Final Reflection...

Hi, my name is Japhet Olivera and I was doing research on organ donation. The main reason I choose this topic was because I am a awaiting bone marrow donor for my mother. In the beginning of this project my teacher Mr.Malley told us (his students) to pick something that we want to know about and learn about. Basically something we can benefit from and I immediately thought of this process I'm going through and figured I should learn about this. As I began my research I only had three or four main questions of the topic. I wonder if organ donation was fair. Can doctors be bribed, are they other alternatives to people in need of organs, Also can people that are rich bypass the list with money? Most importantly what do people do that need a organ transplant but can't afford it? But as I researched more,I began to come up with many more question.

For instance, the more facts and information I found then the more curious I was of the topic. The research gave me information of not only bone marrow transplants,but of organ donation in general. For example, I have found information on the declaration that's on the back of you Identification card (license, Permit, and so on). I also discovered a interesting chart with statistics on patients awaiting organ transplants. I also found statistics on costs of the procedure and on the cost of the actual organ itself. Here is a chart that I found on current candidates that are awaiting an organ.

Waiting list candidates 99,226 as of 05/12/2008 Transplants January - February 2008 4,471 as of 05/09/2008 Donors January - February 2008 2,286 as of 05/09/2008

Based on Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN) data Throughout my research I never thought that there would be so many concerns of organ donation. I found 10 main concerns/myths that people have about organ donation. These concerns turn people away from even thinking about it. I will post these concerns so you can take a look at them, and hopefully it will answer a question that you may have and possibly change your perspective of things. Myth No. 1. If I agree to donate my organs, my doctor or the emergency room staff won't work as hard to save my life. They'll remove my organs as soon as possible to save somebody else. Reality. When you go to the hospital for treatment, doctors focus on saving your life — not somebody else's. You'll be seen by a doctor whose specialty most closely matches your particular emergency. The doctor in charge of your care has nothing to do with transplantation. Myth No. 2. Maybe I won't really be dead when they sign my death certificate. It'll be too late for me if they've taken my organs for transplantation. I might have otherwise recovered. Reality. Although it's a popular topic in the tabloids, in reality, people don't start to wiggle a toe after they're declared dead. In fact, people who have agreed to organ donation are given more tests to determine that they are truly dead than are those who haven't agreed to organ donation. Myth No. 3. Organ donation is against my religion. Reality. Organ donation is consistent with the beliefs of most religions. This includes Catholicism, Protestantism, Islam and most branches of Judaism. If you're unsure of or uncomfortable with your faith's position on donation, ask a member of your clergy. Another option is to check the federal Web site OrganDonor.gov, which provides religious views on organ donation and transplantation by denomination. Myth No. 4. I'm under age 18. I'm too young to make this decision. Reality. That's true, in a legal sense. But your parents can authorize this decision. You can express to your parents your wish to donate, and your parents can give their consent knowing that it's what you wanted. Children, too, are in need of organ transplants, and they usually need organs smaller than those an adult can provide. Myth No. 5. I want my loved one to have an open-casket funeral. That can't happen if his or her organs or tissues have been donated. Reality. Organ and tissue donation doesn't interfere with having an open-casket funeral. The donor's body is clothed for burial, so there are no visible signs of organ or tissue donation. For eye donation, an artificial eye is inserted, the lids are closed, and no one can tell any difference. For bone donation, a rod is inserted where bone is removed. With skin donation, a very thin layer of skin similar to a sunburn peel is taken from the donor's back. Because the donor is clothed and lying on his or her back in the casket, no one can see any difference. Myth No. 6. I'm too old to donate. Nobody would want my organs. Reality. There's no defined cutoff age for donating organs. Organs have been successfully transplanted from donors in their 70s and 80s. The decision to use your organs is based on strict medical criteria, not age. Don't disqualify yourself prematurely. Let the doctors decide at your time of death whether your organs and tissues are suitable for transplantation. Myth No. 7. I'm not in the greatest health, and my eyesight is poor. Nobody would want my organs or tissues. Reality. Very few medical conditions automatically disqualify you from donating organs. The decision to use an organ is based on strict medical criteria. It may turn out that certain organs are not suitable for transplantation, but other organs and tissues may be fine. Don't disqualify yourself prematurely. Only medical professionals at the time of your death can determine whether your organs are suitable for transplantation. Myth No. 8. I would like to donate one of my kidneys now, rather than wait until my death. But I hear you can't do that unless you're a close family