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To our readers

SCHOOL OF ARTS AND SCIENCE

PRE-SPECIALIZATION COURSE OF TECHNOLOGY

ADVISOR: LIC. ROXANA URIARTE

Dear Readers:

This blog is aimed to briefly document the lives of six men whose deeds and ideals arouse controversial opinions worldwide at a certain point in modern history.

It has been a pleasure to make research and then show our audience the great achievements such persons reached, though health problems, bad decisions and public opinion led them to overcome complicated situations.

MICHAEL JACKSON, A STAR THAT WILL SHINE FOREVER

Interesting Figure

"I would overcome my feelings of pity with a spirit of defiance. No, I will not cry. He hadn’t earned it. But then the news came that he had died. And I was devastated." (Rabbi Shmuley Boteach)

Michael Jackson was an American singer-songwriter, entertainer, dancer, arranger, music producer, choreographer, actor, businessman, musician, and philanthropist. He was the eighth of ten children in an African American working class family who lived in a house in Gary. His mother, Katherine Esther Scruse, was a devout Jehovah's Witness, and his father, Joseph Walter "Joe" Jackson, was a steel mill worker who performed with an R&B band called “The Falcons”. Michael Jackson had three sisters: Rebbie, La Toya, and Janet, and five brothers: Jackie, Tito, Jermaine, Marlon, and Randy. A sixth brother, Brandon, who was a twin of older brother Marlon, died shortly after birth. (Wikipedia)

The musical career of Michael Jackson began when he debuted on the professional music scene with his brothers as a member of The Jackson 5 in 1964, later known as “The Jacksons” his first productions were "I Want You Back", "ABC", "The Love You Save", and "I'll Be There".

Furthermore, the Jackson 5 stayed with Motown until 1976, wanting more artistic freedom they felt they had to move on and signed up with Epic. The group name Jackson 5 had to be changed as it was owned by Motown, so they reverted to The Jacksons as they had been known in the early days.

During his dominant figure in popular music, Michael Jackson started his solo career in 1971, with music videos such as “Beat It,”“Billie Jean,” and “Thriller,” these videos helped to bring the relatively new television channel MTV to fame. 

Then in 1991 Michael signed with Sony Music the largest ever recorded contract and released his fourth solo album, 'Dangerous'. He toured world again in 1992, taking his concerts to countries that had never before been visited by a pop/rock artist. Also Michael Jackson founded the 'Heal the World Foundation' to help improve the lives of children across the world.

Severe criticism toward Jackson was originated in 2002, when he brought his new born son (Prince Michael Jackson II – also known as Blanket) onto the balcony of his hotel room in Berlin, as fans stood below. Jackson later apologized for the incident, calling it “a terrible mistake.”(Brumburgh)

Additionally, some of Jackson's achievements include multiple Guinness World Records; 13 Grammy Awards as well as the Grammy Legend Award and the Grammy Lifetime, achievement Award, 26 American Music Awards, more than any other artist, including the "Artist of the Century" and "Artist of the 1980s," 13 number-one singles in the United States in his solo career. (Biography.com) 

As time passed by, Michael Jackson faced a large number of health problems that included an addiction to painkillers which went on and off for decades. He also suffered a degenerative disease called vitiligo, which causes partial or total destruction of melanin, the pigment that gives the skin color. Then, his facial structure changed too; several surgeons speculated that, by the mid-1990s he also had multiple nasal surgeries, a forehead lift, thinned lips, and cheekbone surgery.

According to biographer J.Randy Taraborrelli, Jackson had his first rhinoplasty after breaking his nose during a complex dance routine in 1979. However, the surgery was not a complete success, and he complained of breathing difficulties that would affect his career. 

