Final Group Project

Here is the final group project from the group, "Will science save us or slay us?" To find out more about the Junior Urban Adventure visit the portal blog for the project.

What? You want to come back for more?

Here's a slideshow from day 2 of our urban adventure.

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Follow in our footsteps

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Green Literature

While at lunch, Jeremy stopped by Borders and saw this book:

Final thoughts by Jeremy W.

Jeremy wrote a very thoughtful reaction to JUA...

JUA Conclusion

I think that the sites we visited didn’t help answer our questions. While I learned a lot visiting with the pharmacoepidemioligist, the environmentally friendly Epicenter, the Museum of Science, and at the Children’s Hospital, I didn’t gather enough information to accurately answer any of our focus questions. I feel that the sites we visited were bias in that they only argued in favor of science “Saving Us.” It’s hard to get any views at a hospital or environmentally sound building of how technology hurts us when these places are examples of technology saving us. I would like to have talked to a pollution specialist or a war analysis. I would like to have learned just how bad cars hurt the environment and other problems with modern technology. If JUA 2008 chooses to do this trip, they need to learn from our mistake and visit a more wide variety of sites. Additionally, the places we visited talked about subjects a little stray from our driving questions. To learn whether environmentally friendly buildings will save the planet, we need to learn more numbers and talk to experts. It was interesting seeing how one building incorporated green technologies, but I didn’t know to what extent. I didn’t know how much it cost them, if they were saving money, if they were saving that much energy. I didn’t know how they put the system in place and the benefits and consequences of the building for its artists and for the community. I learned a lot at the MOS, but there wasn’t enough specific information about renewable energy. I liked the solar-wind power exhibit, but all I learned was how a wind mill works, not how it can change the world. I really enjoyed my time at the Children’s Hospital, but the only really helpful information was that of bacterial resistance to antibiotics. Otherwise, the slideshow and the tour of the microbiology and virology labs didn’t help me answer our questions. I can see how technology helps the hospital prevent infections, analyze bacteria, and even show good slideshows, but I couldn’t get a good perspective on whether these technologies will ultimately save us. Sure they seem to help now, but the doctors/scientists didn’t say to what extent and the problems that they endure. If I don’t know about their successes and failures, then I can’t truly say whether this technology is saving us or not. However, I learned a lot at all the exhibits, and regardless if I answered our focus questions or not, I answered a thousand others. I learned a lot about technology, medicine, and renewable resources and it will help me with my life. Most importantly, at least more so than the specific facts that I learned which I will probably forget soon, I learned to be a better thinker. I analyzed everything I head, saw, smelt, touched, and tasted. I took in knowledge and came out with ideas. I brought a notebook along the trip, and by the end, I came out with designs for utopian communities, subways, skyscrapers, restaurants, and youth hostels. This experience allowed me to see what the quality of life is in Boston. For the most part, people seemed happy. However, the traffic jams, high cost of food, pollution, dirt, coldness, and other little things made me realize that there is so much that needs improvement. We may have clean technology, new highways, cheaper food, green buildings, warm clothes and spaces, but the majority of Boston doesn’t enjoy these luxuries. We still have problems that reduce the quality of life. Until these problems are solved, or at least minimized, we are dying. We may have the technology that can save us, but until we put in place, we are losing. Many people believe that seeing evil and doing nothing is almost as bad as doing that evil oneself. The same applies to technology. Learning the technology that can increase the quality of our lives, but doing nothing, is just as bad as not trying to gain new technologies. Why can’t these revolutionary sciences be put in place? If they aren’t in place, there must be an answer. If there is an answer, then science is not winning. It may not be slaying us, but it just as well may be. Unless we use science to save us, we will die. People are dying. People around the world die every day from starvation, disease, and lack of shelter, among others. Many people think that global warming will result in ruin and that we don’t have the safe measures to protect people from war and nuclear holocaust. Innocent people do die in war and countries do have nuclear weapons. Science must act to save us, because by not acting, it is indirectly slaying us. For it was this science that allowed for so many people to be alive and get sick and develop guns and machines to contribute to global warming. I am not suggesting that we take away all of our technologies because that would be wrong. They have increased our quality of life. More people can be alive. Each person can have enough food and shelter and medicine to live happily. We have the means to travel to experience more in the world. We have the institutions to let people learn, play, and have fun. People can live an entire life in happiness- with school, friends, a fun job, and a happy retirement. It is possible for every person to be happy. We must not get rid of our technologies. However, we need to recognize that we are past the point of improving our quality of life and onto hurting it. We must recognize this error, fix our mistakes, and step forward with caution so that technology adds to happiness and doesn’t take away from it. In our experience here in Boston, experiencing the life of students, employees, the rich, the poor, we have found that for the most part, technology is a good thing and can save us. Most importantly, we have found out what it will save us from. Before we left on JUA, I asked my peers what science is going to save us from and they had no answers. A few people said global warming, but there was no general consensus. But on this trip, we discovered that science is going to save us from living unhappy. It’s going to save us from living happily while others live unhappily. Science causes many evils, but we are evil if we don’t use science. Science causes much happiness, but we are unhappy with the results of science. Science will save us. But we must change our ways now. Otherwise, science is as guilty for causing all the bad in the world as every bad person. It is time for America to step up and take action. It is not too late to build a better place to live. It is not too late to late to realize our mistakes and revitalize the planet. It is not too late to acknowledge the problems with the world and to take action. It is not too late to act based on what we now know. We will not know until we are too late.

