Category: Authors FA17

Usernames for Fall 2017 students of Comp II

Summaries-alaska

  1. It seems counterintuitive that organ donors are incorrectly announced brain-dead. California has laws that require two physicians come in and declare the condition the patient is in before the doctor handling the patient can take the patient’s organs. In a case study, Foster who was 47 died from a hemorrhage. Foster had two doctors declare him, he was brain dead but his daughter wanted a third opinion. The third doctor’s opinion was said that Fodter was not brain dead and that foster moved and coughed. Foster’s daughter was happy she got a third opinion so that the doctor’s didn’t pull the plug.

http://articles.latimes.com/2007/apr/12/local/me-transplant12

2. It seems counterintuitive that Belgium approves doctors to euthanize children. Belgium will  allow it under certain conditions. Belgium is the first country in the world to lift all age restrictions. There are concerns about abuse under euthanasia. Recent studies are that some assisted deaths aren’t being recorded or are being done without request. The extension of euthanasia to children will result in an increase of euthanasia deaths each year.

http://www.lifenews.com/2013/12/12/belgium-senate-approves-measure-allowing-doctors-to-euthanize-children/

3. It seems counterintuitive that Vancouver has a safe zone that lets heroin addicts “shoot up” under nurse’s supervision without getting arrested. It is ridiculous that the staff at this safe zone provides the instruments for this drug. Giving these addicts the drug and the instruments to use the drug is crazt to think about. The staff is literally helping these people die and not help them become clean.

https://www.pri.org/stories/2015-02-04/vancouver-combats-heroin-giving-its-addicts-best-smack-world

Purposeful Summaries

It seems counterintuitive that such a major source of natural power can be so dangerous. Global warming has been an issue in our world for quite some time now, and alternate ways of creating energy can be hurting the planet more than the burning of fossil fuels. Not only is it dangerous to our environment, but is it also dangerous to us as humans; producing toxic waste that cannot be properly discarded can cause some major health risks, especially when these plants are built in the radiation radius like plants outside of NYC. Not to mention nuclear power plants do not have the best history with incidents such as chernobyl, and the more recent Fukushima.

It seems counterintuitive that some doctors are dying to harvest organs to help others live. This is a bit of an oxymoron, but it has been happening around the world. The national organ shortage has made some doctors make hasty decisions in deciding whether a patient is deceased or not; this causes families to lose a loved one sooner than they may have expected, and sometimes when the patient small had a chance to survive. The families of the patients are contacted more and more by the organ donation groups pressuring them to let them harvest the organs, looking to maybe waste one life to save another.

http://articles.latimes.com/2007/apr/12/local/me-transplant12

It seems counterintuitive to prescribe somebody heroin to help their addiction, especially when the city is giving it to them for free! It is crazy to think that feeding the addiction is thought of as fighting the addiction, but at the safe zone in the city Vancouver they are helping people with heroin addictions, and creating safer situations for them to use in. The center was set up to try and give heroin users a kind of safe haven, where they will be monitored by nurses, and given clean needles to use with. This program has actually been spoken extremely highly of, explaining that by feeding their addiction, they are making heroin users in the city, one of the most dangerous and addictive drugs, the safest users in the city.

https://www.pri.org/stories/2015-02-04/vancouver-combats-heroin-giving-its-addicts-best-smack-world

Summaries- Killroy513

  1. It seems counter intuitive that someone who has not been to war claimed to get PTSD.  PTSD is post traumatic stress disorder and it mostly is found in veterans that return from war time. It is not contagious because it is trauma that occurs to ones self during a specific event. The Spouses of people suffering from PTSD can get symptoms of depression and other problems that can affect their everyday life.

http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2013/01/ptsd-epidemic-military-vets-families/

2. It seems counter intuitive that Canada would give drug abusers more of the same drugs they are hooked on to cure them. People that use illegal drugs or abuse drugs are trying to escape from reality because they can not deal with it. Giving them drugs only continues the addiction that they caused to themselves. Once you start abusing drugs there is always a feeling to go back.

