Friday, December 21, 2012

Do We Have The Courage to Stop This?

By Nicholas D. Kristof

 This article,"Do We Have The Courage to Stop This?" is about the children who died in the school shooting in Connecticut. Twenty children were shot and killed between the ages 5 and 10. Eight adults were murdered as well including the person who did the shooting and his mother. It is said that he had mental disabilities but no one knows why he did what he did.
This article is also about trying to eliminate as many of gun usages as possible. Everyone knows that we can't stop all gun violence but we can stop some of it. The U.S is really going to band guns, but people want to at least decrease the carnage.
"Ladders kill around 300 Americans a year , and guns 30,000."
No one will stand up to the N.R.A (National Rifle Association), not even the lawmakers will "regulate real guns as carefully as we do toys."
Some people say that regulating guns won't make much a difference because someone crazy will always be able to get a gun.
In Canada, you have to wait 28 days to be able to get a hand gun and need two people to vouch for them. It is too easy to get a hand gun in America. Why can't we do like Canada and make it harder to get a gun.
I agree with this article on the fact that guns are too easier to receive. I think that the law should change on being able to get guns so easily. It is not safe to just give out guns to everybody who wants one, especially because people are crazy and you never know what a person might do with that gun that your handing to them. I think if the lawmakers change the law and make hand guns harder to get that the world would be much safer than it is right now.

Marijuana law just creates criminals

By Hakeem Jeffries, Special to CNN

This article, "Marijuana law just creates criminals," is about how the law on marijuana has made arrests on it go sky rocket. The state made a law 30 years ago, making a private possession of marijuana of less than 25 grams a violation and having to pay an $100 fine. Having possession of the small amount out in public will still be a misdemeanor. Unfortunately, more than 50,000 citizens were arrested in 2011 in NYC for having small amounts of marijuana in their possession. Most of them were Latino and black. NYC spends about $75 million dollars on arresting people for having a possession of marijuana every year. "Marijuana is the number one arrest category in NY."
"The vast majority of these people live in communities of color, and almost 90% are immediately released without arrest or even a summons."
Police approach young people often and make them empty their pockets and she them whatever they have. Those of them who have a small possession of marijuana, it is now in public view.
"Thousands of people are arrested and charged with misdemeanor possession, punishable by up to three months in jail and a $500 fine."

I think that what the cops are doing is wrong. Making young people, especially young people of color,  empty out their pockets and being frisked. Basically what they're doing here is looking for people, just to look for them. I believe that they just want to have a reason to pull a black or Latino person over and give them a misdemeanor.

Wednesday, December 19, 2012

Suspect arrested in Kutcher-Bieber 'swatting' prank

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By Alan Duke, CNN

 This article, "Suspect arrested in Kutcher-Bieber 'swatting' prank," is about how someone, possibly a youth, called 911 reporting an emergency at actor Ashton Kutcher's house in Hollywood, California. Los Angeles police says that they've captured the person that they think  made the prank call. A California juvenile, who is not identified, is suspected of the prank calling on the October 3 swatting incident, who was also targeting Justin Bieber's home.The prank caller told 911 that there were about seven people shot in Kutcher's home and that there were men with guns and explosives.
"The comments of the call advised that there were individuals inside the location with guns and explosives, and that several people had been shot," police said.
Lots of cops and firefighters rushed to Kutcher's home after the report to find only Kutcher's workers and no emergency. Kutcher also rushed home after he found out. He was on the set of the sitcom "Two And A Half Men." 
"Hollywood division detectives worked with the FBI and police in Long Beach, California, to find the suspect, who was arrested on December 10," police said.
"swatting is when computer hackers utilize their skills to place false emergency calls of serious crimes in progress to law enforcement and fire dispatch centers, thus a large number of first responders to arrive," police said. "The swatting practice is extremely dangerous and places first responders and citizens in harm's way."
The District Attorney's Office in Los Angeles County is looking over the case trying to figure out how to prosecute the suspect.
police also said that. "other incidents that may be linked to the suspect have also been identified."

I don't think that they should prosecute the youth just yet. I think that they should wait a little while longer to gather up more information first. I do think that what the person did was very wrong and not exceptable at all and whoever did it should serve some time in jail. Serious pranks like this is not funny and it can lead to harm. I hope they find the person who really did it and stop this from happening again weither it is a celebrity's home or a normal person's home.

http://www.cnn.com/2012/12/18/showbiz/kutcher-swatting-arrest/index.html?hpt=hp_t3

Wednesday, December 12, 2012

Why it's taking so long to restore power after Sandy


By Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai, Mashable
Daily News Article

This news article,"Why it's taking so long to restore power after Sandy," is about how it is taking a long time to bring back power in the Northeastern coast of the United States after Sandy came. There are major power outages in lower Manhattan from 30th street down to the tip of the island and in New Jersey. Hurricane Sandy was one of the worst storms that the Northeast has ever encountered and it damaged the whole electrical grid.

