5. May 2011 by student.

Immigration, are we ever to full? Even as most Americans celebrate their heritage and identity as a “nation of immigrants”, modern newcommers are still consistently harrassed and given problem. Everyday I see things from bumper stickers,tatoos, and even just people expressing that they are “from” a different country. In america we have had a rise in immigration  mainly from mexico and areas south of the border. And although there is a strong base of support for continued immigration as a necessary ingredient for economic growth and as an essential part of society. Americans still are confused on thier position on immigration. Nearly 60 million people, one fifth of the total population of the United States are now immigrants or are the children of 1st generation immigrants. For most of these communities of immigrants, immigration policy is a means of family reunification and an affirmation that they to can be part of the “American dream.” But on the other side, there is a substantial share, perhaps a majority, of Americans who are opposed to the continue of large scale immigration. Many americans against immigration are older Americans and less opened minded people who have all but forgotten their immigrant ancestors. They often  have relatively little contact with immigrant families in their neighborhoods, churches, and friendship networks.Many Americans, like people everywhere, are more comfortable with the familiar than with change. They fear that newcomers with different languages, religions, and cultures are reluctant to conform to Americanized society. Most Americans against immigration are rooted in ignorance and prejudice, but the fears of many Americans about the future are not entirely irrational. With globalization and massive industrial restructions dominating many forms of employment (both educated and non), many native born citizens are fearful about their and thier childrens own future, that these new immigrants will take away most of our jobs and threaten our societies way of life. Let alone if immigrants could find thier way into office. Immigration is something that is happening now and reform or decision on wahat we will do needs to happen soon. The wars on the border are starting to get out of hand and the continued prejidice and racsim will eventually boil over if action isn’t decided soon enough.

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5. May 2011 by Mr. Andoscia.

It was a great semester, everyone! Have a great summer!

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4. May 2011 by student.

I was in my Anatomy and Physiology class when the whole class started talking about Regenerative Medicine and our teacher decided to go on youtube and show us some videos about it.  Regenerative Medicine is a term applied to new medical advances in which an understanding of the human genome allows us to use the body’s own mechanisms to heal it. Expected advances include a host of new pharmaceuticals and, eventually, the ability to create new tissues for transplant. In one of the videos, a man lost a piece of his finger and with a powder made from pig bladder medically called extracellular matrix his finger grew back in four weeks with every bit of flesh, blood vessels, and nails. I was really amazed by how it works and what regenerative medicine could do for our society. Imagine you of your family members not having to worry about moving up on a transplant waiting list for organs like kidneys, liver, gall bladder, heart and more, that our marines and navy officers would be able to repossess their missing limbs, that our society would suffer less with some diseases. Nevertheless, this great medicine research is not really being financed by our government and that we are stocked in a cultural lag where people are afraid of advances and medicine, and ignoring them instead of sponsoring them.

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4. May 2011 by student.

i read a article about a girl named samantha hessel who started tanning her freshman year of high school Samantha was warned about the risks of tanning but she ignored them. All of her friends were doing the same thing. Samantha thought appearance was important.  “I wanted to look good and have a darker skin color, I think society makes you feel being tanned is prettier than being pasty white.” Said samantha. By the time she was a freshman in college, she has melanoma. Melanoma is the deadliest form of skin cancer; it affects the deepest layer of the skin and can spread rapidly. Samantha found a elevated mole on the back of her arm. The doctors tested it and found out it was cancerous. They had to freeze a portion of her arm and remove the mole. This surgery left Samantha with a 4 inch deep scar. She now more ok with being pale, the risks that come along with tanning booths are no longer worth the benefited results that only last about a week rather than the risks that last a life time.  today in our sociey we are always wanting to look good. Now a days what we think is “hott” is fake tan looking girls. but why are we harming our bodys just so that others will think that we look good.

Pedestrians say tanning is dangerous and want laws to be made to ban minors from going to tanning salons.  The tanning association disagrees that tanning should be legislated. They say that the decision should be left to the parents, not the government. There has been a 10% tax added on indoor tanning during the health reform.  There has been a few instances that have been said that tanning gives you vitamin d which makes it healthy for you to tan, this leads children to believe that tanning isn’t so bad. Doctors say tanning is a poor method of getting proper vitamin d. to get the correct vitamin d you should take supplements or get safe sun exposure.

doctors have proved that it is harming the health of our bodys, yet over a million people a day go tanning. the show on MTV the Jesrsy Shore promotes tanning. there saying is GTL ( gym, tan, laundry) the caracters on this show are looked at as role models by somepeople, and that they are the deffenition of “hott” while the show promotes tanning, doctors are saying that they want the tanning booths to come with warning lables similar to the ones on back of a cigarette package.  tanning is becoming a big problem and its starting to reach a younger crowed.

