The Human Body, Vol.9 Issue 1

January2014 2014 March

Volume 9 Issue 1

UCT’S STUDENT INTE RNATIONAL AFFAIRS MAGAZINE

The Psychology of Attraction

The human brain explained

Genetic Engineering

What it means for our future

HPV – prevention or cause?

The truth behind the vaccine

The Heart of Cape Town Medical Miracles

the human body HOW FAR CAN WE PUSH IT? The Cape Town Globalist

CTGLOBALIST.COM

1

Contents

Editor-in-Chief Lyndall Thwaits

Deputy Editor Ashleigh Furlong

Content Editors Aisha Abdool Karim Beyers de Vos Alicia Chamaille Fadzai Muramba Layout Editor Daniel Rautenbach

Deputy Layout Editors JP Fawcett Alexandra Goldberg

Appetisers

The Human Body

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15

News bites

What’s happening in the world

20

9

22 Productive Sleeping: A Pipe Dream?

The potential of lucid dreaming

with Professor Tim Noakes

Armchair Globalist

The Marijuana Debate

Marketing Tayla-Paige Van Stirret

Something you probably also know: SA’s communication costs are now some of the highest in the world.

But did you know THIS:

The government has finally put fairer pricing in place to help smaller network providers get a foothold in the market - and bring down costs for all of us. But now the big guys (MTN and Vodacom) are going to court to stop it.

Even though they benefitted from exactly the same regulations when they were the little guys. Profits over people. Sies!

STAND UP for the RIGHT TO COMMUNICATE! • Add your name to the call for cheaper communication! Just SMS “Globalist” & your name to 0767287009.

• Visit www.r2k.org.za/right2call for more info

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Find out more about R2K’s work on secrecy, access to info & freedom of expression: MARCH 2014 www.r2k.org.za @r2kcampaign facebook.com/right2know

The Cape Town Globalist

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The Deadly Trade

The organ black market

Like a Peacock

The Psychology of Attraction

26

Whose body is this?

Legal and Philosophical rights of the body

News 10

Russian Crackdown Silencing gay rights activists

11 Ongoing turmoil in the Ukraine

12

Forefront of the Revolution

The Economics of Sexuality

How Legislation is affecting the future of Uganda

Cover Photo Marek Papała (flickr.com/notperfect) The Cape Town Globalist is published three times a year by students at the University of Cape Town. Any opinions expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of the Cape Town Globalist, the publication sponsors, the University of Cape Town, or Global21.

To contact the CTG, email ctglobalist@gmail.com

Finance Philippa Cochrane

Something you already know: You’re paying too much for airtime and data.

A photo essay documenting SA history

8 Q&A

CTG President Olivia Fiorotto

Contributors Aimee Hare Aisha Abdool Karim Alexandra Swanepoel Ansune van der Merwe Ashleigh Furlong Beyers de Vos Charlotte Martinson Danica Krenski Douglas Whistance Hilary Price Ntando Yaka Tatjana Baleta Tyra Overmeyer

Heart of Cape Town

Philosophy, Art and Science Contributions 13 Global21 Contributions from the australiam

GLOBALIST

14 Q&A: The Globalist ‘In-House Doctor’ Answers your questions on the human body

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Genetics: The Good, the Bad and the Mutated

29

Our Skin, Our Canvas

Genetic engineering: what are the possibilities?

Tattoo Culture

30 HPV: The facts behind the Vaccine Prevention or cause?

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Editorial T

The Cape Town Globalist is a member of

Global21

he human body is perhaps the most valuable thing we own.

From birth to death we exist in a single form that carries us through a life of experiences and development until one day, it all ends. Take it for granted and you may find yourself filled with regret but take it too seriously and you may miss out on really ‘living’.

When we are very young we tend to be carefree to a degree and think of ourselves as indestructible — but as we age we realise the value of a healthy body as things go wrong and the body needs attention, this I suspect, is when we really appreciate the body we have been given and the (almost) flawless design that allows us to live and adapt to the changing world around us.

The theme for this edition is ‘The Human Body’ something that each and every one of you reading this share in common. The Human Body as a theme is far too broad to draw into the few pages we have put together here. That being said, we hope that this edition covers some of the issues that interest you about the human body and that they entice you to think about what it means to you. The issues that we chose to explore in this edition include the psychology of human attraction; lucid dreaming and the potential to ‘control’ dreaming; the new Tim Noakes diet which has caused a stir amongst followers and non-followers alike and an a brief review of the Marijuana debate. We also unpack the potential of genetic engineering and what this could mean for our future and the body as a canvas upon which we etch. We’ve also considered the HPV vaccine as there has been much controversy surrounding this preventative measure and we take a brief look at the dangers of black market organ trade as well as the legal and philosophical rights of the body and what they really mean.

On a different note, our news articles cover three current international affairs in this edition. These include the recent crackdown on gay-rights brought to light by the media coverage of the Sochi Olympics which provides a chilling undertone to what happened behind the Games. In a similar vein, the recent legislation against homosexuality in Uganda depicts the dire consequences for this nation as many international aid donors have and continue to withdraw aid as a result of these new laws. And finally we look at the uprising in Ukraine, the February Revolution and ongoing violent protests gripping the state.

We also bring to you a piece of Cape Town history, going back in time to the first ever heart transplant which was a great feat for not only the city but South Africa as a whole, and lastly we’ve included a special page dedicated to answering your questions about the human body with our very own ‘in-house’ doctor.

No matter who you are, we hope that you find something in this edition which intrigues you. If you’d like to comment on an article or if have any further thoughts on the magazine, please do not hesitate to email us at ctglobalist@gmail. com We hope you enjoy the edition!

1 NETWORK LINKING FUTURE WORLD LEADERS

Lyndall Thwaits

Editor-in-Chief

Network of International Affairs Magazines 5 LANGUAGES www.global21online.org 5 CONTINENTS

11 UNIVERSITIES 245 000 STUDENTS

Yale University • University of Toronto • University of Sydney • Hebrew University • Institut de Sciences Politiques • London School of Economics • Peking University • University of Cape Town • University of South Australia • Oxford University • Ibmec University 4

MARCH 2014

The Cape Town Globalist

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News bites Israel’s Interception

Flight Goes Missing

Conspiracy theories from alien abduction to terrorism to disintegration have been brought forward in light of the strange circumstances surrounding the Saturday 8 March disappearance of Malaysia Airline Flight MH370. The Beijing-bound flight showed radar signals of turning around shortly before vanishing in thin air but no distress signal was made. However it would seem that two of the 239 passengers were using stolen passports fuelling terrorist theories. It would also appear that passenger’s cell phones are still ringing but with no answer much to their family’s dismay.

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300 million

15 million

57%

206

cells die and get replaced every minute

of the human body weight is made up by water

10 000

gallons of saliva produced in a lifetime

23 000

lung breaths are taken per day by the average human

bones in the human body

50 000 40 650

blood cells die every minute

scents are detected by the nose everyday

litres is the average amount of water in the human body muscles in the human body

Statistics courtesy of statisticbrain.com

UN Arming Rebels in Sudan?

More than a 1,000 people in the South Sudan capital of Juba have protested against the UN accusing them of arming rebels. In South Sudan troops said that a UN convoy marked as carrying food was intercepted transporting weapons. The UN denied the claims that the arms were destined for rebels, but acknowledged it made a mistake transporting them by road.

The UN has about 8,000 peacekeepers in South Sudan, the world’s newest state where conflict broke out in December between government and rebel forces. The latest incident will increase government animosity towards the UN mission in South Sudan. The UN acknowledged that it had breached an agreement with the government when it transported the weapons by road, rather than by air. The UN spokeswoman Ariane Quentier said that the weapons were for Ghanaian troops who had arrived in South Sudan, and not for rebel forces. A joint task team with the government of South Sudan will be put together to investigate the unfortunate incident.

Oscars Again

PHYSICAL FACTS

Tiger Tiger Uncle Richie’s bar in Lockport, Illinois seems to attract some rather large cats. Late February this year a man walked into the bar with his tiger on a leash. The only thing that could possibly make the situation stranger is that last December a woman was bitten by a different tiger at the very same bar. John Basile, the tiger’s owner, now faces misdemeanour charges for endangering the masses that are often found in the area where the bar is situated. Basile owns an animal rescue centre filled with wolves, a bear and the tiger.

Israel intercepted dozens of rockets on their way from Iran to the Gaza Strip. Giving fuel to Benjamin Netanyahu – the Israeli Prime Minister – who has recently been very vocal of his criticism of efforts made by world powers to negotiate with Iran a down scale in its nuclear program in exchange for less international sanctions. Netanyahu believes that a nuclear armed Iran would mean the end of the Jewish state and believes that the end results of the ongoing negotiations will be Iran getting their bomb. Although the prime minister has a long way to go, he hopes the interception of the rockets will aid his argument.

appetisers appetisers

Oscar’s Trial

Potential HIV Vaccine

“Did he plan to kill her?” seems to be the question on everyone’s lips as they watch the ongoing trial of Oscar Pistorius – famed South African athlete. Pistorius reportedly shot dead his model girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp at his Pretoria home on 14 February 2013. Pistorius claims he thought she was an intruder but many suspect him of manslaughter. Pathologist Gert Saayman testified that even had Steenkamp not been shot in the head, the two other gun wounds would have been enough to make her draw her last breaths. South Africa waits to hear the fate of a once beloved sportsman with baited breath.

A team of South African and American scientists have discovered broadly neutralising HIV antibodies in a woman in KwaZulu Natal. A study published in Nature by these scientists explains how these antibodies have the potential to create a vaccine for HIV or a cure for AIDS. The antibodies created by this woman are able to combat multiple strains of HIV making it a key tool in trying to eliminate the constantly mutating virus. The scientists who made the initial discovery are continuing their collaboration in an effort to begin testing these antibodies in people infected with HIV in order to explore the possibility of creating a vaccine.