"The severity of the storm hit us so bad that it really took a beating on both our underground and overhead systems." Said Alfonso Quiroz, a Con Edison Spokesman.

"Each circuit has to be checked to make sure it's in good shape." According to Sakis Meliopoulos, a professor of electrical energy.

Sandy's winds knocked out trees and overhead power lines, and the water flooded underground substations. 930,000 customers had no power within the last couple of days due to "the most devastating storm in company history," as Con Edison referred to it.

In New york, Hurricane Sandy knocked out distribution lines, flooded basements that held backup generators, and transformers, and overwhelmed underground substations and subway lines, which sometimes held electrical cables. Sandy even cause some of the transformers to explode.
In Manhattan, the flooding of the substations are seemingly the problem. Technicians have to pump out the water and then clean all the equipment to get rid of the salt water before drying them. 
"If you re-energize the system without cleaning, you could cause more widespread damage," says Vijay Vittal, a professor of electrical engineering at Arizona State University.
After all the cleaning and drying, some of the equipment might have to be replaced or fixed. And then, it needs to be tested and checked before using them again.

My thoughts on this article is why are the engineers taking so long to fix the problem. It been a little over a month since Sandy hit and their still not done? I hope that everything goes back to normal and they fix them properly and hopefully there will not be any more severe storms coming in a long time. They have their work cut out for them and the faster they get it done, the faster things will go back to usual.

http://www.studentnewsdaily.com/daily-news-article/why-its-taking-so-long-to-restore-power-after-sandy/

Friday, November 30, 2012

Teens at the wheel



By Ted Gregory
Chicago Tribune Reporter

       This article, Teens At The Wheel, is about how people want to raise the age of when teens can start driving. The article states that 16 is not the right age to get a driver's license because of safety issues.
Most of the accidents that happen in cars involves a teenager. The Insurance Institute research shows that "licensing at later ages would substantially reduce crashes involving teen drivers."  Crash related deaths in New Jersey among 17-year-olds is 18 per 100,000 compared to the 26 per 100,000 in Connecticut, which had a minimum driver's license of 16 and 4 months.
The article says that raising age would cause crash related deaths because we're loosing a lot of teens each year. They want to raise the age of getting a license to 18. 50% of parents agree and support raising the age.  Some do and some don't.
"Idealistically, I think it'd be great to raise the minimum age. But practically? No. There's no mass transit to get to work, to get to jobs." Said Ken Biggs, chairman of the driver's education department at Schaumburg High School.
"I don't think it matters what age you are," the Hinsdale Central High School sophomore said Monday,"as long as you have the practice and experience. "
"I think it would be better to wait." said Ryan Moore, 16, of Schaumburg. He got his driver's license in June.
I don't think that they should raise the age of when we can get our driver's license. When I turn sixteen, I plan on getting my driver's license so i won't be so dependent on the bus or on other people to drive me places. I want to be independent and drive myself where ever I need to go and i also think it's cool to have a car.

Monday, November 19, 2012

Yay! Boo! So? Reactions to Obama win vary

Peter Mucha, Breaking News Desk, Philadelphia Daily News


This article, "Yay! Boo! So? Reactions to Obama win vary," is about how certain people feel about Obama being president again. If they feel as though Mitt Romney is going to become president or if Obama is going to serve another four years in the white house. This article is based on peoples thoughts on the election and the candidates. Some people found the candidates disappointing.
"I'm a little bit disappointed. I wasn't really happy with either candidate," said Marty Brenna, 49, from Laurel Springs who is a boilermaker, sitting outside of the Audubon Wawa in his car. "Obama apparently just ran a better campaign, mobilizing high voter turnout," he said.
"I'm not happy," said Chuck Rihl, who is 51, from Haddon Heights. "I haven't had a job in over a year.
Other people weren't amused at all.  There were some people who were annoyed.
Scott, a caller from the morning show "The Big Talker," said that,"People are brainless. They'll believe whatever they're spoonfed." Scott was also annoyed about what he calls media racial bias. "Where's the white guys vote?" he said. "I'm tired of hearing about the black vote, the Latino vote."
"I'm pretty indifferent," said Lisa Pierce, who is 30 and is a medical research coordinator from Conshocken. "Either way, they need to get their act together," said Pierce, who didn't vote.
Others were happy, excited, thrilled about the debates, election, and the candidtates.
"I'm thrilled to death," said Barbara Drucker, who is 61, and a Collingswood flight attendant. "I would never have voted for Romney on women's issues alone."
"Very happy" is how Mary Szybist, who is 43 and of media, described her reaction. "I didn't feel like i got a sense of who Romney was and that i could trust anything he said," Szybist said. "Obama needs to fight hard to fulfill his campaign promises when it come to the economy, funding for education, women's rights and building America."
I feel as though, both candidates did a great job during their campaign. I was on Obama's side and have always been since he first ran for president back in 2008. He's been a great attribute to America and i think that he will continue making the economy, and other things better for the next four years. Romney was only for they upper-class citizens, i fell like. He was only going to enhance and make things better for those who alreadfy have everything and leave those who are not as fortunate behind. I'm so happy that this election went exactly how I hoped, Obama won!





