Fourth Blog Post

I have learned a lot from these blogs. At first I really dreaded writing these blogs. I'm not a huge fan of blogs and I feel like writing them is so much more complicated then writing on a piece of paper. The huge plus side of the blog is that we all have access to everybody else's blogs so we can read them and think about other ideas that we may have not thought about before. I like bouncing my ideas off onto other people and reading their ideas to try and help inspire me as well. Every person is pretty much writing about a different topic and it is interesting to look at their research and see which way they are headed towards it and how they have been going about the research process.

Researching has never been my favorite but I have enjoyed this approach to begining many research papers. We have done it differently than I ever have before and it has made it more likeable and has made it less overwhelming. Researching can be so overwhelming and can really get on my nerves but but researching piece by piece has made it so much easier and manageable to conduct so that we can get really good information and good services. Also I have learned a little bit more about the writing process. Picking apart all of the work and spliting it up in sections made me realize what should go where and when different things should happen and fall into place. Keeping a blog throughout this process has also been beneficial towards learning the writing process as well. I am a better learner when I am physically doing something or seeing it happen so doing the writing process but not really realizing has made me realize what I am supposed to be doing for the future and the upcoming papers.

During the whole blogging and research process I have learned so much about my inquiry question. My question again involved stem cell research then it dug into the pros and cons of it. I have learned that most people do not approve of stem cell research because of the ethical aspect of it. However, some of the cells would still be eventually thrown away anyway, so why not just use them to help other people? That has become the next question on my mind during this process. I still can't really understand why people wouldn't want to help others, especially if the cells were just going to waste anyway. It completely blows my mind. I can look on both sides of the pro and con fence and understand why some people feel a certain way but in my opinion some things are just worth saving others too. Everybody needs to be "saved" from their sickness and if it could potentially be cured by stem cells, then go for it.

Before seeing the question about what I have learned about myself I wouldn't have thought that I have learned much. I know myself pretty well and I have such a strong opinion about so many things. After seeing the question it does make me realize that I am a more understanding person than I thought but there is still some times that I just can't see why people will not look past some things. Having stem cells as my research question it makes me wonder what people against it would think if they were the ones affected by a disease and only stem cells could help. Would they just die, or would they go against themselves and suddenly become pro stem cell research? With me, I will always be for stem cell research. The outcome of them are so much more greater than anything else and some researchers and doctors are completely for them because they know they will or can make a difference one day in the future.

Third Blog Post Assignment

Readers: When composing all of this research to eventually compile an essay so far I think I will be writing to the government and people of the U.S. to restate that there are good uses for stem cell research and not everything is terrible. People have such a negative outlook on it so they wont give it a chance to view all sides.

Timeliness: My topic could potentially be very timely because of the upcoming presidential election. Depending on who claims presidentcy could set the stage for people who are for or against stem cell research. I could somehow incorporate this into my papers to show that stem cell research is an important topic that could potentially effect us as a whole.

Investment: I am super invested in this topic because my boyfriend is a type 1 diabetic and stem cell research could really help him in the long run. Seeing how his diabetes affects him really makes everything "hit home" and makes me such a big advocator for stem cell research. My reasoning behind it is, if it can help a bunch of people and cure diseases then it is so worth a shot. I think that many teachers and college professors would care because diabetes and other diseases effect so many people. Everybody knows at least one person that has been effected or will eventually be effected by thoes diseases that stem cell research could cure.

(2) Yes, I am starting to see different sides emerge for the essays. One side is pro stem cell research and against stem cell research then my opinion on the whole entire subject.

(3) So far I have learned that the research could cure other things besides diabetes. Also, I read where conducting controversial research has helped save peoples lives and thats how the polio vaccine was discovered.

(4) I commented on Ekemini's blog!

Second Blog Post Assignment

The most interesting source that I have found so far probably is the Stem Cell Information part of the National Institutes of Health website. This source is just a regular internet source but it is credible because it ends in a .gov. The title is simply Stem Cell Basics and the author would just be the National Institutes of Health. It is interesting to me because it almost goes into detail about the stem cell process and how the cells work. I have heard about stem cell research before but I haven't ever really looked into the possibilities of it. This website is up-front about the processes and explains why the stem cells are so special. This source also explains each type of cell and how they are different from one another in regards to the research proccess. Biology has never been a strong point from me but after this research process I will understand stem cells much better. In the end I think stem cell research could end up being a major positive outcome for Americans if it could ever really be practiced.
My topic has changed from looking into heart disease and how it effects the human body to stem cell research. By changing my topic I feel like it has really opened many doors for me and has allowed me to expand my research all the way to the last paper that I will be writing. Stem cell research allows me to talk about the pros and cons and the arguments attached. Narrowing my topic allows me to be more structured and organized through out my next papers.
So far, the only challenges that I am facing is finding too much information in one source where I'm worried that I wont be able to get through the six sources by the end of the paper. I know it will eventually get done and I will have all six, but for now it's worrying me. I can fix this problem by just getting bits and pieces out of every source rather than use every single thing from just one source. For my peers I would suggest using the UNCC research articles that we learned about in the library. Thoes are very helpful when writing and it is also a credible source.

First Blog Post Assignment

So far my inquiry question is: How does Heart Disease develop, what causes it, and what actually happens to a persons body while they have it/or being treated. I settled on this question because it seems to be a good question that I could discover a lot about and keep continuing to learn about, also I believe it is Heart Disease prevention month. It is super important to address this topic because according to my Health and Quality of Life class Heart Disease is among the number one killers in America. People should care about it because everybody needs to learn about the precautions and be aware that heart disease is out there. I expect to find a lot of facts during my research and discover ways to help prevent this disease that is killing millions of people per year. When looking up my topic I am coming up with really reliable resources because it is a medical kind of question. There are tons of websites that I can look up to find information about my topic. If I can't find abunch of diverse answers or I discover that this topic isn't as relevant as I thought then I will change it to something along the lines of Stem Cell research and how people with type 1 Diabetes could eventually be cured. That topic will be a bit more controversial but it will give me a wide span of topics for my next papers that are coming along.