PHI THETA KAPPA

What are the connections between the scientific process and information?

Study Questions

1. How has the increased access to information altered our everyday understanding of science?
2. What types of illness or new maladies may result from increased time spent using personal technology?
3. What role does increased access to information play in empowering us to live healthier lifestyles or to gain better quality medical care?
4. Some developing countries accept electronic waste and then hire locals to dismantle it for the recycling market, exposing them to dangerous chemicals. Who should be responsible for the health and environmental impact of such practices?
5. What impact has the information gained from major scientific endeavors, such as the Human Genome Project, had on our understanding of who we are?
6. In what ways can the pursuit of pure science merely to gain knowledge improve the human condition?
7. Given the brain’s plasticity, what impact do changes in the methods by which we gain information alter the way we think, learn and respond?
8. In what ways are greater scientific knowledge and technology blurring the line between man and machine?
9. As our acquisition of scientific information increases, we gain the capability to do previously impossible feats, such as human cloning. Does the fact that we can mean that we should? Who should make those decisions, and can the field of bioethics keep pace with scientific advances?
10. With the explosion of information resources that have a “scientific” feel or sound, how do we distinguish valid science from pseudoscience or myth?
11. Based on the scientific method of inquiry, hypotheses cannot be proved to be correct but can be proved incorrect. Why is that statement true, and how has increased information through the years led to changes in our scientific beliefs?
12. How do new discoveries in neurological sciences apply to the development of artificial intelligence?
13. How might the development of artificial intelligence increase our acquisition and analysis of information?
14. How has neurobiological research influenced our understanding of learning disorders?

Honors in Action

Influenza

Investigation of the Honors Study Topic (Research): Each year, we witness a worldwide outbreak of the influenza, which comes in many strains, but in 2009, the world was rocked by a strain called H1N1. This strain was so significant that it garnered major media attention, and the world braced itself for a highly lethal flu outbreak. Explore the epidemiology of influenza. Begin by gaining an understanding of what influenza is and is not. Research the pattern of the annual flu outbreaks. What makes H1N1 more significant than the usual annual flu strains (or is it)? What does it mean for a disease to be given pandemic status? If H1N1 began as swine flu, why are humans concerned, and what role does genetics play in this potential threat? How is influenza spread? Research the development of flu vaccines. We have flu shots each year—why are they sometimes effective and sometimes not, and why do we need a new one for H1N1? Explore the media coverage of the origins of the H1N1 strain and other potential worldwide threats, such as SARS. How has the media coverage affected public response? Where can one go for reliable information during a major health crisis? Does our current ability to access information help or hinder our ability to recognize serious threats?

Leadership Role(s): Talk to local health care experts (epidemiologists, public health department officials) and discover what action plan your community has in place for handling a major disease outbreak. What information do you need from them? How will you use that information? Talk to your college administration. Who is responsible for your college’s action plan for such events, and what is that plan? Are students and employees aware of the plan? Are flu vaccines easily accessible for the college and community?

Leadership Development: As a chapter, read “Enlist Others: Attracting People to Common Purposes” in Leadership Development Studies: A Humanities Approach. Invite an Allied Health or a nursing faculty member to facilitate a discussion about the lessons you learned from reading the article and the ways you can use the information to develop your influenza project.

Action: Each year, there will be a cold and flu season. What steps can be taken to minimize the spread of any flu strain? What does your collegedo? Identify appropriate partners on campus to increase awareness. Launch an informational poster campaign about influenza and its prevention. Research the efficacy of different types of hand sanitizers and choose the best one, then place hand sanitizer stations around campus. What resources will be needed, and where will you get them? Bring speakers to campus to discuss the facts and myths about influenza and H1N1. Whom will you select for your speaker, and why? Bring a flu vaccination program to campus. With whom would you work towards this goal, and what logistical concerns do you have to address? Develop a timeline. How will you promote the event, what will it cost, and who will be eligible? Share what you learn with fellow Phi Theta Kappa members beyond your chapter by developing an educational forum and presenting your findings at a regional conference.