The entire world was shocked with terrible news on June 25, 2009, Michael Jackson died of acute propofol and benzodiazepine intoxication after suffering a cardiac arrest at his home on North Carolwood Drive in the Holmby Hills neighborhood in Los Angeles. His career was far from finishing though, since many speculations about his death arose back then. Some believe he is alive, some others think he commited suicide, while the most controversial believe he deserved dying. Yet Michael always claimed to be a lovely, friendly guy as he said: "If you enter this world knowing you are loved and you leave this world knowing the same, then everything that happens in between can be dealt with." (Wikipedia)

As a final point, I considered it was important to briefly document  Michael Jackson's life because it means, to me at least, to talk about a superstar that was victim of unfair accusations from the tabloids. Some people thought that he was a bad person and a pederast but I think he was just making his dreams come true. Also I want to emphasize that Michael Jackson was one of the best pop music artists around the world and his influence will be felt for ages even after his death.

THE MASTER STORYTELLER. STEPHEN KING

Literary figure

“I'm writing but I'm writing at a much slower pace than previously and I think that if I come up with something really, really good, I would be perfectly willing to publish it because that still feels like the final act of the creative process, publishing it so people can read it and you can get feedback and people can talk about it with each other and with you, the writer, but the force of my invention has slowed down a lot over the years and that's as it should be.” (King 2002)

The above are words from Stephen King, a New York Times-bestselling novelist who made his name in the horror and fantasy genres. Much of his work has been adapted into films. Unfortunately, family problems, drinking addiction and a terrible accident on the road have led King to become a very controversial figure in the literary world. He possesses a brilliant mind and intense creativity to craft master pieces of writing. In the following paragraphs some other issues about his polemic ideals will be exposed.

Stephen Edwin King was born September 21, 1947, in Portland, Maine. As soon as King was two years old, his father left the family under the pretense of "going to buy a pack of cigarettes" (Wikipedia), leaving his mother to raise King and his adopted older brother, David, by herself, sometimes under great financial strain.

After leaving the university, King earned a certificate to teach high school but, being unable to find a teaching post immediately, initially supplemented his laboring wage by selling short stories to men's magazines such as Cavalier. Many of these early stories have been published in the collection Night Shift. 

It can be said that Stephen King’s career as an author started in 1973; he sold his first novel, Carrie, the tale of a tormented teen that gets her revenge in school where she was victim of severe bulling. Surprisingly, he had tossed the novel to the trash can after he finished writing it! And his wife convinced him to send the book to an editing company.

The book became a huge success after it was published the following year, allowing him to dedicate himself to writing full time. More popular novels soon followed, including “Salem's Lot (1975), The Shining (1976), The Stand (1978), Cujo (1981) and It (1986). The Shining was made into a movie starring Jack Nicholson, and the film has become a classic horror thriller. “(biography.com)

Additionally, sad as it seems, King faced a terrible hardship in the zenith of his magnificent profession: “King was walking on the shoulder of Route 5, in Lovell, Maine. Driver Bryan Smith, distracted by an unrestrained dog moving in the back of his minivan, struck King, who landed in a depression in the ground about 14 feet from the pavement of Route 5.” (litlovers.com) He suffered several injuries including a collapsed right lung, multiple fractures in his right leg, scalp lacerations and a broken hip.

By 2002, King announced he would stop writing, apparently motivated in part by frustration with his injuries, which had made sitting uncomfortable and reduced his energy, and because of a strong depression caused by the same accident he overcame. The words he pronounced in his website about quitting his literary career are stated in the very first paragraph of this biography.

Stephen’s accident caused a lot of reactions from his public around the country. King's lawyer and two others purchased Smith's [the driver] van for $1,500, reportedly to prevent it from appearing on eBay. The van was later crushed at a junkyard, much to King's disappointment, as he fantasized about smashing it up. King later mentioned during an interview with Fresh Air's Terry Gross that “he wanted the vehicle destroyed at a charity event in which individuals would donate money for an opportunity to smash it with a sledgehammer.” (Wikipedia)

On the other hand, the now 62-year-old spent much of his early years battling both drug and alcohol addiction. He even freely admits that he can barely remember working on some of is best-known classics! Probably, “the stress of having to sustain a family on a insufficient teaching wage fed King's addiction and he admits to being surprised and thankful that his wife did not leave him.” (addictioninfo.org)

If it was not enough, by 1985 the writer had added drug addiction, mainly cocaine and marijuana, to his alcoholism, but continued functioning on a marginally competent level, at least that is what he thought back then.

