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Kelly Scegrua

ASPCA | Animal Testing - 0 views

www.aspca.org/...animal-testing.aspx

shared by Kelly Scegrua on 30 Jan 13 - No Cached
  • Most other animals stay in their cages all the time except when they are being used in experiments.
  • They can become tremendously lonely
  • 1.4 million animals counted by the USDA
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  • that are used in research do not feel pain from the experiments.
  • no way of knowing how many rats and mice do not feel pain in research.
  • 489,262 animals that were used in research last year
  • ) were used in research that was either painful, distressful
  • 103,764 of the animals made to feel pain were not given anything
  • 100,000 animals were made to feel pain and fear in 2002
  • ittle pain now will prevent a lot of pain later.
  • e animals are only used in one experiment,
  • more than a hundred years to help prevent cruelty
  • The Act requires that animals receive veterinary care; adequate, clean food and water; protection from the elements and extreme temperatures; and adequate, clean housing. The Animal Welfare Act also covers animals in zoos, aquaria, and circuses, as well as animals transported to and from places overseas. Any place that wishes to do research on animals must register with the USDA
  • For example, much of the beginning work showing the link between smoking and heart disease was done by seeing how many people who smoke have heart attacks and strokes versus how many people who don't smoke.
  • Replacement - Whenever possible, we should replace living, feeling animals with other things like tissue cultures and computer simulations.
  • We should use as few animals in an experiment as we can. We should be very careful to be sure that experiments on animals are necessary.
  • Edward Jenner, the man who created the first vaccination ever, developed it on humans. The father of genetics, Brother Gregor Mendel, explored inheritance very peacefully in pea plants.
  • Currently, 14 states have passed laws making it illegal for animals in shelters to be sold for research.
  • It is illegal in all 50 states for stolen animals to be sold or used in research.
  • unusual for an animal in the lab to live out its full life
  • Scientists must have stronger reasons to do research on animals now than they used to if they want the IACUC to let them do the research.
  • IACUC, which stands for Institutional Animal Care and Use Committees.
  • Scientists are now able to do experiments without animals that they couldn't do before.
  • For example, skin cells can be kept alive in a dish and studied without hurting the animal beyond first taking the skin cells
  • Improving the lives of animals used in research.
  • The Animal Welfare Act mostly addresses refinement.
  • concerned voices of caring people who are not themselves scientists
  • (not including mice, rats, and birds—no one knows how many of these animals are used in research
Jaryn Olson

Abuse Excuse legal definition of Abuse Excuse. Abuse Excuse synonyms by the Free Online... - 0 views

legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Abuse+Excuse

shared by Jaryn Olson on 30 Jan 13 - No Cached
  • Jaryn Olson on 30 Jan 13
     
    "Description of efforts by some criminal defendants to negate criminal responsibility by showing that they could not tell right from wrong due to abuse by their spouses or parents. Although this defense is not specifically recognized in substantive Criminal Law, it has been used successfully in some cases to prove, for example, the Insanity Defense. Using prior sexual or other physical abuse as evidence in a criminal defense is largely a result of research regarding mental disorders caused by such abuse. Psychologists and other researchers have identified disorders, including post-traumatic stress disorder and battered woman syndrome, as causes for severe emotional instability that can lead to violent acts by the victim against his or her abuser. Some writers have advocated more widespread use of such evidence to mitigate the punishment of victims who commit violent acts. Other scholars and writers disagree, noting that substantive criminal law does not recognize the abuse excuse as a legitimate defense except in some limited circumstances, such as those involving the insanity defense. Harvard law professor alan dershowitz coined the term in his 1994 book, The Abuse Excuse, where he deems the studies regarding psychological disorders caused by abuse as "psychobabble." Dershowitz and other critics disagree not only with the use of abuse as mitigating evidence of criminal intent, but also with the results of the studies themselves. According to these critics, especially Dershowitz, the abuse excuse fails to distinguish between the reasons why a person committed a crime and the responsibility for committing the crime. In a few high profile cases during the late 1980s and 1990s, defendants sought to avoid criminal responsibility for their crimes by introducing evidence of prior abuse. In 1989, Lyle and Erik Menendez, ages 21 and 18 respectively, brutally killed their parents in the family's California home. At their first trial for murder in 1993, the brothers' defen
samantha maciej

