3 children engulfed in fumes – the candle lit mystery

On October 26^th a fire swallowed an apartment whole in the Bronx killing 3 children. We believe that the fire was started from a candle and spread uncontrollably until it was too late. They were using candles around the house because the electric company cut their connection to power just the day before. Cynthia Woods was one of the only who noticed and ran to the door where the fire started and tried to get it to open. Once she finally did, she could only hear the screams of the 3 boys and noticed that the fire was much larger than she anticipated. 90 minutes later, the fire was finally brought to a halt but sadly, the boys, the oldest of whom was 5 years old, were declared dead later that day.

To what some people are calling a tragedy, I am just calling it the cycle of life.  I know many can recall their childhood teachers saying something along the lines of, “Well did your homework grow legs and walk away?” I am asking, “Did a candle grow legs and tip over to start a fire?” I think people are forgetting the fact that this nobody but the children’s fault. Yes, I get it. It is devastating for a mother to bear such a great loss, but why am I ‘allowed’ to say this and why should I not get criticized for my opinion?

Just over a year ago, myself, and my school has suffered a loss of our own in a motor vehicle accident, losing one of our Hawks, a good person and a great friend of mine. I feel the greatest of empathy for the mother, but I learned to detach from that tragic experience and move on, and she should also.

Back to the matter at hand.

Why am I calling this a mystery? We know exactly what happened, it’s not hard to figure out. I am calling it a mystery because to many people this idea I’m demonstrating is something that is difficult or impossible for some to comprehend. It probably goes deeper than this, but the sad truth is that if you want to play the blame game, it is the mothers fault for not paying her bills, not the electricity company for shutting their power off. They were just doing their job. I am afraid that people are following their hearts instead of logic, and eventually this whole fiasco will end up with Tashika Turner, the mother, suing the electric company for something they didn’t do wrong.

For more on the story and the news report go to:

http://www.cnn.com/2013/10/26/us/bronx-deadly-fire/

Laura Ly and Tom Watkins

Stem Cell Research

Recently at my school a guest speaker visited my class, talking about Restless Leg Syndrome, or RLS. He then stumbled onto Parkinson’s disease because those people often have RLS as well, then onto the topic of stem cells. I am fully biased on this topic, coming from a background in science, and doubling in it my senior year of high school. But regardless, here is my opinion:

The controversy concerning stem cell research is highly unethical because it questions the morality of killing a human being for research. But what is actually being killed? The fetus doesn’t have all of its organs and taste buds haven’t even formed yet, so does this mean that it is ethical to kill a human embryo for research? No. However despite potential unethical controversies of stem cell research, it is possibly the key to society’s scientific progression; the many benefits from experimentation in the field greatly outweigh the disadvantages. 

Over 100,000 men, women, and children are waiting for organ transplants only in the US right now. In 2012, a mere 28,000 organ transplants were performed. A bank of about 100,000 different stem cell samples would differ so greatly genetically to match almost any patient. With this technology, the risky chances of organ transplants are eliminated as a clone of your own organ will be immediately recognized by the body. It also eliminates the long and mostly unsuccessful search for a match in a donor system.  

The research behind stem cells could also lead to advances in the fight to conquer the deadliest diseases of all time, such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease, stroke, diabetes, and improve cancer treatment. Having identified stem cells in the brain of humans, these stem cells can be used to understand how they develop and differentiate into the various types of cells in a brain. In the study of adult brain stem cells progression into cancer cell biology could be reached. Recent research proved that cancer cells multiply by a smaller amount of cancer stem cells that are able to regenerate. It may be possible to identify these new targets to eliminate the self-regenerating cancer cells. 

People love judging in hindsight, that way they can never be wrong.

Really the benefits are seemingly endless, from curing anything from hair loss to blindness and women with reproductive issues. While many people continue to question the morality of the topic, stem cell research should be supported because of the seemingly infinite amount of benefits to future generations and human society. In fact, I think the only thing unethical about stem cells is to not take a step in the right direction in the medical field, and preventing a healthier, more insightful future.

Zero Tolerance Policy in North Andover

In the article below Erin Cox went to pick up her friend who was too drunk to drive, only to have a warm welcome by the police telling her that she is in current violation of her high school’s (North Andover) zero-tolerance policy. As a result she was suspended for playing 5 volleyball games and her title as the captain of the volleyball team got revoked. Not only is the logic behind her school-board’s decision morally wrong, but it is also legally wrong, but I’ll get to that in a second.

Erin Cox

But why would the school be in control of her outside of her academic career? Well the student handbook says “That student athletes must refrain from alcohol even when not at school…” It even mentions that it is not intended to catch students from “guilt by association…” so the school wasn’t even following their own rules, fantastic! Even if it was their rules, there is something morally wrong with this situation; if my friend was in need of help, so much in need that he/she needed me, I wouldn’t respond with, “Hey, umm sorry I can’t because of my school’s zero tolerance policy!” What North Andover is doing is preventing their students from helping others. That definitely follows the honor code, and is completely rational as well!

It seems that some people do not know what zero tolerance means, or they just follow it too well.

Ok look, in the end rules are rules right? But this girl did not violate her school’s rules. During my research I ended up finding the popular phrase “zero tolerance = zero responsibility, or zero accountability, or zero intelligence…” and I couldn’t agree more. This whole fiasco from the school board, from the lawyers they sent to the decisions they are making are putting a bad reputation on them, and quite frankly, they just look senseless. We can do more than just hope that Erin’s case is brought to a close, and she can regain her position as captain on her varsity volleyball team as if nothing happened. Just spread the word. For more information on the article, visit:

http://boston.cbslocal.com/2013/10/13/north-andover-high-punishes-teen-for-giving-drunken-pal-ride-home-from-party/

A special thanks to Bree Sison for letting me post her article!