Doron
Posting #4
Technology
Facebook's Prospects May Rest on Trove of Data
Somini Sengupta
The New York Times
May 14, 2012
2 pages

            Who would've thought that social networks could be such an important party of our nation, and not only our nations but our nation's economy. Facebook is continuing to grow, and even though there are great debates over how big it might be and how much it might be worth, it all discusses tens of billions, and that is impressive. The article above mainly focuses on Facebook's future. Some investors think that Facebook's value stands at $104 billion and some thing it is at $85 billion with a great potential to grow. The part that is most astonishing about the article is towards the end when the author refers to a recent video released by Zuckerberg where he's discussing the future of Facebook. In the video Zuckerberg says that he thinks that we would reach a point where Facebook is a part of almost everything that we do on the internet and that there wouldn't be a way around it. As a teenager, strangely enough I see this as more than just another ambitious idea of Zuckerberg's, Facebook's role in our lives has been great since the very first day and I don't see it going away any time soon. Experts say that within 10 years the phenomenon will disappear, but that just seems like a stretch, given that Facebook's role continues to grow. I think Mark is a representation to all Americans, a representation of ambition and the meaning of the phrase 'I am here to stay'. I am not sure how the world operated before Facebook, but then again I'm quite young. I just think that Facebook is sort of like when Adam and Eve ate the apple, there was no going back. Going back to the article once more, we see a great deal of discussion about lost profit on cellular phone applications, since on the browser we see ads but when we open our Facebook App there are no ads, companies hat advertise ads through Facebook aren't able to get a full understanding of how much of their advertising is actually being shown. I think that part of the beauty of Facebook is the that it's always there, supplying one with information that is actually interesting to them, and not some ads. I'm curious to see what the future holds for Facebook. 

Doron
Posting #3
Civil Rights
Obama's Switch On Same-Sex Marriage stirs Skepticism
Peter Baker and Dalia Sussman
The New York Times
May 14, 2012
1 page

              While it is nice to sometimes sink into our high schools accepting atmosphere, it is articles like these that provide a reality check and help me realize the world is much bigger and far more controversial than our high school. Yes, I would like to wake up every morning knowing that same-sex marriage is not an issue, but our world doesn't allow it, certainly not our government, and therefore our candidates are to present their opinion about the subject at one point or another. Recently our President Obama 'came out' with his views on same-sex marriage, saying that he supports gays people's right to get married. And society, being as suspicious and distrusting as it tends to be, began to question Mr.Obama's timing. According to the article 67% of voters said that Obama's only reason of presenting his views was related to the upcoming election, and 24% of the people said that he truly just wanted to speak his mind. The article also lists a few other polls that were conducted in relation to the announcement, one of which saying that Obama might actually be losing a great amount of voters because of this sudden exclamation, in hope of getting these votes from the young Americans that have been waiting for a president to support gay rights. Overall however it seems that Mr.Obama's opponent, Mr. Romney might even be happy with the revelation. Another part of he article that I would like to address is how it mentions that some African-American voters would vote for Mr.Romney because of this event. Now I understand that the statistics might show that African-American are more conservative or less accepting of gays, but it is frustrating for a teenager like me to feel that we have come so far, from segregation to women's rights, and still there is a need to present such statistics. I doubt that an African-American was going to vote for Mr.Obama just because he was black, and it is not a surprise to me that they would choose to vote for a white candidate that has the same world views as them. The article didn't seem to have a specific conclusion as to what the future holds, and I try to remain hopeful that us Americans will overcome this struggle that is splitting us and become almost united again. 

Sheriff to Face Civil Rights Suit Over Claims That Include Profiling

       

Alex Beroza

Posting #4

Sheriff to Face Civil Rights Suit Over Claims That Include Profiling

NY Times Associated Press

5/9/12

1 Page

       In Maricopa County in Arizona, a familiar problem has come up once again: profiling of Latino Americans. There has been a huge influx of illegal immigrants coming to America to seek better living opportunities. unfortunately this has led to many illegal immigrants that could be let it legally if more visas were to be issued by our government. Because all of this, many states touching the boarder of Mexico now have large amounts of residents feeling ill will towards the Latino Community as a whole. This has lead to cases like that here in Maricopa County. Sheriff Joe Ariapo has been charged with several accounts of civil rights violations. Although it is not clear that he himself has been pulling over too many Latino citizens, as Sheriff he is responsible. It appears that his police force has been using random traffic spots to pull over Latinos. Although this is technically legal, the data that has come out easily points to blatant racism in these traffic stops. The plan was to add a court monitor to make sure that Latinos weren't getting pulled over too much, but Sheriff Ariapo has stated that this would take away all of his power as Sheriff. This is the stage that the trail is currently at. 

      It seems obvious that such happenings need to be more closely monitored by higher forms of government. There needs to be more federal regulation of this blatant use of power by local police departments. This racism can't be tolerated, especially by the very people who are supposed to be protecting us. The real solution to all of this however, is to fix how immigrants get here in the first place. The US needs policies that ease border tension on our southern states. With this, documented workers can  help boost the economy, and have millions if not billions of dollars spent on finding them and deporting them.

