Nature vs. Nurture

Daphne Goodship and Barbara Hebert are identical twins that first met when they were 40 years old. The twins were separated at birth and adopted by two completely different families, Debbie Mehlman and Sharon Poset are identical twins who were separated at birth, brought up in different religions and practicing entirely different traditions. When Debbie and Sharon met for the first time they found that they had incredibly similar habits. When they get excited they both cross their eyes. Tom is from rural Kansas , raised Christian, Steve , raised as a Buddhist, lives in Philadelphia. Tom and Steve are identical twins, separated at birth, and met for the first time four years ago. Tom and Steve both own a body building gym and both men are 100% dedicated to fitness. Are these stories mere coincidence, or is it proof that our genetic makeup has more of a factor on our personality and overall social behavior versus the environment in which we were brought up in? “You have your mother’s eyes” and “Boy you are a spitting image of your father.” But where did we get our outgoing personalities and our incredibly natural intelligence. Do children learn these social behaviors and talents from their parents at a young age or was it all predetermined by our genes? It is quite clear that one’s physical characteristics are hereditary; however, the water gets murky when crossing the bridge of individual behaviors, intelligence, and personality. On that side of the spectrum no one can give a clear explanation for where exactly all these behaviors and talents are coming from. The age old argument of Nature Vs. Nurture has yet to reach a conclusion and scientists still do not yet know exactly how much of us is determined by our DNA and how much is determined by the environment we are raised in and our own life experiences. All that we do know is that both DNA and the environment play a part. Some scientists and researchers believe that people behave the way they do in result of their genetic makeup and even some humanistic instincts. This theory is known as the nature theory. The nature theory even takes a step further to say that our intelligence, personality, aggression and sexual orientation are also encoded in an individual’s DNA. The other side of the debate is known as the nurture theory of human behavior. These scientists believe that people think, act, behave, and learn the way they do because their parents taught them to do so. With a growing understanding of the human genome scientists have been able to conclude that both sides of the spectrum are correct for it is nature that hone these instincts and traits and then it is nurture that allows us to mature and put to use those genetic abilities.

Hunger in America

When people mention hunger, one will most commonly think of third world countries that suffer from starvation. When I google imaged hunger, pictures of starving children in Africa appeared. It is not only third world countries that are suffering. There is hunger here in the United States that just goes unnoticed. Due to the recession, 14.6 % of American households, 49 million people, were food insecure at some point during 2008. This is the highest number since the survey was first taken in 1995. With such high numbers, there is clearly a number of people seeking help from local food banks and soup kitchens. However, there has been a drop in donations from companies that are on a tight budget. The Capital Area Food Bank, in Washington D.C., delivers around 25 million pounds of food to 700 nonprofit agencies each year. The Capital Area Food Bank also reported a 91% increase in calls to its Hunger Lifeline last year. There are two very important things that we as citizens of the United States can do to help the hunger here in our country. There are three hunger-related bills that discuss ways of saving food and helping those in need. The Good Samaritan Hunger Relief Tax Incentive Extension Act would extend a tax incentive for farmers to donate extra food to charity. School Food Recovery Act would allow schools to donate extra food to food banks. The third bill is a bill to amend the National School Lunch Act which serves more than 30 million children nationwide. Senators are looking to include the Hunger Free Schools Act to eliminate bureaucratic obstacles in the school lunch program and serve an additional 3 million children. The other important thing we can do to help prevent hunger in the United States is that we can donate food, money and our own time at local food banks. There are even programs here at Merrimack College where students can volunteer at local soup kitchens. The Merrimaction group goes to the Lazarus House and Bread and Roses once a month to serve in soup kitchens to feed the less fortunate. President Obama made a pledge to help end childhood hunger by 2015 and to do so, the administration and Congress must provide funding and support for food banks and nutrition programs. We can do our part as students by getting involved in our school community volunteer programs and by checking out websites such as http://feedingamerica.org and http://www.foodlifeline.org

Train Kills Elephants Trying to Protect Babies

(Sept. 24) -- Seven elephants have been killed by a speeding freight train in eastern India, after two baby elephants strayed onto the tracks and older ones followed to try to save them.

