HW 58 - Prom Interviews

          The person i decided to interview was a fellow classmate of mine(wanted to be kept hidden). He had no problem telling me his thoughts on prom so I asked him if he was planning on going to prom. He replied by saying, " I do want to go to prom. Everyone should go to prom it looks like fun." I replied. I couldn't agree more prom is something people should go to. The next question I decided to ask him was, why he thinks people try to be the center of attention and outshine everyone. He replied, "Well it's because you're leaving highschool you know.  Most people want to leave highschool with a bang in order to make people remember who you are 5 years from prom." 
          The next person i decided to interview was my sister who had gone to prom. I began the interview by asking her the question, how was your prom experience like, and what are your thoughts about prom? She replied, My prom was definantly a night to remember. I still remember it like i it were yesterday. Me and my date danced and laughed it was just an awesome night. My thought on prom is that everyone should go to it. Even if you dont have a date because it definantly is a night to remember. Suprised and now thinking about if prom is really all they say it is, i decided to ask my sister the next question of, why do mostpeople have the need to dress up and look their best for prom. She replied, well that's pretty self explanitory, i mean prom is a party and like any other party you should look nice, or at the very least decent looking. Also prom is a big deal for alot of people, like a few of my friends went looking for dresses about 2 months before prom and took it real serious.
          The final person i decided to interview was my father. I started the interview by asking him what was his prom like? He replied, It was alright it was in my school cafeteria in the evening from 6pm -9pm. There was a DJ and people were dressed nice and having a good time. The next question I asked was, How do you think prom has change over the years if anyrhing . Re replied, i dont think prom has changed. Maybe the type of music we listen to but other than that i couldn't imagine anything being different.

HW 57 - Initial Thoughts on Prom

        I believe that prom is something that impacts everyones life, however some decide to not attend for their own reason. But for those who do attend, prom for the most part is a time in ones life where they transform from a little kid to an adult. I believe that Prom is also a special event in ones life where everyone that attends tries to outshine everyone else to give themselves the feeling that they are the center of attention at their prom and it's there night to live up. For examples girls even those that don't dress classy (most of the time) go to prom wearing a nice dress and nice dress shoes because they want that night to be a night to remember.
        I also believe that prom is a good bye party. One final night to have a good time with your fellow classmates because after that day you will probably be heading to collage which means not seeing your friends as much as you usually do.  It is also a finishing if one chapter and the beginning of another chapter. So prom is kind of like the turning point of a book where everything is starting to turn good because like the turning point of a book, prom is a stressfree part of your school life where everything has turned good and everyone is rejoicing.
Questions:
-Why are you looked down upon most of the time by others if you don't attend prom?
- What exactly does the school staff do to help out with prom?
- Where does the money that students pay for prom go?

HW 55 - Culminating Project - Care of the Dead

        Are Dead Bodies Dangerous? Well according to some such as funeral industry members, dead bodies are a source of contagion to the public and some sort of action should be made in order to "prtoect our health". However in contrast to what funeral industry members think, reporters truly believe that a "regular" dead body is harmless and causes no potential health risks to others(What is meant when the word regular is used is, the body was not contaminated by an infectious disease). Even though this decision of, "are dead bodies dangerous" is for the readers to make one thing to keep in mind while reading this paper is all the past experiences the readers have had on the care of the dead, for example all the funerals the readers have attended.
        Funeral industry members like to "stretch the truth" in order to make there clients happy by giving the body the best funeral possible as well as giving the body the appearence tha it is just sleeping instead of wasting away. " John Q. funeral director says embalming helps prevent the spread of disease. This is just one of the hundreds of little white lies told by funeral industry members. The reality of this is that there has never bein any evidence or any documentation for that matter that shows a human body being dangerous. Another example of this is, the funeral industry members telling their clients how metal caskets are better than wooden caskets because they prevent leakage from dead bodies. However this is not entirely true. Even though metal caskets may take longer then wooden caskets to break down caskets in general are notorous for breaking down and letting air and water fluids,etc. coming into the casket. Also keeping the germs/infected patients completely sealed so that the germs don't spread. Based on the examples given the only things the Funeral industry members could be accused of is being a lier. However everything they do seems to be for the benefit of the living client. It gives the appearence that the funeral industry members believe in safety being first above all.
       Although the thoughts of the funeral industry members is valid, research has shown that bodies are in fact not dangerous. A reporter by the name of David Plotz would disagree with what the funeral industry members think. Plotz believes that "A corpse is only a danger to public health if the victim died of an infectious disease." Which means a regular dead body is really not different from a living body, in the sense that it really isnt more hazardous to other peoples health. In addition to this the bacteria in decomposition is not infact dangerous due to the fact that living people already carry similar bacteria on them. So the only way a dead body could be hazardous is contaminating a underground water supply. Another reporter (wanted to keep his name a secret) also believes that a dead human body isn't dangerous.He like the last reporter, believes that the microorganisms that are involved in decomposition are not the kind that cause disease. And how the types of bacteria that do spread and cause disease to others are most likely already dead because the bacteria can only stay alive on a dead body for a few hours. 
        Looking at both the Funeral industry members and the reporters valid views on  if dead bodies are dangerous, one can definantly find themselves learning something new as well as interesting. For example on a personal level I found myself  learning that the funeral industry is very competative and like other big businesses they want money. Even if that means streatching the truth. I personally after reaserching everything I did about this topic found myself leaning more towards the reporter and believeing that a dead body isn't dangerous. In summary dead bodies to some do bring a potential risk
to others and to others it is really no different from a living body. Everybody is entitled to having there own opinion but just remember about your own personal past experience with the care of the dead before making that decision. 
Citations:
- "Dead Bodies and Disease: The “Danger” That Doesn’t Exist." http://www.funerals.org/frequently-asked-questions/environment/142-embalming-myths-facts. Funeral Consumers Alliance, 01 5 2011. Web. 17 May 2011. 
- Plotz , David . "Are Dead Bodies Dangerous?." Slate . The Slate Group, 23 8 1999. Web. 17 May 2011.

