newspaper magazine #4

Obesity responsible for 100,000 cancer cases annually

In addition to cancer, obesity is a known cause of heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure and strokes

(CNN) -- More than 100,000 cases of cancer each year are caused by excess body fat, according to a report released Thursday in Washington.

Researchers with the American Institute for Cancer Research looked at seven cancers with known links to obesity and calculated actual case counts that were likely to have been caused by obesity.

Specifically, the report says that 49 percent of endometrial cancers are caused by excess body fat. That number is followed by 35 percent of esophageal cancer cases; 28 percent of pancreatic cancer cases; 24 percent of kidney cancer cases; 21 percent of gallbladder cancer cases; 17 percent of breast cancer cases; and 9 percent of colorectal cancer cases.

"This is the first time that we've put real, quantifiable case numbers on obesity-related cancers," said Glen Weldon, the American Institute for Cancer Research educational director. In addition, he said, it's not just causing cancer that's an issue.

"Obesity not only raises the risk for getting cancer," Weldon said. "It also has a negative effect on survival and can make treatment more difficult."

Although there is no concrete science on why obesity increases a person's risk for cancer, scientists hypothesize that excess estrogen released by body fat could be the culprit in cancers such as estrogen-receptor positive breast cancers.

Studies have also shown that increased body fat can lead to increased levels of oxidative stress and inflammatory compounds in the blood, which are linked to DNA mutation and diseased cell growth, as is seen in many cancers.

The American Cancer Society applauded the new research, but said the report is only the first step.

"This helps to communicate the magnitude of the problem," said Dr. Michael Thun, vice president emeritus at the American Cancer Society. "While the study addresses the magnitude of the problem, it does not propose potential solutions. The bottom line for people concerned about this issue is to try to balance the calories you take in with those your body expends every day."

In addition to cancer, obesity is a known cause of heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure and strokes.

newspaper magazine #3

‘Tough Woman’ Cop Held Fort Hood Hero

Fort Hood, Texas (CNN) -- The police officer who ended the Fort Hood massacre by shooting the suspect is known as the enforcer on her street, a "tough woman" who patrolled her neighborhood and once stopped burglars at her house.

"If you come in, I'm going to shoot," Kimberly Munley told the would-be intruders last year.

It was Munley who arrived quickly Thursday at the scene of the worst massacre at an Army base in U.S. history, where 13 people were killed. She confronted the alleged gunman, Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, and shot him four times. Munley was wounded in the exchange.

That's just like her, friends and family say.

"I just felt more protected knowing she was on my street," neighbor Erin Houston said.

Munley, the mother of a 3-year-old girl, lives on a street where a lot of homes are vacant because so many residents are deployed at war in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"We sleep a lot safer knowing she's on the block," said Sgt. William Barbrow, another neighbor.

When Bryan Munley heard that his sister-in-law thwarted the alleged gunman in a shootout, he wasn't surprised.

"There's nothing that stands in her way. It completely makes sense that she did what she did," he said from Downingtown, Pennsylvania. "It was amazing. Without her, there would have been a lot more people killed."

Munley, 34, is being treated for her wounds. Her father, former Carolina Beach, North Carolina, Mayor Dennis Barbour, said his daughter is doing well.

"Her efforts were superb," said Col. Steven Braverman, the base hospital commander.

Lt. Gen. Bob Cone, Fort Hood's commanding general, described Munley as a "trained, active first responder" who acted quickly after she "just happened to encounter the gunman."

"Really a pretty amazing and aggressive performance by this police officer," he said.

Cone said Munley and her partner responded "very quickly" to the scene -- reportedly in about three minutes.

On social networking sites, she was lauded for her actions. One Facebook fan page was called "Sgt. Kimberly Munley: A Real American Hero" and had more than 1,400 members.

newspaper magazine #2

Abortion threatens House health care bill

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi needs 218 votes for passage.

Washington (CNN) -- The issue of abortion threatened to derail House Democrats' health care bill Friday unless staunchly anti-abortion Democrats and the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops succeeded in their effort to get strict abortion limitations into the measure.

The hotly anticipated vote on the bill by the full House of Representatives may be delayed until Sunday, according to two Democratic sources, although the vote on the nearly $1.1 trillion bill is still planned for Saturday.

The sources blamed the potential postponement on GOP delaying tactics. Sharp differences among Democrats over abortion and immigration, however, have raised questions over whether Speaker Nancy Pelosi has the 218-vote majority needed for passage.

Now House leaders are not only negotiating with fellow lawmakers, but also with representatives from the bishops' organization, Democratic sources said.

"It's come to this," said one bewildered senior Democratic lawmaker, speaking on condition of anonymity in order to discuss internal deliberations.

Anti-abortion Rep. Brad Ellsworth, D-Indiana, came up with compromise language that he said accomplished the goal of preventing taxpayer money from being used for abortions. Democratic leaders agreed to it, but the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops wrote a memo saying it leaves loopholes that could allow federal funds to go toward abortions.

Pelosi and fellow Democratic leaders are working behind closed doors, scrambling to forge a compromise.