member of someone in need. Reality. While that used to be the case, it isn't any longer. Whether it's a distant family member, friend or complete stranger you want to help, you can donate a kidney through certain transplant centers. If you decide to become a living donor, you will undergo extensive questioning to ensure that you are aware of the risks and make sure you're giving away your kidney out of pure goodwill and not in return for financial gain. You will also undergo testing to determine that your kidneys are in good shape and that you can live a healthy life with just one kidney. You can also donate blood or bone marrow during your lifetime. Contact your local chapter of the American Red Cross for details on where you can donate or sign up. Myth No. 9. Rich, famous and powerful people always seem to move to the front of the line when they need a donor organ. There's no way to ensure that my organs will go to those who've waited the longest or are the neediest. Reality. The rich and famous aren't given priority when it comes to allocating organs. It may seem that way because of the amount of publicity generated when celebrities receive a transplant, but they are treated no differently from anyone else. In fact, the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS), the organization responsible for maintaining the national organ transplant network, subjects all celebrity transplants to an internal audit to make sure the organ allocation was appropriate. Myth No. 10. My family will be charged if I donate my organs. Reality. The organ donor's family is never charged for donating. The family is charged for the cost of all final efforts to save your life, and those costs are sometimes misinterpreted as costs related to organ donation. Costs for organ removal go to the transplant recipient.(Clinic, Mayo) Further more, I would like to talk about what I feel is most Interesting about my topic. I Believe that what I am going to tell you will be more shocking to you than any facts that I have discused with you so far. Did you know that there has been many cases that the actual "Organ" itself is more expensive than the actual operation? I mean I couldn't believe it. So I said to myself "How is that fair?'' I mean why is it that the organ/tissue that is (Donated) meaning given for FREE, be taken and priced? Correct me if I'm wrong but there is something wrong with that. I do not that that free tissue and organs donated all over the world should be priced,no matter how many are needed and how rare the specific organ/tissue is. Please feel free to tell me your thoughts and opinions. Lastly, beside the fact there are cases that organs/tissues can be more expensive than the actual operation itself. Can you believe that "It helps To be Rich" yes, that is a term very much bought up by many individuals. There was an article in the "TIME" magazine discussing organ/tissue candidates that have more money than others, in other words (Rich People) have an better possibility at receiving a transplant no matter what position they are on the list. Now that is not fair at all. And although this may be some authors opinion, I have reason to believe that it is very true. I feel that i can visualize it in my mind. I also feel that this specific issue should be investigated. Why is it that the poor people that need transplants have a lower chance compared to Rich people? this seriously needs to get justified because I don't think that its fair when we can have poor people donate and be a good u.s. citizen but when the favor needs to be returned, nothing happens. Further more,I would like to add to this paragraph that yes people do have health insurance, but sometimes all costs to certain procedures are not covered. and sadly to say I can back that statement up because my mother is a kimo patient and yes she was covered but the treatments that she was taking were so expensive that the insurance company kicked her off due to the result that Roswell exceeded the funds to her plan. It broke my heart to find that out 2 days ago on June 8Th,2008. My mind officially went blank and my mother tried to calm me down and sooth me with her calm words "every things going to be ok". I like to believe so but sometimes you cant ignore the truth. What hurt me most wasn't only that the insurance got cut off but , she told me that she was showing positive effects on the treatment. Meaning she was getting better. But now she gets cut off? But what can I say or do?...I think positive and thank god that shes still here with me. Its better than not having here at all right? I know god has a plan for everything and he knows what he is doing. In conclusion, There are many interesting things i found out about organ donation that I would never know if I didn't research it like I did. And although I found out many things that I didn't agree with, I would be an organ donor to help save someones life. Lastly, I would like to say that this was by far the best learning experience that I had in my teacher class so far through out my 4 years being in high school. I would like to thank my English teacher for appointing us this task for the end of the year.

The search is all done . The question is answered I have fund new info and some thing i didn't fund at all . The time I spent researching was not fairy fun but I love video games I will spared the I have learned with everyone .

I have learned is that people can learn from video games . They have done allot of stud's over the years and fund that people learn different things like hand eye cor , timing , ways deal with different conficts , ways to socialize . These things have been proven in studies.