Jeremy's thoughts on infection control

Notes on Ms. Reilly at the Children’s Hospital (Infection Control)

I. Introduction
1) Background
a. purpose- to reduce the risks of infections at the hospital
b. staff- 3 full time epidemiologists, 1 manager, and 1 physician

2) How infections occur
a. source
b. susceptible person
c. mode of transportation

II. Infection
A. Source
1. People
i. with active infections
ii. with chronic diseases (hepatitis C or HIV)
iii. with normal bacteria (normal flora)
2. Contaminated equipment 3. Animals and insects (Lime, West Nile)
B. Susceptible Person
1. Person with no immunity who is exposed
2. Person with a weak immune system
C. Modes of Transportation
1. Common Source
i. multiple people get sick from the same source
ii. ex. Manufacturing mistake, or tainted food at a party
2. Contact
i. direct- skin to skin contact
ii. indirect- contact with a contaminated object (an intermediate object)
a. ex. Doorknob
3. Droplet Transmission (respiratory)
i. Droplets generated by coughing, sneezing, talking, etc.
ii. Propelled less than three feet
iii. Deposited on a host’s eyes, nose, or mouth
4. Airborne
i. Same as Droplet
ii. Remain in air for more than three feet
iii. Inhaled by another person
5. Vector Born
III. Prevention
A. Wash Hands
B. Standard Precautions
1. Wear protection: gloves, gowns, masks, eye protection, etc.
C. Patient Placement and Isolation
1. Private rooms or grouped by bug
2. Follow standard precautions
3. Dedicate equipment to only one patient
4. ex. Tuberculosis- add ventilation to rooms
IV. Bacteria Resistance
A. Micro bacteria have a drive to survive
B. Bacteria evolve to make antibiotics less effective or useless
C. The Question: Will we keep going back and forth with new antibacterial medicine and bacteria evolving so we have to make new medicine so the bacteria evolve…or will science win in the end?
D. Why Bacteria are resistant
1. People use antibiotics improperly- By not completing a prescription, the bacteria adapt to the antibacterial drugs
2. Bacteria have genetic mutations
3. Resistant genes can be transmitted between bacteria without mutation (conjugation)
V. The Lab
A. Hospitals have extensive and high-tech labs which can test bacteria and viruses to find their makeup to figure out what antibacterial will kill them
B. Boston Children’s Hospital handles about 200 bacteria or virus samples a day- below their capacity



Jeremy’s Reaction after visiting Children’s Hospital

It appears that science is improving the quality of life at hospitals. Although hospitals add pollution to the atmosphere, cause congestion in the streets, use high amounts of electricity and water, and often infect healthy people, they save far more lives than they hurt. They save people’s lives who would otherwise die, and that is a huge positive for such a small price to pay. Technologies that go into hospitals and medicine are definitely saving us.
~Jeremy W

Nurse Scanlon says "Sneeze in your sleeve!"

Need more convincing, watch this video that Nurse Scanlon recommended.

