8. December 2011 by student.

The ever rising oil price in the United States has led to many drastic changes in an American’s day to day activities.  The social problem of the rising oil price has led many to debate the use of oil and other alternative fuel types.  According to the VTPI(Victoria Transport Policy Institute), who’s goal is to show options to the people on how they can save money or switch their fuel source states, “Between 2003 and 2008 average U.S. gasoline retail prices more than doubled, from $1.77 to $4.10 per gallon, and high prices are expected to continue due to growing international demand and rising production costs.”  Even while using my Android application to find the cheapest gas in town, I am still stuck paying $3.50 a gallon in Fort Myers Florida.  I can’t complain because I know my parents in New York are paying way more then I am.  Even with the efforts of car pooling and phone applications to try and keep costs down when spending your hard earned money on gasoline, companies have expanded their research and have made cars that run on electric and gas, propane, and cars that run strictly on electric.  The Nissan Leaf, is a great example of a new energy source, it is a car that costs around $35,000 and runs strictly on electric.  Although the concept of running a car on only electric is one that may not be as widely accepted at first, but I think this is a great start on a path for change.

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8. December 2011 by student.

I went and researched stories that are geared towards my generation and in the media recently/currently about how tv stations are creating shows about people with disabilitys. The first look was at a girl shown on MTV’s True life named Alyssa; her disability was that she was born with Tourette syndrome. “Tourette syndrome (TS) is a neurological disorder characterized by repetitive, stereotyped, involuntary movements and vocalizations called tics” (NINDS). The True Life episode followed her for a time period showing how she reacted during her everyday life, from random embarrassing out-bursts in public or muscle twitches that make it difficult to do daily activities like eating simple foods or brushing your teeth. Her case is so severe that she decides to go into an experimental surgery that places electrodes in her brain in a generator in her pelvic region which, when done, may improve her symptom of Tourette’s up to 70% percent. Following this episode much later another episode of MTV’s True life released called “This is Me Now” which covered and went back to previous stories of true lifers showing how their lives are different/changing. Alyssa was shown and discussed how she was often stared at, name called and brought down because of her disorder, but being on true life has also created more people to continue to taunt at her self-esteem, yet it’s also introduced her to people she’s helped out and motivated to look for cures by being on True Life.
Another example I saw was TLC’s show “Little People, Big World.” The show takes you into the lives of Parents Matt and Amy Roloff who are only 4 feet tall!! They’re raising their also “little” son and interesting enough two average size growing kids (boy and girl) up, All blood-related. The show carries on over different seasons. All seasons show the family at their best and worst moments and how they are going about their lives. I felt that “Little People, Big World” was a positive example on disabilities in society because I showed them overcoming obstacles and facing society in everyday life. But the family itself always stays positive and looks up. Some people will take these shows as a positive outlook, but then some people become negative about the situation feeling as if the shows were making fun of there disabilities.

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8. December 2011 by student.

Yesterday, the Food and Drug Administration recommended that Plan B be sold as an over-the-counter item without age restrictions. Currently, those 17 years of age must ask the pharmacist at their local store for the pill. Those under 17 must obtain doctor’s permission before having access to the pill. The FDA believed that Plan B was safe and should be available for all those of child-bearing age. That was until the Obama administration decided to get involved.

Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius decided to invoke her veto power over the FDA’s recommendation. She believed that the underage people who would be using the drug might not have the “behavioral maturity” to understand how to use the drug. Sebelius basically has no faith in those of child-bearing age to be able to read and correctly use Plan B.

This represents more of the same injection of politics into something with sound science behind it. All major medical organizations (AMA, ACOG, AAP) that deal with these types of issues have supported the removal of age restrictions on Plan B. They believe it should have the same availability as Tylenol. A Bush-era policy hated by reproductive rights activists has just been reaffirmed by the Obama administration when one of the clear mottos was sound science over rhetoric and politics. Reproductive rights are too often subject to those which have no right to legislate against them. Bodily autonomy is something that every person has and that right is so frequently challenged by those wishing to implement more controls over behavior.

Plan B helps curb teenage pregnancy, which leads to abject poverty for those that undergo it.  Teenage pregnancy and poverty are two social problems that are inextricably linked to each other. It baffles me as to how this administration would choose not to allow for a safe, scientific method of emergency contraceptive to be shelved outside of the pharmacy where those who need it can gain access to it.

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8. December 2011 by student.

Stress, do you feel any of these symptoms?  Frequent headaches, jaw clenching or pain, cold or sweaty hands, feet, frequent blushing, sweating. You maybe are experiencing stress. Stress is becoming a social problem with today lifestyle. More people are living a stressful life. In the long term stress can rewire the brain, and you may become more pessimistic. You may have higher risk of having a heart attack. 75% of the general population experiences at least “some stress” every two weeks. Ways in which we could moderate stress are by eating healthy and exercising for 15mins three times a week.

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8. December 2011 by student.

Violence in Lee county is a HUGE problem. My boyfriend just passed away to a shooting in Fort Myers on November 30, 2011. I think its ridiculous how so many young boys have ILLEGAL guns here in our very own city. These young boys make videos on YouTube during the day thinking it’s cool to hold out guns and have pitbulls in their videos explaining how “hood” they are. It’s so sad. What has this place became? Its also sad to me how the media only shows the bad a person has done. Yes, my boyfriend was in prison for something he committed when he was sixteen and he learned and paid his dues. They never did mention his football career!  But when my boyfriend came out, he was a totally different person. Not all people learn, yes I know that. But I can honestly say my boyfriend completely changed. His life was taken away to some B.S. drama. Its so sad to me how a persons life can be taken away at such a young age.

