In the News 5. Splenda

Splenda and these other no calorie sugars are very appealing to today's consumer society, where weight loss and vanity are everybodies' main concern. People enjoy the food and drinks they consume which cause them to gain weight the problem is the food that is healthy for them lacks the taste that they desire. These sugars and salts make up what our taste receptors find desirable and adding a substance that tastes like sugar but without the calories would attract alot of people into buying that product. Its basically the statement to have your and eat it. I think business terms that the creation of this product was genius but maybe there could have been more research into launching such a product. Even though there are no calories in this sugar fi the body cannot produce the enzymes it needs to break down food then metabolism will slow causing a weight gain.

In the news 4. Testing for Cancer

I think under certain circumstances children under the age of 18 can be tested for cancer. If the gene runs through out the family bloodline I think that testing should be begin as soon as child feels it is essential to go for testing. Even though waiting till 18 years of age may cause the child to not worry for their teenage life there is still the chance they could have the cancer and it would be best to stop it at the source as soon as possible

In the News 3- Cloning

The Australian government has issued its first license allowing scientists to create cloned human embryos to try and obtain embryonic stem cells.
The in vitro-fertilization firm Sydney IVF was granted the license and reportedly has access to 7,200 human eggs for its research.
Scientists in other countries have made stem cells they believe are similar to embryonic cells using a variety of techniques, but none have been able to extract embryonic stem cells from cloned human embryos.
An Australian ban on the research, known as therapeutic cloning or somatic cell nuclear transfer, was lifted in December 2006 after a rare conscience vote in the national parliament.
But the use of excess IVF embryos and the creation and use of other embryos in research is restricted by law through national legislation. Human cloning for reproductive purposes is banned.
Chair of the NHMRC's licensing committee, Dr John Findlay, said Sydney IVF's research would be closely monitored.
"They have been given a license to do therapeutic cloning," Findlay told Reuters, adding the scientists are not licensed to reach the fetal stage.
"They can go to the stage called blastocyst. They must stop at that point," he said. The blastocyst is a very early-stage embryo not yet implanted into the womb.
Findlay said scientists will try and create stem cells from patients who have abnormalities or create stem cell lines which will be compatible with patients which have given the cells.
Initially, any stem cells extracted would be used to test new drugs to fight diseases such as muscular dystrophy and Huntington's disease, and later therapeutic cloning would be used to produce body tissue matched to patients.
The director of Australians for Ethical Stem Cell Research, David van Gend, criticized the issuing of the license, saying new technology meant cloning was no longer necessary.
"We have regulations in Australia such that the abuses of cloning wouldn't happen here, we will not get live birth cloning," he told local radio.
"We won't get cloning right through to the fetal stage in order to use them for organ transplants, but if we teach the world how to clone you can be quite sure it will be used in less rigorous jurisdictions."
Somatic cell nuclear transfer is a technique in which DNA from the nucleus of an unfertilized egg is removed and replaced with the nucleus of an adult cell such as a skin cell.
The technique can be used to create cloned embryos in order to derive embryonic stem cells for therapeutic purposes, but can also be used for reproductive cloning.
There are several types of stem cells. Embryonic stem cells, made from days-old embryos, are considered the most powerful because they can give rise to all the cell types in the body.
Sydney IVF said only eggs that were unusable for IVF because they were immature or had not been fertilized properly, and which donors had given consent for, would be used in the research.
The firm said it will use three different types of cells, embryonic stem cells, cumulus cells attached to the collected eggs, and skin cells, to produce the cloned embryos.
Sydney IVF was the first, in 2004, to extract stem cells from Australian IVF embryos, and has since extracted and grown 10 more colonies of embryonic stem cells this way.

http://news.aol.com/health/article/australia-issues-embryo-cloning-license/177426

Cloning is a controversial topic all around the world. It is brings of different opinions due to religion and moral ethics. A scientific procedure that can save lives at the price of taking unborn life. What is your opinion on embryo cloning or related subjects such stem cell research ?

To Good to be True

The air was warm, the sun shining brightly extending its finger like beams across the floor and the sound of tropical birds echoed through out that clammy cell that housed my friend and I for a night. I could hear whispers in the background, "Damaging Government property is a crime in this country and you tourists think you can do whatever you want."

My highschool friend Tom called me confirming that my ticket had been sucessfully booked for the tropical island of Mauritius off the coast of Africa. The appeal of beautiful women, a country surrounded by surfable beaches and more importantly a legal drinking age of 18 sounded like any graduating students' idea of paradise.

I opened my eyes only to see a vast nothingness, a concave of darkness, my head whirring around and the re-occurring flash of the tree haunted my mind. Gradually i was coming back to conciousness by the overhelming responses from my senses. I could see a black smoke rising from hood of the car, i could barely hear sirens over the high pitched ringing in my ears, the adrenaline that made me invicible faded away and the pain from the gash on my shoulder set in. The smell gasoline that now covered road had mixed with burnt rubber from slamming on the brakes to create a noxious aroma which didnt blend to well with the taste of baby powder and blood that had infiltrated my mouth due to the ever so reliable air bag.

