With Thanksgiving only a week away, here are some interesting facts and histories about this uniquely American holiday. Impress your friends and family with your Thanksgiving knowledge and learn a little extra about a major cultural aspect of American history.

The Pilgrim leader, Governor William Bradford, had organized the first Thanksgiving feast in the year 1621 and invited the neighboring Wampanoag Indians also to the feast. The first Thanksgiving feast was held in the presence of around ninety Wampanoag Indians and the Wampanoag chief, Massasoit, was also invited there. The celebration lasted for three days. The women didn’t participate. Most of them were too busy cooking.

George Washington established the first official Thanksgiving holiday on 1789 and again in 1795.  Magazine editor Sarah Josepha Hale started a Thanksgiving campaign in 1827 and it was result of her efforts that in 1863, Abraham Lincoln issued a ‘Thanksgiving Proclamation’ which established Thanksgiving as a holiday on the last Thursday in Novemeber.

The final date for Thanksgiving and the one we now celebrate was established by FDR in 1939 as the fourth Thursday in Novemeber in order to extend the Christmas shopping season and stimulate the econony during the Great Depression.

Not all of American’s founding fathers liked the idea of Thanksgiving. Thomas Jefferson thought the concept of Thanksgiving was “the most ridiculous idea I’ve ever heard.” Also, it was Thomas Jefferson’s symbol of the eagle as American’s national bird that beat out Benjamin Franklin’s suggestion that America adopt as its symbol the noble turkey.

When it comes to talking turkey, 91% of Americans eat turkey on Thanksgiving and 50% of those American. On the West Coast of the US, Dungeness crab is common as an alternate main dish instead of turkey, as crab season starts in early November. However, Californians are the biggest consumers of turkey year round.

Turkeys were one of the first wild animals in North America to be domesticated. he wild turkey is native to northern Mexico  and the eastern United States. Later it was domesticated in Mexico, and was brought into Europe early in the 16th century. To this day, wild turkeys have a darker meat and taste differently from domesticated ones. A spooked turkey can run at speeds up to 20 miles per hour. They can also burst into flight approaching speeds between 50-55 mph in a matter of seconds.

The annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade tradition began on  November 27, 1924 when the first parade was held. For over 75 years, the parade has begun with the song “Let’s Have a Parade!” The first helium balloons where introduced to the parade in 1928. The balloons were released after the parade until 1933 when public safety concerns stopped the practice.

The first television broadcast was on CBS in 1953 but was moved to NBC in 1955. Santa Claus has ended the parade every year except 1933, the only year in which he led the parade, and in 1942-1944 when the parade was canceled due to World War II. The parade managed until 1989 without encountering a snow storm. The parade went on that year, despite a blizzard blanketing the New York City streets.

So, impress your friends and family with Thanksgiving trivia and have a happy holiday!

Its common knowledge that college is pretty bad for your health. With all of that fried, greasy cheap food they offer on campus to all of that time you spend cooped up in your room working on papers to all of that stress and pressure, college isn’t exactly conducive to a healthy lifestyle. However, there are some things you can do while in college to help promote a healthy lifestyle.

Here are some helpful tips on how to stay healthy around the college campus:

1. Get plenty of sleep – Students tend to put sleep last on their list of priorities, but sleep is actually pretty essential to overall health. It has been proven that those who get more sleep and sleep on a regular schedule are less susceptible to disease than those who pull all-nighters or find themselves on their Facebook page until three in the morning.

2. Walk whenever you can - take the stairs instead of the elevator when going to class. Walk across campus rather than hitching a ride with a friend. Taking a few extra steps each day will help you burn those calories.

3. Better yet, get a bike - Biking to your classes and around campus in general helps you burn twice as many calories as walking and also helps you get where you’re going twice as fast. Not to mention, you’re being environmentally friendly.

4. Drink water, not booze - its no secret that beer leads to a beer belly. Instead of indulging in benders of heavy weekend drinking, tone it down and reach for that bottle of water instead. Drinking water is one of the most essential things to your health. In fact, the Surgeon General recommends that the average adult should drink between six to eight cups of water a day.

5. Make healthy eating choices - First and foremost, breakfast is definitely the most important meal of the day. You’re actually more likely to gain weight if you don’t eat breakfast. Make sure that you eat enough but also that you eat well-proportioned meals. Skipping that greasy hamburger for a salad is also your best bet.