Several Democrats, including Rep. Jason Altmire, D-Pennsylvania, said they are in touch with their Catholic bishops back home. Altmire said he must have the approval of his bishop in Pittsburgh before he can vote yes.

Rep. Steve Driehaus, D-Ohio, said he's "trying to get to yes," but said he won't vote for the health care bill unless it says "no federal funds used to pay for abortions and so that means no federal funds used to pay for abortion in the public option."

Up to 40 anti-abortion Democrats, enough to strip Pelosi of the 218-vote majority needed to pass the bill, are reportedly dissatisfied with the bill's language.

In a stark illustration of Democratic leaders' bind on this issue, staunch abortion rights supporter Rep. Diana DeGette, D-Colorado, emerged from late night talks in Pelosi's office warning that she and others would vote no if leaders agree to ban abortion from the public option.

"I'm not going to live with that," she said.

"Here's the mistake people make. They think the public option is like public funding, but in truth the public option is funded with private money. So if you say a public option can't offer a legal medical procedure, what you are doing is greatly restricting a woman's right to choose, so the 'pro choice' caucus will not support that."

DeGette said that caucus includes 190 members, and its leaders met Friday and agreed not to support language banning abortion from the public option.

Abortion isn't the bill's only problem. In interviews with nearly 60 House Democrats considered swing votes on health care, CNN found that Pelosi and other leaders have little margin for error in trying to find 218 votes to pass a bill.

As of Friday night, as many as three dozen were still undecided and at least 21 Democrats have firmly decided to vote no.

If those 21 Democrats keep their pledges to vote no, party leaders can only afford to lose 19 more members of their caucus. Nearly twice that many were still on the fence just hours before Pelosi hopes to hold a vote.

Republican leaders added to the turmoil Friday morning, seizing on news of spiraling unemployment to warn that new taxes and regulations including in the sweeping reform measure would push the country into an economic abyss.

President Obama, meanwhile, prepared for a rare Saturday Capitol Hill visit to twist Democratic arms on what is considered by some to be a make-or-break issue for his young administration.

Members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus staunchly oppose adding a provision to the bill that would bar undocumented workers from using their own money to buy health insurance policies available through the exchange.

The measure is included in the Senate Finance Committee's version of the bill, and is backed by the White House. Some conservative House Democrats have also indicated their support for the Senate language.

newspaper magazine #1

New York Yankees manager wins Good Samaritan title

Yankees Manager Joe Girardi "puts people first," a team spokesman says.

New York (CNN) -- It was a busy night for New York Yankees Manager Joe Girardi -- not only did he lead his team to the World Series championship, but on his way home, he also helped the victim of a car accident get out of harm's way.

According to Jason Zillo, spokesman for the Yankees, Girardi was heading home after his team's World Series win and celebration Wednesday night when he spotted a car that had crashed along a busy, curving stretch of highway on the outskirts of New York near the suburb of New Rochelle.

The car was jutting into traffic. Girardi immediately stopped to check on the driver and help her out of the car, Zillo said.

"He wanted to make sure that if someone was in the car they were OK," Zillo said. "And then he wanted to help her get away from a dangerous position in the highway."

Zillo said police officers arrived at the scene of the accident moments later.

According to CNN affiliate WABC, the accident happened around 2:25 a.m. on the eastbound lanes of the Cross County Parkway at the Hutchinson River Parkway, when a woman lost control of her car along a long blind curve and crashed into a wall.

Marie Henry, 27, of Stratford, Connecticut, said Girardi sprinted across three lanes of traffic to come to her aid.

"She had no idea who I was," Girardi said in a radio interview Thursday.

A Westchester County police officer who arrived at the scene described Girardi in the good Samaritan role as "totally surreal."

"The guy wins the World Series, what does he do? He stops to help," Officer Kathleen Cristiano told local news Web site LoHud.com.

The Westchester Police Department did not return calls from CNN.

"A lot of people know him as 'Joe Girardi, the manager of the New York Yankees,' but Joe is someone who puts other people first," Zillo said. "The easy thing would have been for him to just drive by. But I think it shows a lot about his character."

Personal 2nd six weeks narrative

Well this 2^nd six weeks have passed fast. I still remember when I was walking down the hall trying to find my next class. I feel like as if all my classes are easy except for algebra that man is just not a good teacher, but oh well I have to keep struggling. There is really not much to say about my second six weeks just that everything is much easy. I know some shortcuts that help me get to classes faster and now I know how to manage my time as I have become more organized than how I was im not missing any homework so far because of the same thing but hopefully I be passing all my classes. Tell you the truth I am scared to look at my report card. Fact is I have been slacking off but yea I know I can get back on track and that’s my goal for the third six weeks all I am trying to do now is to do make-up work that will be maybe the only thing that will keep me from failing a class other than that there is pretty much nothing else to do, but to wait for the other six weeks and start and end off good better than this week at least I am hoping. Mainly the good thing about this six weeks is that I have met new people and got close to them but yet I know there is many more to meet. Well just doing my best to keep up my grades and waiting for a good start for my third six weeks.