The interviews that I have done are all coming the way way they both have the same ideas.In the interviews I found that people that are gamers have much more for the video games than a person that has never play a video game would . People that play games us them for many different things like to relax , to pass time , and to open new worlds. Plus these people are also learning different skills that they can use in the real world like problem solving that can be used to solve something more difficult . People that due not play or even look at are some times missing out on the lessons that are taught but some times they were the smart ones because they don't have to spend money on the new game that came out . There are many sides to the story that are just stupid but people do not see that fights happen over a video games . If one loses or they talk to much s and they cross the little line and some people have a problem not reacting. For example ''my brother William he has a problem with the whole trash talking and he does cross the line and plus he pays for it , this is something that I have seen and me personally will never do is trash talk and try to be some thing I am not ''.

Why Donate?,Common Questions,And Donation Process. (blg5).........http://www.medcure.org/?gclid=COiTz_24tZMCFQEqIgodSVQYCA

Today as I was searching for further information about organ donation I was linked to a very interesting website. This website answered a question that hasn't even came to my mind. It gave me some good information about what donations are used for.I am very happy I found the this new site. This website reports that human donations are not only a gift to a person to survive,but also is a gift to scientist that allows them to study the human body for numerous different types of research.

For example, when you donate your body doctors/ and or scientist study them to find cures for life threatening conditions such as cancer and Alzheimer’s among many others.Donations are also used to help find new medicines and allows doctors to experiment new surgical procedures for future patients.Each donation is highly respected and valued as if the person was still alive. Many people question if you can still donate if the person died of a disease? The answer to that question is Yes, almost all donations are accepted regardless of age,disease, or state of health.

Lastly,donations can be used for a human in need and for cures for the future that comes. Remember donating is free and some companies cover extra charges that apply such as MedCure.

Interview With Modesto Vega

Moe has been playing video games for 22 years. He likes playing war, sports, fighting, racing, & fantasy. Moe's opinion is that there is good and bad.
Bad - To much violence week minded.
Good - Makes the human minds better. Opens new adveures and work in the future.
Opens possibility's teens see them selves in a world were they could be anything they want and gives them hope for jobs in today's world and tomorrows.Moe has learned yes how to play on a team, and how to socialize.Yes !! online game community and they talk to other people.This helps with personal problems because they talk to many different people.No video games will never become a teaching tool due to society's views on them.Society will open there eye's in the future as an whole, to see that it's a way of langue , and conakshin.The interview with Moe was fun but still I wanted more on my topic.

To Be Continued .... of my Search True Ghost Stories

As I continued my search I decided to do a search on true ghost stories in my search I found this great website (www.true-ghost-stories.com) created by this women who her family and she have experience ghost encounter often. On her website she has posted her family's experiences and also her own personal experiences. She has also posted picture of strange things. When you first enter the website there is a introduction. In this introduction she women who created the website tells the story of what inspired her to create the website. After you are done reading the introduction you will click on the enter link. With this this link you will enter into a world of daily supernatural activity.

One story that really caught my interest is Mama's story of The Lady In White. The Lady in White is a spirit that mama has been encountering for a few years now.But this lady in white is more then just a spirit to her she is a messager. This lady in white tends to appear when something is going to happen to someone or something in her family. For example mama's house caught fire and the house nearly burned to the ground.Most of the back of the house as destroyed by the fire and everything was destroyed but anything of religious nature. The morning before the fire the neighbor claim o hear a load screaming coming from this part of the house.

In conlusion, people who have had mama's exxperiance with this ghost or spirit has proven to me that ghost can be good but I'm sure that I will fiend someone who has encountered an evil spirit. That is what I am looking for in my next search.

Mama's Ghost Stories, http://www.true-ghost-stories.com/Mama.html

Something New I fund For Classification Of Games

There are more to the classification of video games than I thought .They have little parts that they look at to classify the video game.There are Physical education ,and Electronic games . These are the inportin ones.

Physical education

''There are four basic approaches to classifying the games used in physical education:^[1]

game categories

This is a classification scheme invented by Nicol's, which classifies games according to three major categories: the game's physical requirements (i.e. what the game requires in addition to the players — equipment, size and nature of playing field, and so forth), the structure of the game (i.e. number of players, groupings of players, strategies, and so forth), and the game's personal requirements (i.e. what the game requires of the player — motor skills, fitness levels, numeracy, social skills, and so forth).

games for understanding

This is a classification scheme invented by Werner and Alomond that classifies games according to their strategies. It divides games into target games (e.g. archery); net or wall games (e.g. tennis); striking and field games (e.g. cricket); and invasion games (e.g. football).

core content

This is a classification scheme invented by Allison and Barrett that categorizes games by their form (i.e. whether they are novel games invented by the teacher or children, or whether they are existing games already widely played), by the movement skills that they require, by the "movement concepts" and game tactics that they require, and by the educational results of the game.

developmental games

This is a classification scheme invented by Gallahue and Celand that classifies games into four developmental levels, as part of an overall educational strategy of applying, reinforcing, and implementing movement and sports skills. The levels, in ascending order, are "low-level", "complex", "lead-up", and "official sports".''