6. Visit the on campus clinic - Get check ups when you feel you’re getting sick. These clinics can usually offer you cheap prescriptions as well as cheap vaccines for diseases like the flu and H1N1. The on-campus health clinic can also provide you treatment for STDs as well as birth control and condoms. After all, sexual health is a big contributer to your overall health so:

7. Use protection - Have safe sex. Protect yourself and others from diseases that could permanently sabotage your health. Also make sure you are emotionally ready for sexual activity. If you have been raped or sexually assaulted, report this to your campus police and seek counseling.

8. Take advantage of counseling services - Over half of college students report feeling suicidal and its no wonder with all of the pressures on us. If you are feeling down or just need someone to talk to, to rant at, or to listen to you bitch, the on-campus counseling services are happy and ready to listen.

9. Use the Rec Center and Phys Ed classes - Your tuition pays to keep that Rec Center open and stocked with cool equipment, so use it! Swim, shoot some hoops, use the exercise equipment, play squash, or run the track. If you have a spare hour during your schedule, sign up for a yoga, pilates, dance, tennis, bowling, or any of the other fun exercise classes your school offers. Its a guaranteed exercise time a couple days a week.

10. Join a group – Get a bunch of friends together to run around campus every morning. Join an inter mural team. Just throw the frisbee around the quad with your friends. Its a lot easier to keep exercising if you have buddies to keep encouraging you.

For more information on exercise in college, check out this site.

It seems that student loans start out as a seemingly easy way to pay for college: you borrow it now when you don’t have money and when you get out and get that big fancy job, you pay them back. Unfortunately, due to the unregulated college loan industry and the downward economy, making that dream job further out of grasp, students are finding those too-good-to-be-true student loans they took are freshman year really were too-good-to-be-true.

According to finaid.org, two-thirds of students graduate college in debt and the average amount of debt for that graduating senior is $23,186. The also state that 86.3% students have to take out some form of loan or borrowed money in order to pay for their education. According to the American Student Assistance site,  lenders provided about $17 billion in private loans, a 592% last year, increase from a decade earlier. American Indian and Black students take out the highest percentage of college loans.

There are several trustworthy Web sites that offer federal loans and are there to educate students about the risks versus the rewards of taking out student loans. Sallie Mae helps students take out, manage, and repay their loans as well as gives financial advice about what to do with loan money and easier ways to pay back without going deeper and deeper into debt. The American Student Assistance program (AMSA) tries to help change policy around college loans to benefit students and offers workshops for students to become more financially educated and sound. The United States Department of Education also offers advice on how to pay for school and various safe resources students can use. Helpmepaymyloans.com is a site from the people who know what its like to be up to their eyeballs in debt and offer up sage advice on how to pay back money you have taken out and are having trouble paying it back.

As a rule of thumb, research before you borrow money from anyone for any reason.

One of the cutest things I’ve seen in the world was the White House this Halloween. With the President and First Lady handing out candy to local children to professionaly carved pumpkins by local design students to the band of skeletons performing Halloween

This is a real change from last Halloween when the only decoration the White House needed was Old Man Cheney standing on the front lawn, letting all the little kiddies know they weren’t welcome, when Halloween was all about Satanism and Devil worship.

The idea of the Prez and the First Lady handing out candy on their front lawn, just like millions of people across their country, really makes them seem like they could be the couple next door. Its just that they live in a house that is tons bigger and whiter than the rest of us.

The fact that they played part in the dress up is great too. Michelle Obama was dressed as a Cat, Robert Gibbs dressed up as Darth Vader alongside his son, and UN Ambassador Susan Rice came as Goofy, among others. The event was sponsored by the National Park Association.

According to the Chicago Sun Times, the goodies handed out at the White House included  “White House M&Ms, a sweet dough butter cookie from the White House pastry shop and, of course, some dried fruit (cherries, apricots, pears, apples and papayas).” Its nice to see they mixed the traditional candy goodies with some healthy Halloween treatas as well.

The Obamas managed to set a pretty good example of being neighborly, treating over 2,000 kids to Halloween treats. Regardless of politics, I think we all can learn a little from this Halloween goodwill.