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4. May 2011 by student.

Domestic Violence in America Introduction: Today in American society we have many social ills. Perhaps one of the most upsetting, at least to me personally, is domestic violence. Domestic violence can come in many shapes and forms and affects many different people. Reasons vary for spousal/child abuse, but none are justified. Community programs have recently had a more pro-active role in domestic violence, but that is not a solution to our problem at large. On the micro level, the ultimate responsibility of elimination of violence rests on the victim.Domestic violence is a prevalent issue in the
United States. There is much controversy as too how much violence actually exists in America (much of it takes place behind closed doors and is difficult to identify), but assuredly we have a problem with the issue as it is reported that almost 4% of American families experienced severe physical violence of a degree that had the probability of inflicting injury or death upon the victim (stabbed, gun used, beat up, punched).Truly this issue is unacceptable in a civil society such as ours. Domestic violence, when most people hear that term, think of husbands assaulting wives. This is an unfair generalization. Violence is more likely against women than men but nevertheless women are sometimes the perpetrators. Another fact left in the corner when discussing domestic violence is how much occurs between high school boyfriends/girlfriends. Figures indicate that 1 in 10 high school students has experienced physical violence in dating. Perhaps most importantly and tragically, children can be affected by domestic violence in both direct and indirect ways. A clear estimate of abuse is difficult to determine due to data collection methods and a precise definition of violence against children, but statistics indicate that up to 3 million children are abused/neglected each year Of this number, a mere 150,000 cases are reported.The prevalence of domestic violence in
America is out-of-hand. Reasons are many for our problem, but above all, I conceptualize our socialization of competition/violence and our traditional male patriarchal philosophies at the root of the problem.We need to teach our kids better values and beliefs. If truly we are going to have an egalitarian system, we need to dispel the notion that females should be fundamentally different from males in their socialization.

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4. May 2011 by student.

Lets go back a couple years; that will take me back to the 4th grade where I was playing four square during recess. Chaos breaks out and all the children are taken into shelter. Nobody had an idea of what was going on. My teacher, Ms. Kerr, stood in complete awe as her eyes slowly watered. Our principal came on the loud speaker and directed us to have a moment of silence as we watched the tragic event. The tragic event of planes crashing through buildings; I will never forget that moment. We recited the pledge of allegiance and stared out the window as cars swarmed the building. Parents frantically picking up their children. I realized that our country was under attack. Thousands of people killed. Thousands of children left without parents. Thousands of hearts broken. There was nothing to do while I sat and watched the news replay clips of victims running through the streets as billowing smoke chased them. From that moment on America was ready for war. A war that is still being fought.

Fast forward. It’s nearly been 10 years since the terrorist attack at the Twin Towers. Wars have been fought and soldiers have been killed, all in hopes of finding the master behind this; Osama Bin Landen. May 1, 2011 America heard the news they have been waiting to hear. The bitter sweet words stating Osama Bin Laden has been found and killed by American troops.

Why does society believe that this is the answer to all of our problems in the country? Why are we celebrating the death of a human? What kind of inhumane citizens are we? Yes, he did horrible things and believed in horrible things, but he was also a human with feelings, and loved ones. What problems did we solve? Yes, their leader has been killed, but won’t this just bring more problems? In my opinion this is the start to another terrorist attack. One person was killed, but this one person had hundreds of followers. You can attack a country, but if the citizens are strong they will endure anything thrown at them and they will retaliate. What are we going to do now that we have tons of people upset with us and wanting to attack us? Who is to say that we are in the clear and don’t have to worry anymore? I agree that what Bin Laden constructed was a terrible thing, and he should have been punished for what he did, but now what do we do that he is dead. Who are we on the lookout for? People from sea to sea want live in this place of liberty and bravery, but how safe are we? Still the Promise Land, but are we still the best land? The opinion is in your hands.

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3. May 2011 by student.

Prostitution, this is a topic that often many people either don’t want to discus or they automatically view this as a shameful and deviant behavior. I think there is more then one way to look at this particular profession.

