HOME’SCOOL November 2013

+

Meet the world’s first immortal woman:

Henrietta Lacks

Drama

Student

Suspended

for dressing

as a

homeless

man.

E-ZINE

Dear Readers, Hi All! Fall is officially here! Not only has the scorching weather passed (hopefully), we all get at least one night of extra sleep! Jesus is Lord! Thanks to everyone for your feedback and all of your support in the production of this E-zine as well as looking out for ways that I could improve. (Special Shout-out to Aunt Angel-Thanks for the publication recommendation! It has proven to be most resourceful) Please remember to set your clocks back one hour for Daylight savings time on Saturday night for November 3rd, 2013. If you would like to comment, give us feedback and/or submit anything of interest, be sure to let me know through e-mail at tigacro@yahoo.com Thanks again! -T

november

Henrietta Lacks P.5

The best nail polish colors to

wear in the Fall season P.11

Cute Sweaters for the Fall and

Winter P.12

Fall Fashion 2013

Articles The world’s first successful

human cell line. P5-7

Boy dressed as Homeless

man, suspended P. 8-10

The Left-Handed Corner

Demographics of Social Media Users

Happy Thanksgiving

The Contributors

Rilee

Teylor

Enoch Mom

Tia Marleena

Daddy

The Henrietta Lacks Story

The history of human tissue cell

culture began with Henrietta

Lacks, a young black mother from

Baltimore, a tobacco farmer who

died from an aggressive strain of

cervical cancer in 1951. Despite

radiation and surgery as treatment

before her death, her tumor

spread rapidly. Within eight

months she was dead, at age 31.

62 years later, part of Henrietta's

cancer still remains alive. During

surgery, a few pieces of her tumor

had been donated to a laboratory specializing in tissue cell culture,

without her or her family’s consent.

In those days, this was a frustrating business. Most attempts to grow human cells outside the body failed. Rarely, a few cells would thrive for a while, and then die off. Henrietta's cells were kept alive by feeding them a concoction (more like a witch's brew that a lab recipe for cell culture). Nevertheless, the success of the recipe brought forth a new age of modern virology. As chronicled by Michael Gold, A Conspiracy of Cells (1986), the laboratory concoction consisted of: (1) Blood from human placenta. (The placenta apparently contains powerful hormones and a host of viruses and bacteria, as yet not fully investigated.) (2.) Beef embryo extract (the ground-up remains of a three-week-old unborn cattle embryo. (3.) Fresh chicken plasma obtained from the blood of a live chicken heart. Lacks’ cell line has been used in numerous vaccines such as the polio vaccine, they have gone into space and have been exposed to nuclear testing and to toxins. The cells have furthered our understanding of cancer, HIV/AIDS and cells in general, and are still widely used today to grow viruses and to test anti-tumor medicines.

For some unknown reason, Henrietta's cancer cells continued to grow vigorously. The cells did not age. Instead, if fed properly they could live and multiply indefinitely. Amazingly, her new tissue culture "cell line" proved to be "immortal." These malignant cells became the first successful human tissue culture cell line in medical history-the now famous HeLa cell line, thus commemorating the legendary Henrietta Lacks.

The moral and ethical issues surrounding HeLa cells and

other human cell lines are still much debated. The Lacks family were unable to afford healthcare. Henrietta Lacks did receive free healthcare treatment for her cervical cancer, but, as she was African American, she had to travel miles to a segregated hospital to be treated. George Gey, the doctor who treated Henrietta Lacks, didn't profit from the cells when he sent them to other scientists. Yet, some pharmaceutical businesses cultured HeLa cells and have profited by their manufacture. Furthermore, should cells be used for the treatment (vaccines, shots, etc.) of other individuals without their consent? Is this morally indecent, a ghastly practice?

What’s your thoughts on this?

A high school student who dressed as a homeless man for a drama assignment was so convincing that he fooled

school officials — and ended up getting suspended. It began with an assignment last month, senior Michael Bodomov, 17, said: Create a character and be that

person for an entire day at Mount Lebanon High School, just outside Pittsburgh.

Bodomov hopes to attend the University of Pittsburgh next year and is still exploring whether theater and drama are his calling. Judging by his performance, he

could be short-listed. "I wore like a couple layers of coats and some sweatpants," Bodomov said. He added a pair of

fingerless gloves, mismatched shoes and plastic bags for socks. He also smeared ink on his face to make it

look dirty.

Student dressed as homeless man gets suspended

Bodomov usually walks to school, but his mother, Marina, thought he

looked so much like a homeless person that she drove him and

dropped him off early, before the main entrance was open. Bodomov

went to an alternate entrance, shook the door and attracted the

attention of a teacher or hall monitor, who asked what the stranger

wanted.

"I had to kind of think on my feet," Bodomov said, since he didn't want to

break character before the school day even began.

"I kind of mumbled" and "said I need to talk to some people," Bodomov

recalled, adding that in retrospect that might have made officials

think he was mentally unbalanced.

Bodomov said he was stuck between the desire to play his role and the

temptation to just tell officials who he was. He decided that dropping

hints about his identity was OK, because even if adults picked up on

them, he could still say he didn't break character.

"At one point, I think I said, 'I might be a student here,'" and a school official responded, "No, you

can't be. You look like you're 30 and you haven't showered in 10 days.“At one point, I think I said, 'I might be

a student here,'" and a school official responded, "No, you can't be. You look like you're 30 and you haven't

showered in 10 days."

He also tried showing them the garbage bag he was carrying, since it contained his school backpack.

But his attention to character detail thwarted that, too. The bag was also filled with empty plastic bottles,

and that's apparently all the officials saw. "It's not like this entire time I wasn't trying to let them know I

was a student," Bodomov said. "It was pretty funny to me."

Then the police showed up.

After staying in character for a little longer, Bodomov explained the whole situation. The police left, and an

administrator said he was suspended for insubordination and for breaking a rule that students must

identify themselves to an administrator when asked.

Bodomov understands that the school was in an unusual position, but the two-day suspension still

stings. "I definitely think they overreacted," he said.

But Bodomov's mother said the school was right to be careful, given safety concerns. She isn't upset that

they suspended her son, adding, "It's a good school."

When a mumbling stranger carrying a garbage bag shows up at a school, she said, "Who knows how it's

going to turn out?“ What do YOU think? Did the school officials go too far? Did the student go too far?

Let me know what YOU think about this at: tigacro@yahoo.com

3 of Fall’s hottest Colors

IRIDESCENT MAPLE

Upon close inspection, it's gray with iridescent olive;

at arm's length, it looks almost like a black pearl.

Buttery Caramel Turns out, a buttery caramel color makes a gorgeous

neutral for medium to dark skin.

Minty Candy Apple A very creamy, beautiful minty-green

Keep Warm this Fall! What’s better than a graphic sweater? Well, that just depends on the person. Chunky Knit, fitted sleeves, even leather placements and zippers! Rock your

favorite sweater this Fall!

Rilee’s Riddle

Why did the Indian chief wear so many feathers?

ANSWER: To keep his wig

The Left Handed Corner

The demographics of social media Men vs. Women

The Proof

Pinterest Facebook

(DYK) DID YOU KNOW…

• A rat can last longer without water than a camel.

• The sentence: The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog uses every letter in the alphabet.

• The name Jeep came from the abbreviation used in the army for the “General Purpose” vehicle, GP.

• The ant can lift 50 times its weight and can pull 30 times its weight.

-submitted by Enoch Crooks

Motivational

Isaiah 40:31 Yet those who wait

for the LORD Will gain

new strength; They

will mount up with

wings like eagles,

They will run and not

get tired, They will

walk and not

become weary.