Response to Brits Blog

When I first started reading Brits blog, http://bmammermanlsc100f10.blogspot.com, I got hooked right away. She wrote about the same topic as I did, which was abortion. I thought that it would be really interesting to read and respond to hers because it gives me a chance to see and write about what others thoughts are on the topic. Brit had a different view than I did on abortion. We both connected it to ethics and medicine, but we discussed different options also.
In Brits blog she discussed how she knew someone that was in an organization for pro-choice and she explained why her choice, is pro- choice. She made good points and backed them up well. One of her points that I really looked into is the subject if a women gets rapped. When a women gets rapped and becomes pregnant, Brits blog talked about how she has the choice to get rid of the baby, and if she decides to get rid of the baby that is an okay decision. She backed that up with reasoning in that the women would have to look at that child every day and think back to what happened to her. So in a sense overtime when she would look at her child, she would get upset. In this case abortion may be okay in a sense, in my opinion. But still even after readying the article in Brits blog, I still believe that it is a life that is getting taken away and it is wrong. Life is precious and so many people would do anything to get their lives back, or the lives of their family members that they lost back.
I am very thankful that I was assigned this blog post because I not only got to explore and research my own opinion, but I was able to look at someones else's response to abortion, and their view on the whole topic. It opens up my mind to a variety of opinions.

Ethics and Medicine

Abortion is a serious topic in the United States today. Abortion is legal in all fifty states, but not everyone agrees with it. The conflict is that some agree with abortion, and some do not for various reasons. Some think that it is the women’s right to have a choice if she should have the baby or not, and some say that it was the women’s choice to have sexual intercourse that lead to her being pregnant so she needs to have the baby and understand that she put this on herself. I don’t think either side is misrepresented and both sides are clearly stated.

            An online article that I found was, http://www.buzzle.com/articles/pros-and-cons-of-abortion.html. Reading the article it stated pros and cons for abortion and the reasoning behind the topic. The one that presents the most compelling argument in my opinion, is most of unplanned pregnancies if extended to childbirth may prove to be wanted later. This means that at the time the women may not want to have a child, but later down the road she may wish that she would have went through it and not have had an abortion. This one hit me the most, because all I can think about is that child who is in the womb could have been a huge impact to our society. Meaning, this child could have found the cure for a disease, or this child could have saved a life down the road. Everyone is born with a gift or gifts, and this child did not even get the opportunity to act upon their gifts. Mothers could have these thoughts running in their heads as well, and then they feel depressed and sad about their decision.

            Another topic that I found that was for abortion was the one that deals with if the mother is in danger. If the mother is in danger then, this article stated that it was okay for her to have an abortion because her life was at risk.  This argument I find compelling because if the women is at risk, there is no sense for two life’s to be guaranteed a loss. So in this case the women’s choice to have the baby or not is in a sense okay, in my opinion.

Demonstration Evaluation

I decided to pick this video because it was a lot like what we had to do in class for demonstration speeches. And from watching all of the ones presented in our class, this one seemed to be the more advanced and organized speeches I have seen. In this video, How to make puppy chow, the student starts off with great energy and gets the viewers to really be grasped on her presentation. She also is very organized. As she is presenting, she starts off with describing why someone should make a snack like puppy chow, and the benefits of eating that snack . She list the steps that someone should do when making puppy chow, and relates the steps to personal stories that the viewers can relate to. She has all her ingredients laid out and ready to access whenever she needs. She starts making the puppy chow. As she starts making it, she continues with her steps and shows the viewers what she is doing at the same time. Once it is all done she shakes the puppy chow up, finalizes the steps, and shows the viewers the final result. She finishes the presentation with a positive swing of describing how someone who makes this has a nutritious, affordable snack ready to go.

As I was viewing this film I noticed a negative point that she had while she was presenting. When she would get nervous she would look down at the table, and start to laugh a little. Which everyone gets nervous when they speak, but she could have handled it in a more professional way. Besides that negative point, this demonstration speech was really organized, and presented well.

