I have beaten the research paper and it feels GOOD!

[nephir]

The third essay for my English class is a research paper.  We had our choices of :

Option 1. Freedom of expression. Choose one of two issues.

1. What are the arguments, issues, background in the Snyder vs. Phelps case currently before the Supreme Court? If you were a Supreme Court Justice, what would you decide? Why?

2. Should there be unlimited freedom of speech on college campuses? Or should freedom of speech be limited in certain instances? Take a stand, explain your reasons for it, and support your opinions with researched evidence. The American Civil Liberties Union has a website with useful case studies. Check the First Amendment Handbook on Angel. (online school site)

Option 2. Write about the history and treatment of a disease or condition, with your opinion about which treatment options are preferable and why. Choose something complex enough to warrant differences of opinion but not so complex that you cannot adequately cover it in a 5-7 page paper, i.e. one type of cancer in a certain population rather than cancer in general.

This is not the kind of report you would write for a science class, as it must include opinion supported by evidence. You may include personal experience if that is relevant and helpful. Language and style should be directed toward the layperson reader, not a medical audience.

Option 3. If there’s an issue you’re interested in examining, write a brief proposal for the paper and ask me about it.

I decided that I would focus on breast cancer, specifically I had heard an opinion piece back in October that mentioned that the Puget Sound area has a higher incidence of breast cancer than anywhere else in the US, and that intrigued me.

Sadly, I couldn't find any data to confirm or deny, even going so far as to ask a friend who does research at Fred Hutchinson CRC but she'd not heard it either. So that sent me on a quest to find something to write on.

Eventually I found a link between breast cancer and breast feeding, in that women who breast feed for >24 over their lifetime have a significantly lower breast cancer incidence than women who have not breast fed at all.

I was able to pull a lot of data on this and it's been a huge task to beat it into shape and limit the paper to 5-7 pages.  But today I hit the final stretch on it and it should be finished later today or tomorrow at the latest.  I mainly need to pull a couple more citations and find out some info on one author which is difficult to do on the netbook, so it'll have to wait until I am home.

And what have YOU been doing?