When I first saw this blog, I was taken aback because I didn’t really know where to start with the finding of these facts about my problem. Because my problem isn’t a traditional one, it is hard to do research about it and find solid statistics about my problem. So instead, I will do research on some of the things that I have informed others about.

First, I want to talk about breast cancer, which was my first initiative. Breast cancer is a disease that is affecting millions of men and women around the globe. October is known as breast cancer awareness month, and that is usually around the time where you have all the Susan G. Komen walks and you start to see a lot of pink ribbons. But how much do you really know about breast cancer? The risk or breast cancer usually increases with age, with 95% of the new cases from 2000-2004 being in women above 40 years old. White women are also more likely to get breast cancer than African American women after the age of 40, while African American women are more susceptible to the disease before 40, but are the most likely to succumb to the disease at any age. Tumors diagnosed in younger women are usually less responsive to treatment and more aggressive. There are known breast cancer risk factors such as the age of you first full-term pregnancy happens, late menopause, and family history. But little known factors for breast cancer include postmenopausal obesity, use of post-menopausal hormones, alcohol consumption, and physical inactivity. Since there is no guaranteed way to prevent breast cancer, it is strongly suggested that women over 40 years of age get regular mammograms, avoid weight gain and obesity, and minimize alcohol intake. You can find out more information about breast cancer at: http://www.cancer.org/downloads/STT/BCFF-Final.pdf.

The next topic of discussion will be the presidential candidates. Even though the election is over, the views of both candidates are still prevalent today because there are some ideas that John McCain voiced in his campaign that the new President-Elect Barack Obama can use to strengthen his term as our new president. John McCain is pro-life, believing that Roe v. Wade is a decision that must be overturned. He is motivated to promote adoption as a first option for women struggling to make a decision about unplanned pregnancies. As far as the economy, John McCain will cut spending on projects that he feels are wasteful, and stop the practice of excessive borrowing and deficit spending. He believes that this will lower the burden of future generations of Americans of paying the bill for today’s indiscipline. As far as the war in Iraq, John McCain feels that the military commitment in Iraq is necessary for long-term success. He wants to send more troops over to Iraq, and feels that by controlling the violence in Iraq, a political settlement can be reached. Barack Obama is pro-choice, and has be consistent in preserving women’s rights under Roe v. Wade. Obama wishes to expand access to contraception, preventive services, and health information inorder to reduce unintended pregnancies. Brack Obama believes in building back the economy in a couple of different ways. He wants to create tax cuts for the working class, and give tax increases to the elite. He will also eliminate all capital gains taxes on small businesses to encourage the creation of jobs. Obama also wishes to open up markets that support American jobs. Obama wishes to end the war in Iraq, and wishes to refocus the energy upon Afghanistan. He wants Iraq leaders to take responsibility for their future, using their oil revenues to rebuild their country. This information can be found at http://www.barackobama.com/issues/ and http://www.nationalplatforms.com/candidates/john_mccain.html.

Finally, I’m going to talk about my last topic. With this particular project, I touched on a number of issues ranging from diabetes to HIV/AIDS. But I think I am going to focus on a topic that is hurting college students across the nation. This epidemic is the new crack-cocaine of our generation. This epidemic is known as prescription drugs. The problem with prescription drugs is that people seem to think it gives them superhuman powers, and that they can be a more efficient human being with drugs such as Ritalin and Adderall but in actuality these drugs can harm you in the long-run and can become highly addictive if taken too often by someone who is not prescribed this medicine. Even though these drugs have been known to increase concentration and produce better grades, there are some dangerous side effects that I think people should know. Side effects include dry mouth, tremors, restlessness, panic attacks, severe depression, hyperactivity, and psychotic episodes. These die effects occur when people who have not been diagnosed with ADD or ADHD take Adderall. Adderall is also a drug that decreases your appitite. When the drug is taken to help in weight loss, the body and brain become dependent on the drug. Sometimes we as college students have to weigh the pros and cons of situations before getting involved too heavily in them. This information can be found at http://www.theplainsman.com/front/2007/feb-14/adderall_deadly_dependency.

The House of God is known as the tabernacle. God’s house tells us a few things. First, it tells us that God’s house is holy, and only those who he deems righteous enough to be in his presence are allowed to be close to the Ark of the Covenant, where Yahweh actually resides. Second, it tells us that God is a God of concise rules and layouts. There is a specific place for everything and specific rules for individual places within the tabernacle. For example, if the priest is not clean when he enters the Ark of the Covenant, he will die.

The House of God is a known feature of the Christian faith, but so is the Promised Land. Though popular, the idea of the Promised Land is problematic because this was land that was the central dogma of Moses’ exile from Egypt with the Israelites, and he wasn’t even able to view the land. It could be extracted from this that possibly God only allowed those to see the Promised Land who he felt the land was promised to. But, then one could refute in saying that there are many people that were not doing God’s will that were still able to enjoy the fruits of the labor of those who strove hard to obey the law of God. This seems to be one of those true bible mysteries.

This entry was posted on Friday, November 28th, 2008 at 3:16 am and is filed under Week 07: Research Stats. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.