The deadly collision happened under a full moon late Wednesday in West Bengal between two protected wildlife zones where trains are supposed to slow down, USA Today reported. More than 20 elephants have died there in a little over a year, chief state forest conservator Atanu Raha told Agence France-Presse.

Str, AFP / Getty Images

People gather Thursday near one of the elephants that was killed by a train in India's West Bengal state.

But the number of animals killed in a single accident this week was "unprecedented and shocking," the World Wildlife Fund's local director in West Bengal, Sashwati Sen, told The Times of India. Local forest officials are preparing a report on the accident and plan to meet India's railway minister next week, the paper reported.

"One of the elephants was dragged for about 400 meters (yards), while the other four died on the spot," district official Kalyan Das told India Today. Two others were severely injured and died hours later, he said. "It is a ghastly sight," forest conservator S. Patel told the same paper. The baby elephants were among the dead.

Tracks between New Jalpaiguri and Assam were blocked for several hours Thursday by other elephants from the same herd who rushed to the scene to guard the seven dead bodies and an eighth animal who was wounded but survived, AFP reported.

For more information on this article, visit http://www.aolnews.com/world/article/7-elephants-killed-in-indian-train-crash/19646995

What the **** happened last night?

College has come to be the home of the "drunken hookup". Every party you go to, there is always those two people eating eachothers faces out in the corner. I don't know why, it's not like they are going to remember this the next day. In fact, they will probably regret it. 50% of the people that i met, who were in relationships, have already broken up. Most of these breakups are caused by "drunken hookups". The drunken hookup leads to one thing, which leads to my favorite part of the next morning, "the walk of shame". When you see that one girl, walking back to her room the next morning with her shoes in her hand, and wearing the same clothes from the night before, all you can do is clap for her; she probably had a rough morning. It is amusing, however, when you and your buddies go to lunch the next day and try to figure out what the hell happened. You have sharpie all over your face, you buddy only has one shoe on, and your other buddy is missing. Then you look in your phonebook and you have three random numbers, but you were too drunk to type in her name so it just looks like "stphjnai". To add some humor, a wise man once said: "I can't tell you what i learned from school but i could tell you a story or two, of course i learned some rules, LIKE DONT PASS OUT WITH YOUR SHOES ON".

However, as citizens of Merrimack College, it is our duty to follow the rules that regard the consumption of alcohol on campus. If you live in a dry dorm, then you shouldn't be drinking in your dorm. If, by chance, you are 21, you still have to be responsible with how much you drink. It is never fun to be the kid who everyone just points and laughs at because he/she cannot control their alcohol consumption. The rules are set for the safety of the students, not to make college boring.

Gettin Rude on the Radio (If You Know What I Mean)

The radio used to be a form of entertainment for the whole family to enjoy. Before television and computers, the family would crowd around and listen to music and radio thrillers. The very thought of vulgar language over the air was unknown. Needless to say, much has changed over the course of the century, making Top 40 music not for the faint of heart. It has now become very popular for music artists to place many sexual innuendos into their music. Recent songs that come to mind are “Rude Boy” by Rhianna, “Lollipop” by Lil’ Wayne, “Candy Shop” by 50 Cent, “Starstrukk” by 3OH!3 and “If You Seek Amy” by Britney Spears.

Many listeners have complained to the FCC about these innuendos, but it claims it is unable to edit the material unless there is a direct sexual or explicit reference located in the lyrics of the song. For instance in “Rude Boy”, Rhianna makes some very risqué comments, but doesn’t once use the word “sex” or any inappropriate word. According to FCC guidelines, censoring a song without swears or sexual terms is a violation of the artist’s rights under the First Amendment, which endorses freedom of speech. So the question arises: should the FCC, a government organization, make an amendment to their policy and attempt to censor clearly sexual innuendos over the airwaves?