Electronic games

''There are several methods of classifying electronic games (i.e. video games and computer games).

Solomon^[2] puts forward a "commonsense, but broad" classification of electronic games, in particular computer games, into simulations (The game reflects reality.), abstract games (The game itself is the focus of interest.), and sports. In addition to these he points out that games (in general, not just electronic games) fall into classes according to numbers of players. Games with two players encompass board games such as chess. Games with multiple players encompass card games such as poker, and marketed family games such as Monopoly and Scrabble. Puzzles and Solitaire are one-player games. He also includes zero-player games, such as Conway's Game of Life, although acknowledging that others argue that such games do not constitute a game, because they lack any element of competition. He asserts that such zero-player games are nonetheless games because they are used recreationally.

Another method, developed by Wright, divides games into the following categories: educational or informative, sports, sensorimotor (e.g. action games, arcade games, fighting and shoot-em-up games, and driving and racing simulators), other vehicular simulators (not covered by driving and racing), strategy games (e.g. adventure games, war games, strategic simulations, role-playing games, and puzzles), and "other".^[3]

A third method, developed by Funk and Buchman, and refined by others, classifies electronic games into six categories: general entertainment (no fighting or destruction), educational (learning or problem solving), fantasy violence (cartoon characters that must fight or destroy things, and risk being killed, in order to achieve a goal), human violence (like fantasy violence, but with human rather than cartoon characters), nonviolent sports (no fighting or destruction), and sports violence (fighting or destruction involved).^[3]''

What to do What to do!

At first I really had no idea of what to do for my research, I thought about doing more interviews, but I had a feeling that that was not going to get me anywhere. I needed to find a more reliable source of information. So i decided to go back to the web and really spend some time looking for reliable source of information. So that's exactly what I did.

I came upon web site that really help me with my questions, it really was great help for me. The title of this web site is call "The Silent Epidemic." This web site is really interesting because it shows you all the different perspectives of why do students drop out school. Some of he information that that I look up was:

-Consequences of our Nation's Low Graduation Rates.
-Who is Dropping Out?
-Why do Student Drop Out of High School.
-Their Regrets
-What Might Help Students Stay in School.

I found out that some of the consequences of dropping out of, is that if you drop out of school you may tend to do crime in your live, and have a better chance of landing in jail than a person that got their High School degree, Also that a person that drop out of high school make about 9,500 dollars less than a person that has there high school degree and about a 1 million less that a person that has there college degree.

Must of the students that are dropping out are between the ages of 16 and 26, all of have there own story of why they are dropping out, but all of them have similar reason. I found out that there are 5 top reason why are students dropping out. The first one is that classes are not interesting, Second one that they miss to many day and could not cash up. Third one is that students where spending time with people that where not interested in school. Fourth one is that they had to much freedom and not enough rules. And the last reason was because they where felling in there classes.

So this is just a little in formation that I came upon and I hope by my next post I have more information to offer my readers . And lets see if I find an answer to my question?

Brigedland, John, Dilulio, John. "The Silent Epidemic." Perspectives of High School Dropouts March 2006 31. 22 May 2008 .

Satanic Symbolisim In Metal: Reflection

There are many things I have learned in my search. But it is a tricky subject and I had a bit of difficulty fully answering my essential question, which was "Do bands in metal really worship the devil?". You can't call it a failed experience, but I did. Not to worry, I tried my best.

Now what I learned was that metal bands do sing about the devil. But that doesn't
automatically make them devil worshipers. Songs about the devil mostly are from
experiences the band (or someone in the band) might have gone through. Be it a bad dream, or just simply coming off a bad trip when using drugs.

If I may use an example, the song "The Number Of The Beast" by the British heavy metal band IRON MAIDEN, the actual number of the "BEAST" is 666. If you follow the bible you might very well know that, but the song is simply about "a man who is wandering alone and happens upon a portion of hell on earth, people were performing satanic rituals and sacrifices, the man was disgusted at it but then became entranced." To be honest i didn't come up with that explanation, i just paraphrased from the wikipedia site. But you can hear that it's not them worshiping the devil.