MARCH 2014

The Cape Town Globalist

…and the Oscar goes to. The 86th Academy awards took place in Hollywood this February, celebrities were dressed to impress and fashion and movie fans were watching intently. For the fashion fans the most interesting part is before the ceremony on the red carpet. The hottest Oscar couples were Channing Tatum and Jenna Dewan-Tatum, Matthew McConaughey and Camila Alves and Hollywood’s number one couple Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie. The best dressed for the evening was Sandra Bullock who ruled the 2014 Oscars Red Carpet, in Alexander McQueen, closely followed by Lupita Nyong’o in Prada, Kate Hudson in Atelier Versace and Charlize Theron in Dior. The action in the ceremony was equally as stunning with Best Picture being taken by 12 Years a Slave and Ellen DeGeneres bringing laughter to the ceremony.

Quick Dip

Have you ever seen snow and thought, “Man, I just want to dive into that”? Apparently the thought crossed the minds of friends Shane Campbell and Steve Morris of Duluth, Minnesota. The boys decided to dive and swim into the four feet of snow that was literally on their doorstep. In the YouTube clip watched by over 80 000 people a car can be seen passing on the suburban street. The boys wore only swimming caps, goggles and speedos for their little adventure. Although the swim lasted less than a minute the boys seemed to have thoroughly enjoyed it.

South African Fan Park South African English Premier League fans will get an opportunity to experience a two-day fan park opened in Johannesburg at the end of March. Five matches, including Arsenal vs Manchester City, will be broadcast live on a giant screen - a 100m square screen (the biggest in South Africa) on the 29th and 30th. This free event will host 12,000 fans each day at Zoo Lake Sports Club. Supporters will get an opportunity to meet some soccer stars like the former Bafana Bafana Mark Fish and Lucas Radebe, and Liverpool striker Robbie Fowler and ex-Chelsea and France captain Marcel Desailly. In addition, fans will also have the opportunity to have their picture taken with the Premier League trophy.

This event is a first for South Africa – admission will be on a first-come basis and is not to be missed.

Yemen Conflict The ongoing battle between Shiite Muslim rebels and Sunni tribesmen in Yemen resulted in the deaths of at least 40 people on March 9th.

The fighting between these two sects is slowly spreading through the country and has almost reached the capital, Sana. The Shiite rebels have been fighting the government since 2004. The Shiite fighters want to retain control of Northern Yemen and are opposed to the government’s plan to grant regional authorities more power. In their efforts to maintain power over certain regions of Yemen multiple clashes have occurred throughout the country. CTG

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ARMCHAIR

appetisers

Q& A

with

The Blunt Truth

Professor Tim Noakes

Professor Tim Noakes is the co-author of the Real Meal Revolution the new book in

which he advises what we need to eat in order to live healthy and prevent disease. In

this Q&A with Alexandra SwanepoEL, Prof Noakes argues that what we eat today is vastly different to the diet we should be adhering too.

The Banting or Paleo lifestyle advocates for decreased carb intake and an increase in high fat foods To many, this is quite a contradiction of what traditional ‘dieting’ is! Can you explain the nutritional intricacies involved here?

Beginning in the 1950s a group of enthusiastic but misguided scientists led by American biochemist Dr Ancel Keys decided without any conclusive evidence that animal fats were the cause of the rising incidence of heart disease in the USA. They were wrong.

The cause of the rise was the increase in cigarette consumption after the First World War (1914-1918). But such was Keys persuasive powers and the desire of the US Government after 1972 to reduce the cost of food and to increase the wealth of US farmers that good science was ignored. After 1977 a new “Food Pyramid” was introduced to inform us what we should eat. The result has been that foods which humans did not eat for about 99% of our evolution have become our staples.

The new guidelines ignored three problems namely: firstly, that humans are intolerant of ingested carbohydrates (we call this condition carbohydrate or insulin resistance/intolerance). Secondly that if you remove fat from a food you remove most of the state and thirdly the industry discovered that if they added sugar to low fat foods, not only did the food taste better but the sugar added an addictive component.

Humans are intolerant of ingested carbohydrates.

In the book you warn people that this lifestyle may be expensive in comparison to their old diet. How do you propose a developing country like South Africa implement Banting across the board when we have so many people living in the lower SES brackets?

Carbohydrate foods are cheap because they are subsidized, easy to store and last forever. The healthiest foods to eat is offal which 8

is also the cheapest – kidneys for example are the cheapest source of protein and livers, eggs and sardines are cheap foods that are nutrient dense. We need to encourage the distribution of these foods to the poorer communities and start to educate people about the value of these foods for their health.

Our next book will be on eating this way on R40 per day. It can be done! My colleague Dr Gerhard Schoonbee introduced this eating plan on R30-40 per day to his patients in Caledon.

need. But for those with insulin resistance or with a family history of diabetes or who are unable to control their weight when eating the “healthy” low fat diet or who have frequent energy dips during the day, then this eating plan may be the ideal solution.

One reason why the book has done so well is because the results of changing diet become apparent almost immediately. Within the first week, hunger disappears, weight begins to fall off, brain “fog” disappears, energy levels begin to rise and one begins to feel rejuvenated. And the more insulin resistant one is, the more dramatic the results.

Eating highly processed

foods is not a good idea.

Implementing this lifestyle as a student can be a bit challenging at times! What advice can you give our readers for healthy eating on campus?

I think that students need to be more vocal about the food choices that are available to them on campus and in the residences. If we cannot change to a healthy food environment at UCT then imagine how difficult it will be elsewhere. On the other hand UCT could lead the way in helping South Africans become healthier through better eating. The key is to eat a cooked breakfast which includes eggs and other high protein/fat sources and snacking on hight fat/ protein snacks to sustain one until the evening.

Furthermore, why should students, specifically, change over to the Banting lifestyle?

For those who are lean and carbohydrate tolerant with abundant energy, there may not be any

So, how important is it that people start waking up to how unhealthy a carb- and sugar-based diet really is? Is it a matter of life and death in the long term?

If you are insulin resistant you will become obese and diabetic in time if you continue to eat a high carbohydrate diet for more than 20-30 years. So for us, this is a life-determining choice. My suggestion is for everyone to try this eating plan for at least a month. If you feel better eating this way, then perhaps that is the evidence you need to make the choice.

However what is very clear is that eating highly processed foods is not a good idea and even if you don’t reduce your carbohydrate intake dramatically, eating more real foods will be good for your health in the long term.

Eating only the foods from the Green List in Real Meal Revolution will do wonders for everyone’s health. CTG The Real Meal Revolution is available at Exclusive Books for R305.00

Alexandra Swanepoel

is a Postgraduate LLB student

MARCH 2014

Legalisation of marijuana is the new hot topic all over the globe, and South Africa is not one to be outdone. Alexandra

Swanepoel and Jonathon Day discuss whether it really is

beneficial to our country.

I

t’s high time we consider the possible consequences of legalising marijuana in South Africa. The joint effort of a few mobilised lobbyists, including South African MP Mario Oriani-Ambrosini and his recent impassioned call to decriminalise medical marijuana, finds their stance seemingly strengthened by current movements in the USA. However, as relatively liberal students ourselves, our immediate response is that legalising the drug isn’t progressive—it’s stupid. Why? Because the implications of a greener society for all paints a hazy picture for developing countries such as South Africa, in both a legal and medical context.

Marijuana has dire effects has on frequent users such as being strongly associated with negative psychiatric outcomes such as schizophrenia, psychotic episodes and depression. There is a well documented link between domestic violence, psychiatric disorders and substance abuse. In South Africa, female victims of domestic abuse are almost four times more likely to use marijuana than their non-abused counterparts. In Cape Town’s Groote Schuur Hospital’s trauma ward, a little less than 50% of patients have elevated levels of marijuana in their blood stream. And a national study revealed that children who smoke marijuana are more likely to carry a knife to school and a causative link between marijuana use (particularly in adolescence) and later psychotic episodes has been identified. A further perturbing point is that the negative outcomes of heavy marijuana use are strongly compounded by childhood trauma, isolation and food deprivation among other factors—essentially the hallmarks of a vulnerable subpopulation; a subpopulation which South Africa has in abundance. Legalising the drug will only perpetuate this cycle of abuse and misuse.

Despite claims that legalising marijuana may alleviate drug-related crime, it is important to consider the plethora of other drugs burdening South African society such as cocaine, whoonga, meth, and others. Marijuana is only a small proportion of the contraband industry of South Africa’s seedy underworld. A slightly more nuanced view in favour of legalisation is that marijuana is no worse than alcohol – a sentiment recently reiterated

by President Obama – and that marijuana use should therefore enjoy the same legal freedoms. However, the negative effect alcohol has on society is dependent on the population consuming it. South Africa boasts unsettlingly high alcohol addiction rates, especially within the lower SES brackets. The direct effects of alcohol abuse cost the state R39.7 billion per year. More than 50% of drivers involved in road traffic deaths are intoxicated while 60% of pedestrians killed are intoxicated too. So one cannot assume the legalisation of an item means it is beneficial to society given the harmful effects of alcohol.

The Cape Town Globalist

Another argument used in favour of legalising marijuana is the comparison of marijuana to tobacco. However, smoking, although detrimental to one’s health, does not render one unable to interact with other people. The negative health effects of marijuana consumption, as outlined above, will place another burden on our already strained public health sector. Legalised marijuana will most likely be just as or more regulated than tobacco, and any extra revenue the state could potentially rake in from sin tax (as currently charged on alcohol and tobacco) will be negated by this highly probable increase in public health care costs. In addition, medical marijuana usage has the potential to be abused within South Africa so, ultimately, would the benefits be worth the costs?