Personally, I think that some songs should be pulled from radio broadcasting. The radio doesn’t have ratings like a movie or a video game; younger children can hear these songs in a restaurant, on the bus or any other public place. I’ll admit, I like to listen to rap and explicit music, but that is in the privacy of my own home. What does an artist have to sing that will put them over the line? It seems that they keep coming up with new ways to bend around the rules so their music gets played over the radio and enters the ears of those who shouldn’t hear it.

Toddlers & Tiaras

"Congratulations , you are our new Miss Teen Mini Miss", exactly what every young girl wishes to hear, or is it? Many girls grow up with the dream of modeling, being in beauty pageants and looking like the girls in the magazines and on TV. For most girls this is only a pipe dream and they eventually grow out of it. Others, have their dreams come true but soon realize that it wasn't a dream, it was a nightmare. When people watch pageants they only see nice smiles and pretty faces. They don't understand what goes on behind the scenes and what it takes for the girls to get where they are. Only recently has it been brought into the light, what girls go through when they participate in pageant life. Stress from the pageant and pressure from stage mothers go hand in hand. But has it gone too far, to the point where it is completely unhealthy?

At ages as young as four and five, mothers have their daughters in beauty pageants. It has recently been displayed in shows like Little Miss Perfect, Little Beauties: The Ultimate Kiddie Queen Showdown, and Toddlers & Tiaras, the grueling efforts that these children have to go through. Before the pageant even starts, girls have to go through training, practice dance routines, and buy numerous costumes. Thousands of dollars, money that could be going towards college tuition, being spent on material things that serve no purpose. Then once the pageant begins, the conditions get even worse. The girls are woken up at 5 in the morning in order to prepare for a day that will last until at least 11. They beg and cry to go back to sleep but the mothers won't allow it. To get the girls to cooperate, the moms bribe them by saying that if they win they can get a pony. First their hair has to be teased, curled and sprayed down. Then they have to get spray tanned. After that its twenty pounds of make-up, fake eyelashes and ruby red lipstick. To top it all off, the girls put in fake teeth called "flippers". Something as normal and childlike as losing teeth is seen as ugly and bad. The girls have to prance around on stage in "barely there"clothes so that they can feel "pretty". After that the girls have to come to terms with the fact that only one of them is going to win. The let down to all of the girls that lose is unfair at any age, that young especially. So whats the message being put out by all of this? And who's to blame?

Less than seven percent of girls that start out in pageantry, make it somewhere in life where their previous activities in pageants actually matter. The real world isn't like a pageant. You cant wear pretty dresses, bat your eyelashes, and hope for the best. So with all of this in mind, should child pageants be banned?

It Pays to go to College

College is a new adventure, it’s a place to define ourselves and discover our passions, meet new people and get a valuable education. So thirty-thousand dollars here, ten-thousand dollars there, oh, another nine-hundred dollars for books? No problem. We’re young adults, we should have all the money in the world at this point in our life…not. But maybe our parents do…most likely not with the economy like this. So let's look at loans, take out forty-thousand dollars a year for four years. That’s, what, one-hundred-sixty thousand dollars? Woah.

So think about it, unless you’re parents are made of money we’re all starting our young lives off in debt. Alright, fine, most people do these days anyways. People understand that a higher education is worth the money and the debt. However, we are going to a private school, it’s about twice as expensive, yet we have to pay to print or copy papers in the library, something most of us do on an almost daily basis. This isn’t included in our tuition? The school seriously can’t afford to pay for that? I understand that printing is expensive, and there are great renovations being done to our school, like a new café in the library, but how about helping pay for the necessities? How about laundry? Is that too expensive as well? Why do we have to pay extra for that? This isn’t included in our room and board or our tuition? You would think a private school that brings in so much money every year and is so expensive would at least allow us to print and copy papers for free. If not, where the hell is our 40,000 dollars a year going?

