Back After a Long Time...

It has been a while since I have last written a blog entry. Since March 6th, my last entry, a lot has happened. The most remarkable would be that my mom has gone to and returned from India, bringing with her my grandparents on my dad's side to live with us permanently. It is going to be a very hard move for my grandparents, who have lived in their cozy and secluded home in a small town in India all their lives, to now have to live amongst a family with two very noisy children and their working parents. We have built a very posh room in the basement of our house to accommodate them, and so far the move has gone smoothly.

Tennis season has gone on for almost a month, and I wonder whether our team is simply too good to be allowed! We have won every match and I have won every game I have played. My Dunlop racket, mentioned below, has been serving me very well, although the stiffness in my arm persists due to kevlar strings. This evening I was playing tennis with my friend who is much better than I am, but I was doing quite well; in fact, I think it was the best tennis I have ever played in my life. My serve, instead of slowly improving, has suddenly just started working, in that now I hit as hard as I can, and it somehow goes in the service box. My backhand still has to be worked on, however. Hopefully I can improve it as easily as I improved my serve. Tennis is limitless, and there is always room for improvement; Roger Federer is living proof of that.

The third grading period has ended, and my grades have improved, but AP tests are only in May. I can hardly believe 11th grade has gone by this fast... it is almost unreal. In one month, I will be taking the tests that prove that I have learned something this year. Hopefully I do well on those.

It is spring break, and tomorrow night me and my family are going to Washington, DC, to see some colleges. We plan on visiting Georgetown, American, and George Washington University. The original plan was to go see the University of Virginia as well, but my parents decided it was too far from DC (2.5 hours). I am still really looking forward to this even though UVA was supposed to be the highlight of the trip for me. Georgetown especially will be amazing.

I saw one of my favorite movies again after about a year. It is called New York, and it is a Bollywood movie half in english, half in hindi. It's about an innocent indian man who had to live in NYC post 9/11 and how it affected him. EVERYONE should see this movie, whether or not you know hindi (use subtitles).

Tons more has happened, but I cannot think of everything right now.

ILL BE BACK.

New Racket

I love my new tennis racket... it is working great for me. Dunlop Aerogel 500 Lite.

I dont tend to hit as hard, but I like to use spin, so this racket is great for me.

Also, I have it strung with Ashaway Crossfire 17 Kevlar at 60. This is rough on the arm, but great for spin and control.

I will update as I play more with this racket.

UPS: What Can Brown do for ME??

I am waiting for my new tennis racket to come in from California. I ordered it with UPS second day air three says ago... if it doesn't come in tonight within the next hour, I will have to wait until monday. Since tryouts are monday, I won't be able to use it for another week (I can't start using a new racket in the middle of tryouts). After initially cursing UPS and their empty promises, I thought I should try to track it. So I went onto the website and found that I could track it pretty well:

Location	Date	Local Time	DescriptionWhat's This?
THORNBURG, PA, US	03/05/2010	7:29 A.M.	OUT FOR DELIVERY
	03/05/2010	6:23 A.M.	ARRIVAL SCAN
NEW STANTON, PA, US	03/05/2010	3:35 A.M.	DEPARTURE SCAN
	03/05/2010	1:20 A.M.	ARRIVAL SCAN
HARRISBURG, PA, US	03/04/2010	10:13 P.M.	DEPARTURE SCAN
	03/04/2010	8:36 P.M.	ARRIVAL SCAN
PHILADELPHIA, PA, US	03/04/2010	5:42 P.M.	DEPARTURE SCAN
	03/04/2010	11:29 A.M.	ARRIVAL SCAN
ONTARIO, CA, US	03/04/2010	3:44 A.M.	DEPARTURE SCAN
	03/04/2010	12:53 A.M.	ARRIVAL SCAN
SAN LUIS OBISPO, CA, US	03/03/2010	7:30 P.M.	DEPARTURE SCAN
	03/03/2010	6:31 P.M.	ORIGIN SCAN
US	03/03/2010	8:25 P.M.	BILLING INFORMATION RECEIVED

