TSR MakeADifference AMA Thread

I'm not saying we have to. People have a choice in the matter, and there's nothing wrong with eating meat.

I'm not saying we have to. People have a choice in the matter, and there's nothing wrong with eating meat.

Hi, well I was in your original alcoholism awareness thread. Sorry guys that it got out of hand in there and you were personally attacked, that is perhaps one of the things you may need to get used to though and not take personally when you're using the internet. I know your hearts were in the right place, however I think your sentiment may be coming across wrong. Your new thread is a little better, however I think you are still polarising things a little too much.

Might I suggest something? I'm 23, and a medical student currently studying an iBSc in Global health (I realise this makes very little sense to people so I will have to explain, it's basically a year out to get a BSc qualification on top of the medical degree and Global health is globally orientated public health and international relations/economics etc so issues such as alcohol and its effect on society are very relevant), and I think my experience may be of use to you to create a new and improved Alcoholism Awareness directive and ideas.

I think the problem you've hit is to do with your polarised 'all or nothing' view. This is great for alcoholics, who need to go cold turkey for their own good, however I can guarantee that while there may be irresponsible drinking present on the TSR population, very few will have alcoholism. Also, as students, they're unlikely to keep up with an abstinent lifestyle for too long, therefore the all or nothing thing will instead be demotivational and they'll be like '**** this it's too hard, let's go to the bar!'.

Instead, I would like to suggest taking it to a different, more informative route.

Firstly, I'd suggest putting out ALL the information. Both for and against alcohol.

There's also a gold standard alcoholism test that you could use, which medical professions use. THIS NEEDS TO BE USED WITH A DISCLAIMER. It's a gold standard but use of it alone CANNOT be used to predict alcoholism, it could instead be used as an incentive to let people know when they need to go to a GP with their problem.

An initiative could instead be encouraging users to make an alcohol diary, using unit calculations (there are NHS guidance documents that allow you to calculate how many units are in your drink and as such how many units you have per day and as such, per week and whether or not you surpass your guideline amount). First, they could fill out the diary every day for a month and then they could use these calculations to see whether they regularly pass an alcohol limit, and as such they could record whether they're shocked about their intake (most people massively underestimate how much they actually drink) and what they want to do about it. They could then make a change, e.g. alternating alcohol with soft drinks on a night out for example, and record their alcohol intake after making the change.

You could have an abstinence incentive for those who want to do it. However, I think if you're talking about AWARENESS, the point to get across is about information, for instance, in my example incentive above, the informative element comes from the individuals understanding how much they drink and ways of drinking less if they drink too much or they're having problematic drinking, where to get help etc. This would also be much more sustainable for a life-goal, cutting down on drinking and changing your ways into healthier drinking habits is much more obtainable and much preferable for most than completely abstaining. The problem with abstinence is that it may mean some can't complete the programme or may relapse into bad habits straight after without realising their habits were initially bad.

The diary thing is something a lot of people use when making positive changes in life, if you go to the exercise forum you can see many people with little blogs about their daily exercise or a change in diet to lose weight/get fit/become more healthy. The super-keen could even post blogs so we can follow their progress and give them support (but that wouldn't be the point and depends on TSR's rules on that sort of thing).

Sorry to seem like I'm intruding or trying to interfere, but I think what you're trying to get across is important, but perhaps you're doing it in a way that won't be received as well as you'd like it to be. I drink quite a lot myself sometimes (mostly binge drinking unfortunately) and I'd be up for cutting down for health reasons, but not abstinence. Alcohol, as I said in the original alcoholism thread, is actually regarded as beneficial socially, anthropologically and for physical/mental health to a point!

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Thanks so much for all that! Do you think this -- http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=2584669 -- is a better idea? It would be good to incorporate the diary thing into that, I think.
There was an Alcoholism Awareness MKII thread as well, though that got the same people on it.
I really appreciate that you're trying to help here

I saw it, but that's the precise thing I'm talking about. The abstinence isn't really getting to the point, (just like abstinence from sex is missing the point), it may be a bit of fun and you may earn a little money but as far as I know, everyone who did Dry January ended up going back to their old habits, earning maybe 20 quid and having a massive black out party after they'd finished.

People might be more on board with an incentive that might be a little more informative and actually raises awareness of the good/bad of alcohol and how much people drink a week compared to the recommended units per day/week for men and women.

