Response to Nick Lund's Ethics and Medicine Post

In Nick Lund's, Ethics and Medicine, post he disscusses the contreversial issue of stem cell research. Stem cell research has been a hot topic for the past several years. Nick Lund believes that stem cell research is a good idea and should advance in the future and I'd have to say that I agree with him. Many people argue that the creation, usage, and killing of human embryos to create stem cells is ethically wrong. I would have to disagree with this because with stem cell research we will be able to help and save many people suffering from cancer and other diseases and scientists are trying to rid them of this disease.

After reading the article, Stem Cell Research-pros and cons, I would have to say that the pros had a more compelling arguement for why stem cell research should be allow. In the article the pros of stem cell research is the hope to someday have the ability to cure diseases that wreck the lives of million of people such as Alzheizmers, Parkinson's disease, blood disorders, and others. Nick Lund believed this argument was more compelling than the con arguement and I would have to agree with this. In the end, I would have to agree with Nick Lund in saying that stem cell reseach should be allowed in order for advances in our medical world.

Ethics and Medicine

There are several topics in our world today where ethics and medicine conflict. One of the biggest conflicts that is up for debate is whether animal testing should be allowed or not. Many people believe that humans should not be able to test on animals because it is ethically and morally wrong. When animals are tested on they have sever side effects and have life long trama. In the end most of them end up dying due to being tested on. For example the joint disease osteoarthritis, people bring in healthy animals and inflict the healthy animals with the disease by dislocation their joints and injecting them with a dangerous liquid, which most of the time kills these animals. Some argue believe animal testing is acceptable because with the results of these testings it could benefit humans and save human lives. They believe that human lives are more important than the lives of innocent animals. I heard about this topic from a friend who did a persuasive paper on animal testing and why it should not be allowed.

I found an article that showed the pros and cons of why animal experitation should or should not be allowed. The article which can be found at Animal Experimentation tells both side of the argument. I think the cons have the best argument because I feel that animals have rights just like humans. I feel it is unacceptable to harm and kill animals only for the benefit of humans. Although animals cannot speak they have feelings and have the right to be treated as beings of value in themselves, not as the means to human ends. In the end I do not think animals should be able to be tested on for the benefit of humans.

Response to Nick Lunds Organs for Sale

After reading Nick Lunds blog, Organs for Sale, which is about whether people should be able to sell their organs or not, I would have to say that I agree with him. Nick Lund makes several good point of why people should be able to sell their own organs. He makes a good point when he says that it is their own body and they can do whatever they would like with it. I also believe that a person should have full right to sell it if it could save someone else's life. Someones organs belong to them and countries should allow them to sell their organs to help themselves out or even their family as well as helping another person with giving them the gift of life. Even though some may argue that it is morally wrong and poor people are only doing it for money, I think saving a life is more important to the ethics behind it.

Just like Nick Lund, my opinion on this subject did not change after reading the article, Sell Organs to Save Lives, by Martin Wilkinson. The article talks about how people would sell their organs because they have no choice and need money, which many people find to be a problem. Along with Nick Lund, I do not think this is a problem because people have a choice to do what ever they want with their bodies without a government telling them what they can and cannot do with their own bodies.

Technorati Search (Paul Yonga)

After reaching for a blog about sports nutrition i finally found one that seemed interesting and well put together. The author of the blog is Ben Greenfield and the blog is Get Fit in 30 Minutes or Less. Ben Greenfield has been blogging for a couple years now and posts around one or two blogs a week. He does not use hyperlinks that often but when he does it is usually to other videos or audio of himself or they are links on how to lose weight and stay healthy which is what he writes about in his blogs. Ben Greenfield uses a lot of video and picture content in his blog posts. He also has links to other videos that can be found on youtube or even itunes.

I found another blog by Ben Greenfield that is specifically related to my informational paper called How to Truly Know if You Are Recovering From Workouts. This blog was written on October 7th, 2010 and it came from Ben Greenfields blog called Ben Greenfields Fitness. In my information paper I talked about what things athletes should do to make sure they are letting their bodies recover enough so they can preform at their peak day after day. Ben Greenfield talks about the same basic concept, only in his blog he goes more in depth and talks about how your heart rate plays a part in determining if you are doing enough and the biology of things. We talked about many of the same things but I think Ben Greenfield went a little more scientific in his blog than I did in my paper.