https://www.pri.org/stories/2015-02-04/vancouver-combats-heroin-giving-its-addicts-best-smack-world

3. It seems counter intuitive that you would not put armor on the places most shot up by anti air or machines on a plane but put it in other places. The logic behind this is that the places shot up in planes that return safely means that those places are not important. This means that other places that were not exposed are armored to prevent any serious damage to the plane. This study was conducted by a Hungarian mathematician and proves plausible.

http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2010/09/counterintuitive-world/

Summaries–todayistheday

Polio Killings

It seems counterintuitive to assassinate the people dedicated to saving your country from a life-threatening disease.  Polio vaccination workers have been targeted simply for administering a drug to save people. These workers lost their lives trying to save others.  The polio disease is an epidemic in Pakistan, 200 children were paralyzed in 2011 alone. Poliomyelitis is a disease that paralyzes spinal and respiratory functions. These horrific statistics and figures are only growing as the Taliban continue to fight off every attempt health officials make at vaccinating citizens.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-20767138

 

“Buy one, Give one”

It seems counterintuitive to hesitate when offered the opportunity to give to those less fortunate.  Big companies such as, Toms, provide the chance for you to give to someone else while also giving to yourself.  Toms is known for its “buy one, give one” foundation. It seems ridiculous to question the ethics of such a noble cause.  Instead of working with local business and communities in need, they just shower them in shoes.  This act doesn’t help anyone, it is simply a Band-Aid on a broken limb.  Toms “buy one, give one” only serves to make them look good and not do good.   

http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2012/05/toms-shoes-buy-one-give-one/

SeaWorld’s Orcas

It seems counterintuitive to rip down an empire for a handful of mammals.  Since, the release of the documentary, “Blackfish”, SeaWorld has been under fire for their environment and conditions in which their orca whales suffer.  Orcas are captured in their wild habitat and torn away from their family so that they can provide humans entertainment for a few hours.  SeaWorld advocates for the protection of wildlife, although, the captivity of these whales is harmful rather than helpful. No animal’s life should be reduced to the entertainment of humans rather than freedom in their natural environment.

http://www.cnn.com/2016/03/17/us/seaworld-last-generation-of-orcas/index.html

 

Summaries-Jadden14

  1. A Price Too High

1. It seems counterintuitive that people support nuclear power to counteract global warming, but fail to see the cost in both safety and budget concerns. Nuclear power, as efficient and safe as it is, still arises concerns with it being built close to cities and towns. The massive 9.0 earthquake that happened in Japan, led to a nuclear meltdown in one of its plants. These natural disasters could easily trigger a meltdown in the United States, and have in the past led to plant shutdowns due to safety concerns. The waste product from these plants are not very environmentally friendly either. When plant officials are questioned on how the waste is disposed, they often try to avoid the question. Not to mention the cost to build these plants, as nuclear power plants are quite expensive to build. Not only that, but ratepayers will have to pay for the rediculious cost-overruns, which today totals up to 200 billion dollars from previous plants. As great as reducing CO2 emissions would be, nuclear power might not be the best answer.

2. Polio Vaccination Campaign

2. It seems counterintuitive that Northern Nigeria denied the polio vaccine when its one of the most infected areas in Africa. In 2003, three states in Nigeria boycotted the GPEI immunization campaign to eradicate polio. Due to the political powers in Nigeria at the time, vaccination was abruptly silenced. There reasoning was that the vaccines had contained carcinogenic agents and parents should not let their kids get vaccinated. The Governors even got political figues to get up and speak about how America is corrupt and trying to mess with the vaccines. Some of the reasons Nigeria showed little support for vaccination could be due to its low health care utilization rates. In 2003, their ultilization rate was about 8% in Southern Nigeria. At the time, a majority of control over health care was led by each state government. Northern Nigeria was colonized by Islamic Jihadists, and the South Nigeria was colonized by Britain. The differences between southern government and northern government caused issues, as their attitudes toward medicine were vastly different. The Trovan Trial, a drug in the past the brought up how western health intervention was using unethical means, testing new drugs on patients. This led to people dying due to dangerous means of vaccination. Nigeria had its concerns, and there was nothing that the GPEI could do about it.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1831725/