Tracking results provided by UPS: 03/05/2010 5:38 P.M. ET

This impressed me a lot, and I realized there is a lot more to shipping than putting something on a plane and driving it to a house. Apparently UPS doesn't ship to Pittsburgh Airport so they had to drive the racket over from Thornburg, PA (Which I have never heard of... have you??). Also surprising was the number of cities the racket went to. It started in San Luis Obispo, CA, which is Tennis Warehouse headquarters. It then flew to five other cities before being loaded onto a truck! And here my mom complains about connecting flights when going on vacation! :P

*UPDATE* WHILE WRITING THIS ENTRY, I CHECKED THE UPS SITE AND MY RACKET HAS ARRIVED. I LOVE IT! (I have yet to play with it though :) ).

Anyway, the process is pretty complicated, and my respect for shipping companies has gone up a lot!

New York University: New Motivation

I have officially begun my college hunt, and it is high time. I have been looking at colleges like Brown University, Boston University, University of Pittsburgh, Georgetown, Michigan, Penn, and Villanova, a scattering of levels of difficulty to attend. But the one college that I have found to be achievable and flat-out amazing is New York University. Apparently NYU doesn't have much of a clear cut campus, but is scattered throughout NYC. According to collegeprowler, it is "hard" in admission difficulty, but if I get in, it would be amazing. I have checked my chances with collegeboard, and they are looking good. I have to do a lot of work, however. I consider tonight, February 25th, to be the turning point in my life. I have finally realized that I need to get serious about school, and I only hope it isn't too late. No longer will my top priority be to talk to my friends during class, or to check out the girl over there. I will pay attention and do everything I can to get A's in all my classes (besides chemistry :(, that is a lost case). I will do AP test prep and SAT prep all the time, and everything possible to get into NYU for medicine. I can barely imagine how awesome it would be to get into this school!

Wish me luck.

Tennis Season in Two Weeks

Tennis season starts in less than two weeks, and I am still not where I want to be in terms of skill. Honestly, I can't have expected any better, considering I haven't played more than once a week all winter. I was studying for my SATs so I had to stop taking private lessons. My serve is pathetic and my backhand has no spin and not enough power. From this point on, since I still have two weeks, I am going to try to get better. Since NA's varsity tennis team is the defending state champion, I know making varsity is unrealistic for me. But I want to try to be in the top 5 JVs. Tennis is an extremely fun sport to play, and I simply love spring because of tennis season. As for my fitness for this season, I am better than ever with just one problem: the issue of my shoes remains unresolved. I am flat-footed with shin-splints, and every step hurts when I run. It hurts in tennis too, but nothing like in cross country, so hopefully it isn't too much of a factor to my gameplay. I have tried a variety of shoes to take care of this, but none of them have made any difference, and I am now looking towards orthodics (specialized shoes made for an individual) but they may be too expensive. I have watched a lot of tennis since last season, following Wimbledon, the US Open, and the Australian Open intently. Hopefully this will help me play better, if only marginally. I went to a clinic on friday night with a lot of friends from the team. I am not nearly as bad as I could have been, and I actually think I might start the season at a higher level than I expected. My forehand is well controlled and has good spin. My volleys leave much to be desired, though. Hopefully my forehand will help me power ahead of other players. I am going to play as often as possible from today, and maybe by tryouts on March 8, I will have improved enough to start where I want to on the team.

Wish me luck, and I will update this after tryouts.

AP US History Teacher on Jeopardy

My AP US History Teacher, Mr. Mark Venezia, was on the show Jeopardy in 2001. Here are his statistics:

http://www.j-archive.com/showgame.php?game_id=2249

Though he ended with -$200, it was a great achievement just to make it on the game show. There is a preliminary written test, which is quite difficult to pass. Mr. Venezia had been doing really well in the first round; he had the lead with $1900. He continued to do well through the second round, right up until the end, where he missed some big ones and then bet all his money on a Daily Double: "This verb's synonyms include vilify, abuse, berate & disparage." He said "bedevil," and the answer was "revile."

