Swine Flu?

Everyone has been glued to the television by the recent swine flu scare, but I have been wondering whether this illness is being blown out of proprotion. I know that it has killed many people in Mexico, but in America, I believe that there is little to worry about. It was discovered a few days ago that this strand of influenza lacks an amino acid group that would make it more virile. That means that it is not as potent as we once believed. The scare originally began because the flu can be spread through human contact, but how is that any different that seasonal influenza. I don't think that just becuase Mexico lacks a medical system that can quickly serve all of its citizens, that Americans should freak out and shut down schools. Shutting down schools only leads to people gathering together to use their extra free time. I saw on the news that parents of students whose school was closed organized a baseball game, thus nullifying the effect of shutting down school for a week. Only one American citizen has died and that women had underlying medical issues. And I am not the only one who believes that this is being blown out of proportion. 77% of listeners of a popular morning radio show believe that this flu is being blown out of proportion.

Week 4: Proliferation of Paper Media

Media is an intrinsic part of the lives of Americans. However, for the last century or so, media has been dominated by print. As the world as a whole becomes more digital, I wonder why almost all major publications remain on paper. If we are trying to reduce our carbon footprint, why are millions of paper products wasted everyday. I agree that some impoverished areas can only distribute news on paper as opposed to digitally, but for European countries and America, why can't we reduce our need of paper? All news should be able to be distributed digitally over the Internet. Some news sites, such as CNN, do publish much of their news online because they have no printed outlet, but periodicals such as the Birmingham News, The New York Times, or countless magazines, would do well to take a pseudo-page of CNN's book. Perhaps then, some of the paper that is wasted daily could be conserved.