-In Brazil there is a book called, O Doce Veneno do Escorpião written by Bruna Surfistinha (pen name) or known legally as Raquel Pacheco. This book has been translated into many different languages and in English its title is “The scorpion’s sweet venom.” Bruna originally became famous because of her blogs that attract over 50,000 viewers a day, and in her blogs she describes her life as a prostitute. What’s interesting about Bruna is not that she is a prostitute but it’s that she made the choice to become a prostitute without the need to be. When the majority of people think about who a prostitute is we think about the under-privileged and uneducated not having any other way to survive, thus no one who is out there selling themselves wants to be there but that isn’t bruna’s case. She came from an upper middle class home and went to pristine private schools growing up. Being adopted she talks about never feeling she belonged in her home so in order to be independent and seeing how much a prostitute makes, she took it upon herself to leave home at 17 and started in that business. Bruna describes how her day worked, how she received clients, and the sometimes very unique requests she receives and carries out. Her working day was Monday through Friday with 5 clients a day for a steady 3 years which is around 3,600 sexual encounters averaging 150 per encounter, meaning for the 3 years of work she earned 540,000.

-Please do not misunderstand, this book does not make prostitution look glamorous nor does it sparkle with lies. She explains how hard this profession is and can be on a woman’s body and how there are times where you have to do things that are degrading and you don’t really enjoy what’s happening but because it’s for the client then it has to be done. The difference between her and what is normally thought about prostitutes with the added flavor of her current prosperous life style after she left that field and went to college majoring in psychology and women’s studies made me second guess the normal view of a prostitute.

There are prostitutes in the United States, and in our American society prostitution is illegal but it seems the only objection isn’t to some level of indecency or whether it’s immoral but because there is also a taxation issue with prostitution? Although bruna’s life was not easy it was made better because she was able to be independent. Whether we like it or not prostitution is a JOB that produces a profit that can stimulate economically and it has social benefits. It has a function in society by serving as an outlet for men who are not ranked high on the marriage pools whether it is by disability or other reasons. In Asia women actually view the presence of prostitutes in a positive light because it’s seen as a way to reduce rape. The risks of disease transmission and violence against these girls would be significantly reduced if it were to be made legal or to be like in Europe where prostitution is allowed in certain designated areas. Government would be able to regulate activities and crime rates would be reduced while being able to tax. Our society would be better served if the police directed their efforts away from the activities of consenting adults and toward preventing and solving real crimes involving clear victims and injustices. 

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3. May 2011 by student.

 One topic that lately has been discussed and repeatedly argued is that of gay marriage. Gay relations have been around through time in all continents of the world. In ancient Greece although homosexual acts and desires didn’t take place of traditional marriage the acts involved between the same-sex occurred before and often beside the traditional, and in ancient Rome there were transvestite gods. In ancient china and Japan same-sex love was actually celebrated in many of there art forms. Even in Africa till the 20^th century, before Europe gained control of most African countries, with in tribes warriors took boy-wife’s. Although in the Middle East there has always been sever punishment for thoughts people caught in acts with a member of the same sex or thoughts caught committing sodomy, but there has been literature found about attractions between the same sexes.

The underling question whenever gay marriage is discussed is whether this relation between the same-sex is actually deviant behavior and should it be recognized by the government of its people. This question has obviously been raised in other societies before us and it’s adapted to each society based on the people creating norms. In our society that preaches freedom, liberty, and pursuit of happiness for its entire people how can we deny the right for two people to join the other miserable couples because they are of the same sex?

It is safe to say that although America is a melting pot of different religions and cultures but for the majority the religion most practiced is Christianity and with in the bible homosexual relations is defined as deviant. From my own memory of the bible there are two verses that definitively point out the deviance of homosexuality:

(based on which version you read):

1 Corinthians 6:9 Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.Genesis 19:4-5, 11-13, 24 Before they had gone to bed, all the men from every part of the city of Sodom — both young and old — surrounded the house. [5] They called to Lot, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us so that we can have SEX WITH THEM.” … [11] Then [the messengers from God] struck the men who were at the door of the house, young and old, with blindness so that they could not find the door. [12] The two men said to Lot, “Do you have anyone else here — sons-in-law, sons or daughters, or anyone else in the city who belongs to you? Get them out of here, [13] because we are going to destroy this place. The outcry to the LORD against its people is so great that HE has sent us to DESTROY it.” … [24] Then the LORD rained down burning sulfur on Sodom and Gomorrah — from the LORD out of the heavens.