Too bad, Mr. V, but still a great job.

Sick Day

Today I am not feeling well. I have had a headache, pain in my throat, and a cold. My school has a two hour delay, and I will still be having a chemistry test at around 10:00. But I cannot take a test in this condition: not only have I not been able to study due to sickness yesterday, but I know chemistry tests require lots of concentration and thought, which I will not be able to give in this state. I don't think that I am "skipping," because I really am sick. I will go to school later today, so I don't miss too much information. Being sick is no fun, and I would much rather take a test than sit at home, but what can I do? I think I fell sick because I went swimming in Phys. Ed. Class. I will not be swimming anymore!

Three Theories of Unequal World Development

I really enjoy history and philosophy. For instance, I often wonder why continents like Africa haven't advanced as well as others, like Europe. This is an essay I wrote about three theories of inequality that I found online:

Why is the world so unequal? Why does the West have so much more technology and such a strong infrastructure? What are the roots of this inequality? There are many theories, but this article will provide information on three of the largest, most popular ideas. There is Jared Diamond’s relatively recent theory, Guns, Germs, and Steel, and two older theories, Modernization Theory, and Dependency Theory (which is built on Modernization Theory.)

Guns, Germs, and Steel is a theory about why our world lacks racial and ethnic inequality. Biologist Jared Diamond, who was asked by a New Guinean, Yali, why white men had so much more technology and why they were so much better off than New Guineans, proposed the theory in 1995. The reason, according to Diamond, is the geography and history of the land, mainly its plant and animal inhabitants. Diamond thinks cattle were elemental in the advancement of farming, because they provided manpower, food, milk, and fertile manure. The plants that gave most nutrition were not found in the areas that did not prosper. Diamond says human civilizations did better wherever many plants and animals could be domesticated. In his theory, Diamond impresses his belief that no ethnicity has a higher level of intellect than another. The Europeans, who basically dominated North America, had better climates, crops, and cattle than most of the rest of the world. Guns, Germs, and Steel states that economical advancement started from the Fertile Crescent, when it was the only place where there were cattle and plants. These resources were spread along the same latitude as the Fertile Crescent, into Europe and Asia. From Europe settlers brought them to the New World. Thus Europe and the New World flourished, while other latitudes were left behind in technological advances. These technological advances made by Europe included guns and steel weapons, which they used to conquer other areas and rise above the rest of the world. They also had certain diseases, which they were immune to because of their constant exposure to cattle. These germs killed off enemies without anyone even realizing. Thus, the West grew powerful, while the remainder of the planet was forced to kneel at its feet.

Modernization Theory has the basic belief that advancement of different societies is based on their cultural behavior and structural components, in the sense that they are well suited toward technological and infrastructure-enhancing advances. It states that all cultures will at some point be as evolved as they can get, and they will be ready to equal Europe and USA. This modernization process will occur through the sending ad trading of Western technologies and ideas to developing regions. When these ideas and products reach the developing areas, they will be unable to be put to use or effectiveness while older cultural and structural barriers still stand. Over time, the new Western ideas will win over the old cultural ones, and the country will slowly modernize. Also, any developing nation’s cultural behavior will be taken over by Western cultural behavior. A good example of this is the society in India, whom I have seen firsthand. Indians nowadays are as into American music as Americans themselves. They follow the NBA fanatically, and think its “cool” to speak English. So in conclusion, the West has developed more because our culture is more permitting to scientific advancement.

