16. April 2010 by student.

Abortion

                The debate on abortion has been raging for a very long time. This is no mere social problem. This issue is webbed across many different aspects of our lives. It is connected to morals, politics, beliefs, religions and so on. It is an issue that needs to be carefully handled and observed. The topic itself can be looked at as being a very broad subject. One can spend days explaining the ripple effects of abortion from the physical to mental ramifications of having one. While at the same time one can talk about the morality or political side of the issue. To begin let us look at what abortion is. According to MedicineNet.com explained that abortion “In medicine, an abortion is the premature exit of the products of conception (the fetus, fetal membranes, and placenta) from the uterus. It is the loss of a pregnancy and does not refer to why that pregnancy was lost”. This definition explains the physical aspect; however it negates the moral and personal view of individuals. To some an abortion is merely getting rid of a parasitic substance in the womb of a woman. While, other believe that it is a murder of a human life. Due to these opposing views two main groups have formed; pro-choice and pro-life. While both claim to be concerned with the conservation of a life, they differentiate on whose life that is. In the book A Case Study In Law and Morals written by Frohock, he explains that these two groups are opposed to each other due to the beliefs on whether the fetus is a human or not. In his words he explains, “the disagreement on programs is attributed to disagreements on the weight of the principle in the special conditions of fetal development” (173-174 Frohock). Arguments on both sides can be carried to the extreme, but both arguments are based on this founding principle; is the fetus a living human being? Looking at it from a pro-choice view one can say that it the mother right to rid herself of any substances from her own body, While a pro-life activists would say that the being inside of her has right of its own. In our culture today abortion is becoming more and more open. However, the majority of people in America hold firm that abortion should not be legalized nor paid for by taxpayers throughout the country. In an annual survey given by the Gallup poll, reported that “51 percent of Americans identify themselves as ‘pro-life’ on the issue of abortion and 42 percent as ‘pro-choice’” (Gallup). Abortion is an issue not limited to women alone. It affects parents, men, and children. Every way you turn the subject there are those affected by it. Personally, I believe that abortion is a morally wrong action to take. One can argue that what if the girl is raped or having the baby threatens her life. Well, if we made abortion only legal to issues such as these it would only account for a very, very small percentage or the overall abortions performed. The Center for Bio-Ethical Reform they reported that “1% of all abortions occur because of rape or incest; 6% of abortions occur because of the potential health problems regarding either the mother or child, and 93% of all abortions occur for social reason (i.e. the child is unwanted or inconvenient)”.  Thus, if the argument is focused on the victims, then we can reach an agreement of saying all but these are illegal. 93 percent of abortions would cease to continue. In conclusion, Abortion is more than just another social issue. It is an issue that can penetrate the very core of us. It is an issue that needs to be thought about and researched before reacting to it. Take the time to research, to learn, no matter the side you take.

Posted in Mr. Andoscia, Social Problems | 1 Comment »

16. April 2010 by student.

            Over 906,000 children are victims of child abuse each year; and most are never reported (www.safechild.org).  Child abuse is “anyone under the age of 18 who’s neglected or abused by a parent or other person responsible for his/her care is considered a victim of child abuse” (www.safechild.org). I believe that we all need to be able to identify any kind of child abuse so that if needed we can report or learn how to help. Children can be physically, sexually, or mentally abused, and in some cases all three. Physical abuse is the easiest to identify; it is the non-accidental abuse to the physical body such as bruises and burns. Sexual abuse is an adult using a child for sexual gratification with or without their physical consent. The last kind of abuse is emotional abuse this is abuse that goes almost completely undetected. Yet it is the most common type of abuse, it is an action that is committed with intent of causing harm to another person or persons. These three types of abuse are more common than we think and there are ways we can help and prevent them. First is finding your local number for the abuse hotline and call in if you think someone is being abused. Secondly, we need to start educating our schools and teachers about abuse. We need to teach our adolescence how to have healthy relationships with their peers and society. Teachers and parents need to teach their children and students about communication skills and problem solving; the kids need good role models. If you have ever suspected abuse and did not know what to do or where to go, the following number is the Child help National Abuse Hotline 1-800-4-A-CHILD, it is available 24 hours a day and is ready to help you take action and stop child abuse.