Demonstration Speech

In the youtube video, How to do Paper Origami: Origami crane I think that there are many positives and negatives that can be taken out of the video. The young lady in the video did many things very well. I think one thing she did very well was speaking clearly. She was loud enough and clear enough for me to hear all the steps and understand all the folds. She also did a good job with emphasizing  the fact that you need to make sure you crease all the folds. Another positive of this video was I thought that she gives tips to making good folds, such as using chopsticks. She also gives tips throughout the video of techniques to help make your paper cranes better. 

I found the video to be pretty easy to see but hard to follow along with her. Sometimes during the video, she did not repeat her steps very clearly. Repeating the steps would have been a lot more helpful because that way the steps would stick in my memory more.  Another thing she would could work on would be eye contact with the viewer. Eye contact with the viewer, even though it is through a camera, is a good way to keep the listener's attention. One more thing she could work on would be to go through the steps slower to make sure that the viewer is able to follow the steps simply.

Overall, I thought this video was well done. She had a good tone of voice and volume, she clearly emphasized the steps, and added tips to help the viewer make better paper cranes. There were some things to work on, such as repeating steps and going more slowly through the steps, but I thought that she had a good presentation.

Self Evaluation Demonstration Speech

After watching my video, How to juggle I realized that there are several things I did well but there are many things I could improve on. In the beginning I think I was a little nervous but after that I think I settled down and became less nervous. I think if I would have been a little more confident my speech would have been better. Confidence is a big part in making a speech good. Along with confidence I think I could have worked on my hand motions. I think I got a little nervous and started using my hands too much which made it look a little awkward. Hand movements are good at times, but sometimes too much is bad. Another thing I think I could have done better with is repeating my steps. At the end I rushed and started talking faster and I feel that I could have gone through each of the steps one more time so that they could get imprinted in the audiences mind. Or if I did not have time to go through all the points, I could maybe just have hit some key points.

Although I did do some things bad, all was not bad. I think I did pretty good in being loud and clear enough for everyone to hear and understand. I think that everyone in the class, even in the back, could hear me. Along with being loud enough I think I did a good job on describing each of my steps. I think I was pretty good at going slow enough so everyone could understand each of the steps. For the most part I think I was pretty good at keeping eye contact with the audience. I don't think I looked down at my notes too much.

For the most part I think I did an overall good job. After reviewing my video of how to juggle, I think there are several thing I can work on and improve for my next speech.

Response to Taylor Ling

Taylor Ling wrote her blog on a response of the video,  Cut Up the Back of Your T-shirt. After watching the video, I found that I agree with a lot of what Taylor said in her blog. Although cutting up the back of your t-shirt may seem like an easy task, after watching the video I realized it is much harder than I would have expected. The young female in the video who is demonstrating had many positives throughout the video but like always there are many things that could be improved. 

I agree with Taylor that the young girl did a great job with showing each step. She made the steps clear which made it easy to follow along. By repeating steps, it makes it much easier for the viewer to follow along and understand each step. Taylor felt that the girl in the video talked very clear throughout the video which I must say I agree with. She spoke loud enough that I could understand every step and follow along which made her speech that much better.

The video had some flaws as well as Taylor stated in her blog. I agree with Taylor that the girl in the video did go a little fast through the weaving step and she could have slowed down and tried to describe how to do it in a more clear way. As well as not being clear in that step and going too fast, I felt that she could have incorporated some of the other steps that she skipped over. She said that she would show them later but it would have been nice if she would have taken a little time to actually show those steps. For the most part I felt that the video was very well done and I agreed with Taylor in the points she made.

Response to Joey Tennyson's, "Organs for Sale"

I do not agree with Joey Tennyson's blog post entitled, "Organs for Sale" found at http://jtennysonlsc100f09.blogspot.com/. Joey believes that people should have the right to sell their organs for money, which I respectfully do not agree with. One of Joey's main arguments for why people should be able to sell their organs for money is the fact that it is their own body and they should be able to do what ever they want to with it. Although this is true, there are a lot of factors that go into surgery and giving up organs to other people. The danger and risk of surgery I believe it out ways the fact that a person should be able to do what ever they want with their body. Even if organs are thoroughly inspected by doctors, there is nothing that says the surgery will be successful or that infections or death will not result. There are too many uncertainties when it comes to letting people do what ever they want with their bodies and when dealing with surgery.