2012 London Olympics: Economic Benefits Not What You Think - 0 views

www.etoa.org/...ic-benefits-not-what-you-think

shared by samantha maciej on 07 Feb 13 - No Cached
  • Instead of luring money to the city, it actually drives out the usual spenders and decreases tourism, drastically reducing revenue for local businesses. That means host cities hardly ever recoup the costs it takes to prepare for holding the Olympic Games. 
  • Montreal, which hosted the 1976 Olympics, is the best example of the negative economic side effects of the Olympics. 
  • Mismanagement and unexpected costs left the city's citizens with a $1.5 billion debt that took three decades to erase. The final payment on the debt was made in 2006.
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  • 58% said the Games would have no impact on business,
  • "Our business is down by about 20-40 percent depending on the time of day," Steve McNamara, general secretary of the Licensed Taxi Drivers Association, told the AFP. "Normally about 90 percent of our customers are Londoners but they've all left the city and haven't been replaced by tourists.
  • Not only is a tourism decline hurting the city's revenue; London is already in debt because the cost of Olympics hosting starts with the bidding process.
    • samantha maciej
      samantha maciej on 07 Feb 13
       
      read here
  • This process is driven by private interest groups supporting construction, architecture, bankers and lawyers who care little for London's fiscal well-being and more for their own pockets. That means they pressure the city to overbid.
  • host cities tend to be captured by private interests who end up promising much more than the city can afford." 
  • Chicago, during its three-year bid process, spent $100 million on advertising, preparing venues for inspection, and promotions
  • The British government has raised its 2012 London Olympics budget estimate to nearly $15 billion - almost four times the initial amount of $4 billion.
  • And each year, the cost of hosting gets higher.
  • It is a common trend for host cities to understate budgets.
  • Atlanta spent $2.4 billion in 1996. Sydney spent $6.8 billion in 2000 and is still trying to fill the rooms it built. Athens, which spent $16 billion in 2004, has venues that are in disrepair because it cost hundreds of millions to maintain them. 
  • Then there's always the fear the exposure will cast an unappealing light on the city, driving away future tourists.
  • "Should the Games be plagued by disorganization (e.g., the current security snafu in London), the pervasive pollution of Beijing, the violence of Munich, Mexico City or Atlanta, or the corruption scandals of Salt Lake City and Nagano, then the PR effect might be negative," said Zimbalist.
  • Bottom Line: "I think the Olympics is and should be a great sporting event, but it is not and should not be considered a major economic event," said University of Michigan's Szymanski.  "It's a lot like having a party. It's a good time but it doesn't make you rich."
  • The only instances of success have been Barcelona, which did enjoy a significant tourism boom following the 1992 games, and Los Angeles, which hosted the 1984 games and already had the infrastructure and venues needed. But two examples of success are hardly anything to brag about.
chelseysue13

Spencer West's Autobiography: Motivational Speaker And Climber On Overcoming Obstacles - 0 views