Virology @ Children's Hospital

After the Epidemiology tour we were shown across the hall to the Virology wing of the laboratory. Dr. Riley led us into a "level 2" lab with many expensive-looking machines. Unfortunately, no researchers were present, so we didn't get to see any high-tech machinery in action. She talked about the different processes in which samples were tested for various viruses, including a new technique that gives results in less than 24 hours, much quicker than the previous 21-day expectancy for a negative sample. The lab also had three "hood" systems, tables where any possibly infected air was pulled through a complex vent system to remove any viruses, and then dispersed the air back outside. Though this particular tour was short lived, our group learned a lot about the "secret life" of viruses, and how researchers handle these viruses for study.

Luke H.

Epidemiology @ Children's Hospital

First off, Patti Scanlon, the avid epidemiologist, was generous enough to show us an awesome power point presentation on infections and infections control. She told us that her job was to minimize and reduce the possibility of infection in and near where she worked; the Boston Children’s Hospital. She gave us a brief summary of what processes went on during a normal day in analyzing bacteria. She has to analyze how infections occur, where they occur, the difference between normal and common, and nasty and infectious bacteria, for example, Normal flora, is the bacteria that lives in and around us. After learning about how infections can be controlled, she wrapped up her insightful presentation saying, “we are in the microbial drive to survive.” Next Ms. Riley gave us a very informative tour of the microbiology and virology labs. She walked us through how they determine what type of bacteria is causing the infection. First, bacteria is cultured on a 5% sheep's blood agar medium. Once the bacteria are present, paper discs infused with various antibiotics are placed on the agar plate. After 24 hours, the diameter of dead bacteria around the disc is measured. The larger the diameter, the more effective the antibiotic. The lab would then report this to the doctor where the doctor would prescribe the strongest and most prevalent antibiotic. The process and the facilities they had were amazing and gave us an amazing insight into the world of medicine. In this case, science is definitely saving, rather the slaying us.

-Erik Caron

Lunch and Free Time

After leaving the MOS we headed to the CambridgeSide Galleria for some lunch and shopping. Our next learning block is at Children's Hospital with Patti Scanlon. Talk to you in a bit!

Museum of Science

Today we went to the Science Museum in Boston. The group saw many exhibits that we were all intrigued with. When we first entered everyone stopped and looked at a big structure that all theses balls that were moving around. I think we looked at that thing trying to figure it out for at least 10 minutes. Then we migrated through out the “Blue Wing.” What I think really caught us next was the electricity exhibit. We learned about how we can use solar power to even run a car. There was also an exhibit on wind power and a display that listed the costs and benefits of various types of fuel. ~ Morgan D.

(pictures coming soon!)

To see what we saw, check out the links at the Museum of Science.

Jeremy's Reaction to JUA

While I learned a lot on our “Save us or Slay us” Junior Urban Adventure trip, I found that our questions can’t be answered in two days. I learned that medicine causes more good than evil because it saves many lives and increases the quality of life for everyone else. I learned that we can be environmentally friendly in our buildings in an affordable and time-efficient way. However, I don’t think these lessons teach us about how to proceed with the technologies we are currently developing. We know we should use caution and we know that we need change. But how? What can one person do? I think our biggest lessons were not in the exhibits we visited and the people we interviewed, but rather what we did in-between. Cell-phones helped us communicate with each other and the busses and trains helped us get around. Many of us took medicine on the trip to stay healthy and ate food wore clothing processes in distant factories. We recognize that these phones created waste in their production, that the bus added to global warming, and that the food and clothing wasted water, electricity, and likely caused much pollution. However, we used these technologies because they added to our trip- they made life better. Leading up to the 19th century, technology drastically increased the quality of life for almost everyone. People began living longer, healthier, and happier lives. But since the mid 1800’s, the world has experienced problems with global warming, over-population, starvation, and epidemics. As we discover new technologies, the quality of life is no longer increasing. In fact, it seems to be getting worst for most people and only better for the few. The rich get bigger tv’s, smaller phones, and fancier houses. The poor get sicker and hungrier. So what has changed? I have learned that nothing has changed, but rather, the consequences of our actions are finally being realized with the help of technology. We see the impact of global warming and widespread poverty. It has always existed, our factories have always caused pollution, but we only now realize it. We used to be ignorant and blissful. But now, we are no longer ignorant so must do something to increase the quality of life for all. But what? We want our phones and computers and big cars, as evident on our JUA trip! I have learned that we can’t just take one big step over night- people don’t want to hurt their quality of life. However, it’s just the rich who don’t want to hurt their quality of life. By becoming more energy efficient, using less, and being aware of our surroundings, we may not have all the luxuries that we want, but the majority of people’s lives will improve. We can’t make this change overnight. We need to take baby steps. I think we need to start by creating a pamphlet of how to make a business green. What businesses need to be used? How much would it cost? How long would it take? How much money would house-owners, businesses, and communities save? By doing this work, we can create a system in which people have an incentive to use. If New Hampton then takes this guide, uses the buildings on campus as the tester, then we will be an example of how technology can be implanted to save the planet.

