Today the news broke that a 22 year old American women Amanda Know was convicted of Murder in Italy where she was studying abroad. Amanda has been sentenced to twenty-six years in prison. The court could have given her life in prison, which is the stiffest punishment in Italy, but they lowered it from what prosecutors wanted it to be. Her family is going to continue to fight for her, but I think it will be a rough road ahead of them while they are fighting.
I can’t even come to terms thinking about if I was the one who was studying abroad then one accused of murder, then convicted of murdering a man in a foreign country. Here is a college student that is trying to graduate from college, but will probably never be able to finish her degree now.
When students first learn that they are going to study abroad most if not all of them are extremely excited that they are getting this opportunity to go to a foreign country. Many may have the excitement ware off when the time comes closer for them to leave there comfort zone from their college and home where their parents are at. This can be such a scary time, but a very exciting time at the same time.
When you go to a foreign country the medical system and judicial systems are different from what we have in the United States. Everyone knows this, but I have a friend that was studying abroad in Scotland and was injured which led him to have to have surgery on his arm. Tim and his friends were having a normal day in the country side of Scotland and they decided to rent mopeds to ride around. When they were riding around Tim fell off his moped and broke his arm so badly that his arm required surgery to repair it. Since he is a different country his health insurance was a big mess that he had to deal with and he only had his friends that went to school with him that he had only known for a little while. When we spoke with his mom she said that it is very hard to know that her son is in a different country, injured and she can’t do anything to help him. She could have flew to Scotland to be with him, but plane tickets are expensive and the economy is not helping with this either. She said it was one of the worst feelings she has ever had while being a mother knowing that her son is injured and there is nothing she can do about it since he is on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean. She just prayed for him to heal quickly and to enjoy the rest of his time abroad in Scotland.
When you are studying abroad there are always risks you are going to take and some will be good and some will be bad. It is never easy going away to school, let along going to a completely different country where you no nobody and have to make friends all over again. I do not know how students do this every single semester. I have thought about studying abroad and I really like the idea about it, but I do not think I could handle it personally. When you study abroad you are there for five months and most of the time the only contact you have with your family is scarce phone calls, emails, and snail mail. (mail sent through the post office or FedEx or UPS). Except with today’s technology you can have better conversations with your family through Skype or other online video messaging services. The only issue with video messaging is the time difference between the United States and countries in Europe and Asia.
A girl from my hometown is studying abroad as a junior this year in Taiwan. I do not know how she is doing it, but she is loving it and having a blast. I can understand studying abroad in Europe, but in Asia, I think it would be harder since the customs over there are very different from ours. Europe is similar to us, but we are not all the same. Customs can be a very sensitive subject in foreign countries and sometimes are not the easiest things to get use to, but since we would only be visiting for a little while, should the countries expect us to comply with all there customs and rituals they follow daily?
I think that we should not have to follow all there customs to the tee, but we should respect them enough to try and follow what they practice, even if it is eating something that we do not like, or worshiping a different way than we are use to. It is there life and we have a very different one from there’s, but we still need to respect them no matter what happens.
It is sad to see what happened to Amanda Knox in Italy, but it is a chance that anyone takes who studies abroad for a semester or year. Living in a different country, with different people can be hard on not only yourself, but also your family who is waiting for you to come home. Can you imagine if you were Amanda Knox’s parents when they received a phone call saying that their daughter is going to be tried for murder in a different country? I cannot even begin to think what they are going through and what they are going to have to go through in the next few months. It is going to be tough on them, but they will come through. If you have a strong family and strong relationships with each other you can make it through anything. The Knox family will survive this, it may not be easy but they will find away because they love their daughter and are going to support her no matter what, just like Tim’s mom did when he was injured in Scotland.
Sunday, December 6, 2009
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Gender Roles in Families
This week during thanksgiving break, I was at home looking over my notes for my Family Relationships class and started to think about gender roles in families, particularly my family. Every theory can say a family has to function a certain way, but does it really matter? In my opinion there is no set way of how a family has its gender roles set in their family. My parents are still married, but if you want traditional gender roles in a family where there is only one parent how can that happen? The parent has to fulfill both gender roles because they do not have a partner to help them. Even if you have a partner to help you or not, gender roles do not have to be traditional, they can fluctuate between both partners, like they do in my family. By having the gender roles being able to change between partners it will show children that you do not always have to do the same thing in your family and can help you when you grow up and have your own family
My family has modern views on how daily jobs in the house are split up among the four of us. I would say that the gender roles in our house are expected for the person that you would think is normally responsible, but not all the time do the gender roles stay that way. Our family does not have strict traditional gender roles or strict egalitarian roles either. It is in between the two depending what needs to be done and what all our family is doing on that particular day.
My mother most of the time is responsible for cooking dinner, cleaning the house, washing clothes, and making sure everything in the house is the way it should be. Even though she does most of these chores, my brother and I are still responsible for cleaning the house and washing clothes. My mother does the majority of this work, but we help out with it in some way. My dad on the other hand does most of the work outside of the house for example mowing the lawn, raking leaves and other yard jobs that need to be complete. He helps clean the house also and wash clothes, but his main responsibility is the jobs that require physical labor.
Even though we seem to have traditional gender roles, we do have different roles that we fulfill when we need to. During the holidays I know that the traditional roles are pretty much what we follow, but when it comes to raking leaves in the fall we all go outside and help my dad with that because it is a big job. Or in the spring when we have to spread mulch to plant new flowers traditional gender roles would say that only the man would do it, but we all go outside again and help because it is a long and hard day, especially if it was just one person doing all the work and our yard is not small so it makes it even harder for just one person to do it by themselves.
One other way we split up the roles in our family is fixing dinner. This is the one way that I would say we are strictly traditional in our house. I have grown up with my mom coming home from school and always fixing dinner. My dad has done it occasionally when my mom would be late or could not make it home in time for dinner. This role has been passed down from my grandparents and will probably be passes down to me and maybe my brother. It does not say anywhere that the wife is responsible for fixing a hot dinner every night, but from many years ago when men worked and women stayed home with the children it was always the wife’s job to have a hot meal ready when their husband came home. In today’s world most women are working because of different reasons and so does my mom, but she always finds a way to fix dinner for us. I know that this will probably be passed on to me since I enjoy cooking and I also view this a responsibility of the wife, but it doesn’t mean that I will not allow my husband to fix dinner when I get married. I feel that my brother who lives by himself now and is going to school will fix dinner for his wife and family a lot whenever he gets married since he is responsible for fixing his own dinner now. If he does not fix his own dinner than he will not eat that night since he is not living at home anymore.
Gender roles in my family have been a positive influence on me. Learning how to cook, clean and complete household chores when I was growing up will help me later in life when I am living on my own and have a family. I also know that they have influenced my brother positively also because the way he lives and takes care of himself while he is living by himself in a city far away from home. I know others how have not had to do the chores while we grew up that is going to hurt them when they are living on their own. Knowing how to cook and clean is an important part of living on your own, by showing others that you can take care of yourself and a family when you get ready to have one. Even if your family has egalitarian or traditional gender roles, it is still important for young boys and girls to learn certain traits while growing up to help them later in life. I know that I will use what I have learned from my parents everyday when I have my own family or own house, just as my brother is doing now. Seeing him being successful, and living on his own shows me that I can do it someday also.
My family has modern views on how daily jobs in the house are split up among the four of us. I would say that the gender roles in our house are expected for the person that you would think is normally responsible, but not all the time do the gender roles stay that way. Our family does not have strict traditional gender roles or strict egalitarian roles either. It is in between the two depending what needs to be done and what all our family is doing on that particular day.
My mother most of the time is responsible for cooking dinner, cleaning the house, washing clothes, and making sure everything in the house is the way it should be. Even though she does most of these chores, my brother and I are still responsible for cleaning the house and washing clothes. My mother does the majority of this work, but we help out with it in some way. My dad on the other hand does most of the work outside of the house for example mowing the lawn, raking leaves and other yard jobs that need to be complete. He helps clean the house also and wash clothes, but his main responsibility is the jobs that require physical labor.
Even though we seem to have traditional gender roles, we do have different roles that we fulfill when we need to. During the holidays I know that the traditional roles are pretty much what we follow, but when it comes to raking leaves in the fall we all go outside and help my dad with that because it is a big job. Or in the spring when we have to spread mulch to plant new flowers traditional gender roles would say that only the man would do it, but we all go outside again and help because it is a long and hard day, especially if it was just one person doing all the work and our yard is not small so it makes it even harder for just one person to do it by themselves.
One other way we split up the roles in our family is fixing dinner. This is the one way that I would say we are strictly traditional in our house. I have grown up with my mom coming home from school and always fixing dinner. My dad has done it occasionally when my mom would be late or could not make it home in time for dinner. This role has been passed down from my grandparents and will probably be passes down to me and maybe my brother. It does not say anywhere that the wife is responsible for fixing a hot dinner every night, but from many years ago when men worked and women stayed home with the children it was always the wife’s job to have a hot meal ready when their husband came home. In today’s world most women are working because of different reasons and so does my mom, but she always finds a way to fix dinner for us. I know that this will probably be passed on to me since I enjoy cooking and I also view this a responsibility of the wife, but it doesn’t mean that I will not allow my husband to fix dinner when I get married. I feel that my brother who lives by himself now and is going to school will fix dinner for his wife and family a lot whenever he gets married since he is responsible for fixing his own dinner now. If he does not fix his own dinner than he will not eat that night since he is not living at home anymore.
Gender roles in my family have been a positive influence on me. Learning how to cook, clean and complete household chores when I was growing up will help me later in life when I am living on my own and have a family. I also know that they have influenced my brother positively also because the way he lives and takes care of himself while he is living by himself in a city far away from home. I know others how have not had to do the chores while we grew up that is going to hurt them when they are living on their own. Knowing how to cook and clean is an important part of living on your own, by showing others that you can take care of yourself and a family when you get ready to have one. Even if your family has egalitarian or traditional gender roles, it is still important for young boys and girls to learn certain traits while growing up to help them later in life. I know that I will use what I have learned from my parents everyday when I have my own family or own house, just as my brother is doing now. Seeing him being successful, and living on his own shows me that I can do it someday also.