Man Fired After Finding Loaded Firearm

Daniel M

Posting #4

Detroit Groundskeeper Fired After Finding Loaded Gun, Handing it to Cops

By Taryn Asher, Fox News Detroit

May 15, 2012

1 Page

Gun rights has been a touchy topic for many years and has caused a split in the nation of whether or not to make it illegal to own or carry a firearm. Quite a few cases have been made for illegal possession and usage of firearms, but a strange case has been brought up by a Detroit groundskeeper that does not fit with other cases made. The case is not very spectacular, and the groundskeeper John Chevilott, did nothing wrong to get himself fired from his job. The story is, that while on duty with his crew mowing the grounds, Chevilott found a firearm hidden in the tall grasses. Upon finding said firearm he proceeded to secure it until after his shift and brought it to the police station and turned it over. The police said that he "did the right thing to get it off the street" and found that it was stolen from a store back in 2005 and had been missing since. 

Upon reporting the incident to his management, he was fired on accounts of having possession of a firearm in the work place, unauthorized usage of the road yard, and for insubordination. All three of which were to make sure that the firearm was secure and that nobody was injured or killed by the firearm. John Chevilott has filed a grievance with the union to get his job back, this is mainly due to being two years away from retirement, and wanting to finish so he can collect on it. 

Parents of special needs students say school district covered up abuse

Eric Cheng

Current Event Posting #4

Topic: Education

Title: Parents of special needs students say school district covered up abuse

Author: Julie Peterson,

Publication: CNN

Date of Publication: May 15th, 2012 05:01 PM ET

Length of Article: 1534 words



Parents of special needs students say school district covered up abuse. It was just another day at school for special needs student Alex Williams. Recently released court documents say Alex  was routinely abused by teacher Melanie Pickens at Atlanta-area Hopewell Middle   School between 2006-2007. Despite extensive abuse of Alex and other students that was substantiated by a Fulton County School district investigation in 2007, no charges have been filed against teacher Melanie Pickens or then-Principal Frances Boyd. There could've been a child abuse filed with many reports by teachers, school nurses, and staff, would automatically result in criminal charges  but only the teachers would. Back in 2004, special needs teacher Melanie Pickens taught a class of middle school students. Pickens has denied the abuse, and Boyd has stated that she actually reported the abuse to the Fulton County School District’s Personnel department and was told not to fire Pickens. The Fulton County School District was ordered to pay for 5 years of special instruction and therapies for now 19-year-old Alex Williams to help him. Avossa says there are new procedures in place to keep abuse allegations from going unnoticed. “We decided to develop a more robust reporting process so that we ensure that there’s no single point of failure,” says Avossa. “So you report it to the principal, you report it to HR, you report it to the state. ” He adds that in the instance of principal Frances Boyd, “People reported it to the principal allegedly, and that person didn’t act on it the way that they needed to. The school had replaced the current superintendent with someone new. District Attorney Paul Howard’s office and Fulton County school police tell CNN the school police continue to collect background – eight years after the substantiated abuse began.

Gay Rights and the Latino Community

Liana
Current Event #4 - Civil Rights
Obama's Gay Marriage Shift Energizes Immigration Activists
Jeri Clausing, Fox News Latino
May 15, 2012
2 Pgs

Many Latino organizations are overjoyed with Obama's supportive statement concerning gay marriage. The NCLR (National Council of La Raza), along with Somos Republicans of Phoenix Arizona, The Tequila Party, Florida Immigrant Coalition, and many more, are all supportive of gay marriage. These organizations are taking it as a very positive sign that Obama is being so supportive of a delicate subject such as gay marriage, because many Latino organizations are allies of activists for gay marriage. If Obama supports the gay cause, it follows that he will also support lessening immigration restrictions, considering he has already demonstrated a relatively immigration-friendly attitude. In addition, Latino leaders, such as Dee Dee Garcia Blasé and Juan Rodriguez, who is an immigrant himself, are encouraging their followers and supporters to learn from the gay community. "We need to take a lesson," says Blasé, "from the (lesbian and gay) community... We need to be more aggressive, and we realize it." Latino activists are working on shifting the support towards Obama, and are taking his statement on gay marriage as a starting point.
However, because NCLR data shows that two thirds of America's latinos identify themselves as Roman Catholics, in many cases there may be a long way to go in terms of gaining more support for, and from, that gay community, largely due to religious reasons. Luckily, of those polled, approximately 60% deemed discrimination against gays and lesbians as a sin, which implies that there is a great deal of support, regardless of religion. With gay and Latino activists joined (both very large groups), their general choice of presidential candidate could sway the presidential race considerably, and potentially lead to major gains for both groups in the end.

Whites Account for Under Half of Births in U.S.

Monica Chan
Posting #4
Politics
Whites Account for Under Half of Births in U.S.
Sabrina Tavernise
New York Times
May 14, 2012
2 pages



It has been recently recorded that "white" or Caucasians are no longer the majority in the United States. While non-Hispanic whites make up 49.6% of births, Asians, Hispanics, and blacks now account for 50.4%. This is the first time in U.S. history that these groups of races have combined to make up the majority of the population. This is a major turn in American history since segregation, slavery, and immigration discrimination were once present and thriving in this very country. Though the minorities have recently become the majority in younger populations, the adults of these children are still mostly white. Specialists wonder if older populations will be willing to pay for the education of a generation that doesn't look like them. Many wonder if this turning point will bring more positives or negatives to the culture of this country. Also, statistics have shown that while 13% of Hispanics and 18% of blacks have a college degree, 31% of whites have theirs. Specialists don't know how this will eventually play out in the future of our country. There are many advantages to have this change in non-white birth rates. European countries with low levels of immigration have younger populations too small to support older generations. They say that without the births of non-white races, the United States population would have become top heavy with old people and ultimately lead to the downfall of the country.

