DHMO.org Assignment

First of all, I want it to be known that I in no way support DHMO.org or have anything to do with them or any firm opinion on them either way.

This was a rather odd blog assignment. I'm not quite sure what it has to do with my MEDT class, education, or my classroom except maybe that Mrs. Huett wants us to learn how to evaluate sources. The point to the assignment isn't what this blog is about, though. I was asked to look at the website DHMO and investigate its credibility, purpose, etc. Here are the questions I was given and the information I have discovered:

1. Who wrote or produced the information [on DHMO.org]?
From what I could find out, the website was made by Dr. Tom Way. The copyright is in his name. Dr. Tom Way is a professor of computing sciences, and his website is http://www.cis.udel.edu/~way/ . On this website, there is a link to the DHMO website.

2. What authority or special knowledge does the author have? If the site is credited to an organization, what do you know about the organization?
Well, it is a .org website, which leads me to believe that it has something to do with an organization. There is a logo on DHMO.org for the Environmental Assessment Center. I don't know anything, really, about the EAC. I googled it and what came up was the National Center for Environmental Assessment. Whether or not these two centers are the same thing, I'm not entirely sure. What is interesting about this little bit of information is that NCEA is linked to the EPA (Environmental Protection Agencey), which DHMO.org suggests, "may be conspiring to cover up the whole DHMO issue." DHMO.org also suggests that EPA is possibly linked to the CIA. (Little sidebar: apparently the chemical DHMO is a chemical compound that is potentially dangerous and is found in certain products used by the government and products for cleaning. It also has supposedly been used by athletes to enhance performance. DHMO.org wants the substance banned.) Do I smell a conspirancy??? :)

3. What bias or slant do you detect in the source? What does it say that indicates a bias?
On the home page for DHMO.org it says, "The goal of this site is to provide an unbiased data clearinghouse and a forum for public discussion." However, the site clearly wants to ban DHMO - doesn't seem very unbiased to me; it obviously is against the chemical. Also, the site claims that DHMO is everywhere, but I haven't ever heard of it, and DHMO.org doesn't deny that this is a very underpublicized issue.

4. Should DHMO be banned? Why or why not?
I must admit that I'm not an authority on the issue and can't really make a claim either way. I think that before I give an opinion on banning the chemical, I'd have do much more extensive research about the chemical and its uses and dangers. I know that's not a very satisfying answer, but it's all I can say on the issue right now.

The next part of the assignment was to watch a news report on DHMO and comment on it. Unfortunately, both file types that were linked to the assignment were unopenable by my wonderful Mac, and it is 6:30 on the night that the assignment is due. I'm now regretting procrastinating this part of the assignment, but I'm not able to comment on this news report. :( I hope this doesn't mess up anybody in my group for their blog evaluations!

Picture time! This one is of my little brother Patrick, who isn't so little anymore. He's an awesome football player!