The Electronic Media Department at MTSU is showing a series of films made by the sixth generation of Chinese filmmakers. The films will be shown every Sunday in November at 6:00 with a discussion following each film lead by a professorial candidate. The screeninsg will be held in room 103 of the John Bragg Mass Communications Building. Here are the films in order:

Nov. 1: You Shoot, I Shoot
Directed by Pang Ho-Cheung, this film was shot in 1999 but not released until 2001. The film is a black comedy about Bart (Eric Kot), a hitman who’s business is suffering doing to a downward turn in the economy. He finally gets a job from Mrs. Ma (Fei-lin Miao), who is being blackmailed with  a sex tape she made. Mrs. Ma tells Bart to kill all of her ex-lovers and film their murders as a final revenge. When the first video comes out terrible, Bart hires his friend filmmaker Chuen (Tat-Ming Cheung), in order to make the films more artistic.

Nov. 8: If You Are The One
This 2008 romantic comedy directed by Xiaogang Feng is about Qin Fen (You Ge), who somehow manages to strike it rich with a silly invention and uses his money to start dating online. After some terrible blind dates, he meets Smiley (Qi Shu), a flight attendant who is definitely out of his league. The couple end up meeting again in Japan where their romance blossoms.

Nov. 15: Gao Xing
Premiering this very in February, this film is probably the newest in the festival. Directed by the up-and-coming Agan and based on a novel by one of China’s best contemporary novelist, Jia Pingwa, this film is about the struggles of Chinese migrant workers. Leaving behind their rural lives as farmers, the workers seek fortune and happiness in the big city. Tao Guo stars as the lead character, Gao Xing.

Nov. 22: The Sun Also Rises
After being in production for five years, actor/director Wen Jiang finally produced this magnificent film with amazingly artistic backdrops and imagery. The film skips around in time a bit, showing how the different paths that cross our lives shape who we become. The film also shifts locations, showing the diversity of China’s landscape from Yunnan village, a campus, and the Gobi Desert. The film won several awards in various film competitions across China.

It doesn’t matter if you are young or old, man or woman, breast cancer has the ability to strike you or someone you love. With October being Breast Cancer Awareness month, people across the country are Thinking Pink and everyone from KISS drummer Peter Criss to First Lady Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill Biden. Though heart related problems are the number one killer of women, Breast Cancer Awareness has been promoted because medicine traditionally takes a male perspective to finding cures and cures for diseases that primarily affect women have been ignored by the medical communities for the majority of history.

The National Breast Cancer Foundation has information about early detection, support groups for those who have been diagnosed, and offers a Mammogram Donation program, allowing you to give to those less fortunate who cannot afford a mamogram even though they may be at risk.  The site also sponsors Janelle’s Blog, which is the advice and memoirs of a woman who has been a 29-year-survivor of breast cancer.

One of the most esteemed foundations is  Susan G. Komen for the Cure, which sponsors a variety of fundraising walks and races for Breast Cancer around the country and the world. The site sponsors grants for breast cancer research, promotes participation in awareness events, and offers support groups for the wide variety of people diagnosed by breast cancer. Susan G. Komen, for whom the foundation was named, spent much of her time while suffering from cancer thinking of ways to improve the quality of care and research methods for fellow sufferers. The foundation was started by her sister Nancy G. Brinker, to promote the cause to which Susan dedicated herself.

Breastcancer.org is a Web site that devotes itself to the medicial aspects of breast cancer. It offers self-diagnosis tips, breast exam how-tos, medical risks, genetic risk factors, and advice for those who have been diagnosed with cancer about nutrition, therapy, chemo, radiation treatments, and how to tell if you have gone into remission. The site explores the various myths and facts about breast cancer and has blogs and articles written by the premier medical doctors in the field. The American Cancer Society also has medical information about breast cancer and what to expect.

For a more personal look at breast cancer, you can access blogs written by those who are currently dealing with the disease. Jacki Donaldson’s blog Cancerspot.org has followed her bout with breast cancer since November of 2004 and how she must juggle being a working mother while fighting off breast cancer. Caroline’s Breast Cancer blog follows the journey of a young woman as she experiences the struggles, fears, and stress involved in the fight against breast cancer. My Fight with Breast Cancer is another blog of  Karen who was diagnosed with Stage IV breast cancer at only 29 years old after the cancer was previously misdiagnosed as a cyst. Some of the proceeds from the blog go to help Karen pay for her expensive medical treatments. Health Central also offers tons of blogs about breast cancer, giving others an inside look into what it is like.