One day, King compared the Mormon Stephanie Meyer author (the creator of Twilight series) to JK Rowling, saying that both authors were "speaking directly to young people". "The real difference is that Jo Rowling is a terrific writer and Stephenie Meyer can't write worth a darn. She's not very good," he told an interviewer from USA Weekend.(Guardian.co.uk)

Although critical reaction to King's work has been mostly positive, he has occasionally come under fire from academic writers. Science fiction editors John Clute and Peter Nichols offer a largely favorable assessment of King, noting his "pungent prose, sharp ear for dialogue, disarmingly laid-back, frank style, along with his passionately fierce denunciation of human stupidity and cruelty (especially to children) [all of which rank] him among the more distinguished 'popular' writers." (Wikipedia)

In fact, there are many important things to say about King’s craft and personal life that are both closely reliant on each other. His books were usually inspired by personal experiences and difficult events he suffered and perhaps that is the reason why his books are so polemic and full of complex situations. Also, in my personal point of view I look at him as an inspiration to success in one’s life. He overcame plenty of hardship and instead of staying home and cry we can take the other path and learn good things from the bad ones.

I would like to end this biography with this quotation by King about talent and success in what we do: “Talent is cheaper than table salt. What separates the talented individual from the successful one is a lot of hard work.” (brainyquote.com)

THE DECEPTIVE WORLD CHAMPION: LANCE ARMSTRONG

Athletic figure

“Anything is possible. You can be told that you have a 90-percent chance or a 50- percent chance or a 1-percent chance, but you have to believe, and you have to fight.” (thebiographychannel)

There were words said by Lance Edward Gunderson Armstrong before fess up to what the world already knew “Doping”. For nearly a decade, Armstrong had been under intense speculation that he had used performance enhancing drugs. Despite Armstrong successfully passing multiple drug tests during the years, the accusations continued till In January 2013, while giving an interview to Oprah Winfrey, Armstrong fessed up that he took performance enhancing drugs, insisting even that he did not believe he could have won all seven Tour de France titles without doping. Now, let us see some important event about life and career of this famous and controversy athlete. 

Lance Edward Gunderson Armstrong was born on September 18, 1971, in Plano, Texas. He took the last name "Armstrong" when his mother's second husband adopted him. At the early age he became in athletic running and swimming at 10 years old, and took up competitive cycling and triathlons. Soon, Armstrong became a professional triathlete but finally this successful athlete chosen to focus on cycling. His immense achievements have earned him a host of awards in the course of his career. (Wikipedia)

During his years in high school, the United States Olympic development team invited him to train with them in Colorado. In 1991, Armstrong competed in his first Tour DuPont covering 1,085 miles over 11 days. After finishing second in the U.S. Olympic time trials in 1992, Armstrong was favored to win the road race in Barcelona, Spain. 

With a surprisingly sluggish performance, Armstrong turned professional immediately after the Olympics, joining the Motorola cycling team for a respectable yearly salary. In August 1993 Armstrong won his most important race: the World Road Race Championship in Oslo, Norway. After that, Armstrong rode again for the Olympic team in Atlanta. 

During his successful career Armstrong reached the top winning seven consecutive Tour de France titles between 1999 and 2005. (cbsnews.com)

In October 1996 this International Cycling Star was diagnosed with testicular cancer. Doctors detected tumors in his brain and lungs. The athlete drastically modified his eating habits, and beginning aggressive chemotherapy. When doctors found tumors he decided to have a subsequent surgery to remove his tumors. The surgery was successful and after a lot sections of chemotherapy, Armstrong was declared cancer-free in February 1997. Armstrong returned to competitive cycling with the Astana team in January 2009 and finished third in the 2009 Tour de France. (biography.com)

Armstrong was under intense speculation that he had used illegal drugs to increase his performance from 1999 to 2005. During this period he won the Tour de France seven consecutive times. In June 2012, the U.S Anti - Doping Agency brought formal charges against him, threatening to strip the cyclist all of his titles. 

Finally, in January 2013, while giving an interview to Oprah Winfrey, Armstrong accepted to taking performance drugs. 





