Look at some popular literature (and get started with the electronic library).
Go to the UAF library site: http://library.uaf.edu/, then under Find Articles, click • Databases by Title•, then Newspaper Source Plus. That takes you to EBSCO. In the boxes type: benzene, cancer, and risk" and click the radio button for Find all my search terms and Full Text , then Search. You should get several hundred hits. Each is an article in the popular press. Click on one of the articles and glance at it.
That was just to get you warmed up.
All on and off-campus students should not have any problems. The library computer senses your IP Address and if it is in Alaska, it lets you use that service. I am constantly amazed at how our library's electronic services are constantly getting better. Unfortunately, I can't keep up with all the changes. If you have problems, you can call the Reference Desk, 474-7482, for general questions, or for remote issues, call the distance librarian 474-5241. Or follow the links from the library's home page for help.
Discussion Homework
In Module 2 you looked up the name of a liquid chemical from the TRI database.
Has anything been written about it in the popular press? If it was, you may
not have picked it up in your earlier search on the open web. Run a search via
EBSCO, start with just the name of your chemical. You may have to play with
this a little, if the name had numbers in it. If the chemical has an acronym,
you can try that too. If you get one or two hits, read those articles. If you
get many hits, try the search again, adding words like risk, cancer, (or another
health effect), until you get a manageable number of hits. Then read one or
two articles. For your discussion board homework, attach a copy of your article
to your discussion. (You may need to copy and paste the article to a blank Word
document and save it. ) For your discussion, explain in a paragraph or two what
was "news" about the article. The purpose of the newspaper is not
to explain technical issues. (The purpose of a newspaper is to attract readers
to the newspaper's advertisements.) Why would anybody read the article? Try
to identify several facets of the article that make it newsworthy. Post your
contribution. Then read the article and the comments of the student above you.
Do you agree? Why or why not? (It is common for people to disagree when they
have to judge likely human reactions.)