MForman

Here is my final Final Exam page, FIRST story.(links to the other two stories are on that page OR you can view them HERE

NO TOWEL LEFT BEHIND
Surgeon forgets towel inside of man afer colon surgery

A California man went in for an operation, and came out with something strange in his stomach.
William Miller came out of colon surgery at the M.D. Cancer Center in Houston suffering a fever and was hardly able to walk for 73 days. No one knew what was wrong until the doctors discovered a towel had been left in his abdomen after the surgery.
Miller sued the Cancer Center, arguing that the doctors should have found the towel sooner.
Miller's experince unfortunatly is not as rare as one would think. A study shows that malpractice claims involving objects left in patients bodies is no unusual according to Atul Gawande, a surgeon at Brigham and Women's hospital in Boston.

Based on the nearly 29 million hospital surgeries performed each year, the researchers estimate that more than 1,500 cases of retained foreign objects occur annually in the U.S.accoring to Mumbai's newportal website.

While many of these cases have involved sponges, typically napkin shaped pads designed to soak up blood, a third of them involved sergical instruments.
"All of these are very hard to loose inside of a person," said Gawande, "Our data shows it to be a rare problem, about 1 in 15,000 operation."
Such forgetfulness seems so strange that it might be considered comical, if the consequences were not so often serious. A forgotten item can cause a patient more operations, time off of work, circulitory malfunctions and in some cases, death according to MNS health and fitness publication. A misplaced item may mean another operation, a dangerous inflammatory reaction, or even death. As for the forgetful doctors there are lawsuits fo face and diciplinary actions which may put their employment in danger.
The risk of having and instrument or sponge left in you is nine times during emergency surgery than normal and four times greater if an unexpected change in operation takes place.
Underweight people are at higher risk than overweight people.
"You have more room to loose things," said Gawande.
Gawande said one solution to the problem would be to routinely X-ray patients after emergency surgery or after an operation in which the game plan changes.

Emeralds in Danger
Michgan sees devastating effects of Emrald Ash Borer
In the short span of five years, fifteen million Erald Ash trees have been either destroyed or infested by the exotic pest known as the Emrald Ash Borer or EAB.
The damage is taking place this minute, and no completly efective method has been invented to stop the rapid spread of the Asian beetle.
Mighican alone is estimated to have a population of 700 million ash trees, all of which are in serious danger of being killed by the EAB according to the deptartment of agriculture. The state has responded to the threat aggressively, enacting a statewide quarantine to stop the spead of the pest and has set up a team of experts and officials from government agencies and universities to create a comprehnsive method that would enable them to detect and eliminate the EAB. The beetle has spread to parts of Winsor and Ontario creating an international alert for Emrals Ash trees.
It is difficult to detect if a tree is infested early on because the trees do not show symtoms until they are already destroyed. The top of the tree goes first, thinning out and dying, then numerous shoots will be seen coming out of the lower branches that have yet to be destroyed.
The EAB attacks the tree as larvae, destroying the bark and preventing the trees ability to transport water and nurtrients according to Emrald Ash Borer's information website. Research is still being conducted to find out more about this exotic pest. Little is known about it at the moment.

The beetle is thought to have gotten into Michigan though wood package imports from Asia, though scientists are not positive of the method of its arrival.
Insecticide treatment has shown to be effective in preventing Ash tree from being infested by the EAB, and it recomended to home owners with Emrald Ash trees on their property seek preventative methods to pretect their trees. The earlier it is prevented the less chances of your trees becoming infested.
"People should start now. Don't wait until the trees are dying." said Michigan State University's Entomologist David Smitley.
It is also possible to hire trained professionals known as arborists to handle your concerns with any trees you might have on your property.
Michigan has multiple strategies geared at halting the spread of the EAB which include:

Enforcing the quarantine restricting movement of ash trees and materials

Providing sanitation and disposal options

Conducting ongoing surveys to ensure that the pest is not spreading or to quickly detect potential additional infestations

Conducting much-needed research into the pest's biology and identifying potential control options

Ensuring community and homeowner education, outreach and awareness; and
Facilitating tree restoration/replacement wherever possible

A 15-year-old Clinton Township boy is dead and his 13-year-old friend is hospitalized after police say the pair was huffing

Local 4 reported that huffing is a cheap, cool and legal way of getting high from products around the house. Fumes are inhaled through the mouth giving users a quick high, according to Children’s Hospital of Michigan’s web site.

