27. April 2010 by student.

Is the death penalty really accomplishing anything? We see these people killing others for a hobby and just assume the best answer is to put them to death. Most of these individuals have been shown to want that and they just can’t pull the trigger themselves. So the death penalty plays right into their hands. Also, the risk of incarcerating the innocent is really high. In  America 70 percent of the people agree with capital punishment. The fact that only three established democracies in the world still hold these executions and these countries are Japan, South Korea, and of course the U.S. bothers me. Why do we think that when somebody goes on a killing spree that the best answer is death? Since the death penalty was reinstated to the U.S. in 1976 65.6 percent of all executions were held in five states: Texas, Virginia, Missouri, Florida, and Oklahoma. Of course, Texas  lead in the number of killings with 34.5 percent of the national total. The fact that we are killing people even though it clearly states in the bible that we shall not murder but we clearly do with all these executions. If we keep these individuals in prison for the rest of their lives we would be better off. They would get the treatment they deserved and not get the easy way out of this life. Nobody ever said this was going to be easy so trying to find an easy way out seems to be a little far fetched to me.

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27. April 2010 by student.

According to the National Institution of Mental Health, 57.7 million people ages 18 and up suffer from mental disorders in America.  However, only about six percent of these people suffer from serious mental illness.   Here is a list of people with mental disorders in the U.S. according to the NIMH:

Mood disorders: 20.9 million American adults

Major Depressive disorder: 14.8 million American adults

Bipolar Disorder: 5.7 million American adults

Schizophrenia: 2.4 million American adults

anxiety Disorders: 40 million American adults

And that is not even half of the mental disorders that are out there.  Can you imagine having to live like some of these people? Let’s look at anxiety disorders.  Most people assume that everybody has a form of anxiety sometime in there lives.  Well that may be true, many don’t realize what people with generalized anxiety have to go through.  With this disorder, you literally have to deal with anxiety twenty four seven.  They always have high levels of anxiety that isn’t specifically tied to anything and happens all time.  They deal with symptoms such as trembling, muscle tension, faintness, heart palpitations, sweating, and diarrhea.  We as college students  deal with some level of anxiety and stress when worrying about exams, school, family problems, etc. and can barely handle it.  Yet that doesn’t even come close to anywhere near what people with anxiety disorder have to deal with.  Imagine feeling like you do during stressful times but at an even worse level ALL THE TIME.  Some people with this disorder do not even come outside their own homes because they are afraid something will happen when they are out in public.  That’s how bad the anxiety they have is.  Generalized Anxiety Disorder cannot even necessarily be “cured.”  Even with some kind of treatment people still need to find a way to lessen their anxiety themselves which is extremely difficult.

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27. April 2010 by student.

Procrastination is having an assignment to do, but deliberately putting it off and doing pretty much everything before the assignment. This is becoming more of a problems as the years go by. More and more students are becoming lazy, or they are thinking that they will be able finish at the last minute. According to businesstown.com the five reasons why we procrastinate are you haven’t really committed to doing the job, you’re afraid of the job, you don’t place a high enough priority on the activity, you don’t know enough to do the task, and you just plain don’t want to. Students today can definitely relate to this. There are many ways that students and people in the workplace are able to overcome procrastination. Some of these techniques are  to do split an assignment up into different parts and then put it together at the end, prioritize, set tiny goals and as you achieve those goals reward yourself for getting the job done, create a plan for yourself and act on it, and prioritize. Students nowadays need to realize that for the most part the more you procrastinate, the worse it will effect you.

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27. April 2010 by student.

People have many misunderstandings about the internet and the people who spend their time on it.  There are many people who use the internet as an outlet, not just your stereotypical nerd. People who cannot express themselves in the “Real World” turn to the internet for their social circle. But not all people are like this. From my point of view there are many different kinds of people who turn to the internet. With these kinds I have given them all names, some of which you may recognize. See if you fit into any of these categories.
There are the group of people who turn to the internet just as a form of entertainment. Be it through games or just surfing you tube, people in this category have no real attachment to the internet, and function just find without it.  As I am not labeling gamers in this, I feel that they can be put into this group. Gamers have a completely different view on their internet use, so in reality they would be a subset of this group, but my focus right now is only on the internet.
The next group is commonly called /b/tards, or trolls. Trolls are usually people who don’t get enough attention through their real lives. They feel that their only way to get attention is to go to the internet, and find all the most popular places, leaving their opinions all over. Trolls are usually looked at with a negative connotation in internet communities.
The escapists, are people who seem to be unable to understand real life. From what I see, escapists are usually bullied in their lives and move to the internet to be someone else. Their whole lives usually revolve around the group they have set up on the internet and many never leave. These people are usually what people think of when they think of the internet.
The Facebookers. On paper, Facebook looks like a great idea. An easy way to keep in touch with your friends as you all go out to different colleges, but lately it has become something more. People have become obsessed with checking their Facebook at all times of the day. They play games through Facebook, and I have known some people who have skipped class just to make sure their Farmville farm is running smoothly. I include Myspace and twitter people in this group as well.
Mr/Mrs Universe is a loving label given to the people who are everywhere. Surely you have seen them. They have the most comments on youtube, hundreds of friends on Facebook/Myspace/Twitter, and they are on almost every website. I feel these people deserve their own category in this.
My final category is one that most forum goers will recognize, the lurker. The lurker can probably fit into any of the above categories, but they have one specific trait that sets them apart. They do not let themselves be known about. It’s like when you go to a group meeting or party, and there is that one person who stands quietly listening to everyone. They aren’t exactly creepy, just quiet and enjoying everyone else’s conversations.
The internet is a wide place and almost everyone is on it in this day and age. Most people don’t realize that the internet itself has taken on an almost world like quality. People become something different, someone different. Anyone can be anyone they want and they can share and receive a multitude of information. The internet has truly become an amazing world that develops new places to discover every day.