Sippy Cups and Other Child Hazards

Jenna
Period A, Sanderson
May 14, 2012
Posting #4
Topic: Health
Title: Sippy Cups and Other Little-Known Childhood Hazards
Author: Anahad O'Connor from NY Times
Published: May 14th, 2012
Length: 855 Words

Sippy Cups and Other Little-Known Childhood Hazards

All across the United States, more and more small children have been rushed to the emergency room because of cuts in their mouths or chipped teeth. This is due to the increase of 1 and 2 year old children wearing pacifiers and drinking from sippy cups. More than three-fourths of the population allow their children to drink from a sippy cup or use a pacifier when they are 1 and 2 years old. New studies show that it can be harmful to small children then previously thought.  The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that children stop using pacifiers by about 6 months and transition from bottles to lidless cups by 12 months. Because parents don't listen to these warnings, more than 45,000 children under the age of 3, an average of about 2,270 children a year, were treated in emergency rooms for injuries related to bottles, pacifiers and sippy cups in the past 20 years. These injuries happen because at the age of 1 or 2, children are learning to walk. Falling down with a bottle or a pacifier in their mouth can really injure a child in the mouth or teeth. 

Another study done by the American Academy of Pediatrics warns parents of the increase risk of button batteries, which can be found in watches or other small electronics. Small children will put pretty much anything in their mouth, which includes small round objects on the floor. In the past two decades, about 66,000 children and teenagers were taken to emergency rooms in the United States from battery-related injuries. 

Now that studies are coming back with more data on harmful activities and objects for children, parents can be more aware and prepared for when they have children. The numbers of emergency visits are steep, but can stop if more parents start giving their kids regular cups. Dr. Keim, a study author and a researcher at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, believes that if the guidelines for stopping bottle and pacifier use had been followed, “about 80 percent of the children in the study would not have been using the product at the time they were injured.”  This will only increase if parents don't understand the risk of letting their kid drink from the wrong cup or eat something they aren't allowed to. The lidless cup will stop their kids from running around with it in their hand (to prevent spills), which will then decrease the amount of injuries to 1 and 2 year olds all over the country.

Kyle

Current Event Posting #4

A period Sanderson

5/13/12

Topic:Artificial Pancreas gives girl vacation from diabetes (Health)

Published by: CNN

Date published: Sunday, May 11, 2012

Original Article Author: Elizabeth Cohen

The Benefits of an artificial pancreas

Recently on CNN, an article was published about how diabetics have to live and how we have recently invented an "artificial pancreas regulator" that can help their current, damaged one. Many diabetics find that their bodies are no longer producing insulin at the proper levels, and cannot regulate their blood levels efficiently. As such, their bodies start to weaken and they will often slip into unconsciousness at low blood sugar levels (which is extremely dangerous in children). This prevents many of these diabetes-diagnosed people from participating in normal activities that most people can participate in, depending on the severity of their condition.
The pancreas regulator releases insulin or glucagon according to the patient's intake, and they make the lives of these children much easier. Also, it is usable by adults and children, so there is no problem there. Especially in young people, the fact that they have to monitor their blood-sugar levels all on their own at school or when they are out worries many of their parents. They are worried that if they do pass out, people won't know what to do or how to help raise their blood sugar level. As a result, scientists came up with a medical device that records a persons blood sugar level automatically (without testing with blood strips) and adjusts the insulin accordingly. Many medical companies are attempting to sell this product commercially, but it is very expensive to make so they are not very common yet. The medical companies are striving towards marketing this publicly, and they have started putting their product on infomercials online. Now, patients have no trouble with insulin and glucagon regulation in their bodies, since this device has literally acted as a watch. Many younger children have also been supplied with this device in hopes of testing out and releasing this product in a much larger scale.

Considering how quickly and easily this device helps regulate insulin levels in diabetes patients, it could be very promising to put research into how to improve its efficiency and production so that it could be circulated amongst all those that need them. The set up involves fitting the patient, plugging it, and hooking it up into a device the size of a small cell phone! Also, the patients can finally eat in huge quantities, since the machine will notice that the blood sugar levels are spiking and instantly input huge amounts of insulin to compensate for it.

In my opinion, I think that what scientists are doing for those out there that need help displays how progressive our society is. We depend on quickly adapting to any situation that we need to adapt to, and we are quite resilient when we do so. This machine will absolutely revolutionize how diabetes patients are treated in the future, and are very pragmatic in allowing them to live very normal lives.

Article Link:

http://www.cnn.com/2012/03/04/health/artificial-pancreas/index.html?npt=NP1

Facebook's IPO raises questions about where the company is headed

Name: Daniel Frei
Posting: 4
Topic: Technology

Author: Somini Sengupta

Publication: The New York Times

Date of publication: 5/14

Article length: 1481

As Facebook nears its public offering, set to be the biggest ever for an Internet company, pressure on Zuckerberg and the rest of the company to do a aggressive business is set to sharply increase. Facebook's primary asset is its large collection of user data, but it remains be seen if they can turn that data to profit to justify its high valuation at $104 billion.