The implications of a greener society for all paints a hazy picture for developing countries Constitutionally speaking, the freedom of religion should also be considered in the context of a diverse society such as ours. In the case of Prince vs. President of the Law Society of the Cape of Good Hope and Others 2000 the appellant, a Rastafarian, raised the constitutionality of the Drugs and Drug Trafficking Act, 1992, specifically section 4(b) which prohibits the use and possession of marijuana. The High Court found that this section of the Act did indeed limit the religious freedom of the appellant. However, the judge further ruled that this limitation was justifiable in terms of section 36 of the Constitution (the limitation of rights) on the grounds that a religious exemption “would place an additional burden on the police and the courts, both of which are operating under heavy pressure because of the general crime situation in this country”. On appeal, the Constitutional Court upheld this judgment and thus a legal precedent was set.

It is naive to assume that introducing marijuana, which has such high potential to be abused and to wreak further havoc on our already frail society, will have the same neutral effects in South Africa as it has had in developed countries, such as the Netherlands and some US states. Any kind of drug, whether it be alcohol or marijuana, forces the impoverished, weak and vulnerable into further impoverishment, trapping victims in a vicious cycle of abuse; a tragedy in a country that has been dedicated to breaking the chains of impoverishment and oppression for the last 20 years. So, to all supporters of legalising the drug here at home—why don’t you put that in your pipe and smoke it. CTG

Alexandra Swanepoel

is a first year Postgraduate LLB student

Jonathon Day

is a second year MBChB student

9

NEWS

Ongoing turmoil in Ukraine

Russian Crackdown The Winter Olympics in Sochi this January demonstrated the lenghts the Russian

government would go too to silence. What started off as a gay rights issue has spiralled into something much more, writes Aisha Abdool Karim.

T

he Winter Olympics, held in the Russian city of Sochi this February, was under a lot of scrutiny given the growing unrest in Russia ever since President Vladimir Putin’s administration passed a law banning pro-gay propaganda in June last year. In the months leading up to the Olympics there were several protests against the law both within Russia and internationally, expressing outrage at the violation of human rights’ that the law enabled. However, it seems that despite this scrutiny, the Russian authorities managed to keep the spotlight off this for the duration of the Games.

Athletes like Australian snowboarder Belle Brockoff, who were previously extremely vocal about their opposition to the anti-gay law made no attempt to broach the subject during the Games. Whilst there were small displays of dissent such as some performers displaying the gay rainbow emblem on their persons, the only overt protest was by Vladimir Luxuria, an Italian transgender LGBT activist, who had already been detained the previous day for holding a pro-gay banner outside the Olympic park, arrived at a women’s hockey game in a skirt and was escorted out by police

There is speculation that last year’s antigay propaganda law is only the first step in Putin’s plan to further restrict gay rights

Aisha Abdool Karim

is a second year student studying a BA in Media and Writing, and Film

10

Many athletes decided that whilst in Sochi, competition came first and politics second. Some opted to remain silent to prevent tension during the Games and others, like Brockoff, could have been deterred by negative messages on social media for speaking out prior to the Games .Whilst the Olympic charter states that political propaganda is banned in any Olympic “sites, venues or other areas”, an area was set aside in which protests would be allowed to take place. However it remained mostly empty during the Games probably because it was a fair distance from the Olympic park. The change in attitude by the athletes and the relative silence from protesters during the Games is understandable given the violent manner in which Vladimir Putin’s government has previously silenced similar protests Russian officials have denied allegations that they attempted to suppress protests from occurring during the Games. However, on Wednesday 19 February a group of Russian militia (known as Cossacks) attacked members of the Russian punk group Pussy Riot. The members of Pussy Riot were in Sochi to perform their new protest song, Putin will teach you how to love the motherland.

Maria Alyokhina, a member of the group who was re-

cently released from prison, said that authorities tried to stop the performance by “beating [them] with whips, by spraying gas into [their] eyes and onto [their] faces”.

Pussy Riot was in Sochi for five days and during their stay they were detained three times. The police, who were meant to be there as protection for protestors during the Olympics, did not take any action to prevent this violence from occurring.

This kind of suppression was also evident on the 24 February when demonstrators were confronted by riot police. Hundreds of non-violent demonstrators arrived outside a courthouse in Moscow to show their support for the seven men and one woman who had been convicted of mass rioting and assaulting officers during a rally before Putin’s inauguration in 2012. When the demonstrators reached the courthouse the police had already erected barriers half a block away from the courthouses and several police buses were stationed nearby.

Despite claims by the defendant’s lawyers that the evidence against the accused was inconclusive, the men were sentenced to between two and a half and four years in prison. The woman, Aleksandra Naumova, had her sentence of three years and three months suspended and was released on probation. Stella Anton, the mother of one of the convicted men, told reporters that the sentences were so harsh in an effort to silence protesters.

“They want to frighten people, so that they won’t go to demonstrations, so that they won’t protest, to put them on their knees so they’ll put up with everything that’s happening in the country,” said Anton.

During the trial protestors gathered outside and chanted slogans similar to those being said in Ukraine. In an effort to prevent the demonstration from getting out of hand police officers started detaining protestors outside the courthouse whilst the sentences were being read out.

There is speculation that last year’s anti-gay propaganda law is only the first step in Putin’s plan to further restrict gay rights, and that after the Olympics, when the world is no longer concentrating on Russia, the statesanctioned violence occurring in the country will increase and Putin will instate more restrictive laws. One such proposed law is to remove children from families of same-sex parents.

But perhaps President Putin and his government have more to worry about: recently they have been especially concerned with stifling all protests within the country in an effort to prevent a similar upheaval to that which Ukraine is experiencing. The political turmoil and general disruption within Russia has shifted focus away from the Olympics and the repression of demonstrations is no longer limited to gay rights’ activists but rather anyone who challenges the government. CTG MARCH 2014

NEWS

Escalating violence and an equally divided state, will democracy prevail? Hilary Price investigates.

O

n 20 August 1991, Russian troops officially left Ukraine. Now in the mists of the Ukraine Crisis the Russians have returned in force after months of political turmoil in the country. What started as relatively peaceful demonstrations in the Ukrainian capital Kiev in November last year took a deadly turn in December and escalated through the opening months of 2014.

The conflict seemed to conclude on 22 February with the ousting of President Yanukovych—a triumph for anti-government protesters. The victory was short-lived however as the Russian government reacted to the revolution by deploying troops to the Ukrainian province of Crimea. The BBC reports that, in a return to Cold War rhetoric, “Mr. Putin says Moscow reserves the right to protect its interests and those of Russian speakers in Ukraine.”

The protests in November last year were originally triggered by President Yanukovych’s decision to abandon a free-trade deal with the EU, thus strengthening economic ties with Russia at the expense of closer relations with Europe. Yanukovych’s heavy handed answer to the initial demonstrations provoked much bigger protests.

The situation continued to escalate in December and early January after parliament passed anti-demonstration laws and conducted a brutal crackdown on protesters, opposition leaders and activists. In response, pro-European protesters occupied key government structures in Kiev, including the City Hall and Independence Square. Protesters demanded Yanukovych’s resignation and for new elections to be held. Demonstrations and resistance continued as parts of Kiev transformed into a battleground between protesters and government forces. On 20 February, clashes killed over 80 according to The Economist. All talks and agreements failed and pressure on president Yanukovych mounted until on 27 February he fled the country and was voted out of power by parliament.

An interim president, Turchynov, was named by parliament the next day and new presidential elections were set for May. Meanwhile in eastern Ukraine, including Crimea, pro-Russian counter-protests were held.

The close of the February Revolution, as it is now being dubbed, was the start of Ukrainian Crisis: in early March, Russian troops began to move into the region, threatening the new interim government with military intervention in order to insure the protection of Russian interests in the country. The move has been met with an international outcry as a violation of Ukrainian sovereignty and has placed Russia in a precarious diplomatic position. There is wide speculation about the implications of the apparent invasion, both for the future of Ukraine and for future east-west relations.

The population of Ukraine itself is to some degree divided in opinion on the events since November. According to National Geographic, Ukraine historically has been divided between the east and west. In the 1930s Ukraine was controlled by the USSR, and eastern Ukraine was extensively depopulated by Stalin’s forced famines, making way for Russian speaking people to settle in the area.

Though Ukraine gained independence in 1991, eastern

The Cape Town Globalist

Image: Mstyslav Chernov

Ukraine still has strong—though not absolute—cultural, lingual and ethnic ties to Russia, and provided the base of voters that brought the now ousted pro-Russian President Yanukovych to power in 2010. This is the basis on which Putin has justified Russian interest in the outcome of the February Revolution.

It quickly evolved into a movement against years of corruption and mismanagement.

While the protests in Kiev were triggered by Yanukovych’s decisive move towards the East, it quickly evolved into a movement against years of corruption and mismanagement of the Ukrainian economy. In addition to the economic troubles, protests spotlighted the repression of multi-party democracy in the last few years in the ruling party, who have been accused of rigging the 2012 parliament elections in favour of their candidates and harassing and jailing political opponents. Such a movement is not unprecedented in Ukrainian history.

In 2003, the peaceful Orange Revolution succeeded in overturning the results of a rigged presidential election. The Orange Revolution forms an essential element of Ukrainian national identity and pride, and certainly played a part in inspiring the perseverance of protesters in Kiev. With the advent of the Russian military threats and presence in Crimea, this perseverance and nationalist spirit appears to be persisting as, according to BBC News, Ukraine has ordered full military mobilization to counter the intervention.

The current Ukraine Crisis aside, the Revolution in Ukraine is one of several movements in the last few years that has captured global imagination, together with the 2011 ‘Arab Spring’ and the 2013 protests in Turkey.

