Q09159

Should all New Zealanders be organ donors?

In this modern world we can cure a lot of infections and dieses, however we can not heal all wounds which means we need to replace the tissue and organs that the dieses and accidents damage so we rely on people’s generosity before or after their death to donate these. Although we have good numbers of donors we still do not have enough, we also have major flaws in our current system which ignores the donor’s decision and only listen to the family, and we will also look at why the objections of people,s way of life present are invalid.

In New Zealand we currently have 10 donors per million of the population. This may seem good to Japan’s 0.4, however Spain’s 34 and Portugal’s 31 are far better and put us to shame.We just do not have enough donors. In New Zealand we have 400 people awaiting organs. A few of these will get lucky but a lot will die. In my opinion why not sign up for donation? You could save or raise the quality of life for up to ten people.

Our current donor system is seriously flawed. Even if it says the word “donor” on someone’s drivers licence it is not even looked at. The family of the deceased is asked instead and it comes down to there decision. To add to that it is not majority rules, if its fifteen saying yes and just one saying no the procedure can not go ahead. This is not right it should be the deceased decision is final, no matter with the family says. However until this happens make sure your family knows what you want to do and hopefully they will understand.

Some people have excuses not to become a donor, such as I forgot or I didn’t know. There are also others which are more justifiable like I think it is an unsafe procedure, however this is wrong with lowest percentage of success being 80% for lung transplants and the highest being liver transplants with an 95% chance of success. Another excuse is that it is against some people’s religion to be bury without there body full intact, but if gods were truly divine being wouldn’t they believe in using perfectly good organs and tissue to give life or raise the quality of life for other people. Also the now useless organs could be given back to the family of which the good organ came from to be buried with the body. Why not let something good come out of such a bad situation.

For these reasons all New Zealanders should sign up for organ donation, we may already have good statistics but we can make these better if the government changed the law to take the flaws out of our current law and now we know the reasons some people don’t are invalid. Now lets all go give life because one day someone we know may need an organ or tissue donation.

Q06128

Dairy farming today is one of New Zealand’s biggest industry’s and is a big money earner in our country. However this industry brings consequences both economically and environmentally. Along with milk and other dairy products, diary farming also brings with it cattle waste and gas, high prices in dairy products and is overtaking our sheep farming industry. It is because of these three reasons that dairy farming is bad for New Zealand and should be reduced.

New Zealand’s environment is one of this country’s best assets and to see its rivers and air be polluted by intense dairy farming can damage this country’s reputation. This country’s landscape is breathtaking and there are many activities that can be done all around our environmental areas. If one day someone decided to go for a swim in a creek or river, the last thing they would want is to come out covered in cow waste due to intense dairy farming nearby. A few examples of dairy farming polluting New Zealand are cow waste getting into our streams/rivers and cow methane emissions polluting the air and ozone layer. Dairy farming is one of this country’s main polluters and if careless farmers continue to work the way they do now, most of our rivers and streams will become condemned and unhealthy.

New Zealand’s industry as stated earlier is one of this country’s biggest money makers and has exported New Zealand dairy products to a lot of the world’s major countries, but knowing we kiwis pay more for our dairy products than overseas buyers is quite a problem. If one day a casual kiwi bloke decides to go to the dairy/supermarket to get some milk and cheese for their family and discovers that diary products are far out of reach for spare pocket change can be frustrating. A few examples of dairy products being ridiculously high for New Zealanders are milk reaching the $4.00 and in some places the $5.00 mark. Cheese is also ridiculously over priced being at $10.00 a kilo but in a lot of places $14.99 for a kilo. The prices of this country’s dairy products is ripping New Zealanders off and emptying our pockets. The prices of our dairy products should be reduced and be made more affordable for New Zealanders.

One of New Zealand’s biggest industry’s which is also a heritage is the sheep farming industry. Sheep farming is a very popular career and to see it get overtaken by the growing dairy industry might end up destroying one of this countries greatest assets. If one day someone decides to go for a drive in the country to explore the landscape but where there was sheep farms there instead is diary farms everywhere with no trees or bushes just flat grass and the stench of cow waste .This would most likely make the driver think that New Zealand would be better off with reducing the number of diary farms and keeping the majority of New Zealands farms being sheep ones .Sheep faming and diary farming both have examples of effects on New Zealand. With sheep farming you get less pay but you have a far less impact on the environment. With dairy farming you get more pay but you have a far greater impact on the environment. Sheep farming is being destroyed by the dairy industry and we may later lose it unless we act now and halt the growth of dairy farming throughout New Zealand.