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Oh There's No Place Like Home for the Holidays
Every year we always come back to the same week before Thanksgiving. When this week comes, students start to countdown the days until Thanksgiving, then after that the countdown begins for Christmas Break. I personally figured out when Thanksgiving was and when my Christmas break was back in September. Being in college this year has definitely made me realize how truly excited I am to be going home and spending time with my family.
When it comes to this time of year, you hear everyone starting to talk about their plans for the holiday season. I was home the weekend of November 7th and I was already asking what our family was going to do for Christmas. I know that it would not have changed since last year, but since I am gone to college now I wanted to make sure everything was the same. We always do the same thing each year. Get the Christmas tree the Saturday after Thanksgiving, decorate the house, bake cookies, have family and friends over for Christmas Eve Dinner, open presents Christmas morning and spend the day with my family. It is a good way to spend the holidays, but are we truly remembering why we are celebrating Christmas? Christmas is not about gifts, or who can put up the biggest decorations and lights outside of their house, or who gets the best presents that morning. Christmas is about celebrating our Saviors Birth.
In today’s world everyone seems to be consumed by their possessions when it comes time for Christmas. Sometimes we can see people try to outdo other for Thanksgiving, but is it really in the spirit of Thanksgiving to see who can prepare the biggest meal? I do not think we should try and outdo each other for the holidays. This time of year is meant to be spent with the people you love, even if all you do is eat a meal together or watch a football game, you are still spending time if the ones you love.
I also think it is important to help out your community during the holidays because there are so many people in today’s world who need help with money and food to spend their Thanksgiving Day or Christmas day with their families. One way we always help out our community is by getting up Thanksgiving morning and participating in a 5k race/walk for the rescue mission downtown. The theme for the event is “Move your feet so others can eat”. This event has only been going on the past few years and each year more and more people are coming out to walk and run to help others out. This year there is no reason why I shouldn’t get up Thanksgiving morning and go walk to help others out. I am going to have the entire week off and I can sleep in then, so we should all be able to give up one morning, even if it is a holiday to go help out the less fortunate especially with today’s economy and the number of people who have lost their jobs this year. This holiday season is going to be really hard on some people and if I can help them by getting out of bed one morning and walk around downtown for 3.2 miles, then I am going to help them.
Now this year is the time we need to really think about others and how it is better to give than receive. Not only for families who have lost their jobs in this economy, but for soldiers who are deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan and can’t come home for the holidays. It is very hard not only for the soldiers but for their families who are back home waiting for them to return. I know that it is especially hard for the parents and spouses because my neighbor is currently station in Afghanistan and is in the middle of all the fighting which makes it even harder for his parents to get into the holiday spirit when they are concerned with their son’s safety and how we is doing. You know it is not a good situation when the showers consist of one bottle of water and a baby wipe each day. There is not telling how long we are going to have troops overseas fighting, but during the holidays, we need to remember them by sending them packages and cards to let them know we are thinking about them. I know that it means a lot to the soldiers that are serving.
Along with soldiers who are already deployed during the holiday’s you also have to think about families who have family members who are getting ready to deploy right after the holidays end. The holidays could be the last time they spend with their son or daughter who is getting ready to deploy. You never know what is going to happen so you have to be thankful for everything you have and every minute you get to spend with the ones you love. I know that this Christmas and Thanksgiving is going to be difficult for me and my family and friends due to my neighbor deploying in January. He is only a year older than me and it is going to be difficult because we have spent every Christmas and Thanksgiving together since we were born.
During the next few weeks, we need to take time and remember what we are truly thankful for and take time to give back to our community. Just think, if it was your family who lost jobs or had a son or daughter who is getting ready to deploy or is already deployed, you would want people to think about your child and family during the holidays when we are suppose to be happy and spending time with the ones we love. No matter how you celebrate the holiday’s we just need to remember that this may not be the best holiday season a family has experienced and need to be supportive during the difficult movements and the happy ones too.
When it comes to this time of year, you hear everyone starting to talk about their plans for the holiday season. I was home the weekend of November 7th and I was already asking what our family was going to do for Christmas. I know that it would not have changed since last year, but since I am gone to college now I wanted to make sure everything was the same. We always do the same thing each year. Get the Christmas tree the Saturday after Thanksgiving, decorate the house, bake cookies, have family and friends over for Christmas Eve Dinner, open presents Christmas morning and spend the day with my family. It is a good way to spend the holidays, but are we truly remembering why we are celebrating Christmas? Christmas is not about gifts, or who can put up the biggest decorations and lights outside of their house, or who gets the best presents that morning. Christmas is about celebrating our Saviors Birth.
In today’s world everyone seems to be consumed by their possessions when it comes time for Christmas. Sometimes we can see people try to outdo other for Thanksgiving, but is it really in the spirit of Thanksgiving to see who can prepare the biggest meal? I do not think we should try and outdo each other for the holidays. This time of year is meant to be spent with the people you love, even if all you do is eat a meal together or watch a football game, you are still spending time if the ones you love.
I also think it is important to help out your community during the holidays because there are so many people in today’s world who need help with money and food to spend their Thanksgiving Day or Christmas day with their families. One way we always help out our community is by getting up Thanksgiving morning and participating in a 5k race/walk for the rescue mission downtown. The theme for the event is “Move your feet so others can eat”. This event has only been going on the past few years and each year more and more people are coming out to walk and run to help others out. This year there is no reason why I shouldn’t get up Thanksgiving morning and go walk to help others out. I am going to have the entire week off and I can sleep in then, so we should all be able to give up one morning, even if it is a holiday to go help out the less fortunate especially with today’s economy and the number of people who have lost their jobs this year. This holiday season is going to be really hard on some people and if I can help them by getting out of bed one morning and walk around downtown for 3.2 miles, then I am going to help them.
Now this year is the time we need to really think about others and how it is better to give than receive. Not only for families who have lost their jobs in this economy, but for soldiers who are deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan and can’t come home for the holidays. It is very hard not only for the soldiers but for their families who are back home waiting for them to return. I know that it is especially hard for the parents and spouses because my neighbor is currently station in Afghanistan and is in the middle of all the fighting which makes it even harder for his parents to get into the holiday spirit when they are concerned with their son’s safety and how we is doing. You know it is not a good situation when the showers consist of one bottle of water and a baby wipe each day. There is not telling how long we are going to have troops overseas fighting, but during the holidays, we need to remember them by sending them packages and cards to let them know we are thinking about them. I know that it means a lot to the soldiers that are serving.
Along with soldiers who are already deployed during the holiday’s you also have to think about families who have family members who are getting ready to deploy right after the holidays end. The holidays could be the last time they spend with their son or daughter who is getting ready to deploy. You never know what is going to happen so you have to be thankful for everything you have and every minute you get to spend with the ones you love. I know that this Christmas and Thanksgiving is going to be difficult for me and my family and friends due to my neighbor deploying in January. He is only a year older than me and it is going to be difficult because we have spent every Christmas and Thanksgiving together since we were born.
During the next few weeks, we need to take time and remember what we are truly thankful for and take time to give back to our community. Just think, if it was your family who lost jobs or had a son or daughter who is getting ready to deploy or is already deployed, you would want people to think about your child and family during the holidays when we are suppose to be happy and spending time with the ones we love. No matter how you celebrate the holiday’s we just need to remember that this may not be the best holiday season a family has experienced and need to be supportive during the difficult movements and the happy ones too.
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Reilgion Forgories
Martin Luther a well known philosopher states that as humans we have the right to believe in what we chose. The United States does not force a certain religion on to us which we have to follow. Since we are free to choose the religion we want to follow and be involved with, we can see how Bart D. Ehrman is using Luther’s perspective by stating that the New Testament has forgeries in it.
Bart D. Ehrman has done research for years on the New Testament trying to prove that several of the books in the New Testament are forgeries. He claims that 1st Peter and 1st Timothy were written by Paul or someone claiming to be Paul, then later goes on to discuss that Paul would have not written the letters, thus revealing that the Gospel of Peter is written in the first person claiming to be written by Paul.
If the United State was a country that had a set type of religion for the entire country, Ehrman would not be allowed to express his views of the New Testament. Many people in the United States follow different religions and have been expressing different views for different religions. Most of the religions that have different beliefs and are trying to escape the “norm” of their religion do not have substantial evidence to prove their case. Ehrman has several different ways he can prove that there are New Testament forgeries.
One way he proves this is by studying the ancient Roman World and other documents from that time period. During the Roman World, forgery was widespread and was common among documents. During that time period people did not have nice laptops like we do today to record everything that happens, which then caused the events of what happened to be written down by someone who knew how to write or to be passed down from generation to generation by orally.
Ehrman discussed 1st and 2nd Peter with Peter allegedly writing 13 letters to followers of Jesus. Many scholars think that Peter wrote about 6 of the letters but are unsure of the other 7. Since they do not think Peter wrote the letters, Ehrman believes that someone else wrote them and put Peter’s name to them. Since they do not believe Peter wrote them they would be considered forged. 1st and 2nd Peter is not the only books in the New Testament to be considered forged. Ehrman also believes that the letter to James from peter is also forged. He believes this because in the letter he speaks of a missionary to Gentiles or Non-Jews who preaches a “lawless Gospel” which does not make sense considering Peter is a Jew. If this is a forgery in the New Testament, we then cannot tell who the author is, but someone that claims to be Peter.
Ehrman also states that this practice of forgery was condemned during this time period, but people still participated in it. Going back to Luther’s statement, if the people wanted to worship their own way, they could have chosen not to believe in what they were being told.
There is no clear way for anyone to know if there are truly forgeries in the New Testament or in the Bible in general. Scholars, like Ehrman can study the ancient documents from the Roman World and they can also apply theories like Luther’s to the New Testament and the Bible, but we can only apply their theories so many ways before that form of religion turns into another form. Even if there are forgeries in the Bible or the New Testament, people still read the Bible and follow their religion faithfully. By following Luther’s statement, Ehrman and other scholars have had the opportunity to present the material that they feel is false and not written by who it claims to be. If our country did not have freedom of religion Ehrman and other scholars would have to find a different way to present what they have found.
Even with Ehrman having his methods of proving that the New Testament has forgeries, how do we truly know if the New Testament is forged? There will never be a way to know for sure if the New Testament is forged because we were not there when it was written. Many people can try to prove that it was forged with different theories, but there theory will not be right.
With different theories about religion being claimed it would be hard for everyone to pick just one to believe in. With different theories, there are even more theories because of the different form of religions. With different forms of theories there can be different forms of forgeries with different religions. Baptist could view these theories differently than people who are catholic compared to people who are Jewish.