Posted in Social Problems | 1 Comment »

16. April 2010 by student.

With the Kentucky Derby and the Triple Crown series right around the corner, it’s time to my pick.  It’s not a very popular sport; most people, espeically in this country, focus on sports like baseball and football. I’ve been a fan of thoroughbred horse racing for as long as I can remember. I remember sitting on the floor when I was very young as my mom turned on the Kentucky Derby. It’s amazing to watch the power and speed these animals have as they race around the track and, for some people like me, it never gets old. Though amazing to watch it has constantly come under fire.

 Some organizations and people call it cruelty to the animal and some times the people who work in the industry. I’ve tried to think about where I stand on the issue; I’m a huge fan of horses in general and I hate to think about the fates of some of the race horses. Horse racing is vastly different than it was in the early and mid 1900’s. It used to be very popular and some of the race horses that came out of the 1920’s, 30’s, 40’s and 50’s became national icons and heroes. Though that seems like a distant memory. Very few people know about the great horses. Man O’ War? Citation? Count Fleet? Swaps? Forego? Nowadays you don’t have that; now the only publicity  the sport gets is when a horse breaks down in the middle of the race. Sadly with the media and changes the sport occurances like that happen more often. Who can forget Barbaro? He had a brillant run in the Kentucky Derby in 2006, but the Preakness went horribly wrong.

The horses face many dangers in the sport. 1.5 horses die out of every 1000 starts in the US. The U.S. Jockey Club in New York estimates that about 600 horses died at racetracks in 2006. Barbaro didn’t die on the track; he managed to survive until early 2007, but it was a sad sight. Nothing should have to go through that. As strong and big as horses seem; they are very fragile.

So the horse may survive it’s career on the track, but what happens afterwards? Well, in reality not many horses back it “big”. Some of the biggest races in the country are the Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont, which make up the Triple Crown. Those are the races most people hear about and the horses that win those races can achieve some short of fame. The Triple Crown is nearly impossible to win and only 11 have won it in the history of the sport. The last being in 1978, but I digress. Very few horses earn enough money and fame to have a happy retirement. The greats go off to big lush farms in places like Kentucky to make babies and have people come visit them…others aren’t so lucky. Horse slaughter is illegal in the United States, but not in countries like Japan. The group states that 20,000 horses, including former Thoroughbred race horses, were killed in 2008 in Japan for use as human and pet food. The ones that don’t make it in the business aren’t given anymore chances.

There are many dangers to humans too.

Anna Waller, a member of the Department of Emergency Medicine at the University of North Carolina, co-authored a four-year long study of jockey injuries and stated to the New York Times that “For every 1,000 jockeys you have riding, over 600 will have medically treated injuries.” She added that almost 20% of these were serious head or neck injuries. The study reported 6,545 injuries during the years 1993–1996.More than 100 jockeys were killed in the US between 1950 and 1987. That’s pretty crazy. These jockeys love what they do and even after the most horrific injuries, but still get back in the saddle. Are they crazy? Or are they passionate? Either way it’s hard to watch as a jockey falls to the ground in the middle of the race.

The statistics aren’t very good and the press the sport has gotten in recent times is even worse. The sport has changed with the invention of new drugs and the increase in gambling at race tracks. It isn’t what it used to be and nowadays most horses only race for two or three years. The goal is to make money. No one cares about achieving goals or making history. It’s all money. I’ve come to the conclusion that the sport has become cruel in recent times and I ask myself why even bother. I find myself only watching the big races, but I still love the history. When people and critics blast the sport I have to agree. I’ll always love the sport and it will always have it’s history. Hopefully the sport will change for the better or it will die completely because it’s not fair. To the people or the animals.

Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment »

16. April 2010 by student.

The first line of defense is handwashing. The first line defense for nursing is education. Bacteria is evolving. Today we battle super bugs, for example methacillin resistant staphalococcus aureus (MRSA), H1N1, and vancomycin resistant enterococci (VRE). 22 million school days are lost due to the common cold alone. Teach your children when they should wash there hands. Many children do not realize when its apprioate to wash there hands.
When Should You Wash Your Hands?
-after using the bathroom
-after blowing your nose or coughing
-before eating, serving, or preparing
-after touching pets or other animals
-after outdoor activities
-before and after visiting anyone who is sick
-when your hands are dirty
-after changing a diaper
Then next phase in education of handwashing is technique. Teach your children How to wash there hands.
-Start your water at whatever tempature your prefer.
(The tempature of the water has nothing to do with the outcome of washing your hands. Many
believe the warmer the water the more germs they kill. The truth is the element of
handwashing that produces results is FRICTION. Also warm water pulls the natural oil from your skin, causing drier hands.)
-Apply Soap, generally quater size to your hands
-Vigorously scrub your hands and forearms. yes, forearms too. Scrub for twenty seconds. We like to teach people to try singing “HAPPY BIRTHDAY” to yourself twice. That is the right amount of time.
-Dry your hands and forearms throughly with a single use paper towel.
-Last, take another dry paper towel and shut off the faucet.

Accoriding to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), wahing hands or using alcohol based hand sanitizers have been shown to reduce overall infection rates. Yes even alcohol based santizers work as well. More than 20 published studies prove alcohol based hand rubs are more effective than soap in reducing the number of bacteria on hands. Remeber the key word FRICTION. THe CDC maintains that good hand hygiene is the simplest, most effective measure in preventing infection.

Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment »

16. April 2010 by student.

Global Warming is an issue. I did find it intresting in our discussion about water in our last lecture. So I did some research. First of all, I thought it was bad I had three bags of trash a week, but with an average of 100 gallons of water a day per person in America. I found that way more disturbing. So lets get to the facts.

Ten Quick Facts About Water:

-The amount of water on Earth today is the same as when civilizations first arose thousands of years ago. Yet, the number of people needing water has increased dramatically.

-One billion people lack access to safe drinking water.

-Only 2.5% of the Earth’s water is fresh water.

-Freshwater animal species are disappearing faster than land or sea animals. 573 freshwater animals in the U.S. are threatened with extinction.

-Three quarters of all Americans live within 10 miles of polluted water.

-The average American uses 100 gallons of water a day. The world’s poorest people live on less than five gallons a day.

-60% of freshwater is frozen in glaciers, 30% is in groundwater often deep below the Earth’s surface, and 10% is in lakes, streams, and rivers.

-Farming and ranching accounts for 70% of our freshwater use.

I am just amazed that is not talked about more often. We have to change our ways with water use, in addition to many other luxuries we are abusing. We can change our footprint when it comes to water use! Here are some household tips on decreasing our water use. Please try at least one if not more.

Kitchen and laundry:
-Only use the dishwasher and washing machine when they are full. Use the sink when you have a small number of dishes to wash.
-When buying a dishwasher or washing machine make sure it’s a water-saver by looking for the ‘AAA’ rating.
-Install tap aerators to reduce water flow.
-Use the sud-saver option when doing the laundry.

Bathroom:
-Fix toilet leaks. (Tip - add food colouring to the cistern water and let it sit for 15 minutes; if it appears in the toilet bowl without flushing you’ve got a leak).
-Don’t leave the tap running when you brush your teeth.
-Keep your showers short, use a timer. A shower uses 10 to 20 litres of water a minute.
-Install water saving shower heads and dual flush toilets.
-Insulate your water heater and hot water pipes so you waste less water while waiting for the hot water to flow.
-When building a new house place the hot water service as close as possible to the wet areas (i.e. bathroom, laundry etc).

Swimming pools:
-Use a cover on your pool to reduce evaporation.
-Check your pool and its pipe work regularly and repair any leaks.
-Consider buying a pool filter that uses less water during filter cleaning.

Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment »

16. April 2010 by student.

The 2012 phenomenon is said to be the end of the world. The end of everything we know, or ever knew. The forecast is based primarily on what is claimed to be the end-date of the Mesoamerican Long Count calendar, which is presented as lasting 5,125 years and as terminating on December 21 or 23, 2012. Arguments supporting this dating are drawn from a mixture of amateur archaeoastronomy, alternative interpretations of mythology, numerological constructions, and alleged prophecies from extraterrestrial beings.

