Mock Mayer Speech: Honesdale

Citizens of Honesdale, are  you sick and tired of the lack of things to do in this town? Are you sick of all the constant road work being done? Would you like a nicer looking Honesdale? Of course you would. I know I have wanted all these things for as long as I have lived here, which has been 21 years by the way. This is probably a short amount of time compared to most people who have lived here 35 to 45 years or longer. Its time for a change, a change that will make Honesdale a place were people all over Pennsylvania will want to come and visit.

First and foremost the first thing I would like to do as mayor, is re construct all the parks in Honesdale. I remember growing up and playing kick ball in park square, and playing on the monkey bars. I also remember sliding down the big yellow twisty slide and going on the marry-go-round at the old Storbridge school. These are very fond memories I had growing up, and I would like to continue that for the children of Honesdale.

I would like to continue putting trees and flowers throughout main street making Honesdale look better and more appealing to everyone. This will encourage more people to walk down main street and visit our many locally owned stores.

Lastly, I will propose a plan to build a indoor sports complex. This will provide children of all ages to engage in their individual sports all year round, from playing soccer, basketball, football, tennis, ultimate frisbee or just a driving range for golf in the winter. Having this indoor sports complex will bring loads of other sports teams to Honesdale and help boost our economy.

These are just a few ideas I have in the works for Honesdale, and many more to come if I get elected as mayor. As mayor you can bet that I will make Honesdale a proud place to live in and a proud place to call your home. So make Honesdale shine and vote for me as mayor of this town, with a little work, we can make Honesdale a better place for everyone.

Andrew Grandinetti
Communication Studies
Wilkes 2013

Good Food, Bad Taste

I have always been a fan of the Food Network and its many varieties of shows, I consider it to be sort of a guilty pleasure to sit and watch delicious food being made. I've watched shows like Emeral Lagasse, Iron Chef, Food Science, Man vs. Food and my personal favorite Diners Drive-Ins and Dives many times. I watch the shows for entertainment value, some delicious cooking recipes and just some common cooking knowledge that is helpful to know.

Paula Deen is a cook, with her own show and her own style of cooking. People watch her show not just to learn how to make her food but to be entertained by her sense of humor and her antics in the kitchen. It is a show for viewers to enjoy, not a show to lecture on what a person must eat, or to teach what food is healthy for a person. When Paula announced that she was a diabetic, people freaked out, and stopped watching her show. I think this is ridiculous. If people do not have the sense to know what is healthy for them and what is unhealthy, then they should consider watching another channel, because most of what I watch on the Food Network is people making and eating unhealthy food. Paula is not saying, “Hey now, go home and fee this to everyone so that you will get skinny and nothing bad will happen to you.” Paula is saying this food is delicious to eat, not healthy to eat, not good for you, she is just saying that it is delicious and it probably is.

The real problem I see that Paula made, is that now she wants to be the face of a diabetes drug. I think that it would be fine for her to donate money to help fund diabetes drugs and give to diabetes related charities, but I think she should not be the face of speaking out against diabetes. She hasn't changed anything on her show saying, “Now if your a diabetic then you can't eat this,” so I believe that her being the face of a diabetic drug is a bit hypocritical. Also, I am surprised that a drug company's Public Relations team would even consider Paula for being the face of the advertising for the drug especially now.

Other than that, I don't think Paula really did anything wrong. It's her business if she wants to reveal she has diabetes or not, and it's her business if she wants to keep the show the same or not. It's her show so she can make whatever she wants, and why not continue doing what she has been doing for years. Let her put 4 sticks of butter into her mashed potatoes and add more beacon grease into her sausage lasagna, she is allowed to do that because it is her show. Most people understand that her food is unhealthy and that it probably shouldn't be eaten for breakfast, lunch and dinner. They have shows like Myth Busters where before the show they say. “The following should not be tried at home because it is dangerous, and these experiments on the show are done by professionals.” Should a show like Paula's have something like that before her show starts? “The food on this show should not be eaten if you have diabetes, or have heart problems or it you are trying to lose weight.” I mean that is ridiculous if people have to be told that this is bad for you so don't eat it. Come on people let's use our brains not our bellies to think with.

Andrew Grandinetti
Communication Studies
Wilkes 2013