However Breast Cancer has made its presence known in your life or even if you haven’t had any personal exposure to it yet, these resources are a great way to get educated and to start thinking pink.

For those of you who have read Katie Fowler’s article about Domestic Violence in Murfreesboro, here are some more resources and information that could not make it into the original article. These are all from Katie with links by me:

“Restore” is a state certified domestic violence intervention program in Murfreesboro located at 714 West Main Street, and can be reached at 615-890-8402. According to the brochure for the program it is “a 26 week education program for men” who “have a problem using violence and abuse in their relationships.”

For help, or to volunteer, at the June Anderson Women’s Center get in touch with them through the Web site or call them at 615-898-2193.

The Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Program of Murfreesboro is in need of volunteers. There are also internship positions available. Call Volunteer Coordinator India Rogers @ 615-896-7377 or go online to apply.

Any fraternities or sororities in need of a community service project are also encouraged to contact the program, or apply at the web address.

A self-defense demonstration was held at the Guardian Mixed Martial Arts gym located at 313b South Church Street in Murfreesboro on Oct. 2. The event was sponsored by Lambda Theta Phi fraternity, and co-sponsored by Lambda Theta Alpha sorority. Both the fraternity and the sorority are focusing on domestic violence issues as their philanthropy.

The fraternities organized the hour long self-defense demonstration in cooperation with the staff of the Guardian Mixed Martial Arts gym. The instructors, who donated their time, for the demonstration were gym owner Doug Frazier, and staff member Anthony Gomez.  The organizers were charged a $50 gym rental fee.

The participants made donations to the fraternity for their participation in the event. The fraternity gave all the money raised to the Domestic Violence  and Sexual Assault Program of Murfreesboro. Both Lambda Theta Phi and Lambda Theta Alpha intend to arrange more self-defense demonstrations in cooperation with the Guardian Mixed Martial Arts Gym. They will be asking that all participants make a donation.

The participants in the demonstration were shown several techniques on how to get away from an attacker. Beginning with learning about balance, and ending with a demonstration on how to get an attacker, who has grabbed you from behind, off of you, the demonstration was packed with highly beneficial information.

To contact Lambda Theta Phi for more information about future self-defense demonstration nights email Richard Denney at richardk.denney@gmail.com. Contact Doug Frazier, owner of Guardian Mixed Martial Arts gym, at 615-796-3919 or on the web for more information about classes offered at the gym and future self-defense demonstration dates.

In the past decade or so, a lot of attention has come to the media emphasis of body image and how real women relate themselves to media images they are exposed to. From super skinny models in magazine ads to bodacious women in bikinis brandishing weight loss supplements to even overly muscular men soaked in oil trying to get you to buy the latest exercise equipment, it’s easy to see how anyone and everyone can feel inferior when comparing their own body to the airbrushed, Photoshopped images they see on a day-to-day basis.

Several Web sites have taken it upon themselves to expose the truths and myths about body image and what is the “norm” versus what media images cause us to think is the “norm.” The government based site Women’s Health is devoted to tons of women’s health issues, body image being one among them. The site emphasizes learning to love your body but also learning to tell what is healthy and what is not.

The National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA) focuses on education, prevention, and treatment of eating disorders. NEDA knows that one of the lead causes of eating disorders is the reflection of media images or trying to attain those media images. The site offers media watchdog services to try and get the media to talk about healthy weights, body sizes, and to promote healthy senses of body image rather than sickly thin models. NEDA even releases this information sheetThis study from UCLA also explains what positive and negative body images are and how a person develops these body images. on positive versus negative body images.

Our Bodies Ourselves is a Web site that focuses on women’s health issues as well, including everything from menopause to violence against women to women’s health in third world and foreign country. The site includes this section on body image and how it relates to the media. The section also includes book excerpts, blog postings, and links and resources about body images.

There are several sites devoted to the exposure of how body image is contorted in the media. The Media Awareness Network is a site that discusses various issues that come from and are portrayed by the media. Highlighting everything from Internet hate crimes to media violence, the site also has a section devoted to body image in the media. They also have a list of several articles dealing with different types of body images and their media influences.

