You're a normal kid. Everyday you wake up, kiss your little brother on your way out the door, and go to school. After school you go to football, or lacrosse, or the library. Then you go home and do your homework. Eat dinner with your family in front of the TV. On the weekends you hangout with friends, maybe get a little drunk. All the while smiling because even though life might be hard, at least you're safe and you have a warm bed with a loving family to return to. But what if one day that changed. Instead of going to the library you go to jail. After hours of non-stop interrogation without your parents permission you're thrown hastily into a cell. Convicted of a crime you know you did not commit.
Four teenagers in Chicago were convicted of raping and killing Lori Roscetti in 1986. They served 15 years in jail before DNA evidence proved their innocence. Calvin, 14 at the time, says the police tricked him into signing a confession. After interrogating him for hours they promised if he just signed the confession then he could go home to his mom. After he signed the confession they locked him up in jail. A man named Omar Saunders was asked by police to testify as a witness to seeing 4 black guys and a white girl being raped by the railroad tracks. When he refused to falsely testify he was convicted and sent to jail as well. Omar become the group's unofficial lawyer. When they discovered none of their semen matched that of the attackers they realized they were legally free. But first Calvin had to sign an affidavit and he refused. The last time Calvin signed his name on a piece of paper he went to jail for life, so he had decided he wasn't signing his name anymore. After finally getting Calvin to sign they found Kathleen Zellner who was in the business of exonerating wrongly convicted prisoners using DNA evidence. After returning to court and proving their innocence, the men were free. After 15 years of living in prison for a crime they did not commit.
We listened to this story in a radio podcast. It was really sad to hear about the men's experiences in jail. I was amazed to hear that the United States justice system works like that. I had no idea police would interrogate minors for hours without parental consent then trick them into signing confessions. Or that they would try to trick people in falsely testifying against suspects. It was really disheartening to hear this. I skimmed a transcript of the podcast to find the names and dates for the summary and it was much sadder the 2nd time I read it. It really sank in this time. I hope I never go to jail for a crime I didn't commit!
Monday, April 14, 2014
Sunday, January 26, 2014
Cancer and Anti-angiogenesis
The disease we hear more and more about today is cancer. Skin cancer, breast cancer, brain cancer. No matter where it occurs in the body, cancer is a disease killing millions of people. We always hear of radiation and chemotherapy as treatments for cancer, but you can help prevent cancer from developing by eating anti-angiogenic foods.
Angiogenesis is the cause of arthritis, obesity, and cancer. Dr. William Li gave a TED talk about angiogenesis, and said that it is the process of building blood vessels. We all have cancerous cells in our bodies, but for most of us these are microscopic and will never become life threatening. To grow and spread, these cancer cells need a blood supply. They become dangerous when they recruit their own blood supply allowing them to grow. Several common foods help prevent the spread of cancer by cutting off the blood supply and causing the tumor to starve and die. These foods include, but are not limited to, pumpkin, berries, dark chocolate, pineapple, tomatoes and garlic. Dr. Li's approach was instead of removing things from our diet, what could be added.
This was a really interesting video. Before we watched it in class, I had no idea that the foods in your diet could actually effect your chances of developing cancer. Kids are always joking that certain foods are "cancer in a bottle," or that they're going to get cancer from eating something. I don't know if that's true, but it's possible knowing how big of an impact the food we eat has. It was interesting to me which foods were anti-angiogenic and which were not. Red grapes are anti-angiogenic, but green grapes aren't. Lemons but not limes. It makes me feel better knowing that I'm probably keeping my body healthy by eating these foods, plus who doesn't want an excuse to eat chocolate?
Angiogenesis is the cause of arthritis, obesity, and cancer. Dr. William Li gave a TED talk about angiogenesis, and said that it is the process of building blood vessels. We all have cancerous cells in our bodies, but for most of us these are microscopic and will never become life threatening. To grow and spread, these cancer cells need a blood supply. They become dangerous when they recruit their own blood supply allowing them to grow. Several common foods help prevent the spread of cancer by cutting off the blood supply and causing the tumor to starve and die. These foods include, but are not limited to, pumpkin, berries, dark chocolate, pineapple, tomatoes and garlic. Dr. Li's approach was instead of removing things from our diet, what could be added.
This was a really interesting video. Before we watched it in class, I had no idea that the foods in your diet could actually effect your chances of developing cancer. Kids are always joking that certain foods are "cancer in a bottle," or that they're going to get cancer from eating something. I don't know if that's true, but it's possible knowing how big of an impact the food we eat has. It was interesting to me which foods were anti-angiogenic and which were not. Red grapes are anti-angiogenic, but green grapes aren't. Lemons but not limes. It makes me feel better knowing that I'm probably keeping my body healthy by eating these foods, plus who doesn't want an excuse to eat chocolate?
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