I come from a typical middle-class family in northern Vermont; I got a scholarship to go to this school, and work study. If I don’t keep my grades up, though, there’s no way I can afford this highly reputable school. Most people I’ve talked to are here on scholarship, it’s encouraging us to keep our grades up which gives our school a great reputation, but I also paid six-hundred and seventy-two dollars for my books for one semester straight from my own bank account. Not only that, I got to school and had to by two more computer programs and two more books, an extra three-hundred dollars, for this semester. You know what I’m talking about, right? We’re wiping our bank accounts clean. Here’s what gets me, we sell our books back to the bookstore for not even a quarter of the price I originally paid for them, and they turn around and sell the book again for four times that price. Everywhere we turn on this campus there is a way that the school is making extra money off of us, but we’re already paying about 40,000 dollars to come here!

Do you remember that work study that you got in your financial aid package? We all got it. Unfortunately, there’s not two-thousand jobs on campus for all of us. As freshmen the majority of us can’t have cars on campus, good luck getting a job off campus then. That makes even babysitting difficult; but why do the upperclassmen get offered on-campus jobs first? They are, after all, allowed to have cars on campus. There’s a limited number of places on this campus that will hire freshmen. The student center won’t even hire. Finding a job here is so competitive. But like I said, it’s also the upper classmen that can find jobs off campus since they have the cars. So good luck to us, say buh-bye to that work study for the year.

So, you go to the den probably for at least one meal a day, most of us do. You want to order a grilled chicken sandwich? That’s going to be 6 dollars. Would you like to add tomatoes and onions? That’s an extra dollar. Oh and then you’re going to want fries and a fountain soda with that. Two more dollars, please. Hello, we pay 10,000 or more dollars a year for room and board, this isn’t included? Since The Den is so ridiculously expensive, can we at least get more variety and better-tasting, healthier options at the cafeteria?

There’s not even 3,000 students on this campus, there’s not enough money to pay for all of us? I don’t think so, our money’s being put somewhere else. And by the time these fun, fours years have gone by, most of us are in almost 200,000 dollars of debt. We’ll be paying that off until we’re about forty. And for those of us going to graduate school, probably until we’re fifty. What are you going to do? Let’s speak up and do something instead of waiting around for change.

The Trouble with Facebook?

             Facebook was created by Mark Zuckerberg as a hobby project during his time at Harvard. Within months, Facebook began to spread through the dorms of Harvard and its ideas were accepted by many students. Inevitably, word gets around, and Facebook had reached the ears of students at Stanford and Yale; like Harvard, it was widely endorsed.  Before Zuckerberg knew it, Facebook had become the new “in” for student social networking. Today it ranks as number one in social networking, topping MySpace, Friendster, Xanga, hi5, and Bebo. Facebook has undoubtedly increased the ways that people can communicate and interact, but at the same time it can harm the well-being of humans.   

Over 140 million people worldwide, and still growing, have joined the social networking phenomenon. Facebook users have gained the ability to keep in touch with loved ones, friends, business partners, and meet new people. In this aspect, Facebook is viewed as a positive addition to the world, and it is true. However, people tend to only notice the positive factors without looking at the negative ones. The popularity of Facebook resides in early teenagers and college students. The problem that Facebook can create is ironic itself. One word that can sum up Facebook is “friends,” and that same word is also the problem.

Having many friends is a good thing, but is having enough ever enough? For some teenagers, this is a question that leaves many feeling insecure and judgmental about themselves and others. This psychological effect causes some teens to want more friends, because the more friends you have the better right? This is not true at all. If people started to add others just for that sole purpose, then they would just end up hurting themselves and ruin the ideal that Facebook built. It creates insecurity and causes them to judge themselves.

Facebook does not only affect people that have “a lot” of friends, but those who do not. In some ways, the amount of friends that people have can cause others to judge you. For example, a person that has 48 friends might be judged as unpopular and weird. The service of uploading photos becomes a huge issue of being judged. People will always upload photos of themselves, and the fact that they are easily accessible makes people “vulnerable.” People can access them and the saying “a picture is worth a thousand words” can come to haunt someone.