Being a Christian, according to the religion of my choice homosexuality is a sin and displeases my god, and that’s why I am not interested in same-sex relations, but to force others to bend to this isn’t right either. To each his own, and I believe that people should be able to marry the people they love no matter what gender it is. As Christians, we should pray for the people who involve themselves in same-sex relations and hope they find god, forcing views on others only ends in hatred. Regardless of one’s preferences we are all children of god so treat each other how we would like to be treated!

 If it’s a matter of definition why not change the term marriage to civil union, so that legally same-sex couples have the same rights as heterosexual couples?

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3. May 2011 by student.

On September 25 20010, the judge of Washington ordered the reinstatement of discharged openly lesbian. She was discharged on 2007 under the Army’s policy “don’t tell, don’t ask ” . The Major was discharged from the Air force Army because “she violated their policies “, she had a six year relationship with another woman , a civilian . The ‘don’t ask don’t tell “policy of government took effect in 1993; this policy prevents gay men and lesbians from openly serving in the military and bars officials from inquiring into a service member’s sexuality. The senate turned aside legislation to repeal the law.
Witt joined the Air force in 1987, and worked as a nurse for the wounded soldiers. The Judge took the decision that Witt would take her job back as soon as possible. He said that he does not see a significant reason why she should not be involved on the Army Forces if that’s her passion. Witt was described as an ”exemplary officer”, effective leader, caring mentor, and skilled clinician by her co-workers. President Obama is asking for a repeal of the controversial policy. Since the law ”don’t tell don’t ask” came into effect 12.500 gays were booted from the military.

I think that is not fare at all to stop people from where they want to go with future goals, no matter what the sexual orientation is. Just because someone is gay or lesbian does not mean that they are low, less efficient , or less smart or skilled. The American government should be proud of the people who join military, Army, Air forces Army, Navy, etc. Someone who want to go in such a field have honest and strong desires to do it. Not everyone wants to save the country, nor wants to be responsible for saving lives. The government is basically saying no to these people. I Really hope that the Law in effect changes and I hope it’s only for the good.

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3. May 2011 by student.

Bipolar disorder has become one of the most common diagnoses over the last few years and some are wondering why but I believe it has to do with the lack of research and knowledge of the psychological disorder. Like for instance some parents who I believe that take every little mood swings a child has as form of bipolar. When in reality it says that and unlike ordinary mood swings, the mood changes of bipolar disorder are so intense that they interfere with your ability to function. So I don’t think an ordinary little mood swing can be that severe with your child that it interferes with his ability to function. Another reason why I believe that it has became a common diagnoses is that the name is use in daily conversation like its nothing so I think people really over generalize the meaning all because its sound to their liking or it’s what they can only closely relate it two when their child is acting up.

Why are clinicians more inclined to give this diagnosis over other diagnoses that have similar symptoms? I believe the reason why clinicians are more incline to give this diagnosis over other diagnoses because Fewer than half the patients previously diagnosed with bipolar disorder received a diagnosis of bipolar disorder based on a comprehensive, psychiatric diagnostic interview - the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV (SCID), a new study by Rhode Island Hospital and Brown University researcher’s reports (Emax Health). Mark Zimmerman, M.D., director of outpatient psychiatry at Rhode Island Hospital and associate professor of psychiatry and human behavior at The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University; made and interesting point about why clinicians are inclined to give this diagnosis over other symptoms. It states that “Clinicians are inclined to diagnose disorders that they feel more comfortable treating. We hypothesize that the increased availability of medications that have been approved for the treatment of bipolar disorder might be influencing clinicians who are unsure whether or not a patient has bipolar disorder or borderline personality disorder to err on the side of diagnosing the disorder that is medication responsive”(Emax Health).

He also goes on to mention that it is the pharmaceutical companies who are really to blame because its bias reinforcement on their ends with the advertisement and marketing messages from their companies to the physicians. Which then I quoted him and he said it “emphasized the literature on the delayed and under recognition of bipolar disorder, and may be sensitizing clinicians to avoid missing the diagnosis of bipolar disorder.”Although Professor Mark Zimmerman makes an outstanding point I still believe that if you’re an M.D, and you went to school for these types of psychological disorders as a doctor you shouldn’t be feeding of so much of the pharmaceutical companies to make a final decision to diagnose  if someone has bipolar disorder or not.

So as you can see the reasons why bipolar disorder occurrence is on the rise is because of lack of information on the pharmaceutical companies, or generally Doctors who feel more comfortable treating that disorder. Or just the media or our lazy parents who are too busy to be parents and are quick to assumed medications for their kids when they are just being kids. So that’s why bipolar disorder is often mistakenly diagnosed or assumed by parents.

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