Plagiarism

Plagiarism in any form can not only damage a student's grade and reputation, but can also reflect badly on the original author of the work. Students who are caught plagiarizing are viewed as slackers and cheaters who will do anything to get a good grade for the lack of work. Here at Clemson, the idea of a good grade gets knocked out immediately upon the decision to copy someone's work because of the anti-plagiarism policy, and the sudden consequences of copying another person's work can be a failed assignment, course, or expulsion from Clemson University all together. The student who is caught copying another work automatically brings a negative reputation to his or her name and negates whatever is claimed original in the assignment. Plagiarism also damages the original author's work, leading people to associate the negative work of the cheater with the authentic work of the author. Plagiarism, or any other form of copying another person's work and claiming it as one's own, is wrong and should not be accepted anywhere for any assignment.

Log - February 16

I found another book title Stem Cell Now, by Christopher Thomas Scott, which mentions the use of stem cells for Parkinson's Disease on page 3 and talks about the development of the nervous system on page 31 and discuss how neural stem cells work on the following pages, mentioning Parkinson's and other diseases. Starting on page 78, there is a section titled, "Can Embryonic Stem Cells Cure Parkinson's Disease?" My paper is on somatic stem cells curing Parkinson's Disease, but this section might have useful information relevant to my topic.

Log - February 13

I found the book Cell of Cells on the fifth floor of the library, but I did not find any information that I thought would be helpful for this paper. I found a book, Stem Cell Transplantation by Ho, Hoffman, and Zanjani, which talked about stem cells producing neural cells on page 80. It even mentions the SC derived neurons containing dopaminergic pathway, which involves dopamine, the chemical Parkinson's patients lack. Another book, Chemical and Functional Genomic Approaches to Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine edited by Sheng Ding, talks about neural stem cells on page 38. Another book, Stem Cells by Evelyn B. Kelly, talks about Parkinson's Disease and the hope of stem cells on page 49. These books could possibly have a lot more information in following pages, but I haven't looked yet.

Research Log

I found an speech given by a Parkinson's patient to an audience to convince them of the benefits of using adult somatic stem cells to treat the disease. He had his own brain tissue removed, and his own stem cells were used to treat his condition. His symptoms improved dramatically and he was able to live with a better quality of life.
http://www.leaderu.com/science/stemcelltestimony_turner.html
I found a picture showing how stem cells can be used to develop any form of tissue that needs more development or treatment. I used the key words "somatic stem cells" in images.
I found a book in Cooper Library by searching the topic Stem Cells--Transplantation. The book's name is Cell of Cells: the global race to capture and control the stem cell, by Cynthia Fox.
Looking on PubMed, I looked in PMC and typed in Somatic Stem Cells, and I found an article titled "Comparative transcriptome analysis of embryonic and adult stem cells with extended and limited differentiation capacity."

Research Log Template

For keeping track of sources and the information I use from them, I will use the following guidelines to record that information.
What's the title of the source? When did I find the source, and how did I find it? Did I use a computer, or a reference desk in the library?
If I did use a computer, what search terms helped me find the source? Were there search terms that led me to the source? Which terms seemed to have the most available information?
Write down some quotes from the source, and summarize some of the main points of the source in order to remember what the source can be used for.

Free Write

Parkinson's Disease affects millions of people all over the world, from Muhammad Ali and Michael J. Fox to a neighbor down the street and my dad. Even with the enormous amount of medicines and surgeries these patients could take to slightly relieve the symptoms, no cure has yet been found. As anyone suffering with a disease or condition would tell you, a possible cure is an idea that immediately gives hope and excitement for a better life. Stem cells can regrow neurons in the brain that cause the disease, and in a short amount of time. Stem cells could provide a potential cure for Parkinson's Disease in a short amount of time, and with new noncontroversial forms of stem cells, we should waste no time in research and the pursuit of a better quality of life for Parkinson's patients.
Since I have not looked into this topic much, my initial source will be Wikipedia. I want to gather general information and be able to pursue other sources. I could also look at medical journals, such as the monthly newsletter that my dad gets concerning developments for Parkinson's disease, or maybe some websites that I've used for biology classes, such as PubMed or other scholarly journals.
Major obstacles that I will probably face writing this paper will be trying to focus on convincing people that stem cells provide a potential cure for Parkinson's Disease, and so they should be used without hesitation. I could possibly get sidetracked in an argument over embryonic stem cells or somatic stem cells, and I could also get caught up in writing an informative paper on Parkinson's Disease.

Page 35 Questions

My father was diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease, which involved my entire family, and it happened when I was 12 years old. The issue under discussion is whether or not it is ethical to use stem cells to find a cure for the disease. I want to use stem cells as the pathway for finding a cure for Parkinson's Disease, and potentially the only way. One interpretation says stem cells are good for finding cures for diseases, but the other interpretation says stem cells are unethical because of killing fetuses.
My dad being affected by the disease has caused me to be very involved with wanting a cure. His quality of life has been reduced over the past few years. Finding a cure for the disease is great, but killing a baby is not. People have mixed emotions over abortions, so they will probably have mixed emotions over stem cells. Hopefully stem cells found in the cheek would work, so as to go around the abortion controversy. We should find if cheek stem cells work for finding a cure for Parkinson's Disease, and we should say that a certain amount of research should be done at all times to find a cure.

Page 27 Questions

A current issue that matters to my family is the research and development of medicine, or maybe even the cure, for Parkinson's disease. My dad was diagnosed with Parkinson's about 10 years ago, and since then the idea of better medicine appeals greatly to my family, we want more research to be done on the cure. The audience I'm talking to already knows about certain diseases, such as cancer or AIDS, so they should already know how research is done to find treatment for diseases. This topic has so many topics within one topic that I should not have any problem writing a complex paper for this assignment.

Research Topic

When I typed in my research topic into Google, the first link I was given was a website for a health site explaining how stem cells are the best long term treatment for Parkinson's Disease. The next link was for Wikipedia, which gave general information on the disease and also on stem cells. As I looked over the page, I also noticed other links for types of stem cells, which might bypass the controversy over stem cells and also maybe give a type of stem cell that would work best for finding a cure. Maybe stem cells from the cheek would be best for curing Parkinson's Disease, or maybe stem cells from another part of the body.

Research Paper Topic

My research paper topic is how stem cells could provide Parkinson's Disease patients with a cure. Embryonic stem cells are controversial, but we could use other forms of stem cells.
1. Yes I am interested in the topic. I am interested and want to convince people to find a cure for Parkinson's Disease.
2. Yes I can argue a position. With enough factual evidence and statistics on how easily stem cells could provide a cure, I can provide a strong argument in favor of stem cells.
3. I think there will be plenty of articles on how stem cells can affect research for a cure for Parkinson's disease.
4. I am a biology major, so anatomy and the workings of the human body are right in my line of study. I know enough to put medical articles into basic terms in my paper.

Superbowl Commercials

Out of all the commercials during the Super Bowl, my favorite was the Doritos commercial involving a guy that changed things around him to suite his wants, but once he ran out of Doritos he got hit by a truck. Not only did I think the ad was very funny, appealing to pathos, but also gave the audience a sense of urgency to acquire a bag of Doritos. The way the chips allowed the guy to have power over his surroundings makes the viewer feel like the chips will help solve any problem, and a lack of Doritos will ultimately have horrible outcomes, once again appealing to pathos. Ethos does not really play a major role in the commercial because there is no source besides the voice in the background, but logos does cause the audience to evaluate whether the events of the commercial are possible. Pathos weighs the most and has the most influence, not only because of the humor, but also because it makes the audience feel a necessity to buy Doritos.