Green Building

We visited Artists for Humanity, an environmentally friendly youth arts facility established in 2004 dedicated to expressing the voice of youths while incorporating renewable energy technologies in a feasible and affordable way. The center was awarded the LEED platinum certification from the United States Green Building Design. The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Green Building Rating System sets high standards for high-performance sustainable buildings. AFH earned this award because of its use of technologies such as solar power, super insulation, high thermal glass windows, south facing windows, allowing a maximum amount of light to penetrate, occupancy censors, and energy efficient light censors, as well as for its educational program. Solar power provides energy with no negative effectives; however, it doesn’t feed into a battery so it can only be sued when there is sunlight, and that tends to be one solar power needs to be used the least. The super insulation is an excellent way to keep heat in, reducing the amount of electricity and gas that needs to be consumed to create more heat. The windows also keep heat in; however, they are costly. The large windows let in lots of lateral night and heat, an excellent way to save electricity and gas. Additionally, natural light is more pleasing than artificial illumination. While the occupancy censors tell lights to go off when a room isn’t in active use, they don’t consider that a room may be in passive use. In other words, if one is in a room but they are standing or sitting still, the lights go off after seven minutes. However, the only rooms with light sensors were the bathrooms, so if one is sitting on the toilet, they may get the lights out routine. The energy efficient lights can’t go wrong. They are a great way to conserve electricity and light-bulb life. All-in-all, the center seemed to be fairly efficient, but they didn’t use their space wisely. I think they could have fit into a building half that size, which would have saved much more energy than being reliable on green energy. Additionally, Shane, our tour guide, was very personable, but had limited knowledge of the energy statistics for the building, so we didn’t take back any accurate numbers on the impact that the center has on the environment. In my opinion, it is a very small carbon footprint. However, the AFH proved that this energy efficient system is affordable, so anyone can out it in place. People just need some motivation!

~ Jeremy W.

Green Building (mini summary)

Today we went to the Artists for Humanity Green building. Our tour guide, Shane, was very informative with details about the art and green technology in the building. We learned about how they have no air conditioning and they turn on large fans from 2-4 a.m. to cool the building down before people arrive. There is also a small grassy area outside the lower level to attract heat. Adjacent to the grass area, there is a small wind tunnel to help cool down the area. The ground level of the building is technically in the basement, as the basement is cooler in the summer. There are windows on the north, and south sides of the building, because the sun can light the building for free rather than having to use lights.

Annie C. & Alex T.

Notes from Dr. Klompas

1) Background on Dr. Klompas

a. an infectious disease specialist

b. if an infection doesn’t respond to normal treatments, he is called

c. if the infection is from abroad

d. if one has an extremely weak immune system

e. if one is in post surgery

f. works with infection control within the hospital

2) Does a person’s genetic makeup determine their impact by medicine?

a. yes- gender and race as well as location, origin, and activities

b. examples:

i. Elderly people are more likely to receive the West Nile Virus and the disease effects them more than younger people

ii. People who travel abroad are more likely to get tuberculosis

iii. Gardeners may get spothrax

iv. Swimmers are more likely to get librio collum

3) How does a hospital prevent against spreading diseases since hospitals can host bacteria that no other place can host due to the combination of so many bacterias?

a. compare medical problems to the past to determine if it is first time disease has shown in patient

b. if a disease shows for the first time, determine if its seasonal or irregular

c. if the disease is non-environmental or repeated, determine its source by comparing charts

d. once they find who has the disease, find out what they have in common

i. surgery procedure, same doctor, same equipment, same room, etc.