Since many of the religions use the Bible as their primary text they could all interpret in different ways, leading scholars to have different viewpoints. As Erhman claims that Paul has forgeries, we do not know that God wanted it to be that way. He could have wanted Paul to have had his letters to be forged for a reason we have yet to discover, and that we may never discover in this lifetime. There are many things in our lifetime that we may not discover until we have passed on and are on the other side with God.
No matter what people believe about the Bible, everyone will always have their own view about their religion. Scholars are not going to be able to change people’s views and will always try to change them. Viewpoints are hard to change without substantial evidence and Erhman doesn’t seem to be a reliable evidence from what he claims to be right. Scholars will continue to share their viewpoints and will always have an opinion. It is up to us to decide what we want to believe in and nobody but ourselves can change our viewpoint.
Bart D. Ehrman has done research for years on the New Testament trying to prove that several of the books in the New Testament are forgeries. He claims that 1st Peter and 1st Timothy were written by Paul or someone claiming to be Paul, then later goes on to discuss that Paul would have not written the letters, thus revealing that the Gospel of Peter is written in the first person claiming to be written by Paul.
If the United State was a country that had a set type of religion for the entire country, Ehrman would not be allowed to express his views of the New Testament. Many people in the United States follow different religions and have been expressing different views for different religions. Most of the religions that have different beliefs and are trying to escape the “norm” of their religion do not have substantial evidence to prove their case. Ehrman has several different ways he can prove that there are New Testament forgeries.
One way he proves this is by studying the ancient Roman World and other documents from that time period. During the Roman World, forgery was widespread and was common among documents. During that time period people did not have nice laptops like we do today to record everything that happens, which then caused the events of what happened to be written down by someone who knew how to write or to be passed down from generation to generation by orally.
Ehrman discussed 1st and 2nd Peter with Peter allegedly writing 13 letters to followers of Jesus. Many scholars think that Peter wrote about 6 of the letters but are unsure of the other 7. Since they do not think Peter wrote the letters, Ehrman believes that someone else wrote them and put Peter’s name to them. Since they do not believe Peter wrote them they would be considered forged. 1st and 2nd Peter is not the only books in the New Testament to be considered forged. Ehrman also believes that the letter to James from peter is also forged. He believes this because in the letter he speaks of a missionary to Gentiles or Non-Jews who preaches a “lawless Gospel” which does not make sense considering Peter is a Jew. If this is a forgery in the New Testament, we then cannot tell who the author is, but someone that claims to be Peter.
Ehrman also states that this practice of forgery was condemned during this time period, but people still participated in it. Going back to Luther’s statement, if the people wanted to worship their own way, they could have chosen not to believe in what they were being told.
There is no clear way for anyone to know if there are truly forgeries in the New Testament or in the Bible in general. Scholars, like Ehrman can study the ancient documents from the Roman World and they can also apply theories like Luther’s to the New Testament and the Bible, but we can only apply their theories so many ways before that form of religion turns into another form. Even if there are forgeries in the Bible or the New Testament, people still read the Bible and follow their religion faithfully. By following Luther’s statement, Ehrman and other scholars have had the opportunity to present the material that they feel is false and not written by who it claims to be. If our country did not have freedom of religion Ehrman and other scholars would have to find a different way to present what they have found.
Even with Ehrman having his methods of proving that the New Testament has forgeries, how do we truly know if the New Testament is forged? There will never be a way to know for sure if the New Testament is forged because we were not there when it was written. Many people can try to prove that it was forged with different theories, but there theory will not be right.
With different theories about religion being claimed it would be hard for everyone to pick just one to believe in. With different theories, there are even more theories because of the different form of religions. With different forms of theories there can be different forms of forgeries with different religions. Baptist could view these theories differently than people who are catholic compared to people who are Jewish.
Since many of the religions use the Bible as their primary text they could all interpret in different ways, leading scholars to have different viewpoints. As Erhman claims that Paul has forgeries, we do not know that God wanted it to be that way. He could have wanted Paul to have had his letters to be forged for a reason we have yet to discover, and that we may never discover in this lifetime. There are many things in our lifetime that we may not discover until we have passed on and are on the other side with God.
No matter what people believe about the Bible, everyone will always have their own view about their religion. Scholars are not going to be able to change people’s views and will always try to change them. Viewpoints are hard to change without substantial evidence and Erhman doesn’t seem to be a reliable evidence from what he claims to be right. Scholars will continue to share their viewpoints and will always have an opinion. It is up to us to decide what we want to believe in and nobody but ourselves can change our viewpoint.
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Facebook: Good or Bad?
Facebook has become one of the world’s largest social networking cites on the internet and keeps growing every day. The website use to be open only to college students, but then started growing until high school students and everyday people could become a member. Today there are over three million people who have accounts on facebook.
Since Facebook is open to everyone now, is Facebook safe and a good place to have your personal information online? There are so many people we do not know who are also on Facebook and with the technology today, people can easily access your information even if it is set to private, which many people probably do not think about when they upload pictures and other information to the website. Is your profile truly only visible to friends when it says it is?
If you are not sure if your profile is safe would you want your thirteen year old child to have an account? I would not want my child too. MySpace use to be the social networking when I was in middle school and it has the same concept in a different format, but still allows people ages 13 and older to have an account. Even if their parents monitor what they are doing on MySpace and facebook and who they are friends with, it is still a scary place for them to have a profile. There are a lot of older men who like to have profiles and claim to be younger boys and girls that try to become there friend and then want to meet in person. This is a situation that nobody wants to be in, but is even scarier for a young boy or girl who is only 13 years old. Which is why you should not have profile until you know you can handle the responsibility that comes with it. Having an account on Facebook, you have to be responsible for your actions. Where this is inappropriate statuses or pictures that are not appropriate or even ones that show you breaking the law. A lot of high school and young college students like to post pictures of them drinking, which can lead to other people seeing them and reporting you to different people.
I think that your profile is only visible to friends, but then again technology keeps changing and people are learning how to hack into others profiles and steal information and pictures and even stalk someone. Many people in today’s society refer to people as “Creepers”. The term Creeper is a slang term that has just become popular in the past few years. When most people refer to that they are talking about someone who looks at your profile on Facebook or is always watching you and doesn’t say anything.
Many people do use facebook and most of the people wouldn’t be considered creepers. Facebook is an excellent way to keep in touch with friends and family. Since graduating from high school, facebook has been the only communication I have had with some of my friends since they go to other schools and it is hard to talk on the phone or video chat over Skype. If we didn’t have facebook I truly wonder how we would stay in contact with friends that go to other schools.
I know it has been done in the past before computers were invented and Facebook and Skype were ever imagined, but still how do we all rely on one website to feel like we are important to see one little notification pop up in the bottom right hand corner of the screen. Most people don’t sit at their computers all day staring at facebook just waiting for something to happen, but what if there are people who do? Will facebook make them have social issues when they become younger or during their life right then. It is one thing if you are doing work and leave facebook open, because many students do that because they are talking with friends on facebook chat. I know this cannot be healthy for them, but what can we do about it? We cannot make them get off of facebook and do work, or instead of sitting there going outside and getting fresh air or working out. In our parents generation facebook and computers did not exist and it was a whole different world to them. I sometimes wonder if all the computers, facebook accounts, iPods, cell phones, blackberries and other items that are like this were taken away from my generation if we would be able to survive without them? I really think my generation would not be able to handle it.
Another item that we take for granted is Microsoft Word. As I sit here and type this blog about facebook and what the world would be like without it, I started to think what our world would be like without the other technological devices we have and Microsoft word is one that almost every college student uses daily. We forget how much simpler life is when we have the privilege to type papers and not have to hand write them. It is really sad to see that my generation does not know how to write in cursive. I learned this when we took the SAT’s last fall and spring because when you take the SAT’s or ACT’s you have to write in cursive a statement saying you did not cheat and then sign your name. You would have been surprised to see how many students agreed with one another that they do not remember how to write in cursive. This is a simple task that we learned back in elementary school, but since we do everything on the computer now, we have no need for cursive except for rare occasions. Which makes us less appreciative of what we have in our world now and how we need to appreciate the little things in life. No matter what we decide to put on facebook, or what technology we use, we still need to remember what is important to us and not let anyone influence what we believe in.
Since Facebook is open to everyone now, is Facebook safe and a good place to have your personal information online? There are so many people we do not know who are also on Facebook and with the technology today, people can easily access your information even if it is set to private, which many people probably do not think about when they upload pictures and other information to the website. Is your profile truly only visible to friends when it says it is?
If you are not sure if your profile is safe would you want your thirteen year old child to have an account? I would not want my child too. MySpace use to be the social networking when I was in middle school and it has the same concept in a different format, but still allows people ages 13 and older to have an account. Even if their parents monitor what they are doing on MySpace and facebook and who they are friends with, it is still a scary place for them to have a profile. There are a lot of older men who like to have profiles and claim to be younger boys and girls that try to become there friend and then want to meet in person. This is a situation that nobody wants to be in, but is even scarier for a young boy or girl who is only 13 years old. Which is why you should not have profile until you know you can handle the responsibility that comes with it. Having an account on Facebook, you have to be responsible for your actions. Where this is inappropriate statuses or pictures that are not appropriate or even ones that show you breaking the law. A lot of high school and young college students like to post pictures of them drinking, which can lead to other people seeing them and reporting you to different people.
I think that your profile is only visible to friends, but then again technology keeps changing and people are learning how to hack into others profiles and steal information and pictures and even stalk someone. Many people in today’s society refer to people as “Creepers”. The term Creeper is a slang term that has just become popular in the past few years. When most people refer to that they are talking about someone who looks at your profile on Facebook or is always watching you and doesn’t say anything.
Many people do use facebook and most of the people wouldn’t be considered creepers. Facebook is an excellent way to keep in touch with friends and family. Since graduating from high school, facebook has been the only communication I have had with some of my friends since they go to other schools and it is hard to talk on the phone or video chat over Skype. If we didn’t have facebook I truly wonder how we would stay in contact with friends that go to other schools.