Facebook's future business strategies remain unclear. Unlike Google, Facebook has “built an incredibly valuable asset — as opposed to a business they have executed well,” says an anonymous investor.

One of Facebook's main problems is how it can use that data to match ads to people without violating their users' sense of privacy.  Facebook already faces audits in Europe on whether the company is living up to promises made to consumers about how it uses their data — and now, a stringent new data protection law. In India, it has been sued for spreading offensive content, and in the United States, it faces privacy audits by the Federal Trade Commission for the next 20 years.

Potential shareholders are also concerned if Facebook can diversify and make money through other means, especially on mobile devices. Facebook makes most of its money through advertising, but Facebook acknowledges that mobile devices remain a tough platform for making serious ad revenue. One of Zuckerberg's plans to increase revenue is through Facebook Credits, an online currency backed by Facebook.

Tim Chang, a managing director at Mayfield Fund, notices, “there is no consumer-facing Internet brand or site that ever keeps consumers’ attention for more than 10 years,” and is concerned about how relevant Facebook will be in 10 years time. Zuckerberg's answer to the ticking clock are ambitious intentions to make Facebook as central as possible to the internet, for example by using Facebook to log on to other sites.

The culture and methods of the company could also potentially change once it goes public. One of Facebook's primary strengths has been its ability to change and "break things," as well as willingness of  the company to try new things. Some fear this ability may be constrained once investors get involved as they may try to restrain the company from making risky decisions.

In conclusion, despite these questions, Facebook is still set to sell extremely well to investors in its public offering. Brian Wieser of Pivotal Research Group notes that “it’s a risky asset,” but still thinks that Facebook is worth $83 billion and will grow its ad revenue by at least 3% for the next five years. Facebook has a lot of problems related to their business strategy, but so far it seems as though Zuckerberg is still full of fresh ideas. Facebook promises to continue to be a company to watch, even after it goes public.

Emily Slomka Period A

Posting #4- Politics 

Poll Sees Obama Gay Marriage Support Motivated by Politics

By Peter Baker and Dalia Sussman

Most Americans suspect that President Obama was motivated by politics, not policy, when he declared his support for same-sex marriage, according to a new poll released on Monday, suggesting that the unplanned way it was announced shaped public attitudes. Sixty-seven percent of those surveyed by The New York Times and CBS News since the announcement said they thought that Mr. Obama, who had said since late 2010 that his position on the issue was "evolving," finally proclaimed his support for same-sex marriage only after Vice President Joseph R. About 4 in 10, or 38 percent, of Americans support same-sex marriage, while 24 percent favor civil unions short of formal marriage. When civil unions are eliminated as an option, opposition to same-sex marriage rises to 51 percent, compared with 42 percent support. The poll showed that relatively few voters consider same-sex marriage their top issue amid continued economic uncertainty, and more than half said it would make no difference in their choice for president. Consider the responses to two questions: Just 32 percent said the federal government should determine whether same-sex marriage is legal, rather than leaving it to the states. Obama's endorsement of same-sex marriage appeared to have little effect on Americans' view of the issue. In a 2003 Times/CBS News poll, 44 percent of respondents said they had a colleague at work, close friend or relative who was gay, compared with 69 percent in the latest poll. A month ago, a Times/CBS News poll showed the two tied at 46 percent each; the latest survey had the Republican challenger at 46 percent to the president's 43 percent, an edge that was within the margin of sampling error of plus or minus four percentage points. By contrast, just 7 percent chose same-sex marriage as the most important issue and 4 percent as the second-most important. The sample size of the new poll was too small to break out comparisons by race, but aggregating four Times/CBS News surveys that asked the question over the last year opens a window into a racial dynamic that could be challenging. Forty-five percent of white Democrats supported legalizing marriage for gay couples, compared with 36 percent of black Democrats, while 35 percent of black Democrats opposed any legal recognition, compared with 28 percent of white Democrats.

Doron
Posting #2
Topic: Health
So Eager for Grandchildren, They're Paying the Egg-Freezing Clinic
Author: Elissa Gootman
Publication: The New York Times
Date of Publication: May 13, 2012
2 pages

I started reading this article not sure where it would take me. Initially it was only curiosity that pushed me to open the article and start reading, but shortly after reading the first few sentences I was filled with pride for today's older generations of women and the service they do for younger generations, like mine.
The article discusses some women's decision to freeze their eggs in order to be able to use them later on, when they find a partner or when they achieve security in their career, in a way that they are confident enough to support a child. It is no secret that women don't remain fertile forever, but these days women find the need to pursue themselves in a career, not just in motherhood therefore there is a tough conflict over which is more important and whether or not you can combine the two. The article also discusses the parent's role in the procedure. Surprisingly, lots of parent's not only show support but also offer to pay for the procedure. Some parents are the ones to raise the idea initially.
Gootman, the author of the article quotes doctors, parents and patients, all supporting the idea and explaining how much comfort and security this procedure can grant.
At the same time however, he author presents the other side of this scientific advancement, and that is, that sometimes the freezing of the egg doesn't work and the egg may not remain effective. This makes this more of a gamble rather than an investment. The cost may be anywhere from 8,000- 18,000 dollars, and the question is whether or not it's worth it. The article is hopeful and even states that experts estimated 2,000 babies being born from frozen eggs worldwide. The numbers aren't shocking but certainly promising. I think that the most important message of the article is that women have much more freedom these days and they although they continue for that freedom everyday, it is should still be recognized as something brave and heroic. Some women do this procedure because they are about to undergo cancer treatment, and that is a great thanks to science for allowing such advancements and security. Overall I think this article is a representation of independent woman, and great science developments, as well as open minds from different generations.     

