Monthly Archives: March 2013

Passion Blog — 1 Comment
21
Mar 13

Meet Me at The Corner Room!

I am half embarrassed to say that after all this time at Penn State I finally went to the Corner Room! Arguably on of Penn State’s largest monuments (almost as popular as the Nittany Lion Shrine) , the Corner Room is located on the corner of W. College and South Allen. I decided to go there for brunch on Saturday morning since my usual spot (The Waffle Shop) had an extremely long wait. When my friends and I got there we were thrilled to be seated immediately, and a window booth nonetheless! On Saturdays there is not breakfast menu, but there is an all you can eat breakfast buffet. From stealing glances at what people were bringing back on their plates it looked pretty good, especially the cinnamon rolls.  Unfortunately I am not much of a breakfast person and opted for a lunch item instead.

Corner Room

 

The first thing I noticed is that there are a TON of sandwich options on the menu. There was literally every combination I could think of! In an effort to make up for my meat-eating frenzy the previous night (Catholics aren’t supposed to eat meat on Friday :x)  I ordered the fish and chips. I sure do love me a good piece of fried cod. When it came out it looked delicious! The pieces of fish were really big, not like that crappy stuff at Long John Silvers. I also got a large portion of fries to go with my Heinz ketchup.  Once I bit into it I was sadly disappointed. Despite the right amount of crunchy breading, it was obvious that the oil they deep-fried the fish in was recycled. They must have used the same oil to fry all the menu items. Being from southwestern PA where we deep-fry everything from pickles to butter, I know when oil is fresh and when it isn’t and that stuff was no good.

FIsh

On the bright side, I tasted some of the things my friends ordered and they were excellent (and not fried)! I was also very impressed with our waitress. My friends and I wanted to hang around for a bit and talk after eating and our waitress was not pushy whatsoever. She even offered to refill our drink while we sat and chatted! The prices were also very reasonable. My entire meal including tip was under fifteen dollars.

Overall, my meal at the Corner Room wasn’t amazing but the service and prices more than made up for it. I would give them a 6 out of 10. I will probably go back again and order something that isn’t fired. It’s worth mentioning that they have weekday specials like Endless Pasta Monday and 5 Dollar Burger Thursdays. Can’t beat that! So grab some friends and “meet me at the corner room”.

work- in - progress Blog — 1 Comment
21
Mar 13

Fat or Fluffy? The Obesity Epidemic in America

For my Persuasive Essay I know that I want to write about U.S policy towards obesity in the United States. As most of us know, it is an epidemic here in the United States and has been linked to all major causes of death. This issue has been brought into the spotlight in recent years with Mrs. Obama’s efforts to battle childhood obesity. The dilemma I am faced with does not pose any clear answers. In the US corporations have the right to make money, which is exactly what fast food corporations are doing. But should a line be drawn? At what point does corporations rights end and the health of the American people begin?  As of right now, there are no clear-cut policies addressing the issue. Therefore, this essay could take multiple forms.

  • Are corporations like McDonalds, Burger King, etc. responsible for the obesity epidemic in the United States? If so what should be done?
  1. Nutrition labels in Restaurants
  2.  High taxes on sugary drinks
  3. Limits on how much fat content is allowed in certain foods
  4. Giving healthy food producers tax breaks
  5. Making corporations reveal where there products come from
  6. Limiting the amount of advertising
  •  Are individual choices to blame for this epidemic? If so, should the U.S government be allowed to impose regulations on food corporations? Is that constitutional?
  1. Here is the problem: if I choose this prompt what policy am I advocating? Is it possible to advocate a lack of policy?

So there are the options I am contemplating. I have already done a decent amount of research I just can’t decide what policy/lack of policy I want to advocate. Personally, I agree with prompt #2 in that it is our own responsibility to live healthy lives. But obviously this approach isn’t working because the obesity rate has consistently risen.  I am stuck.  The easy choice would be prompt #1 because there is a TON of information available. It might be hard to write 6 pages should I choose prompt #2. I am not sure. Help please!!

work- in - progress Blog — No Comments
15
Mar 13

WIP- Obesity in America

For my persuasive essay I was toying with three ideas: gun control, obesity, and healthcare. I immediately decided against gun control because although this is an important issue, I feel like the media has made this issue a dead beat.  I have done research papers on socialized healthcare in the past, which would make it a very easy topic. However, I am very bored with this topic. So the only one remaining is obesity in the United States. As was made evident in class on Wednesday, I was having a hard time defining an audience for this issue. Ultimately I have decided that my audience will be corporations. With obesity on the rise and obesity-related heath problems taking the number two spot as causes of death, it’s a hot topic that applies to just about everyone. Do you think large corporations and fast food giants like McDonalds should be held accountable? Should/ can the government restrict the content of sugar, saturated fat, etc. in food? Would it be against the constitution to make corporations reveal nutrition facts on their menus?

These are the questions I hope to decide on for myself. I am not exactly sure what type of stance I want to take on these issues. There is no doubt that this is an issue that needs to be addressed and requires some type of policy change. Another reason why I chose this topic is because I think that I have a good idea to turn it into an advocacy project. I would like to work with my roommate (she is in CAS but not our class) to evaluate the Dinning Halls food. Nothing is set in stone but these are the ideas I am tossing around.

Skip to toolbar