So what do you think of Facebook and the effect it can have on people? Do you believe that Facebook can hurt the well-being of people or is Facebook a positive factor in society overall? Share your answers and see what other people have to say about it.

"Let's Harvest the Organs of Death Row Inmates"

Christian Longo, an inmate at Oregon State Penitentiary, founded G.A.V.E. in response to the great need for organs in the United States. On his organization’s website, he notes that today over 100,000 people are in need of organ donation while there are 2,000,000 viable donations available from inmates (there can be multiple donations from one person). Christian is not the only one who has these feelings. Many inmates and people around the world believe that organ donation is a positive way to make right the inmates’ societal wrongs. They also feel that the inmates should have the right to decide how their bodies should be used after death.

While this problem seems to have a simple solution, it actually provokes many different debates about the morality and even the feasibility of this idea. The problem with taking inmates organs after they die starts with the medical possibility. The methods of execution today include lethal injection and the electric chair. The cyanide in the lethal injection immediately contaminates the internal organs rendering them useless. The electric chair essentially fries the internal organs also rendering them useless. As a solution there are two proposed methods of inducing death; brain death and stopping the heart. During these operations, the inmate would be under anesthesia, and therefore they would not feel any pain.

Some problems also arise in the morality of the issue. In China, the donor process of inmates has been corrupted to some extent. Two thirds of donated organs come from inmates. While the need for donation was and still is great, people started to suspect that people were being sent to death row just to provide organs to others. The solution in China: all death sentences must be sent to the Supreme Court for approval. In the United States such a decision, if it became necessary, would tie up the legislative process for other cases being sent to the Supreme Court. There are also measures set up to make sure that inmates do not get wrongly coerced into donation if unwanted. There would be contracts that would have to be signed to make sure that their body would be taken care of in the way that they wished.

While this issue is complicated and poses different problems, the fact is many inmates on death row are proponents of this idea. They understand that their crimes were wrong but they see this as a way to contribute to the society that they harmed.

For an animated short overview of this topic go to this site: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ONsEpfeZ3nI

Links:
1. http://www.tc.umn.edu/~parkx032/P-ORGAN.html
2. http://wupa.wustl.edu/record_archive/1998/04-09-98/articles/analysis.html
3. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article6810287.ece

Latin American and Spanish Film Series

September 22 – 7:15 – 9:15 - McQuade Auditorium
Machuca is a 2004 Chilean film written and directed by Andrés Wood. Set in 1973 Santiago during Salvador Allende's socialist government and shortly before General Augusto Pinochet's military coup in 1973, the film tells the story of two friends, one of them the economically disadvantaged Pedro Machuca who is integrated into the elite school of his friend Gonzalo Infante.

Living on Campus vs. Commuting

As the new students enter the Fall semester in college there are many difficulties that come along with it; like adapting to the new environment. For those who are living at school it is easier to get into the hang of things, but as for those who are commuting it can get a bit stressful.

The students that are living on campus are at an advantage. They get to meet people quicker since they are always at school, which helps a lot when you are in a completely different place then you have been for the past four years of your life. Living on campus also means you can get involved with many other things like clubs, sports, and you can always attend the infamous "college parties". We also can't forget that students that live at schools don't depend on transportation to and from class.

Commuting in the other hand can bring many challenges. A commuter depends on a car to get to school so if anything happens to the car you might not be able to get to class on a certain day and that may be a problem. A commuter might also have trouble making friends, when all the resident students are walking around the school with their roommates the commuting student might be alone since he or she has not made any friends yet. Driving to school can also get stressful; loosing time in traffic can mean less time studying or doing homework. The commuting student might also have to work back at home and with all those responsibilities it may be hard to manage time.

Massachusetts Law vs Merrimack Rules

The biggest controversy on our campus today is the policy regarding marijuana. Since January of 2009, marijuana has been decriminalized in the state of Massachusetts. This new law states that if one is caught with under an ounce of marijuana they may be subject to a fine of one hundred dollars at the discretion of the officer. However, the views of our administration are different.

