China students on intravenous drips for exams - Nurul Amirah Binte Irman #1

Is intravenous (IV) drips solution to difficult college entrance exams? Do you know that some students in China, especially those sitting for their college entrance exams, actually inject amino acids into their bodies? IV bags containing amino acids can be seen hanging around the classrooms of a particular school in China. These pre-exam injections are said to help the students to relax, improve their physical condition and boost their energy level for the examinations. The school official, Gao Pingqiang, said that they will not suspend the drips and will even continue providing them if the students want it as it is said to have no harmful health effects, or so they say. The government, however, is still investigating the safety in using these intravenous drips.

This article really attracts my attention because it is pretty bizarre to know that there are students out there who do not mind using any means to ace their exams, even if it is at the expense of their future health.

If I were a teacher in that school, I will stop the students from taking the IV drips. We will never know what could happen in the future. For instance, the needles injected into the students’ body may cause infections. These needles may not be sterilized beforehand and it may pass on harmful bacteria to the students who are receiving this drips. On the other hand, one of the reasons that may cause these students to take these drips is pressure. The pressure can come from their peers, parents and even the society itself. In the midst of striving for success and excellence in their studies, these students can go all out and use all the means they can find out there to ensure their own successes. Nevertheless, the students should know that these IV drips are not the only solutions out there for success. Furthermore, its usage should not even be encouraged by the school or the teachers. There are in fact many other solutions that we can use to excel in our studies. A simple solution to implement will be eating vitamins to improve our health and help us keep fit.

In conclusion, I hope that people will avoid taking such drips as it is dangerous and may have some effect in the long run. It’s better be safe than sorry.

http://news.xin.msn.com/en/weird/china-students-on-intravenous-drips-for-exams-4

Australia lists the koala as 'vulnerable' species - Leong Huai Miao (1st)

This article tell us that Koalas have become a threatened species in many parts of Australia, especially in Queensland, New South Wales and Australian Capital Territory. The decreasing in their population is due to habitat loss, urban expansion, disease, vehicle strikes and dog attacks. In New South Wales and Queensland, the number of Koalas have fallen by as much as 40% since 1990. However, not all part of Australia are facing with Koalas extinction. There are still some place having large, stable or even increasing population of Koalas. It is know that the current size of their population is unclear but estimated to vary from several hundred thousands to as few as 43,000.


In my point of view, I think we should start to have different methods to protect Koalas and also increase the population of Koalas. Even though there are still some large population of Koalas in other areas, I think we still have to find out the reason why other areas have rapid decrease in the population of Koalas and tackle the problem.


An idea that I have in order to tackle this problem is to have a protection zone for Koalas. This protection zone will created ideally for the Koalas and allow them to move freely in the zone like living in their own natural habitat. The other way to protect the Koalas is to create awareness about the decrease in Koalas' population. By creating the awareness, residents in Queensland and New South Wales will be to play a part to protect the Koalas instead of have professionals which cause money.


In conclusion, Koalas in Australia are now lists as 'vulnerable' species and I hope that in the future, Koalas' population will increase and continue to be the tourism icon of Australia.