3. Is Walmart Really Going Organic and Local?

3. It seems counterintuitive that walmart is claiming to go Organic and Local when it can’t even sufficiently supply its stores from local farms. Because walmart is such a large business, going local and organic is hard to do. Walmart makes up about 18% of all grocery sales in the United States. When questioned about which farms walmart gets its local produce from, the response led to other ideas. The three farms, located in North Carolina, Washington, and Arkansas, are non-organic. In order for walmart to become organic, it would have to buy from smaller farms at a higher price, and these farms could’nt fill the demand walmart requires. Walmart is not a charity, it is a business, therefore i’m doubtful it will spend more money and go through the hassle of buying from local farms. Walmart will continue to sell its produce, however they will continue to make a profit. So next time you go to the store and look for organic food, you might not be getting exactly what you asked for.

http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2012/03/walmart-groceries-organic-local-food-deserts/

Summaries–rainbow987

1: Give Heroin Addicts Heroin
https://www.pri.org/stories/2015-02-04/vancouver-combats-heroin-giving-its-addicts-best-smack-world

It seems counterintuitive that the prescribed treatment method for heroin addicts is to give them heroin. However, this act is being done for the severest of drug addicts in the Vancouver area. Since Vancouver is a port city, there are high numbers of drugs, including heroin, arriving by ship on a regular basis. To combat crime and other related acts committed in desperation as addicts attempt to find their next fix, the city has established a program that gives addicts free heroin. The program allows addicts to use heroin without the risk of getting into trouble. They are monitored by healthcare professionals and always given sterile materials. The program is only available to 26 people in Vancouver. These addicts have unsuccessfully attempted to get off of the drug many times in a variety of ways, including the use of methadone. This program is intended to be a last resort option.

This newly established program is an attempt to lower crime rates related to drug abuse. However, many argue that it is extremely inhumane. By giving drug addicts heroin, they are slowly dying. As soon as they are not able to have the drug, he or she will be in a detrimental situation and crime will most likely resume. Many argue against the program by saying that it does not provide any sort of rehabilitation. Either way, by giving an addict heroin, he or she is a ticking time bomb waiting to explode.

2: Is Walmart going “organic and local?”
http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2012/03/walmart-groceries-organic-local-food-deserts/

It seems counterintuitive to say that Walmart is going “organic and local” when approximately only two percent of their produce is organic and nine percent is local. Walmart’s intentions are not to provide healthier options for the benefit of society. It’s intentions are to make sales. Therefore, it makes sense that the company tries to purchase produce “locally” to save money on transportation and lessen the rotting of products. However, the term locally is used loosely. Walmart considers local to be within the state. In addition, Walmart’s expansion of organic products is not focused on produce. It is primarily aimed at other products such as milk and baby food. Advertising for having produce that is organic and grown locally is rather deceptive and not an accurate representation of the majority of Walmart’s products.

It does seem counterintuitive to advertise produce in such a way at Walmart stores. However, it is an effective advertising technique to draw in customers. With many other health food stores opening, it is not likely that the average Walmart shopper will be extremely concerned about his or her food being grown organically and/or locally. Therefore, the words “organic and local” serve as a way to get someone to enter the building and spend money, even if they are not an accurate portrayal of the produce.

3: Figure Skating Bias
https://www.sciencenews.org/article/figure-skating-judges-get-10-duplicity

It seems counterintuitive that the instatement of a rule to prevent bias in judging would cause favoring and bias to increase. However, the judging for the Olympic figure skating competition did just that after a rule was established in 2002 to keep judges scores anonymous. The rule was created in result of a scandal at the 2002 Winter Olympics, in which judges traded votes to ensure that competitors from each of their countries placed highest. Keeping the judge’s scores anonymous, although meant to prevent vote trading, caused potential bias to increase by twenty percent. It was estimated that if a judge serving on a panel was from the same country as a competitor, that competitor would score two places higher than if the two did not share a country origin. The anonymity of the vote allowed the judge to vote as they please, with no one being able to accuse of bias since their vote was not revealed to the public.