Cassandra Saunders couldn’t believe it when she found her daughter and her daughter’s friend unconscious in a van outside of her home.

“My little girl and her friends snuck out in the middle of the night and thought it would be cool to get high using Freon,” said Saunders.

Dr. Stephen R. Knazik of Children’s Hospital said that gasoline products and things that have alcohols are what is usually the choice for kids to huff.

“And they can pretty much huff or sniff anything that smells,” said Knazik.

the effects of huffing according to Dr. Knazik can lead to feelings of power, lower inhibitions, and children have the sensation of being drunk, followed by drowsines, euphoria and in many cases, death.

Cassandra's daughter was revived but her fifteen year old friend was
pronounced dead at the scene.

She feels like she's to blame because she made it and he didn't." Saunders said.

Huffing creates a tricky situation for parents as their children have acess to any of these household products that once inhaled can produce a dangerous high. Parents must find ways to talk to their adolescents about the serious dangers of brain damage or death caused by huffing.
Dr. Knazik highlighted the importnace of stressing to your children that while it may be cool and fun, it is not worth the risk. He suggests that parents introduce ulternative, more appropriate methods to make them feel good, and enjoy their time.
Signs that your child might be huffing can be observed through the smell of chemicals on thier breath and clothing. A drunk, dazed, or glassy eyed appearance could be a sign your child may be huffing.

Chavez Cooks Rice
Venezuelan President Hugo Chaves warns Condoleeza Rice to stay away
Condoleeza Rice refered to Venezuela as "the biggest problem" in the western hemisphere in terms of foreign relaitons Sunday, setting off sparks that have further ignited tension between Hugo Chavez and his followers, who control the world's 5th largest oil source. Why is Chevez on the defensive? more


The "You" Station
Online Radio technology that knows what pleases your ears, even before you do

After years of research and music database building, Padora.com opens to all music fans a place to find new music they will like, for free. Why is this online music streaming site catching a buzz with music lovers?

1. Google's Stock Plummets

This is an important story because google is one of the most prominent internet search engines. In fact google is more than a searc hengine now, it is an e-mail service, map and news source among many other things. People online will be interested in google because they know what it is, and have dealt with it at some time. There could be an option for immediate stock updates on the site for people who may have stocks in goolge.



2.Chavez & Rice

There has been tension between the US and Venezuela fr some time and this is something that should be a top story because people need to be more aware of foreign with counries other than iraq or the middle east. This story would have links to both Venezuelan and US news sources to give an objective view and get readers to possibly become more interested in this sitaution.


3. A new kind of radio

This story would be for those who enjoy more of a feature angle. Not all people are looking for straight news. This is about a new website that would interest web users, a place where they could find new music. It would be of interest to many, esecially with the new mp3 craze.

4. The Philippines

This was a serious disaster that happened over the weekend and it just needs to be covered. I think it's not getting a lot of coverage possibly because of the whole aftermath of other larger storms but it's still important. Online there could be updates of death tolls and survivors and maybe links to why this is happening, why so many nat. disasters in the past couple years? Climate change etc.

5.Torture in Iraq
There are a lot of things that go left out of top news stories, and especially in the time of war it is important to remember how people are being treated, and at least be aware of it. Online there could be links to photos and more information about the topic that would draw people in.

Sweet or toxic?

