Luke Eisenhardt Environmental Science

6-6-12 Honors 177

Victoria Vesna

Final Blog Compilation

Luke 4-9-12 first post Mon, 04/09/2012 - 22:57 | lmeisenhardt Hello everybody, I'm Luke Eisenhardt. I am a senior environmental science major. I will be going to Baton Rouge this weekend to compete in the USAPL national championship for collegiate powerlifting. Although I have been busy recently, I also have an interest in art, especially creating pieces with stencils or the use of perspective. Most of the works that I create rely on the use of computers for editing or preparation purposes. I am aware that science and technology are intertwined with my ability to create art.

Here is one of my favorite pieces, which I made in high school. It was part of my concentration for AP art, which dealt with technology.

I was always able to do both art and sciences in my studies from elementary

school up through my second semester, senior year of high school. There was a scheduling conflict between AP Physics and AP Art. I was the only person in both classes. This separation increased at UCLA. I wanted to take an art class, even though I knew I would major in science, as it was something I enjoyed. I found it impossible to enroll in any art classes since I was not an art major. Luckily, art is something that can be continued outside of the classroom.

I have noticed some people complaining about long walks between north and south campus classes. Broad and Botany, 2 classrooms which may be the farthest apart on campus are about .6 miles apart. Really, you should be able to walk between any 2 UCLA buildings in 15 minutes or less. It's really not that bad. Take the Bruin Bus or ride a bike/skateboard/razor scooter if it really matters. The clustering of south campus and north campus classes by humanities and sciences makes it even easier on you. It facilitates communication within each group, although not necessarily between groups. I see no need to change this layout.

The discussion of stereotypes in the lecture video got me thinking about depictions of scientists who break stereotypes. The first one that came to mind was Dr. Zaius from Planet of the Apes. He is both the minister of science and the defender of the faith, a seeming contradiction. Keep in mind that this depiction comes from a movie, based on a novel, both of which, especially the movie, can be considered forms of art. Science fiction literature and films is an

area in which science and art cannot be separated.

Here is a picture of Dr. Zaius (on the left next to Charlton Heston) breaking sterotypes of what a scientist should look like and do.

Sources

"UCLA Bruin Bus." UCLA.edu. UCLA, n. d. 0. Web. 10 Apr 2012.

"gmap-pedometer." Google Maps, n. d. 0. Web. 10 Apr 2012.

"Dr. Zaius: Planet of the Apes." Tumbler.com. N.p., n. d. 0. Web. 10 Apr 2012.

Luke 4-17-12 Alligator Meat Tue, 04/17/2012 - 21:21 | lmeisenhardt

This past weekend I went to Baton Rouge, Louisiana to compete for UCLA in the USA Powerlifting 2012 Collegiate National Championship. I did pretty well. Here’s a link to my lifts if anyone is interested. http://youtu.be/L2o-nZlfa6o

Down in Louisiana, we ate a lot of terrible awesome fried food. My personal favorite was the fried alligator. My teammates and I began to wonder where this meat came from and if alligators are farmed. Surprisingly, alligator is more than twice as calorie dense as chicken or pork and is very lean. Alligators are in fact raised on farms for their meat and leather. Below are pictures of farm raised alligators and cuts of alligator meat.

For powerlifting, or any sport, nutrition is very important. My goal was to gain weight in order to gain more strength and to be at the top of my weight class. To accomplish this, I have been attempting to eat a lot of food in general. Unfortunately I got sick and was unable to eat much of anything before my competition. I cook large meals at my apartment that can last me several meals. They usually include sizeable amounts of meat. Right now I have a big pot of turkey and bacon chili cooking.

Since I buy all the ingredients for most of the meals I eat, I have some level of control as to what goes into me. I do not concern myself with whether or not food is organic or genetically modified. I would rather not think about it while I’m eating. I think the use of technology to improve the nutrition of food or crop yields is a necessity for a growing population.