I know it has been done in the past before computers were invented and Facebook and Skype were ever imagined, but still how do we all rely on one website to feel like we are important to see one little notification pop up in the bottom right hand corner of the screen. Most people don’t sit at their computers all day staring at facebook just waiting for something to happen, but what if there are people who do? Will facebook make them have social issues when they become younger or during their life right then. It is one thing if you are doing work and leave facebook open, because many students do that because they are talking with friends on facebook chat. I know this cannot be healthy for them, but what can we do about it? We cannot make them get off of facebook and do work, or instead of sitting there going outside and getting fresh air or working out. In our parents generation facebook and computers did not exist and it was a whole different world to them. I sometimes wonder if all the computers, facebook accounts, iPods, cell phones, blackberries and other items that are like this were taken away from my generation if we would be able to survive without them? I really think my generation would not be able to handle it.
Another item that we take for granted is Microsoft Word. As I sit here and type this blog about facebook and what the world would be like without it, I started to think what our world would be like without the other technological devices we have and Microsoft word is one that almost every college student uses daily. We forget how much simpler life is when we have the privilege to type papers and not have to hand write them. It is really sad to see that my generation does not know how to write in cursive. I learned this when we took the SAT’s last fall and spring because when you take the SAT’s or ACT’s you have to write in cursive a statement saying you did not cheat and then sign your name. You would have been surprised to see how many students agreed with one another that they do not remember how to write in cursive. This is a simple task that we learned back in elementary school, but since we do everything on the computer now, we have no need for cursive except for rare occasions. Which makes us less appreciative of what we have in our world now and how we need to appreciate the little things in life. No matter what we decide to put on facebook, or what technology we use, we still need to remember what is important to us and not let anyone influence what we believe in.
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Balloon Boy and Hokie Football
October 15, 2009 seemed to be a normal day for everyone until that afternoon when Falcon Heene was believed to be floating high in the clouds in a homemade balloon made by his family. In the end the boy was not in the balloon which floated high in the sky for about two and a half hours before finally landing in California a far cry from where it started in Colorado. The boy was eventually found hiding in his home and everyone was safe in the end. I know this can be scary for anyone, but his boy had the whole country paying attention to him and his family for a short amount of time today , but you have to consider several different things when you thing about this incident. The first one is why did the parents want to make this balloon? Why didn’t the parents know where their son was? And how do you not make sure your child is not in the balloon?
I don’t know all the answers because I am not his mother, and the rest of the world only knows what the newspapers and other news websites report for us to read. Now authorities believe that the whole even was a hoax and are going file charges against the family. The whole situation is really dumb because there is no need for that family to create a homemade balloon for no reason.
In the days sense the actual launching of the balloon many sites are reported that the whole even was not real and they just did it to get attention and they did. On yahoo.com I saw where the father pitched an idea to TLC trying to get a reality show out of the incident, one that would be similar to “Jon and Kate plus 8”. The network passes on the show idea, but if you thought your child was in the balloon, wouldn’t you as parent want to make sure that your child is safe before trying to get a reality show out of it. Now that this has been reported the entire event seems to be even more of a hoax, considering the family just wanted to land a reality show just for the money.
No matter what happens with a family, trying to fake something like this can never turn out to be good. I would never in a million years put my children in this situation. If the family needs money, there are alternative options than to fake that your son is floating away in the sky. No matter what the situation is, endangering you children whether it is by sending up in a balloon to float around in the sky or using them to land a reality TV show, it is always going to have a bad ending.
Virginia Tech Football
Virginia Tech was ranked fourth in the nation until Saturday night when the nineteenth ranked team in the nation Georgia Tech beat them with a score of 28-23. Virginia Tech has played really well in some games, and not so well during other games. If Virginia Tech had won, they would have stood a good chance at staying ranked fourth in the nation, but with their loss this weekend, Tech moved down into the number 15 spot in the AP poll. Virginia Tech has played decent teams this season, but in the Atlantic Coast Conference there is no guarantee who is going to show up at the game and win. Just because a team is ranked higher than the other, does not always mean the higher ranked team will win. You can look at Virginia Tech this weekend to see that.
As a student at Virginia Tech, we are suppose to support our team and I do support Virginia Tech, but is Virginia Tech really a national Championship team? The way the Hokies play certain games, you would think that they have never played football before. Then for other games, they look like the team has been playing together for years. I will always support the Hokies, but if you truly watch them play then you can see that they have good games, and then they have downright ugly games.
Virginia Tech can be a national championship team if they play every game like the Miami game. Tech has to have a consistent offense and defense to prove to the country that they can be contenders for the national championship. In my opinion, tech needs to play harder teams in different conferences to open the season up with and prove to everyone that they can handle teams from the Southern eastern conference. Tech played Alabama this year at the beginning of the season and lost to them, but it was a game that the team could come back from Atlanta and improve on what they did wrong. Then after that game the team prevailed and came to win every other game until this past weekend. Every Hokie fan this weekend knew that if Tech did not do well, it would be bad news for Tech and where they will be ranked the following week. The fans were right because Tech sank 11 spots after their five point loss to Georgia Tech.
No matter what who Virginia Tech plays people are always going to say that they will never be contenders for a national championship, but nobody will ever know that for sure. Just because other schools in different conferences have won many national championships. Tech will eventually win a national championship, but we will never know when. Every team has there up and downs, or up and down seasons. No matter what a team does a true fan will support them through there up and downs. Virginia Tech may not win a National championship this year, but they will have a successful rest of the season to go along with the other wins in during the first half of the season. The only way to improve the rest of the season is to see where you have difficulty and Virginia Tech has learned where they are having difficulty and will be able to improve for the next game during practice and the rest of the season will hopefully be as successful as the first half without any more losses.
I don’t know all the answers because I am not his mother, and the rest of the world only knows what the newspapers and other news websites report for us to read. Now authorities believe that the whole even was a hoax and are going file charges against the family. The whole situation is really dumb because there is no need for that family to create a homemade balloon for no reason.
In the days sense the actual launching of the balloon many sites are reported that the whole even was not real and they just did it to get attention and they did. On yahoo.com I saw where the father pitched an idea to TLC trying to get a reality show out of the incident, one that would be similar to “Jon and Kate plus 8”. The network passes on the show idea, but if you thought your child was in the balloon, wouldn’t you as parent want to make sure that your child is safe before trying to get a reality show out of it. Now that this has been reported the entire event seems to be even more of a hoax, considering the family just wanted to land a reality show just for the money.
No matter what happens with a family, trying to fake something like this can never turn out to be good. I would never in a million years put my children in this situation. If the family needs money, there are alternative options than to fake that your son is floating away in the sky. No matter what the situation is, endangering you children whether it is by sending up in a balloon to float around in the sky or using them to land a reality TV show, it is always going to have a bad ending.
Virginia Tech Football
Virginia Tech was ranked fourth in the nation until Saturday night when the nineteenth ranked team in the nation Georgia Tech beat them with a score of 28-23. Virginia Tech has played really well in some games, and not so well during other games. If Virginia Tech had won, they would have stood a good chance at staying ranked fourth in the nation, but with their loss this weekend, Tech moved down into the number 15 spot in the AP poll. Virginia Tech has played decent teams this season, but in the Atlantic Coast Conference there is no guarantee who is going to show up at the game and win. Just because a team is ranked higher than the other, does not always mean the higher ranked team will win. You can look at Virginia Tech this weekend to see that.
As a student at Virginia Tech, we are suppose to support our team and I do support Virginia Tech, but is Virginia Tech really a national Championship team? The way the Hokies play certain games, you would think that they have never played football before. Then for other games, they look like the team has been playing together for years. I will always support the Hokies, but if you truly watch them play then you can see that they have good games, and then they have downright ugly games.
Virginia Tech can be a national championship team if they play every game like the Miami game. Tech has to have a consistent offense and defense to prove to the country that they can be contenders for the national championship. In my opinion, tech needs to play harder teams in different conferences to open the season up with and prove to everyone that they can handle teams from the Southern eastern conference. Tech played Alabama this year at the beginning of the season and lost to them, but it was a game that the team could come back from Atlanta and improve on what they did wrong. Then after that game the team prevailed and came to win every other game until this past weekend. Every Hokie fan this weekend knew that if Tech did not do well, it would be bad news for Tech and where they will be ranked the following week. The fans were right because Tech sank 11 spots after their five point loss to Georgia Tech.
No matter what who Virginia Tech plays people are always going to say that they will never be contenders for a national championship, but nobody will ever know that for sure. Just because other schools in different conferences have won many national championships. Tech will eventually win a national championship, but we will never know when. Every team has there up and downs, or up and down seasons. No matter what a team does a true fan will support them through there up and downs. Virginia Tech may not win a National championship this year, but they will have a successful rest of the season to go along with the other wins in during the first half of the season. The only way to improve the rest of the season is to see where you have difficulty and Virginia Tech has learned where they are having difficulty and will be able to improve for the next game during practice and the rest of the season will hopefully be as successful as the first half without any more losses.
Sunday, October 11, 2009
Miley Cyrus
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QxUr2ggLlhI&feature=related- VMA Performance
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gSeHd7Ht1cE Miley’s performance on Good Morning America
Have you ever looked up to a singer and admired them so much until, one day they perform somewhere and blow you away with how they perform in a way that is unthinkable for them? Miley Cyrus is one performer that has disappointed not only me but many girls that are younger with her most recent performance at the Video Music Awards.
The Video Music Awards (VMA’s) is hosted by MTV in New York City each year. During the awards show, many artists are asked to perform live in front of the other guest. This past year is mostly known for the Kanye West and Taylor Swift incident, but many people also saw Miley Cyrus perform her latest single hit “Party in the USA”.
I did not personally see the performance live on TV when the award show aired, but I did have the opportunity to watch on the internet with the help of YouTube. In the link above you can see the performance and how, to me it seems that she is trying to portray a different image than everyone sees her as.
Miley Cyrus is known for her show, Hannah Montana which airs on Disney Channel and for her movie that is based off of her TV show, the Hannah Montana movie. If you have not seen her show, it is portraying a girl who lives a double life; she is the normal high school girl during the day, and then at night she becomes the teen pop sensation, Hannah Montana.
Most Disney shows are the same and have the same values instilled into each show. The Hannah Montana show is a family oriented show, and I thought that Miley Cyrus would have kept her performances in the same mind set, even though she is getting older. I know that she is trying to attract the older crowd, but she still has a lot of little girls that look up to her, especially after her movie just came out.
In her performance during the VMA’s, Miley’s performance did not impress me, and it did not impress many other people. I understand that she wants to move forward with her career towards a different age group, but I thought she could have done it a different way during her VMA performance.