Backer of Common Core School Curriculum Is Chosen to Lead College Board

Andrew     Current Events Posting #4
Topic: Education
Title: Backer of Common Core School Curriculum Is Chosen to Lead College Board
Author: Tamar Lewin
New York Times
Publication Date: May 14, 2012
Length: 744 words

This coming October, David Coleman will be appointed the president of College Board. Mr. Coleman, 42, was a former Rhodes scholar and McKinsey & Company consultant. Coleman, the creator of the common core curriculum is currently transitioning to his new College Board position in New York City. He will be succeeding Gaston Caperton, who has been heavily criticized for his $1.3 million annual salary. It is said that Coleman will be receiving a base annual salary of $550,000. Mr. Coleman is highly respected by many educational figures throughout the US. Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers says, “David is innovative and an excellent choice for the College Board. He’s put the common core on the map and he’s very respectful of the teacher voice.” David brings with him the hope to improve the current school curriculum by setting new standards through College Board. He says that his work to come will definitely make a difference because the College Board is responsible for the standardized SAT and AP testing;therefore, quite influential on the education system. Coleman claims that he has and will continue to take teacher input to build on the College Board mandatory curriculum. He promises to use his position to take the standards of education to the next level and design a "high-quality curriculum". Although the specifics of his plans are not known. It is through these plans, that Coleman hopes to focus on improving the college readiness of high school students throughout the US. Despite his popular acclaim, he also has many critics. Some of these critics point out that Coleman puts an unbalanced emphasis on informational texts over fictional texts. These critics refute Coleman's argument that real life situations do not call for much personal and opinionated writing skills. One critic, Stephen Krashen, who is an emeritus education professor at the University of Southern California promulgates that Coleman's ideals will only undermine the efforts of students. According to Krashen, the real problems are money and affordable education. He claims that Mr. Coleman's planned course of actions will increase the costs of education and only further the cause of middle class students.

Twitter hack breaches thousands of accounts

Darrion Yang
Period A
Current Event Posting #4Article: Twitter hack breaches thousands of accounts
Author:Laurie Segall  

Publication: CNN
Date of Publication: May 13, 2012 
Length of Article: 2 pages

Technology

On Monday, a hacker infltrated Twitter's defenses. He compromised nearly 55000 accounts. The passwords and usernames of these accounts were linked on pastebin pages. Luckily for the Twitter users, most of these accounts are spam accounts. Twitter announced that it has been searching for the culprit. The spokes person also stated that 55000 accounts is not a big amount of accounts. Twitter has nearly 140 million accounts registered. Not only that, the documents contain some 20000 duplicate accounts. Also, many of the passwords and usernames simply do not match up. However, for actual users affected, emails have been sent out. They tell the user to change their password. This is bad news for Twitter because in 2009, a court settlement was settled. If Twitter is not able to provide good account security, then twitter will face fines. For now, Twitter has avoided a big accident, but as hackers are getting more advanced, more precautions may be necessary. Twitter cannot suffer another attack ike this. 

Tony Jin
Period A
Current Event Posting #4

Article: Wall Street is Betting as Big as Ever
By Maureen Farrell
Published May 13, 2012
http://money.cnn.com/2012/05/11/markets/wall-street-risk/index.htm?hpt=hp_t3

JP Morgan, a powerful presence on Wall Street recently lost $2 billion in an extremely risky investment. While that amount seems monumental to the average American, it pales in comparison to the bank's total of $2.3 trillion in assets. Chief Executive Dimon reflects on the deal, "In hindsight, we took far too much risk. The strategy we had was barely vetted. It was barely monitored. It should never have happened." This uncontrolled betting is exactly what caused the downfall of AIG: insurance contracts protecting and profiting from defaults. Though the world though Wall Street learned its lesson from the 2008 market crash, it looks to be otherwise. If this continues, the US economy is in constant danger of another crash as these powerful companies toss unimaginable amounts of money around like paper airplanes.


This is extremely important to us as citizens of the United States. As mentioned above, if this extravagance is not curbed, there is likely to be another crash soon. These crashes would create a shortage of jobs that we would be fighting for in a couple of years. The ups and downs in the economy also slow the US's advancement, and creates opportunities for rising powers such as China and Brazil to overtake America. To fight this, there is already a strong Occupy Wall Street Movement. This movement should be supported, as it has the potential to positively influence the powerful businesses that control so much of the economy. The government should also take a stronger role in trying to curb some of these wild bets. Though it would be difficult to monitor, there should be limits in how much risk can be taken with such exorbitant amounts of money.