Dependency Theory was put together mostly by Latin American scientists. This is important because Latin America is a developing region. Dependency theorists argue that Western Powers give them unfair deals in terms of trading and foreign investment. They argue that the world will always remain unbalanced unless there is major international reform. Dependency Theory differs from Modernization Theory in that the latter states that everyone will equal out, while the former says that unless there is a revolution in world economy, undeveloped countries will remain undeveloped due to unfair trade.

These theories all have differences, and I think the most convincing one is Modernization, because I have seen it’s ideas in action in Asia, particularly Japan and India. But they all have their followers, and they all make sense to a degree. One thing I noticed was that while Diamond’s theory was oriented around telling how the past came to be, the other two spent more time explaining what will occur in the future. All three of these theories are the results of inquisition or another ulterior motive: Diamond’s theory was made because of a desire to answer the query of a New Guinean friend, and Dependency was made to argue with Modernization.

Embryonic Stem Cell Research in America

Please tell me what you think:

There has been much controversy lately about stem cell research. But what is stem cell research? Stem cell research is a highly advanced technique by which humans can potentially cure several diseases, and fix injuries and birth defects. A stem cell is like a blank microchip. You can program it to be whatever you want it to be and then inject it into the human body. Three types of stem cells exist: The adult cell, the umbilical cell, and the embryonic cell. The first two types of stem cells can be obtained easily: adult cells come from either the bone marrow or the peripheral system, and umbilical cells come from the umbilical cord. Both have their uses, but scientists have discovered that embryonic stem cells have the most uses because they are pluripotent: they can turn into any type of cell at all, while the others cannot. Unfortunately, the controversy rests only with embryonic stem cells. However, non-embryonic cells cannot significantly affect major diseases. The government does not fund embryonic stem cell research properly because of pressure put on it by people who find it unethical. However, stem cell research is perfectly ethical! All types of stem cell research should be allowed to progress throughout America without any state-imposed ethical or financial restrictions.

People say that the use of embryonic stem cells is unethical, because they believe that life begins with conception, and therefore that destruction of a lab-fertilized human egg is murder. They believe those eggs possess the same rights as human beings. However, whether or not life begins at conception, scientific evidence proves those eggs to have no feelings, no emotions, no family, and no mind! Why do they have the same rights as living humans? Is it even arguable to say that those eggs’ lives are as valuable as those of living human beings? And is it even fair to say that the eggs’ lives are being taken in this process? I think not, because ethically, murder is defined as killing a being that does not wish to die, or at least has biological parents or a mind of its own! It is technically fair to say that stepping on a blade of grass is as much of a murderous act as killing a newly lab-fertilized egg, because they both have no emotions, no mind, and feel no pain. Hair-care products tested on rabbits to make our hair “smooth and silky” regularly kill them, but we cannot kill eggs to save some members of our own race? If thousands upon thousands of turkeys can be killed in the United States for the satisfaction of people’s lavish tastes on Thanksgiving, and if millions of chickens and cows, animals with emotional and physical feelings almost as acute as living humans, can be killed throughout the year for taste and nutrition, why cannot lab-fertilized eggs with absolutely no brain or nervous system be killed to save millions of American lives each year?

We have excellent reason to believe that embryonic stem cells can cure diseases; all logical evidence suggests that it will. According to americanheart.org, right now in America, over 81 million cases of some type of heart disease are plaguing people and families! That is about one fourth of the population. Of these cases, over 830,000 patients die each year. They might be your parents, your children, your neighbors, or even you. Cancer is another disease that is rampant in our country. According to the American Cancer Association, Cancer afflicts almost 560,000 people every year in America. There is no cure for either of these diseases, and the treatments for them, especially cancer, are extremely taxing on the rest of the body. Advancement in embryonic stem cell research can potentially stop all of this! If we research we can find ways to manipulate stem cells to replace cells lost during chemotherapy or make up for a lack of brain cells. We can cure Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, Stroke, Diabetes, and more! Nancy Reagan, wife of the late President Ronald Reagan, benefitted from stem cell research as a treatment for her Cancer, and now remains one of the most prominent lobbyists for embryonic treatment in the United States. Just imagine: hundreds of thousands of Americans are afflicted by a disease; some of them are strong enough to try to live a regular life, but they are always inferior and disadvantaged at physical or mental tasks, depending on their disease. Others live abnormal lives and cannot exist normally in society. Would you like to be one of these people? Stem cell research can cure all of their diseases, and yours too!