HW 54 - Independent Research B

        Both my parents are catholic. So i was raised as a catholic and baptized  in a catholic church. Being a catholic i felt it necessary to gain a little bit more knowledge than what i know. So after researching catholicism I found out that, When God created man, he made him in the likeness of God. Also that When the LORD saw how great was man's wickedness on earth, and how no desire that his heart conceived was ever anything but evil, he regretted that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was grieved. (Genesis)
(http://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/genesis/genesis6.htm) 
        After gaining more insight on catholicism  it was time to go to the nearest catholic church in hopes to be able to talk to the father. In my favor i was able to talk to the father and ask him questions. When I asked him how his religious beliefs plays a part in his death he said, " Know one knows how they are going to die. It's impossible. However if you believe in god and have followed all the commendments there is know point in being scared. To answer your question my religious beliefs has got  me over the fact that death isn't a scary matter and it is merely something everyone has to go through. Then I asked father John, what has catholicism taught him to belief, in  how people should care for the dead? He replied, "I have always wanted to get buried since i was a little kid. I guess that was because my parents have always set that influence for me. Being a catholic we think that being buried is the best way to go."
        To analyze what the Father was saying, I find it interesting how He as well as other catholic people i know feel as though being buried is the only "right" way for people get get cared for when they are dead. I also found interesting and true that you are greatly impacted by the poeple you look up to. For example the father's parents as well as what he beliefs in has made him trruly belief that being buried is the only possible way his body as well as other catholic peoples body should be cared for when the peson is dead. In my opinion i belief that being buried is the most peaceful way to die that isn't to hard to get over compared to the alternative ways to get cared for. Also after hearing the father speak while interviewing him made me be that much sure that i want to get buried when i die. It seems peaceful as well as up to par with catholic beliefs.

HW 53- Independent Research A

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/03/world/asia/03burial.html?scp=3&sq=burials&st=cse

Precis: When Osama was killed the U.S government had decided to dump the body into the sea. The U.S did this because they didnt want his grave becoming a shrine to his followers.  The U.S also said they did this to give Asama a sea burial which is  the islamic custome (according to John O. Brennan).

http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/04/21/burials-for-mother-and-daughter-killed-in-brooklyn/?scp=1&sq=burials&st=cse

Precis: 56 year old Tatyana Prikhodko, and her 28 year old daughter Larisa, were both killed. They used to live in the same building and got buried in an Ocean View Cemetery in Staten Island. People couldn't believe how sudden this happened. One man, Felix Zeltser said, that he was shocked and devastated by the sudden loss. 

Even though these two topics are different topics on how they got cared for. It can be tied back to the fact that both of these deaths were sudden and to some, mind blowing deaths. 28 year old Larisa and 56 year Tatyana were both killed on the same day leaving neighbors and family members stunned. In that same way Osama's death left people so suprised, Because Osama was a big deal and an evil mastermind.
Today i went to a funeral home in the east bronx. I asked one of the guy that works there who was just standing there if i could ask him questions on the care of the dead. He had no problem and said sure, what do you want to know? So the interview began and i asked him, how do you feel taking care of the dead daily?And i'm guessing your used to sein dead people and they dont bother you anymore. He replied by saying, "I maybe one of the few people that works in this business that actually doesnt mind this job. and I've only bein working here for like 1 year  but yeah i aleady used to seeing all these dead bodies. I then asked him if some days are harer than others. He replied by saying of course some days are harder than others. Somedays there are a whole bunch of people just crying and you cant help but feel sad. The final question i asked him is, How many funerals do you go through a day. He replied by sayin, It depends on the day. Sometime its only 5 and others it's like 8. With that i ended my interview and thought to myself, That these people are brave because i personally wouldnt be able to see like 5 to 8 dead bodies a day.

HW 52 - Third Third of the COTD Book

         These directors (the people helping you plan your burials)  love to try and trick there customers into spending the most money  possible by feeding us lies. As well as making us feel bad about ourselves by telling us things like, "you will have to deal with  the fact that dirt and water would go into the casket and onto your loved ones if you dont buy the more expensive one."  However all hope isn't lost because there is an alternative graveyard were it gives a more natural burial and everything is as you planned.
This got me thinking about what funerals actually try to help you and if anyone in my family has ever gotten a director like that.
Qutotes:
"Bodies may be interred in shrouds or coffins made from common softwoods or cardboard, sometimes available from the woodland group."
"Staff at the woodland ground can help you make arrangements in advance or at time of need"
"Some woodland schemes us burial fees and the grave sites themselves in an effort to restore the grounds to ecological health."
analytical paragraph:
This was a very insightful book. I learned that there are a whole bunch of ways that one could are for the dead, as well as the different types of caskets there are and how much the price differs. This book compares to the book birth because in both books they talk about how the dominant powers like to trick there costumers/patients into doing what they want in order to benefit themselves. This book also compares to the omnivores dilemma because it tells you about the things that the dominant people dont necesarilly want you to know. Mainly because the more you know the more harder it becomes for the dominant people to do there jobs.

HW 51 - Second Third of COTD Book

        In the second part of the book Mark Harris insights the reader with facts on how to handle and care for the dead. Evelyn Mckenna after being married with Ed Mckenna  for almost 16 years dies. Ed was devastated by this fact and  had to make a bunch of decisions for his wifes funeral. The first decision Ed Mckenna had made was to  bury his wife in a basic casket, which is usually made from pine or other inexpensive, common material. He also decided to have his wife buried were the other people in his family got buried. Similar to the story of Ed Mc kenna, Robert smith also suffers from having a dead wife who he has bein with for ten years.Rboert decided  to have his wife buried in the backyard of his house. He used his judgement on how well he knew his wife to make his decisions on the funeral. He thought that a backyard funeral would be best and what his wife would want because his wife loved those woods.
Quotes:
''Burying the body of a family member on one's own,usually rural, property."
''Your local woodeworer/cabinetmaker may be willing to make a basic coffin for you."
"No law prevents you from burying the cremated remains of your loved ones on your private property, rural or urban."
Analysis:
These two chapeters left methinking about two things. one being, "what are some of the more negative things when getting a basic casket?" And the other being, "Has there ever bein any unjust events occuring where the govt. Will not allow you to bury someone on your private property? In addition to the second part of the book. I found it interesting how a basic casket cost way less than a regular casket. I also found interesting how backyard burials mainly happen in rural areas.