Dairy farming today is growing excessively and due to the money made by the industry it will be difficult to reduce, but many people will be against it due to its heavy negative environmental and economical impacts like polluting our rivers and ozone layer, high pricing of dairy products and the endangering of the sheep farming industry. Dairy farming is rapidly damaging our country and unless we do something now we may loss more than what we earned through dairy farming in New Zealand.

Y07046

Is It Okay To Get Plastic Surgery To Change Your Appearance?

When you hear of plastic surgery, what do you think of? A Hollywood star trying to delay the effects of aging? People who want to change the size of their stomachs, breasts, or other body parts because they see it done so easily on TV? These are common images of plastic surgery, but what about the 4-year-old boy who has his chin rebuilt after a dog bit him? Or the young woman who has the birthmark on her forehead lightened with a laser?

Is it okay to have plastic surgery to change your appearance? No it is not okay because you’re just wasting your time and money on just getting plastic surgery, only to change your appearance.

Is it okay to get plastic surgery to change your appearance? Yes it is okay because it sometimes can get you far in life, like modelling. If you get one or two surgeries then that can be good only if it

 is on your nose or something small.

Plastic surgery is a special type of surgery that can involve both a person's appearance and ability to function. Plastic surgeons strive to improve patients' appearance and self-image through both reconstructive and cosmetic procedures. These are some of the plastic surgeries you can get.

Reconstructive - procedures correct defects on the face or body. These include physical birth defects like cleft lips and palates and ear deformities, traumatic injuries like those from dog bites or burns, or the aftermath of disease treatments like rebuilding a woman's breast after surgery for breast cancer.

I think that it is alright to have plastic surgery to change your appearance because it can get you far in life, and on the other side I think that it is brainless and a huge amount of money loss because you pay thousands and thousands of dollars just to change your appearance.

Y09161

Follow your heart

Imagine you were born without a kidney or with a heart that did not function right. You would want somebody to give up their organs for you when they die. Everyone should be an organ donor. You could change a family’s life by donating your organ when you die. Also, if you died in a tragic accident and you’re not a donor, all of your organs will decompose and go to waste. Thirdly, more people would be organ donors if there were more ways to sign up.

A families life could be changed by giving one of your  organs  like a kidney, you have two anyway so if someone was born with a malfunctioning kidney you could donate one of yours and save somebody’s life which would be a momentous occasion. “It’s very hard to put into words how grateful I am to my donor family. I know that I have received a very precious gift and will never take that for granted”. As quoted by sue on the NZ donor website. I think that this quote is relevant to this point because she is saying that she is so grateful to her donor family for saving her life.

Secondly if you did happen to be in a tragic accident and you weren’t an organ donor that means that all your perfectly good organs would go to waste like your kidneys heart liver ears eyes nose skin and even your face. It sounds a bit harsh just saying the organs will go to waste and decompose, but it is a fact that if you are not a donor it’s just a waste.

Thirdly more people would be organ donors if their was more ways to sign up to be one because the only way you can at the moment is at the hospital or doctor and when you sit your drivers license test. Maybe if you got a flyer in the mail or a web site on the internet where you could sign up would be an organ donor. The range in the past 10 years has been 25-43 deceased organ donors in NZ.

In conclusion I think that everyone should be an organ donor because there is no point wasting your perfectly good organs if you are in an accident or just want to save somebody’s life.

Y 09161

                         

Y10202

Smokers Are Jokers

Past generations used to think smoking was great and all the ‘cool’ people did it, but since then we have found it is not cool as it can take your life. There are several problems with smoking like the costs, health risks and the addiction. Smoking is a big factor in New Zealand so why would anyone carry on smoking?

Years ago thought it was cool to smoke until they found out about the health risks. From smoking you can get different types of cancers, for instance lung, mouth, lip and heart cancer. From being around smokers, there’s a thing called ‘second hand smoke’, which is simply inhaling it, so it has its health affects on everyone. I think it is a good idea about the smoke-free zones as it minimises places with smoke and then people are prevented from smoking until they find a place where they can, and it doesn’t lead to second hand smoke for other people. There is not one cigarette company now that does not try to get people to quit, they put all these horrible pictures of cancer or cracked lips from smokers which are truly ugly and sometimes it actually persuades people to quit. But still people say to me it is impossible to quit, so why do people carry on smoking?