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27. April 2010 by student.

One of the most highly debated topics is abortion. There is two sides to this story but no middle ground to stand on. You get the pro- choice people that believe the woman has a choice in the matter or pro-life which believes the fetus should have a chance to live and breathe a healthy life. The number one reason of abortions is “social reasons” not being a rape victim or due to incest circumstances but peer pressure. This accounts for around 93 percent of all abortions.  63 percent of Americans agree with abortion in only these three cases: rape, incest, or endangers the life of the mother. “Social reasons” do not account for any of these three areas.  Here’s a question to think about. When do we as Americans take responsibility upon our shoulders? Those that say “oh, I’m not ready to have a kid” well there is a thing called adoption. That applies even to being raped or dealing with incest problems or sick children. The fact is that having an abortion is the murder of a child. He or she doesn’t even have a chance to walk,talk, or breathe.  As I stated  before most abortions are performed for social reasons which means the mothers don’t want to be responsible for once in their lives. In what world is “I’m not ready” an excuse to kill anything? The next question to be answered is “what if I was raped?” Well here is your answer your going to live with that for the rest of your life and nobody deserves that but getting rid of a child is not going to erase dealing with being raped. If you don’t want to keep looking at the kid you could always put them up for adoption rather than destroying their hopes and dreams before they even have the chance to walk down that road. The Roe v. Wade decision has put us down the path that now seems to be an uphill climb to show all these pro choice people what the right choice really is!

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27. April 2010 by student.

FGCU is built on what is pretty much considered everglades swamp land. It is home to vast amounts of the American Alligator, which is a protected species of Florida. These animals were here long before our school, or even the development of this land. Curious and hungry, these animals find their way into lakes that are located near students and faculty. Since the beginning of the year there have been several visiting gators, and most of them have been destroyed. This is due to students and other people on campus feeding, tormenting, or even just getting to close to these creatures. Once any of these actions occurs the alligator becomes adapted to human prescense and in several cases associates the human with food. Once this is established the alligator becomes a threat and must be removed and killed. Due to feeding two baby alligators were removed in the fall semester from south village. We have already destroyed these animal’s home and now we destroy them as a result of our own interference.

Posted in Mr. Andoscia, Social Problems | 2 Comments »

27. April 2010 by student.

92 school shootings have occurred in the U.S. dating all the way back to 1966.  The most prominent cause of shootings is bullying.

Bullying is slowly becoming a more apparent problem in schools.  Back in the day bullying consisted of stealing someone else’s lunch money; Today bullying is leading to much more severe results that an empty stomach.  Fights, suicide and shootings are becoming more and more common. 

School shootings are not result of sporadic decisions, they are planned.  Kids who are bullied feel powerless and intimidated.  This leads them to obsess about killing or injuring those who have taunted them.  The use of guns gives them a feeling of power, which they were deprived of.  At that point the roles change, and they make other feel powerless.  Also, the shooters become famous, with the high media coverage.  This kind of outbreak gives them the power and attention that they seek.

Some other contributing factors, whether in combination with bullying or not, are physical and behavioral issues.  Physical factors can include birth complications, such as deprivation of oxygen during birth.  This can cause dysfunction and learning disabilities.  Children with these conditions are often ridiculed in school.  Violent behavior has also been linked to certain abnormalities.  Children with behavioral problems are also subject to much ridicule.  They have problems interacting with others and are not able to conform.  They either blend into the background and are ignored, or become rebellious. 

Bullying is something that needs to come to an end, and quickly before more people get hurt. 

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27. April 2010 by student.

Abortion is one of those social issues that people are never willing to stop fighting about.  It is a difficult issue because there is no in-between just two sides.  You are either pro-life or pro-choice and there usually can’t be a compromise.   Fifty percent of the women getting abortions are under 25 years old and 1.2 million abortions are performed each year in the United States.  I personally, am pro-choice.  I believe that every woman has the right to choose what to do with her own body and nobody should be able to tell her otherwise.  I don’t think that this is an issue that government should be involved in at all.  It is nobody else’ bussiness but the woman herself.  There has been many debates on whether there is life immediately after conception or not.  People who are pro-life would argue that life does start right after conception.  However, people arguing for pro-choice would say that until a fetus can breathe on its own without being dependent on its mother, it cannot exist.  In fact, most abortions are performed in the first trimester hwen the fetus is still dependent on the mother.  There is also the issue of making abortions illegal.  If the government did do this there would be an increase in back alley abortions which could be a major problem.  Right now, woman can go to abortion clinics and know they will be safe.  With back alley abortions, woman risk many problems including becoming sterile and possibly death. 