Response to Alex Rigsby's blog, "Kool Aid Demonstration Eval"

I am writing a response to Alex Rigsby's blog post on Lori's kool aid demonstration. I first watched the video of Lori demonstrating on how to make kool aid. Right away she grabbed my attention, and I stayed in tuned for the whole video. She did a very good job of grabbing the attention of the audience and keeping them focused. She listed her steps, had all her ingredients out, and explained the purpose and meaning behind them.
After I was done watching the video, I thought to myself what I would say if I had to evaluate that myself and write about it. As I was done thinking, I looked at what Alex responded with. As I began reading it was almost identical to what I was thinking. Alex and I thought very much alike and had the same things to say on the negative and positive aspects of her speech. We both agreed that the beginning was very catchy, and that her steps were easy to follow and could be comprehended well. One thing that I did not like in her speech, was when she stuck her hand in the kool aid. I thought that it was very unprofessional and that no one should do that in a speech. Besides that fact, Alex and I agreed on the same concepts of her speech.
I enjoyed writing these blogs because it made me get to see different people doing different speeches and understand the importance of certain aspects someone has in a speech.

Response to Save the Whales, Save the Poop by Camille Rogers

As I was deciding what blog I should write a response on, I wanted to find one that really picked at my brain. As I looked on almost everyones blogs, the most interesting one was our TA's blog, Camille's. Hers was tilted, "Save the Whales, Save the Poop". Now this may seem a little gross when you first read the title, but it truly is an important topic and nothing that should be missed in discussion. I love animals and the sea animals are my favorite. The interactions, and how they live really get me interested and wanting to learn more. So as I saw this title, I knew I had to read about it, and write about it. The article that was linked to her blog, helped me understand more in depth the meaning and importance of whales also.
As I read Camille's post, I cam across the topic of whale hunting. I find whale hunting cruel and that it should not be allowed.  A negative effect if someone would kill a whale is that whales give off nitrogen in the ocean, so if the killing of whales continues to increase, the nitrogen levels will decrease. If the nitrogen levels decrease, that means that there is not as much phytoplakton, which is very needed, on the surface of the oceans. The phytoplakton gives the proper nutrients for fish to live. So as more and more whales are hunted/killed, that means that more and more fish will follow, and die also because they do not have food.
I am very happy with Camille's information, and how helpful and organized she put everything. I totally agree with her blog, and now am even more interested in reading more about whales. I know can talk to people about the ocean and the importance of substances, and animals the ocean has.

"How to Speech"

        When I was deciding what I should do for my, "how to speech", I was thinking of all the things that interest me the most. My family, and hockey are my two most interesting topics in my life, and considering I could not really do a speech on my family, I decided to do one on hockey. I have been playing hockey since I have been four and it is something that has made me grow as a person. My speech was on how to put on hockey gear. I had one of my teammates dress in the gear and I explained each piece of equipment as I put the piece on her.

         Looking at my presentation, I wish I would have been more relaxed. I feel like I did not look at the audience enough, mainly because I was nervous. The information I gave was in depth and helpful on many levels. For people that do not understand the fundamentals and equipment in hockey, after listening to my presentation they will be more informed. I started with the under gear, and explained how wearing a long sleeve shirt under your gear protects your skin from reacting. Then, I started with the shin guards. The shin guards protect your shins from getting injured from a puck hitting them and hurting them. Then the socks come on, then the pants, which protect your butt and hips from getting injured if you fall on the ice. Then following is the shoulder pads, and then your elbow pads. All of these pads are mainly protecting the athletes body and making sure if they do fall that they will be protected.

I hope that after my speech people will know the importance of the hockey equipment, and that they know how to put the gear on properly.

Heart Health

Finding a blog on sports nutrition was a challenge, so I decided to search for healthy foods, the same meaning is behind both of these terms, so I thought it would work. The writer of this blog is, Kelly the kitchen  Kop. In this blog the writer Kelly talks  about the importance of health, and she mainly is focusing in on the health of ones heart. The title of the blog is, "Heart Health". The blog has been active since March 30, 2009. And Kelly creates blogs almost daily. She does blogs on many topics, and has a numerous amount of viewers. In the blog there are hyperlinks. Things that are hyperlinked are certain health terms, or websites where the reader can go to, to learn more about the topic. Pictures are used also in her blog, to really grasp the focus of the reader and help them understand.