Would it be worth editing the OP of the poll or the awareness thread? Maybe both?

Maybe both. You could still do a sponsored abstinence thng though, but I think the real 'awareness' should be a thread dedicated to awareness, using something like I suggested above. I don't think abstinence really brings awareness but it could be fun and interesting for some people.

Oh, she told me she would be doing that! And of course not, I don't bite!

its no offense if i help members joining right? Its good group as i wished them to join and give replies on these make a difference society. Some example has to be set in this world really to make a difference society, to make a golden age. Its also good for past, current and future minds. I wish to join some more. Could i with your permission?

oK OUR TOPIC IS MAKE A DIFFERENCE SOCIETY. Economic growth will not reduce poverty, improve equality and produce jobs unless it is inclusive.

Racism is a bad act. It also makes a difference in society. Does not it?
We recognize that racism is a major contributor toward economic injustice. We pledge ourselves to strive to understand how racism and classism perpetuate poverty and to work for the systemic changes needed to promote a more just economy and compassionate society. Together, we can make a difference.

It's never too early for young executives to think about their larger purpose in life. Words like 'impact' and 'giving back' are no longer just platitudes in India Inc; CEOs believe young leaders need to live them.

More and more business heads say they want to see the youngsters in their companies looking beyond their immediate role and responsibilities, and thinking about how they can make a difference to society and the larger environment around them. And they need to do this right from the start of their careers.
I got that quote from http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2013-02-01/news/36684525_1_young-leaders-business-leaders-young-executives

Though in some parts of the world its hard to find job opportunities and its a great competition to youngsters when the old generation still want to find themselves in work. Then how do the young generation find their way up? It a great way.

Ask Us ANYTHING!

I'm trying to start a campaign to help lower CO2 emissions, end the problem of fuel poverty and hopefully lower energy bills coupled with better health for households.

In UK today one of the biggest issues today especially in the winters are homes being simply too cold as many have to make the choice between money for food or money for energy bills.

Many homes in UK today are old and draughty. Mouldy problems is also an issue.

This is a thermal image of a home in UK at night :-



Notice how the brick walls are glowing red? That is an indicator of just how much heat a home loses. It also generally means that cold air and moisture can enter into the house.

Today many homes are indeed insulated however much of them have very old insulation which simply are no longer fit for the purpose. Most homes built in the last 20-30 years did come with insulation however most are at it's end of useful service life, most insulation on the market today has a useful service life of 15-20 years and it is generally rare for homes to have decent double or triple glazed windows.

I did try to initiate something last year, of the 680 who initially expressed interest only 12 took up my offer. I basically found several great deals for everyone to have dual-glaze on all north and east facing windows and triple glaze for all south and west facing windows, insulated walls, ceilings and loft/ceiling. Needless to say I became very disheartened and disappointed with the whole thing.

I had done something similar in Norway, of the 260 households I approached 248 signed up to it. This year I have a target to see 500 homes undergo that treatment, priority would be the head of the household must be a Norwegian, single income and under the median income. Some will pay the discounted price while some will be given a small loan to pay for it with the monthly amount being the difference between their old and new utility bill. The charity I'm supporting to vet and carry out this work won't have any problems finding 500 households and I'm sure by August I would have more than 500 homes signed up.

My question for everyone : How should I go about with this, the question is in regard to UK only and any answer must take into account the situation in UK and that I don't particularly want to spend too much money or time to promote this initiative.

Unfortunately, as a teenager, my strengths don't lie in environmental/housing issues. However, I suggest perhaps setting up a website of some kind, so that all Norwegians can access it. Maybe, a billboard (well, smaller than a billboard) outside houses, whilst you are doing the work there and maybe, you can offer a discount, if the customers will allow you to put the billboard there. Ill think of some more and get back to you!

In Norway or more specifically the town I live in we already have a fairly good mechanism to find participants for it, as most of the people in the charity group are either teachers or social workers or in the medical profession, they generally look out for children who are always falling sick and then ask them questions about the temperature in their home. Fairly effective and generally quite easy to select homes for such purposes as priority now is for homes where someone is on lower income or single earning households only.

I'm looking on how to expand this initiative in UK, the same mechanism can't work in UK due to data privacy issues. The other obvious problem is over 80% of those who could benefit live in rented accommodation and it is difficult for us to help them.