debatechick's blog

Today the DNA results determining whether a female stripper hired by the Duke lacrosse team was in fact raped by certain members of the team came back NEGATIVE. "No DNA material from any young man was present on the body of this complaining woman," reported the team's defense attorney Wade Smith. Another attorney working on the case, Joe Cheshire, states that authorities took DNA samples from all over the alleged victim's body. "They swabbed about every place they could possibly swab from her, in which there could be any DNA," he told reporters. "The experts will tell you that if there was a condom used they would still be able to pick up DNA, latex, lubricant and all other types of things to show that and that's not here," Cheshire said.  Read More »

Prof Rox Anderson, a doctor at Massachusetts General Hospital, may be on the way to solving the problems of millions of teenagers, heart patients, and women in general.  Anderson and a team of scientists have created a fat-melting laser that could elimnate the fat in acne. Anderson told reporters that along with acne, "Cellulite and other body fat could also be targeted, as well as the fatty plaques that form in arteries, leading to heart attacks. " Apparently the laser is able to heat-up fat in the body without harming the skin above it. The laser experiments were tested on pig fat and skin samples.   Read More »

Recently, my school blocked xanga, facebook, and myspace. The school was tired of kids blogging during school instead of working on homework and did not like the content students were placing on these sites and the danger sites like these pose to children. But here is the thing, students in high school are no longer children. I understand it is the school's job to protect its students, but at the same time if students are not blogging at school they will do it at home, or at a friend's, etc... its sort of like the argument against junk food in schools. At the high school level, students' minds and lifestyles are pretty much set; it is hard to teach an old dog new tricks. If they want to blog, they will find somewhere to do it.  Read More »

I had hoped that after all the criticism FEMA received for not being prepared for a disaster the scale of Katrina, one of their top priorities would be to reform and make sure that the government is ready and alert in case another natural disaster occurs. But not FEMA. Reform? NEVER! A former FEMA chief of staff, Jane Bullock, told CBS that FEMA is less prepared now to handle a natural disaster than it was before Katrina. "I don't think the steps have been taken that the federal government would be there to help the state and local governments should we have another Katrina disaster," Bullock said. "In fact, things have gotten worse."  Read More »

First of all, before I divulge further into this blog, I have to admit that this post is a little bit biased. I work at a professional ballroom dance studio so of course I am automatically going to be “for” a movie about ballroom dancing. But at the same time I would have no problem admitting that “Take the Lead” was horrible if it were. . . but it was not. Not only did the dancers in the movie do a nice job, it was also a humorous movie and was definitely not a chick flick.  Read More »

Many students at my high school complain about our school's strict dress code, which I would like to point out at this time is not that strict. There are times when I too have been confronted by teachers about tight or revealing outer wear and became angry. But would students rather have a semi-strict dress code, or a loose one in which girls can dress however they feel and distract students from the real reason we are at school? Or fear being beat up because they accidentally wore a local gang's colors, and everyone knows what said gang's colors are because they are allowed to wear dress wear advertising their gang to school. Personally, I would rather feel safe at my school and keep Victoria's secret what it was meant to be, a secret, not a public announcement.  Read More »

As we head into April, it is hard to contain the joy that is felt just knowing that warmer, better days are around the corner. Yet at the same time, a certian sense of saddness lies in hearts because the beginning of April signifies the end of . . . March Madness and another season of college basketball.

When we look back on the season as a whole, many of us cannot help but to feel betrayed. The 2005-2006 basketball season brought a lot of upset victories, especially in the NCAA basketball tournament. Many of us, including myself, have attempted to justfy these losses; Kansas lost because they are a young team, they will do better next year. Well, as a fellow staff writer at my high school stated, "LSU starts three freshman and a sophomore and look how far they got." I wish he was wrong, but he is right.  Read More »

The citizens of Iraq who were forced to stand-by and watch helplessly as friends and family were tortured and killed at the hands of Saddam Hussein finally received ustice today. Bloomberg reports that Hussein has been charged with genocide for the 1987-1989 Anfal campaign where over 180,000 Kurds were murdered senselessly. The results of Hussein’s trial were announced today in Baghdad. Now Hussein’s case will be referred to the Iraqi Special Tribunal, which will determine the charges Hussein will face for committing atrocities against mankind. The date for his genocide trial is as of yet undetermined.  Read More »