Monday, March 1, 2010

2 out of 3 ain't bad.

So I thought some of you would enjoy this little story:

I'm taking a class this semester called "Writing About Issues and Ideas" and the professor loves to send emails. Like seriously everyday after class we get an email. It's nice, but somewhat annoying. Anyway the emails are usually just tying up lose ends from class, but sometimes if you actually read them and respond you can get extra credit points.
The latest one was:
Which of the following statements is NOT an arguable factual claim:

1. People who are obese run a heightened risk for diabetes.
2. In the long run, dieting may be more harmful than moderate
overeating.

Supposedly the answer is 1.

Long story short I never responded because I was too lazy plus she sent it to us over a weekend. I had better things to do than worry about 3 silly points. We get to class Tuesday and she decides to review the answer. For some reason it catches my attention that even if statement is not arguable in her opinion, to me it is. So I raise my hand and ask her to read number 1 again. I then flat out say that she's she's wrong because her statement is a sweeping generalization. I tell her that by saying simply "diabetes" it makes it arguable, because I have Type 1 Diabetes and that has nothing to do with weight it's auto-immune. She admits that she is wrong and tells me to see her after class. Guess who got 2 extra credit points? ME! I'm not usually the most vocal when it comes to addressing Diabetes misconceptions in real life. I get flustered. I get frustrated. I feel like it's too hard to change the preconceived notions everyone has about Diabetes. But I did it, and it paid off. It should be noted that the book for this class is called "Everything's an Argument", maybe that's where I got the courage to speak up.

Also in the school realm, I'm taking a black and white film photography class this semester. The professor said that if you happen to have a cut on your hand and you touch the stop bath solution the cut will magically disappear in 2 days. Today I dipped all my over pricked fingers in just to experiment. If it works I'll let you know.

On a totally different note. Since I switched to Animas I have somewhere between 2 -4 boxes of unused Cozmo pump cartridges. If you or someone you know could benefit from free supplies, please let me know so I can get them to someone who needs them. My email address is available in my profile.

Happy Monday!