The National Institute on Media and the Family reflects issues parents and their children might face when it comes to media images. The site also has a section devoted to body image as its portrayed in the media, which includes the lastest facts and research on the subject. The site particularly focuses on how media body images affect young girls, though media and negative body images can affect men, women and people of all ages, ethnicites, and backgrounds.

Some sites take a more comedic approach to promoting healthy body images against media stereotypes and fabricated images. Adiosbarbie.com is a site devoted to helping women love themselves and their body. It has a section devoted to media issues but also focuses on healthy diets, exercise, games, and projects to help women love themselves and they way they see themselves. The features section on the site devotes itself to images of women and the issues that arise when media presents unrealistic images of women. The site is a very good resource and a fun place to check out to find out what is going on in the world of women’s body images.

Bodypositive.com is another site devoting to helping people discover the lovable side of their body image and to just say no to false media portrayals. The site devotes itself to issues such as larger women in the media, activist sites on how to change media culture about body image, and healthcare statements on what is and isn’t a healthy shape. The site also dicusses how to determine what is best for your body and how to talk to your children about body images in the media or their own negative body images.

Whatever shape or size you may be, there is definitely a way for you to love yourself and your body, no matter what.

According to a recent study by Open Doors, part of the international Institute of International Education, only 241,791 studied abroad in 2007, roughly 1 percent of the number of students attending college in the United States. MTSU’s MT Abroad Office can help students get started on their international adventures by lining them up with the right program, scholarships, and requirements. Before going into the office, however, its a good idea to know what’s out there to help narrow down what you want out of a study abroad program.

The Institute for Study Abroad offers a wide variety of program explanations, country information and resources for those who are still trying to narrow down which countries they would like to travel to. The site Studyabroad.com also serves this function, offering a variety of programs from high school to teaching abroad to summer visits, internships, and volunteer work. Goabroad.com offers advice on scholarships, documentation, hostels, airfare and the latest news on study abroad programs.

Checking out the US State Department‘s site and the CIA World Factbook will give you the latest information about every country in the world, US relations with that country, and the State Deparment even offers a special section with advice for students who are considering abroad travel. These sites will give you everything you need to know about countries, including vaccinations, political climate, social status, and any information US citizens need to be aware of.

There are several well known programs that facilitate study abroad. The Council on International Education Exchange (CIEE) offers programs from Argentina to Vietnam for students to partake in. International Student Exchange Programs or (ISEP) offers worldwide programs with major focuses in parts of Europe and South America. The Kentucky Institute for International Studies (KIIS) is a program that specializes in students who want to speak another language while abroad, with programs in countries where a certain amount of language knowledge is required. The Cooperative Center for Study Abroad (CCSA) is a program offers a lot of programs in former British colonies such as South Africa, India, Hong Kong, as well as opporutnites throughout the UK and Northern Ireland, in addition to several other programs.

Whatever program you choose, studying abroad is an experience that you’ll never forget.

If you want to do more to help with “Save the Music” or find out more about under funded music education programs across the country, there are several Web sites you can check out.

The primary site is the National Association for Music Education, (MENC), which is one of the largest arts education organizations and has been around since 1907. More than 75,000 active, retired, and pre-service music teachers along with 60,000 music honor students and supporters volunteer through the organization to help restore and teach music to students who do not have access to music education through any other means. MENC also supports Supportmusic.com, a site that offers advice, tips, and resources  for those who want to start up a music program of their own.

The American Music Conference also does its part in helping restore music education to students across the country. The conference puts on events, such as this one, that help bring attention to underfunded music programs or schools where music programs do not exist at all.

Children’s Music Workshop is a Web site devoted to developing music in children’s lives. The site offers links to advocacy, instruments, music sheets, student learning applications, sheet music, music teachers and tutors, and tons of other great music stuff. They also post articles, such as this one on the Benefits of Music and this one, which provides some great facts and statistics on how music education can help children later in life.

To get some good stats on the state of music programs in America and how music benefits students, several sites are available. This article from Essortment.com discusses how music benefits students both in and outside of the classroom.This article from the Arts Journal was written by orchestra guru Henry Fogel on the importance of music education. This list of music facts also shows how music education early in life can prepare students for future success.