Arkansas blast fatally burns 3 beyond recognition

Dmitry P.
U.S.
Post #4
Arkansas Blast fatally burns 3 beyond recognition
CNN May 21, 2012
256 words

A three man oil crew was killed in an explosion in El Dorado, Arkansas, while dismantling an abandoned containment vessel filled with residual oil vapors, the Arkansas Emergency Management. The crew was working for the Long Brothers Oil Co. The blast occurred at about 4 p.m. Arkansas. EMS spokesman Chad Stover says that: "During the dismantling, there was an ignition of vapors inside one of the tanks, All three were killed and they were burned beyond recognition. The El Dorado Fire Department initially responded to the explosion and had since controlled the fire. Flames from the blast however ignited a separate fire in a wooded area near the abandoned oil site.

I think this article is important so we know how dangerous some jobs in the world can be. That this can happen to everyone and anyone. We must always take precautionary steps before completing any work.

Nearly 1 in 4 U.S. Teens facing diabetes

Dmitry P.
Post #3
Health
Nearly 1 in 4 teens facing diabetes
CNN May 21, 2012
567 words

The proportion of U.S. adolescents with diabetes has jumped dramatically since the 1990's. As of 2008 23 percent of all adolescents between the age of 12 and 19 have diabetes. Likewise, rates of other risk factors for heart disease, such as high blood pressure  (14%) and high LDL cholesterol (22%), also known as bad cholesterol, remained high but largely unchanged from the previous decade. This spike should be interpreted with caution because adolescent health is very important researchers claim.Heart attacks, strokes and other forms of full-blown cardiovascular disease are extremely rare in adolescents, but there is some evidence that diabetes, high blood pressure, and unhealthy cholesterol levels can cause lasting damage in this age group, says Elaine M. Urbina, M.D., director of preventive cardiology at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center.


This article is very important because as an adolescent i am interested to know about the health level of other people my age. I think people my age should go out more for sports instead of sitting in front of a computer and eating lots of junk food. 

Next iPhone will have bigger screen, report says

AJ H
Post #2
Technology
Next iPhone will have bigger screen, report says
Jacqui Cheng
CNN May 16, 2012
160 words


Reports say that Apple is coming out with a new iPhone that has a bigger screen. The original screen size was 3.5 inches and making them 4 inches. The increase in size is being done because of the new Android Galaxy Note which is at 5.3 inches. Reports say that production is planned next month. The new iPhone will not be out till the fall.

FDA Panel Weighs Preventive Use of HIV Drug

AJ H
Post#1
Science
FDA Panel Weighs Preventive Use of HIV Drug
Denise Grady
NY Times May 10, 2012
1 page/1145 words 

As of Thursday of last week the FDA has considered of approving this new drug called Truvada. Truvada is a drug that prevent healthy people decrease their chances of getting HIV. The drug was created because 50,000 people get infected in a year. The panel suggest that it would be prescribed to people with high risks like gay men with multiple sex partners, prostitutes, and relationships with HIV+ people. This drug is not meant to replace condoms but to be used as added protection. This drug is used to treat HIV but can also prevent it.

Cynthia 04

Health

Nearly 1 in 3 have sleepwalking, study finds  by Elizabeth Landau

CNN May 14, 2012

742 words

Researchers published a study in the journal Neurology involving more than 19,000 American adults, and found that nearly 30% had sleepwalk at some point in their lives. Dr. Maurice Ohayon of Stanford University and lead author of the study says sleepwalking can be risky business; some people can harm themselves or others while wandering about. The study authors took into account the participants' usage of medications for sleep, anxiety, depression and other purposes. Those who took over-the-counter sleeping pills and tricyclic antidepressants were more likely to experience sleepwalking at least twice per month.

There have been some bizarre incidents recorded of people's behavior while sleeping. Sleepwalking has been used as a legal defense, sometimes successfully, for people who have allegedly committed crimes while sleeping. 

The precise causes are still mysterious. partly because sleepwalking is so hard to study. It is important to focus on safety measures for people prone to sleepwalking. 

While sleepwalking may seem as a rare thing to happen, it is more common than we think. About a third of American people reported to have sleepwalked some time in their lives, which can sound funny or irrelevant, however, it can be dangerous since people might hurt themselves while sleeping.

Studies have not being able to determine a specific cause or treatment for sleepwalking, however, some recommendations are done such as that of having a regular sleep schedule, reducing noise or light in the place where you sleep, and avoiding stress and fever. A legal question involving sleepwalking used as an excuse for committing crimes could be, was s/he really asleep?

http://thechart.blogs.cnn.com/2012/05/14/nearly-1-in-3-have-sleepwalked-study-finds/?hpt=he_c2

Obama’s Switch on Same-Sex Marriage Stirs Skepticism

Ren G: 4th post
Topic: Politics
Title: Obama’s Switch on Same-Sex Marriage Stirs Skepticism
Author:  Peter Baker and Dalia Sussma
Publication: nytimes.com

A recent poll about Obama’s view of same sex marrige has shed new light. Most americans suspect that when the president declared his support for same-sex marrige he was motivated by politics and not by policy. 76% of the people surveyed believe that the president made his decision “mostly for political reasons, and only 24% said “mostly because he thinks it’s right.” Americans view that the president only made his decision because in 2010 vice president Joe Biden proclaimed his support first. Some believe that if Biden had not proclaimed his opinion, neither would the president. Most Americans believe that his point of view would not persuade their decision in voting. In my point of view it is a simple coincidence. People want to create chaos in things that do not have it to simply create it. It is human nature. Most americans here see things as he is a high power and not a human like us. They see him as a perfect person, who knows all and decides all. Not a human who can be indecisive at times. Most people put too much into believing.

A Generation Hobbled by the Soaring Cost of College

Jason Ang
Education
Posting #4
Article: A Generation Hobbled by the Soaring Cost of College

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/13/business/student-loans-weighing-down-a-generation-with-heavy-debt.html?_r=1&adxnnl=1&ref=studentloans&adxnnlx=1337055518-MZEh8SL/OmfxEPNKnGje4A

The Article talks of a young woman, Kelsey Griffith, a to be graduate at Ohio Northern University, that has to start paying off her 120,000 dollar loan.  She works two jobs and will be living with her parents.  Her mom even had to go off life insurance to help pay.  These college debts have become a huge problem for students around the country.

Even though Kelsey's parents earn modest incomes from being a paramedic and a school teacher, their combined wages are not nearly enough to support Kelsey and her four sisters.  Private school seemed like the right path for Kelsey because of the attitude given from the staff, but 4 years later, was it the right decision?

Ninety-four percent of students who earn a bachelor’s degree borrow to pay for higher education.  For all borrowers, the average debt in 2011 was $23,300, with 10 percent owing more than $54,000 and 3 percent more than $100,000, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York reports. Average debt for bachelor degree graduates who took out loans ranges from under $10,000 at elite schools like Princeton and Williams College, which have plenty of wealthy students and enormous endowments, to nearly $50,000 at some private colleges with less affluent students and less financial aid.



Much like the mortgage brokers who promised pain-free borrowing to homeowners just a few years back, many colleges don’t offer warnings about student debt in the glossy brochures and pitch letters mailed to prospective students. Instead, reading from the same handbook as for-profit colleges, they urge students not to worry about the costs. That’s because most students don’t pay full price.
Even discounted, the price is beyond the means of many.

Yet too often, students and their parents listen without question.

- New York Times