Something that really i knew when coming into this search was that in the song "Black Sabbath" by Black Sabbath was that it was about one night when one of the guys from the band had a real bad night after reading the book on witch craft that Ozzy Osbourne brought him in which he (Geezer) got fascinated with. So when Geezer saw the big black figure he thought it was the devil. That's all that the song was about.

I found out that people who sing metal songs are mostly of the catholic religious background, not a Satan worshiper. Ozzy Osbourne grew up in a catholic home, the only thing that makes it seem like he's a devil worshiper is the fact that he does crazy action. For instance, he bit off the bat at a concert. That was because he thought that it was a fake bat. He once was drunk at a contract signing and bit the head off a dove. Talks about Satan, but not a devil worshiper.

Even the most devout catholic group will mention the devil in their songs, does that make them devil worshipers? No, that just means that they have a topic to sing about.

Now there is a difference between the actions of rap and the actions of metal. If a rapper sings about having money, doing drugs and having guns, the truth is they probably have it (and it shows in their music videos). But just because a few dozen of a metal groups songs talk about the devil, it doesn't hold any water. The videos just depict the lyrics in the song. They all tell the story of the song. If they say that a man sees the eyes of Satan, they can't just show a teddy bear and make it look all cuddly.

When teenagers, well when anybody listens to metal music, devil worshiping and letting it all come off their chest by screaming, moshing, causing mischief and mayhem when at a concert, throwing up the devil horns doesn't make them devil worshipers. It's just an outlet for aggression. Now for the metal singers they just tell stories that just pop into their head, I mean if you are crammed into a room, going in with nothing as some bands do (Metallica for the album "St. Anger"). They just go in their studio and just jammed out. It's just the things that they come up with the stuff that they go through with their life. They just have to write about something, and sometimes it's just what they learned while going to church.

But if you go over seas to places such as Norway or any European countries, they will actually worship the devil. They set churches ablaze and they actually admitted to it. Now that is crazy, they are anarchists, they don't really care about religion, they believe that god is bad. It's Craziness to believe that kind of B.S. I may be a agnostic but I do believe in something.

So what I'm trying to say is that depending on where in the world you are, there will be people who worship the devil. All that matters is that you take the time to figure out what you believe. For all those FUGAZI [comes from the Italian slang meaning fake](Wiktionay, Fugazi) people out their who think that everybody who listens to or makes metal music worship the devil, well they are mistaken. At least those in America.

So to answer the BIG question, well it's really a little question Not All People Of Metal Worship The Devil. It's really not a definitive answer but it does the job.

_______________________________________________________________________________________


"Fugazi." Wiktionary. 20 May 2008 .

My interviews.

I started my search for answers by coming up with some really simple, but effective, questions. These questions were:

1:Have you lost interest in school in any part of your life, and if you did when?
2:Do you know why you lost interest in school?
3:Did you try to revive your interest in school, and if you did, did it work?
4: Were you or are you going through some problems at home or in your private life?
5:What do you think about school?

I was surprise to find that with every person that I interview the answer where different but at the same time they did have things where very similar, "I know, that was unexpected" my thought where that the answer where all going to be different and have nothing in comment. I thought that everyone was just going to have different thoughts about school but all of them sounded the same but with two different types of answers. For example, when I ask about what do they think about school, some people said that they knew it was boring but school was the basis for your future and you needed it so you can become great part of this society. I agree with what they said, but then I heard the other answer to that same question, and they where very similar too.

This sentence was that school is not that necessary to do something with your life, people can have great future without school, and I agree with those people because I seen many people that drop out of high school or never went to college and they still made something with then self's, and they are vary happy to. Also the people that gave me that answer where very smart and responsible people, is not that they didn't care but they just had a different perspective about school.

So I'm just going to extend my research and see what I can come up with , because by now it has been inconclusive.

the final post what i came up with as an answer

Well as you can tell I have came to the end of my project or should I say I have came to a conclusion/answer to my question! As you read before my question is how can we get kids to have the courage to come forward about their abuse? I have learned so many different things about the topic child abuse as a whole. During my quest of finding my answer I have had some parts of it that came very easy as I have had dead ends on where I did't know where to go next but I have found a loop whole out of it and I feel confident that I have found the answer!

I enjoyed doing this project as I found out a lot of child abuse that I didn’t know before. One fact that I have found interesting was that 84% of inmates were abused as children! Also another cool fact I have found was that Families with four or more children have higher rates of abuse and neglect, especially if their living conditions are crowded or they live in isolated areas. (baltimorecountymd.com) So those are some things I have learned on this journey of finding my answer.