ii. ex. 8 nurses and 10 patients got effected, discovered it was from a nurse party, sent nurses home and cleaned patient area to solve the problem

4) How has technology helped with the current AIDS epidemic?

a. After discovering HIV, it took only three years to develop AZT

5) How has technology helped with other treatments?

a. Antibiotics that fail to work means the patient has to go through surgery or other treatments. New medicine has reduced the number of treatments and safety of surgeries

i. ex. Created medicine to knockout liver so treatments could be delivered without being detoxed by the liver

6) Other benefits of technology?

a. antibiotics:

i. now we can fight influenza

ii. now we can fight AIDS

b. people come in knocking on death’s door and can be cured in 3-4 days

7) Bad results from technology?

a. Sometimes hospitals give patients diseases they wouldn’t otherwise get – can result in death

CONCLUSION: Technology has led us to research and develop medicines. We found that medicine needs to be created with caution because it can be tainted and overprescribed, which may cause deaths and allow for bacteria to mutate. While these medicines result in deaths on rare cases, ultimately, medicine has improved the quality of life for many people and allowed people to live who would otherwise die.

Meeting with Dr. Klompas

Dr. Klompas was a pharmacoepidemiology that spoke to us in great detail about some of the current problems that are being faced in hospitals. His assistant was nice enough to meet us at a local restaurant and walk us to his conference room. Dr. Klompas shared with us general information about his profession and then opened it up to an open question forum. Our group asked him a wide variety of questions that were concerned with everything from natural medicines, prescribed medicines, infection control, to the best and worst feelings he has felt during his career. Summary by Ross A.

David M. – Doctor Summary

Dr. Klompas is an infection control specialist (pharmacoepidemiologist), and he talked a lot about drugs and their effects on the body. He explained some of the worst cases he’s had, and one of them involved flesh-eating bacteria. Apparently it is highly painful, and it required defacing surgery to be dealt with. But he also pointed to the good things that have happened in his career: people’s lives have been saved because of his efforts. Dr. Klompas was highly optimistic to the future of medicine, and he said that world-wide disease prevention would be more likely to occur with more doctor-moms. If many moms were trained with basic medical skills, the cases of disease would be much less. He said that he enjoys his work, and he likes to help people in general. Will science save us or slay us? He said save.

Blogging from Best Buy

We're currently in the field doing some personal interviews asking customers in Best Buy if they think "science will save us or slay us." We just had a great session with Dr. Mike Klompas and now are about to head off to our next learning block at AFH for a tour of a green building. When we have more time we'll post what people said and some feedback on the experience.

over and out!

Outside of the box and outside of oil

We need to find other sources of energy to decrease our dependence on fossil fuels, such as coal, natural gas, oil, etc. Not only are these fuels nonrenewable, but they pollute the environment and increase the amount of carbon in the atmosphere. Wind, hydroelectric, solar, biomass, and geothermal are just some of the types of energy sources that ARE renewable, and most also do not contribute to global warming. Wind power is one of the cleanest renewable energy sources, but a single windmill does not create much power. Hydroelectric is the most reliable and is the safest investment, but it requires damming up rivers and diverting large amounts of water. Solar is very clean, but is only viable when the sun shines a lot. Biomass is the burning of materials like garbage and plants to produce power, but this contributes to global warming. Geothermal works very well and is highly efficient, but it can only be were there is lots of heat from the ground. These are all great candidates for renewable sources of energy, but they all have their quirks.

David M.

JUA Day 1: Research

Today we met in the Master Classroom at noon with Mr. Mundhal to review logistics, safety and general guidelines for the trip. After this we headed over to Ms. Saxe's apartment to work on writing driving questions, researching the places we are going to and have some birthday cake (Happy Birthday Mike!).

Ross, Alex T., David M. and Jeremy W. all working on researching their driving questions.


Luke and Matt are a little camera shy, but who cares so long as they are productive.

Who's marketing medicine to you?

