Granderson Out with a Broken Forearm

The New York Yankees is off to a rough start for this upcoming season. Their outfielder, Curtis Granderson was hit by a pitch in his first at-bat during a spring training game on February 17th. He was hit by a pitch from J.A. Happ and was clearly in pain afterwards. At first, he was diagnosed with only a bruised forearm, but after X-rays, it was announced that it is a fracture. This game was supposed to be Granderson's first game in left field, but he never got a chance. Happ is reported to be concerned with how Granderson was doing after the hit and it was not intentional. The Yankees have their backups however. They signed Matt Diaz and Juan Rivera for backup outfielders. Granderson will be able to play in ten weeks, or on May 5th.    

http://espn.go.com/new-york/mlb/story/_/id/8980685/curtis-granderson-new-york-yankees-breaks-forearm-may

Dancing for a Cause

On February 14th, also known as Valentine's Day, men and women throughout the world joined together and danced for a good cause. This event was called One Billion Rising. It was a day, recognized globally, to bring light to the fact that violence towards women is still occurring too often. Tens of thousands of people participated. The name came from the horrifying statistic that 1 in 3 women (one billion) will experience some form of sexual abuse in her lifetime. This event has become very popular among celebrities and they have been helping to encourage a larger turnout. The goal is to have 1 billion people performing a choreographed dance around the world. One of the participants, while describing why she chose to be apart of OBR, said, "I;m inspired by the idea of billions of women coming together to end violence. I chose to be happy today and to be a part of something amazing. I wanted to be surrounded by women coming together to stand for strength and courage and love." OBR took Valentine's Day, a day that many feel bitter towards, and turned into something positive.

http://www.cnn.com/2013/02/14/living/vday-one-billion-rising/index.html?hpt=us_t5

Stress Health Effects

Recent studies show that stress can cause some pretty serious negative effects to our heath. A little bit of stress is okay, but the feeling of constantly being stressed can cause:
1. Cancer According to a recent study using mice, stress can actually help cancer cells fight against anti-cancer drugs.
2. Shrinks the Brain Stressful situations are reported to to cause the brain to shrink in regions that are connected to emotion and physiological functions.
3. Prematurely Aging in Kids When a child experiences extreme stress, such as violence, at a young age, it is reported that it may lead to the premature aging of their cells.
4. Affecting Your Offspring's Genes Scientists suggest that the negative effects a person experiences from stress may be passed on to their offspring's genes.
5. Depression Another study using mice suggests that stress leads to depression.

Read the other five "Scary Effects of Stress" at http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/04/stress-health-effects-cancer-immune-system_n_2599551.html?utm_hp_ref=healthy-living#slide=2053542

   

California Goes Green

Recently California has mandated that 33 percent of their electricity must be generated from a renewable energy source by the year 2020. There are currently 227 proposed solar projects throughout California. It is said that with those solar projects, wind power, and other renewable energy sources that are proposed, they will be able to supply California with all of its power needs on an average summer day. People have been buying prime agriculture land in order to develop solar and wind farms. People fear that necessary farming land is being used for solar and wind farms instead. Land buyers that want to "plant" solar and wind farms are looking for the same land that farmers want. Land that is flat and receives plenty of sunlight. Currently there are no rules set in place that keep farm lands used for agricultural purposes.  
  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/02/solar-development-california_n_2607891.html?utm_hp_ref=green&ir=Green