www.huffingtonpost.ca/...t-autobiography_n_2521150.html

shared by chelseysue13 on 19 Nov 14 - No Cached
  • chelseysue13 on 19 Nov 14
     
    "Spencer West, motivational speaker and partner of Me to We, uses his personal struggles to encourage young people to look beyond their own circumstances and see how they can make a difference to others. In this excerpt from his book, "Standing Tall, My Journey," West offers insight into how he developed his own path when feeling lost in life. I wheeled myself to my computer and began searching websites for information on Joseph Campbell's idea of the hero's journey. One site listed a summary of the steps the hero takes, with the first being the "call to adventure." I realized that was what happened to me with cheerleading, and then again in New York. The call to adventure. "Oh, geez," I gasped aloud, as I read the descriptions of some of the other steps. "I am right in the middle of the hero's journey." I became so engrossed in my reading that I completely missed dinner that night. At about midnight, I shut off the computer, lay down on my bed and contemplated everything. I was at the stages that Campbell calls "refusing the call" and "in the belly of the whale." I knew, for example, that I wanted to do theater of some sort. I wanted to entertain people. But I had let my depression stop me from even going to a play on campus. I had refused the call. I'd let obstacles hold me back. "In the belly of the whale" is the point in the hero's journey when he or she is transiting between worlds and selves. I, of course, was moving from Rock Springs and my comfortable, sheltered life to having to take responsibility for myself and my own happiness. Mom was right, like usual. I needed to stop feeling sorry for myself. I needed to fight for what I wanted. One small problem: everything around me showed me what I didn't want. Before falling asleep, I racked my brain, reliving memories of my past, summing up those moments when I was truly at peace with myself, and asking myself the same question over and over again: "What is it I am mean
Aaron Stanoch

Early Theories of Evolution: Darwin and Natural Selection - 0 views

anthro.palomar.edu/...evolve_2.htm

shared by Aaron Stanoch on 19 Nov 14 - Cached
  • Most educated people in Europe and the Americas during the 19th century had their first full exposure to the concept of evolution through the writings of Charles Darwin
  • the idea of evolution had been strongly associated with radical scientific and political views coming out of post-revolutionary France
  • He became very interested in the scientific ideas of the geologist Adam Sedgwick and the naturalist John Henslow with whom he spent considerable time collecting specimens from the countryside around the university
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  •   Especially important was his 5 weeks long visit to the Galápagos Islands in the Eastern Pacific Ocean.  It was there that he made the observations that eventually led him to comprehend what causes plants and animals to evolve, but he apparently did not clearly formulate his views on this until 1837.
  • Darwin was struck by the fact that the birds were slightly different from one island to another.
  • He realized that the key to why this difference existed was connected with the fact that the various species live in different kinds of environments.
  • On returning to England, Darwin and an ornithologist associate identified 13 species of finches that he had collected on the Galápagos Islands.  This was puzzling since he knew of only one species of this bird on the mainland of South America, nearly 600 miles to the east, where they had all presumably originated.  He observed that the Galápagos species differed from each other in beak size and shape.  He also noted that the beak varieties were associated with diets based on different foods.  He concluded that when the original South American finches reached the islands, they dispersed to different environments where they had to adapt to different conditions.  Over many generations, they changed anatomically in ways that allowed them to get enough food and survive to reproduce.  This observation was verified by intensive field research in the last quarter of the 20th century.
  • Those individuals having a variation that gives them an advantage in staying alive long enough to successfully reproduce are the ones that pass on their traits more frequently to the next generation.  Subsequently, their traits become more common and the population evolves.  Darwin called this "descent with modification."
  • An example of evolution resulting from natural selection was discovered among "peppered" moths living near English industrial cities.  These insects have varieties that vary in wing and body coloration from light to dark.  During the 19th century, sooty smoke from coal burning furnaces killed the lichen on trees and darkened the bark.  When moths landed on these trees and other blackened surfaces, the dark colored ones were harder to spot by birds who ate them and, subsequently, they more often lived long enough to reproduce.  Over generations, the environment continued to favor darker moths.  As a result, they progressively became more common.  By 1895, 98% of the moths in the vicinity of English cities like Manchester were mostly black.  Since the 1950's, air pollution controls have significantly reduced the amount of heavy particulate air pollutants reaching the trees, buildings, and other objects in the environment.   As a result, lichen has grown back, making trees lighter in color.  In addition, once blackened buildings were cleaned making them lighter in color.  Now, natural selection favors lighter moth varieties so they have become the most common.  This trend has been well documented by field studies undertaken between 1959 and 1995 by Sir Cyril Clarke from the University of Liverpool.  The same pattern of moth wing color evolutionary change in response to increased and later decreased air pollution has been carefully documented by other researchers for the countryside around Detroit, Michigan.  While it is abundantly clear that there has been an evolution in peppered moth coloration due to the advantage of camouflage over the last two centuries, it is important to keep in mind that this story of natural selection in action is incomplete.  There may have been additional natural selection factors involved.
  • The Galápagos finches provide an excellent example of this process.  Among the birds that ended up in arid environments, the ones with beaks better suited for eating cactus got more food.  As a result, they were in better condition to mate.  Similarly, those with beak shapes that were better suited to getting nectar from flowers or eating hard seeds in other environments were at an advantage there.  In a very real sense, nature selected the best adapted varieties to survive and to reproduce.  This process has come to be known as natural selection.
  • evolution occurs as a result of natural selection implied that chance plays a major role
  • He understood that it is a matter of luck whether any individuals in a population have variations that will allow them to survive and reproduce.  If no such variations exist, the population rapidly goes extinct because it cannot adapt to a changing environment
  • It was not until he was 50 years old, in 1859, that Darwin finally published his theory of evolution in full for his fellow scientists and for the public at large.  He did so in a 490 page book entitled On the Origin of Species
  • If natural selection were the only process occurring, each generation should have less variation until all members of a population are essentially identical, or clones of each other.  That does not happen.  Each new generation has new variations
samantha maciej