Obama Campaign Pushes the Issue of Gay Marriage

Grace Park
Period A
Current Event Posting #4
Article: Obama Campaign Pushes the Issue of Gay Marriage
Author: Mark Landler and Jeff Zeleny
Publication: The New York Times
Date of Publication: May 13, 2012 
Length of Article: 2 pages


Topic: Leaders


     Recently there have been a lot of talk about same-sex marriage on the news. On top of that, President Obama recently publicly announced that he support the same-sex marriage which gave surprise to the Americans. On Thursday of last week, President Obama traveled to Seattle and said "Americans should have the chance to succeed, 'no matter who you love'". On the other hand, Mitt Romney, a republican candidate for the presidential campaign, came out as opposing the same-sex marriage. Because of his opposition, there has been a web video that has been released. The web video was titled "Mitt Romney: Backwards on Equality". The video accused Mr. Romney of wanting to "deny rights" and noted that even previous President Bush supported civil unions. Even some of the people who support same-sex marriage donated to President Obama's campaign. 

     I believe this really is a huge issue to talk about especially when this issue is on the news most of the time and needs to be focused however, I think President Obama also need to view on our economy which is still doing pretty poorly. It's kind of equalized since Mr. Romney is focusing more on our economy while President Obama recently focused a lot on same-sex marriage and a bit on our economy. I'm really interested how the same-sex marriage issue will turn out to be.

Indifference to Strangers: Coincidence? No It's Not.

Michael Z.
United States History Period A
Posting #4
Author: Eli Davidson

"Growing up on a gravel road in Bucyrus, Kan., a car... any car... and especially a car we didn't know was a big deal. We'd run out to the road and wave at the adult behind the wheel as the dust clouds of the speeding car settled. Strangers were a rare fruit. We never took them for granted." This is but a memory for author Eli Davidson. And sadly, we are becoming more and more removed from the strangers and people around us.            Eli Davidson comes to grips with this cold reality at an airport, when she is taking her shoes off for a security checkpoint and runs into a disabled man who was reaching in vain to untie a double-knot on his shoes. After she helps him undo the knots and reties his shoes, the man thanks her, to which she says "no biggie". The man replies " "Thank you. In 35 years of traveling no one has ever done that for me."
  The occasional contact between us and strangers in the airport is just one of millions of moments where we come out of our minds and are aware of the world and its people around us. Now as the technology is improving, slowly going out of control, scientists are telling us that it is getting worse. Technology-enabled, we are able to be with one another, and also elsewhere, connected to wherever we want to be. We want to customize our lives. We want to move in and out of where we are because the thing we value most is control over where we focus our attention. We have gotten used to the idea of being in a tribe of one, loyal to our own party.
  Closer to home, when a sixteen year old boy who relied on texting for almost everything when asked what he wanted to do almost said wistfully that "Someday, someday, but certainly not now, I'd like to learn how to have a conversation." Certainly frightening in its implications of our future, what would happen if we did one day forget how to communicate face-to-face?
  How often have we each been so embroiled in our own petty dramas that we breeze past someone in trouble? My hand is raised. How about yours? How often have we each walk past a person that needs help? I believe that we have not advanced as a society as a result of technology, but we are slowly going back in time, to an era that we would not be able to talk, to communicate vocally as a result of social networking on the Internet. We would slowly turn away from the concept of family, of friendship, of teamwork and partnership; we would forgo the need for school and become so encased in our own self-importance that we ignore everyone else. I hope that this does not happen, but it is the direction in which we are headed. 
  

After Obama’s Decision on Marriage, a Call to Pastors

Shreya Rao
Period A
5/13/12
Current Event Posting #4
Article: "After Obama's Decision on Marriage, a Call to Pastors
Topic: Leaders
Author: Peter Baker
Publication: The New York Times
Date of Publication: May 13, 2012
Length of Article: 2 pages

After President Obama declared last week his support for same-sex marriage, he struggled with the decision but finally thought it was the right choice to make.  This lost the support of many ministers and are now having second thoughts for the re-election.  Soon after his announcement, he and his team created a quiet campaign to contain the possible opposition from religious leaders and voters.  He has now recognized how much of the country is opposed to same-sex marriage.  The issue of religious freedom was apparent in the previous administration mandate over religious affiliated organizations offering health insurance covering contraceptives.  The president offered a compromise to this issue that would maintain coverage for contraception without requiring religious affiliations to pay for it, however many critics are dissatisfied. The president's decision was a matter of personal conscience and not public policy which a religious adviser inferred and wanted reassured to all religious leaders. Obama has already reached out to a few minsters to clarify and discuss the intersection of religion and public policy.  The president's strategists hope that any loss of support from black and independent moderates will be replaced with proponents of gay marriage.
The president's support for same-sex marriage has become a controversial issue among many religious leaders even after his explanations for public policy.  He can only be hopeful now that his loss in support will be made up but it will be hard to predict for the re-election.  Few of the religious leaders who were called and had the chance to discuss this issue with the president were satisfied with his explanations.

