30. April 2010 by student.

President Harry Truman was fully justified in dropping the first atomic bomb on Japan. This wasn’t an easy decision for anyone, or by any means. In the end, however, a decision was made, and it’s possible that you’re alive because of it. Nearing the end of World War Two, the U.S. had pushed Japan back to their own soil. Still, the Japanese were fighting to the last man and the bitter end. It was ingrained in their culture to never surender. When we eventually came to the point where we had the option to invade Japan, an issue arose. To invade Japan was expected to cost anywhere from 250000 to 3 million American lifes. by dropping the atomic bombs on Japan, the casualties were somewhere between 150000 and 250000. By making the decision to drop the bomb, President Truman potentially saved millions from death or maiming. He knew that the only way he would win the war was to show Japan that the U.S. was a superior force, and that their only option was to surrender, which they did. 

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30. April 2010 by student.

I ran into someone the other day that I hadn’t seen in awhile. As we were saying our goodbyes, he says, “Find me on Facebook!!” Ugh. I hear this TOO often.

Facebook, Myspace, Twitter… Are these websites replacing reality?

All of these social networking sites are great for getting back in touch with old friends, classmates, and family members. But sometimes, people mistake a friend request for an actual friend, don’t you think? It is a sad truth that people are being judged on their profile picture and status updates, and an even sadder truth that these people are ok with that. When’s the last time you had an actual conversation with someone that didn’t involve a wall post as the main topic of discussion? Or, better yet, when is the last time that you had a conversation that WASN’T online in a wall post? Walking around campus, I am constantly overhearing conversations about what someone said on Twitter or what so-and-so posted on that one guy’s wall:

“OMG did you see his twet last night?”

“Wow, did you see that girl that has been liking all of his profile pictures? What a *insert expletive here*”.

These “social networking sites” are ruining our geneation’s social skills. Everything is virtual now. People are bullying others, meeting (adding/requesting) new friends, and falling in love all ONLINE. Based on…what? How many friends or followers someone has? How many photos they’re tagged in? Its creepy and weird, when you think about it. 

It bothers me that its become such a routine in young people’s lives, including mine. I’m not claiming innocence. Sure, I have it bookmarked on my laptop, and yeah, I have the app on my phone. But that doesn’t make it ok. It kind of freaks me out that people can be one person online and a completely different person in, uh, person.

It wouldn’t be such a problem if our generation still communicated the old fashioned way. You know, talking? I think we need to pull the plug for awhile and communicate in a different way: face-to-face instead of wall-to-wall.

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30. April 2010 by student.

Just recently I have noticed a problem that really frustrates me. I work in a food retail store and many businesses shop at my job. Well sometimes a few of them will not pay with cash, check, or debit/credit cards…they use EBT,  Food Stamps! This is a social problem in the fact that there are people that need this program and cannot get the help or others that could benefit from a little bit more but, someone is “unwantedly” taking up space in the system. It’s wrong and it harms tax payers out of money that is being misused. So many people complain that the government needs to help more, and want are they going to do about poverty and so on…WELL, what more can they do, if people are going to scam the government???

               “The Food Stamp Program is the nation’s single most important program in the fight against hunger. Developed in the 1960’s, the program is designed to improve the nutrition level and food purchasing power of people with low incomes.” (Federal Food Programs)

Our federal government is trying to help those in need and here we have some people taking advantage of the program and finding other ways to use it for their own benefit. It is estimated in 2002 that our government paid out $18.2 billion to the program. Besides the federal government, our local and state governments provide have of the cost for the food benefits of the program. In 2009, the government helped out an estimate of 31 million people per month in food stamps. I can just imagine how many people are cheating the government out of it’s money. Money that can be used else where! Here are two examples:

1.   An owner of a hotel in Queensbury was using his “family’s” food stamps to pay for the food served at his continental breakfast. He used $19,500 worth of food stamps! He was charged with welfare fraud. 

http://www.fox23news.com/mostpopular/story/Food-Stamp-Fraud-Charges/z_8OZ3jpE0C0QCFpdy6uIw.cspx

2.  In March 2010, 21 stores were busted for defrauding the food stamp system and our tax dollars of $3.2 million! The suspects are facing state charges but might possibly face federal charges as well.

http://wokv.com/localnews/2010/03/statewide-food-stamp-fraud-sch.html

There were not many stories of business owners that used food stamps to buy food for their retail because usually people are misusing food stamps by selling it in exchange for cash, drugs and/or alcohol. However the law is trying to put a stop to the issue and in 1996 there was a welfare reform act that is suppose to keep a close eye on retailers that are accepting food stamps (retailers do not get to automatically accept EBT as a form of payment).