HW 49 - Comments on Best of Your Break HW

From abdullah:
I found it interesting that you wrote about your experiences coming from a religious family. I think you're different experiences as when you were a little kid to now is very prosaic. I like your idea of crying being contagious since I have experienced similar instances in my life before.

From Sarah M:
Johnny,
You interviewed two family members with different religious views and analyzed how religion effected their views on death. You also did a great job discussing ho I enjoyed reading about what your grandmother said. You mentioned, "The first thing i noticed about both my interviews is when I asked them what was the first thing that came to there mind they both replied by saying that it is a sad part in everyones life."
I also found it strange that she had an almost identical response to the question, What do you think of when you hear the word death? You would think that an older person would have had a different view on the topic.

To improve this project you could further discuss how religion effects the choice of how to care for the dead. What about the bible makes people chose to not become cremated? What about being underground do you think scares people?

Your work was insightful and I enjoyed reading it.

From Protoge:
Like i have said before in other comments that i've wrote, your topic is really interesting. I liked how you interviewed your dad and grandmother(my dad and grandmother too). I've learned new things about this family. I like how you quoted what the people you interview said. I also liked how you compared the two interviews to eachother. I order to make this blog better. I would say to interview more people and to ask more questions so that you learn something new and learn more.

From Mentor:
Johnny this is a good start, however  you should've asked more questions to the people you did interview, It would have called for a better blog. Also you should've maybe interviewed someone that isn't in your family in order to gain further insight (maybe a friends parent or a older colleague of yours). I like the idea of of this unit being about the care of the dead. I believe that this is a underrated topic that not alot of people look into. I also found interesting how you kept on referring back to what you thought. So next time just do these adjustments and add them into your interviews and you'll probably have a better root to start off from.
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For Abdullah:
I enjoyed reading this blog(although it was a little too long). I also enjoyed how as you were interviewing your mom and uncle you kept thinking about what they said to of course gain insight but also learn more about them. I also valued how you quoted what the people you interviewed said.

For Sarah M:
I liked how you decided to think outside the box and interview someone that ins't in your family. I found interesting how your friends mother as a child was not into talking about death and almost in a sense avoided it. But how now that she is older and more mature she doesnt mind talking about death and excepts it as a part of life that everyone has to go through. I valued how you asked deep interesting questions to make the person you inteview say alot so we can gain info on this topic. Very interesting to read!!

HW 50 - First Third of Care-of-the-Dead Book Post

Precis:       
        There are many alternatives on how to want to care for the dead. For example Jenny Johnson parents decided to give her a burial (where her grandmother was also buried). One october morning at nine o clock the parents of Jenny Johnson left the hospital to make arrangements for the burial. The parents soon found out the cost of the casket (casket being $4,500 alone) and everything else they want to do for Jenny's funeral. Once that got out of the way the embalming of Jenny Johnson began, in order to make her look more presentable and soon after the actual funeral started, were Jenny's family members attended. Everyone in that room was sad, especially the parents who missed there beloved Jenny.
Quotes:
"Embolming is a three stage process of preserving a corpse for viewing
"The few times he's overfilled lips, Fielding has had to cut them open with a scalpel, scrape out access builder and then glue the lips back together."
"Prices for refrigeration vary widely, anywhere from $50 a day to many hundereds of dollars, depending on the willingness of the funeral home."
"No federal law requires that a body be emblamed."
"About half of all states require that a body be preserved if not buried or cremated within a few days of death, but permit methods of preservation other than embalming."
Analytical paragraph:
        Theis book has given me alot of insight. For example i didnt know that caskets cost so much, and I didn't know that you had to pay daily to keep a body refrigerated. This book has made me think about, if there is anything in this country that the governemnt doesn't try to control what you do. However the main thoguht that this book gives me is, if cremations or burials are the better way to go. "Maybe burials are better than cremations in the sense that it's more green and causes less pollution in the air." However I imagine cremations not costing as much as burials.

HW 48 - Family Perspectives on the Care of the Dead

        After thinking about who would be the two perfect people to interview. I came up with my decision and decided to first interview my father. I started out the Interview by asking him what he thinks about when he hears the word death. He then replied by saying, "A part of life that everyone has to go through weather they like it or not."i then decided to ask him, would you  rather be cremated or buried, and why? He replied, "I would rather be crmated because i dont want my body to rot in the ground and with a cremation you and mom can keep my ashes.
        The second person i decided to interviwew was my 84 year old grandmother. Being that old i had high hopes to learn something new and interesting. so after 20 minutes of just talking to her, aking how she is doing and all the other common questions i decided to start the interview by asking my grandmother what comes to her mind when she hears the word death? She replied, A sad part in everyones life. With only that little piece of information given i decided to ask her the question, "everyone in our family has gotten buried. Does this connect to our religious beliefs in anyway? My grandmother responded by saying, "In a way it does because catholic priests talk about what's holy. In the bible it says that god lent us our bodies so we should leave it be and bury ourselves instead of cremating oursleves. Now I have never gone to a cremation but i would imagine it isn't pleasent. To me getting buried is the only way to go. This left me with alot to think about including what my dominant models will think of me if i do choose to get cremated(the ones that are still alive). 
        The first thing i noticed about both my interviews is when i asked them what was the first thing that came to there mind they both rplied by saying that it is a sad part in everyones life. I also found interesting how my father wants to get cremated and my grandmother(From my mothers side) wants to get buried. I realized that the people from my fathers side of the family is religious but not as religious as the family from my mothers side. My fathers side of the family doesn't really care if you decide to get buried or cremated and they are okay with whatever you choose, however my grandmother and mother and everyone else from our family wants everyone to get buried. So this is going to be a hard decision to make.