Another point Joey makes of why people should be able to sell their organs is the fact that people need money. He believes that people should be able to sell their organs if they are in the need of money. I do not agree with this because once people start selling body parts for money they are no longer doing it voluntarily but they are becoming a commodity. There are laws the prohibit people from selling their bodies for the benefit or use of other people. Humans are not commodities and that is why I feel that it is unacceptable for people to sell their body parts for money.

Post 2: Organs for sale?

I do not believe that human beings should be able to sell their organs to those who are sick or dying. It is one thing for someone to donate their organs to help out someone that is dying but for someone to sell their organs just to make money is wrong. If countries allowed people to sell their organs more and more people would start doing it to make money. Although their organs would be going to a person who needs them anyways, I think that there are some ethical issues that come into play.

We should not be taking these organs out of our bodies and selling them for money. There are laws that forbid people from selling their body or body parts in order to benefit themselves. Humans are not commodities. When we start selling our bodies for money we are making ourselves a commodity. Yes, a person certainly uses their body for themselves and their own benefit, but we cannot turn our bodies over to others for their own permanent use and benefit. Restrictions on the ability to give ownership and control are not only common, but also in fact inherent in how our society defines ownership.

Another reason why I do not believe people should have the right to sell their organs is for the high risk and danger involved. Surgery is always a dangerous process, so for people to put their bodies in those kinds of risks, only increase the danger and the chance of death. The rich and middle class rarely are they ones who are putting themselves in these high-risk situations. Why would anyone want to put themselves in these kinds of risks? The majority of people willing to do this are the poor and lower class. When people are to the point of desperation that they are willing to sell their body we have problems. It is no longer voluntary when it gets to this point.

After reading Martin Wilkinson's article my view about selling organs does not change. I still believe that people should not be able to sell their organs for money. Although he makes some good points of why it should be allowed I still have my views of why it should not be allowed. Yes, there would be an increasing supply in organs and people do have the right to do what they want with their bodies, there is a certain point where a line has to be drawn. Who says that the organs that are being sold will even work? We could be paying someone for an organ that is unusable. Also people should not be able to sell their bodies for a quick buck. There are many reasons why a person should not be able to sell their organs and for that reason we have laws restricting it.

Obstacles in Writing/Reading TILOHL Assignment

One of the most influential people in the medical field who many people have never heard about is Henrietta Lacks. The medical industry will never be the same because of Henrietta Lacks. Henrietta had such an immense part in advancing the medical field yet the majority of people have no idea who she is or the influences she had on our world.

I believe that it is important for the public to hear about stories like Henrietta Lacks because too many people and their families go without the respect and dignity they deserve. Henrietta Lacks had such influential part on our world and still does many years after her death, yet many people have no idea who she is or what she helped discover. Billions of dollars are being made because of the discoveries she made, yet her family is receiving none of the profit. People should remember influential people like Henrietta Lacks rather than remembering our favorite superstar.

One of the main challenges that I think Rebecca Skloot faced while writing this book for such a big audience is finding a common language for everyone. Skloot had to make sure that she wrote the book so not only could medical researchers and scientists could read it but also so the average student or adult could as well. She needed to use the right language so that it would be appealing to intellectuals but would not push away others. Another challenge I think she faced while writing this book is the fact that there are probably many people that do not believe her story should be heard. There are people that believe it is acceptable for doctors to take samples from humans without consent. Rebecca Skloot probably had to face the harsh realities that people would not agree with her opinion and find this story insignificant.

As a reader I do not anticipate having many challenges while reading The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. I think for the most part that I will understand and be able to follow the book although there could be some words that I will not understand. Since Rebecca Lacks had to make this book appealing to people of all ages she probably used some medical terms and language which I will not understand. Aside of some language barriers I do not foresee and other challenges.