I’m content to know that the law enforcement is cracking down on this issue because we cannot let people abuse of the government’s good deeds and possibly snatch the help out of the people that ARE in need. It doesn’t feel good to be robbed of money does it?

http://www.frac.org/html/federal_food_programs/programs/fsp_faq.html#1

http://www.fns.usda.gov/SNAP/faqs.htm#1

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30. April 2010 by student.

I remember Kanye West storming the stage during the Video Music Awards and taking the microphone from Taylor Swift to tell everyone that Beyonce deserved the award that went to Taylor Swift. To me, this is an extremely rude and asinine act. Not only did Kanye barge in on Taylor Swift’s moment, but he disrespected her in front of everyone, on national television. While Kanye certainly could have made a worse choice, he made far from the moderate, or mean, choice. Instead of taking over, he should have talked about how he believed Beyonce deserved the award at a later time. Because of his foolhardiness, Kanye may have offended Taylor Swift, but in doing so he made himself look like a pompous fool. He was right to believe what he thought, and was even right to voice his beliefs, but there is a time and a place for everything, and during someone else’s acceptance speech is hardly ever the time, and the Video Music Awards is hardly ever the place. It is because of acts like these from our supposed role models that successive generations are becoming more and more disrespectful and ill-mannered.

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30. April 2010 by student.

One of the most deceiving socially constructed realities in the world today is that of a college degree. To many, if you have a college degree then you are automatically assumed to be knowledgeable. You are expected to be able to be smarter than someone without a degree. While this may be true sometimes, it is certainly not the case all the time. When you really look at a college degree, all it really is is a piece of paper with some writing on it. This college degree is handed from one to another, and nothing will physically really change, but when this is done in a ceremony, the possession of the piece of paper with writing on it signifies almost superiority of the degree holder to someone without one. This piece of paper is now so much a part of our culture that many think that you cannot lead a successful life without one. In a purely physical world, this makes no sense. To think that someone is doomed to a life of sub-par living because they do not have a piece of paper with writing on it is crazy. From early on in life, we are taught that school leads to success, and that the more school you have the better you will do. While there certainly are some merits to this notion, it is definitely not absolute. Our enculturation in the belief that degrees make you smarter and more successful is not always true, but most think so because they are told so at a young age.

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30. April 2010 by student.

For a long time, Disney’s choices in characters for their films have been questioned. As far back as the 1920’s and 30’s, groups of people have had issues with the race, roles, and general disposition of many of Disney’s famous characters. In response to the outcries of these groups, Disney has been making efforts to appease everyone. Scott Fonda, a film editor, is not convinced that Disney has satisfactorily removed all elements of racism from their recent films. I, however, disagree with his perception. It is hardly a question that some of the earliest Disney movies are not as racially sensitive as they could have been, as seen in the murder of crows in Dumbo, or questionable lyrics in Aladin. These movies, however, are a product of their time, meaning that was the general temperament of most of the country. Taking into account Disney’s long history of princess-themed movies, many people were upset that in the earlier movies, Disney’s princesses were all Caucasian. Due to mounting pressure and recognition of the fact, Disney then proceeded to introduce new movies with princesses of other races. The most recent product of Disney involves an African American princess who wishes to open a restaurant. As Mr. Fonda reviewed the film, he immediately came upon several things that were not to his liking. First and foremost is the setting of the film. As he puts it the film takes place in “Jim Crow-era Louisiana, hardly a shining moment in the history of African-Americans in the U.S. in terms of their standing in society” (NPR). After viewing the film, Fonda’s main qualm with the film was how “it’s distorting history” (NPR). Looking back over some of Disney’s earlier films, Fonda’s point becomes clear. Disney does not have the most historically accurate procession of films, which is perfectly allowable seeing as how Disney’s movies are not meant to be seen as realistic depictions of history.. As early as Dumbo, and even earlier than that, Disney did not stick to the parameters of historically-accurate reality. As we all know, elephants cannot fly. Mermaids are not real. Parrots that can talk do not sound like Gilbert Gottfried. So when Disney comes out with a new film that is not quite historically accurate, it should be accepted for the piece of fantasy work that it is. Concerning Disney itself, Fonda seems to believe that while they certainly had a sketchy beginning, Disney has shown efforts to become more sensitive to all audiences. Still he believes that Disney’s films need much critiquing and many changes in order to be acceptable. Fonda believes this is so because of the impact Disney’s films have on young children (NPR). I disagree with Fonda pertaining to the need for extensive revision. I believe that while Disney films may have a certain impression on children, I do not believe that any impression received from any movie has anything to do with the race, role, or disposition of the characters. I believe that Fonda may be taking things too seriously, and even looking for things to be racist.
While looking back to the beginning of Disney, there is not much doubt that their earlier films were certainly not as sensitive as they should have been, but as Fonda says in his interview with NPR: “You can say to an extent it [Disney] was a product of its time” (NPR). As far as the more recent films, racially questionable elements do not project themselves and are only present if one is overly-sensitive and actually looking for faults in the film.