Re-establishing a successful democracy after a revolution has never been a straight forward process. An article in The Economist observed that the Orange revolution provides a warning for the interim government: “Without a proper underpinning, emerging democracies can slip back into misrule.” The menacing threat of Russian intervention, of course, makes the future of Ukraine’s democracy even more uncertain. CTG

Hilary Price

is a third year Bachelor of Social Science student majoring in History and International Relations

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The Economics of Sexuality

Student Sarah Spencer discusses the role of the media during a critical time for the European Union.

Diminishing political confidence, poor education, failing bank sectors, low saving rates, declining house standards, falling pension values... All of these terms describe the current state of Europe, especially members of the European Union (EU). For the past decade these states have faced critical financial times widely publicised in the global media. Even in recent months, more European countries have been identified as weak links in the continuously ailing economy. It’s like a downward spiral of events – almost a domino effect – has hit the centre of Europe and slowly one by one it’s taking other countries with it. Starting in large cities like Greece and Italy, more recently we have seen smaller states feel the pinch.

In each of their situations the media has somehow played a role in the final outcome, whether that is socially, politically, domestically or globally. It can therefore be argued that although there are several factors which caused the financial crisis, the media is one of the ultimate influences in shaping the series of events. Whether this is a positive or disastrous impact is yet to be seen, however this article testifies that the

Ashleigh Furlong dissects the intersecting el-

ements of Uganda socio-political economy and looks at how new anti-homosexual legislation might affect Uganda’s international relations.

A

frica is well known for its intolerance of homosexuality. Thirty-eight African countries outlaw being gay, which according to the United Nations is almost half of the 78 countries worldwide which ban homosexuality. One in particular, Uganda, has dominated the headlines over the last few years regarding their harsh response to homosexuality in the country which has culminated in an anti-homosexuality law.

Their most recent law which President Yoweri Museveni signed on February 24th, imposes draconian measures on gay people in the country. First time offenders can receive 14 years in jail and life imprisonment can be imposed for acts of “aggravated homosexuality” (defined as a gay man having sex with a minor or a disabled person). The new law also makes the promotion of homosexuality illegal and calls for people to denounce homosexual individuals.

During the signing in of the bill Museveni said, “Homosexuals are actually mercenaries. They are heterosexual people but because of money they say they are homosexuals. These are prostitutes because of money.” He had previously refused to sign the bill as whilst he found homosexual acts “disgusting” he was not sure whether homosexuality was something one could be born with.

After consulting “scientists” he has come to the conclusion that homosexuality is mostly about nurture and not nature, therefore he agreed to sign the bill. “Homosexuals should rehabilitate themselves and society should assist them to do so,” proclaimed Museveni.

With some saying homosexuality is un-African.

Image: Trent Kelly

Ashleigh Furlong is a third year BA student, majoring in Print Journalism Production and English Literature.

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Global 21

A Time of Turmoil: The media’s Influence

NEWS

The new law has sparked outrage across the world and has led to a crisis in the Ugandan economy. Since the Museveni signed the bill, the Ugandan shilling has been unsteady and the central bank has sold dollars to the market to ensure that the market remains relatively stable. The reason for this is that financial aid makes up 20% of the country’s economy and with their major donors pulling out hard and fast the country is in a precarious situation.

Denmark, the Netherlands and Norway—three countries where homosexuality is not only accepted but gay people are protected from discrimination by law—suspended their aid to Uganda following the signing in of the new law. Shortly after, The World Bank froze 90 million US dollars’ worth of aid until it can be ensured that their “development objectives would not be adversely affected by the enactment of this new law”. Sweden has also stopped aid to Uganda. “Swedish aid is not uncondi-

media’s role has resulted in both successes and failures.

According to the European Commission in their Financial Crisis Report, there has been a positive increased interest in financial education from the media. The report highlighted that, “In some countries journalists were supporting massively the case for financial education of consumers and its inclusion in the school programmes (e.g. Germany). On the other hand, media were playing a paramount role in moving the markets further down thus aggravating the situation during the crisis (e.g. Spain).”

Associate Professor at the Griffith Business School, Fabrizio Carmignani, has expertise in economic growth and macroeconomics. The situation in Europe falls close to home for him as he understands the internal dynamics and believes the media are contributing to a sense of over-pessimism in regards to the financial crisis...

Continue reading at ctglobalist.com

G21

The Clash of Civilisations

tional,” said Swedish Minister for International Development Cooperation Hillevi Engström on March 5.

Uganda’s biggest donor, the United States, has yet to withdraw its aid, but it is engaged in talks where aid to Uganda is being reviewed. John Kerry, the US Secretary of State, has compared the oppressive new law to Nazi Germany and Apartheid. Reactions such as this have done little to stymie the Ugandan government, with government spokesperson Ofwono Opondo stating that aid from donors is “actually a trap for dependence.” “It's actually good that they removed the aid, so that we can live within the means we have,” said Opondo.

The controversy over homosexuality in Africa is a complex one, with some saying that homosexuality is unAfrican and others saying that homophobia is in fact unAfrican. The reasons for this are numerous but in many cases homosexuality is seen as something imported from the west and attempts from the west to promote acceptance are often met with distaste and claims of neo-colonialism. Furthermore, religion and the holding onto traditional family values are of strong importance in many African communities and being gay is seen as a direct contradiction to this.

The results of these views have been fatal for many homosexual Africans. Local tabloids in Uganda regularly publish lists of alleged gay people and call for them to be murdered. Some of these lists included addresses and preferred hangouts of the alleged homosexuals. Following the publication of one such list, the newspaper was taken to court and the plaintiffs won their case. Despite this, one of the plaintiffs, David Kato, a leading LGBT activist, was murdered shortly after the conclusion of the case in 2011.

The Ugandan government is refusing to back down against a plethora of resistance not only from nations outside of Africa but from many African countries as well, and despite the threat posed to their safety, there is still activism coming from within Uganda itself. What remains to be seen is if this will be enough to push the nation to review their anti-homosexual law. CTG MARCH 2014

sarah spencer writes for The australian Globalist

Fourth Year Journalism and International Relations student Victoria Moore explores China in a globalised world.

It’s not a country which immediately screams ‘multicultural’.

With a population of over one billion and cities which house 20 million residents, it seems reasonable that amidst the sea of locals, foreigners are few and far between. And yet to this little Australian, it was still staggering that very few Chinese locals spoke English and outward appearances weren’t by any measure embracing of a multicultural society.

You shouldn’t expect that the world is fluent in English, but at the same time on some subconscious level it was shocking to see how little English was embraced in the Chinese domain.

The contrast between Vietnam, Cambodia and the mother of Asia – China, was striking, and I don’t just mean in size. China is Cambodia on steroids and it’s advanced in ways that SouthEast Asia can only lust after.

However, beyond sheer proportion and technology lies a language barrier.

The Vietnamese and Cambodian people rely on the Western tourist trade, English being simply non-negotiable for them.

English seemed far more a luxury within mainland China.

Taxi’s refused to stop for Westerners in Beijing as the language barrier was simply not worth the small fare.

Not all shop assistants were able to communicate in English and likewise we were unable to speak the mother-tongue.

It’s hard to believe that despite English and Mandarin being the dominant languages in the world, there is very little prominence of the other in the country of origin.

However, for this native Australian, it stopped me in my tracks and made me wonder - What language should we really need to know in our globalised world?

Within mainland China, the language policy heavily favours the development of Chinese dialects while highlighting the prestigious nature of the English language.

English is taught in Chinese public schools starting in the third year of primary school.

In 2006, The Economist reported that up to one fifth of the population was learning English.

Clearly the prominence of English within China is growing,

The Cape Town Globalist

just as Chinese (Mandarin) is a target language of the current Australian National Asian Languages and Studies in School Program (NALSSP) policy.

The NALSSP encourages the participation of one of four target Asian languages in primary, secondary and tertiary education; Chinese (Mandarin), Indonesian, Korean and Japanese.

Future language policy similarly recognizes Chinese as being pivotal to economic success in the region, with the 2012 Asian Century White Paper indicating a continued policy centering on Mandarin.

But even given these policies and figures, surely the measure of whether or not a country is succeeding in its multi-lingual aim is whether a tourist, such as myself, is able to communicate when in the country.

It’s an interesting predicament because we can’t have two ‘super languages’. So which should the global population really be fluent in?

With approximately two billion speakers globally, English remains the world’s lingua franca and scholars suggest that English is the language of globalisation.

This places approximately one-fourth of the world’s population able to communicate in English.

Furthermore, English is spoken by roughly 800 million people in Asia and is widely used as an official language in the region, some suggesting that in fact English is merely another Asian dialect.

So if this is the case, should the Australian government put resources into developing bi-lingual residents. Or should we remain solely English speaking Australians?

Even as a mono-lingual Australian, I think the answer is clear – languages enrich our multi-cultural society and even if English is the language of globalisation, other dialects are necessary to enhance international relations. G21

victoria moore

writes for The australian Globalist

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The Globalist

In-House Doctor

The Human Body

Doctor Whistance, MD UCT

“if you die and repair the body and ran a current through it, why won’t it live?”

The simple fact of the matter is a certain level of energy is required by each cell in the body to maintain its integrity.

This energy comes from the circulating blood which is carrying fresh oxygen and nutrients. As soon as this energy source is cut off cells will stop functioning and break down.

The length of time it takes before the cell becomes irreparably damaged varies depending on which cell we’re looking at but, once the damage occurs, that cell is lost forever and cannot be repaired. The cells that we’re most worried about are obviously the brain cells. These will start to die after about 3 minutes without oxygen and the large majority of cells will be lost after 6 minutes. Even though we may be able to run a current through the body after this time the cells will not be able to respond to it.

“What is the record number of fingers ever recorded on one human being?”

The record number of fingers at birth is 14 (7 fingers on each hand), these belonged to Akshat Saxena (India). This was confirmed by doctors on the 20th of March 2010. Akshat underwent an operation to remove the extra fingers, he now has a normal number of digits on each hand. (Guinness Book of Records, online 2014) “Are there differences in the human body between the races?”