I have had a lot of others opinions on this project which helped me find my answer. What I came up with is there is no standard way of a kid opening up, it all depends on the child, everyone is different (there personality ect…). Some kids open up right away and some kids or young adults will open up after they get to know you, when they trust you they might open up to you and tell you about there abuse.

When I thought I was done and came up with my answer is stated above my teacher mr.malley asked me what my answer was and I told him and so then he asked me what can I do about it? And also how do you know if someone is being abused (bedsides obvious things) so I thought about it I went and researched I found that some other signs of abuse are becoming withdrawn, secretive or very clingy, a fear of adults, problems in school, nightmares and bedwetting, aggression or antisocial behavior, self harm a eating disorder drug and alcohol problem and suicidal behavior. So I thought those were some really important facts. The other question he had was what could I do? I really did t find anything on that because over this whole process I have found many of places such as crisis centers that help abused kids and there is a lot of awareness. Only thing that I have really found was that is what I stated before as my answer to the big question “how can we get kids to come forward on there abuse?” which is to get to know the child and when they trust you they just might tell you!The simple question of how do you get the child to trust you is just as how do you gain trust from one of your friends, be honest and reliable in all that you say and do seek not to control, be a "friend" do not reveal confidence do not gossip I’m sure these are all things your parents have already told you. This is the only way I can explain what I mean about to get a child to trust you and they might come out about there abuse.

So basically in conclusion I think I have answered my question the best to my ability I answered the questions people might have when they read my blogs and my final answer. I have had some problems finding theses answers expecally toward the end! Times when I was really confused but I think in the end I did pretty good to accomplish my goal of finding my answer to the question what can we do to get kids to have the courage to come forward on their abuse?

''How is it like being albanian and living in the US in 2008''

Well for startes albania is in Europe next to Greece. Thats where i grew up untill about 10 years old.I grew up differently there for startes everyone speaked one language Albanian.I mean I speaked a little Enlish I knew how to count 1 to 10 and my abc thats about all I knew.I love my Country thats where most of my Family is ,one thing that I hate is that for hundreds of years Serbs tried to take our land.Finally we got our Independent this year so my country is known as the NEWEST COUNTRY in the world .I would like to know why even thought my country got our Independence there still countries like Serbia and Russia that still wont recognize us.Its weard because even though i was small back home I still remember most of the things like it was today.I still have a picture of my family how they use to look like I have a pictue of how my land use to look like as well. Soon I will go back that way I can see all my family and see my land in which i can't waite.
Now I'm in the US in here my life is different then most people manley because there isn't that many Albanians .I live different then most .I am able to speack,eat ,understand 2 languages. At home I speack albanian and then with my friends I speack English.With Albanian friends I mix it up and speack a little bit of both.The same think when it comes to eating I like both foods.At home thought my mom always cooks so its mostly albanian food.Even when it comes with music I mix it up.Whatever mood I am sometimes I feel like listening to albanian and sometimes English .Dont give me wrong I like all kinds of music I like to listen to Irabian music as well.Especially when it comes to friends its nice to know friends that are different from me like from different countries. Most of my friends are from different countries we understand each other good thats what makes our friendship last.

Moving on with my research I finally have figured out my biggest qustion which is *What has been the biggest challenge adapting to US life?
* What has (have) been the most welcome suprises about US life (why)?
*What do you miss most about Albania?
*What Albanian customs or practices are still most important to you?

Interviews With Mike D.

The interview questions are

• 1)Are you a gamer?
• 2)How long have you been playing for?
• 3)Will parents ever understand video games and what they do for teens ?
  
• 4)Will they ever become a teaching tool in the classroom?
• 5)How far do video games go ?
  

The interview with Mike Dinelli was very good . Mike is a gamer. He has been playing for 16 years .Mike has many things he likes about video games . The graphics and the story lines.Mike likes to play NHL video games, wrestling. Mike has learned things from games like timing, hand eye coordination and strategy.He does think that games go a little to far in today's world .The violence in some of the games are much like ''GTA'' Grand Theft Auto the killing the car jacking and the life of the guy you are is a little Violet . Mike thinks one day parents will understand the video game world because they will see why teens love them so much.That they will learn and relax the way most teens do and that is throw video games.

JAPHET! HERE'S THAT POST FROM FREAKONOMICS! READ IT, USE IT, AND DELETE IT!