The administration perceives marijuana as a threat that corrupts our youth. The policy at Merrimack College states that possession or use of marijuana will result in a four point infraction. Also, if a student is caught, for example, with an eighth of weed (three and a half grams) in separate bags, it could be deemed as intent to sell and that student will be expelled on sight. However, if the same situation occurred off campus, the violator would receive a fine of one hundred dollars only if the cop chooses to press charges. One would think that marijuana would be a lesser offense than drinking on campus due to the reestablished laws regarding marijuana. On the other hand, possession or use of alcohol is only a two point offense. According to the state, underage drinking is a more punishable offense than that of possessing under an ounce of marijuana. Therefore, Merrimack College must update their laws in accordance to the laws made by the Massachusetts state government.

"Don't ask, don't tell"

On September 9, 2010, the 1993 “don’t ask, don’t tell” military policy was ruled unconstitutional. The rule had allowed homosexuals to serve in the military as long as they did not speak about their sexual orientation. United States District Judge Virginia A. Philips said that this was a violation of the First and Fifth amendment rights of homosexual soldiers, and the only way that the law would be found acceptable, is if the military could prove that it strengthened the military in some way. However, Judge Philips decided that the government could not prove this, thereby making the rule unconstitutional.

Isn’t it about time that this rule was looked at again? If every soldier is putting their life on the line to fight for their country, should it really matter if they are gay, lesbian, or straight? If heterosexual soldiers can be open about their sexual orientation, why should homosexual soldiers have to hide part of who they really are? Isn’t that unfair?

Some gay soldiers have attested they felt stressed trying to continually conceal their relationships from the military. First Lieutenant Dan Choi said that he even made up a female name for his boyfriend, in order to talk about his relationship with his fellow soldiers. Eventually however, lying became too much for Choi and he opened up about his personal life on an MSNBC television show. Choi was then discharged from the army.

Other soldiers have felt the same way as Choi. The army speaks about integrity and honesty, yet it forces a great number of their soldiers to lie about who they truly are in order to keep their job. Many soldiers who have faced the unfortunate reality of being discharged due to their sexual orientation, have then also been faced with large financial burdens as well. Mara Boyd and Sara Isaacson were discharged, and then were expected to pay the education costs that the army had previously paid for them. Therefore, on top of losing their jobs, they were also then in thousands of dollars of debt. The discharged soldiers run the risk of losing their pensions as well if they have not served in the military for at least 20 years. How is it fair that gay soldiers have to deal with all of these stresses and have to constantly worry about their secret being found out, but heterosexual soldiers do not have any of these worries? By getting rid of the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy, many of these unfair stresses will be alleviated.

To read more on the recent ruling, go to http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2010/09/10/dont_ask_dont_tell_called_unconstitutional/?p1=News_links, and to read more about gay soldiers personal experiences with the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy, visit http://www.politicsdaily.com/2010/06/17/dont-ask-dont-tell-policy-conflicted-gay-soldiers-also-fac/.

Lessons from Haiti

I hope to see everyone in the Honors Program at Dr. Arthur Fournier's presentation,

"Haiti and Its Earthquake: Life Lessons from the Haitian People"
on Tuesday, September 14 at 3:30 PM in the Rogers Center.

A Merrimack alumnus, Dr. Fournier is co-founder of Project Medishare, the first medical agency to respond after the disaster. On Tuesday he will, in his own words, tell "the true story of the Haitian people -- their courage and resilience through one of the worst natural disasters in history."

Eight months after the devastating earthquake, it is imperative that the Haitian people not be forgotten. Please come an listen to Dr. Fournier.

--Prof. Cain

Welcome! Bienvenidos! Bienvenue!

Welcome to Merrimack College, your Freshman year (!), the Honor's Program, and to the writing classrooms of Professors Nielsen-Dube, Cain, and Burger. We look forward to meeting, talking, and writing with you this semester.

All the best,
Professor Nielsen-Dube