HW 47- Peer Perspectives on Care of the Dead

        In order to gain more insight and new perspectives on the care of the dead, I decided to interview one of my closest friends. I started the interview by asking him the question, "Does the way the U.S. care for the dead meet your expectations?" He then responded by saying, Wow that's an interesting question and something i've never bein asked before. Well I've bein to 3 funerals in my life and when I looked into the coffins of my dead family members they all looked like they've bein taken well care. However i don't kow too much about how the U.S cares of  the dead either, i got to look into that. After hearing his response, this made me want to know everything that happens in between, when the dead person is taken away from there last living location to being on display in there coffins. So the second question I decided to ask him was, "Do you think that there is a certain part to taking care of the dead that, the workers don't want you to know about." I believe that there is something that the workers wouldn't want there familiy members to know. There are always business secrets  that they dont want the public to know. I agreed and  realized that almost every business does have secrets both good and bad.  
        The next person I decided to interviewed was my Cousin, Who i'm very close to.(We always agree on the same things so i thought that we would both think the same way on this topic.) The first question I asked him was, "what have you noticed about the care of the dead?" He then responded by saing, Well In the past funerals we have bein to together I have notcied that grandma and great grandma looked so peaceful. So I would say that the U.S takes really well care of the dead . I believe that this is the only thing in our system that isn't corrupt right now.That statement got me thinking to the first interview i had with my friend about how everything in this system is corrupt and how every business tries to keep some truths away from the public. So not knowing what to think anymore about if absolutely everything is corrupt in this system or if the the care of the dead is the only thing not corrupt in the U.S. I decided to ask my cusion next question which was, "when you die would you like to be cremated or buried, and why? He replied by saying, at this point i really dont know. However i am more favored to being buried. Everyone in our family is buried it's like a tradition in our family to get buried. I then replied by saying you're right and thus another reason was added to my list of reasons on why I should to get buried. 
        The final person i decided to interview was my god sister. I decided to start the interview by asking her the question, "Do you think the care of the dead changes depending on weather the dead person is getting cremated or buried? She replied by saying, I mean i really dont know, but if i had to take a guess i would say no. It wouldn't make sense for the people to treat the dead bodies they have any different just because they aren't getting buried or just because they aren't getting cremated. After hearing her response I agree'd with her. However I dont know too much about this so i'm also not sure if the dead get treated differently based on how they choose to "part" and alot of crazy things happen in this world of ours so i wouldn't be suprised if the dead do get teated differently. The next question i decided to ask her is, "Do you think that with having a job of taking care of the dead you are also commiting  to a life time of responsibility even after working hours?" She replied by saying, I mean i'm sure that there are more stressful jobs than this. But  in terms of if this job is not made for everyone and if the people that do work in this job have a huge burden to carry then yes this is a job with a lifetime of responsibility even after working hours. 
        After interviewing the three people i definantly gained some new inisght that i prabobly wouldn't have thought on as my own. I also realized that my ideas did compare to the people i interviewed For example my cousin and I both think that there are things kept hidden in the care of the dead that they don't want you to know. I also realized that all three of the people i interviewed weren't 100% sure weather  they want to be cremated or buried yet. However it  make sense that they don't know because we are all around 16 and still young so dying is kept in the back of our minds. Can't wait to move on with this unit so i can learn more about the care of the dead.

HW 46 - Initial Thoughts on the Care of the Dead

        My last experience seing a dead person was about 8-9 years ago when my grandmoher died. I was only a little child and couldn't quite comprehend why my family members (Aunts & Uncles) were crying and why other faamily members were so quiet. Now that i am more matrure I do understand why a persons death is a sad topic (especially when it's someone in your family). Thinking back to that day I realize that I felt no pity and N wasn't sad at all, It almost makes me want to relive it in order to express my emotions and to prove to myself that i'm not so heartless and that I actually care about my grandmother.  
        Growing up as a catholic, with religious family members, they made me believe that once someone dies and they've bein good they go to heaven. However based on how my family members react when someone dies,which is with tears and pity, this has made me believe that someones death is is a sad thing to witness. I feel as though my family for generations has bein the sensitive type that breaks down into tears as soon as anything bad happens to our family members especailly something as serious as a family members death.
                                                     Ideas/questions:
I don't quite comprehend how other people crying makes you feel pity and then makes you cry. It's like a contageous sickness that spreads throughout the whole room until every single person in that room is crying.

HW 45- Comments on comments

To abdullah,kane & Juan:
 I totally agree that this project should have bein taken into more consideration. In future blogs or maybe even a little later perhaps during break when exhibition work gets a bit less hectic i will revise this blog and choose my words closer and add more to this blog.
To Amon:
 I agree that maybe I could off added some more stuff in this paper to make this piece more intersting. A more solid argument would be a difficult task to tackle though because that could lead to a biased opinion formed. However I do believe that would call for a better revised paper. Thanks for your thoughts.

HW 44 - Comments on Other People's Projects

My comments:
To Felipe:
I too like you want to see more doctors working hand in hand with the midwives and doulas in a more equal way. In my opinion i think midwives ans doulas are more important because unlike most doctors the doulas and midwives actually care about their patients.
I valued how you use evidence to get you to your next point. i also valued how you made everything clear to let the reader know what points you made and what point you are trying to get across.
This project matters to me because I wanted to have someone thoughts to compare to on this topic and i basically agree with everything you said here. I liked this paper and the only piece of advice i have is,i would only add
more about what you think on this subject. 

To Ariel:
I can't believe your mother I had to go through all of that. I 100% agree with you when you say, Doctors don't really care about there patients and do what is most convenient for them.
What i valued about this post was how you gained insight from both your mothers past birth experiences as well as the movie to come to a conclusion of how you want to have a birth when the time comes.
The only thing i would do is, i would add more try to connect this experience to other peoples experiences taht you looked up. But Besides that this is really good paper and i enjoyed reading this. 
To Natalie:
This is a really well written very informative post and clear post. I understood basically everything and I knew what points you were trying to get across.
I was shocked to see how many women had to go to the hospital to do a mandatory abortion.
The reason why I think your project is important is because you cite a whole bunch of things having to do with unecessary maandatory abortions and just in general this topic is really interesting and i think everyone should know about this.
Even though this was a good paper the only two little pieces of cold feedback i have is, you kind of repeat yourself in two paragraphs, and the other suggestion is to make it a little shorter. But besides that it was a really enjoyable paper to read and i definantly gained some new insights out of reading this.
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People iwho commented on my blog:
Kane said: 
I liked the topic you choose.I learned new things here that i never even thought about. What you are learning is sooo cool.
In your project I liked how you use a whole lot of evidence to back up everything you're saying.
To make this project better i would say make it longer andcheck some new evidence to put into this blog
Juan said:
This blog made me think about the past birth's i had to go to because of my wife. The first thing i want to say is, i could tell you took sometime to find research, because you basically have research on everything your saying to back up what you're saying. I also liked how you were very informative in your blog by putting up statistics on how the birthing process has changed throughout the years. However one thing that i would do to better this post is to, come up with new insights either by looking some new things up, or watching some videos. And try to make this more interesting to read to get the reader to enjoy reading your blog.