Sources

Corleone Jill, . "Nutritional Facts on Alligator Meat."Livestrong.com. N.p., 2011. Web. 17 Apr 2012.

"Farm Raised Alligator Meat." Gatorama. N.p., 2010. Web. 17 Apr 2012.

"Gatorama Alligator Farm." Gatorama <http://www.gatorama.com/showpage.asp?page=farm>

Whitman, Deborah. "Genetically Modified Foods: Harmful or Helpful?." CSA Discovery Guides. (2000): n. page. Web. 17 Apr. 2012. <http://artsci.ucla.edu/biotech177/reading/GMO_Harm_or_Help.pdf>.

Bittman, Mark. “What’s Wrong With What We Eat.” Video. Ted Talks. May 2008. 15 Apr 2012. <http://www.ted.com/talks/mark_bittman_on_what_s_wrong_with_what_we_eat.html >.

Luke 4-22-12 Animal Relations Sun, 04/22/2012 - 14:22 | lmeisenhardt

I have always liked animals, but I have not always liked all animals. My family has always had cats so I have been somewhat of a cat person. I was a afraid of dogs for many years because of my neighbors. Two memories stand out in particular. One is my neighbor’s German shepherd coming into my house and killing my cat. The other is running away from my neighbor’s Rottweiler and also escaping before being bitten in the ass. It took me until high school stop being afraid of dogs and actually start liking them. Here's a picture of my cat, Pixie.

Over spring break, I went to the Los Angeles Zoo. I found out, to my surprise, that one of the orangutans had diabetes and another had cerebral palsy. Zoos are somewhat bizarre places. You can see exotic animals from all over the world. Sometimes I feel bad for the animals since they are prisoners in a way. I have decided that they are no more prisoners than pet cats and dogs are. I think these relationships are beneficial for both the human and the animal. here is a picture of the big orangutan from the LA zoo and a picture of a siamang, who yells loudly when it is time to eat.

Without getting too much into animal genetics issues, I would like to state my general opinion. Genetically modifying animals to benefit humanity is no worse than raising them for slaughter.

I did not really care for the Strange Culture movie, however I was invested in the artist’s fate. I was happy to learn that charges were dropped and we went free.

Los Aneles Zoo and Botanical Gardens. <http://www.lazoo.org/>

Siamang. <http://www.lazoo.org/animals/mammals/siamang/index.html>

UCtelevision. Animal Biotechnology <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qCIvAuwaf-o> July 25, 2008.

Lessan, Lynn. Strange Culture. <http://www.strangeculture.net/ >

Luke week 4 Mon, 04/30/2012 - 16:53 | lmeisenhardt This week we saw Noa's pollen exhibit as well as her dust bunny sculpture in progress. I don't really have much else to say as I'm working on the midterm this week. I did have some ideas for the pollen exhibit. On a practical level, it must cost something to replace all that honey that gets used. A shallow glass bowl could be placed under the pollen allowing the honey to be recycled, rather than just make a mess on the floor. I think it would also look cool to see the pollen floating in a pool of honey as it begins to fill up. As for the dust bunny, I really liked how we viewed it. Being forced to go through it makes you feel shrunken down and really gives you a sense of the messiness of the dust bunny. Although it may be appropriate in a corner of a room, it is more effective when it blocks your path.

Also can someone please explain to me the ethical argument against sugar and coffee?

Luke Medicine and Anatomy wk 5 Sun, 05/06/2012 - 23:43 | lmeisenhardt

I am not sure if we are supposed to blog about anything this week due to the midterms, but I did not really talk about medicine last week and will do so now.

I think that depicting the human body is the area where biotechnology and art are the most clearly related. Art is absolutely essential for visualization of anatomy. A complete understanding of anatomy is also essential for medicine and helpful for other purposes such as fitness.

The techniques of displaying anatomy have evolved over time with technology, but it has not been until very recently that we have made significant advances. X-rays, CAT scans, and MRI’s have all allowed us to see the inside of the human body without having to cut it open. Early anatomy was achieved through dissections and drawings.