Stepping foot off the plane the island was everything i hoped it would be provided by the tourist brouchers. The sun shining brightly and the water and sky as one. This lush landscap was ours for the taking or at least until his parent fly in 2 days later. We were left a house a car and enough spending money for a month at our expense. The placed seemed to be like God's hideaway when he needs from the world.

"Come with me sir", the police officer beckoned at a ever still shocked Tom. Cold, dark and lonely I sat on a tree stomp observing the mangled body of the small RX-3 wrapped around the tree and deer crossing sign meshed togethor. As the sun set and the police motorcycle road off the night time set in taking with it the warm air. The lush mountains sported their undeveloped landscape by hosting no street lights and its immense size blocking whatever natural light the overcast moon would have provided. This once masterpiece of work became one of Tim Burton's sick fantasies.

Damn deer is all I could think about as I heard the approaching siren. Even though we risked our lives to save a creature that is hunted here as game we are punished because we cant afford to pay back the sign we are held as felons until Tom's parent's arrive. I knew this place was to good to be true.

In the News #2

I dont think that we should continue funding this project to replace the fences. The amount of resources and money could be put into something more effective such as medicare and schooling. With the countris financial state i dont think it be a very economically wise desicion. If secruity is an issue maybe alternate methods could be used. National gaurd or means of secruity could be placed at garrisons along the border.
I dont think that this need for high secruity fences is a means of stopping terrosim but a means of immigration control, using 9/11 as a scape-goat to go ahead with it.

Journal Entry 2

The first essay that caught my attention was "Lessons Learned in Tragedy" (http://www.thisibelieve.org/dsp_ShowEssay.php?uid=13646&topessays=3).

The writer describes her experiences after hurricane Katrina and how she went from having all the commercial commodities to having nothing. I can relate to the emotions that the writer went through because I have also gone through the effects of a powerful Hurricane and loosing all our everyday luxuries that we take for granted sometimes. The reson I found this essay more compelling than many of the others is not because of the tradegy that writer is describing but seeing the silver lining of this horrible event.

The second essay I chose also relates to another writer who went through the Katrina hurricane in New Orleons. (http://www.thisibelieve.org/dsp_ShowEssay.php?uid=26077&topessays=3)

The style of writing seems different from the last essay. Robin uses shorter sentences describing each event simplistically kind of in an enfish style of writing. Also when comparing the two essays the first writer gives a negative point then reflects upon the point with a postive message where as the second writer gives the impression that she is suffering through out the entire story but only shows how this depressing lifestyle actually became a diamond in the rough for her.

I think a good quote that would sum up the main message behind these stories would be from the author Chuck Palahnuik , " Hit bottom. Loose everything. Only then are you truely free because you nothing left to fear."

Journal entry 1

In examing a piece of writing which I composed I decided use an article which I wrote for a physical education class. " Obesity is a spreading epidemic. What is the cause and how can we prevent it?".

I wrote this essay as a research paper to find to what extent the obesity population was increasing in the United States, why this was happening how we can try prevent it. This essay was part of a project that made up a large percentage of my grade which would be sent directly to the University of Cambridge to grade. There for this meant instead of using previous collegues past data. Also I would have to use more recent information due to the main statement in the title, "spreading", meaning its still occuring and figures will be updated.

The writing style I used was more imformative than argumentative because i was providing factual information which could not really be decided by different opinions, unless the data i used false. Writing seemed to be the most appropriate method presenting my point, even though displays could have showed the graphs, putting this information into writing seemed to be easiest way for my examiner to understand the figures also that I understood how to evaluate my own results.

A set guideline was provided on how to write the essay by the Cambridge examination board, which is primarily the basic essay structure of begining the essay with the introduction which provides a general overview of the essay is about. The filling paragraphs which give the essay its structural support, setting out to justify the title. Finanaly the conclusion to finish the essay which is an accumulation of the main points and a personal to response about the selected topic.

Responding to a "rhetorical situation" is a different way of thinking about writing for example, compared to a simple essay. Even though there is still some structure by writing about culture, audience, genre compared to a simple essay with the set paragraph stucture, the analatical point of view of reviewing a past article seems to be less creative and more step by step of how we got the end result. A scientific means of writing it would seem.

In the News #1

In response to the article provided by Dr. Mason,

"What types of enhancements are acceptable in human activities, either in competitive sports or elsewhere?"

The Olympic Games is a series of sporting activities which take place every four years. The main purpose is to provide a time period of peace between nations and promote amature athletics. When taking enhancements to improve sporting performance there is no designated line that shows what is just and injust but it all comes down to peoples morals and ethics. To take drugs which biologicaly affect the natural human functions does not seem to be fair when competing with athletes who are performing at their natural abilities. Looking at the ethos of the olympics of fair play, why should someone who has taken a drug to enhance their performance for a short gain win the gold when another athlete has trained all their life to make it to the olympics loose in an almost pre-decided competition.