Hi-tech tests to catch Olympics drug cheats at London 2012 - CNN.com - 0 views

edition.cnn.com/...index.html

shared by samantha maciej on 01 Feb 13 - No Cached
  • Marion Jones crosses the line first in the 100m final at the 2000 Olympics. It was one of three golds the American sprinter won in Sydney. In 2007, Jones admitted to taking banned substances and was stripped of her medals.
  • "If they are not caught now they can be caught within the next eight years because samples can be re-analyzed."
  • Marion Jones and Ben Johnson are just two examples of champions whose achievements have been scrubbed from the record books due to drug scandals.
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  • The race, his victory and his subsequent disqualification for taking the banned steroid stanozolol was one of the most infamous episodes in Olympic history.
  • "There were 80-90 athletes who didn't go to Beijing because of pre-testing and I presume that the same sort of number might arise this time around."
  • "Yes we can, and we will."
    • samantha maciej
      samantha maciej on 01 Feb 13
       
      Ben Johnson was an idol, but after using drugs he disappointed many.
Aaron Stanoch

Darwin's Theory Of Evolution - 1 views

www.darwins-theory-of-evolution.com

shared by Aaron Stanoch on 12 Nov 14 - Cached
  • Darwin's Theory of Evolution - The Premise
  • Darwin's Theory of Evolution - Natural Selection
  • arwin's Theory of Evolution - A Theory In Crisis
  • ...6 more annotations...
  • Darwin's Theory of Evolution - Slowly But Surely...
  • a plausible mechanism called "natural selection." Natural selection acts to preserve and accumulate minor advantageous genetic mutations
  • Suppose a member of a species developed a functional advantage (it grew wings and learned to fly). Its offspring would inherit that advantage and pass it on to their offspring. The inferior (disadvantaged) members of the same species would gradually die out, leaving only the superior (advantaged) members of the species.
  • [1] Thus, Darwin conceded that, "If it could be demonstrated that any complex organ existed, which could not possibly have been formed by numerous, successive, slight modifications, my theory would absolutely break down." [2] Such a complex organ would be known as an "irreducibly complex system". An irreducibly complex system is one composed of multiple parts, all of which are necessary for the system to function. If even one part is missing, the entire system will fail to function. Every individual part is integral. [3] Thus, such a system could not have evolved slowly, piece by piece. The common mousetrap is an everyday non-biological example of irreducible complexity. It is composed of five basic parts: a catch (to hold the bait), a powerful spring, a thin rod called "the hammer," a holding bar to secure the hammer in place, and a platform to mount the trap. If any one of these parts is missing, the mechanism will not work. Each individual part is integral. The mousetrap is irreducibly complex.
  • Darwin's Theory of Evolution is the widely held notion that all life is related and has descended from a common ancestor:
  • Ancient Greek philosophers such as Anaximander postulated the development of life from non-life and the evolutionary descent of man from animal.
Emily Wolter