Human Organs for Sale, Legally, in … Which Country?

By Stephen J. Dubner

Here is an oversimplification of a complex problem:

1. Thanks to the miracles of modern medicine, a sick or dying human being can receive a transplanted organ from another human being.

2. Some of those organs must inevitably come from cadavers: i.e., you can’t give your heart to someone else and still live.

But some transplanted organs can come from living people. Chief among them is the kidney: we are born with two but can live with one.

3. As the science has improved, there has been a huge increase in demand for transplantable organs. But the supply has not kept up with demand. The kidney waiting list gets longer every year, and every year more people die while still on the waiting list. The supply of kidneys from both cadavers and living donors is insufficient.

4. There are fewer cadaver organs than one might wish for because:

a) Traffic fatalities continue to fall.

b) Improved emergency-room care keeps alive people who in the past may have died.

c) Not that many people in the U.S. choose to be organ donors upon their death. (This could be significantly improved if the U.S. adopted a “presumed consent” rule, as some countries have.)

5. There are fewer organs from living donors than one might wish for because too few people are altruistic enough to undergo surgery and give an organ to someone they may or may not know and receive no compensation for said act.

6. Therefore, a movement is afoot to create a market for human organs in the U.S. whereby “donors” would be compensated for their time, trouble, and organ. There are many objections to this market:

a) Some say, for instance, that it would exploit poor people (although poor people are often the ones who need organs, which are currently not available).

b) Others say that such a market would be impossible to properly design and regulate (although this “kidney exchange” program, created by market-design expert Al Roth of Harvard, shows that one problem can have many clever answers). Also, compensation could come in various forms, ranging from cash to tuition to lifetime healthcare.

c) There seems to be a natural repugnance toward buying and selling human organs — illustrated nicely in this presentation by the economist Julio Elias, who has written with Gary Becker on a potential market for organs.

Considering all of these factors, it is hard to imagine that the U.S. will have an organ market any time soon. There is a fervent ongoing debate over our organ shortage, including an actual debate scheduled here.

While there has been some movement toward compensating donors in Israel and in Holland, there is just one country in the world that has apparently gotten rid of its organ shortage by creating a market. Before you read the name of that country in the following paragraph, take a guess. Now guess again, and again — maybe 20 more times.

Benjamin E. Hippen, a transplant nephrologist (and scholar) in North Carolina, recently published a paper called “Organ Sales and Moral Travails: Lessons From the Living Kidney Vendor Program in Iran.”

Yes, Iran.

“Although Iran clearly does not serve as a model for solving most of the world’s problems,” Hippen writes, “its method for solving its organ shortage is well worth examining.”

Here are a few facts from Hippen’s paper:

    Insofar as the kidney procurement system in Iran can be characterized as a “market,” it is a highly standardized and regulated market with only modest room for negotiation. …

    Vendors are paid in two ways. First, the Iranian government provides a fixed compensation to the vendor of approximately $1,200 plus limited health insurance coverage, which currently extends to one year after the exchange and covers only conditions deemed related to the surgery. Second, the vendor receives separate remuneration either from the recipient or, if the recipient is impoverished, from one of a series of designated charitable organizations; this amount is usually between $2,300 and $4,500. …

    The most contentious disagreements in the literature regarding kidney vending in Iran have to do with the personal, physical, and financial consequences for vendors themselves. This issue is complicated by an absence of routine follow-up. …

    Despite a flourishing kidney vendor program, biologically related donation has consistently constituted 12 to 13 percent of all donated kidneys, and that fraction has persisted in tandem with the rapid rate of growth in kidneys procured (without compensation to the donor’s estate or family) from deceased donors. …

I wrote to Hippen to ask what sort of reaction his paper has received. He said it has been received “cautiously.” One prominent transplant surgeon, he said,

    … is reluctant to go out of his way to include Iran in the public discussion. While he has no quarrel with the paper that I’m aware of, he (legitimately) worries that it isn’t the whole story. I share the concern, which under the circumstances is not definitively answerable. The other concern, phrased in various ways, is that it is just unfortunate that all of this information is coming from Iran, for obvious reasons. Can’t do much about that.

People who are ideologically opposed to a market in organs, Hippen told me,

    … don’t dispute the data, but deplore the example. I freely concede (and take pains to highlight) that a crucial moral failing of the Iranian system is that there is insufficient data on the long-term outcomes of organ vendors, and the data that exist suggest that vendors are disproportionately impoverished, which in turn may put them at long-term risk for kidney disease. The Iranian transplant professionals I corresponded with in the course of writing the paper share the concern.

