1. To access this discussion board, click on the "Desktop Diner Discussion" button. After you read the requirements for the discussion, click on the words "Introduce Yourself to the Class" on the upper left corner of the textbox -- this will bring up a listing of everyone who has posted to date. Click on the person's subject to read what they wrote (for example, click on "A Little bit 'bout Me" to read my posting. If you want to reply to the person, click on the red "Reply" button on the upper righthand corner of the textbox. When you are ready to add your own post, click on the red "Create Thread" button at the top left side of the listing page. This will bring up a dialog box -- type in a subject, then your message (be sure to always type in a subject). When you are finished, click the "Submit" button.

   The "Desktop Diner" discussion will be available throughout the semester for open Discussion. There will be a forum entitled "The Desktop Diner". This will be a place where students enrolled in the class can have discussions among themselves. I will monitor this discussion board as well so if you have questions that are pertinent to the whole class, or you have specific revelations you want to share with the entire class, you can post them on the Desktop Diner discussion board. I would recommend that you check the general discussion board at least once per day to see what other discussions are taking place.

2. The second discussion board will be used for all other assigned discussions throughout the semester. To access this discussion board, click on the "Group Discussion Board" button and you will see that the class has been divided into three groups. You will be able to see all groups but you are only enrolled in one group. The group you are enrolled in will permit you to make posts as well are read the posts of other students assigned to that group. The groups that you are not enrolled in will only allow you to read the posts of the members of those groups. You are only required to read and post to the group that you are enrolled in, but you are welcome to read the posts of the other groups. When you click on the link for your group, you will see a listing of the students in your group and below that a link for "Group Discussion Board". When you click on the "Group Discussion Board" link, the discussion question will come up. Read the discussion question, then click on the link just above the discussion question (the underlined Discussion Topic). That will open up the page where both you and the other group members will post. In order to submit your initial post, you will need to click on the red button that says "Create Thread". That will open a text box for you to put the subject of the thread (always put a subject) and your response to the question. This board differs from the Desktop Diner discussion in that you are placed in a small group of students so you will only see and respond to the students in your group. Dividing the class into smaller groups reduces the number of postings you will need to read from about 150 to approximately 40.

The following responses would receive a low grade -- minimal thought, minimal grade.

• I agree with what you said.
• I agree with what you said. I think the low carb menu is a great idea.
• I work at O'Charleys and the low carb menu is going over great.
• I like O'Charley's too. Good food and good beer. Enough said!

The following responses would receive a better grade.

• I agree that restaurants do not always offer really healthy options on their menus, but like you said each customer has a choice of what or what not to order. Another restaurant that has a low carb menu is T.G.I. Friday's. I have found that even though these meals are low carb they are often high in fat and calories, which sometimes makes them a unhealthy choice.



• I agree with you Allison. It is the parents responsibility to oversee what their kid is eating, after all they are the ones who had them. And you're right, most nutritional information is available to them they just have to ask. And anyone with eyes can see that a double cheese burger can't be good for you everyday of the week. People just need to learn self control.

The following responses would receive the best grade.

• I agree with Julia because people have common sense. The ability to make the decision to eat the foods that are either going to make you fat or aren't is each individual's personal choice. Restaurants are not responsible for the eating mistakes of a few people that lack common sense when it comes to their eating habits. Even though the serving sizes in this country have increased over the past few years it is still the responsibility of the person eating the food to know what to eat and not to eat and how much to eat of it. People can eat right if they want to...its all a matter of choice.



• Well, in a way I agree with Ms. Jones. It is up to each individual as to what and how much they eat. But I don't agree with the knock on the restaurants. I mean I don't expect to go to O'Charley and get a wonderfully fat free meal. If I'm going out to eat its because I want something nice and special, but if I want to eat super healthy and count every calorie then I will stay home and fix my own meal. There is always a choice. And as far as fat no longer being a fad, well, if that was the case we wouldn't have near as many fast food restaurants here in Bowling Green or at least they wouldn't stay in business for very long. Tasty food brings in the dollars. And our nation above all others it the "largest" lover of fat and grease. As long as this mind set and pursuit of over indulgence remains, it will continue to fester and grow ever stronger in our country. We as a nation and as a people are growing toward a speed of extinction. If we're not careful we are going to eat ourselves to death, and we'll have only ourselves to blame - not those who served us the food.