Although counterintuitive that after a rule put in place to prevent bias was instated, bias rose, the rule itself does not seem effective. The rule to keep the judges votes anonymous to prevent bias through vote trading does not seem like it would work because there is no accountability involved. Therefore, it makes sense that bias would increase.

Summaries – thebeard

1. Serious Psychological Disorders in College Students

It seems counterintuitive that college students deal with so many mental issues while at school. Many university administrators and mental health professionals have increased their awareness of these mental problems students go through. Despite different kinds of efforts from college staff, it doesn’t really lower the thought of suicide in the students during the school year. Each year more and more students start to deal many of the disorders and never want to get help. Most of the time when a student does try and get help it they are forced to leave school to try and get better or take medicine they do not want to. Sometimes this even discourages other students from coming forward and saying they don’t need help because they may not want to leave school and get better. Also many students believe that they will just get better with time, which usually does not happen.

https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-campus/201111/serious-psychological-disorders-in-college-students

2. Close call in death ruling of potential organ donor

It seems counterintuitive that the doctors that save lives could simply declare someone brain-dead who is nowhere close. Doctors would rather take one persons organs to donate to another than try and save the first persons life. It is very rarely a patient is wrongfully declared brain-dead; this happening could sour the public and even the ones who many depend on for organ donation. If someone in my family, that was an organ donor, was close to death but could be saved I would want the doctors to do everything in their power to save them. Doctors should not be worried about the organs that might help someone else out but worry about the person whose organs they are in the first place.

http://articles.latimes.com/2007/apr/12/local/me-transplant12

3. Where can you choose to end your life?

It seems counterintuitive that we have to give people the right to end their own life; it is terrible if someone wants to do so but it should be for a good reason. It makes more sense if someone wants to end their life if they are already dying and want to end the suffering. What if someone is going through a rough part in their life and don’t want to continue anymore? They should still be able to choose whether they want to live or die, it would be ashamed if they did end their life because of the people they would hurt by doing this, but it should be their choice. In many countries, such as the Netherlands, they have been helping people choose a way to end their life. The Netherlands is said to possibly be the best-know place to end their life in an assisted way. In the United States only some states allow assistance in death but it is only if the patient has terminally ill criteria. In most places this a choice for people, whether you take it or not it is still an option till the end.

https://theconversation.com/where-can-you-choose-to-end-your-life-56246

Summaries-theintern

1. Behavior of Social Systems

It seems counterintuitive that humans have trouble understanding themselves and how complex they are. Humans keep making the same mistake and repeating history, we can fix almost anything that has to deal with technology or any other materialistic item. However, we can not find the answer to fix our ourselves and the errors we commit. For example with technology we have a test run and see if there are any defects. Once we figure out the errors we fix the tweaks and make the same mistake again and have the technology working properly. However, with ourselves there is no test run to see what the outcome is. Even if there is a test run, we get influenced by the wrong people at times which has always a different outcome on the situation.

There are many different situations that go against the social systems which sums up how humans are uncontrollable and unpredictable. Comparing to technology or computer models they are predictable and able to control if something gets out of control. While technology is programmed by humans they come out doing the jobs they are intended for; but, for humans they try to think ahead to see of what kind of outcome could happen but their mental models are never accurate like technology where it can always be accurate just like a calculator.

http://www.constitution.org/ps/cbss.htm

2.  How the mind works

It seems counterintuitive that we try to seek for help always because we think something is wrong with us. When we do seek for help its looked upon as silliness or absurd. Phycologists have figured out ten different studies how our minds work. Some of these ten studies are hallucinations, choice blindness, brainstorming, fantasies, and the placebo effect.