HW 42 - Pregnancy & birth culminating project

U.S citizens choosing abortion over premarital adoption

         In today’s modern society women have two options to choose from when dealing with birth, they could either have the baby or not have the baby. Now if the mother decides to have the baby that’s great and she just opened a new chapter in her life. However if the mother for what ever reason decides to not  have the child there are either two things you could do, being she could have an abortion or the mom could choose to but the baby up for adoption.
          It’s only natural that a pregnant women that doesn’t want the child would either kill the child and do an abortion or choose to give it up and put it up for adoption. In fact based on my resources I found out that 93% of all abortions occur for social reasons (i.e. the child is unwanted or inconvenient). I also found out that the amount of abortions happening in the U.S. is very high. In the United States the number of abortions happening per year is Approximately 42 Million, with Approximately 115,000 abortions happening per day. (Alan)
      It appears as though in the U.S there are much more women deciding to go through with abortion over premarital adoption. For example In the 1970’s there was only 8.7% of women putting there child up for adoption, and the percentage has only decreased since then. In addition in the U.S. there is only a mere 2% of unmarried women placing their child up for adoption.  This is shocking to me because I would think that the mother after dealing with the 9 months of labor and actually giving  birth all by themselves would leave them wanting a companion, but as statistics show the woman actually don’t want to deal with there baby. ("Placing Children")
      Undoubtedly there are many reasons on why pregnant women would want to adopt there child or go with the abortion option. However over the years it appears as though  the women in the United states don’t want to give up there child because over the years adoption rates have decreased but would much rather kill it, which proved that some women just don’t want the companion of a baby for whatever reason. However this whole project got me thinking that maybe adoption is the better way to go but of course this is only my opinion and everyone is entitled to have there own opinions.


                                              Citations

Alan, Guttmacher. "Abortion facts ." The Center For Bio-Ethical Reform . Alan Guttmacher Institute, 1996-2008. Web. 6 Apr 2011

"How Many Women Place Their Children for Adoption?." Placing Children. Adoption Media, 2001. Web. 6 Apr 2011.

HW 41 - Independent Research

Culminating project -academic project

-NYC abortion options
Source: Adapted from: www.guttmacher.org/pubs/fb_induced_abortion.html
How abortion is always a choice. Also lets you know a little bit more thiongs about what that person will be getting themselves into if they want an abortion.
-Best practices for doctors to not dominate patients during this process
by Diana Korte and Roberta Scaer http://www.pregnancy.org/article/choosing-birth-experience-you-want
This article talked about how doctors seem to be in control of everything. Also how rates on mid wifes had increased as well as increase/decrease rates of many other interesting things.
-Adoptions in NYC
http://www.nyc.gov/html/acs/html/become_parent/become_parent.shtml 
This source provided information on adoption. What you will be responsible for and what your are getting yourself into. As well as talking about how great of a thing they think adopting is.

-Government support for pregnant women and mothers in poverty - if you're poor and becoming a mother in NYC what programs could help you and how would you apply?
http://family.jrank.org/pages/1312/Poverty-Welfare-Program-Example.html
This article talks about the system and how if your poor you are entitled for the government to help you out and give you money. As well as other benefits to make that persons life less stressful.
-Prenatal strengthening and nutrition and exercise and self-care
http://www.enotes.com/nursing-encyclopedia/childbirth-education
This article talks about different ways to be better prepared for when the woman actually has to give birth, Both physically and mentally.

HW 40 - Insights from Book - Part 3

        "Hey Tina Cassidy thanks for writing Birth. Your main idea about how birth is performed and how the birthing process have changed over the years made me rethink pregnancy and birth. 
        The part that really stood out to me was the part where it talked about the tools that were being used to "Well, in the last third of the book you focused on" the men not being allowed to be in the same room as there mates aswell as the mother to not bond as much with the babies as the mother wants. Which further developed  the first 2/3rds of the book. But let me be more specific." And then you listed the top 3 ideas/pieces of evidence/insights/questions from that final third of the book.
#1) At the end of the 1960's, only 15 percent of men were attending the births of their children. (pg.207)
#2) They are convinced they cannot give birth without the participation of the bby's father.(pg. 214)
#3) As late as 1958, a survey of three thousand U.S. hospitals found that only three hundred allowed mothers and child to remain together. (pg. 226)
        "Well, let's be clear - your text sought to provide policy analysis from the perspective of a actual person who deals with and enforces the hospital policies.  for the book-reading-public to better understand pregnancy & birth in our culture. Given that aim, and your book, the best advice I would give for a 2nd edition of the text would be, to gain some new infromation and to get some new people in the book that has gone through the un just birth and pergnancy process.  But I don't want you to feel like I'm criticizing. I appreciate the immense amount of labor you dedicated to this important issue and particularly for making me think about the tools being dealt to help the patients & the process the patients have to go through. In fact, I'm likely to keep all this information regarding this book in mind so i could make sure that when i go through this process with my wife nothing un just happens.