I class smoking as a drug as it is very addictive and people get hooked easily. There are no benefits to smoking except it gives you something to do. It is not a good example to set for younger generations because look at what example they set on us, and now the present smokers can not quit. From teenagers to elders, people all round New Zealand smoke and personally I think we can change that. There are things like patches that you can easily attach to your arm, and they help you stop the craving of smoking or things as simple as gum which gives you excellent reasons to quit. So why don’t people quit?

The costs of smoking is not to flash either, a negative is there is packets from around fifth teen to forty dollars, and some people chew through a few packs a week so the money starts to add up. People who smoke eventually end up having to pay for healthcare as well if they want to live, which can be very expensive. Imagine what the family misses out on, if people saved there money each week for a year I am sure they could almost take there family on a holiday. So it can affect everyone in all types of ways, so it is pretty selfish to continue this habit considering the cost affects on your family.

Smoking should be banned in New Zealand, and I am glad I know I will never get into it. Anyone smart would know it is bad for you, and there are so many reasons why people should quit, whether its costs, health risks or the facts that it is a drug. It has its affects on everyone and harms people around you and basically there are no positives. It is pointless and everything adds up, so why not quit?

Y 10202

y07043

Y 07043

Driving children around can be a hassle. Especially if they are very social or play sport. With having a child being able to drive it relieves the stress of “what time do I have to pick them up?” Or “where are they?” So, the driving age should not be put up. As of August 1^st 2011 the law is going to change to 16 years old. In order to help parents cope it should stay at the current age of 15 years old. As well as this, it will teach young adults how to become independent. Driving also helps them to be more responsible.

In order to help parents cope, the driving age should stay the same. A personal example of this is when I was waiting for my mum and she forgot to pick me up. When parents are driving children around, remembering where they are or what time to pick them up puts a lot of pressure on parents, so it should stay at the current age which is 15 years old for a learners licence.

Teaching young adult’s independence can be hard but letting them drive is an easy solution. When people drive by themselves they have to make decisions that involve no one but themselves. An independent 16 year old would be, letting them driving to sports practices and parking in a good spot by themselves.

Teaching young adults how to be responsible can be a hard task. But letting them drive is a huge responsibility and that’s why it should stay at 15 years old. If you are driving on the road by yourself you have to be responsible because if you’re not someone could be injured or even killed. With driving comes a lot of costs like, warrant of fitness (WOF), petrol and registration. To pay for all that you have money and to get money you have to work. Most 15/16 year olds can’t get a job because they’re not old enough, or big enough. Also if you are involved in a crash that is another huge cost that needs to be payed for.

In summary, the driving age should not go up because it helps parents cope with all the stresses, it also helps young adults become independent, and it also helps young adults become a lot more responsible behind the wheel and hopefully everywhere else.

By Abraham Cole

y09204

Y09204

BATTLE OF THE CENTERS

Picking backs for the Rugby World Cup will be difficult this year as a wide range of players have preformed consistently well in the Super 15 season. A lot of new names have popped up time and time again and we are constantly hearing of these youngster playing out of their skins. These players are proving they are just as good as the senior players .Ive chosen to write about two very well known names that have appeared a lot this season. Robbie  Fruean and Richard Kahui have both proven why they should be picked for the All Blacks this year.

These players have very similar all round stats but different attributes. For example Robbie Freuan is a very explosive ball runner and is very good at running angles off  Sunny Bill Williams. He is good at finding gaps but Richard is a show stopper with his on-the-spot tackles he has the ability to lift his teams intensity which has the effect to determined the outcome of the game.

One thing Robbie Freuan lacks in his test match experience is that he has not proven he can perform his best at top level rugby. He has been criticised that he is not constant. I fell sympathetic for him as he has not had a chance to prove these sports show hosts wrong but still they look past this. His name is been highlighted as a stand out in the Super Rugby season with his blistering speed. In my words “he rips up the opposition back line”. But personally I rate Robbie as one of the stand out players in the crusaders outfit.

 Richard Kahui has played a reasonable amount of test rugby but has not proved that he is consistently at top grade football. He has been put out time and time again by injury and this has a big effect on his All Black future and he could be in doubt for the Rugby World Cup this year but when he does get an oppunitiy he is known to take it.

Everybody knows that Robbie’s strength is ball running. He is very good at running of Sonny’s of loads. For example in the weekend Sonny took the ball to the line and put Robbie in the gap for a try. This proves he has the ability to do it in the Black Jersey. He was also criticised that he is not that good of a tackler. Once again he proved this statement wrong in the weekend when he made some amazing one on one tackles and created some big opportunities for his team that lead to some outstanding trys.

 These two players have different playing styles and have opposite strengths.They  both have weaknessess and the ability to make that tackle or that line brake.