Just Keep Swimming

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/16/talia-joy-castellano-dead_n_3606118.html

Putting yourself out there is not an easy thing. It takes courage to do so because there is a good chance that you will get hate mail. This obviously did not stop Talia Joy Castellano. 

I remember first seeing this girl on YouTube and thinking that she really was amazing for putting aside cancer and doing what she really loves to do. It really just struck me that such a young girl could inspire so many people with just her YouTube videos. 

Although this terrible disease had taken her life, it has inspired so many other people worldwide to follow their dreams because regardless of their situation, anything is possible. Sometimes we get so caught up with the chaos in our lives that we don’t have time to stop and be thankful for what we have. As teenagers we constantly complain about how our lives suck and how we wish we could be a completely different person, and although Talia may have done so herself, instead of moping around about what she didn’t have, she did the best with what she did have.

She may not have been a Martin Luther King Jr., but with her charismatic personality, she captured the hearts of so many and will be treasured for her inspirational works. 

With people such as Kim Kardashian who are constantly getting publicized, I’m glad that she received recognition for what she had done because unlike the Kardashians, she has done something truly great for teen girls and even cancer-stricken adults all around the world. 

Sea Salt, Ocean Breeze and Algae?

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/06/world/asia/huge-algae-bloom-afflicts-qingdao-china.html?_r=0

With summer slowly coming to a close, we try to make the most of what is left of our vacation by spending time with friends and family with barbecues and bonfires by the beach. Being residents of California, we have the luxury of driving a few miles to get to our local beach. Though California's beaches may not be the best, beaches such as those in coastal Chinese city of Qingdao, are a sure contender.

Recently they had been struck by the “near-record algae bloom that has left its popular beaches fouled with a green, stringy muck”. Although the article states that it this ‘mat of sea lettuce’ is harmless to humans, it seems very dangerous for the environment. 

Although global warming seems like a huge environment issue, people fail to recognize other problems that are equally affecting our planet. 

My opinion may sound a little biast as I am a worker of the Aquarium of the Pacific, but the fact that people are taking this toxic lettuce so lightly really bothers me. Either the media fails to inform them, or they fail to educate themselves about the dangers of this algae. The fact that “abalone, clam and sea cucumber farms suffered more than $100 million in damage” is terrifying. The population of the these animals will only keep deteriorating.

The article states that the algae later begins to smell like rotten eggs, so I’m sure that that will make people more aware of the cons of the algae. My hope for this situation is that people will keep this situation in mind when they think about how our planet will be 20 years from now.

Woman Dies in Texas on Six Flags Roller Coaster Ride

http://www.latimes.com/news/nation/nationnow/la-na-nn-six-flags-texas-death-20130720,0,6973213.story

Although this event occurred quite awhile ago, I felt compelled to write about this because of this controversial issue. Reading through this article was quite horrifying and depressing. 

This accident occurred at approximately 6:30 p.m. at the Six Flags Over Texas park in Arlington. A woman tumbled to her death after not being securely strapped onto the ride. 

The author of this article seemed to have taken different sources such as Carmen Brown of Arlington, a bystander as well as John Putman who was also waiting in line. These various sources increase the accuracy of the article and give several different point of views.

The article stated that someone had heard someone screaming, “My mom! My mom! Let us out, we need to go get her!”. This was such a heartbreaking thing to read because if that person was indeed related to her, it would have been very traumatizing to watch her plunge to her death. It would have been more helpful if the article included who the woman was with to identify if the person who was screaming in line was indeed a companion of hers. 

It is obvious that this specific amusement park has an inadequate staff member who had no consideration for others. But this article made me wonder if the employee was prejudice towards larger peoples or if they genuinely believed the the woman was strapped correctly in her seat. I’ve read many other cases where employees have allegedly treated fat people differently than others (Brandy Melville http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2p0t4Rze_O8). 

In all, this woman was so unfortunate to have been in this position and if that person who did not secure her seat belt correctly had done it out of pure stupidity or just inconsideration, there is not much to do now but to mourn the woman’s death and to improve ride safety.

Small but deadly

http://www.economist.com/news/science-and-technology/21582243-biggest-extinction-history-was-probably-caused-space-rock-changed

Reading this article, I actually didn't know that dinosaurs' extinction was caused by a rock from outer space that landed in southern Mexico. I found it interesting that after years and years of research, that the details have changed drastically according to researcher Eric Tohver of the University of Western Australia. 

If this article’s details were drawn from several different sources I believe it would have made it slightly more accurate than one with only one perspective. 

Just last year Tohver and his team of colleagues thought they had found the answer to their questions, the “Araguainha crater” they called it. This wasn’t entirely true of course.