Extracurricular Participation And Student Engagement - 0 views

nces.ed.gov/95741.asp

shared by Emily Wolter on 20 Nov 14 - Cached
  • Extracurricular activities provide a channel for reinforcing the lessons learned in the classroom, offering students the opportunity to apply academic skills in a real-world context, and are thus considered part of a well-rounded education.
  • During the first semester of their senior year, participants reported better attendance than their non-participating classmates--half of them had no unexcused absences from school and half had never skipped a class, compared with one-third and two-fifths of nonparticipants,
  • participated were three times as likely to perform in the top quartile on a composite math and reading assessment compared with nonparticipants.
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  • two-thirds of participants expected to complete at least a bachelor's degree while about half of nonparticipants expected to do so. It cannot be known from these data
  • regardless of whether the schools attended were large (750 students or more) or small (less than 150), in rural, urban or suburban settings, or served large (20 percent or more minority) or small proportions of minority students (less than 20 percent), almost all students reported that extracurricular activities were available to them (data not shown in table).
  • About four of every five seniors said they participated in at least one extracurricular activity in 1992
  • Low SES students, for example, may be more likely to participate in schools where they are in the majority and less likely to participate in more affluent schools where they are in the relative minority.
  • U.S. Department of EducationInstitute of Education SciencesNational Center for Education Statistics
Emily Wolter

The Effects of Homework Programs and After-School Activities on School Succ...: EBSCOhost - 0 views

web.b.ebscohost.com/...detail

shared by Emily Wolter on 20 Nov 14 - No Cached
  • NATIONAL CONCERNS HAVE BEEN raised about the number of children who do not have supervised activities after school. The U.S. Department of Justice (1999) reported that the peak time for juvenile crime is between 3:00 and 7:00 p.m. on school days, the period after school until parents typically return from work.
  • esults of the Juvenile Offenders and Victims: 1999 National Report suggest that after-school programs have greater potential for reducing juvenile crime than imposition of a juvenile curfew.
  • student participation in structured activities, religious activities, and time with adults during 10th grade had a significant positive impact on educational outcomes for those same students in 12th grade. Conversely
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  • that academic outcomes of this program were mediated by changes in the student's self-confidence as well as changes in teacher perceptions of the student's efforts.
  • Participation in an after-school program designed to build self-esteem had positive effects on standardized test scores in math and reading, while receiving extended school time to complete homework did not have the same positive effects on self-esteem or achievement.
  • studies indicate that after-school academic support may play a protective role by helping to prevent a loss of school engagement even if it doesn't result in higher levels of functioning.
  • The Gevirtz Homework Project
  • Most researchers believe that involvement in extracurricular activities has an indirect impact on achievement by increasing connectedness to the school and by helping to build student strengths, thereby increasing self-esteem and positive social networks
  • At the end of sixth grade, teachers rated English language learner participants in the homework project higher in academic effort and study skills than English language learners in the control group.
  • Studies have shown that involvement in extracurricular activities is associated with school engagement and achievement
  • Rather than divert students from meeting their academic goals, studies find that students engaged in extracurricular activities--including sports, service clubs, and art activities--are less likely to drop out
  • and more likely to have higher academic achievement
  • All fourth-grade students in three participating schools were engaged in the project, with students randomly assigned to treatment (Homework Project) and non-treatment after their stratification into high, medium, and low achievement groups at school. Students were also stratified on the basis of ethnicity and English proficiency, with equal numbers assigned to the homework project and to the non-treatment control group.
  • For example, while "no play" rules that prohibit students with low GPAs from participating in extracurricular activities may provide a needed incentive to some students,
Aaron Stanoch

Evolution and Religion Can Coexist, Scientists Say - 2 views

news.nationalgeographic.com/...041018_science_religion_2.html

shared by Aaron Stanoch on 06 Nov 14 - No Cached
  • "For example, in the Bible, Noah takes two animals and puts them on the Ark. But in a later section, he takes seven pairs of animals. If this is the literal word of God, was God confused when He wrote it?"
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