HW 39 - Insights from Book - Part 2

Business of Being Born:
-Over the years there have bein many new "medical treatments" to help the pregnant woman endure less pain during birth, However the problem with this is that the shots that were given to the woman to help her feel less pain was not even approved and not a safe drug that should be iven to the pregnanat woman.
-I have also learned that doctors want to make there lives easier so they take the easy way out and use machines that'll take the babies out at a more rapid rate.
- The doctors also seem to ignore everything that the mom says. Although the doctors do listen to what the mother is saying the doctor seems to make things go the way they want and not by what the mothers want.
The major insight the book tries to communicate:
In the second hundred pages the book tries to tell its readers of how for many years woman have always had to go through a very humiliating process. How the doctors procedures aren't always the best, and how the doctors procedures could lead to the womans death.
"Woman have tolerated unnatural labor position, little snips, humiliating enemas, unnecessary shavings, dangerous instruments, embarrasing hospital gowns, and tight labor schedules for hundreds of years." (Pg. 161)
"Hoping to bring down her temperature, doctors withdrew fifty ounces of blood. Her Pulse, and her strength, steadily weakened. Then she died."(pg. 162)
5 interesting aspects of pregnancy and birth:
-The history of the C-section
- Going through birth while having a disease
- originally when the tools were to be used and how the doctors changed when to use these tools to help themselves
-If men more suitable to be doctors
- is birth giving considered a disease
one crucial factual claim by the author:
http://tinacassidy.blogspot.com/

HW 38 - Insights from pregnancy & birth book - part 1

        If I was to write a book about pregnancy and birth i would do the same thing Tina Cassidy did in her book, "Birth." I acknowledged the fact  that she dedicated the book to people and how in the first sentence of her first pharagraph she already gave us insight about birth.
Major question the book tries to answer:
1)  The amount of questions the people have that are currently dealing with birth?
"Could it possibly be true that even in early twentieth -century America, women delivering in hospitals were more liekely to die there than if they had given birth at home? That poor woman were used as obstetrical guinea pigs? (Pg. 7)
2) Who's really more helpful men are midwives?
"Once Bourgeios became a famous midwife, however, she began publicly attacking surgeons for their middlesome mistakes that complicated what should have been moraml births."(Pg. 36-37)
        The insight the book, "Birth" tries to give us in the first 100 pages are how there there is no one perfect way of giving birth. How everyone's situation of giving birth will be different. How both the guy and girl go through  so much and go crazy because of the situation there in.
Response to insight:
I believe that everyones birth experience is different and hard. I feel especially sorry for all rhe people that have to go through the birthing process alone. In the book all the people dealing with pregnancy and birt seem to be going crazy and are stressed enough even with there partners so i couldnt imagine how they could get through this process if they were alone.
5 interesting aspects of pregnancy and birth:
Cesarean sections are very useful but dangerous
soon to be parents deserve to get extra attention
Doctors changed the way things are performed to help the people as well as themselves
Midwifes are very useful
Giving birth at a home like envirenment is a good alternative if you dont want to give birth at the hospital
       The author uses real people to gain insight on birth and pregnancy. She also uses this information to make arguements. I find this evidence to be very reliable for there are alot of people that are going through the birth and pregnancy situation . The author's whole book is evidence, however this doesn't interupt or stall the book at all. It makes the book more intersting and more enjoyable to read.

hw 36 comments

Juan said...

Hw 36 was very fascinating to read. This piece had alot of depth into it. I could tell that you put in the time to get the infromation you did. The line that most stood out to me was where you said, "The topic i would further like to investigate would be, How does teen pregnancy affect the parents? However i am also interested at, how much teen pregnancy has increased by over these past few years and what the majority of teen guys go through during this process." This stood out to me because it showed that you are taking this unit seriously and coming up with question that you want to know for this unit. Overall it was a good piece.
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Kane said...

The Post above is very very interesting. I cant believe that your having a unit about birth. This was very informative because i learned new things about what people tend to experience during birth.The line where you said, "He told me that it is very stressful. He has to deal with her mood swings and he says that it is the the worse thing he has ever gone through was very insightful. I am only 13 and i know that teens do have babies. I am not ready for a child so i can't even imagine how stressful it must be for the 17 year olds.

HW 36- Pregnancy and Birth Stories

        The first person i decided to interview about their experience with pregnancy was my mother. When my mother found out she was pregnant she was very shocked. She was also kind of scared and didn't know what to do. The first thing she decided to do was call my father who was in the army at the time. However being pregnant wasn't going to stop her from working so she continued to work for several months more. After about 6 months of being pregnant my moms belly grew a ton so she decided to take a break from working and decided to take classes where people would tell her what she should do and what not to do while being pregnant. My mother also told  me how every single one of her friends came to visit her and gave her presents and gave her alot of extra attention because she was pregnant.
        The description of the process of pregnancy that my mom was telling me did fit into my initial viewpoint of the subject. This is probably because my mom tends to remind me of what she went through while i was born and while my brothers & sisters were born. However the way my mom was telling me her story It seemed like it that was in the past and none of that matters anymore. She did tell me though how it was a bit hard going through pregnancy because the father wasn't around during that time. How she wished he was with her during that time. My parentswere about in there mid 20's when they were dealing with this and the way my mother told me her story it made me realize that mid 20's would be a pretty good age to have a child because 25-30 year olds tend to be responsible and can handle the taking care of someone else.
        The second person i decided to interview was my father. he told me how he was shocked when he heard the news and how he was a little fraustrated and worried for my mother because she was all alone only with her mother. While my father was telling me this i realized that both my mother and father were kinda going through the same mental stress and they were both worried and missed eachother. My father also told me that he wanted nothing more than to be with my mother at that point and he sad because he didn't end up seing his daughter(my sister) until after she was born and 6months old .
        According to my initial opinions about birth my father wasn't the typical guy during my mothers pregnancy. His stroy is probably the most unusual story i have gotten of a guy dealing with the birth process. Of course this wasn't my fathers fault that he  couldnt be wityh my mom during her pregnancy. However i believe that if he were with her he would have stayed with my mom during her pregnancy and they would have gotten through it together.
        After talking to both my parents the last person i decided to interview was my Friend who is 17 and got a girl pregnant and is currently going through the process. He told mee that it is very stressful. He has to deal with her mood swings and he says that it is the the worse thing he has ever gone through. However he told me that he is very happy he is going to have a baby and cant wait to be a father. This lead to me realizing that alot of people that have gone through birth try to look at the positvie things as a way to make the negative things seem less worse. 
        The topic i would further like to investigate would be, How does teen pregnancy affect the parents?  However i am also interested at, how much teen pregnancy has increased by over these past few years and what the majority of teen guys go through during this process.