The International Cycling Union officially stripped Armstrong of his seven Tour de France victories. The union also banned Armstrong from the sport for life. The International Cycling Union president Pat McQu said that "Lance Armstrong has no place in cycling." (starpulse.com)

As a conclusion, all things considered, it is important to mention that after a decade of lies, cheating, and a relentless campaign of vilification against this athlete, I consider that despite of all fouls and errors that the dishonest Cycling made, he decided to tell the truth. Nevertheless, he didn't name names; he didn't say who supplied him and what officials were involved. Without any doubt, he is a real athlete, he fought against cancer, and became in a successful athlete in early years. 

AN AMAZINGLY CONTROVERSIAL MUSICIAN: SIR ELTON JOHN

Artistic Figure

"It's a little bit funny this feeling inside

I'm not one of those who can easily hide

I don't have much money but boy if I did

I'd buy a big house where we both could live

If I was a sculptor, but then again, no

Or a man who makes potions in a travelling show

I know it's not much but it's the best I can do

My gift is my song and this one's for you

And you can tell everybody this is your song… " 
(Sir Elton John, 1970)

"Your Song" is a ballad composed and performed by the British Elton John and it belongs to the second album produced by him, in the year 1970. With this song this talented British singer, songwriter, actor, pianist, and controversial person reached the US Top Ten. 

During his early career this famous artist had been battling with bulimia, drug and alcohol addiction facing a varied of healthy problems. In the middle of criticisms for promoting homophobia, accusations of using an autocue at his concerts and his bisexuality scandals he went on with his life and with his career as a singer. Elton John is one of the most successful artists of all time, selling more than 250 million records. Now let us see some important recent and past event about this great person. 

Reginald Kenneth Dwight (Sir Elton John) was born on March 25, 1947 in Pinner, Middlesex, England. His parents, Sheila and Stanley Dwight divorced when Elton was young. Elton John started to play the piano at the early age of four. He excelled in music from a young age, attending the prestigious Academy of Music on a scholarship at just eleven years old.  

As time goes by, when Elton was 14 year old, he and friends formed a band, the Corvettes, which evolved into “Bluesology” his first band. In 1969 Elton John presented his first album “Empty Sky” (1000hits.es ) resulting in a big hit.

 In 1970 he released his first self-titled American album, making him a huge international star. He changed his name from Reginald Kenneth Dwight to Elton Hercules John in 1972. Elton went on tour in the US in 1974 and he reached musical royalty status. During this time, in 1975 he played the Pinball Wizard in the Ken Russell movie “Tommy” and performed the title song. In this year, He released an autobiographical album about his ambiguous sexuality, “Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy” (thebiographychannel).

Soon after, in the following year he announced his bisexuality to the world causing a controversial environment around him. In 1976, John hit the top of charts again with "Don't Go Breaking My Heart," later, in this year he decided to take a break during a few years. 

In his personal life, Elton has encountered with bulimia and drug and alcohol addiction through the 1970s and into the 1980s. He has battled various addictions and public scandals (bisexuality, bulimia, drugs, and alcohol addiction). After years of battling substance abuse issues, John went into rehabilitation. 

In 1986 he won The British Phonographic Industry award for Outstanding Contribution. Six years later he decided a foundation in the United States, he founded “The Elton John AIDS Foundation” and few HIV/AIDS programs around the world. 

With a lot of popularity and recovered he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994. After several more years of adult contemporary hits in the early '90s, John moved into film, writing the music for Walt Disney's 1994 film The Lion King. (eltonfan.net)

He was knighted in 1998 and he got married with his longtime partner David Furnish in a civil ceremony in 2005. He continued to record new music and in 2006, he released “The Captain & the Kid”.  In the same year, John was named a Disney Legend by the Walt Disney Company in recognition of his musical contributions to films such as 'The Lion King'. Finally, in recent events John and his partner David Furnish became fathers in December 2010. They welcomed baby with help of a surrogate mother. (imdb.com)

Finally, although the singer has caused controversy in numerous occasions in the past and recent years this celebrity has worked hard for what he has achieved. In summary, he has been heavily involved in the fight against AIDS creating “Elton John AIDS Foundation” and winning a lot of Outstanding Individual awards for Music. Without any doubts Sir Elton John is one of the best artists around the world.