A New Age interpretation of this transition posits that, during this time, the planet and its inhabitants may undergo a positive physical or spiritual transformation, and that 2012 may mark the beginning of a new era. Conversely, some believe that the 2012 date marks the beginning of an apocalypse. Both ideas have been disseminated in numerous books and TV documentaries, and have spread around the world through websites and discussion groups. The idea of a global event occurring in 2012 based on any interpretation of the Mesoamerican Long Count calendar is rejected as pseudoscience by the scientific community, and as misrepresentative of Maya history by Mayanist scholars.

People are getting so worked up over this topic, that there are websitesw selling “2012 shelters”, an example can be seen at alpinesurvival.com/earth-changes-survival-shelters.html On this website you can clearly get a vibe of the seriousness people are taking on from this phenomenon. On one of the models on the above website, its states “they are literally, closed-enviornment underground shelters, our window views are DVD recordings” (alpinesurvival.com). Really people? Someone, right now, is outside recording their surroundings, so they can play it on their dvd in their underground shelter when the world ends. This is getting blown way out of proportion! Also, the same person recording life as we know it, is probably making money off poor citizens in the time of a recession, because everything is going down the tubess in this country, that no one knows what to believe anymore!

Call me a fool, but ill take the risk and pass on buying “2012 underground shelter”, besides ill need the extra cash by the looks of how our economy is doing.

Posted in Mr. Andoscia, Introduction to Sociology | 3 Comments »

16. April 2010 by student.

Imagine, you’ve been in a hospital bed for two years, unable to move, speak or even breathe on your own. You’re in excruciating pain when the morphine wears off and you can’t communicate with anyone. Your practically in a vegetable state and the doctors believe you won’t get any better. The nurse comes in to feed you, but you’ve decided enough is enough, a life of rest is better than a life of constant pain. You refuse to eat or drink, waiting for your time to end. A doctor enters the room and inserts a feeding tube down your throat. The two possible choices you had, has now turned into one.

I don’t agree that people should be allowed to end their life if they’re feeling depressed or having a bad day. Those people can be helped, and need support and guidance, allowing them to have a chance to realize life is a gift and should be lived to the fullest. However a person who is terminally ill and is only still breathing due to the heavy medication and respirator, shouldn’t be forced to live in this condition. A recent survey held by Massey University revealed that 70% agreed that a patient with a terminal illness or disease has the right to death, with the assistance of a doctor (Newton).

On the other hand if it was your mother, brother or child laying in that bed and you had no actual way of knowing what they desire, could you allow the doctor to pull the plug? Is it not our responsibility and duty to care for our parents and children and allow them to live as long as possible, or is it selfish to insist on keeping them alive? It is not only a social or moral issue, it is a legal issue as well. In 1985 the Terminally Ill Act came into affect allowing anyone who is 18 years or older the choice of having life supporting treatment in a terminally ill situation (Goetting). Only three states in the U.S. allow this procedure, consisting of Oregon, Washington and Montana.

I’m sure many of you have heard about Jack Kevorkian, also known as the “Doctor Death.” He spent eight years in jail for assisting 130 terminally ill patients with suicide. He was insulted by the victims family members, church and anti-euthanasia protesters, considering him a murderer and disturbed individual. On the other hand he was considered a hero, giving people the opportunity to “die with dignity.” Should an individual be deprived to their right to live or die in these curcumstances?

Posted in Social Problems | 1 Comment »

16. April 2010 by student.

There are many things that have changed in the world from the 1960’s to now. I was talking to my grandparents and we were discussing the world from when they were teenagers to now that I am a teenager. We were comparing my live to my grandmother, she stated” I never thought I would say this but the children and society today is so corrupt. Children getting pregnant at the very young age of 13 and children dying to gang violence and drug abuse at 15. Also with all the racism when I was growing up I would have never guessed that there would be a black president.” I don’t feel that we are corrupt I feel that we are just going through some huge changes trying to fit in with the rest of the world and there changes as well. Barack Obama stated “Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.” I feel that this is correct because change is needed I will always understand and agree to disagree with my grandmother she wants everything to go back to what it used to be but the world will always change no matter what happens. I feel that change is great and we can only go up from here.

Posted in Introduction to Sociology | No Comments »