After watching the video, I was surprised how her performance was set up. The VMA’s are mostly for older teens, and young adults, children can still watch the performances, whether they are live, or online on YouTube. During her performance Miley climbs on top of a cart that has a metal pole attached to it, which at first reminded me of a stripper pole, and many people that I have talked to about the video. After she climbs on to the cart she proceeds to dance on the pole and slid down it. It seemed as if she was trying to include some form of sexuality into her performance, which does not seem to be the same image she has on her TV show and in her movie.
In her performance, it seems that Miley is trying to say it is okay for children to look up to her, to act that way and try to be sexual, even if they are only seven or eight years old. Her performance may not persuade younger girls, or boys to follow her, but it will be more effective on the older teens and young adults.
In her performance Miley is making a statement that she is not some teen pop sensation that can only create songs and performances that little girls. This performance made it clear that Miley is growing up and changing the way she performs and who she wants her audience to be. She may have enjoyed performing, mostly for little children, but as time goes on everyone needs a change in pace and Miley’s first change was this performance. If you compare this performance to others, we can clearly see a difference as to who she wants the audience to be. If you compare her VMA performances this past fall to her performance on Good Morning American in August. She may have had different stage, but there still was the sexuality that was in the performance from the VMA’s. One thing that was different there was no pole in the Good morning America show. Could she not have had it because this performance was going to be on National TV, which many Americans watch as they get ready for work, and did not want to have to explain why it was put into her dance routine for the performance? We will probably never know if she had always planned to have the pole in the dance routine from the beginning or just for the Video Music Awards.
Miley Cyrus has the respect of so many people, it would be sad for her to lose it over one performance form the Video Music Awards from her younger fans who look up to her, but then it can also increase the amount people like her. Older teens probably liked the performance because she performed the way they like to see people dance. No matter what Miley does, people are always going to support her, and there are always going to be people who cannot stand her and the way she acts. It is like this for every singer, performer, and actor, but it comes with the job, so they have to learn how to deal with the negative criticism and the positive comments people give them in support of what they are doing.
Miley’s Video Music Award performance, may not have been the best idea, or it could be the best performance she has had, but it is not up to one person to decide what they think about her. We each have own opinions and have the right to support someone or not to support them and they only way you can form your opinion in a fair way is to give the person equal opportunities, and have an open mind.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gSeHd7Ht1cE Miley’s performance on Good Morning America
Have you ever looked up to a singer and admired them so much until, one day they perform somewhere and blow you away with how they perform in a way that is unthinkable for them? Miley Cyrus is one performer that has disappointed not only me but many girls that are younger with her most recent performance at the Video Music Awards.
The Video Music Awards (VMA’s) is hosted by MTV in New York City each year. During the awards show, many artists are asked to perform live in front of the other guest. This past year is mostly known for the Kanye West and Taylor Swift incident, but many people also saw Miley Cyrus perform her latest single hit “Party in the USA”.
I did not personally see the performance live on TV when the award show aired, but I did have the opportunity to watch on the internet with the help of YouTube. In the link above you can see the performance and how, to me it seems that she is trying to portray a different image than everyone sees her as.
Miley Cyrus is known for her show, Hannah Montana which airs on Disney Channel and for her movie that is based off of her TV show, the Hannah Montana movie. If you have not seen her show, it is portraying a girl who lives a double life; she is the normal high school girl during the day, and then at night she becomes the teen pop sensation, Hannah Montana.
Most Disney shows are the same and have the same values instilled into each show. The Hannah Montana show is a family oriented show, and I thought that Miley Cyrus would have kept her performances in the same mind set, even though she is getting older. I know that she is trying to attract the older crowd, but she still has a lot of little girls that look up to her, especially after her movie just came out.
In her performance during the VMA’s, Miley’s performance did not impress me, and it did not impress many other people. I understand that she wants to move forward with her career towards a different age group, but I thought she could have done it a different way during her VMA performance.
After watching the video, I was surprised how her performance was set up. The VMA’s are mostly for older teens, and young adults, children can still watch the performances, whether they are live, or online on YouTube. During her performance Miley climbs on top of a cart that has a metal pole attached to it, which at first reminded me of a stripper pole, and many people that I have talked to about the video. After she climbs on to the cart she proceeds to dance on the pole and slid down it. It seemed as if she was trying to include some form of sexuality into her performance, which does not seem to be the same image she has on her TV show and in her movie.
In her performance, it seems that Miley is trying to say it is okay for children to look up to her, to act that way and try to be sexual, even if they are only seven or eight years old. Her performance may not persuade younger girls, or boys to follow her, but it will be more effective on the older teens and young adults.
In her performance Miley is making a statement that she is not some teen pop sensation that can only create songs and performances that little girls. This performance made it clear that Miley is growing up and changing the way she performs and who she wants her audience to be. She may have enjoyed performing, mostly for little children, but as time goes on everyone needs a change in pace and Miley’s first change was this performance. If you compare this performance to others, we can clearly see a difference as to who she wants the audience to be. If you compare her VMA performances this past fall to her performance on Good Morning American in August. She may have had different stage, but there still was the sexuality that was in the performance from the VMA’s. One thing that was different there was no pole in the Good morning America show. Could she not have had it because this performance was going to be on National TV, which many Americans watch as they get ready for work, and did not want to have to explain why it was put into her dance routine for the performance? We will probably never know if she had always planned to have the pole in the dance routine from the beginning or just for the Video Music Awards.
Miley Cyrus has the respect of so many people, it would be sad for her to lose it over one performance form the Video Music Awards from her younger fans who look up to her, but then it can also increase the amount people like her. Older teens probably liked the performance because she performed the way they like to see people dance. No matter what Miley does, people are always going to support her, and there are always going to be people who cannot stand her and the way she acts. It is like this for every singer, performer, and actor, but it comes with the job, so they have to learn how to deal with the negative criticism and the positive comments people give them in support of what they are doing.
Miley’s Video Music Award performance, may not have been the best idea, or it could be the best performance she has had, but it is not up to one person to decide what they think about her. We each have own opinions and have the right to support someone or not to support them and they only way you can form your opinion in a fair way is to give the person equal opportunities, and have an open mind.
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Fall Break and Jon & Kate Plus 8
It is the middle of October and most college students have adjusted back or are getting settled into the life of a college student. Every student misses the random days that are scheduled off by their school system and every national holiday that you use to get out of school. In college there are no days that are scheduled off besides major holiday breaks, fall break, and at Virginia Tech, University Remembrance for the April 16 shootings.
Fall break is the one day a year that students get off to have a long weekend, and simply to take a break from school work. Virginia Tech’s fall break is only one day long and this year it is October 9, 2009. There is nothing wrong with fall break being only one day long because it means that Thanksgiving break is longer, compared to other schools that only get Wednesday through Friday off. It is nice to have an entire week off that week because when we come back from break we only have about a week and a half left in the semester.
Fall Break is suppose to be a time when we can go home for a long weekend and not have to worry about anything. This year at Virginia Tech the university scheduled a home football game the weekend of fall break, which has made every single student consider if they want to go home or stay at school and go to the game. Many people I know decided to go home this weekend and opted to stay next weekend for the game against Boston College. It may not seem like a big deal to most people but it is to freshmen who have been here for six weeks and this is their first opportunity to go home.
I do not know who scheduled this, but it is dumb to have a home football game the same weekend that fall break is. Shouldn’t students be allowed to have the choice to go home for a long weekend and not have to decide between going home and staying for the game? I think that as students we should not have to decide and the university should better to accommodate both events but on different weekends. Or the university could have at least scheduled it for a game that was away, for example this weekend when Virginia Tech was playing at Duke.
It is not fair to make students pick what they want to do, even if it is only an extra day in the weekend, but an extra day off goes a long way. I know that students have to make this decision every weekend when there is a home game, but during the regular home games, we do not have every single Friday off. Then again there is the whole process of trying to get a ticket out of the student lottery system. Most freshmen that I know of still have not won a ticket out of the lottery and there are only a few more home games.
I do not blame anyone for making fall break and a home football game on the same weekend, because I do not know why they scheduled it like this, but for all we know there could have been several different reasons. We do not know why it is setup the way it is, but all we can do is go with the flow of things and stay here for the game or go home for fall break.
Jon & Kate Plus 8
Everybody knows about the Gosselin family. If you do not know them, then I do not know where you have been. This use to be a family of eight children and two parents, which is now a family with eight children and parents who are getting divorced and going through a hard time right now.
If you looked at almost every tabloid or major news website and googled there names, you would find countless of articles about their family. They are a special family because they have two sets of multiples. They have a set of twin girls who are nine and a set of sextuplets- three girls, and three boys- who are five years old.
This is a rare occurrence having so many children at one time, so TLC gave them a reality show called Jon and Kate plus 8. There show has been very successful during the time it has been on TV allowing the children to have experiences that other children will never get.
The show drew millions of viewers each week until the ratings started to drop just this past fall. This past year for the family has been hard and it is very complicated as to where the show is now and how it is not very popular anymore.
The show began to go downhill with speculation of Jon and Kate’s marriage beginning to fall apart. It wasn’t soon after that, Jon was accused of having an affair and then apparently many people became involved in the whole situation causing Jon and Kate to eventually file for divorce.
This is a sad situation the children are in. They each have 7 other siblings and only one mom and dad, and if they didn’t spend enough time with each parent when they were together, they are going to have even less time with one parent because they will not be living with them full time. I use to think I knew what was best for the children and what they should do about the show, but shouldn’t the parents make the correct decision for their children about whether or not they should cancel the show? I think they should and as of what I just read in one tabloid online, they show has halted shooting immediately pending on what the parents decide.
Jon and Kate have not made this easy. If you look online everyday there is something new that comes out about how one or the other is treating each other with no respect and how they can’t get along. Earlier I read that Jon had emptied their joint bank account and only left 1,000 dollars for Kate, The kids have a separate account they cannot touch.
This is a sad situation and I do not know what is the best for the kids, but Jon and Kate need to hurry up and find a solution so there children will not be all over the internet about how their parents are bad and need to set good examples for them.
Fall break is the one day a year that students get off to have a long weekend, and simply to take a break from school work. Virginia Tech’s fall break is only one day long and this year it is October 9, 2009. There is nothing wrong with fall break being only one day long because it means that Thanksgiving break is longer, compared to other schools that only get Wednesday through Friday off. It is nice to have an entire week off that week because when we come back from break we only have about a week and a half left in the semester.
