I was browsing Facebook when I came across Jesse Watters’ “Chinatown segment” from the O’Reilly Show on Fox News. I had some time so I decided to watch it. As the camera panned to Chinatown, New York, a stereotypical Oriental riff chimed in the background. Watters’ first words? “Am I supposed to bow when I say […]
Author: Yixuan James Zheng
Monsanto’s Plight: Seeds of Anger
When the rich and powerful try to work together to become even bigger, backlash can be expected. German pharmaceutical giant Bayer’s agreed acquisition of American agricultural biochemical company Monsanto for $66 billion (a $128/share valuation) was no exception. The impending Bayer-Monsanto merger has already acquired negative reviews, in part due to antitrust concerns and in […]
On Palliative Care in the United States
A few months ago, I had the opportunity to shadow an oncologist, a physician who treats cancer patients. From day one, he emphasized how much suffering there was in his profession, particularly in his specialty. It was sad to watch these patients agonize through chemotherapy and radiation therapy, as treatment regimens sapped their vitality. As […]
A Symbiotic Relationship: Why Industry Should Increase Funding for University Research
Intellectual property has always been a controversial topic. However, this controversy is usually reserved for intellectual property in the form of books, movie, patents, etc. Some results from research are considered general knowledge, open for use by society. Thus, there is no particular protection of this information. In some ways, that’s a good thing, since […]
Making the Change: Why the ICD-10 Couldn’t Come Sooner
If you have ever gone to the doctor’s office, chances are an ICD code, critical to your health care and billing, was used. The ICD stands for the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems. The 10th revision, the ICD-10, was finally adopted by the U.S. on October 1, 2015. Specifically, the U.S. […]
A Second Look: Shaping Public Opinion
By now, most of the world has heard the story of Ahmed Mohamed. On September 14, 2015, this high school freshman brought a homemade clock contraption, complete with a ticking timer, to school. A teacher who thought the device was suspicious reported it to the principal, who then called police. Police questioned Ahmed for about […]
Putting a Price on Life
The cost of medical treatment in the United States may be more of a headache than the health problem itself. Insurance prices are extremely high, but if one doesn’t buy insurance, s/he can be hit with even higher out-of-pocket expenses in case of a medical emergency. The need for the United States to reform its […]
A Not So Innocuous Crisis
The horrific nationwide outbreak in measles has caused a renewed interest and discussion regarding vaccinations of such diseases. While in 2013 there were just under 200 reported cases in the United States, there were around 650 cases in 2014, and in the first two months of the 2015 calendar year, there have already been 173 cases across […]
Power Move: Scottish Independence
The recent Independence Referendum in Scotland, where voters flocked to the polls to answer a deceivingly simple question, “Should Scotland be an independent country?” failed by a comfortable margin. 44.7 percent of voters, about 1.6 million, answered yes, while the remaining 55.3 percent of voters, around 2 million, answered no. The week leading up to […]
Racial Profiling and the Media
Recently, widespread attention has been devoted to instances of racial profiling, about the tragic lives of the victims of racial profiling, about how “wrong” racial profiling is, and about what we, as members of the community, should do to eliminate such activity. There’s just one problem, though. None of this incessant and often repetitive dialogue […]