Vioxx, a leading drug in the industry of pre
menopausal studies does more than alleviate the
symptoms of menopause. It was also discovered to
cause an increased rate of heart attack along with
other ailments of the circulatory system. The article
goes on to explain how this could have happened,
suggesting that results of a drug can vary depending
on the patient taking it to the fact that some
companies want their novel drugs to be sold so quickly
that their method of retail can sometimes cause the
quality of a product to suffer. Next, turning the
attention towards doctors, they address these doctors
can do about the drug. It seems that some drug
companies try to sell their product to the doctors
through bribery, often offering education seminars.
Lastly we find out what can we do as the consumer.
The best thing anyone can do is to be educated and ask
as many questions as possible. Like testing the
aspect of science through the JUA, you're urged to
test the legitimacy of the drug and the knowledge of
your doctor about the drug.

Summary by Eric C. of http://www.healingedge.net/store/side_effects.html

Over the counter or out of the ground?

Prescription drugs are chemicals that are unnatural to alter how the brain works. They trick the brain into thinking that everything is normal and disables the brain from sending impulses to the nerves. The prescription drugs change the chemical balance in the brain to subside the symptoms but not to fix them. In herbal remedies, there are no chemicals involved and therefore do not alter the hormone balance in the brain. The herbs contain properties that are meant to regulate the functions of the body to promote healthy living.

Summary by Ross A.

This Green Old House

This article is about build a house that uses completely green energy, like solar panels and geothermal heating, even wind and water energy.

Summary by Mike R.

What does not kill them makes them stronger.

Them, in this case, refers to the growing number of bacterial strains that can survive assaults by the most powerful antibiotics known to medicine. They have earned the nickname, "superbugs," and they're a potentially deadly threat that man has actually helped to create.

Like all living things, bacteria follow the laws of evolution and adapt to their environment. When you take an antibiotic, the drug kills susceptible bacteria and leaves behind those that can resist it. The survivors then multiply, creating a new bacterial strain that the old antibiotic is unable to kill.

In the United States and other developed countries, decades of overuse and misuse of antibiotics have contributed the emergence of bacterial strains that many of our "wonder drugs" cannot touch. And the more that antibiotics are used, the more bacteria evolve.

Antibiotic resistance is not a new phenomenon. Resistant disease strains started showing up soon after the discovery of antibiotics. What is different now is that antibiotic resistance is no longer an isolated problem. Almost all human diseases that can be treated with antibiotics have evolved and developed at least some degree of resistance.

Summary by Matt Y.

Drug Resistant Disease

Many diseases over the years have become more and more resistant to certain drugs and antibiotics. This is mostly because of the users not taking the antibiotics as directed and taking them for a shorter amount of time than directed. By doing this the diseases have mutated and are no longer effected by the drugs.

Alex T.

Driving Questions

Click on the "comment" button to post your driving question.

Group Meeting

We are making a movie, we're not sure of the structure of the movie, but that's what we are doing.

Alex is supplying the video camera
Morgan is bring the digital camera
Morgan, Annie, Jeremy, David and Thrower are bringing laptops
Thrower and Ricci are bring suits

Erik & Alex D..............................Pharmacoepidemiology
Jeremy, Annie & Matt Ye ........LEED Certified Green Buildings
David & Morgan.........................MOS
Ricci, Thrower Alex D...............Filming
Ross & Luke...............................Infection Control

Final Itinerary for JUA

Our TDB for Monday afternoon is now officially a tour of a LEED platinum certified green building at Artists For Humanity.


What is LEED Platinum Certified Mean?
In the United States and in a number of other countries around the world, LEED certification is the recognized standard for measuring building sustainability. Achieving LEED certification is the best way for you to demonstrate that your building project is truly "green." The LEED green building rating system -- developed and administered by the U.S. Green Building Council, a Washington D.C.-based, nonprofit coalition of building industry leaders -- is designed to promote design and construction practices that increase profitability while reducing the negative environmental impacts of buildings and improving occupant health and well-being. For more information visit The Natural Resource Defense Council

What are we doing in Boston?

So here the plan for our two days in Boston..

Monday
We are going to head out to our first learning block, a community exploration between 10:30 and 11:00am.

We need to be at the Pharmacoepidemiology Department of Ambulatory Care and Prevention at 12:45 to meet with Dr. Michael Klompas.

After this we'll do something else (TBD).

After our TDB we'll head to dinner at the Scanlan-Saxe house where we'll blog to our hearts content and talk to Beth Scanlan, a family R.N. and L.P.N. who can answer many of your health questions.

On Tuesday we're going to the MOS and in the afternoon visiting Patti Scanlon (no relation) and R.N. who is an infection control specialist.