Fall Break is suppose to be a time when we can go home for a long weekend and not have to worry about anything. This year at Virginia Tech the university scheduled a home football game the weekend of fall break, which has made every single student consider if they want to go home or stay at school and go to the game. Many people I know decided to go home this weekend and opted to stay next weekend for the game against Boston College. It may not seem like a big deal to most people but it is to freshmen who have been here for six weeks and this is their first opportunity to go home.
I do not know who scheduled this, but it is dumb to have a home football game the same weekend that fall break is. Shouldn’t students be allowed to have the choice to go home for a long weekend and not have to decide between going home and staying for the game? I think that as students we should not have to decide and the university should better to accommodate both events but on different weekends. Or the university could have at least scheduled it for a game that was away, for example this weekend when Virginia Tech was playing at Duke.
It is not fair to make students pick what they want to do, even if it is only an extra day in the weekend, but an extra day off goes a long way. I know that students have to make this decision every weekend when there is a home game, but during the regular home games, we do not have every single Friday off. Then again there is the whole process of trying to get a ticket out of the student lottery system. Most freshmen that I know of still have not won a ticket out of the lottery and there are only a few more home games.
I do not blame anyone for making fall break and a home football game on the same weekend, because I do not know why they scheduled it like this, but for all we know there could have been several different reasons. We do not know why it is setup the way it is, but all we can do is go with the flow of things and stay here for the game or go home for fall break.
Jon & Kate Plus 8
Everybody knows about the Gosselin family. If you do not know them, then I do not know where you have been. This use to be a family of eight children and two parents, which is now a family with eight children and parents who are getting divorced and going through a hard time right now.
If you looked at almost every tabloid or major news website and googled there names, you would find countless of articles about their family. They are a special family because they have two sets of multiples. They have a set of twin girls who are nine and a set of sextuplets- three girls, and three boys- who are five years old.
This is a rare occurrence having so many children at one time, so TLC gave them a reality show called Jon and Kate plus 8. There show has been very successful during the time it has been on TV allowing the children to have experiences that other children will never get.
The show drew millions of viewers each week until the ratings started to drop just this past fall. This past year for the family has been hard and it is very complicated as to where the show is now and how it is not very popular anymore.
The show began to go downhill with speculation of Jon and Kate’s marriage beginning to fall apart. It wasn’t soon after that, Jon was accused of having an affair and then apparently many people became involved in the whole situation causing Jon and Kate to eventually file for divorce.
This is a sad situation the children are in. They each have 7 other siblings and only one mom and dad, and if they didn’t spend enough time with each parent when they were together, they are going to have even less time with one parent because they will not be living with them full time. I use to think I knew what was best for the children and what they should do about the show, but shouldn’t the parents make the correct decision for their children about whether or not they should cancel the show? I think they should and as of what I just read in one tabloid online, they show has halted shooting immediately pending on what the parents decide.
Jon and Kate have not made this easy. If you look online everyday there is something new that comes out about how one or the other is treating each other with no respect and how they can’t get along. Earlier I read that Jon had emptied their joint bank account and only left 1,000 dollars for Kate, The kids have a separate account they cannot touch.
This is a sad situation and I do not know what is the best for the kids, but Jon and Kate need to hurry up and find a solution so there children will not be all over the internet about how their parents are bad and need to set good examples for them.
Sunday, September 27, 2009
Pro Football
This time of the year is known for the leaves changing color, the weather is becoming colder and football! College and professional football both start in August and end in January and February. Everyone I know loves football and can’t wait for the new season to begin each year.
In each family, town, and college tailgate along with many other people and places you will find different levels of fans. You have the ones who do not really care that they are there, but come to the games. You also have the fans that are excited to be there, but would rather be in a different place. Then you have the diehard fans that you are at every game, rain or shine and support their team no matter what they decide to do with the players, coaches, mascots, or stadium.
In the past few seasons of the National Football League, we have seen Brett Farve come out of retirement twice. Favre played for the Green Bay Packers for 17 seasons then retired stating “I know I can still play, but it's like I told my wife, I'm just tired mentally. I'm just tired”. Then after being in retirement for less than a few months then came out of retirement to play for the New York Jets. Then after a season with the Jets, retired again only to come out of it and start a new career with the Minnesota Vikings.
This man, known as Brett Favre has retired twice from playing professional football and then decided to come back and play for a different team. Should we as fans of football support him? I have liked Green Bay and Brett Favre for as long as I can remember, but I do not think I can support him or any other athlete that has retired and decided to come back and play again.
I would have been fine with him coming back to play for the jets and then deciding that playing for them would be the last team and final year for him, but after he came out of retirement again, I lost all respect for him.
Many followers of the Green Bay Packers have suspected that Minnesota has been trying to find a way to allow Brett Favre to play for them and they finally have found the answer. If it is not bad enough, Green Bay and the Vikings are arch rivals and have been for many years.
I had not thought about this part of the team until recently when Michael Vick was reinstated into the National Football League. Michael Vick has been in jail the past two years for dog fighting and is now playing for the Philadelphia Eagles.
The Eagles have a 53 man roster and Michael Vick was number 54. Of course the team is not going to cut him, so they are going to cut another man, and in this case they cut Hank Baskett, who happens to be married to a former Playboy bunny Kendra Wilkinson who is expecting their first child this winter.
What would happen to the man that was cut for Brett Favre on both teams? Would he be able to find another team to play for, or would he have to quit what he was doing for another man that is considered a “Superstar” or in other words, someone is valued more than you are. There is always be people like that but it is still not fair to the person who is losing their job because they want some else. Luckily for Hank Baskett the Indianapolis Colts offered him a job, so he is now going to play for them. There are only so many positions in the National Football League, and letting Michael Vick come back is taking away from some else who has worked hard the past two years, while he was in jail.
Personally I do not think Michael Vick or Brett Favre should be playing this year. Michael Vick committed a crime and should be punished by not being allowed to play football. Even though he has already served his time in jail, there are still going to be kids that look up to him and then there are going to be kids that do not look up to him anymore as a role model. If he is going to be a role model for children, I think he should not be allowed to come back and play in the NFL. When he comes back it seems that the National Football League is saying it is okay for him to go and commit a crime, go to jail and serve his sentence, and then go back to making millions of dollars. In my opinion that is not what a role model is. ‘
Brett Favre is the same way. He is suppose to be a role model but he is retiring from teams the going and joining other teams. There is nothing wrong with retiring, but he burned a lot of fans by the way he went about the whole process of joining the Vikings. I was a fan of his, but he made me extremely angry when he came out of retirement because of what he said during the press conference when he announced his first retirement. No matter what professional athletes do we will not all agree with them, but if we are a true fan we will support them and the team that they play for. I may not like what Brett Favre and Michael Vick did, but I will still support their teams, but not the decisions they made. In the end, it comes back to money and if the athlete they want will bring in more money for them, then the organization will do everything they can to get them on their team roster. It is sad that our world has come to money but it is like that in every aspect of our lives.
http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=3276034
http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/26013997/
http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=4406963
http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20304801,00.html
In each family, town, and college tailgate along with many other people and places you will find different levels of fans. You have the ones who do not really care that they are there, but come to the games. You also have the fans that are excited to be there, but would rather be in a different place. Then you have the diehard fans that you are at every game, rain or shine and support their team no matter what they decide to do with the players, coaches, mascots, or stadium.
In the past few seasons of the National Football League, we have seen Brett Farve come out of retirement twice. Favre played for the Green Bay Packers for 17 seasons then retired stating “I know I can still play, but it's like I told my wife, I'm just tired mentally. I'm just tired”. Then after being in retirement for less than a few months then came out of retirement to play for the New York Jets. Then after a season with the Jets, retired again only to come out of it and start a new career with the Minnesota Vikings.
This man, known as Brett Favre has retired twice from playing professional football and then decided to come back and play for a different team. Should we as fans of football support him? I have liked Green Bay and Brett Favre for as long as I can remember, but I do not think I can support him or any other athlete that has retired and decided to come back and play again.
I would have been fine with him coming back to play for the jets and then deciding that playing for them would be the last team and final year for him, but after he came out of retirement again, I lost all respect for him.
Many followers of the Green Bay Packers have suspected that Minnesota has been trying to find a way to allow Brett Favre to play for them and they finally have found the answer. If it is not bad enough, Green Bay and the Vikings are arch rivals and have been for many years.
I had not thought about this part of the team until recently when Michael Vick was reinstated into the National Football League. Michael Vick has been in jail the past two years for dog fighting and is now playing for the Philadelphia Eagles.
The Eagles have a 53 man roster and Michael Vick was number 54. Of course the team is not going to cut him, so they are going to cut another man, and in this case they cut Hank Baskett, who happens to be married to a former Playboy bunny Kendra Wilkinson who is expecting their first child this winter.
What would happen to the man that was cut for Brett Favre on both teams? Would he be able to find another team to play for, or would he have to quit what he was doing for another man that is considered a “Superstar” or in other words, someone is valued more than you are. There is always be people like that but it is still not fair to the person who is losing their job because they want some else. Luckily for Hank Baskett the Indianapolis Colts offered him a job, so he is now going to play for them. There are only so many positions in the National Football League, and letting Michael Vick come back is taking away from some else who has worked hard the past two years, while he was in jail.
Personally I do not think Michael Vick or Brett Favre should be playing this year. Michael Vick committed a crime and should be punished by not being allowed to play football. Even though he has already served his time in jail, there are still going to be kids that look up to him and then there are going to be kids that do not look up to him anymore as a role model. If he is going to be a role model for children, I think he should not be allowed to come back and play in the NFL. When he comes back it seems that the National Football League is saying it is okay for him to go and commit a crime, go to jail and serve his sentence, and then go back to making millions of dollars. In my opinion that is not what a role model is. ‘
Brett Favre is the same way. He is suppose to be a role model but he is retiring from teams the going and joining other teams. There is nothing wrong with retiring, but he burned a lot of fans by the way he went about the whole process of joining the Vikings. I was a fan of his, but he made me extremely angry when he came out of retirement because of what he said during the press conference when he announced his first retirement. No matter what professional athletes do we will not all agree with them, but if we are a true fan we will support them and the team that they play for. I may not like what Brett Favre and Michael Vick did, but I will still support their teams, but not the decisions they made. In the end, it comes back to money and if the athlete they want will bring in more money for them, then the organization will do everything they can to get them on their team roster. It is sad that our world has come to money but it is like that in every aspect of our lives.
http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=3276034
http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/26013997/
http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=4406963
http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20304801,00.html
Sunday, September 20, 2009
College Football
Thursday September 17, 2009 was the Miami vs. Georgia Tech game which was played in Miami. The University of Miami football team uses the Miami Dolphins stadium which is located off campus and is close to the university. With not only sharing the field between the Dolphins and the Hurricanes, the stadium is also used by the Florida Marlins baseball team. I am not sure as to how they are converted between events, but from listening to the commentators at tonight’s game, it is not a very good field in certain parts.