There are few obvious differences between people’s insides between races. There are subtle differences in bone structure but all the organs are the same to the naked eye.

On an enzymatic level there are some differences which have been noticed. For example, some races don’t respond to certain drugs and other races have been found to tolerate other drugs badly.

“Is the human body still evolving?”

It is debated and it’s incredibly difficult to tell but there are some changes slowly happening that may be attributed to evolution. Humans have a much longer lifespan than most other animals and this means that an evolutionary change will only be noticed if looking at us over many, many centuries. If we were to observe an insect species that only lives a couple of days we can easily spot evolutionary changes to adapt to their surroundings over a few weeks to months.

“What are the short term effects of nicotine on health?

What happens to your body?”

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It depends on how heavily you smoked and for how many years. Sometimes irreparable damage can be done to your lungs but studies have shown that in a young person your lungs can return to normal after about 5 years and after 10 years your risk of developing lung cancer is the same as a non-smoker.

There is an estimated 5mg of nicotine each cigarette, but only 0.2 – 3.5mg of this is actually absorbed. Once it entered into the body, it reaches the central nervous system where it can have the following effects (although the rate of effect

differs from person to person): increased BP (can cause high BP) and heart rate, reduction in urine output, a decrease in reflex times, coughing, bad breath and the staining of teeth.

Interestingly, caffeine has an atomic resemblance to nicotine.

“How much alcohol would I have to drink to damage my liver?”

Scientists aren’t 100% sure why drinking alcohol damages the liver but they think that it causes oxidative stress (damage to the liver cells when breaking down alcohol). The liver is the only organ that can regenerate back to its original state after damage so it is a very resilient organ. But, with increased stress from repeated bouts of having to regenerate itself, it will eventually start to falter. The liver can also ‘upregulate’ its ability to digest alcohol which is why someone who drinks regularly can usually drink far more than someone who is ‘alcohol naïve’.

Heart of Cape Town

By Aimee Hare

“How much of the brain do we really use and what is its potential?”

The Deadly Trade

The “10 percent myth” was disproved long ago. According to Barry Gordon, a neurologist at John Hopkins School of Medicine, the brain is active almost all of the time and we use all the parts of our brain in our everyday lives. Some tasks are more demanding than others so the brains ‘activeness’ does increase and decrease depending on the task. Reading and resting, for example, use fewer parts of the brain than when you’re trying to solve that really complicated maths sum (higher cognitive functions). Answering the question of the potential of the brain is a little more complex – it depends as everyone is different. We do however know that the brain is plastic to a degree, it continues to make new neural connections, and ‘prune’ those that fall into disuse which means that our brain is developing all the time and if you don’t use it, you literally will lose it after a certain amount of time. It’s easiest to think of the brain as a muscle. The more you exercise it the stronger it will get and, if you stop going to gym, it will lose that strength eventually. This is especially important in childhood. If a young mind isn’t exercised enough it will struggle to reach the same level later in life as one that was exercised a lot during its developing years.

By Danica Krenski

Productive Sleeping: A Pipe Dream?

By Ansune van der Merwe

Like a Peacock

By Beyers de Vos

“What is the genome project?”

The Human Genome project is an international collaborative project whereby scientific researchers aims to ‘map’ the genetic sequence of human beings (i.e. : their DNA). People often talk of the Genome Project as an ‘unravelling’ of the human genome in an attempt to find out which parts of our genes are responsible for different parts of our bodies. For example, our eye colour, hair type and colour, right down to specific enzymes and genes linked to cancer or other disorders where genetics play a role. Knowing where these genes are located allows us to easily screen for them using genetic testing and to closely monitor those at risk of disease. The project started in the US in 1990 and was officially completed in 2003, however mapping continues around the world to this day. In March 2014, one of the pioneers of the project, J Craig Venter announced that he would be collecting a further 40 000 samples in the quest to discover more about longevity. CTG

Whose body is this?

By Ntando Yaka

MARCH 2014

The Cape Town Globalist

15

HEART OF CAPE TOWN Aimee Hare

S

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outh African born Christiaan Neethling Barnard led way in cardiac science when he performed the world’s first successful heart transplant at Groote Schuur Hospital in Cape Town. The original theatres, located within the working hospital, now stand as a museum which replicate and celebrate the operation which happened on 3 December 1967.

Due to advances in technology and sterilization the theatres are no longer in use, but original equipment and life-like models recreate the surgery for viewers to learn about the event.

MARCH 2014

The Cape Town Globalist

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“It is the crowning effort of a team of men and women who bring at that moment the training of a lifetime. Structured with the inherited technique and skill of a millennium — all are fused to one objective: to replace a dying heart with a new one to save one life”

This is the original room where the transplant took place. Guided by Professor Barnard, he and his team were able to extract Louis Washkansky’s diseased heart and replace it with Denise Darvall’s donor heart. The rooms now stands in honour of 25-year-old Denise and 53-year-old Louis. CTG

- Christiaan Neethling Barnard, 1922 - 2001

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MARCH 2014

The Cape Town Globalist

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THE HUMAN BODY

THE HUMAN BODY

The Deadly Trade

Image: Aimee Hare

Danica Krenski investigates what makes the black market organ trade kick and wonders

why it’s so easy to get away with.

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n 2012, reports surfaced of seven people who had been arrested in China after a teenager sold his kidney so he could buy an iPad and an iPhone. There was another case in China where a 6-year-old was kidnapped only to have his eyes gouged so his corneas could be taken. Staying in China, The United Nations Regional Information Centre (UNRIC) recently reported that 16 people, including doctors, were involved in an illegal kidney trading operation: kidneys were bought from poor or young people, who received about €3000 for their organ, whilst the doctors sold it for €24 000. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has estimated that there is a black-market kidney transplant performed

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once an hour: that’s up to 10 000 a year. China, Pakistan and India are the top destinations for these surgeries.

It’s a problem that has run rampant for years now: evidence of global criminal networks and a black-market that has infiltrated the international medical practice and isn’t being confronted as aggressively as it should be. Stories pop up every day of children being kidnapped and found minus an organ, of deals being struck between black-market syndicates and their desperate customers.

But why exactly is the illegal organ-trade so successful and how exactly does it work anyway?

The organs most commonly transplanted include the heart, lung, pancreas and kidney. Organ donations typiMARCH 2014

cally come from people who have given permission to have their organs harvested after death or if they have been declared clinically brain dead and are being kept artificially alive. But living organ donation, where the donor donates an organ he or she can live without, is becoming more common. The kidney is the most common organ given by a living donor as humans have two, yet can easily live with just one. But it is illegal to donate an organ in exchange for any payment and it is therefore living organ donation that is the most vulnerable to exploitation by black-market organ syndicates who are willing to pay people large sums of money for their organs.

The trafficking of persons in order to remove their organs thrives because of an acute shortage of organs for transplantation surgeries – the official organ donation channels simply can’t keep up with demand. So the demand is often met by the black-market, which artificially creates supply via donors recruited from vulnerable populations such as people from war torn or impoverished nations that desperately need money. People are willing to pay up to $262 000 for a harvested kidney, $119 000 for a heart, $508 for a stomach, $1 1219 for a gallbladder, $1 525 for a pair of eyeballs or $607 for a scalp and there are willing sellers all over the globe.

Luc Noel, the Special Advisor for Service Delivery and Safety Initiative for Medical Products of Human Origin for the WHO told The Globalist he believes that living kidney donation by related donors should be encouraged, but that organ donation after death is a necessity, “as not everyone has a donor and organ donation after death does not harm the donor.” Noel explained that, “There are potentially enough viable and functional kidneys after the death of their owners to meet all needs.

But trading and profiteering with or without coercion of the donor undermines a system aimed at proving transplantation to all patients in need.” He went on to stress the importance of the regulation of organ donation by law, saying it was the only thing protecting both the donor and recipient from health risks and exploitation.

The UN has divided the illegal organ trade into three broad categories. The first category is traffickers who force or deceive victims into giving up an organ (usually through violence). The second is, victims who informally or formally agree to sell an organ and are not paid the promised price, or paid at all, and the organs are then sold for a much higher price than the donor received.

These transactions are often negotiated by a broker where the recipient is told to a pay the broker a fee and is then referred to a specific hospital. This is usually in a developing nation where the legality of the operation can be overlooked or bribed way – often the hospital officials are in on it. The broker then arranges a “donor” who “volunteers” to donate an organ and after the operation the broker pays the donor under the table and takes a commissioning fee. Because it is difficult to prove that a donor has been paid, it is a crime that is very difficult to detect. It also comes with a high degree of risk as brokers have been known to defraud the donor or the recipient, or both, by either never paying the donor or receiving payment and then vanishing with the money.

The third category involves politically or financially vulnerable people, namely the homeless, impoverished or the uneducated who are diagnosed and treated for an ailment which may not even exist and are told they The Cape Town Globalist

will need an operation. An organ is then removed without their knowledge or they are killed and their organs harvested.

Of course, in the case of the second type of illegal organ trade, the argument can be made that living donors who donate any organ they can live without should in fact be compensated; why not legalise organ donations in exchange for payment? The illegal organ trade, or at least the parts of it that don’t involve murder and coercion, is sometimes acknowledged as a victimless crime that helps both the terminally ill person who receives the organ and the donor who receives compensation that could potentially feed a family or provide shelter.

According to Nancy Scheper-Hughs, a Professor of Medical Anthropology at the University of California and Director of Organs Watch, this is how many cases are viewed by some judges and prosecutors and contributes to the low rate of prosecutions. Prosecutions involving the illegal organ trade are on the increase in several countries including Turkey, Kosovo, Israel, the US and South Africa.