Collaboration:

• Chapter members
• Students on your campus
• College administrators on your campus
• Community health officials

Reflection: What did you learn about working with chapter, college, and community members about articulating your vision of sharing vital information about ways to protect your health? How will you take what you learned about influenza and replicate your research methods to monitor and share information about other health issues? To what extent can the democratization of information help stem pandemics?

Stem Cell Research: The Answer to Eradication of Disease or Misguided Use of Funds?

Investigation of the Honors Study Topic (Research): As the global population increases and healthcare costs rise, cures for human diseases may be found through the use of stem cells. Stem cell research as a means of finding cures for human disease is a highly charged issue with significant implications. This subject is one associated with accurate information and misinformation that people need to understand in order to make informed decisions about legislation and public policy. Much of the debate centers around the suitability of embryonic and adult stem cells in curing disease and the bioethics of using them. Investigate the biology of stem cells and use your research as the basis for examining bioethical issues associated with this matter: moral, social and religious.

Leadership Role(s): Work with faculty and administrators on your campus to organize your forum on stem cell research. Work with statistics faculty to develop a valid and reliable survey which you will use to gather information about the perception of students on your campus about stem cell research.

Leadership Development: Invite a communications faculty member to conduct a workshop on how to effectively facilitate a discussion on a controversial topic and allow for the substantive contributions of people with varied viewpoints.

Action: Conduct a college survey to determine student understanding of stem cell research and perceptions on what others think about these issues and their connection to the democratization of information. Compare perception with individual understanding and publish the research in your college or local newspaper. Use your scholarship to host a public forum on the topic and include bioethicists, theologians, geneticists, physicians, and citizens who have diseases that have been helped by stem cell research or might be helped by it. Provide opportunities for attendees to lobby local, state and federal politicians regardless of their viewpoints.

Collaboration:

• Chapter members
• Students on your campus
• Faculty members and administrators on your campus
• Medical personnel, theologians, and medical researchers in your community
• Fellow Phi Theta Kappa members beyond your chapter

Reflection: Share your survey findings with fellow Phi Theta Kappa members at a regional convention. Survey members and compare the results of those surveys with the general student population of your campus. In what ways are they similar? In what ways are the results different? How have you grown as scholars and leaders from your investigation of stem cell research and from the organization of your
Honors in Action project?

Bibliography

Carson, Rachel. Silent Spring. 1962.
This classic is widely credited with launching the environmental movement. Carson documents the damaging effects of pesticides on the environment, especially on birds by thinning their eggshells, believed to have almost led to the extinction of our national symbol, the Bald Eagle. She also indicts the chemical industry for their campaigns of misinformation and the U. S. government for its too-ready acceptance of that information.

Gordon, Richard. The Alarming History of Medicine. 1993.
The practice of medicine has evolved through time as newer scientific information has come to light. Gordon uses amusing and shocking anecdotes from the history of medicine, from bizarre treatments to accidental discoveries that revolutionized the discipline, all seemingly sound based on the information available at the time.

Holmes, Richard. The Age of Wonder: How the Romantic Generation Discovered the Beauty and Terror of Science. 2009.
This biographical work chronicles the lives and passions of various scientists of the late 18th and early 19th centuries, focusing less on the details of their scientific endeavors and more on the cultural impact of their discoveries, a comingling of science and art that led to a new era of Romantic science and intellectual leadership.

Mindell, David A. Digital Apollo. 2008.
This book explores the relationship between the astronauts and the automated technology that led to six Apollo moon landings, and considers the implications for our futures, whenever human roles are threatened by automation—man vs. machine.

Pollan, Michael. In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto. 2009.
Scientific advances have revolutionized agribusiness and the food industry. But what impact have the technological advances had on the nutritional value of what we eat and on our overall health?

Powers, Richard. Generosity: An Enhancement. 2009.
In this novel, a perpetually happy student is believed to possess a rare euphoric trait called hyperthymia. She falls into the hands of a charismatic entrepreneur and his genetics lab, which is intent on developing a programmable genome that regulates one’s sense of wellbeing. The book asks the questions, “If happiness genes are discovered, who will own the patent?” and “What are the implications to our species if we develop programmable genomes?”