Opposing viewpoints & your topic for Life: The Book

Well these articles relate to my topic because my topic heavily relates to Stem Cell Research. This brings up the question of Health Care and should stem cell research be funded or not. Back to health care though, I'm not sure And this would fall under health care being a human right. As of healthcare being a human right or not, I'm not too sure if it is. I am somewhat back and forth with my opinions, because yes, I do believe that we may need some support, but I dont think that our entire medical expenses should come out of another persons pocket, because that is oviously not fair.

Life: The Book & American History

1. Describe how Americans pay for health care and the government's role in this process.

Americans pay for health care through their job or out of their own pocket. However, 46 million Americans can not pay for it at all, so they don't have health care. So, everyone has to pay for their health care in some manner, but a large part of America can't. One of the government's solution is Medicare, which is for the elderly. Also, if you're in the military you receive nearly free health care. Health care is a major issue in the US, and the government needs to step up to solve this problem

Sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Health_care_in_the_United_States

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1. Using a specific example, describe what makes a compelling character in narrative nonfiction or literary journalism.

A compelling character need to have goals. An example of this is James Wilkes Booth in Manhunt. His goal is obvious; assassinate the president and get away with it, but it's compelling. Some other compelling traits are:

-Somewhat relate able to reader

-Has a good background

-Has a conflict

2. Using a specific example, describe what makes an interesting plot in narrative nonfiction or literary journalism.

In all the science-based articles we read in the New Yorker, they start off with a conflict. They continue with this conflict throughout the article and introduce new characters, new views & an opposition, etc. This is compelling writing to me. The many views and characters also helps me think of questions and gives me different opinions.

3. What specific steps do authors take to write non-jargon-based scientific writing?

Well first of all, they need to do a lot of research on their topic and need to fully understand it before they can simplify it. What I've noticed they do is write the original jargon first, and then explain it in layman's terms. This helps you easily understand it, while still knowing the original name/definition.

4. What specific steps do authors take to encourage their readers to connect with their stories?

They write a lot about the background. This helps you get a better understanding with their topic/character. This definitely encourages readers to be more engaged with what they're reading.

Life: The Book & Humanities

1. Post the stage of life that you will write about and a relevant element of genetic technology that interests you. Feel free to work with Brandon to understand this step.
(I still don't know if I've been accepted into doing this but..) My stage of life will be Adulthood. I will be doing Parkinson's Disease adulthood because it's very unlikely for a child to get Parkinson's. Parkinson's Disease (PD) is rarely genetically passed down however, it's more likely to randomly get PD for no apparent reason. 15% of patients with PD do have a relative with the disease.

2. Describe at least one relevant government agency that works in this area. Describe the current news related to your topic & this government agency and embed a minimum of one news story (print, tv, audio, etc.) in your description.
I couldn't find any agencies, but there is a lot of news surrounding my topic. Stem cells play a crucial role in curing PD. So naturally, there are people who are against things that are logical. This is why there is a lot of news for PD; some people don't want to fund stem cell research which would help cure PD, while other people do.

http://health.nytimes.com/health/guides/disease/parkinsons-disease/

3. Describe at least one relevant historical, cultural, economic, geographical, or literary example or concept that relates to your ideas for your article. Include at least two relevant links to evidence and further research in your writing. Strive for detail & evidence in your connections.
The major thing with PD is, like I said earlier, stem cell research and the controversy behind it all. Here's an article that's on the opposite stance on this topic as I am:
http://wap.bible.org/article/continuing-controversy-over-stem-cells
Stem cells are needed for curing diseases such as PD and we should fund their research. The ethical issue is with the embryonic cells that are needed. I obviously need to research more because this article makes me think of scientists cutting open a pregnant woman and chopping up her baby to get the cells needed.
http://nydailynews.healthology.com/parkinsons-disease/article789.htm

I
Another topic I could do is Beyond. I would do What is Death? That question is really intriguing because no one knows, and no one will ever know. For biology I will try to figure out if scientists have come up with anything that a person's mind may do right before they die. I heard that it does something similar to what it does when you fall asleep, so that may be interesting; when you die you just dream forever. This whole topic is strange and interesting at the same time.

