Giussepe
posting #4
health
Does Medicine Discourages Gay Doctors?

by 

PAULINE W. CHEN, M.D.

published on april 26 of 2012

anyone thought about it?, i mean anyone ever seen a doctor admitting openly that is gay?, i haven't and apparently Pauline did. In the medicine world the word "homosexual" its used as a synonym for incompetence, failing and useless. Imagine being yourself homosexual and realizing that the environment and specially the senior Doctors, the masters, the people who teach you about it and more important the people who give you sponsoring and in colleges the ones that give you housing and help.

DR. Schuster  tells his personal experience, being himself a great doctor and having a great mentor in college, when his mentor was about to send his recommendation letter residence training program he told him that he was gay, the mentor didn't send the letter.

In my opinion is a stupid reason to make persons live harder.

Giussepe
posting#3
technology
"The Instagram Deal: A Mark Zuckenberg Production"
By EVELYN M. RUSLI
Published on april 12

As many people know, Facebook bought Instagram recently, and to be precise, exactly 9 days after it was released on Android. Interesting about this its to notice not only the speed of the decisition, but who "plotted" the whole thing. Facebook its well known for its buzz, not for its business model, wich directly contradicts buying Instagram and specially paying 1 Billion $ in cash and stocks for it.
Zuckenberg called on Kevin Systrom( Instagrams chief executive) and in 48 hours the whole del was done, even making it public on the third day. This Deal shows us how much power has Zuckenberg over Facebook as a company, owning 28.4% of all the B shares and through agreements with other investors voting power over 57% of all the B shares.
Since 2004(foundation of Facebook) Zuckenberg has been the "soul" of Facebook, but usually does not play a heavy role on the company acquisitions, this reveal how important was for the company and for Zuckenberg to adquire Instagram.

Chris
Posting #3
Health
"Treating Depression with Electrodes in the Brain."
By Dr. Sanjay Gupta and Andy Segal
CNN.com April 14 2012
1 page, 2005 words


A women by the name of Edi Guyton had been suffering from deep stages of depression for pretty much her whole life. As a little girl Edi told her mom that smiling was stupid because she felt like there was no reason to smile and that everyone else who did was faking it. At the age of 19 she first tried to commit suicide, she said it was because "I think I wanted it to get better or I wanted to die."This depression then controlled the rest of her life, until she found a doctor by the name of Hellen Mayberg. Hellen Mayberg in 1999 started experimenting with DBS, deep brain simulation, and was trying to use it as a way to cure Depression. The idea was to go into Area 25 of the brain, which controls your emotions and happiness. They would put little batteries that with the width of Angel Hair pasta into your brain to try and stimulate happiness inside the brain. In 2003 Mayberg had six patients that were all extremely depressed. After they put the two batteries in the brains of these patients in only minutes they started saying the colors of the room were brighter jumped out. Out of the six patients 4 showed great signs of depression going away. For 40 years Edi Guyton tried to put her depression by keeping her self working, she got Tenur at GSU and had two little baby girls. But alas the depression had caught up with her and she attempted suicide yet again by over dosing on her depression medication that she was given. As a last resort Edi went to Mayberg for this operation, out of 1,000 patients that applied 17 were chosen and Edi was one of them. During the operation Edi cried, not because it hurt but because she knew someone was drilling into her brain to fix her. After the batteries were put in her head Edi chuckled and laughed, Mayberg asked why, and she answered "because I almost smiled. So I chuckled." After fighting with depression her whole life Edi was finally cured and hasn't looked back since. Doctor Mayberg on the other hand has been wondering many things about this cure: "is this knocking down a wall? or flicking a switch?" "To be brutally honest, we have no idea how this works." But it has helped many patients for years now and is still helping many patients that are qualified for the operation.

The Iceberg Was Only Part of It

Dongmeng
Posting #3
Science
"The Iceberg Was Only Part of It"
by William J. Broad
NewYorkTimes, April 9, 2012
2 pages

With hundreds of books and studies, there're a lot of discussions about how a ship that so costly and well built ended so badly about Titanic. A century after the liner went down in the early hours of April 15, 1912, two new studies argue that rare states of nature played major roes in this tragedy. The first study says Earth's nearness to the Moon and the Sun is not matched for more than a thousand years, which resulted in record tides that explained why the Titanic encountered so much ice, including the fatal iceberg. The second study reported that the icy waters created ideal conditions for an unusual type of mirage that hid icebergs from lookouts and confused passed ships and delayed rescue efforts for hours.

