If I were an ordinary employee, I would be a guest speaker, visit different locations to do the following:

    1. I would handout questionnaires to have a better understanding of the bullying environment. Try and figure out who are the victims and try to find the cause(s).
    2. Get the parents of the bullies and victims involved.
    3. Share my personal experience. That way, it can build a connection and relationship with the ones that are currently suffering.
    4. With tactics of inspiration, raise awareness as to how serious the issue is and prevent this from happening.

    If I were to be famous, I would do the following:

    1. Sing songs that are related to bullying - Referent power
    2. Use social media to raise awareness
    3. Have my own campaigns on the subject of bullying

    Bullying isn't the only form of Emotional Pain. Depression would be another. Rick Rypien of the Vancouver Canucks suffered from depression for years. Until one day he committed suicide. To raise awareness, the Canucks have donated $50,000 to BC Children's Hospital Foundation to help aid mental illness among youths that suffer from depression.
    Kevin Bieksa, former Canuck, makes public speeches to share his story about Rick Rypien, to motivate individuals to help others that are suffering from depression.

    These are one of the many forms of Emotional Pain. There have been actions taken to help those that are suffering. You can make a difference too. If you see or know anyone who's suffering from Emotional Pain, reach out and help them. Because a show of care, could save a person's life.

    Starting right now, you can be the difference.

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  10. Family means everything to me and I would like to spend as much time as possible with the people I love. I would like to research on a paper with the topic of how to provide our younger generation with the knowledge of healthy eating. Healthy eating is a factor that leads to many outcomes, from having fewer heart problems to having more confidence in your life. I have younger siblings of my own and I would like to watch them grow and live in a long and healthy way. That is possible if they are educated in a well thought way. Based on information from James Oliver’s Ted Talk on obesity mainly in America, North America has the most obese population in the world and many of them are children. That is sad to hear when you know there are people in the third world countries that die everyday because of malnutrition. This is something that I have been thinking about since I was in grade eleven and one of the main reasons why I chose to do the program that I am trying pursuing right now. There has not been anyone in my family who decided to work in the food nutrition area but from working at a fast food restaurant for many years and learning about it over the media and school, it has really caught my attention to try and do something about it. There should not be a child in North America who is going to grow up obese and debating whether he or she will live long enough to see their graduation; but trying to eat healthy is not an easy task you can accomplish in one day. It is a lifestyle needs to be changed among our generation. If we set a good example for our younger generation now, it will benefit our younger siblings in the long run.

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  11. Based on preliminary research, the need to conserve water is rapidly emerging as a serious policy problem around the world. Only 2.5% of the world’s water is fresh; and less than 0.8% of this fresh water is available for human use. Despite these limitations on the world and Canadian water supply, many Canadians still have the false perception that Canada is blessed with an abundance of fresh water, which has led to misuse and abuse of the resource.

    In 2011- 2012 school year, the University claimed achieving a 50% reduction in water consumption. Subsequent reactions and responses from the University’s diverse student body varied. Many students believed this willingly recognizing the benefits outlined in the Water Action Plan as valid. There however, remains a growing minority that grew sceptical as the reduction in water consumption is only measured in institutional buildings, with little change in residential buildings. The following two areas had been identified in which the University should act on in order to make its campus more sustainable: stormwater management and water-saving products.

    By improving these two areas, UBC could make its campus more sustainable and environmentally friendly.

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