The Montly Check-UP
Alcohol and Cancer
Skyler Dunphy
When you think of alcohol, you most likely don’t think about cancer. This is because alcohol and cancer are not seen as having any relation to each other. That is until now. According to the STAT “On Friday, Murthy recommended an update to a decades-old surgeon general warning printed on all alcohol containers in the United States. He proposed that the labels have a more eye-catching look and warn users that drinking increases cancer risks.” Murthy has stated that consuming alcohol will increase your risk of many types of cancer, but women's breast cancer is the biggest one. As most high school students have never had alcohol and have never bought a bottle of alcohol, they most likely wouldn't know that on the label of a bottle of wine, beer, etc, there is a warning label. However, this warning label only states the dangers of drinking while pregnant. Murthy would like to see these warning labels also have a warning of cancer. While it has not fully been proven that alcoholic drinks can cause cancer, there have been studies done by Murthy to show that it does bring up the likelihood of you getting cancer.
Sources
Cueto, Isabella. “The Surgeon General Wants the U.S. To Know that Alcohol Causes Cancer. Plenty Stands in His Way.” STAT, 4 Jan. 2025, www.statnews.com/2025/01/04/alcohol-cancer-risks-surgeon-general-hurdles/. Accessed 6 Jan. 2025.
Brain Transplant
Skyler Dunphy
This month, a different angle will be looked at for the monthly check-up. What would happen if doctors could do a brain transplant? At the same time, a brain transplant is not possible as of right now. According to life science, a brain transplant is not likely to happen anytime soon, if ever. Life Science stated, “The answer to that is maybe — but it's a long, long way from happening. And it's unclear whether it would be ethical, even if possible. After all, a brain transplant is a body transplant, raising the question: Is it right to save one person's life with a full donor body, or should that donor's organs go to multiple people, potentially saving many lives at once?” This shows that if a brain transplant were ever to occur, the patient would have a whole new body. Essential for two people to swap bodies. Life Science also stated that “Ethics aside, the brain is a delicate organ, and the spinal cord, which connects to the brain, does not recover well after being cut. While there have been animal experiments involving transplanted heads, most animals that have been subjected to these experiments died within hours or days. The longest-lived have made it only a few months.” Even though there have been some animals where a brain transplant worked temporarily, it doesn’t seem like there will be any long-term transplants scheduled, as this project has been given up by most doctors due to its complexity.
Sources
FARHUD, Dariush D. “Ethical, Social & Psychological Challenges of Head Transplantation in Human.” Iranian Journal of Public Health, vol. 47, no. 9, Sept. 2018, pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6174037/. Accessed 25 Dec. 2024.
Update Stephanie Pappas last. “Will Brain Transplants Ever Be Possible?” Livescience.com, 19 Oct. 2022, www.livescience.com/brain-transplants. Accessed 25 Dec. 2024.
Editorials
The History of Notre Dame
By: Kayla Bergen 1-1-25
The Cathedral of Notre Dame, also referred to as “Our Lady of Paris”, is located in Paris, France. For centuries now it has been a popular spot for tourists. Some tourists are of faith, while others are atheists. Why?
In 116,3, the construction of Notre Dame began out of the rubble of two previously destroyed churches. It wasn’t until 1250 that the Cathedral was completed. Since then, the church has changed drastically. From the point of being conceived, to the modern day, many renovations are continually being made to care for this Sacred structure. The Cathedral of Notre Dame has had anything but an easy life, though. Following the French Revolution in 1799, Napoleon saved the Cathedral from the decision of being torn down. After that, Notre Dame underwent many years of construction to repair the damage inflicted by the French Revolution. Yet, more trials for Notre Dame followed. In 2019, during a period of construction, a fire broke out in the attic, destroying most of the roof and biting away at other parts of this massive building, as well as destroying the center spire. It was immediately promised by the president of France, Emmanuel Macron, that the affected parts of the building would be rebuilt. And that is just what happened. This period of construction lasted for five long years. Now, we can finally say that Notre Dame has opened back up again on December 8, 2024.
The Cathedral of Notre Dame has many spiritual aspects to it. One of which is, the many spirals of the Cathedral are designed to attract your eyes up to Heaven. The detailed sculptures covering the building are there to represent the battle between good and evil. The building also symbolizes hope and unity for people of any religious background or none at all. One of its bells, called the EmEmmanuelell, is there to chime for important events, whether it’s daily mass or the end of a war. With those chimes, it has become an accepted part of daily living for everyone and as well as a symbol of Hope.
Notre Dame has been a widely accepted and trusted place for many centuries. Resting in the heart of Paris, it is a common place for gatherings, whether of faith or more public events. In 1239, the Cathedral acquired an even deeper level of trust when King Louis IX placed the Crown of Thorns in the care of the Cathedral. The very Crown of Thorns is believed to have been worn by Jesus Christ leading up to his crucifixion. This boosted the popularity of the already very famous Cathedral. This addition also caused Notre Dame to become an even greater attraction for people with special devotion to Mary, bringing out the fact that Notre Dame is dedicated to the Virgin Mother. This, however, was not the final resting place for The Crown of Thorns.
In 1793, during the French Revolution, the Cathedral of Notre Dame found itself being attacked. Statues of the Apostles on the outside were mistaken for kings and decapitated; inside, artifacts were destroyed or stolen. The Crown of Thorns was safely transported to the national library until this period of destruction was over. After that, it moved back to Notre Dame. In 2019, due to the fire, the Crown of Thorns was transported again, this time, to the Louvre Museum, also located in Paris. There it stayed until Notre Dame opened again, this December.
Despite all of the reconstruction done to Notre Dame throughout the ages, this structure still holds the same beauty it did in 1250, if not more. The perils that Notre Dame has faced prove to us that God is with us.
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Encyclopædia Britannica, inc. (2024, December 7). Gothic architecture. Encyclopædia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/art/Gothic-architecture
Notre Dame Cathedral: History, fire, and restoration. World History. (2024, December 5). https://worldhistoryjournal.com/2024/12/07/notre-dame-cathedral-history-fire-and-restoration/
The Color Purple
Zoe Collins
The Color Purple follows the story of Celie and the struggles of living in the Deep Sleep South with her abusive husband, Harpo. She shows the misfortune of being a black woman of the 1900s by weaving her own story. Celie searches for her newly lost sister, discovers herself through womanhood, and finds her place in the world. This new rendition, based on the Broadway musical and 1985 film, brings the audience back to the past with a modern theatrical twist. The diverse characters set each other apart with their respective actors’ voices, who bring them to life again. They all have different backgrounds while intertwining their stories together through the fellowship of friendships and the pains of discrimination. The musical brings forth many vocal powerhouses to the screen with stars: Hailey Bailey, Fantasia Barrino, Taraji P. Henson, and Danielle Brooks. Each actor transports the audience to the scene and showcases their expressive talent with the intense emotion that correlates to such a heavy feature. This film flawlessly executes the harsh realities of the 1900s period while also bringing the heat with a passionate, showstopping musical number to make you get up out of your seat. This movie sticks close to its source material while also opening new ideas and visuals within the narrative. The musical, although dark at times, shows the strength of women and their sisters and never losing the loving bond created through their tribulations.