The author Tim Maltin said:"There were no heroes, no villains. Instead, there were a lot of human beings trying to do their best in the situation they met." He just published his new book "Titanic: A Very Deceiving Night" as an e-book this week, point how mirage could make havoc with human observations.

From the start, news reporters and inquiries said the ice in the North Atlantic was unusually bad that year. The New York Times, after the sinking, posted a short article that quoted U.S. officials as saying that the winter had produced "an enormously large crop of icebergs".

Recently, a team of researchers from Texas State University-San Marcos discovered that Earth had come unusually close to the Moon and the Sun that winter, enhancing the gravitational pulls on the ocean and produced record tides, which took place between December 1911 and February 1912---about two months before the disaster.

In the case, the mirage occurs when cold air bends light rays downward, observers can see only the objects setting far over the horizon, the images often undergo quick distortions.

Wyatt Eberspacher
Posting #3
World News
"Syrians take to the streets amid a fragile cease-fire"
By CNN Wire Staff
CNN.com April 13 2012
1 page, 1074 words

       Governments the world over are experiencing political upheaval and public rebuke. In Syria, masses stormed the streets after prayers in order to protest the actions of the president, Bashar Al-assad, as well as test his honesty. He recently accepted a provision in a six-point peace plan that guarentees the people the right to peaceful protest and assembly, but it was uncertain how far it would carry weight. 

      The  protests are in response to the continued clashing of the Syrian Military and military defectors. The government has labeled many of the defectors terrorists, but it is suspected many are normal citizens. The protests continue despite the violent response by police. It is suspected that almost ten thousand Syrians have died since the protests began. 

      The aforementioned six-point peace plan was a cease-fire agreement. It includes the release of detainees and prisoners of the rebellions, allowing humanitarian aid to enter the country from various charities, and letting international media. Possibly the most important point is the section tat requires the police to respect the rights of peaceful demonstrators. The plan also calls for the withdrawal of troops and heavy weapons from residential areas.

       Government controlled news networks have been reporting the classes between the miliant groups and the armed forces as putting down terrorist cells. In a recent case where a militiant group was intercepted and attacked, the news released that "an infiltration attempt from Turkey to Syria by an armed terrorist group was thwarted."

This is an important topic because it highlights the success and influence of democratic liberty of America. Repressed groups have seen the multiple movements for civil and national rights as examples for hope and a brighter future. Now that there have been successful revolt and reforms around the world, anywhere where suppression and oppressive governmental remain are being highlighted and aided. It also relates to the US because Obama just signed a package to send aid the opposition movement of medical supplies and non-lethal weapons.

Ameya
Posting #3
Science
"Being nice may be in your genes, according to study"
by Michelle Castillo
CBS News, April 12, 2012
468 words

A study, conducted by Dr. Michel Poulin of the University of Buffalo and published on April 12, 2012, suggests that a person's kindness and generosity may in fact be linked to his/her genes. In this study, an online survey was sent out to various people asking their opinions of certain aspects of the world, such as civic duty, other people, and charitable activities. The 711 people who filled out the survey were then asked to provide samples of their saliva for lab testing. The tests revealed that people who have certain types of oxytocin and vasopressin receptor genes (which were detected in their saliva) are more likely to be more kind and generous, based on their survey responses. The study also revealed that oxytocin can increase empathy and improve personal relationships, earning it the name "love drug." Vasopressin is also linked to increased generosity, and may make men in particular more likely to bond with others. The reason for this may be that these genes help people to overcome their fears of being judged and be more inclined to help others. However, Dr. Poulin admitted that the genes are only one of many factors that determine how kind a person is. The study did not find a specific "niceness gene" -- one that always makes the person kind and generous. Rather, Dr. Poulin said that, as of now, multiple factors, such as how a person views his/her world and how he/she was brought up play a larger role in determining how nice he/she turns out to be.