There is a black-market kidney

transplant performed once an hour: that’s up to 10 000 a year Every illegal organ transaction is facilitated by local criminal networks, but those run by global organised crime syndicates are the most widespread, mobile, resilient and dangerous. They are also the most difficult to interrupt and trace, especially as one political or economic crisis after the other supplies the black-market with endless refugees who fall into the hands of organ traffickers. In any nation the displaced, dispossessed and desperate are all potential recruits. Children also often fall victim to the illegal organ trade: their organs are more expensive on the black market, as it is believed that the younger the donor, the better the quality of the organ.

Organ trafficking can be distinguished from other forms of trafficking in that the organ brokers or traffickers often work in other respected industry sectors. Mortuary workers, doctors, ambulance drivers and other health-care practitioners are often involved in human trafficking networks and very often organ theft is an inside job.

Prosecutions of organ traffickers and their network’s associates have been criticised for being inefficient.

The most visible prosecutions are usually those of the brokers, but these are mostly mid-level people that are easily replaceable in larger syndicates. Prosecution and legislation should perhaps focus on organ transplant professionals like the hospitals, surgeons and insurance companies that claim immunity by declaring that they cannot police the trade.

“It is the responsibility of a national transplantation authority to ensure the registration of all donors and recipients, to oversee process and outcomes and ensure transparency while maintaining confidentiality,” said Noel. These are essential to undermine trafficking. Noel believes that if organ donation, which embodies community values such as reciprocity and solidarity, is promoted there will be no room for the organ trade. CTG

Danica Krenski

is a third-year student doing a triple major in Media and Writing, English Literature and Archaeology.

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THE HUMAN BODY

THE HUMAN BODY

Productive Sleeping:

A Pipe Dream?

Ansune van der Merwe investigates the theory behind lucid dreaming using the Aurora Dream Enchancing headband and why sleeping ‘productively’ is so important to us in today’s fast-track world.

W

hat if you could fly around the earth 3730 times? By the time a person turns 60, he will have slept the same amount of hours as it would take a commercial airplane to travel this distance.

Due to the demands of fast-paced modern society, it is no wonder time spent in dreamland is often sacrificed for a few hours in front of a computer screen with a meal-on-the-go in hand. But perhaps there is a way to get more out of our time spent in bed.

With the Aurora Dream-Enhancing headband one could—in a manner of speaking—sleep productively.

This device, expected to be released on the market in June this year, induces a state of lucid dreaming. The concept of lucid dreaming was first mentioned centuries ago by Aristotle and Tibetan Buddhists and refers to when a sleeper enters a state of consciousness but continues to dream. It is possible to attain this state of being because the separate regions of the brain can be active while others remain switched off. Through utilising lucid dreaming the headband is not just a source of entertainment but can potentially increase productivity in everyday life.

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Most dreams occur during REM-sleep and during this stage the frontal region of the brain usually remains inactive. This part of the brain facilitates memory, motivation, intentionality, and self-awareness. According to a study published in the Sleep journal, people are able to maintain use of the frontal region of the brain during lucid dreams. Thus, contrary to normal REM-sleep, lucid dreamers are in a state of consciousness. However, the frontal region is disconnected from the rear regions of the brain and information from reality cannot be absorbed and processed. This means people remain in the dream state although it feels as though they are awake.

Daniel Schoonover, co-founder of the Aurora headband, told the Newsweek magazine that the device monitors brain-wave patterns during the sleeping period.

Once someone enters the REM-sleep stage, the device will send out signals and alert users that they are dreaming. The self-awareness granted through lucid dreaming enables people to control their dreams. Through this awareness one’s fantasies of meeting Mozart, becoming the President or eating a pizza the size of Greenland could, in a sense, become reality. One can guide the acMARCH 2014

Self-awareness granted through lucid dreaming enables people to control their dreams.

tion any way you wish and end the dream at any time thus making lucid dreaming an unlimited source of creativity. Hollywood’s fascination with the infinite creative possibilities in lucid dreams is evident in the plots of thrilling movies such as Inception, Waking Life and Vanilla Sky. Once alerted, users can construct any dream or they could use the hours spent sleeping productively. During lucid dreaming, activities can be visualised which could potentially improve a person’s performance in real life as it can be utilised for composing music or creating an artwork. According to the Newsweek, Schoonover and his business partner, Andrew Smiley, hope the device can be used to increase memory during sleep. If this is true, the implementation of lucid dreaming would lessen the amount of time people spent awake in order to complete work or memorise information.

Moreover, the Aurora headband can replace therapy sessions as therapists have used lucid dreaming techniques to treat nightmares, develop problem solving skills and enhance creativity. Dr. Barry Krakow, author of Sound Sleep, Sound Mind developed a manual for treating nightmares with imagery rehearsal therapy wherein patients are instructed to choose a nightmare they want to change and replace it with new positive images. Patients practiced this on a daily basis for 10 to 20 minutes and over time the nightmare would be replaced by a less haunting dream.

Usually, inducing lucid dreams is not as easy as simThe Cape Town Globalist

ply counting sheep and would only be possible with professional assistance. In a recent study, published in the Journal of Sleep Research, it was found that the incidence of lucid dreams starts decreasing significantly at age of 16. In order to “teach” the brain to induce lucid dreaming, strict mental training and many hours of practice with therapists are required. However, the Aurora headband enables people to induce lucid dreams themselves which could make it easier to use this for therapeutic purposes.

Despite its utility the Aurora headband is not the first device of its kind. Stephan LaBerge, founder of the Lucidity Institute, conducted research showing that lucid dreaming could be induced by an external sensor. Through this research he was able to develop the DreamLight - the first device on the market that could be used to induce lucid dreaming. However, LaBerge’s view of the benefits of lucid dreaming differs from the creators of the Aurora’s.

La Berge told Newsweek that lucid dreaming should be about exploring the potential of dreams rather than exploiting it as a productivity-enhancer. It may be selfoptimising in the sense that one’s dreams are more controllable, “but [it is] not to be confused with getting more work done in your sleep. It’s about getting more living in your life.”

It could be hard to determine the exact benefits of lucid dreaming and the Aurora headband. Despite the necessity of sleep it is difficult to research sleeping and dreaming and scientists mostly rely on what people report about their own experiences. This is problematic as people are usually unable to recall their dreams or any specific details. The use of equipment to study the reactions people have to dreams must also be such that it does not interfere with falling asleep.

The extent to which the headband can improve waking life might be questionable but it can plausibly ensure that users wake up on the right side of the bed.

People naturally wake up during a light phase of sleep however, when sleep is interrupted during a deep phase they wake up feeling tired regardless of how long they have slept. By monitoring brainwaves, the headband can wake users during the lightest phase of sleep enabling them to feel refreshed.

It seems that, for now at least, lucid dreaming might not be the best way to increase productivity. More research needs to be done and devices such as the Aurora headband can, at most, offer dreaming without boundaries. Whilst the Aurora can replace nightmares with more pleasurable dreams there is not yet conclusive proof that wearing the headband and “sleeping on it” will enhance one’s productivity or performance in waking life just yet. CTG

Image: Earvin Corona

Ansune van der Merwe

is a second year BA student, majoring in Media and Writing and Law

23

THE HUMAN BODY

THE HUMAN BODY

Like a Peacock Image: Lazar Nahariya

Why are we attracted to certain people and not others? Beyers de Vos dis-

covers that it isn’t as simple as you may think.

A

ccording to evolutionary psychologists, evolution explains a great deal about who we are attracted to and why.

They argue that we have evolved to find certain things attractive in a mate and have developed certain perceptions about what is attractive and what isn’t because of our basic desire to reproduce. So certain physical attributes can tell a very ancient and primal part of our brain that another person is very fertile and we are then attracted to them.

Interestingly these attributes, very broadly, include: women preferring men who have symmetrical faces, broad shoulders, slim waists, muscular chests and are taller than them. Men too prefer a symmetrical face, but they would prefer a mate shorter than they are. They also prefer women with longer hair, smoother skin and larger, but not too large, hips. Both sexes find youth more attractive than age. Moreover, we’re pre-programmed to think people who display these qualities are healthier and smarter. In short: your brain has evolved to think individuals have better genes because of what they look like and that this will make them a better mate.

Unlike natural selection, sexual selection has nothing to do with survival per se. In fact, it goes against survival.

But evolutionary psychology goes further than this: it’s not just that we associate the qualities with fertility.

It’s that our brains have evolved to equate these qualities with beauty and for that beauty to arouse us. Which explains why certain body types and certain physical attributes can be regarded as universally “attractive”.

According to the acclaimed evolutionary psychologist Dennis Dutton, who gave a TED Talk on this very subject, “[evolution] is the most powerful theory of beauty that we have.” Dutton explains that evolution works in two ways. The first is the famous one: natural selection.

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Natural selection dictates how species adapt, mutate and evolve by responding to environmental changes and ensuring they survive by genetically mutating from generation to generation. But there is a second lesserknown way evolution works: this is known as sexual selection. Unlike natural selection, sexual selection has nothing to do with survival per se. “In fact,” says Dutton, “it goes against survival.” He explains it by using the example of the peacock.

The peacock’s tail is a mutation that cannot be explained by natural selection. It isn’t an adaptation that will ensure the peacock can flourish in his surroundings or a response to changing environmental factors. No, it is a mutation designed with one purpose: to attract a mate, to seduce. “Beauty is nature’s way of acting at a distance,” says Dutton. Because evolution cannot force you to have a mate, to reproduce, it ensures that you are sexually attracted to a mate – and it does that by making something beautiful or arousing to attract your interest.

“We can say that the experience of beauty is one of the ways evolution has of arousing and sustaining interest or fascination, even obsession, in order to encourage us to make the most adaptive decisions for reproduction,” says Dutton.

So not only have we evolved to find certain physical qualities in each other attractive because they indicate fertility, we’ve also evolved to find these things beautiful and sexy in order to lure us into a sexual encounter.

Sneaky, sneaky evolution.

