David Wesoloski Reflective Piece

Reflecting on the Project & Course

I was ambitious to investigate why people were for GMOs even though I had a bias that they were dangerous. I found information from scientists, government agencies, and university professors declaring that they were indeed safe and that the possibility of pathogens or ecological destruction was negligible or remote. The labeling issue had been brought up in the past many times, with some states voting to pass a law that would ban GMOs; however, the FDA would intervene and the law would not pass. The FDAs statement was that there was no material difference and danger from genetically modified food so a label was not warranted. After I finished analyzing the research from both sides, I discovered a number of things. First, labeling was not the issue at all. In fact, it was irrelevant! Second, there was very little regulation and oversight involved in the GMO process with the majority of the weight being carried by the biotech companies. Third, the way GMOs were handled was similar to how the vitamin and supplement industry was managed with little regulation and oversight. Even the EUs approach to GMOs was vastly different. The EU implements a process-based approach to regulation as opposed to the USA that utilizes a product-based approach. It seemed the crux of the matter was oversight. Two days prior the due date, I considered changing my issue to a regulation and/or oversight matter; however, I found that it kept coming back to the issue of safety. I realized that the real crux of the matter was whether GMOs were even safe or not. Had these tests that had been done by scientists been carried out in an accurate and ethical matter in accordance with sound principles? Using the fundamentals taught in the beginning of this course, I was able to critically analyze the Are GMOs Safe? issue. The conception and investigation of this project would not have been possible without enrolling in the HL440: Critical Issues course and proper introduction to Missimers Critical Thinking Model. This particular course and independent project challenged me beyond my current methodology of how to argue and research a controversial subject. Through the assignments and essay exams, I increased my self-efficacy of how to analyze and evaluate a controversial topic or argument. Northern Michigan University has provided a course that exemplifies what a liberal education is and should be respect for people, a discussion on the big ideas (truth, responsibility, liberty, freedom, etc.) , and to learn to think critically. NMU has facilitated a course that brings diversity to students by exploring controversial topics and sharing them with other classmates. In accordance with NMUs vision statement, it further enables students to express these topics in a creative, technological way through designing a website. The application of the knowledge gained within this course will become useful in my future career and endeavors. It has taught me to explore and question peoples reservations about things from their lives and how a society functions.