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8. December 2011 by student.

The title says it all.  Who can believe this?  Well, its true.A 9 year old boy in North Carolina mentioned to another boy in his class he thought the teacher was “cute”.  She over heard this comment, and apparently took it as an offense. How can this be? The boy is 9 years old, c-mon lady.  The boy now faces a 2 day suspension, for sexual harassment!  Not many other details have been released from the school, as this story seems to have got a lot of media attention.  It is sad that our society has come to a point where a 9 year old boy has to be exposed to the term “sexual harassment”.  Was the teacher not right upstairs when making this claim? I’d think she would take it as a compliment before anything else.I felt this definitely had to be blogged about.-Derek Belair.Here is the Link to the article if you want to view it for yourselves,http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/12/05/student-9-years-old-suspended-for-sexual-harassment_n_1129683.html?1323107604

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8. December 2011 by student.

After reading an article titled “College dropout factories”, I was stunned as to how bad of a problem it has become in the U.S.  School systems have been taking advantage of people by appearing like a seemingly great place to go, with opportunities available galore.  They make it seem like such an exciting college to attend, but then just basically forget and ignore about guiding them towards a graduation goal. It was also very shocking that this was mainly driven by money, to create an increase in revenue for the school. ( The more students you have, the more money you have comming in of course ). 

The article did not say which college, But it tells a story about a school president at one of these schools that took faculty and relatives on a 9 day cruise, as part of a “Leadership conference”. That paragraph made me laugh, as one would not think something like this would happen with school money. Apparently it did, and the woman was caught of course. At least justice was served. 

 I had never even heard of these issues until moving away from where I grew up, which is another great example of how education differs in different regions of our country. As this growing education problem is more realized by the people of our country, instead of talking about it through the media, we need to be starting to find more solutions and take action toward fixing this problem.        

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8. December 2011 by student.

Smoking kills!! We see, hear and talk about it everywhere. Smoking in this century has for million of people have become a habit. Although is bad for health we still do it, smoking  and smoking related issues has become a social problem. Smoking has become a multimillion business. ach day in the United States, approximately 4,000 adolescents aged 12-17 try their first cigarette, Each year cigarette smoking accounts for approximately 1 of every 5 deaths, or about 438,000 people. Cigarette smoking results in 5.5 million years of potential life lost in the United States annually, Although the percentage of high school students who smoke has declined in recent years, rates remain high: 19% of high school students report current cigarette use (smoked cigarettes on at least 1 day during the 30 days before the survey), Forty-six percent of high school students have ever tried cigarette smoking, even one or two puffs, Eleven percent of high school students have smoked a whole cigarette before age 13,Nearly 9% of high school students (15% of male and 2% of female students) used smokeless tobacco (e.g., chewing tobacco, snuff, or dip), on at least 1 day during the 30 days before the survey.³ Adolescents who use smokeless tobacco are more likely than nonusers to become cigarette smokers, Fourteen percent of high school students smoked cigars, cigarillos, or little cigars on at least 1 day during the 30 days before the survey. Although there are regulations on smoking; people still find their way to smoke cigarette. Maybe next time you see an ad on smoking you should be a little more conscious and be aware of what is in the cigarette your smoking, and what harm does it do in your system.

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8. December 2011 by student.

Between 1952 and 1995, suicide in young adults nearly tripled, over half of all suicides occur in adult men, ages 25-65, in the month prior to their suicide, 75%

Suicide takes the lives of nearly 30,000 Americans every year, the strongest risk factor for suicide is depression, in 2004 it is estimated there were 811,000 suicide attempts in the
US, There are three female suicide attempts for each male attempt.

 What do these statics show us? That suicide is becoming a social problem, is this social problem we could control or maybe stop? Society is what makes people become depressed and as stated, depression is the main reason for suicide. If we break it down, are we responsible for other people depression? In some way we could be a possible reason why people become depressed. Is in the nature of people to be mean, it’s a dog eat dog world. Maybe if we were a little nicer with people; people wouldn’t be as depressed, have a smile in their face.

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8. December 2011 by student.

I chose an article from the New York Times called “Forget What You Know About Good Study Habits”.  I feel the article really makes you aware of many ideas, from a 3^rd person perspective. It is one thing to study in your own way, but I thought it was really cool to be able to read something that summarizes study habits so well. After the summer, I agree it is hard to get back in “the groove” of your daily school schedule. You need to refocus your time management, separating things such as your Committed, maintenance, and discretionary time. Being able to separate these times of your day, and to keep to a set schedule is certainly what will help a person succeed. Most people in college for example, look forward to all the socializing and the meeting of new people. What separates the people who most succeed and get good grades are usually the people who are aware they need to take care of committed time, before figuring out what time to go out with their friends. I love how in the article shows the effects of different study habits, and how it backs them with studies and results. Spending an hour on one class, then maybe switching to a different class for an hour makes it easier for the brain to store the information. When I personally sit down to read or study, I like it being quiet in the background. I usually shut off the television or any other noise distractions. Now, if I read at the library for example, its relatively quiet with the exception that putting on headphones might be needed to help concentrate. I know everyone is different in how they need to study, so you may be able to relate to this or not. This was certainly a very interesting read on how each individual needs to figure their own way to learn and retain information. Articles such as this are what helps people to be aware of the things you can do to improve the retaining of information.

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