But there are some things that evolution just doesn’t account for: same sex attraction for one thing; and what about people who don’t want kids? Are they still attracted to people whose kids they would have if they had wanted to or are there are other things involved? And is there more to it than the drive to reproduce? Surely our brain can find someone attractive for more reasons than that? This is where social psychology takes the stage.

Social psychology, which broadly looks at how our socialisation and society influences our personality development and decision making processes, has a few MARCH 2014

different things to say about why were are attracted to certain people, but most of them are based on one thing: similarity. According to this branch of psychology, we are more likely to be attracted to someone who is the same as us. But aren’t we all the same you ask? No, we’re not.

Not socially.

Social psychology stresses that we while we are attracted to people who look like us physically, we are also attracted to people who are like us socially. In fact, social psychologists would most likely rate physical attractiveness (how hot other people think you are) as one component of social attractiveness. While the former is a thing that can influence and determine the latter (how hot you are can make you more socially attractive), the latter is a blanket term that also includes things like habits, attitudes, social skills, personality traits, education and cultural background. It’s not just about what’s on the outside.

The principle of similarity hypothesises stipulates that you are more likely to be attracted to someone who is more or less like you: from the same background, who likes the same stuff and wants the same things. Social psychology seems more concerned with the experience of prolonged attraction than lust.

Social psychology also emphasises something called The Exposure Effect: this theory, loosely applied to the psychology of interpersonal attraction, but actually developed to determine why we like the things we like more generally, explains that the more you are exposed to something the more you’ll like it. So the more time you spend with someone, especially someone very similar to you, may make them more and more attractive to you (based on their social attractiveness) even if you didn’t initially find them attractive (based purely on their phys-

ical attractiveness). The Exposure Effect can also explain why we are more likely to be attracted to someone who is similar to us: because we are more likely to be exposed to them.

The difference between the theories of social psychology and evolutionary psychology might just come down to semantics, to the difference between “physical attractiveness” and “interpersonal attraction”. Evolution can prove where our collective idea of what is attractive and beautiful came from while social psychology tries to study why one person is specifically attracted to another. With so many competing theories it’s hard to pin point exactly what to believe but these theories do help us identify why we behave the way we do in terms of attraction.

So the more time you spend with someone, especially someone very similar to you, may make them more and more attractive to you.

Think of it this way: there is a difference between what your brain recognises as objectively beautiful or sexy (like Charlize or Brad) and what you find sexually attractive in a real moment because of your own social attractiveness, how society has conditioned you to mediate attraction and how similar someone seems to you.

So there it is. That’s why your brain thinks some people are beautiful and some aren’t. There’s no clear-cut answer to the puzzle that is attraction but these theories do shed some light on what science has discovered so far. CTG Image: Ernst Ludwid Kirchner

Beyers de Vos

is a Masters student in Creative Writing

The Cape Town Globalist

25

ART

Whose body is this?

THE HUMAN BODY

Ntando Yaka refers to the philosopher Bastiat in exploration of the legal

and philosophical rights of the human body.

Image: Sophie Riches

I

t has approximately seven octillion (7 x 1027) atoms which are billions of years old and about 75 trillion cells, which is more than the number of stars in the galaxy. Twenty-five million of these cells would have died by the time you have finished reading this sentence, but not to worry because 2 trillion cells are made each day; meaning that your body cells (excluding those in your brain) are replaced every seven years. But who owns this body? Who owns your body?

In the wake of Colorado legalising the use of marijuana for recreational purposes a few very important questions have been raised such as where the American government, or in fact any government, gets the power to regulate what we consume? Condoning or condemning drug usage aside, there is the need to reflect on what our rudimentary legal and philosophical rights are, concerning our bodies.

Where does the government get its right

to tell you what you can and cannot do with your body?

Ntando Yaka

is a third-year BBuSci Economics student

26

The Law, the highly influential 19th Century book written by Frederic Bastiat, gives us the basic premise as to what is the proper function of the law. Bastiat begins with the individual right that a man or woman, by natural right (or if you are religious, a right from God) has the right to his/her person, liberty and property. This is taken as natural and logical, to this day most quarters would still hold this to be true. So in answering the original question you obviously own and have all associated rights to your body. It’s yours, by natural or divine right.

This includes the right to defend your person, liberty and property.

So what then is the law? Bastiat argues that the law is the collective organisation of our individual rights to lawful defence. This means that a government needs to exist to do the organising. This is the simplest understanding of how the law works; sans the complex and convoluted arguments surrounding it.

But where does the government get its right to tell you what you can and cannot do with your body? The answer is simple: the government does not have that right.

The reasoning is straightforward if we begin with our premise on Bastiat’s definition of the law that the collective right to lawful defence is organised by the government and this collective right is the sum of the individual rights. Since no individual has the right to command or

dictate to another it therefore stands to reason that neither does the collective right (organised by government) have the right to infringe upon the rights of the individual.

Essentially this means that one has the right to do whatever one wishes as long as it does not infringe on any other person’s life, liberty or property. Working on that premise we know that there is no authority other than our own that can dictate what we can do with our bodies. This would mean that anything outside this, no matter how well argued, is a perversion of the law. The idea, although it is a widely accepted idea, that the use of any recreational drugs and paraphernalia should be illegal and strictly regulated by the government becomes absurd when you begin to understand the natural law and your natural rights.

The populist argument is about the pernicious social impact of drugs and that they should be regulated and criminalized, which is simply not true. There is a wealth of evidence on the failure of the global drug war and how prohibition has only exacerbated the situation, failing to address the real underlying social issues. But this is not a piece of pro-drug literature that wishes for you to now condemn the government’s harsh regulations against drugs, and become a supporter of legalisation. Rather, this article only hopes to make the simple argument that your body is yours and yours alone.

This can be taken as far as you want to take it. Your rights to your body are so boundless that you have the right, if you so choose, to end it. Euthanasia and other acts of suicide are indeed controversial, and for the most part strongly discouraged, but if you wished to end your life then no power has the right to stop you. The argument that the government has the right to protect you even from yourself is mainly false due to the understanding that since you have the sole right to your body then you also have the sole responsibility for it. This notion of responsibility shouldn’t be misconstrued as nobody should look after you, but they can only do so with express permission. Obviously there are numerous cases where this becomes more complex such as when someone has a serious mental illness and refuses to get help, but in every law there will be concessions.

It is very difficult to begin to think differently about society and what we intimately consider to be ourselves (our bodies). We grow up in a culture where we naturally accept that this system is inherently correct. We accept what we are told to the extent that we argue about criminalising or decriminalising drugs for whatever reason, instead of asking, “Does anybody have the right over my person besides me?

CTG

MARCH 2014

Our Skin, Our Canvas Tyra Overmeyer challenges initial perceptions of modern tattoo culture, with a brief introduction

to its history, showcasing how perceptions

have

from 2000 BC to now.

T

transformed

he origin of tattoos is rooted back to 2000 BC when the Egyptians used them to distinguish peasants from slaves. The use of tattoos then spread to Asia. Between the 17th Century and the 18th Century, people in Japan would mark their skin in order to establish their position in society, including prostitutes.

Rather than wanting to convey a position in society and what social group they identify with, today’s society consists of people getting tattoos to show their individualism. Rather than using tattoos as a systematic device, it is now being used as a form of expression. It is now art.

However, as a society, a collective agreement is rare, especially when it comes to art. Flourished from diverse belief systems, we are a melting pot of binary opposites in which not all of us perceive body art as art. Phrases such as “rebellious” and “following the trend” are more common ways to think of the markings that the people of today ink on their bodies. It’s commonly a small portion of people without tattoos who perceive body art in this way, often implying that the origin of the desire to have one stems from the need to stand out or identify with a certain group, an example being patriotic markings.

A clinical psychology expert, Dr. Michael Mantell, claimed that people should “think before they ink”, suggesting that getting a tattoo could sometimes be part of a mindless decision. A more interesting perspective on body art comes from a fellow student who believes that it originates from a satanic ritual.

However, the voices of those who are inked are rarely heard over the generalisations that some people make about them. Their reasoning for getting inked is usually not considered when criticising body art. Do we study The Cape Town Globalist

Image: Rolf Kohrs

Shakespeare or his critics? Do we care about Leonardo Da Vinci’s art or the conspiracies about him? We look at the art and its context before even forming an opinion.

However, many fail to do this when they put the 25% of under 30 year-olds who are getting tattoos into the “unorthodox” box.

A young female says that her Japanese written “love and power” tattoo, which she got at the age of 18 yearsold, represents her “newly found freedom” that she discovered through womanhood and her first love. Is this a mindless decision? A young male has elegant writing on his chest that spells out his beloved niece’s name. Is this classed as “unorthodox”? No. Both cases demonstrate the black ink that’s imprinted on their skin being a cherished memory of their past.

Dr. Helen MacDonald, a social anthropologist at the University of Cape Town, says, “from an anthropological point of view it is important to understand how tattoos and other forms of body modification ‘make’ the people who wear them.” Body art “makes” part of the identity of a mother in her mid-twenties who says, “All of my tattoos represent things that I have been through at one point or the next. It’s about me as an individual”.

Whether it’s political or personal to the artist, art has a meaning behind it regardless of the form it is in. Body art is one of those forms that’s simply not as openly accepted by society, but is still art. Just like a painted canvas, there is a story and a sentimental value behind the art inked on a person’s body.

In order to convey some of their messages, artists need creative freedom to an extent. However, people who want to mark their bodies with bizarre images have the creative freedom -period. Why? Because it’s no one else’s body to judge. CTG

Tyra Overmeyer

is a second year BA student, majoring in English Literature, Film Studies, and Politics

27

PHILOSOPHY

PHILOSOPHY

Genetics: The Good, the Bad and the Mutated Genetic technology has already made some extraordinary moves.

nTatjana baleta discusses how its potential future plans could be either disastrous or medically advantageous.