HW 35- Other People's Perspectives 1

        While visiting one of my closest friends (who is about to become a father) I asked him how he was doing and how the mother was. He responded by saying, "i am good and my girl is also good. I then asked him if he was scared of the new born baby that's coming on the way. He Then responded by saying, "i'm a little scared but i am ready to have this baby and i will do everything to give it a good life and keep it healthy." This came as a shock to me because he is only 17 and most teenagers would be fraking out looking for a way out of having that baby. 
        Another person i decided 2 interview was my older sisters friend who has given birth. She seemed like she didn't want to answer any questions so i kept the questions at a minimal. However one of the questions i did ask was how was the birth process like? She replies by saying, Giving birth was one of the most depressing times and was so much to deal with. And i wish that i could have gotten more support from the baby's father  and my family." After hearing this i couldn't help but feel bad for her because she had to go through all of that. So then i decided to ask her how her child is and she replied she is good and very beautiful. The Strange thing i didn't understand was even though she had a hard time while pregnant she seemed to be happy she had a child.
        So this lead to my conclusion being that some people are luckier than others. However one thing in common that everyone goes through is through Emotional problems. All of these people i spoke to are pro-choice and support the option of abortion, because they think that some pregnancy's are accidents and just happen. So they shouldn't suffer for a mistake.  Also all of the people i talked to do think birth is a beautiful thing. They think it's the most beautiful thing of life.  

HW 34 - Some Initial Thoughts On Birth

        When i come across a topic such as Birth the first bubble that comes to mind is the woman carrying a baby for nine months, as well as the option of getting an abortion, and the people i know that have given birth already.  This lead to me thinking how birth is actually a beautiful process (maybe not at the time being because of all the pain the woman goes through and all that the man has to put up with) almost always leaving both the mother and the father happy in the end. This idea lead me to the question, "do all woman that have given birth feel a sense of relief when they finally see there babies?"   After brainstorming i came up with the answer that most mothers do feel a sense of relief after giving birth because they dont have 8 extra pounds on them which comes from the baby, and they dont have to be careful with what they do so that they dont hurt the baby.
         This topic could bring up alot of very interesting questions. Another questions I thought of was, "Why do some teens decide to go through with having a baby when they know that they are not yet ready to take care of a child and dont necesarrily have all that is needed to take care of a baby?" After brain storming i came up with the answer that maybe the pregnant teens feel pressured into keeping the baby or maybe some teens think that having the baby will change there life for the better and make them a to better person. So as one can see there can be multiple questions asked about this topic. I personally have a lot of questions that I would like to know the answer to for example, Why is it that the pregnant woman gets extra moody, why does the pregnant woman get such wierd cravings, and what causes her to be more likely to throw up when pregnant? I hope all these questions get answered throughout this unit and i'm very curious to see what i will learn next in this unit.

hw 33

Juan said...

This piece was very intriguing to read. This hw assignment made me think of illness and dying through a different lens. "The most nightmarish thing about our culture's practices around illness & dying is how the big insurance companies care more about benefiting themselves more than they do helping the ill and saving peoples lives. This made me think, How could this possibly be changed and come up with a few ways. This reminded me of how bad our system works and how it may not get better.
kane said...

johnny i liked your writing. It's sort and it gets to the point. The line that really stands out, "What i might address differently is why all the doctors seem like they have no say on the unjust practices that are going on in our country.This made me realize that maybe our country really is corrupt and that there is some bad things going on that the govrenment doesnt want us to now about
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For Arden
          The depth of your work was very good. You put alot of depth into it. The line that really stood out to me was when you said, "Lets change the focus of our attention from trying to heal those who are sick to trying to prevent people from getting sick in the first place." This is very true and stood out to me because instead of having so much advertisements for going and eating at Mc. Donalds the govt should be telling us to stay healthy and actually promote this way more than they do. This also made me realize that the way the govt. is running things doesn't seem to be helping us stay healthy.
For Shariff
            You put alot of depth into your piece. I could tell that you took this course very seriously and put alot of effort into this piece. The line that stood out to me was when you said, " I feel that Preventative medicine is something not taken seriously enough in today's culture, we talk about being healthy and eating well but how many of us actually do that? First i would like to say that this is probably very true for most. Alot of people probably aren't as fit and as healthy as they should be.Which made me realize that our culture has probably changed over the years.

HW 32 - Thoughts following illness & dying unit

        The most nightmarish thing about our culture's practices around illness & dying is how the big insurance companies care more about benefiting themselves more than they do helping the ill and saving peoples lives. What i might address differently is why all the doctors seem like they have no say on the unjust practices that are going on in our country. And maybe do some research where the doctors do go against what the big insurance companies want and do what they feel is write despite all the money the hospital might be losing. Dominant social practices around illness & dying connect to DSP around food in our culture because in both these pactices there are corrupt ways of doing things just so the boss's could save more money. Also these two are connected because the people in charge try to do the least amount of work possible while the price stays the same.