This article about Eric Tohver’s ‘discovery’ seems similar to a time in history where everyone believed that everything revolved around the earth. Just as Eric Tohver is trying to make his idea more widespread, I feel someone will have a more convincing argument with the same idea and be credited for his theory. 

From my perspective I believe that although Tohver has very many good points, it his ideas aren’t fully developed and backed up with enough evidence. I have come to a theory from what I’ve read from this article. Just as Copernicus who had spread the idea of the sun being the center of the solar system, Galileo was the one who had mathematically proved it. This is similar to what I believe that will happen to Eric Tohver’s theory about the crater that made the dinosaurs extinct, that he will widespread the idea, but someone else will come up with evidence that will prove it. 

Royal Baby Boy: Economists Forecast £240 Million Economic Bump

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2013/07/23/royal-baby-economy-boost_n_3638066.html 

As the royal baby coverage continues to take over the internet it sparks a boost in the British economy. Just as the media had covered the marriage of Kate Middleton, a commoner and Prince William they have gotten all the details of their royal child. In the result of the royal baby in the public eye, it has caused a rise in the economy of British. The announcement was made on Monday at 4:24pm to confirm the birth of the royal baby. Before this had occurred, there were attempts to fake the birth of the baby in order to keep the media away when the real birth was going on, but of course this failed.

“According to the Centre for Retail Research, the economy could stand to gain £240 million”. This is due to the bets made on the baby’s gender/name, buying of souvenirs, and other commemorative items. Of course this was not ever asked or necessary, but it does give the British economy a lift.

It may be because of the fact that it was a commoner that gave birth to the royal child that really led to people feeling compelled to buy part streamers and balloons and such. But throughout the process of the media capturing all of these moments before and after the child was born seems like an invasion of privacy. Overall it seems like a win win for the economy of Britain as well as the royal family who welcome a new member. 

http://www.economist.com/news/business/21582001-army-new-online-courses-scaring-wits-out-traditional-universities-can-they

As the advancement of technology progresses, we are able to do almost anything with the internet. We can video chat with someone a million miles away, purchase clothes to be delivered, even take an online course in the comfort of our own home. With that being said, anyone with a laptop has the ability to take courses online for cheaper or even free. Such education can be taken for free through MOOCs.

An example of an MOOC provider is Edx, a non-profit institution that began in May 2012 by Harvard University and MIT. Although this is much to our advantage, it has taken a toll on the business of traditional universities. 

As stated in the later paragraphs, although the education itself on MOOC may be free, providers are charging for other revenues including certificates of completion. The widespread of MOOC has reached out to many different companies and has already formed several partnerships.

The structure of this article begins with a broad topic of the MOOCs and provides example of these in it’s body paragraphs while addressing the main topic. Just as the article in “Obama harms the press”, this author also uses words such as “Certainly...” in order to convey his opinions and provide analysis. He also uses words such as “in contrast” to address both sides of the situation. In the second part of the article, it has another title, “This lecture is brought to you by…” and gives several different point of views (Mr Feerick, Alison, Rob Lyte) on the future of online. 

While the system seems to be improving, there is still much experimentation being done. Therefore, MOOCs may seem great at the moment, with the changes and hidden charges, I would rather stick to a more reliable traditional university rather than taking a risk.

Girls Bedtimes vs. Boys Bedtimes

http://www.economist.com/news/science-and-technology/21581698-regular-sleeping-hours-really-are-good-childrenif-they-are-girls-bedtime

As I child, my bedtime was set at 10pm and not a second later. I remember how every night I would fuse over the fact that I never could stay up late to watch television. Little did I know that my 10pm bedtime every night could affect my intelligence.

This article Children’s intellectual development: bedtime stories reports the affect that a simple bedtime could have on a child. A project called the Millennium Cohort Study took place in order to prove the theory. They brought in a group of kids ranging from ages up to seven years old. 

With later study it was reported that “children that had reached the age of seven, not having had a regular bedtime did seem to affect their cognition, even when other pertinent variables such as bedtime reading, bedroom televisions and parents’ socioeconomic status were controlled for”. Therefore, a constant time to sleep for a child at young age is crucial for their development, if they are female.

Further research shows that although the IQ scale of girls who had a bedtime were boosted by 8-9 points more than those without a common bedtime. Although this had affected young girls, it did not do the same to boys. The boys with irregular betimes had an almost similar IQ level as those with a consistent.

From this article it is seen that there is a huge gap between boys and girls, not only physically, but intellectually as well. Though the reason for this difference is still unknown, it’s still such a bewildering fact.