Weather
With winter right around the corner we can now start to see a drop in the temperature here in Sioux City Iowa. This week you can expect to see a range of temperatures from as low as 34 degrees all the way up to 63. There is even a chance for snow on this upcoming Tuesday.
Morningside College Student Chloe Pieper says “ The weather here has been super unpredictable lately. One day there’s snow and the next it’s sunny and 65.” When asked how well the college deals with weather such as snow she said “I think that they do a great job of keeping the lots and streets on campus clear and driveable to the best of their ability since the roads are super hilly. They also do a really good job at making sure they spread salt on all the campus sidewalks and building entrances.”
This is great news for Morningside students as we movie into the upcoming winter season.
Politics
Speaking of college, On the campaign trail, President-elect Joe Biden was called “the most progressive nominee in history.” One of his policies that led to that description was his call for student debt forgiveness.
Now that he’s been elected, the 42 million Americans with education loans may be wondering: Will it really happen?
To answer this Biden laid out a narrower plan than proposed in the past, saying he would forgive $10,000 in student debt for all borrowers, and the rest of the debt for those who attended public colleges or historically Black colleges and universities and earn less than $125,000 a year.
College student Alyx Curran Lewis says “Being a Biden supporter, I believe that Biden’s Student Loan Forgiveness Plan seems realistic from what little I’ve read and I hope him and his administration can pull it off!”
Science
On a completely unrelated note, did you know you might actually be losing your mind, but there may be a way to stop it? Almost half of all dementia cases could potentially be prevented or delayed by adopting 12 health measures. The biggest known risk factors for dementia are smoking, excess alcohol consumption, high blood pressure, obesity, diabetes, head injury, depression, hearing loss exposure to air pollution, as well as lack of exercise, education and social contact.
Minimising these 12 risks could potentially prevent or delay up to 40 per cent of dementia cases globally. For example, it is found that individuals can protect themselves by not smoking, drinking less than 21 units of alcohol per week, avoiding activities that could lead to head injuries, using hearing aids if needed, eating a healthy diet, and exercising and socializing regularly.
In some higher-income countries, including the UK, US, and France, dementia rates in older people have fallen in recent decades, possibly due to improvements in education, nutrition and health care. This suggests that preventative health measures can have an impact on dementia, in the same way they have helped to reduce rates of lung cancer and deaths from heart disease.