There are many studies but do phycologists really know the answer to them, for some it might be true but for the other studies I believe they are wrong. Let’s start off with the hallucinations which were said are common and are considered as a mental illness, my thoughts about this subject is absurd hallucinations can happen to anyone, there is no mental illness to it. People believe what they are told, like if you take this pill you’ll feel better which in some cases might be true but that is why there is the placebo effect. There are many studies around placebos and how there are always two groups of people, one group gets the actual pill while the others get a fake pill that doesn’t do anything to your body. People’s minds are so powerful that they think that the pill is working because the doctor supposedly gave them a pill that will help them but in reality its the placebo.

Phycologists explain how fantasies reduce motivation which I find that to be false. Getting a taste of the future through fantasies help people visualize how hard they must work towards that fantasy to come true. There are many other studies that Phycologists observe and study but what if they post these articles to influence the minds of those who think they are fine but have to second guess themselves because of some article that became popular and stating some results that are similar to those who see themselves as healthy. The mind works in many different, weird but powerful ways.

http://www.spring.org.uk/2012/02/how-the-mind-really-works-10-counterintuitive-psychology-studies.php

3. Corruption in Figure Skating Judging

It seems counterintuitive that figure skating is considered fixed. It says that the the judges were from five other countries and they all picked Russian couple. Economist Eric Zitzewitz of Dartmouth University covers most of the story of how the judges allegedly ranked a Russian figure-skating pair in the 2002 Olympics. Though my opinion is what are the jobs of the judges; I say their jobs are to pick the best couple. This drama happens all the time just because their favorite couple didn’t win they start trying to look for an excuse why the team that won should have lost.

Zitzewitz looked in detail at all the judges from different years and said that he found out that all judges have cheated in the past not just that, every judge whose ethnicity was the same as the competitors they’d score them higher. Now what I am saying is why do people notice this one incident as a big deal if in the past it might’ve also happened and no one really made it stand out. Even if the incident did happen I bet if anyone had the chance to be a judge they would commit the same mistake of cheating.

https://www.sciencenews.org/article/figure-skating-judges-get-10-duplicity

Purposeful Summaries–Splash305

  1. Where can you choose to end your life?

It seems counterintuitive that people have such different ways of viewing what gives someone the right to end their own life. Yes, it makes sense to be able to end your life if you are already dying from a painful terminal illness, and would like someone to assist you with the process. But what if you are going through something as minor as depression and don’t have interest in continuing your life? We should all have the right to choose when we want to die and how. The Netherlands has been helping people choose to end their own life since 2001, Belgium since 2002, and Luxembourg since 2009 with both euthanasia and assisted suicide. The states in the U.S. only allow assisted suicide for patients who are terminally ill. For example, Oregon, Washington, Montana, Vermont, and California. Most people don’t understand that we are all mortal and going to die anyway, we don’t need someone to give us the right to do such a thing.

http://theconversation.com/where-can-you-choose-to-end-your-life-56246

 

  1. Addiction as a disease

It seems counterintuitive that people don’t consider drug addiction to be an actual disease. Addiction is something that happens differently in each person. The way this happens is the same as when you satisfy your needs for food, water, or sex, your body gets the feeling of satisfaction or reward. When you take in chemicals it gives your body a version of that feeling, cause the brain to want it again. Over time it starts to change the brains systems with the feelings of reward, motivation, and memory; it may even start to be needed for the person to feel normal throughout the day. People also don’t understand that someone’s own will power isn’t always strong enough to get them to stop. Although there are people who can manage to stop on their own will power, it isn’t always the case for others. For about 25-50% of people with a substance abuse problem they have a very bad chronic disorder; these types of people are the ones who need therapy, rehab, and the helpful support of family and loved ones. Even though the early stages of addiction may be by choice, once the brain is changed by addiction it is believed that people truly lose control of their own behavior and actions.

https://www.centeronaddiction.org/what-addiction/addiction-disease

 