Sources

NPR. Despite Black Princess, Disney’s Race Record Mixed. 2010.

<http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=122152254>.

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30. April 2010 by student.

No, this isn’t referring to cell phones. This refers to oceanic dead zones. Dead zones are areas on the ocean floor that contain very little (hypoxic) to no (anoxic) oxygen in the water. They do not contain enough oxygen to support life (around 4 or lower ppm). Dead zones form from a massive growth spurt of bacteria, which when growing uses oxygen. , also known as bacterial respiration. The bacteria bloom due to an abundance of decomposing phytoplankton. The abundance of phytoplankton come from massive amounts of nutrients being added to the water, mainly nitrogen and phosphorus. Dead zones have occurred naturally in the past, but not on the same scale or nearly as often as they do today. The main cause of dead zones is a plethora of nutrients being added to oceanic waters. These nutrients are usually added to streams or rivers as run-off from animal manure and crop fertilizer from industrial farms. Dead zones are areas of water containing huge amounts of bacteria, and through their respiration, minimal if any amounts of oxygen. Due to this animals cannot live in hypoxic or anoxic zones and must either move away or die. Most fishes can swim away fast enough, but many crustaceans, such as crabs, cannot. In other words, dead zones are areas of water in which pretty much the only things that can live in it are bacteria and phytoplankton. Dead zones tend to form in deep waters a few kilometers offshore near the ends of rivers. They form in these areas because of the excessive amounts of nutrients pouring into the ocean from the rivers. Depending on several factors, such as location and currents, dead zones may be permanent, reoccurring, or a one time deal. Presently, of the 146 dead zones, most are located in Europe and the U.S. east coast. They can range in size from under a square mile to up to forty-five thousand square miles. The Gulf dead zone, an annually recurring zone, is roughly twenty-two thousand square miles, about the size of New Jersey. This zone is formed from nutrients dumped into the ocean by the Mississippi River. The largest dead zone on record is also permanent. The Dead Sea, appropriately named, is one of the few naturally formed dead zones. Nutrients deposited into rivers that flow into the ocean are the main causes of dead zones. The nutrients get to the river through improper farming techniques, over-fertilization, and through fuel emissions. If this condition goes on untreated we eventually could have entire oceans in which nothing lives other than bacteria and phytoplankton. In order to prevent this, regulations must be put on the disposal of animal wastes so that they are treated more thoroughly, instead of focusing on the financial costs of doing so. Farmers also need to take care as to not over-fertilize their crops to help prevent the nutrients from getting into rivers.

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30. April 2010 by student.

Many young adults look forward to their eighteenth birthday because of the freedoms that they are allowed. But absent among the list of freedoms is the ability to legally drink an alcoholic beverage. As legal citizens and adults of America, eighteen-year-olds should be legally able to consume alcohol.

Upon turning eighteen, one is legally considered an adult in America. As an adult, a plethora of new rights are bestowed upon them. Among those are the rights to buy cigarettes, no curfew, the right to purchase lottery tickets, as well as the right to purchase pornography. As for young men, they are forced to sign a mandatory draft registration card, meaning they can be drafted against their will into the military. As a legal adult serving in the military, an eighteen-year-old has the right to die while serving their country, but not the right to drink an alcoholic beverage.

As it stands with the legal drinking age set at twenty-one, underage drinking is a major problem. What must be recognized is that no matter what laws are passed, underage drinking is going to happen. Proving this fact is a look at the Prohibition era of the U.S.’s history. Alcohol was banned nation-wide, and as a result, individuals resorted to making their own alcohol in their homes, knowing that in doing so they risked death itself if the proper directions were not taken. Seeing this, the U.S. repealed the law and made alcohol legal again. The current law does not prevent underage drinking, but merely forces it underground, where it can not be monitored, and as a result is usually not done in a safe manner or fashion.

Lowering the current legal drinking age to eighteen would, in effect, reduce the amount of binge drinking going on. One common misconception about alcohol and its relation to youth is that drinking and driving is the number one cause of death among teenagers. This is not true. As a matter of fact, binge drinking (described as imbibing a large amount of alcohol in a short period of time) is the number one leading cause of death among the U.S.’s teenage population. In order to prevent binge drinking, introducing teenagers to alcohol at a younger age allows them to be taught how to drink responsibly. If teenagers were taught responsibility earlier in their life, then they would not feel the need to drink until they are drunk every time they drink. In conjunction with the fact that allowing teenagers access to alcohol reduces the appeal of it as ‘the forbidden fruit’, these steps can and must be taken in order to drastically cut down the amount of binge drinking presently happening in today’s youth.