II
I doubt there are any government agencies related to just death, and I can't really find too much about solely death. I can mainly just find articles about people who died, and people who are dying in wars etc. Here's an article I found
http://drolleriepress.com/authors/guest-blog-jennifer-cloud/
Also, the movie the Matrix keeps coming to my head when I think of this topic. Specifically, a quote from Morpheus. "What is ‘real’? How do you define ‘real’? If you mean what we can taste, smell, hear and feel then what’s ‘real’ is nothing more than electrical signals interpreted by your brain.”

III
The main thing with death is that no one knows what happens. It's just an idea. It's a very confusing topic and there are so many questions regarding death. What happens when you die? Are you dead forever? Won't you get bored of being dead forever? It's such a strange thing to comprehend when you think about it.
http://www.lightparty.com/Spirituality/AbsurdIdeaOfDeath.html

Life-The Book!

PARKINSON'S DISEASE

Well I couldn't really find a picture so I'm using Micheal J. Fox. He has Parkinson's disease and I respect him as an actor and as a person (He also is very pro stem cell) I will probably focus on stem cells and why people are against them for the Humanities part. I really think that if all the people who are against stem cells were to suddenly get Parkinson's, they would change to pro stem cells in a heartbeat. Most people with Parkinson's have idiopathic Parkinson's which means that they got it for no apparent reason, however a small portion are linked to genetics. 15% of patients have a first-degree relative who also has the disease.

WHAT IS DEATH?

I am interested in what research I could dig up for this topic. I think it's a kinda weird topic, but it may lead to some interesting theories and I think that would be pretty cool. I may possibly talk about natural selection, evolution, and extinction because those are all related in a sense and I am also interested in those topics. For humanities I could talk about how death is treated in different cultures, and I may even go on to talk about suicide, and suicide attacks.

I FORGOT WHAT MY LAST TOPIC WAS

So I'm not very interested in it apparently.

Beginning the Internship Brainstorm

I would really like to work in a small(ish) office where I can feel really inspired. The setting I'm in really effects the way I work, so I would really like to have a nice place to work. I want to intern somewhere where I can do web design, graphic design, something design, because that's what I like to do; and if I work at a sweet looking place I feel like I'd make sweet looking works
of art.




Well, like I just said, I really want to intern somewhere where I can do some graphic/web design, maybe even photography and filming. I really enjoy doing that and I think it'd be pretty cool to intern somewhere like that. I'd probably help them with their website or something along those lines.




I would be interested in how an actual company sets up their website or how they professionally edit photos etc. I think it'd be really cool to be involved in any of that.

Twitter!

The Terminator vs. Big Oil
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/06/opinion/06friedman.html?_r=1&src=tptw

The article I chose was about our governor/terminator a.k.a Arnold Schwarzenegger, who is upset with the oil companies that are not listening to him. First of all, California is voting to get rid of A.B 32 which is "California’s Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006". California will vote on Prop 23 to abolish this for some reason. Schwarzenegger says that the oil companies are trying to get rid of A.B 23 already because, according to Arnold, "They’re not interested in our environment; they are only interested in greed and filling their pockets with more money."

In Climate Denial, Again
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/18/opinion/18mon1.html?scp=2&sq=global%20warming&st=cse

I chose this article because the previous article got me more interested in global warming than the Terminator. I don't understand why people are preaching that global warming is not true and that we are wasting our time. First of all, it's obviously happening, it's getting more and more ridiculously hot; and second of all, why should we stop helping our planet out? We're not hurting anyone, it's only helping out planet. It just seems really dumb to want to stop treating our planet better.

"Dying for Dixie"

The root cause of Michael Westerman's murder was the interpretation of the Rebel flag that Michael had on his truck. The teenagers that attacked him interpreted the flag as a symbol of slavery. I think it was a bad part on both parts, but obviously more so on the murderer's side. The strange thing is that the shooter didn't even exactly know what the flag represented. He just knew that his race was supposed to hate it and that it was on the Dukes of Hazzard; not a lot of motivation for killing in my opinion. "Let's go whip that dude" is what he told his friends. This story is just absurd to me. Why would people go around killing other people because of what they think they're supposed to think. It's a crazy story and I was pretty interested in it.