Horgan Seminar Blog

  Patient X Patient X, a middle aged Black woman who monitors her sugar and blood pressure for a history of type II diabetic and high blood pressure called at 3AM experiencing chest pain and shortness of breath. Patient X lived in the apartment complex for decades, but her neighbors opened the door for EMS. Two older black women were waiting outside of the bedroom door, night robes pulled tightly, telling me her pain had become so frequent that they would listen through the walls at night to hear if she was crying out. I announced my crew and entered the bedroom, Pt X was reclined in bed, propped up with pillows to stay off of her bad back and, careful not to lie too far back and exacerbate her labored breathing. The bedroom was small, with piles of folded clothes leaning against the wooden bed frame, plastic bags filled with pill bottles and blood pressure cuffs hung from the posts.  My crew and I took a set of vitals as routine assessment and assisted her to the stretcher. B...

  Matthew P Kearney Scaling the Potential of Vertical Farming Going into 2025 and Beyond      Vertical farming may seem like something out of a futuristic movie, but they are very real in today’s agricultural industry. Vertical farming may promote a stronger relationship between urbanization and sustainable crop production. Based on recent innovations across agriculture and technology, vertical farming has the potential to revolutionize our current farming system. Through the development of vertical farming-based production lines, cities and otherwise unfarmable areas can be provided with fresh, local, and pesticide-free produce. Vertical farming and other adaptations of agriculture are not new ideas, but instead a historic and human process.      These technologies are ready to meaningfully address global food security through the technological and computational advancements in agriculture. Vertical farming has a promising future, which becomes a case...

  James Flanagan HST401-A Finding Sleep in the Digital Age Sleep is essential. A good night’s rest sets you up for a good and productive day, while poor sleep leaves you groggy and moody until you get your morning coffee. Despite how important sleep is, we are getting worse at it.  According to a Gallup poll, there has been a steady decline in sleep satisfaction since 2013. Where in 2013, 56% of Americans reported getting as much sleep as they needed, and recently in 2023, only 42% of Americans reported getting as much sleep as needed. Interestingly, a decline in sleep correlates with an increase in American smartphone ownership. It seems like smartphone usage may be the problem. However, before looking into how smartphones may be impacting sleep, it is important to understand what sleep is and how it works. Contrary to common belief, while we sleep our bodies and brains are not dormant. They work through the night to collect and remove waste from the brain, regula...

Samuel Schradin The crunch of an empty beer can under my shoe is the only thing that broke up the ringing in my ears. On July 23rd, 2023, my band, Shallow Green, headlined at the historic House of Independents in Asbury Park for our album debut show. As I walked back to the green room to prepare for our closing set, I could not help but be completely distracted by my upcoming performance, and not much could have pulled me from my current headspace. However, a crunch, a lift of the leg, and a look down would make me think back. What felt like an ocean of emptied beer cans was, in reality, a few twelve packs, but nonetheless, still littered the floor of the green room. Figure 1: Shallow Green performing at the House of Independents in Asbury Park, New Jersey I thought back to placing my belongings in the green room, and seeing what looked to be miniature palettes of alcohol stocked for the three performing bands. Our two opening bands hadn’t arrived long before they started playing, an...