Science journal could give recipe for deadly avian flu virus

Clayton Chang

Period A

5/13/12

Current Event Posting #4

Article: http://www.cnn.com/2012/05/12/us/journal-avian-flu/index.html?hpt=us_c2
Topic: Health
Title of Article: Science journal could give recipe for deadly avian flu virus
Author: Libby Lewis
Publication Name: CNN
Date of Publication: Sunday, May 13, 2012
Length of Article: 1,135 words, 2 pages

A. Main Ideas
A science journal is preparing to publish a controversial study that could provide terrorists with the necessary information to create and spread a lethal disease.  The study is from an experiment by Ron Fouchier, who engineered the avian flu virus to make it more deadly to mammals by making it spread through the air.  The publication of this study is being challenged by some scientists, who believe that this study could give valuable information to people with evil intentions.  People could possibly create a lethal virus that could model the disease portrayed in the movie “Contagion”, which, according to Dr. Thomas Inglesby, could affect hundreds of millions of people.  Others argue that information in this study can provide scientists with information on how a virus can mutate to one that causes a pandemic.  The goal of this experiment was to find out why the avian flu spreads so quickly among birds, and not among humans.  As a result of these experiments, the National Institute of Health concluded that it is possible for the bird flu virus to evolve into a highly transmissible killer virus.  The journal Science is expected to publish this study within a few weeks.  

B. Conclusion
A recent study regarding the spreading of a deadly virus among humans causes controversy.  While the results can help scientists predict and prepare for future breakouts, it also provides information that can help people create and spread a deadly virus.  This study has been approved by the National Scientific Advisory Board for Biosecurity, and is expected to be published in the journal Science within a few weeks.  

Finding a Match, and a Mission: Helping Blacks Survive Cancer

Skylar Posting # 4
5/14/12 Health
by Donald G. McNeil Jr.
2 pages

Seun Adebiyi a Nigerian 28 year-old experienced a twisted turn of events a month after his commendable graduation from Yale Law School in 2009. Adebiyi graduated from such a prestigious program only to find that the worst was not yet over. Adebiyi was diagnosed with two blood cancers, lymphoblastic lymphoma and stem cell leukemia. If he wanted to survive, and obviously he did... finding a donor immediately was crucial. Wasting no time, Adebiyi took it upon himself to find himself a match. He called on anyone who was willing to safe his life, he took a trip to Nigeria, he went on the radio circuit and youtube. He was lucky enough to eventually find a donor living in the states that donated the umbilical cord of her son to a “cord bank” and the stem cells the cord contained were similar enough to work for Adebiyi. Adebiyi received treatment soon after and has been in remission ever since. Through his experience, Adebiyi was able to gain some knowledge about other black people that have similar misfortunes. In the U.S., less then 20% of African Americans don’t find a donor match and 70% of white Americans do. Though the U.S. is 12.6% African American only 8% of the donors registered are African American and in Nigeria millions of individuals have blood cancers and close to none of them find relief for the same reason, lack of donors. The reason for lack of donors is concluded by some doctors in the field, the Tuskegee scandal in which African American farmers were used as a research experiment and contracted syphilis and were refused treatment. With such terrible past experiences to go off of, who would want to donate? All and all, because there are less registered African American donors in the U.S, and even fewer in Nigeria, black people are not being given fair odds for survival. To make things worse, black people happen to be far more genetically diverse then white people due to ancient migration patterns making it even harder to find a match if you’re black and don’t have any European lineage. With these sort of odds, Adebiyi was driven to start a cord-blood bank in Nigeria. Adebiyi wants to make the donation process as smooth and painless as possible for his donators and wouldn’t object to having them receive a modest reimbursement. Adebiyi has already put fourth $32,000 of his own savings for projects like the blood-bank project and doesn’t expect anything in return. He claims that he was already repaid when his life was saved. I think that Adebiyi’s ideas and drive show were well reflected in the write up on his plans and ambitions for his blood-bank. It makes anyone smile to know that somewhere people’s lives are being saved. 

Harrison : Posting # 4
5/14/12 Health
FDA Delays Rules Meant to Ease Sunscreen Confusion
Lauren Neergaard
2 pages

Last year the FDA mandated that sunscreen companies would have to amend the labels on their product to accurately communicate just what their goop was protecting against. The concern is that consumers are not aware of whether their sunscreen is protecting against deep-penetrating and cancer-causing UVA rays or only sunburn-causing UVB rays. The difference is crucial, and not all sunscreens protect against both. The new regulation will also call for the removal of "waterproof" or "sweatproof" labels, to avoid the misconception that sunscreen doesn't need to be reapplied. Before this decision by the FDA, (and actually still) consumers may have been putting their skin in unknown danger, even while protecting against sunburn. The unfortunate news related to this mandate is that action has been pushed back. After pleas from sunscreen companies the FDA has conceded to another 6 months to get bottles relabeled, by December of this year instead of June. This new timeline puts the majority of the country at risk during the sun tanning season -- December is too late. Even though the FDA is not calling for a redesign of the sunscreen itself, just a relabeling, companies claim that that process of fitting the new labeling onto bottles -especially smaller ones - will take a while. When the labeling does go into effect, the FDA recommends using sunscreen above 30 spf, with a "broad spectrum" label (meaning it protects against both UVB and UVA), and a water resistant tag. They also recommend applying a shot glass full of sunscreen every hour.