EXPLAINING THE UNIVERSE FROM A WHEELCHAIR: STEPHEN HAWKING

Scientific Figure

“During the Royal Society meeting, Hawking interrupted a lecture by renowned astrophysicist Sir Fred Hoyle to let him know that he had made a mistake. When asked how he knew there had been an error, Hawking replied: ‘Because I've worked them out in my head’. ” (Mirror UK)

Professor Stephen Hawking, a great example of success even with severe physical disabilities, is arguably the most famous physicist since Albert Einstein. He owns a singular brilliance as a cosmologist that has fascinated both the public and his colleagues in science. Such acknowledgements though have been accompanied by criticism toward his polemic theories about God, black holes, and the origin of universe. Let us take a brief look at the life of this outstanding person.

Stephen William Hawking was born on 8 January 1942 to Frank and Isobel Hawking. Despite family financial constraints, both parents had attended Oxford University. Frank studied medicine and Isobel studied Philosophy, Politics and Economics.

Stephen was a very smart boy in his former years, although at school he was known as "Einstein", (thinkquest.org) Hawking was not initially successful academically. With time, he began to show considerable aptitude for scientific subjects, and decided to study mathematics at university inspired by other mathematicians’ work. Later on, after receiving a first-class BA degree, and following a trip to Iran with a friend, Hawking began his graduate work at Trinity Hall, Cambridge in October 1962. 

In early 1963, just shy of 21, Hawking was diagnosed with motor neurone disease, more commonly known as Lou Gehrig's disease. He was not expected to live more than two years. Completing his doctorate did not appear likely. Yet Hawking defied the odds, not only attaining his Ph.D. but forging new roads into the understanding of the universe in the decades since. (Nola Taylor Redd) 

Hawking, at a young adult age experienced increasing clumsiness during his final year at Oxford, including a fall on some stairs and difficulties when rowing. During the late 1960s, Hawking's physical abilities declined once again and he began to use crutches and ceased lecturing regularly. As he slowly lost the ability to write, he developed compensatory visual methods, including seeing equations in terms of geometry.

Furthermore, Hawking's disease-related deterioration continued, and in 2005 “he began to control a communication device with movements of his cheek muscles, with a rate of about one word per minute”. (Wikipedia) Also, Hawking needed assistance by researchers on systems that could translate Hawking's brain patterns or facial expressions into switch activations. This uncommon way to share his ideas led him to share long periods of time with his assistants, by the way, during his career Stephen has had plenty of such helpers.

Stephen developed some interesting theories about the way the universe might work. Such theories were remarkably restated by research and personal deductions. Over the years, Hawking maintained his public profile with a series of attention-getting and often controversial statements, for instance, he has asserted that computer viruses were a form of life, that humans should use genetic engineering to avoid being outsmarted by computers, and that aliens likely exist and contact with them should be avoided.

In addition, Hawking waded into the topic of religion with this phrase: "I regard the brain as a computer which will stop working when its components fail. There is no heaven or afterlife for broken down computers; that is a fairy story for people afraid of the dark." He has stated that he is "not religious in the normal sense" and he believes that "the universe is governed by the laws of science. The laws may have been decreed by God, but God does not intervene to break the laws." (Wikipedia)

As you can see, despite the obstacle of his illness, Professor Hawking has given great contribution in Physics and has received many awards, medals and prizes worldwide. His figure has become very famous till the point that almost everyone has heard about him due to his cameos in several television programs and series. 

Finally, Hawking’s controversial notions about life and the universe have made us wonder about the existence of God and the real moment when space started to work as it does nowadays. Perhaps, the world is never ready to receive such a genius as he is, but certainly his contributions are memorable. Also, I think that the main lesson we can learn from his life is that knowledge and science must be taken as tools in the development of our societies in order to avoid ignorance, though there are many boundaries we have to respect. As he says: "The greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance, it is the illusion of knowledge." (space.com)