Much of the opposition to lowering the legal drinking age is centered around the idea that the youthful cannot learn responsibility and would become raging alcoholics. This is a silly and unfounded belief. To verify it, one needs only to look to the east, where the legal drinking ages are much lower. In Europe, the average drinking age is sixteen. Many people think that consequentially Europe has much higher rates of alcoholism and alcohol-related accidents. This is untrue. In reality, Europe has on average a much lower rate of alcoholism among its youth than does America, where the legal drinking age is much higher. The main cause of this is due to a fact that in Europe, alcohol is not the carrot dangling on a stick seemingly forever out of reach and that the parents teach the children from an early age to either drink in moderation, or completely abstain from alcohol all together.

While many expect this to be at the forefront of every young adults’ mind, it has also been brought to the attention of the older population. A group consisting of well over one hundred and thirty college presidents and chancellors, called The Amethyst Initiative, has openly recognized that the current twenty-one legal drinking age is not working. In studies conducted by multiple universities throughout the country, results have been consistent in showing that binge drinking among college-aged people has been on the rise. The recognition of this shows that binge drinking is a problem to those all across the age spectrum, and what is worse is that it is an avoidable one.

It is the duty of the people of America to vote to pass bills that would lower the legal drinking age not only to fully realize their rights as adults but also to help solve the many problems the current legal age imposes. Instead of taunting, the laws should be teaching, which could be reached via a lower legal drinking age. Through this system, harmful drinking habits, such as binge drinking, can be avoided at a younger age when they are more likely to develop and provide and all around safer environment for youths and adults alike.

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30. April 2010 by student.

Biological weapons are in a word; terrifying. To think that there exists bombs that can destroy entire populations is scary enough, then you can add the fact that not al bioweapons kill instantly. Some are meant to make one suffer. Others aren’t meant to kill people at all, only to make them sick or otherwise incapacitate them. Yet still others aren’t meant for people, but their crops. Personally I find biological weapons are impractical and useless. First of all, we have treaties in place that are meant to prevent any more development of biological weapons or other weapons of mass destruction. Secondly, we have many other ways to achieve a goal, including more powerful bombs. So why would we waste more time and money developing these weapons when they would be better spent elsewhere? As a global role-model, the United States needs to start dismantling its bioweapons programs and strive towards better goals.

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30. April 2010 by student.

Are social networking sites the glue that that holds our social existence together? Or are they slowly tearing us apart from the real world? If you go to any college campus, a majority of the students will say they have a profile on a social networking site like Facebook. In the past few years sites like Facebook and Twitter have become the main consumers of our web time. Every day I used to get on my Facebook and just read what everyone else was doing or I looked at their new pictures. Did I talk to any of these people in real life? Hell no! Networking sites are a means for us to be part of a person’s life without actually being a part of it. Being someone’s friend on Facebook doesn’t make you two buddies, even if you did go to the same high school. In all I maybe talked to 10 people, at max, in real life, that were also friends with me on Facebook. On days when I didn’t have an internet on my computer or at work when I was bored, I would check Facebook through my phone. I was a Facebook addict. The bad thing about sites like Facebook is that it’s not the connection that keeps us coming back, but A) The information we read about people we barely know anymore B) The browser games like Farmville and Mafia Wars C) The ability to use apps that let us see what others really think about us and all the different surveys that we take. These are not real ways to be social with others. Are these sites causing us to form social degenerative conditions? Could you stay of your Myspace, Facebook, or Twitter for an entire day? The University of Maryland tested the affects of being away from networking sites for a whole day, with 200 students participating in the study. “When asked how they felt during the brief disconnection, students’ descriptions of frantic cravings, anxiety and jitters mirrored those typical of people going through withdrawal from drugs or alcohol.  In 2009, a slew of news reports warned that social networking sites would ruin our bodies and brains byshortening our attention spans, weakening our immune systems and possibly fostering autism.” If that doesn’t prove to us that networking sites maybe slowly destroying us, nothing will. I deleted my Facebook two weeks ago and I have to say it was a great decision. You’d be surprised how much time you don’t spend on the internet when you are not constantly glued to networking site updates. I’m done with having my brain development affected by social networking sites. These aren’t the only affects that social networking sites have on our lives. Employers have been using these sites for background checks. How would you like it if your boss found out why you really missed work on Saturday? Real life is affected by your cyber life.Some may argue that these sites are good for getting in touch with old friends, and I can’t deny that fact, but my advice is after you get back in touch with them, get their phone number and call them. Don’t spend your time all up in their business. We need to get real life back. Go out and meet someone new, use the phone book to find an old friend and give them a call. Networking sites are not the way to go. They may bring us together, but in reality they are slowly tearing us apart.

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