For a long time, scientists have been trying to figure out what shapes a person's personality. The question of "nature or nurture" refers to whether it is a person's chemical genetic makeup -- "nature" -- that affects his/her personality, or whether it is how he/she is brought up -- "nurture." The accepted belief has long been that it is almost completely the environment in which a person is raised that shapes his/her personality. This study, however, suggests that a person's genetic makeup may have a much larger role in how kind a person is than was previously thought. If further research is done on this, we may be able to prove a genetic connection to personality, which could potentially change how we view the human race as a whole.

Instagrams Passionate users wary of Facebook takeover

Dmitry P.
Posting #3
Topic: Technology
Title: Instagrams Passionate users wary of Facebook Takeover
Author: Tyson Wheatley
Publication name: CNN
Date of Publication: 4/11/12
Length: 576 words

The popular mobile photo sharing app called instagram has recently been bought by Facebook. They offered Instagram a whopping 1 billion in cash and stock options to become part of Facebook, which made a scrappy San Francisco based startup with only 13 employers suddenly very rich. In just 18 months instagram has racked up over 35 million downloads and the newly released android version last week already has over a million downloads and counting. Many users of instagram are afraid that Facebook will completely change this app, and it will no longer be the free photo enhancing and sharing app it used to be before. In the end a lot of users dont blame instagram, it is quite a lot of money that facebook has offered and in the end they just want to get the bread.

This is quite interesting because why would Facebook all of a sudden want a little photo sharing app, what are they planning to do with it? What plans do they have in store, and what exactly could they do with this program anyway?

Silicon Valley in Need of New Levees

Caitlyn C

Posting #3

Topic: Leaders

Title of Article: Feinstein, business leaders, say new levees urgently needed to keep Silicon Valley above water

Author: Associated Press

Publication Name: The Washington Post

Date of Publication: April 12, 2012

Length of Article: 458 words

Business execs and Senator Dianne Feinstein have launched a 10-year one billion dollar program to keep some of the country's most innovative centers of technology from sinking - literally. Most of the money will go towards building an earthquake and storm proof levee system in the South Bay, namely Silicon Valley. Cash cow companies such as Apple, Facebook, and Google have headquarters set up in this technology-abundant region of California. Climatologists predict soggy times for Silicon Valley in the next fifty years due to the rising sea level which is a result of the climate change. To protect the corporate campuses as well as billions of dollars, Dianne Feinstein is in need of an impressive budget to tackle the upcoming problem. New levees would be built in order to control the sea level from reaching catastrophic proportions, and the rest of the budget would be reserved for the restoration of the acres upon acres of wetlands in the South Bay. The newly restored wetlands would not only become a thriving ecosystem, but it would also help to prevent any future flooding. At this stage, the coalition expects federal funding to cover for half of the cost, state funding to count for a quarter, and the last quarter to come from local taxes and/or corporate donations. Local business tycoons and corporations that are based in Silicon Valley are being urged to help foot the bill seeing as the program would benefit them the most. Dianne Feinstein strongly endorses this plan. It would be the largest wetlands restoration project in the nation.

Global warming has put Silicon Valley in a very difficult position. While Silicon Valley is home to many successful business ventures, it is at risk for immense flooding within the next half century. Raising the funds for this new levee system is important to the well-being of the community and the wetlands. If the money is not raised, then major businesses may need to relocate and then the industry of Silicon Valley will be severely damaged.

Director of Arizona Ethnic Studies Ousted

Chris Carlson                                                                                                              posting number 3
Education
Sean Arce, Director of Embattled Arizona Ethnic Studies Ousted Despite Protests
Huffington post, by Amanda Myers 4/11/12