Image: Manfred Werner

Image: O. Usher

D

ark plumes of smoke cloud the sky. Amidst the white noise of war, a soldier advances on the enemy. A grenade whistles towards him, explodes, rips off his arm and flings it into the air. His fate seems sealed, but as he lies screaming in the dust, a new arm starts sprouting from his bloody stump.

His fate seems sealed, but as he lies screaming in the dust, a new arm starts sprouting from his bloody stump.

Is this science fiction? You may think so, but the American Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is currently working on genetically engineering super soldiers, capable of limb regeneration, lightning speed, and increased strength.

Rapid advancements in genetic technology are part of our daily lives; with applications in agriculture, industry and forensics, as well as being fundamental to developing treatments for diseases. Genetically modified foods 28

are available on supermarket shelves and scientists have even created glow-in-the-dark pets. In 1996 in Scotland Dolly the sheep became the first cloned mammal. Eight years later, South African scientists cloned Africa’s first mammal – Futhi the cow. Lab created human-animal hybrids have been used to study anything from HIV to substance addiction, effective vaccinations and drugs have been developed, gene therapy has been used successfully to treat diseases such as Parkinson’s and genetic manipulation is vital for cancer research.

However, genetics also presents the possibility of fundamentally changing what it means to be human. The same technology that screens embryos to eliminate the risk of diseases such as muscular dystrophy, could enable parents to create a designer baby. Some argue that this is a chance to increase the health of the human population—a self-engineered fast-track mode of evolution - but others warn of a neo-eugenic future that sounds all too familiar to Nazism.

If parents could choose, what would the ideal human look like? The ability to choose genetic makeup could aggravate existing inequalities and forms of discriminaMARCH 2014

tion, or create a genomic ruling class. Those that could not afford the treatment would find their children left behind in a world ruled by a techno-eugenic rat-race.

While preventing children from suffering from obesity and dyslexia may be justifiable, it also raises the issue that people may have different ideas of what constitutes a disability. Additionally, what some people see as disabling, others may view as empowering—many famous thinkers, artists and musicians purportedly struggled through disabilities and yet created masterpieces.

Would Beethoven have composed his 9th Symphony if he was not deaf? Would van Gogh have picked up a paint brush if he was not bipolar? With conditions such as these, it may be more advisable to treat rather than eliminate them. The question is whether society is justified in deciding what kinds of people get to be born.

These ethical concerns have led to legislation which regulate genetic engineering and prevent its misuse.

Laws consider two kinds of cloning; reproductive cloning which creates a copy of a human and therapeutic cloning, which involves reverting a patient’s body cells into stem cells, and reinserting them back into the patient where they can differentiate into any cell needed by the body. Human cloning is illegal in some countries, such as the US, but therapeutic cloning is legal.

Discrimination by employers or health insurers based on genetic screening results is unlawful and it is illegal to patent a gene in some, but not all, countries. Experiments involving human genetic engineering require approval from government authorities and ethical committees. According to the Department of Science and Technology, human cloning for both reproductive and The Cape Town Globalist

therapeutic purposes is illegal in South Africa, but is set to change to allow therapeutic cloning under strict conditions. Much of the research into human genetics in South Africa focuses on diseases such as HIV and cancer and in 2011 the Southern African Human Genome Project was launched.

When it comes to creating human clones, human-animal hybrids and designer babies, the technologies are far from perfect. Our complex genome and the fact that our phenotype is the result of multifaceted interactions between our genes and our environment make the prospect of X-Men and viable human clones a long way off.

(UCL MAPS)

...human cloning for both reproductive and therapeutic purposes is illegal in South Africa Genetic technologies are not inherently good or bad, it is the way that these technologies are applied that determines whether or not they are ethical. The same technology that could create a human clone allows ground-breaking progress in gene therapy that could save lives. It is therefore vital that genetic engineering is regulated properly; too lenient and we could witness the creation of super soldiers but too strict and we may sacrifice invaluable scientific advancement.

Only time will tell whether DARPA’s “restorative injury repair programme” will be successful, but there is no doubt that genetics has the potential to change the face of war, society and of the human race itself. The direction we take may determine our future as a species. The choice is in our hands. CTG

Tatjana Baleta

is a third year BSc student majoring in Genetics, Ecology and Evolution

29

HPV: The facts about the Vaccine

SCIENCE

3 Ways To Write For Us:

Charlotte Martinson busts the internet for spreading misleading statistics about the HPV vaccine and speaks to South African AIDS researcher Neil Martinson to get the actual facts.

“W

Image: Pete Lewis / Department for International Development

CHARLOTTE MARTINSON

is a second year BA Fine Arts student

30

ho here has had the cervical cancer vaccine?” a friend suddenly asks , after a long spell of looking at her computer screen.

“I have,” I answer.

“Dude that stuff is dangerous! You could die!” she responds in horror.

A supressed wave of panic passes through me.

However, before I give myself up to despair, I choose to look up the unfounded claim. I read the article title, “Lead Developer Of HPV Vaccines Comes Clean, Warns Parents & Young Girls It’s All A Giant Deadly Scam” on the website the Daily Sheeple. Already my panic has subsided, the use of the standard fearmongering language – “comes clean”, “giant”, “deadly” and “scam” – immediately gives the article a suspiciously sensationalist whiff. Upon further reading, one can see that the lead developer’s statements have been paraphrased, the site claims that the vaccine is entirely unecessary, as it only accounts for 70% of the known strains, and that 44 people have already died from the vaccine. It even claims that the vaccine is about as dangerous as the cancer it aims to prevent.

However there is always another side to the story, and one should know that with science, no claims should be made without exact statistics and a clear knowledge of the context of the data which is being quoted. Scientific information can be intimidating but sites such as ‘Information is Beautiful’ can give one pictorial representations of scientific information. On this site the article, “How safe is the HPV vaccine?” reduces the number of deaths connected with the vaccine from 44 to 20 people.

These people died within a year of having received the vaccine and they only make up 0.0001% of the 20 400 000 of the people who received a dosage of Gardasil (in the US).

Having established that The Daily Sheeple merely took raw data and then, using their creative licence, claimed that the vaccine has a “deadly” effect. The doctor’s “coming clean” was rather an expression of some very specific concerns. Whenever a drug is released into the market it is necessary to examine potential long term side effects.

This is a far more subtle concern, and cannot be proven or disproven immediately. So far no serious side effects have been found. But is the drug necessary?

The developer, Harper, mentioned that the drug only accounts for 70% of the types of known HPV strains.

This means that even if one does receive the vaccine, it is still necessary to go for yearly screenings so as to apprehend the viruses that are not covered by the vaccine. Does that not make the vaccine redundant anyway?

Shouldn’t a vaccine should be able to account for all the known strains of the virus it is guarding against?

The vaccines Cervarix and Gardasil are most commonly used and can indeed protect one against cervical cancer. Cervarix guards against two of the three most common strains of HPV which cause cancer and Gardasil guards against these three most common strains as well as a fourth strain.

Implementing this vaccine, along with the secondary preventative measure of annual screenings, would be a surefire way of avoiding deaths from the cancer caused by this virus. Professor Lynette Denny, who is an expert in the field, states that the risk of cancer associated with those strains is higher than the risk of lung cancer from smoking. This type of cancer is proven to develop after continuous reinfections of the virus.

It has been raised that though the cancer may be apprehended by yearly screenings, there are people in more rural areas who do not have access to these screenings.

In this case the vaccine is helpful as it provides a preventative strategy for at least some of the deadly strains.

Doctor Neil Martinson, a South African researcher for AIDS, said that the HPV virus is a huge public health problem in this country. In fact, it is one of the highest causes of death in females in developing countries. For women who have AIDS, it is an even higher concern. It is also, according to Denny, the third most common cancer in women, after breast cancer and colorectal cancer. In Africa, about 60, 000 people die from HPV per year.

The HPV vaccine is particularly relevant to university students, as they fall within the viable age of reception for the vaccine. Girls may receive the shot as young as 11, but women from 13 to 26 should still get it if they have not. Men can be carriers, therefore they should also get the shot. It is possible to be infected with the HPV virus the very first time sexual intercourse takes place, this is why it is recommended that 11 and 12 year olds get the vaccine so as to apprehend even the first infection.

So, it has been extablished that the HPV vaccine is not deadly, in fact, it is the exact opposite. The internet, though it has been a great source of knowledge, often aids the spread of unsubstantiated facts which may cause mass prejudice against a subject such as the HPV vaccine. Scientific claims always need to be substantiated. A single, ill-informed article can do immense damage to something which is infact a vital tool in preventing the deaths of thouands of women. Rational debate and disagreement on preventative treatments are indeed needed but sensational and unfounded claims are not.

The HPV vaccine saves lives, it should not be a question of whether a woman should get it but when they should.

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MARCH 2014

The Cape Town Globalist

31

The Centre for Film and Media Studies

Up on the hill, the Centre for Film and Media Studies offers full and part-time postgraduate courses, at the Hons and/or MA levels, in African Cinema, Documentary Arts, Film and Television Studies, Media Theory and Practice, Political Communication, Rhetoric Studies, Screenwriting and Television Drama.

Across the country and the world, the Centre for Film and Media Studies partners with leading online education company, GetSmarter to offer continuing education online short courses to working professionals and amateurs.

Having started with a course in Digital Photography in 2011, the partnership now offers courses across 7 disciplines: FEATURE WRITING COPY-EDITING

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For inquiries about our postgraduate programmes, www.cfms.uct.ac.za or contact Petros.Ndlela@uct.ac.za 32

If you are interested in the short online courses, get hold of GetSmarter on: MARCH 2014

Tel: +27 21 447 7565 | Fax: +27 21 447 8344 | Website: www.getsmarter.co.za | Email: info@getsmarter.co.za