STR1 EXTRA CREDIT ASSIGNMENT

Problem:

Alfred, Jeff and Ryan are working on a scientific investigation to prolong the life of man. They searched far and wide to gather promising samples either by confirmed by science or found in folklore. Ryan gathered the samples traversing the regions of the earth while Alfred and Jeff prepared their materials and searched for the equipment they needed in accomplishing this monumental feat. After six months, Ryan came back with a truckload of plants, animals and some nasty things. He approached Alfred with a disdainful countenance and asked, "Why did I have to go through this?!" Alfred and Jeff looked puzzled and were out of words. "One should not discount any possibility with simple prejudice in science," Alfred said knowingly as Ryan muttered. With the samples collected and materials and equipment ready, they were now ready to begin.

A year into experimenting each sample with lab mice, Jeff realized something was wrong but could not pinpoint what. His gut was telling him something he could not understand. "I should have listened more intently then I guess." Jeff said and shrugged of the feeling. Besides they successfully tried out all the various samples and have narrowed the candidates to a more manageable number of 10. While Jeff was rationalizing to himself, Ryan and Alfred were in deep thought. "We now just have 10 samples, all effective in varying degrees, but we can't pursue all 10. We already almost went bankrupt just testing the others", Alfred thought. Ryan was equally perplexed at the matter. He thought of several factors that could affect their life-changing decision such as effectiveness, side effects, taste and even marketability. "Science alone could not make us rich", he thought and chuckled lightly. Faced with a decision with innumerable factors, the three decided to solve it the "old fashioned" way - randomly select 3 from the 10 and keep the others in storage.

Two years have passed and they are no closer to their objective with no end in sight. Alfred, Jeff and Ryan have turned indifferent to each other. Lab work has just become rudimentary labor. Gone are the laughter and the horse-playing and the pranks. They couldn't give up because their pride wouldn't let them and yet every minute more becomes ever so less tolerable. Ryan thought of trying out the other samples in cryogenic storage, only to be disappointed that they have become unusable. Jeff began to question their methodology and read back back on their journals to no avail. Alfred seemed to be most affected as he has simply stopped talking. He wished for an end to an endless search without realizing the pursuit of science is a ceaseless journey to seek the truth.

Question:

Scrutinize the problem above and make an essay about your observations of the research. Include as well your opinion on the failures and pitfalls together with potential solutions to these problems. Write down CONCRETE and SPECIFIC steps they could/should have taken to prevent or mitigate their current circumstance. Avoid being too general or simple negation of they procedure as these arguments do not merit credit. Note that vague descriptions and plot are for open interpretation. Analyze and apply your understanding of research to see what went wrong. Lastly, is there any hope for them?

Minimum length of 1000 words (you'll consume more if you understand the problem). Due on Friday January 9, 2009 12pm. Email it at str1kawashima@gmail.com with the subject line "Section - Name - Color - Essay". Ill-formatted subject lined-messages are deleted. THIS IS INDIVIDUAL.

This is a 20-point optional quiz-equivalent.
(For example, it will increase your divisor from over 40 points to over 60 points, ie. 22/40 vs 37/60 given you get 15 points. If you decrease your actually percentage, the extra credit will not count, ie. 22/40= 55% vs 32/60= 53.3% if you get 10 points only)