Another set of benefits of stem cell research is the myriad of injuries, birth defects, and organs that it can repair. Stem cell research will fix broken bones, torn muscles, or even replace cartilage in a much more effective manner than today’s treatments. Actor Christopher Reeve, after breaking his spine and completely paralyzing himself from the neck down, was not in the best condition, so he decided to try stem cell research. Adult cells could not treat his injury, and embryonic cells were not found in the USA due to lack of funding, so he went to Israel and got stem cell treatment, to great results. He was on the verge of being able to live like a normal person, but then died from a negative reaction to an antibiotic. The point is, a man who was about to be taken off life support by the hospital took a chance with stem cell research, and it would have cured him completely. After taking the stem cell treatment, Reeve’s condition improved so fast that he spent the rest of his life lobbying for the complete legalization and funding of stem cell research. Stem cells can also fix or replace birth defects and organs. The hundreds of thousands of people that need organ transplants can get treated without being cut open, and people with brain defects of injuries will finally receive treatment!

Some people challenge stem cell research not because of ethical qualms they have, but for other reasons they have to discourage stem cells. They say that the cost is too high, and the government has other things to pay for. But I don’t think that there is anything more worthy for the government to pay for than research that will most probably lead to a nation that will be able to keep disease and injury related deaths at bay, and possibly, in the future, eradicate diseases completely by developing stem cell vaccinations! If the government complains that money is an issue, they can cut it out of programs like the space program, which may be important, but not even nearly as important as research on the ground that can save human lives. Some researchers also argue that there is too much risk in embryonic stem cells, because of some harmful effects on lab rats that were injected. But embryonic stem cells do nothing different than the other types of stem cells, so if adult and umbilical cells aren’t harming humans (which they aren’t), neither will embryonic cells. Humans are not the same as rats! And of course there is some risk, but no more risk than there is with radiation treatment and heart transplants! Christopher Reeve died, not from the stem cells he had injected in him, but because of a regular antibiotic that reacted adversely with his heart! There is risk in all medical procedures, and stem cell injection is no different. The tremendous effectiveness of the treatment far outweighs the risks.

There is no reason the government should impede stem cell research in the USA. The benefits are enormous, and if the government gave ample funding and right-to-use of embryonic stem cells, there would practically be a health revolution within America! We would heal injuries with unheard-of speed, and a few years down the line, we may even create vaccinations against diseases like Cancer! There should be no ethical concerns about using embryonic stem cells, as lab-fertilized embryos at early stages have no feelings, and are less valued than fully developed humans. Hopefully we will use embryonic stem cells regularly sooner rather than later. Please contact your local legislator to try to do something about this issue, or simply raise awareness by telling people about this issue. If we can get enough people interested, maybe we can change the government’s policy on stem cells!

Works Cited

"Alzheimer's Facts and Figures." Alzheimer's Association. 30 Jul 2009. Alzheimer's Association National Office, Web. 24 Jan 2010. .

"Countries' Policies on Stem Cell Research." Stem Cell Research. Web. 24 Jan 2010. .

"Frequently Asked Questions." ISSCR. 27 Mar 2008. International Society for Stem Cell Research, Web. 24 Jan 2010. .

"Heart Disease and Stroke Statistics." American Heart Association (2009): n. pag. Web. 24 Jan 2010. .

"Heart Disease Facts and Statistics." Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 2006. Web. 24 Jan 2010. .

"Is embryonic stem cell research necessary?." Geneforum (2005): n. pag. Web. 24 Jan 2010. .