Bp#8

After looking these websites, I found many interesting ways to go greener!  From what I could do is turning off my computer more often(I rarely turn it off, it's almost been on 24/7), compressing trash into waste basket, and maybe freshening sponges in baking sodas, etc. In Taiwan, people has done much better to keep a green environment than here.  The stores, especially the supermarket and grocery stores, they don't provide any plastic bag, so people have to bring their own bags or buying the recycle bag.  Furthermore, the garbage bag has to be the recycle one too.  Plus, the classification of recycling is more particular; I remember when I was in Taiwan, I have to put the recyclable trashes in so many different subjects such as paper, iron, battery, plastic, glass, electronic devices, etc. Yes, by myself.

A chart from wikipedia. It shows the degree has increased dramatically since the last hundred yeas

These websites remind me many things that could damage our nature.  From what I been told, because the industrialize environments,  no matter what we human do is damaging the environment.  In fact, even though there are so many programs running for protecting our planet, the global warming is still raising, the holes on ozone layer only get bigger and bigger.  There was a joke said that the best way to safe the earth is we human be eradicated.  Ridiculous! That was the first thing I thought to this joke, but after getting more educations about our environment in school, I have agreed with it.

Bp#6 HeLa and Informed Consent

During the reading of Hela, I have started to know the truth under the dark of the medical history.  Before reading this book, I only knew few that some doctors use their patients as research subjects, such as taking away their cells or injecting something into their bodies to observe the results.  I never paid much attention on these things until I read the Hela. Were these doctor wrong? Yes, they were, and a perfect word that could be described, stealing.


Informed consent, as know it and agree it; it means the patient have to understand clearly why the doctor wants his/her cells for, and the patient have to agree it.  Sadly, the doctors in the past never explained the situations as they always had assumed the patients would never understood it. Occasionally, they discovered something interest on the cells like Columbus found the New World, then calming the treasures belong to them but forgot those were from someone else.
John Moorne's case was not any better, his doctor had never been cleared before and after he signed those papers.  It is very hard to deny those researchers' accomplishments; actually, we have to thanks them for the benefits in medicine. However,this cannot be the excuse for doing the wrong.
Not only those researchers and doctors, the pharmaceutical industries are in the same boat.


How about the doctors in today?  There are many new rules(laws) that they have to follow. That's why we have to sign bunch of papers before the treatment.  Although of these rules, I have the feeling that doctors' view to patient has never changed, we are still "subjects" to them (subjects that can talk and bring bunch of annoying rules in behind).

Last, knowing these doctors during their seven years in colleges of medicine probably had turned their logic and knowledge into something else, new laws has been carried out to stop them turn into mad scientists, and hoping the patients will never meet the same tragedy again.

BP #5-Do you support the idea of a soda tax?

Soda tax, a very controversial topic we are having right now.  In favor or against it, both sides have provided some persuasiveness reasons; however, no one could predict what people will do if the soda tax is executed.  The government can try carrying out the soda tax since this food politic always have benefits to the health.

"Soda tax does work."  When the soda price raises up, people automatic stop buying sodas often because their unconscious minds are complaining for the new prices.  As the result, less soda and more health;the researches used simulation to prove soda tax let thousand lives be saved, ten thousand heart deceases be reduced, and hundred thousand of diabetes be avoided.  Cigarette tax was the precedent of Sin Tax, and it has worked out "well" that stops many to smoke because its ridiculous price.  Therefore,  raising the tax on soda should also have a similar result.

What if people do not care about the price raising on soda?  If this happened, our government would have a bonus taxation.  The amount from soda tax could be use to increase the budget of health care system.  This means it would still improve its citizens' health.

 The soda tax can have benefit in directly or indirectly. Direct benefit is people stop buying soda as getting health, or indirect benefit by more budget for government to increase the budget on health care.
 Either way it will improve citizen's health, if it is not effective it could be improved. That is something we talk about after we have the soda tax.  For now, soda tax is yet executed, and something is better than nothing.  In other word, the soda tax worth a try in the United State.

For "BP #2 - Taking advantage of someone"

Actually many of my friends took advantage of my skills and knowledge on computer components.  The event happened so many times, so I thinks who and where are not important anymore.  They had came to ask me for repairing their computers, building new desktop, asking which laptop is better, requesting for additional futures, or increasing performance, blah blah blah and so on. Do they pay for me? No, never, probably ever, except the cost of the components.  However, I am totally fine with this since it is part of my habit, and I did not lose anything.  Moreover, I gained more experience for helping or answering them.  Happy? Not always, sometimes the work could be very annoying, but I never had any negative emotions with these things.

This maybe little bit long, if you aren't in patient, just read the last sentence.

Talking about how Hela's family feel, the first mind of mine was like what general people have, they must be very angry, sad, and maybe detest the world. I tried a different view, asking myself what if they had all the right of their mother's cells?

They might burned them with their mother's body....or sold them to the hospital(could be a high possibility if the black had more rights during that period) since the cells were useless for them.
(Sorry, I just can not expect a poor family is able to do anything with the cells where they do not even know what those cells could do if no one told them. It is just too hard for them to deal with, especially during the mid of 1900s.)

In my opinion, these cells were been taking advantage whether by those medical organizations, or the first one plus their family. However, the fact is only the first one did it. How would the latter one feel? Angry, as most people had thought.....and maybe jealous too.

If someone ask me why I came up such a negative mind and full of radicalism that why the family have to have something like "jealous" of how those researchers are using their mother's cells. The answer is because I saw that daughter mentioned about money.

What does the money have to do in here??  Of course, those doctors used hela as a development source to invent or to improve our medicine, but they also spent their times, works, and perspiration to get the projects done.  If someone is out of medicine that complaining about these doctors' work, they must be jealous, or they are on the wrong target.

If I got the daughter's meaning wrong that she actually was complaining about those doctors never respect to her mother, then I have to say sorry, however, that is how our medicine been built.


Long and the short of it, I feel the family feels sad, bad, but could have feel some jealous to those who used their mother's cells.

Introduction

My name is Huanyu Chen, I came from Taiwan; you may call me Ethan if that's easier for you. I'm interesting in computer hardware (funny thing is my major is computer science which the software part of computer. Browing on internet, sleep, playing games are something in I like to do. This is a short semester, but I hope it is wonderful and enjoyable.