Mr. Sean Arce head of Arizona's ethnic studies program is out of a job after the board terminated his contract as well as his program of Mexican-american studies. The superintendent of public instruction, Jon Huppenthal ordered that 10% of the school's government funding, approximately $1 million, be withheld until the district created a law targeting against the program. Governor Jan Brewer then signed a law making it illegal to hold a class that is mainly for students of a specific race. Many people including the students felt that this action was totally uncalled for. Approximately 100 students gathered and protested against the board ruling. The students stood outside board meetings, shouting and waving signs that said, "stop ethnic cleansing" as well as "no more racism" The protests soon escalated to the point that a smoke bomb was thrown at the board meeting. Police came to disband the protesters and after a small scuffle, the group was disbanded. At later board meetings, board president Mark Stegeman said he regretted the decision and was sorry that it came to end in the way that it did. Protesters continue to speak out against the decision at every board meeting as well as pass out burritos to everyone around.
This issue shows that racism is still very much alive and at large in the schools of america. For the board of directors to discontinue a program just because it is to 'race specific' is just blatant racism. I feel that people need to stop being so racist and realize that everyone is the same and people are not just going to go away. The continuation of racism should be struck down because all it does is create more problems.

Campus Task Force Criticizes Pepper Spraying of Protesters

Jonathan
Posting #3
Topic: Education
Title: Campus Task Force Criticizes Pepper Spraying of Protesters
Author: Jennifer Medina
Publication: NY Times
Date of Publication: April 11, 2012
Length: 562

The 190 page report released Wednesday. The task force concluded that "the pepper spraying incident that took place on Nov.18 2011, should and could have been prevented." Campus police had sued to prevent the report's release, saying that it amounted to an internal investigation. The university agreed to remove the names of most police officers from the report. The campus police chief, Annette Spicuzza, estimated that 80 percent of protesters camping in the campus quad were not students. But student affairs administrators, who had spent time talking with the protesters and said that most campers were students. The investigation found that the counterargument was ignored and administrators reiterated their concern for students. The task force concluded that the concern for outsiders threatening safety was "not supported by anyevidence." The investigation also found that even if the concern for safety was valid, it "would not justify ordering the immediate dismantling of the encampment" The task force was led by Cruz Reynoso, a law professor at UC Davis and a former California Supreme Court justice, and relied heavily on an investigation by Kroll, a private firm hired by the University of California.
I think that the police should not have sprayed the campers with pepper spray. Even though several police had claimed that the campers were not students, they should not have sprayed pepper. They should have just taken down the tents.

Fake Angry Birds Space App Contains Virus

Tony Y.
Posting #3
Topic: Technology
Title of Article: Virus found in fake Android version of 'Angry Birds: Space'
Author: Doug Gross
Publication Name: CNN
Date of Publication: April 12, 2012
Length of Article: 428 words

A fake version of the popular app Angry Birds: Space has appeared that contains a virus that attacks Android platforms. On Thursday, the web security firm Sophos discovered fake versions of the new Angry Birds game on unofficial app stores. Graham Cluley, and analyst at Sophos, found the file called Andr/KongFu-L, which contains a Trojan Horse virus. The file appears to be a real version of the game, but actually downloads the Trojan Horse virus onto the user's tablets or smart phones. Sophos says the code then downloads even more malware to infect the Androids. This malware allows the creators of the virus to take control over all of the infected tablets and smart phones. Cluley says to be aware of this and potentially more malware risks that attack Androids, and to be very careful when downloading from unofficial stores. Unlike apps from Apple, Android apps are not screened by Google for potential harm. iPhone and iPad users are safe from this virus because Apple checks every app in their one official app store. Google has less control over what Android users can download, and also want to open up both official and unofficial stores, so Google is unable to screen their apps, which can lead to viruses like this new fake Angry Birds program.

Because of the immense popularity of Angry Birds, which has received over 300 million downloads, it has become a target for cybercriminals. The cybercriminals took advantage of Google's open unofficial Android market to release this harmful virus posed as Angry Birds: Space. Rovio, the creator of the real Angry Birds: Space app, confirmed that the fake application exists and urges users to buy from official stores. Security experts also suggest using only official markets, but say that malicious software has also been discovered in some official stores. Android users must be even more careful now when they browse through the Android app market because of these new viruses.

Cynthia 03

Politics

'War over women' kicks off Obama- Romney race by Tom Cohen

CNN April 11, 2012

1,673 words

President Obama has a clear and definite opponent, Mitt Romney. They are in election mode, and each one is looking to put the other as the future's hazard. Now, their campaigns have concentrated on women's issues. Romney wants to reverse a gender gap by attacking Obama's economic policies as bad for women. In a speech in Delaware, Romney declared " The President says, 'Oh I didn't cause this recession.' That's true," Romney said. "He just made it worse and made it last longer. And because it lasted longer, more and more women lost jobs, such that in this three-and-a-half years, 92.3% of the people who lost jobs have been women. His failures have hurt women."