If you looked at the field tonight when the camera panned over it you would see that there is dirt in the middle of it, in the shape of a baseball diamond. I wasn’t sure why it was like that, so I texted my brother who attended the University of Miami and he informed me that the stadium is not only used by the Miami Dolphins and Hurricanes, but it is also use by the Florida Marlins.
This had me intrigued for the rest of the night wondering how they would go from a baseball game to making the field ready for football. Since baseball is still going on they have to leave the dirt on the field because the Marlins are still playing.
Even with the stadium close to the University of Miami campus, it still leaves the question for underclassman of how are they going to get to the game. Students have cars, or they could take a taxi, but since the game is not located on campus I think the university should provide transportation to the game. Taxis are not cheap and if it was me that had to drive, I would not be a fan of driving to the game and then back after it. After looking online at Miami’s website I did not find where they offered transportation to the game. I know that the university wants to offer a better playing environment for the team and the school, but I am not sure that the Dolphins stadium is the best choice.
I do not think this is fair to the students for making them find a way to the game. Even with taxi’s and public bus systems, it will still be hard for certain students to find a way to the game. This is also very similar to the lottery system at Virginia Tech.
The lottery system in my opinion is not fair to the students and many students do agree with this. I was lucky for the second game this year by receiving a ticket during the first round of the lottery and I have found tickets for all of the other games, but they were not through the lottery.
I know many students that have not won a ticket in the lottery for any of the home games and there have already been three this year. If we are paying thousands of dollars to Virginia Tech shouldn’t the students be guaranteed football and basketball tickets for the home games?
I think we should have free admission to all of the athletic events that are played at home. I understand if we have to go into a lottery system for the ACC championship game and bowl games if Virginia Tech makes it that far, but the system is not fair to freshman and other students who do not have the opportunity to buy season student tickets.
Even if the tickets are for the “nose bleed” section or the highest seats in the stadium, most of the students who did not get tickets would gladly sit there, I know I would and in Lane Stadium there is not a bad seat in the stadium.
I think Virginia Tech should change the policy for tickets for football and basketball tickets to all you have to do, if you are a student is swipe your Hokie Passport and you can get into the game for free. I know many other universities that have similar policies, but in the end I know that Virginia Tech will not change the policy because they are not going to give seats to college students who will not pay anything to get in the game, and give up the money that people pay to get into the game. Season ticket holders and the ones who pay a lot for their tickets, and they are in good locations, and the university is not going to take their tickets away and turn down the money for the students.
Everything in today’s society comes back to money. It’s sad to say, but if you took a poll of what every college athletic program in concerned with, most would say they want the best for the program, but I would take a good guess that money was next on the list. With the economy they way it is now, money is a big concern with every program.
Every program and school wants the team to do well, but if they are not producing enough money that is a bad sign and could eventually cost the university to cut the team. It is crazy how much the athletic teams spend just for one game. I know that for every home game Virginia Tech drives to Roanoke and stays the night at Hotel Roanoke, which is one of the nicest hotels in the area. I know they do this to prevent players from doing something stupid the night before a game and to make sure their concentration is in the right part, but the school could find a hotel closer to the school and one that is cheaper to stay in for the team.
There is always a solution to problems like these, but the schools are not going to go the easy route to please the students. Every student on campus knows this and hopes are high that they will get a ticket to the football games. If we do not get a ticket we just have to look for one for sale before the game or just watch it on TV. It is not fair, but it is the way it will stay for now.
If you looked at the field tonight when the camera panned over it you would see that there is dirt in the middle of it, in the shape of a baseball diamond. I wasn’t sure why it was like that, so I texted my brother who attended the University of Miami and he informed me that the stadium is not only used by the Miami Dolphins and Hurricanes, but it is also use by the Florida Marlins.
This had me intrigued for the rest of the night wondering how they would go from a baseball game to making the field ready for football. Since baseball is still going on they have to leave the dirt on the field because the Marlins are still playing.
Even with the stadium close to the University of Miami campus, it still leaves the question for underclassman of how are they going to get to the game. Students have cars, or they could take a taxi, but since the game is not located on campus I think the university should provide transportation to the game. Taxis are not cheap and if it was me that had to drive, I would not be a fan of driving to the game and then back after it. After looking online at Miami’s website I did not find where they offered transportation to the game. I know that the university wants to offer a better playing environment for the team and the school, but I am not sure that the Dolphins stadium is the best choice.
I do not think this is fair to the students for making them find a way to the game. Even with taxi’s and public bus systems, it will still be hard for certain students to find a way to the game. This is also very similar to the lottery system at Virginia Tech.
The lottery system in my opinion is not fair to the students and many students do agree with this. I was lucky for the second game this year by receiving a ticket during the first round of the lottery and I have found tickets for all of the other games, but they were not through the lottery.
I know many students that have not won a ticket in the lottery for any of the home games and there have already been three this year. If we are paying thousands of dollars to Virginia Tech shouldn’t the students be guaranteed football and basketball tickets for the home games?
I think we should have free admission to all of the athletic events that are played at home. I understand if we have to go into a lottery system for the ACC championship game and bowl games if Virginia Tech makes it that far, but the system is not fair to freshman and other students who do not have the opportunity to buy season student tickets.
Even if the tickets are for the “nose bleed” section or the highest seats in the stadium, most of the students who did not get tickets would gladly sit there, I know I would and in Lane Stadium there is not a bad seat in the stadium.
I think Virginia Tech should change the policy for tickets for football and basketball tickets to all you have to do, if you are a student is swipe your Hokie Passport and you can get into the game for free. I know many other universities that have similar policies, but in the end I know that Virginia Tech will not change the policy because they are not going to give seats to college students who will not pay anything to get in the game, and give up the money that people pay to get into the game. Season ticket holders and the ones who pay a lot for their tickets, and they are in good locations, and the university is not going to take their tickets away and turn down the money for the students.
Everything in today’s society comes back to money. It’s sad to say, but if you took a poll of what every college athletic program in concerned with, most would say they want the best for the program, but I would take a good guess that money was next on the list. With the economy they way it is now, money is a big concern with every program.
Every program and school wants the team to do well, but if they are not producing enough money that is a bad sign and could eventually cost the university to cut the team. It is crazy how much the athletic teams spend just for one game. I know that for every home game Virginia Tech drives to Roanoke and stays the night at Hotel Roanoke, which is one of the nicest hotels in the area. I know they do this to prevent players from doing something stupid the night before a game and to make sure their concentration is in the right part, but the school could find a hotel closer to the school and one that is cheaper to stay in for the team.
There is always a solution to problems like these, but the schools are not going to go the easy route to please the students. Every student on campus knows this and hopes are high that they will get a ticket to the football games. If we do not get a ticket we just have to look for one for sale before the game or just watch it on TV. It is not fair, but it is the way it will stay for now.
Monday, September 14, 2009
Childrens Movies
Movies have become one of many things we enjoy for entertainment. If they are enjoyed by people of ages, then why do they need to have adult themes in children movies? I know that parents are going to be watching them too, but in my opinion, the adult themes can be cut back in children movies. When you watch some children movies, you sometimes have to wonder if this is okay for children to watch. I recently watched one that made me question if young children should watch it, even though it was made for them.
The past two summers I have worked at a daycare near my house. Each day we go on a field trip and one of the field trips is to the local movies theater to Summer Movie Magic Days. The movie theater selects two movies that you can chose to see, one is rate G for General audiences and the other is rated PG for parental Guidance. I know that it is the parent’s choice for what movie they let their children see, but some movies should have a higher rating than what is given.
At the daycare we let the children pick what movie they want to see and the day I was working one of the choices was Barnyard. This movie is rated PG, and I know that it will have some adult themes in it, but there were more than I expected. There is no need to put more influences into a child’s life than what there already is in the music that we listen to now and the TV shows that we watch.
One of the biggest examples on the movie I keep coming back to is when the cows decide to steal a human’s car and go joy riding in it. When the children see this, they will start to think that it is okay to take someone’s car and do whatever they want with it. After they decide to steal the car and go joy riding they are drinking milk and to me it seemed like the milk is suppose to be something that they are not suppose to have and it is illegal. This is just wrong to show the children of our world that it is okay to drink and drive when they are driving and what they are choosing to drink is illegal. Then after all of this the cows decide to speed and get into a wreck which then leads them to abandoning the car and racing back to the farm before anyone finds out about it. After seeing the latest part of the cows abandoning the car and running from the police, I was shocked at how they set up the movie.
The movie was good, but it was very shocking as to how the portrayed the cows and made everything seem okay. Most of the children were laughing when all of this was happening, as was I, but the more I think about and watched the children at the daycare play, I realized how they pick up on the little things.
When children are young their minds are like sponges, they absorb anything and everything. One of the girls in my high school graduating class, recently had a child before we graduated and was in the early learning stages when we were about to graduate. One thing that I remember her clearly saying was that she had to make sure the father of her child watched what he said around her because she was starting to pick up on what he was saying. He may not be the best dad in the world, or he could be the best one, I do not know, but all I know is if the little girl’s parents do not watch what they say around her, then when it comes time for her to go to school she will have a vocabulary full of many words that are not appropriate for her to say at her age and that are not appropriate for other children her age to hear.
It sad to see in today’s society how the children are growing up, compared to how their grandparents and parents grew up. Times were tough when my grandparents were being raised and they were tough when I was younger, and they only seem to be getting tougher for the next generation that is growing up now. Just because of the tough times does not mean we need to stoop to low levels and say that stealing cars, drinking and driving, and avoiding the police are okay, even if it is in a cartoon movie. Children look up to these characters are role models and they are not the ones that I want them to see. I know that I do not have any children now, but when I think about I will have children someday, it is scary thinking about what kind of movies, TV shows and the type of music they will be listening too.
