Nancy's Cupcakery-Final Project

In 1796, the term cupcake was first introduced in an American cookbook by Amelia Simms. These mini-cakes can be used for almost any event, from a child’s birthday party to a four-tiered cupcake arrangement for weddings. For eating, the record for consuming these petite treats is 29 in 30 seconds. For baking, the current holder is GourmetGiftBaskets.com who baked a 1,224 pound giant cupcake with over 2 million calories baked right in.

Ironically, today is December 15^th known as National Cupcake Day and many cupcake lovers around the world celebrate their love with tons of flavor and sweetness. In Norman, Nancy Russell celebrates in her store Cookies ‘n’ Cards with sugar crazed college students, as well as children and adults.

Nancy is unique because of her love and passion for baking.

Run Time: 2:20

Video By: Katie Piper, Rachel Santschi, Megan Gay and Megan Lawson

Never Big Enough

Americans are some of the most superficial humans in the world. Everyone is caught up in having the greatest status, the most expensive things, and looking the best, and women have it the hardest. One of the most expensive and most popular items a female can spend on herself is an alteration of her body, her breasts. In America, three to four thousand dollars are spent on each breast reduction or implantation surgery. In a local office in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, Dr. Mike Gonce has patients that spend $3,200 to $4,200 per breast augmentation. That adds up to about 14 surgeries in comparison to the cost of an out-of-state tuition at the University of Oklahoma! Although over $4,000 are spent on this specific surgery, breast implants are one of the most risky surgeries to have done.



Silicone gel filled breast implants



Before women should decide to go forth with breast implant surgery, they need to consider a few facts about things that could go wrong:

They can break

Breast hardness

Nipple numbness

Dying skin

Additional surgery

Back and chest pains

Implants can make it difficult to detect breast cancer

Other things that women need to know before they transform their body:

·         In November 2006, the FDA approved silicone gel breast implants for the first time for women age 22 or older only.

·         Four of ten reconstruction patients need extra surgery within 3 years of implantation.

·         In 2007, there was a decrease of breast surgeries by 12% due to the struggling economy.

·         Breast surgeries are the number one cosmetic surgeries performed in the U.S.

·         In 2009, over 289,000 breast augmentation procedures were performed in the U.S. with a little less than 1/3 of those surgeries were on patients from age 30-39.

For Dr. Gonce, cosmetic surgery is a way for him to provide individual time to his patients to make them feel better about themselves. Dr. Mike Gonce graduated from the University of Oklahoma and received his Cosmetic Surgery training from Lenox Hill Hospital in Manhattan, New York. On his web page, Dr. Gonce mentions that he believes in honesty and a strong work ethic which allows him to excel in the cosmetic and plastic surgery industry. For more information, visit his website at http://www.gonce.com/html/about.php.

New York plastic surgeon Dr. George Lefkovits talks about the future of breast augmentation in the next 10, 50, and even 100 years. In Dr. Lefkovits opinion, within the next 10 years natural breast augmentation will use stem cells to improve reliability and some clinics are starting to currently use this method for surgeries. In the next 50 years, Dr. Lefkovits says that scientists will create a tissue mold that will give breasts a desireable size and shape so that women can custom-grow their breasts. As for the next 100 years, women will be able to control their breast growth by learning to turn them on and off at will with genetic triggers. Therefore, with all of these new technological practices, breast augmentation doesn’t seem to be going away for quite some time.

Photos courtesy of Wikipedia and Gonce.com

Prevention and Risks of a Nail Biter

There are many risks with getting acrylic nails, yet many women still want them. These reasons may be to stop a nail biting habit, for beauty purposes, or to make their nails look longer. However, when thinking of fake nails, many don’t consider the health risks that could damage your real nails.

Some of the common risks and side effects of using acrylic nails includes:

Burning skin

Turning color of nails (green, brown, or white)

Disintegrating nails

The aftermath of having fake nails

These health issues occur for many reasons, but to the prevent them from happening, the department of health must ensure that every worker in a salon is licensed.

One of the biggest issues with fake nails is a risk that is a misconception with many women. There is a fungus that is commonly called acrylic nail fungus, but it has nothing to do with acrylic nails. However, if an acrylic nail is not put on properly, the fungus can form under the nail, but the fungus can happen with or without the acrylic nails. Also, many nail salons use a gel called methyl methacrylate which is used as a sealant for the acrylic nails. This sealant can give nails an infection and must be treated by a doctor.



A minor case of ingrown nail on the right side



As there are many nail salons in Oklahoma, the risk to develop a nail disease through a nail salon is high. Fortunately, there is a place where victims of nail fungus can get help. There are many locations of the company Laser Nail Center throughout Oklahoma, where victims can get a drug-free laser treatment to eliminate fungus pathogens. To keep customers warned about the dangers of getting different nail procedures done, every nail salon is required to be licensed for practice by the Department of Health, all cosmetologists must have a license, and the salon must have their license displayed or available to show if asked to view.

