I have been a self-admitted coffee addict since high school. My reliance on caffeine is so great that my friends know to leave me alone until I have had my coffee. I am not a morning person, and I never have been, and coffee makes me bearable during those excruciating morn-ing hours.
Because of my addiction, I have had to withstand quite the witty comment or two from my friends. But that cup of caffeine deliciousness is worth dealing with those jokes. But now, I have something to throw back at them.
According to CNN.com, high caffeine consumption may be determined by genetics. The study found that some people have a genetic mutation which allows people to metabolize caf-feine faster than others.
What is even more interest-ing, is that this mutation has been theorized to protect people
from dangerous toxins because they are flushed more quick-ly out of the body. This theo-ry could be an explanation for why research has found cof-fee drinkers have been found to have fewer health problems such as strokes.
This is according to a study conducted by scientists from several institutions including the Nation-al Cancer Institute and Harvard School of Public Health.
For the avid coffee fiend that I am, I was very excited to hear this. The thing I am obsessed with above everything else could be good for my health. I will take that.
However, what really stuck out to me is how we consume something, like coffee, every day and yet we still do not know very much about what it could do to
our bodies; whether that effect is good or bad.
We have made so many advances in every branch of sci-ence, but we are still learning
information about something so simple as coffee. We have vis-ited the moon, cloned a sheep
and cured HIV in a patient in Germany.
And we just now discovered that coffee
could prevent strokes. This just makes me
wonder what other dis-coveries we have yet to find.
Something like this really makes you realize how young our understanding of the world really is. In a
small time frame, we have managed to advance astro-
nomically, yet we still have numerous advances ahead of us.
And with every passing year, our rate of progression increases.
We learned and gained so much, but we still have a long way to go.
It is just remarkable how much we still do not know.
OpiniOn [email protected] 12, 2011
MakingPolitical
SenSeThe myth of ‘too big to fail’
James millerStaff Columnist
A large and profitable corpora-tion engages in extremely risky behavior. A disaster occurs. The corporation quickly loses all marketable value.
The government steps in to stop the fiscal unraveling by pumping in billions of taxpayer dollars.
The public is told that if said corporation fails, it will be the end of the world. Profits get privatized while losses are socialized.
The cycle continues. Sound familiar?
Once again, the wondrous notion of “too big to fail” is begin-ning to rear its ugly head.
Rather than be used to vali-date the socialistic “saving” of the global banking system, the disaster in Japan will be met with the same type of reaction-ary response that botched the Hurricane Katrina clean-up effort.
The Japanese government has announced it is ready to offer financial assistance to the owner of the now damaged Fukushima Power plant, Toyota Electric Power Co. (TEPCO).
TEPCO will most likely have a $1 billion bill on its hands when-ever the accident at Fukushima is said and done.
This compensation will most likely bankrupt the company. Rather than look at the circum-stances that led TEPCO to build a nuclear plant unable to with-stand a natural disaster, the government is opting for what it is best at: a handout.
Like the financial crisis, bail-outs only serve to reinforce the notion that “big daddy” gov-ernment is always there to fix everything.
These guarantees only entice banks to rack up billions in
mortgage backed securities without worrying about the risk they carry.
In essence, implicit guaran-tees of support encourage inves-tors to devote capital without proper risk assessment. Making a quick buck becomes easy in the short-term when your losses are protected in the long term. The same concept applies to Fuku-shima, TEPCO and its finan-ciers.
By bailing out TEPCO, the Japanese government not only sends the wrong signal to the operators of power plants, but to the public as a whole. Bankrupt-cy of TEPCO will be devastating to both the company and victims whom it owes compensation.
This is the price to pay for building a nuclear reactor unable to withstand a natural disaster. It is the price to pay for those who were willing to live within proximity of a nuclear plant.
Failure is a fact of life. It is a byproduct of the human con-dition. Protection from failure only inhibits success in the end.
“Too big too fail” is a myth perpetuated by those who have access to the government’s wal-let.
Its enforcement needs to end immediately. This is not an issue of legislating barriers to taxpayer money. Barriers crum-ble as soon as the next disaster hits.
The real issue is one of alter-ing the mindset of the public. Letting TEPCO and its investors fail sends the perfect message: “you failed to calculate the risk involved in building a nuclear power plant, you failed by on your own accord and the public will not suffer by absorbing your loss.”
It will be a tough lesson to learn, but it must start some-where.
A coffee a day keeps the doctor awayChelsea Wehking
Opinion Editor
In today’s world of flirting among college students, there is a shocking emphasis on the use of social media Web sites like Facebook to let someone know that you are thinking about them.
There are some good things about this tactic, but there can also be some drawbacks if you are in a relationship.
Some features, which include “poking” other Facebook users or send-ing them “gifts” to their page, have been used to get this point across.
Although I have never used the tactics myself, there have been several instances where a young lady has sent me a “poke” to let me know that she is inter-ested.
It is confusing sometimes, as many people just poke you for fun. The way one knows they are being hit on is when the person “poking” them is someone who would not poke them in real life.
Essentially, the use of Face-book is the shy person’s approach to flirting.
Facebook loses its value in holding your love interest’s attention when you post some-thing they interpret as flirting on someone’s wall, or “poke” the wrong person.
After speaking with some
friends, it is obvious that Face-book has become a staple in all relationships.
When a member of the oppo-site sex you are seeing tells you to not post on their wall, since their former significant other may see it, there is a definite take over of all former dating etiquette.
In addition to posting on some-one else’s wall being overblown
by some people, not having the proper relationship status or commenting on someone else’s photos have nearly become things that will put a wedge between couples.
When did the world of dating become this bad?
There will always be the tra-ditional ways of meeting peo-ple, like at a club or through a friend, but how people can maintain a healthy relation-ship in our generation seems to have shifted.
With all that is going on in our daily lives, silly behaviors on Facebook should not deem whether or not a relationship will be a success or a failure. People who “poke” on Face-
book should not hide behind such a goofy behavior to attract a person.
As for the bad side, couples should begin to have a minor talk about each others’ use of the Web site and come to an understanding that it is silly to take anything like the above mentioned so seriously.
Hopefully, we will somehow overcome the power of Facebook.
kevin BattersByAsst. Opinion Editor
What not to ‘like’ about Facebook
Photo courtesy of simplyzesty.com
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