This is not a good example for the children to see. Many parents may agree that it is okay and that it is only animals and their child would never pick up on any of the themes in the movies, but some children will because of the capability of their minds. With seeing movies like this we are only encouraging the children to behave like the characters. I know that we will not stop our kids from watching these movies, but it is scary thinking that these movies could eventually influence the future of the children.
With the influences on the children and even adults today it is even more important that we take time to spend with our families, especially children as they grow up. I think that no matter what the children see in any movie, TV show, or what kind of music they listen to, it will come back to how they are raised by their parent. Parents are the biggest influence in a child’s life and there is nobody who can replace the role of a parent.
The past two summers I have worked at a daycare near my house. Each day we go on a field trip and one of the field trips is to the local movies theater to Summer Movie Magic Days. The movie theater selects two movies that you can chose to see, one is rate G for General audiences and the other is rated PG for parental Guidance. I know that it is the parent’s choice for what movie they let their children see, but some movies should have a higher rating than what is given.
At the daycare we let the children pick what movie they want to see and the day I was working one of the choices was Barnyard. This movie is rated PG, and I know that it will have some adult themes in it, but there were more than I expected. There is no need to put more influences into a child’s life than what there already is in the music that we listen to now and the TV shows that we watch.
One of the biggest examples on the movie I keep coming back to is when the cows decide to steal a human’s car and go joy riding in it. When the children see this, they will start to think that it is okay to take someone’s car and do whatever they want with it. After they decide to steal the car and go joy riding they are drinking milk and to me it seemed like the milk is suppose to be something that they are not suppose to have and it is illegal. This is just wrong to show the children of our world that it is okay to drink and drive when they are driving and what they are choosing to drink is illegal. Then after all of this the cows decide to speed and get into a wreck which then leads them to abandoning the car and racing back to the farm before anyone finds out about it. After seeing the latest part of the cows abandoning the car and running from the police, I was shocked at how they set up the movie.
The movie was good, but it was very shocking as to how the portrayed the cows and made everything seem okay. Most of the children were laughing when all of this was happening, as was I, but the more I think about and watched the children at the daycare play, I realized how they pick up on the little things.
When children are young their minds are like sponges, they absorb anything and everything. One of the girls in my high school graduating class, recently had a child before we graduated and was in the early learning stages when we were about to graduate. One thing that I remember her clearly saying was that she had to make sure the father of her child watched what he said around her because she was starting to pick up on what he was saying. He may not be the best dad in the world, or he could be the best one, I do not know, but all I know is if the little girl’s parents do not watch what they say around her, then when it comes time for her to go to school she will have a vocabulary full of many words that are not appropriate for her to say at her age and that are not appropriate for other children her age to hear.
It sad to see in today’s society how the children are growing up, compared to how their grandparents and parents grew up. Times were tough when my grandparents were being raised and they were tough when I was younger, and they only seem to be getting tougher for the next generation that is growing up now. Just because of the tough times does not mean we need to stoop to low levels and say that stealing cars, drinking and driving, and avoiding the police are okay, even if it is in a cartoon movie. Children look up to these characters are role models and they are not the ones that I want them to see. I know that I do not have any children now, but when I think about I will have children someday, it is scary thinking about what kind of movies, TV shows and the type of music they will be listening too.
This is not a good example for the children to see. Many parents may agree that it is okay and that it is only animals and their child would never pick up on any of the themes in the movies, but some children will because of the capability of their minds. With seeing movies like this we are only encouraging the children to behave like the characters. I know that we will not stop our kids from watching these movies, but it is scary thinking that these movies could eventually influence the future of the children.
With the influences on the children and even adults today it is even more important that we take time to spend with our families, especially children as they grow up. I think that no matter what the children see in any movie, TV show, or what kind of music they listen to, it will come back to how they are raised by their parent. Parents are the biggest influence in a child’s life and there is nobody who can replace the role of a parent.
Sunday, September 6, 2009
It's Football Season!
I know many of us college and high school students are major procrastinators and wait until the last minute to do a homework assignment. Like today, I am starting my blog that is due tonight, which is no big deal because I do not have anything else to do today. As I started my other blog about getting mail, I realized that I was not going to be able to get a 1,000 words out of it, so I started thinking about things that I could possibly write about.
Last night, I would take a guess that almost every single television in Blacksburg, and the surrounding areas had the Virginia Tech vs. Alabama game on. I had it on and while watching it, I knew UVA was playing William and Mary. I have friends who go to both schools and almost everyone here hates UVA, which is normal to me, since I grew up so close to Tech and almost everyone loves the Hokies.
Out of curiosity I was wondering what the score of the UVA vs. William and Mary games was and decided to look online. Come to find out that William and Mary had beaten UVA!! I was very surprised by this as was almost everyone that I had talked to. As soon as I heard the score, I decided to call my parents and talk to them about it since we all like college football. While I was talking with them, we got on the subject of the coach, Al Groh. We were talking about if he would still be the head coach the rest of the season or if the University would fire him because of the past few years and how UVA keeps losing to just about everyone. I do not really have an opinion of what UVA should do about the coach, but many people that I know that are big UVA fans have different viewpoints which makes me think about the program as whole together.
Some fans would argue that Coach Groh has signed a contract and the university should not break it, but others say he has not done anything with the program and they need to find a new coach. I agree with both of these points, but the thing I think we all need to remember is that this is his job and I am sure he loves it, or he would not be coaching. If the school just fired him tomorrow, I do not know how I would feel because he has been doing this a long time (plus it means Virginia Tech will probably beat them J ). One reason I would say the University would keep him for this season, is if the team is responding to the changes he is making on and off the field. None of us will ever know what he is doing to try and improve the program, but in the end it will all come down to money. Money is the key for everything that happens. The school and athletic department want a team that is going to sell out the stadium for every home game, conference championship and bowl games, like Virginia Tech does just about every game. It’s sad to say that our world has come to this, but it is very true. I have friends that are season ticket holders at UVA, and they are dedicated fans, but even now they are talking about how much longer Groh is going to be coach. Every coach is going to have their ups and downs in a program, but sometimes it is just best to cut their losses, quit and move on. I know that most coaches would not want to do that, but sometimes it’s for the best of the program.
Now that I go to Virginia Tech, I really do not care what UVA does with their football team, I just think it is a sad situation for the coaches and players, because everybody is constantly putting pressure on them, it is not just at Virginia, but every single athletic program in the country. Most people want to criticize and fire people after one game, or one day on the job, but when you think about it we just need to relax, take time to stop and think what the other person is going through and how they are trying to fix their mistakes and improve on their job. In the end we all need to support each other and not jump off of a cliff after one day on the job or one loss in the season.
Last night, I would take a guess that almost every single television in Blacksburg, and the surrounding areas had the Virginia Tech vs. Alabama game on. I had it on and while watching it, I knew UVA was playing William and Mary. I have friends who go to both schools and almost everyone here hates UVA, which is normal to me, since I grew up so close to Tech and almost everyone loves the Hokies.
Out of curiosity I was wondering what the score of the UVA vs. William and Mary games was and decided to look online. Come to find out that William and Mary had beaten UVA!! I was very surprised by this as was almost everyone that I had talked to. As soon as I heard the score, I decided to call my parents and talk to them about it since we all like college football. While I was talking with them, we got on the subject of the coach, Al Groh. We were talking about if he would still be the head coach the rest of the season or if the University would fire him because of the past few years and how UVA keeps losing to just about everyone. I do not really have an opinion of what UVA should do about the coach, but many people that I know that are big UVA fans have different viewpoints which makes me think about the program as whole together.
Some fans would argue that Coach Groh has signed a contract and the university should not break it, but others say he has not done anything with the program and they need to find a new coach. I agree with both of these points, but the thing I think we all need to remember is that this is his job and I am sure he loves it, or he would not be coaching. If the school just fired him tomorrow, I do not know how I would feel because he has been doing this a long time (plus it means Virginia Tech will probably beat them J ). One reason I would say the University would keep him for this season, is if the team is responding to the changes he is making on and off the field. None of us will ever know what he is doing to try and improve the program, but in the end it will all come down to money. Money is the key for everything that happens. The school and athletic department want a team that is going to sell out the stadium for every home game, conference championship and bowl games, like Virginia Tech does just about every game. It’s sad to say that our world has come to this, but it is very true. I have friends that are season ticket holders at UVA, and they are dedicated fans, but even now they are talking about how much longer Groh is going to be coach. Every coach is going to have their ups and downs in a program, but sometimes it is just best to cut their losses, quit and move on. I know that most coaches would not want to do that, but sometimes it’s for the best of the program.
Now that I go to Virginia Tech, I really do not care what UVA does with their football team, I just think it is a sad situation for the coaches and players, because everybody is constantly putting pressure on them, it is not just at Virginia, but every single athletic program in the country. Most people want to criticize and fire people after one game, or one day on the job, but when you think about it we just need to relax, take time to stop and think what the other person is going through and how they are trying to fix their mistakes and improve on their job. In the end we all need to support each other and not jump off of a cliff after one day on the job or one loss in the season.
You've Got Mail
Do you ever get really excited about receiving something? I know I do and it is when it comes in the mail! I love getting mail and these past two weeks at Virginia Tech I have received something every day. This is a simple joy for me, knowing that somebody took time out of their day to write a note to me and send it in the mail. I love it when my parents send me mail, but it is even better when I get cards or notes from people that I don’t expect. Some may argue that getting mail is not a good thing because it could possibly make someone even more homesick, but I think that getting mail is a way to cure homesickness because you know that people truly care about you. I do not know why people would not want to get mail. In my opinion, mail is always a good thing, but one thing that is better, is getting packages in the mail that have goodies in them! I think that part of going to college is the experience of walking to the mail room and opening up your box and seeing that there is something waiting for you. It is a feeling of excitement and joy and also a feeling that someone really cares about you. Since being here I have received two packages and the packages mean so much to me. I’m not really sure why I love getting stuff in the mail, but it always seems to brighten up my day. I have even noticed that people I know that haven’t received anything wish they were getting stuff. Getting mail is not just about hoping to get money or gift cards from people, to me it is knowing that there are people who care about me and want to show it to me.
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