HW 30- Illness & Dying- Culminating Experimental Project

         There are many Aspects of the dominant social practices around illness & dying that few people look into. Practices such as Giving us pain killers so that when the segeon's perform the operation on the patient's body, the pill would have already taken it's course causing the body to have bein reacting differently resulting in the patient not feeling pain. Or how the big insurance companies really care about themselves and only do things to benefit the big insurance companies and to ensure that the ill people get less health care. However there is another aspect of the dominant social practices around illness & dying that even less people look into, such as looking into other countries health care. In countries such as Canada, France, and England where they have a socialist health care system. Now one might find themselvs asking themselves, "But what flaws could these countries possibly have." Well in the Movie Sicko by Michael Moore, he did a great job of explaining there health care system too and how even though there is no such thing as a "perfect health care system" it did show how those other countries have way better health care systems then us and have way better method of doing things than us. 
        The first piece of research I got was by watching the movie sicko by Michael Moore. In this movie something he did was he wanted to compare our health insurance methods to other countries health insurance methods. He went to Canada, France, and England to do this and found that there methods of doing things is very different to our ways of doing things. For example while talking to the people in those countries they told Michael Moore how if they got ill  and couldn't go to work because they were still ill they would still get paid. Anothere example would be how in those other countries the doctors will go to your house and treat you at your house if you can't go over to the hospital. However the most shocking thing that stood out to me was that doctors in Canada, France, and England get paid more for telling people there patients in the U.S only try to do what is needed with the least amount of time possible.
        I have wondered can there be a perfect health care system in the United States. Michael Moore answered my question, when he said that "it is impossible to have a Perfect health care system," However Everyone is entitled to health care. Now even though this is true the down side is the wait may be ridiculously long to actually be seen by a doctor and get the medical attention needed (http://healthcare.procon.org/). Now Britian's health care system has a main principle of the British health care system, being that, "there should be a free, comprehensive health service for everyone according to need, regardless of their income." (http://neamh.cns.uni.edu/MedInfo/bhs.html). 
         While i was talking to my grandmother and asking here questions about illness and dying. I found myself asking her a very deep question. I asked her, "was there a time where the doctors were unjust and didn't seem to care about your medical problem." She then responded by saying yes i have and she then told me how when she was in her mid 30's she didn't have health insureance and because of that everyone that worked in that hospital didn't seem to care about her or her medical problem. She told me how she had to wait about 3-5 hours just to get medical help. She then told me how when she finally did get called to get medical help the doctors didn't really seem to want to help her. And how the doctor seemed as if he wanted to move on to the next paitent and didn't really answer her questions thouroughly or thoughtfully enough.
(http://www.hospitalcomplaint.com/).
         This is clearly a violation of everyone being treated the same while being saught medical attention. This makes me very mad however this is just the tip of the iceberg because this must happen to alot of patients without health insurance. "Back in 2006, The Wall Street Journal told another such story: that of a young woman named Monique White, who failed to get regular care for lupus because she lacked insurance. Then, one night, “as skin lesions spread over her body and her stomach swelled, she couldn’t sleep.”(http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/11/opinion/11krugman.html)  This pice of evidence shows that my grandmother wasn't the only one that has to deal with being treated unequally because they didn have health insurance. This makes me think, will the United States health care change and become as good as other countries health care such as britain or france. Even though i am not sure it's safe to say by the way things are going that the health care of the United States will not change for a while.
        The pieces of evidence i found that are listed above show that the health care of the United States is not similar to that of Canada, France, or England. My granmother has visited France before and unfortuanantly she was telling me how she got sick there and had to go to the hospital. She told me that unlike here the medical care was superb and they treated her really good and answered any questions she had very thoroughly and thoughtfully. After telling me this I then asked my grandmother, how does the health care system of France compares to the health care system of the United States. She then responded by saying that it didn't and how she doesn't think the United States health care will ever compare to that of Frances. I then asked, why and she said because the doctors of France seem to actually care about you and you are the patient meaning that you are their 1st priority. 
           So i was correct when  I said that The United States health care system is not as good as  Canada, France, or England. However I was also right when I said that there is no such thing as a perfect health  care system. Thus proving that those countries really are reliable and you can count on the medical health care in those countries not like thie curropt medical system we have here in the United States. 

HW 29- Reading and noting basic materials

        Everybody gets sick at some point of their lives.Now it may be true to alot of people that we spend the most time in the hospitals when we are really close to dying and when we are really sick.However there are many times when we go to the hospital throughout our lives. When i was a about 10 or 11 i had surgery on my arm because i had broke it when i fell  off of a bike that i was riding. Even though i remember waiting for lii 3-4 hours once it was my turn to get medical help the operation went smoothly and didnt take as long as i thought it would. I saw people there  that were in the hospital before me but i guess since i had good health care it came to my advantage and i didnt wait as long as other people. This made me realize that every single person will have to go to the hospital alot of times because every one gets sick and everyone dies. However just because everyne gets sick that doesn't mean that every one will go through the same process.
        It's sad to say but, the reality is that everyone will die and there is no escaping it. However its safe to say that not every one is going to die the same way because there is so many ways to die in this world. In Death and hospital culture it says, "Today, more Americans die in hospitals then anywhere else, and the most frequent response to critical illness there is to try to stave off with the most sophisticated technological means available." (Death and Hospital Culture, 25) This is very sad to know because this shows how alot of people actually do go to a hospital when there time is about to come and die there. However just because this is said in that quote that doens't mean that dying in the hospital is the only way to die.Because in the book i read, "Tuesdays with morrie" Morrie(The main character who was very ill and found out that he only had a few months left before he died) died at home and was in his bed. So im not saying that one is better than the other but its safe to say that where you die will definantly affect that persons experience of dying.For example when you are left to die at home yu seem to have more freedom and anybody can visit you at anytime.However when you are left to die in the hospital the doctors have rules as to what times people can visit you and that person will probably have to sign a whole bunch of things. 
        In the Movie sicko the narrator talks about how so many people in the United states have no health insurance. This is a very sad reality because unlike the other countries such as canada and britain where they have amazingly good health insurance, the health care the united states will only help us when the big insurance companies are recieving money also. However having health insurance in the U.S will have its perks. For example you probably will pay less for treatment and could even get the treatment for free. But like alot of people in the U.S, if you dont have health insurance you will probably be charged a huge sum of money for a little treatment. And the the wait and procedure to get the treatment may be brutal. To make matters worse later on in the Movie sicko it talked about how this one doctor declined a patient health care when they really needed it and because of this, that person died. This really fustrates me because it proves how all the big insurance companies care about is money and they dont even care about us. They would put money over our health care.

HW 28 - Comments 2

        For Sharif, your most beautiful line was in the final pharagraph.The way that you connected with Nadia is very interesting. It is as if with every question you asked you getting closer and closer with her. What really stood out to me was how you connected the way Nadia was acting to the way Morrie from the book "Tuesdays with morrie" was acting. The quote  "i realized that nadia who once moved her hands around as she would tell me stories no longer does that (similar to Morrie in Tuesdays with Morrie)." Made me realize that you noticed every little detail about nadia and thus by doing that you were able to connect this to Morrie.
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        For Arden, That whole piece was really good and you put so much depth into your work.  What really stood out to me is how your great grandmother is 96 year old and still in breathing. The quote, "I partially screamed when I told her about school, my unit about dying. Remembering what my dad had said I tried to change the subject, but I found that she did not mind talking about it." Also stood out to me because your grandmother was so open and was willing to answer alot of questions about illness and dying. This made me realize that there are people in this world that except dying and dont make it a negative experience.