Greenpeace announced four days before Valentines day that certain perfumes and colognes pose threats greater and smellier than may meet the nose.
After testing the ingrediants in 36 different brands of colognes Greenpeace found the two substances that they suspected to be "potentially hazardous", the man made chemicals Phthalate and Synthic musks.
Raising concerns for the safty of users around the world, the chemicals are able to enter the skin, and may be linked to negative health effects and they are detrimental to the environment.

Greenpeace is lobbying industries to gather and show that the use of harmful prodcuts such as these are not nescesary to the well being of chemical companies. Some companies that have agreed to be progressive in usuing cemical alternatives, mong these are Ikea, H&M, Samsung, and Puma. Other companies that have been modifying their chemical use on a lesser scale are Adidas, Unilever and Sony.

Although a wide variety perfumes tested positive for some amount of these harmful substances, some of the productes reported to have higher levels included Calvin Klein's "Eternity for Women" Jean Paul Gaultier's "Le male", the Body Shops "White Musk."
The scents with lower levels of these chemicals were Puma's "Jamaica Man" and Gloria Vanderbilts's "Vanderbilt" which showed no signs of containing any phthalates. Because of the varience in range for the levels of these chemicals in each scent, specualtions are being made about the necesity of having them in perfumes at all. There may be potential to phase them completely out of the perfume industry.
The restictions on these chemicals may prove safer for many, however it stands to hurt the chemical industries who are claiming job losses and and falling profits. These companies are asking for support, even from the white house, to file a lawsuit against the world trade organization if they try to ban these substances amoung others.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Amsterdam, International — When you buy a gift for a loved one you don't expect that it might come with a dose of harmful chemicals. But if you are buying certain perfumes this Valentine's day that's exactly what you'll get.

We tested 36 well know brands of perfumes for two potentially hazardous man-made chemical groups: phthalate esters and synthetic musks. Both these types of chemicals can enter the body and may cause unwanted health impacts. They are also harmful when released into the environment. Virtually all the perfumes tested contained these chemicals with high levels being found in brands like Calvin Klein's 'Eternity for Women,' The Body Shop's 'White Musk' and Jean Paul Gaultier's 'Le Mâle.'


Many brands of perfume contain toxic chemicals.
Other brands contained low levels of these harmful chemicals. Puma's 'Jamaica Man' had one of the lowest levels of the musks tested and Gloria Vanderbilt's 'Vanderbilt' contained no detectable phthalates. The different levels of chemicals shows there is room for discussing the phase-out of these chemicals with perfume manufactures.

Chemicals out of control

Perfumes are the latest consumer products tested by Greenpeace to expose how common the use of toxic chemicals is in everyday products. We are using the results to show how current laws on chemicals are inadequate. A new chemical law being discussed in Europe is vital to set a worldwide precedent on the strong effective control of chemicals.

While better chemical control should be welcomed by all, it is under attack from predictable quarters. The chemical industry has been scare -mongering with exaggerated claims of job losses and declining profits. It has also recruited dirty industry's best friend, the Bush Administration, to threaten Europe with a World Trade Organisation lawsuit if it dares to try and cut toxic pollution.

We are countering the negative industry lobbying by pressuring companies to demonstrate that they can do without toxic chemicals in products. The list of companies setting a good example by substituting hazardous chemicals for safer alternatives is growing - Ikea, H&M, Marks & Spencer, Nokia, Samsung and Puma are leading the way. Adidas, Unilever and Sony are heading in the right direction.

Consumer power is vital in changing these companies and you can check our products database to help you avoid toxic chemicals in your shopping basket.

POLAND: POPE TO VISIT IN MAY- Pope Benedict XVI will travel to Poland from May 25 to 28 and will visit the Auschwitz, the Nazi death camp and the southern town of Wadowice, the birthplace of his predecessor, John Paul II, the polish Episcopate confirmed, acording to news agencies. He is scheduled to begin the trip the Warsaw and travel on to Krakow and Czestochowa, home of the country's most venerated shrine, the Black Madonna.
-Peter Kieffer (NYT)