Many success stories have come from the Laser Nail Centers in Oklahoma. The treatment has really impacted those who needed help and they shared a few words of gratitude. “The staff and physicians were all very upfront and honest about all aspects of the laser toenail fungus treatment, explaining, costs, success prognosis and how the treatment would work. I am very pleased with my experience with the Laser Nail Center,” quoted from a customer of Laser Nail Center.

From my research, hopefully readers will think about if they are willing to risk infections and maybe nail damage at salons. The various locations of the Laser Nail Center are still currently taking calls for appointments all throughout Oklahoma and can continue helping people with their nail problems.

Nancy's Cupcakery

In a tiny shop on Campus Corner, a woman uses flour, eggs, the oven, and love to create the best cupcakes in all of Oklahoma. She has displayed her pride and joy at her store Cookies N Cards for 26 years and will do anything to make her customers happy.

Nancy Russell is unique because of her love and passion for baking.

Runtime: 2:32:11

Video By: Katie Piper, Rachel Santschi, Megan Lawson and Megan Gay

Comm Speech

A Bed of Cancer

Many teenagers want to have a tan complexion all year round, but it is safe to lather your body with color? Within the last two years, at least 32 states have passed laws restricting minors to use tanning equipment without parental consent, and other various restrictions. These new laws are to prevent young teens from developing skin cancer as adults. This risk comes from the ultraviolet lights used in many tanning beds and the exposure gives young teens a very risky future.



Photo of a Melanoma skin cancer spot


There are two different types of skin cancer that teenagers can get from using various tanning equipment, melanoma and nonmelanoma. Both types are very similar however, melanoma is more dangerous and potentially fatal. Melanoma is most likely to spread through sunburns, fair skin, freckles, moles, and family histories of melanoma. If caught during the early stage, melanoma and nonmelanoma skin cancer can be treated. To lower the risk of developing skin cancer, the American Cancer Society suggests to stay out of sunlight from 10 am to 4 pm which the sun's rays are strongest, weat protective sun gear while outside such as hats and sunglasses, and of course avoid tanning devices with ultraviolet lighting. Unfortunately, the National Cancer Institute reports that about half of Americans who live to age 65 will develop skin cancer therefore, nobody is safe.

Unfortunately, out of the 32 states with tanning regulations, Oklahoma is not one of them. In 2009, State Senator Andrew Rice proposed Bill SB 544 to prohibit minors to use tanning devices without a parent/legal guardian consent form, and for children under 13 to have a parent present along with a physician consent form. In 2010, the bill was not passed but if it had been, the state Health Department would've been required to investigatee salons and complaints and violations would be fined $500. Luckily, some tanning salons in Oklahoma do have their company consent forms that they are legally allowed to give out. The At The Beach Oklahoma City location requires customers under the age of 14 to have a parent present and written permission.


An example of how bad tanning can affect your beauty

When Senator Rice was promoting the SB 544 bill, he really tried to express the need for this bill to pass, "My hope is that my bill will help Oklahomans and make parents and others more aware of the dangers of tanning, particularly among adolescents." Of course, the bill didn't pass but the impact that Rice put on the bill hopefully stuck with many parents who have children who tan or are wanting to begin using taning facilities.

Only time can tell when or if Oklahoma will pass a law about minors who tan, but 32 other states have successfully began to shield younger children and teens from risking their health just for a little color. This future bill could save a life from skin cancer, so why are we waiting?


Photos courtesy of whydidigowrong.co.uk and skincanceronface.com

The Adventures of a Cameraman

Ray Bribiesca spoke Monday, November 1^st in the Hall of Fame Room of the Gaylord College of Journalism and Mass Communication about his job with 60 Minutes. Bribiesca gave us an idea of what his job entails as a photojournalist by showing a 60 Minutes video segment about American soldiers fighting in the war against Afghanistan. This story showed what Bribiesca does every day in his job. The war clip in particular showed Bribiesca putting himself in danger to get the story told. “The point of a photojournalist is to document a story so that the audience knows what’s going on if you turn the audio off,” Bribiesca said.

Bribiesca also played a video clip from the 60 Minutes website where viewers can watch behind-the-scene videos to get more in depth with different stories. Bribiesca went on to talk a little bit about how even when he’s not working with 60 Minutes, he feels that he needs to always be prepared for a news story to break out. He does this by always keeping a camera in his car just in case something happens.

Bribiesca fought in the Vietnam War, so when he had to shoot footage for the war in Afghanistan, it was a little more meaningful to him. However, in the video we saw him take shots of video footage where he had nothing protecting him from getting shot by the Afghans. Bribiesca mentioned that the story was important for people to see and he wanted to do anything to get that story across. This was a true sign of how dedicated Bribiesca is to his work.

Bribiesca gave different insights on what he thought was important to keep in mind for the field of journalism. He used many examples from his own personal work to back up his advice for the students who listened to his lecture. One thing that stuck out in his speech was directed toward measuring yourself in the world of journalism. “In 60 Minutes, you are only as good as your last story,” Bribiesca said.

Bribiesca is now retiring from 60 Minutes after decades of filming. The day after his lecture at OU, he left for Yemen to finish his final work as a photojournalist for 60 Minutes. However, for Ray Bribiesca, his work will never end.