Which Way Forward?

"Montana and Idaho plan open-season wolf hunt" Can we balance the issues involved?

I have a very hard time weighing in on this situation.  There is a huge part of me that is appalled by the fact that they are going to allow people to hunt these wolves.  There is also another part of me that feels that I don't know the whole story.  I find the part about inbreeding very interesting and it seems like a very very good argument against hunting the wolves.  I really liked the comment that was made in class that hunting can be allowed only if no guns are used!  

"We plan to bring out tailor-made cells for disease" What do you make of "Stem Cell Therapy"?

I think that stem cell therapy is going to become a very important part of medicine in the coming years.  In a way, it almost seems like the holy grail of medicine.  Find a cell that can become any other type of cell and use it to cure everything from paralysis to Parkinson's.  I do worry about the fact that if these diseases are cured, people will live longer and the population will go up, but if I had one of these diseases, I think I would want the cure!

Do you agree that "Laughter really is the best medicine"?

YES!  It is known in Chinese Medicine and Western Medicine that stress causes diseases.  Obviously if you are laughing more, you're not as stressed.  For some reason it makes me think about how sometimes when a doctor gives a prognosis of 2 years, the patient only lives 2 years.  It makes me wonder if a doctor tells his patient the facts, but only looks at it from a positive perspective ("We can fight this", "Don't worry this isn't the end of the world") if patients would live longer.

Restoring the American Bison to its Rightful Range

How would you prioritize the reintroduction of the American Bison?

I'm a little confused about the Bison.  We hunted them so that they were endangered, then protected them until their numbers were restored and then felt that there were too many and must be "managed".  I'm a little worried that we have taken it upon ourselves to determine how many is too many when it comes to wildlife, when some humans can't even figure out when to stop having children.    I do think that it is important to protect these animals.  I also find their cultural importance very interesting.

"Child cancer risk higher in richer rural families"

This article kind of freaks me out.  I think that families who are "better-off" tend to protect their children TOO MUCH.  I can also understand how children who live in more rural areas would have less exposure to viruses and other illnesses.  Off of the subject of cancer, I always found it very interesting to see how exposure to something can prevent you from getting sick later on.  For instance, my family has a house in Mexico and our friends would always visit.  There was always a time when everyone would get sick from eating from a street vendor except for the one person who grew up in that area.  

I think that it is important to allow your children to be exposed to things...maybe not street vendor food.

Ecosystems and Deep Ecology

What do you think about the "eight-point Deep Ecology Platform"?

I think it's great!  I just wish that people actually thought this way.  Even if everyone picked one point, we could work to make share this world with the other creatures that inhabit it.  I especially like #3 "Humans have no right to reduce this richness and diversity except to satisfy vital needs." We all have this idea that everything is there for us to use and do what we want with.  That is so not the case!

Can you explain why "Ecosystems are both strong and fragile"?

I guess what this means is that when every part of the ecosystem is working it is very strong, but when one part of it falters, the rest of the ecosystem suffers.  Each part of the ecosystem strongly relies on every other part.  I like the article's comparison of an ecosystem and a spider web.  It really helped me visualize things.

HIV and AIDS

How do you feel about Western approaches to HIV and AIDS?

I believe that the western approach has come a LONG way.  Getting a diagnosis of HIV is no longer the death sentence that it once was.  Although there is still no cure for it, it has become something that people can live with (if they can afford the medicine, which brings us to a topic for another day and time).  

Can TCM strengthen your immune system?

I believe that TCM is very good at preventing illnesses.  Since Chinese medicine looks at any disease or illness as a disruption of the flow of Qi or an imbalance, by using TCM to balance your system, you are preventing illness so you are strengthening your immune system.  

What do you think of the deal that saved the whale?

I think that it is great that there are people out there who would work so hard to save wildlife.  I kind of have the feeling that I will believe it when I see it.  I think that money plays such a huge role in all of this that it is hard for many to put wildlife before human desires.  I went to college at Loyola Marymount University, which is on a bluff overlooking the Ballona wetlands.  Eight years later, the wetlands directly under LMU have become a huge development.  The money was good and the wildlife paid the price.

Cell Biology and Cancer

How sophisticated is our understanding of cancer?

I believe that our understanding of cancer has come a long way in the last decade, but I feel that the term "cancer" is used a bit loosely.  There are so many different forms of cancer where one doesn't seem anything like the next, yet we still label it cancer and usually use the same treatments (surgery, chemo, radiation).  I have such a hard time figuring out what is good for me and what is not.  One week, someone says Substance A is good for preventing cancer and then the next week Substance A causes cancer.

How does the TCM approach to cancer differ?

Like I said in the last question, western medicine has the same treatments for all types of cancer no matter what the cause.  These treatments include surgery, chemotherapy and radiation.  TCM looks at cancer as more of an imbalance or blockage.  Every aspect of the body and mind is then treated to fix these imbalances.

Are our genes still being shaped by natural selection?

I believe that they are, but modern technology has allowed us to circumvent it in some ways.  Years ago, someone with a certain gene may have developed a disease that would have been fatal.  These days, we are able to prevent or treat the disease using modern science which may allow that gene to be passed on to future generations.