The lecture mentioned the exhibit Body Worlds as well as the Visible Human Project. I have seen the Body Worlds exhibit at the LA science center by USC. They had done their own version of the human visualization project where you could view actual cross-section slices of human. I would think that the visible human project is unnecessary because of CAT scan technology, but apparently it discovered previous anatomical errors which had been perpetuated.

Sources

Vesna, Victoria. UConlineprogram. “Medicine”. April 21, 2012. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ep0M2bOM9Tk&feature=youtu.be>

Muscular anatomy diagram.

<http://bodychallengefitness.com/yahoo_site_admin/assets/images/anatomy.2...

Man holding skin drawing. <http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/2a/Anatomia_del_co...

Body Worlds picture. <http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3095/3156150094_5e70f21ffd_z.jpg>

National Library of Medicine. “Visible Human Project.” <http://www.nlm.nih.gov/research/visible/visible_human.html>

Luke week 6 Aging Sun, 05/13/2012 - 20:51 | lmeisenhardt I attended the exhibit on gray hair at CNSI on Thursday. I was slightly amused by it, especially the birthday cards and the wall full of insults for old people such as “coot” and “old goat.” I am not sure exactly what the intent was of certain parts of the exhibit, but the wall of insults, rather than having a museum of tolerance feel to it, instead conjured up this image of Abraham Simpson.

The exhibit did, however, make me realize how frivolous worrying about gray hair is. Hair dye is available for relatively cheap, so why not use it if it matters to you? Instead of worrying about gray hair I worry about other age related ailments. One’s reaction time and explosive power peaks in the mid twenties, an age I am fast approaching. I read that the average NBA player’s productivity is highest at age 25. Fortunately for me as a powerlifter, strength peaks later in life, during the mid to late 30’s.

Compare Usain Bolt who’s best 100 (so far) came at the age of 22 and Ed Coan, a world championship powerlifter who’s best meet occurred at the age of 31.

I would like to leave everyone with one of my favorite of Grimm’s Fairy Tales. It tells about how god is deciding how long several animals should live and how long man should live, initially giving each 30 years. The animals do not want to

live long difficult lives, but man wants to live much longer. “Thus man lives seventy years. The first thirty are his human years, and they quickly disappear. Here he is healthy and happy; he works with pleasure, and enjoys his existence. The donkey's eighteen years follow. Here one burden after the other is laid on him; he carries the grain that feeds others, and his faithful service is rewarded with kicks and blows. Then come the dog's twelve years, and he lies in the corner growling, no longer having teeth with which to bite. And when this time is past, the monkey's ten years conclude. Now man is weak headed and foolish; he does silly things and becomes a laughingstock for children.”

Sources:

Grimm, Jacob and Wilhelm. “The Duration of Life.” <http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/type0173.html>

Aging and exercise. <http://www.sportsci.org/encyc/agingex/agingex.html>

Old Man Yells at Cloud picture. The Simpsons. <http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v418/bawanaal/homer8.jpg>

Usain Bolt picture <http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Sport/Pix/pictures/2010/5/14/1273852...

Ed Coan picture <http://www.criticalbench.com/images/edcoan.jpg>

Luke Alan Turing Project Configure Tue, 05/22/2012 - 19:40 | lmeisenhardt Going along with what John posted earlier about a newspaper featuring fictional articles, I will create a fake WWII propaganda poster supporting Alan Turing.

Summary

Here are all of the blog posts I did for biotechnology and art. My personal favorites are the ones on aging, animals, and the introduction. On each of these I feel like I got to share something with the class, whether it be an original photo or artwork of mine or a story from my childhood. I tried to push the limits in my topics and attempted to create some controversy. I think I succeeded in presenting a challenging view to conventional thought, however in this class I feel that there is no out of bounds. I enjoyed exploring my thoughts on these topics and adding some insight to biotechnology and art.