Summer Assignment 8.25

This will be the final week of the summer assignment this year. Great job with all the comments, I hope you found some of the articles I linked to interesting. There are a few things I have for you to do this week.

• To get credit for this week's entry, comment about what your favorite post was over the summer, and what you are most looking forward to learning more about this year.
• If you are registered for Dr. H's class (Block 1 or 2), please visit this website and request access. If you have used PB Works before, you can use your previous account information and will not have to confirm your email. If you are new to PB Works, you DO NOT need to use your school email account to request access. After I accept you, you will receive a confirmation email. 
• If you are registered for Miss Drust's class (Block 3), she will provide you with the course website.
• Once you have access to the wiki, feel free to have a look around. It is still a work in progress, so there is not too much there yet. There are some things on the front page for you to do.

Summer Assignment 8.18

Back to the Ebola virus this week. Slightly different assignment this week though.

• First, listen to this podcast on Ebola (direct download the mp3 file). Generally a very good introduction to the virus, but as someone who worked in a virus lab before moving into teaching, there are a few inaccuracies that caught my ear. 
• Pay special attention towards the end of the episode when they discuss the experimental drug ZMapp and the ethical questions of how and whether to use untested drugs for Ebola, and whom to use them on.
• Read this article about the ethics of unproven treatments for Ebola.

What is your opinion? Should untested drugs be given to sick individuals in cases such as this? What type of informed consent can we reasonably expect from someone with a disease that has such a high mortality rate? What about the fact that the drug was given first to the American patients, then to the Africans? The podcast does a good job highlighting the fact that this was really a no-win situation.

Summer Assignment 8.11

• Lots of news about depression going around right now after the death of Robin Williams. One of the better descriptions of what depression is like, along with some tips on how NOT to help someone going through depression, can be found in this webcomic. Warning: There is some "adult" language in the comic, so if you are offended, be warned.
• Why typos in your own writing are so hard to find, while typos in others work stick out.
• This should put some perspective on having to log in to the school's internet filter a few times a day.

Summer Assignment 8.4

• Ebola virus has been in the news quite a bit lately, and being the virus fan that I am, I can't let the opportunity pass. But instead of the usual stuff here are some good reasons not to worry too much about it.

• It's not a global pandemic.
• Even the patients coming to the US are not that big of a deal.

•  I wouldn't normally link to a Cosmo post, but since this one has a picture of flesh-eating beetles, I can't resist. Oh, and it is also the great story of an artist turned scientist/science educator.