From Horseback Riding to Wheelchair and Back

Katerina
Posting #4
Health
From Horseback Riding to Wheelchair and Back
By: Kristen Greco
Publisher: CNN
Date: 5/9/12
Length: 1022

Kristen Greco has been riding since age four and she never thought she would stop but on March 7, 2010 she became paralyzed from the waist down. Turns out she had a ruptured disk which bruised her spinal cord. This was a rare condition for a child or teenager. A surgeon successfully decompress her spine but that did not cure her paralysis. For nine weeks, Kristen went through exhausting physical therapy trying to rebuild muscle strength and nervous system connections. At Freedom Hills Therapeutic Riding Program, in Port Deposit, Maryland, Kristen started to pick up riding. Due to her surgery, Kristen wasn't able to ride at the time, but she made sure to keep it in the back of her mind.
Seven months after her accident, Kristen considered riding again. Freedom Hills offers a unique program called hippotherapy. It is a form of physical therapy using the characteristic movements of a horse to help a patient increase trunk strength and control, balance and overall posture strength and endurance. The most difficult part was getting on the horse but after that, everything was fine. Kristen recalls: "for my first ride, someone led the horse and two people walked on either side of me for support.  I was hooked on horses again! And I began riding twice a week.  I never imagined how much you could miss by simply not being able to control the lower half of your body, never mind a horse.  I had never noticed how much I took for granted." Kristen continued to ride for five months before something amazing happened. I was at Kennedy Krieger for an evaluation of my recovery, and was able to move her legs for the first time! She believe this small portion of recovery was brought about by the unique combination of innovative activity-based restorative therapy and the therapeutic horseback riding.
Now, a year and a half later, at the age of 16, Kristen rides independently and competes year-round and wins along with being a volunteer at Freedom Hills. Kristen loves being able to share her passion and show people, that riding as a para-equestrian isn’t much different from riding as an able-bodied person. She also continues her rehabilitation at Kennedy Krieger. Kristen says: "looking ahead, two of my goals are walking across the stage at my high school graduation from North East High School in North East, Maryland, as well as competing in the U.S. Paralympics for para-dressage. I would also like to help and encourage others to live an active life in their wheelchairs.  There are so many activities for people with disabilities including basketball, tennis, skiing, and archery. Having a spinal cord injury doesn’t have to mean an end to the hobbies and sports that you love; it just means having a view from a different angle."

Post by: Krystal Greco - Special to CNN Filed under: Human Factor

Swim Lessons Help Minority Children Break the DrowningCycle

Katerina
Posting #3
Health
Swim Lessons Help Minority Children Break the Drowning Cycle
By Lan Trinh
Publication Name: CNN Health
Date of Publication: 5/10/12
Length: 864

When Wanda Butts' sixteen year old son drowned in 2006, she was determined to help minority children learn how to swim so no mother had to suffer the way she did. Butts realized that the one of the reasons her son drowned was because her father passed down the fear of swimming to her and she passed it down to her son, telling him never to go near the water and because of that, he never learned how to swim. A reason why A According the USA swimming, 60% of Hispanic children and 42% of white children cannot swim but 70% of African American children cannot swim. According to the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention, African-American children between the ages of five and fourteen are three times more likely to drown that white children in the same age range. A reason why the percentage of African American children not knowing how to swim comes from several cultural and historical facts. One is the segregation of swimming pools during the 20th century. Few swimming pools were built to serve the black community back then, so much of a generation was denied to opportunity to swim. This caused parents not being able to teach their children to swim because either they themselves did not know how to swim or they had no place to teach their children how to swim.A recent study conducted by the University of Memphis showed if parents can't swim, their children are far less likely to learn how. The study showed that fear of drowning or injury prevented African American parents from putting their children in swimming lessons. It also found that many avoid swimming for cosmetic reasons such as the effect of chlorine on one's hair. Not wanting any mother to suffer the same way she did, in 2007 Wanda Butts founded the Josh Project, a nonprofit organization that provides low-cost swimming lessons for children in Toledo, Ohio. To this day, the Josh Project has helped more than 1,000 children learn how to swim. "All children are at risk of drowning, but the majority of the children that the Josh Project serves are minority children, who we have found are more at risk," Butts said. The Josh Project will hopefully help many more children learn how to swim because swimming is a necessity in everyday life.

James

Current event #4

topic: Leaders

title: Obama Heads to Nevada, Swing State Where Latino Voters Are Key

author: Elizabeth Llorente

Fox News Latino

published May 11, 2012

4 pages

Nevada is a swing state in this year’s election.  Both parties will be working to get its votes. Barack Obama visits Nevada May 11, 2012, where he will court the Latino vote.  Obama won the Latino vote in 2008, but in this election, the Democrats are concerned that this group of voters may not vote for him because of the state of the economy and the very important issue of immigration reform.  Nevada presently has the second highest number of foreclosed homes, and has the country's highest unemployment rate (currently at 12%).  During this visit, Obama needs to attract labor in Nevada because it is able to encourage the Latino vote.

Obama's approach in Nevada will be to emphasize his current housing policies that make it easier for homeowners to refinance mortgages.  This is important because of Nevada’s slow economic recovery, and the large number of foreclosures.

In contrast to Obama’s efforts, Romney’s campaign has not yet focused much on Latino voters.  One Latina Republican leader mentioned that Romney hasn't decided what his position on immigration is.  She later provided a link to a site giving Romney’s views on the issue.  Romney would like to keep the focus on the weak economy and how Obama’s responsibility for it is keeping Latinos from living the American Dream. A point in Romney’s favor is that there is a small Mormon population in Nevada, which is likely to vote for him.  However, some voters there may not like his solution to the foreclosure problem, which is to simply let the housing market hit bottom.

Obama also wants to show how his health care law will benefit Latinos, but he knows the biggest issue will be immigration.  The President’s visit to the swing state of Nevada now is crucial in his campaign.