  1. Serious psychological disorders in college students

It seems counterintuitive that students go through so much stress and anxiety while at college. Despite the best efforts of the teaching staff and counselors trying to lower the stress and anxiety level of students, it still doesn’t stop them from contemplating suicide throughout the year. The rate of depression in college students seems to be increasing each year; and the rate of which some go on medicine seem to be increasing as well. Major depressive disorder, for example as explained in the DSM-IV, has various symptoms to look out for in students. For example, having a sad or depressed mood for most of the day, loss of interest in doing different daily activities, changes in the way you eat or a rapid loss or gain of weight, feeling as though you are worthless or not needed, and suicidal thoughts. A few or more of these symptoms must be shown or felt for a couple weeks to be able to give some sort of diagnosis. Even when a student comes forward for help, a lot of time they are asked to get treatment or asked to take a medical leave of absence until they are better. Even though this is the correct way to help someone in need they fear it may discourage others to come forward for help; because those individuals may feel embarrassed or won’t want to take time off of schooling to get better.

https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-campus/201111/serious-psychological-disorders-in-college-students

Summaries–11collegegirl

  1. Free Heroin to Battle AddictionIt seems counterintuitive that Vancouver is giving its worst addicts a place to shoot up where they can feel safe along with free pre-scripted heroin. This is a good start to making the city better. The city of Vancouver is knows for its great appeal for tourist. But, the touristy city is not all that perfect. The downtown Eastside part of the city is known for being a port town, a home for drugs. To help with the drug issue, Vancouver has created a place called the Insight, which allows addicts to shoot up, feel safe, and not have the fear being arrested. Along with the safe zone, Vancouver is now giving its addicts free heroin to help with their addiction. Kevin Thompson, an addict who uses the Insight, says that because of the safe zone and the free heroin, he is able to keep and job and never has to look for ways to get heroin since he knows exactly where to go to. The city of Vancouver’s crime rate has decreased due to the fact that they are keeping the addicts out of the streets. Although these addicts may never get off the drug since its offered free, the city of Vancouver will continue to keep crime off the streets.

    https://www.pri.org/stories/2015-02-04/vancouver-combats-heroin-giving-its-addicts-best-smack-world

  2. Organ Donor ControversyIt seems counterintuitive to have a division of age for people who are in need of transplants. There should be no division, and if someone is in need of a transplant, they should be able to get it without having to be on a longer list per say if they were a child. A 10-year-old girl who suffered with cystic fibrosis finally received a life changing lung transplant. For months, the family waiting for pediatric lungs, which was its policy since the girl was under 12-years-old. The family of the girl filed a law suit trying to get their suffering daughter on the much larger adult list for transplants. This policy is set in place because it is said to be a dangerous procedure when adult lungs are transplanted into a child. After going to court, the judge ruled in the families favor. Lawrence Fitzgerald, a man who spoke upon this issue argued that if someone is in need of something immediately, there should be no question about helping that person. Now, the courts fear that they are going to be flooded my families who are also fighting for transplants who want to win their fight the same way this family did.

 

3. Man Ends His Own Life to Donate His Organs

It seems counterintuitive for someone to request to die in hopes to save others lives. If someone wants to make the choice of assisted suicide, it should be allowed, only under the circumstances that they have a meaningful reason. In 2011, doctors fulfilled a patience request which was to die and have their organs donated. Mario, a man who suffered for so long, decided to take on this life change after realizing he was not going to get any better. He insisted that his native country, Belgium, make assisted suicide legal. A year later, he received a lethal injection by his doctor, which made him the first man in the country of Belgium to utilize the new law. Mario, who was the doctor of Diane, believes that assisted suicide can be positive arguing that people get to chose the way they die. Years later, Diane, a woman who suffered from a stroke, decided it was time to free her body. She claimed it was miserable for her to live in pain constantly. Researched came to believe that assisted suicide may lead to doctors pressuring their patience pursue this procedure. Since Mario, almost 5,000 have chosen assisted suicide as there means of dying.