It is a huge responsibility for a woman to carry around a child for nine months especially if they aren’t ready to.  Nineteen percent of woman who get abortions are teenagers who just aren’t ready to raise a child.  Do we really want these children to grow up in a world where they will be unwanted?  It just doesn’t seem fair.  Having a baby changes a person’s life so much and it is sometimes too much responsibility for a teenager to handle.  I know most people would probably say that adoption is always an option but it isn’t for the woman who don’t even want to have the baby in the first place.  These woman don’t want o have to go through the pain of pregnancy.  Can you blame them?  It would be especially hard if the woman was raped.  To go through the pain and trauma of knowing that child was a product of rape would be terrible and something I’m sure no one can imagine unless you went through it personally.

 Whether it’s talked about in regards to politics or just an everyday discussion, abortion continues to be one of the most controversal social problems in America.

Posted in Social Problems, Uncategorized | 1 Comment »

27. April 2010 by student.

Due to the current state of our economy in America, we can expect to see a variety of social problems in the near future. A few problems that have already emerged and are beginning to grow due the downfall of our economy include, homelessness and job loss. In the article “Homelessness Rising as Economy Slides”, a survey by the US Conference of Mayors concludes that 19 out of 25 cities saw an increase of homelessness since the downfall of our economy. The report claims, “On average, the cities in the survey saw a 12 percent rise in homelessness” (Reuters). Homelessness is a major issue, and a lot of people are losing their homes because they have lost their jobs, which brings me to the next problem. Job loss is a major social problem that has risen due to the current state of our economy. An article written by the New York Time states the following, “In a bleak report on Friday, the Labor Department said that almost 600,000 jobs disappeared in January and that a total of 3.6 million jobs had been lost since the beginning of the recession in December 2007. The unemployment rate, meanwhile, rose to 7.6 percent, from 7.2 percent a month earlier” (NYTimes). Just in one month 598,000 jobs were lost, and economists predicted things to only get worse. They were right; today’s unemployment rates are nearly at 10%. Job loss is a major problem in today’s society, and we are still trying to figure out how to solve the current issue.

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27. April 2010 by student.

As a woman who has to carry a child in her womb for nine months then have to take care of a child forever possibly without help from the father, she should be able to choose whether or not to keep this child. Children are blessings from God no doubt about it, but some blessings might be too much to handle for some woman and those blessings end up being a burden which leads to adoption, then the child growing up with either a better home or going from home to home for the rest of its life. As a woman she has the choice to control her future, if she has no money, no husband, just a baby on the way, should she have this baby in poverty and live in poverty if she chooses against adoption?  More people have proclaimed themselves more pro-life in the more recent century than in the past. “A new Gallup Poll, conducted May 7-10, finds 51% of Americans calling themselves “pro-life” on the issue of abortion and 42% “pro-choice.” This is the first time a majority of U.S. adults have identified themselves as pro-life since Gallup began asking this question in 1995” ( Saad.) An infant’s heart begins to beat after twenty-one days. To pro-life followers it dosen’t matter when the heart beats because life begins at conception.  A major argument to keep abortion legal is the women who are a victim of rape or incest. Women of rape can get pregnant, “total of 170 to 340 assault rape pregnancies a year in the entire United States.” Why should they have to keep the baby of an unwanted sexual experience, just as a reminder of the horrible event? Those women impregnated by incest can involve health risks for the child. Women who cannot receive a legal abortion will end up in a back alley getting butchered by someone who does illegal abortions. The health risks for those women are unbelievable; the risk for infection is super high. “World Health Organization (WHO) defines ‘unsafe abortion’ as “a procedure for terminating an unwanted pregnancy either by persons lacking the necessary skills or in an environment lacking the minimal medical standards, or both.” “They found that the average delays in providing care for women who died following eclampsia or post-partum haemorrhage was between 1.0 and 1.3 h, while for women who died following an abortion, this delay was 23.8 h.” These women go through extreme risks to not have this child, if it such a huge concern for these women to have children then they should be able to have the choice of aborting that child.

Saad, Lydia. “More Americans ‘Pro-Life’ Than ‘Pro-Choice’ for First Time; Also, fewer think abortion should be legal ‘under any circumstances’.” Gallup Poll News Service (2009). Academic OneFile. Web. 27 Apr. 2010.

World Health Organization, The prevention and management of unsafe
abortion. Report of a technical working group (WHO/MSM/92.5), World Health Organization, Geneva (April 12-15, 1992).

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