When I asked Al Roth about Hippen’s paper — which he said he admired — he raised a separate point of concern.

Not only is the health and welfare of the vendors hard to quantify, Roth said, but it is also hard to get reliable data on “what percentage of patients with E.S.R.D. (end-stage renal disease) fail to get treatment, and how much this contributes to the absence of a transplant waiting list.”

These considerable caveats aside, here is what Hippen thinks the U.S. should make of the Iranian organ market:

    The portion of the National Organ Transplant Act of 1984 which prohibits the sale of organs should be repealed. … Because so much is still unknown regarding how organ sales would work in the United States, individual transplant centers and organ procurement organizations should be permitted to experiment with how to implement a system of organ vending. 

This proposal strikes me as rational and wise, though it may never be tried out here. The repugnance factor in this country, as Roth and Elias have pointed out, may simply be too large to overcome.

But if data, like justice, is truly blind, then it is probably worthwhile to look toward a country that many Americans hate in order to save the lives of the people they love.

(If you’ve made it to the end of this long post, you may be interested to know that I’ll be discussing this topic sometime shortly after 6 a.m. E.D.T. on Wednesday, April 30, on the new public-radio show The Takeaway.)

Something Interesting

There was one thing that I found to be interesting when I was doing my search today. I found out that there are a lot of females getting into the metal lifestyle. It's not a common thing for their to be woman in metal. But there are and they get asked questions about it all the time.

"In some ways, being a female metalhead is like being a female involved in any male-dominated hobby or profession. You are either: (i) examined more closely by your male counterparts because of being female; (ii) you are treated the same way as a male; (iii) or you are dismissed offhand." (Ice Maiden, Metal-rules.com)

Thats what an editor for metal-rules.com had to say and she went on to say "Most men at shows probably aren’t automatically assumed to be at shows just because their girlfriends like metal. However, it is a repeat assumption that I must be at a show because of my significant other-even if I’m at a show alone." (Ice Maiden, Metal-rules.com)

Men often stereotype and she goes on to say "The most annoying type of metalhead is, of course, the guy who assumes that since you are female you simply can’t REALLY be interested in the music, so they don’t even bother talking to you at all." (Ice Maiden, Metal-rules.com)

That goes to show you that females can be metal. It's not just a "Mans" genre anymore.
And I agree with her, women are susceptible of listening and liking metal music. So you can't say that women go to metal concerts just because their "Man" is there for it.

Thats just something that I found that was interesting.

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Ice Maiden. "No, I’m not here to meet men, I actually like the music." Metal-rules.com June 2002 06 May 2008

The Way Games Are Classified

The classification video games has been bracken down in many areas.There are PC,systems,and portable.These are the basic types but there are more way to classify games.They also do it by ratings like rated M=mature,T=teen,E=everyone,E10+=everyone over 10,& AO= 18 and up.

These ratings are there to stop any one from buying them that should not play them.The way they get these ratings is how much killing,blood,language,& graphic.

There are also the types like sports,racing,action,& adventure these games are not always put in the right rating so parents get made.They see their kids playing them and there is a lot of violent things. The parents blame the games industry for way kids do the things they do, even tho the parents are to blame them self's because they don't teach their kids how to be responsible for their actions.

Organ Donation Research(blg#2)

Throughout my research I have found some myths/concerns that people have in terms of being an organ donor. I still find It a little confusing that although a person sings the back of his/her Identification to be admitted to the organ donation program It still doesn't mean that person may be a candidate. For instance, what if your a person that does not speak to your family or just live in another country? Do they bypass the certification from family?Maybe some people do not talk about what they want done to there body in the future after there dead.I know If I was old i wouldn't want to think about dieing anytime soon. Also what If your family have different beliefs, and they choose that nothing be done to your body?
Moving on,today I found some statistics that may be interesting to you. It basically describes that in the year of 2008 there are nearly one hundred thousand awaiting transplants. I find that is a large number of candidates. Can you picture being in the end of that list?

Waiting list candidates 99,226 as of 05/12/2008 Transplants January - February 2008 4,471 as of 05/09/2008 Donors January - February 2008 2,286 as of 05/09/2008

Based on Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN) data

Donor, Organ. "Access to U.S. Goverment Information On Organ & Tissue Donation and Transplantation." Organ donor.gov 01 05 2008 .