A blog post I am doing is a post that someone did on this article by Kelly, "Heart Health". By: Mary on March 30, 2009. (http://kellythekitchenkop.com/2009/03/follow-up-with-the-heart-doc.html#comments). This blog post, explains how taking nutrition serious is important and from reading this article, it has helped Mary keep reminding herself of the importance of nutrition. The tone of this blog post is a lot different, than the tone in my paper. The only reason being is that in my paper I was not telling a personal response on the topic of nutrition, like Mary is on this blog post. The same concept is being discussed and associated with, but the tones are different because one was in a paper that was getting the facts out to people, and the other one, as in the blog post, was a way of letting people know the stories of one not eating properly. Looking at the blog, and blog post has given me the opportunity to be more educated on nutrition, and know in turn that will help me out through the rest of my life.

'Sell organs to save lives'

When it comes to the topic of a person being able to sell their organs, I am on the side of letting the human make the choice, in the sense of donating. Each of us are the ones in control of our bodies, and we make the decisions how on we should treat our bodies. By what we eat, our exercise, our sleeping patterns, and everything that affects our body. It is up to us how we want our bodies to be like. So when it comes to if we are willing to sell our organs and if we should be allowed to, I say of course. If we are healthy enough to have someone else use our organs, then why shouldn't we let them use them. We could be saving someone’s life and that is the best thing that a human can do. The circumstances that need to be taken under consideration is that if the person giving their organs up has a clean health record and is in it for the right purpose. If the person is doing it because they want to save a life, and really make a difference, then it is okay. If a person has different means behind donating their organs, then it is not okay. But if people are able to sell their organs, then that is wrong because putting a price on organs will make it not available for the less fortunate and the ones that cannot afford it.

Reading the BBC News editorial by Martin Wilkinson made me think of the similarities that him and I share. In his article he goes into discussion of saying, "People should not be stopped from selling their organs because they have a right to do what they want with their bodies when they would not be harming others". I totally agree with this because it is very true. Donating organs is only making someone better, it is not making someone worse off. No harm is being done to someone because of the decision they make. 

            

Response to Madison Packers Blog

Reading Madison's blog I saw a different view on the whole organ donation idea. I agree with her in a sense that if a person wants to donate their organs, then they should be able to, but organs should not be something that you sell. It is true if organs had a price on them, what would happen to the poor who can not afford the price of the organ, that needs the organ? It is a complex way of thinking, but in the end if organs had a price on them, then a majority of people could not afford them, and that would lead to the act of someone giving their organ is a sense of profit, not a sense of being a decent human being and helping potentially saving someones life.

"Thoughts on The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks"

 From reading the synopsis of TOLOHL I have had many thoughts about the whole situation.  One of my thoughts was on the topic of Henrietta Lack’s being important to the public. This story would be appropriate and important to the public for many situations. The public needs to understand and know what can happen to their testing or cells without them even knowing. They need to hear information that can help prevent them from getting taken advantage of. Patients can be taken advantage of if a doctor used their cells or testing without their consent. Patients need to make sure they are careful with their information, if they do not want any of their cells, or test records to be used in the hospital for various reasons.

  Some challenges that Rebecca Skloot faced while writing a book for such a broad audience were that she had to be careful on her selection of words in her writing. If she would have used medical terms, the everyday citizen may not understand what is going on, and they soon will lose their interest in the story. She had to write with the mindset of writing that everyone would understand, yet it still being professional and politically correct.

  As a reader there are some challenges I anticipate when I am reading TOLOHL. I am very interested and focused as I read but there are questions and concerns that come across my mind that I have a hard time with. One of the main challenges I have is understanding why this is happening and how it was able to happen to someone. It was taking something personal and private from someone without his or her consent. To me that is violating a law. As I read more into the story, I hope to find an explanation of why this took place.