However, nonpartisan organizations claim that jobs lost are cited from the beginning of Obama's administration, when his policies had not taken place yet. When Obama took office, women held a total of 67.3 million nonfarm payroll jobs, the highest level of female employment during the Bush administration. From that high point, the number of women with nonfarm payroll jobs fell for the 23 consecutive months. Since February 2010, women have actually gained 863,000 jobs.

Meanwhile, Obama tries to make Congress pass a tax measure, which will tax millionaires higher than middle-class workers. A Romney adviser initially hesitated when asked if Romney supported the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Restoration Act that expands workers' rights to sue in the event of a pay discrepancy between a man and a woman.

We all are worried about the unemployment rate in the United States and the rise in prices of goods, therefore, the economy and country are in desperate need of a good leader. Politicians know that there is no stronger effect in people than answering to "their needs" to appeal to them as the best option. At the end, it all is a political strategy. But, who will actually do the best things to benefit not only candidates but all Americans?

http://www.cnn.com/2012/04/11/politics/campaign-wrap/index.html

Eat more 'superfoods' to lose weight

Yannie Yip Posting #3

Topic: Health

Title: Eat more 'superfoods' to lose weight

Author: Jacque Wilson

Publication: CNN

Date: April 10 2012

Length: 850

The editor-in-chief of SELF magazine Lucy Danziger advocated a new way of diet by consuming superfoods. She was a former triathlete, and she is the author of a new weight-loss book called "The Drop10 Diet." Superfoods are nutritious food that contain high level of protein, fiber, and other nutrients, examples include blueberries, nuts, beans, salmon, green tea, quinoa, broccoli, spinach, and dark chocolate. The concept behind superfoods diet is that people should focus on what they should eat, instead of what they cannot eat, so that diet becomes something more appealing rather than negative.

Dr. Steven Praff is the author to his first book in 2004, "SuperFoods Rx: Fourteen Foods That Will Change Your Life." In fact, the term "superfoods" was coined by him in 1994. According to him, a superfood has to meet three qualifications: it has to be readily available to the public, it has to contain nutrients that are known to enhance longevity, and its health benefits have to be backed by peer-reviewed, scientific studies. The doctor also said that these foods contain high concentrations of crucial nutrients, and they are low in calories, which can aid in diet. In addition, these foods have been proven to help prevent and, in some cases, reverse the well-known effects of aging, including cardiovascular disease, Type II Diabetes, hypertension, and certain cancers.

On the other hand, Marisa Moore, a registered dietitian with the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, says that superfoods are healthy but they do not help with losing weight. Danziger agrees with the technicality, but she thinks that superfoods do help because they make people physically feel better and motivate them to exercise and eat healthier to achieve certain fitness goal. Dr. Pratt, who has been pushing for superfoods since the mid-1900s, concerns that the obesity rate and obesity-related disease in the United States are still very high. He believes that if people start investing in eating healthy, they can enhance their health and longevity.

3rd post
Claire H
Tech
Google Co-Founder Sergey Brin Wears Google Glasses
Huffington Post
4/6/2012
400 words
Google unveiled its “project glass” demo which is a futuristic “augmented reality” eyeglass. These glasses have become a target for more than a few parodies. The glasses have a few conceptual flaws but that didn’t stop Google Co-Founder Sergey Brin from wearing a pair of these glasses to a charity event in San Francisco. Unfortunately Google has revealed very little about the timeline for the project, but some say that an experimental version may be available by the end of 2012. This product would cost between $250 and $600 according to Electronista. Early reports say that the product will not be available for at least 2 years but that it may be worth the wait. One person who was able to try out the glasses gave a positive review to the New York Times. The tester said that it is much more convenient because you can press a button instead of reaching into your pocket. This piece of technology allows people to be even more portable than they are today. Now there no need to carry around a cell phone because it will be a part of your glasses. When this product is mass marketed it will be a success because it is so convenient and everyone is looking for a way to make things easier and take less time.