 

Friday, October 26, 2012

Attention Disorder Or Not, Pills To Help In School

By Alan Schwarz

   This article, "Attention Disorder Or Not, Pills To Help In School," is about how doctors are giving children medicine to help them in school. They use the medicine for children with disorders such as A.D.H.D (Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) and kids without it. Dr. Michael Anderson who is a pediatrician in Canton,Ga. says that the diagnosis is an excuse to give these children medicine and that it is made up. He also states, "I don't have a whole lot of choice," said Dr. Anderson."We've decided as a society that it's too expensive to changer the kid's environment. So we have to change the kid."
   The medicine such as Adderall, Risperdal, Clonidine, and other medications is prescribed to help struggling children focus in school who are less fortunate and whose families don't have a lot of money. The article says that wealthy students are also using these medications to boost grades that are already good. In other words, people are abusing the medicine and using it the wrong way. 
"We as a society have been unwilling to invest in very effective non-pharmaceutical interventions for these children and their families," said Dr. Ramesh Raghavan, a child mental-health researcher in St. Louis at Washington University."We are effectively forcing local community psychiatrists to use the only tool at their disposal, which is medictations." 
   9.5% of Americans who are children from ages 4-17 were diagnosed with A.D.H.D in 2007. Which is about 5.4 million kids,"according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention." The number has increased rapidly for over a decade. The disorder and the medicine for the disorder is being handed out freely as if it's free food. Some of these medications have side effects that could harm the child such as growth suppression, psychotic episodes, and an increase of blood pressure. 
   I don't agree with giving just any child medicine and telling them that they have A.D.H.D. My brother has this diability and the medicine does help a lot. But i do not agree with just giving any one anything.

 

Thursday, October 25, 2012

Using Ipads Before Bed

From the British newspaper "The Daily Telegraph"

     This article is about how people are using devices like Ipads, Tablets, and others before bed. It says that it is stoping users from getting any sleep. Because the room is dark when people are using them, the brain tells the body that it is time to go to sleep. But the light from the devices are stopping that pattern. The brain still thinks that it is still daytime when the bright blue light is shinning in the users face. The bright light is kindof mocking the daylight from outside. The longer the light is shinning in the users face and the brighter it is, the longer it'll take for the person to got to sleep.
    "Neurologists have known for years that staring at screens late in the evening can disrupt sleep – be they television screens, computer screens or mobile phone screens." The article says. "However, because cell phones and tablets are by nature portable… more people are taking them into the bedroom."
     People who do research at the Lighting Research Center, In New York at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, are saying that looking at a device for a really long time “leads to a suppression of our natural melatonin levels as the devices emit optical radiation at short wavelengths.” Which means that they emit the blue light. They say that if you are to use them at night, set the light down some. Make sure that it is not too bright and that it won't effect your sleep.
     Even though sleep can be affected in this case, other things can be affected too. You can risk getting breast cancer and obesity.
    This can also affect people who already have sleep disruption problems and those who have normal sleep patterns. This could not affect me because i dont use these things before bed or in the dark with high light. I usually turn the light down because the light will usually hurt my eyes if im in the dark. If you do not want to have a poor night's sleep everytime you use these portable devices, start by turning down the brightness on them.



                    

Sunday, October 14, 2012

Texting May Be Taking A Toll

By Katie Hafner

      This article Texting May Be Taking A Toll is about how children (Teens) are always texting. They text late at night. In stores and while in class. This problem is beginning to worry physicians and psychologists. It also says that texting is leading to a lack of sleep. Which means that the child's focus in school is not good at all, and it's causing bad grades, and distraction.
 Dr Martin Joffe, a pediatrician in California, surveyed students at two high schools and his results were that many kids were sending hundreds and hundreds of texts each day. "That's one every few minutes," he said."Then you hear that these kids are responding to texts late at night. That's going to cause sleep issues in an age group that's already plagued with sleep issues." Its also effecting the health of teens.
The article also states that texting is taking a huge toll on children's thumbs. A fifteen year old girl, Annie Wagner, An honor student in ninth grade in MD., used to text on a small LG phone really fast like using a computer keyboard. Not too long ago, she felt cramping in her thumbs. She is now using a bigger phone and her thumbs feel alot better. Texting slower, making it less painful to text.
     Teachers are seeming to be oblivious to the fact that their students are texting in class as well. texting underneath their desk or social networking the middle of a lesson.
"You pretend you're getting something out of your backpack." said Ari Kapner, a classmate of Annie Wagner. Teachers say that there is nothing they can do about it.
"I can't tell when it's happening, and there is nothing we can do about it," said Ms. Deborah Yager, a chemistry teacher in Castro Valley, California. "And i'm not going to take the time everyday to police it."
I do agree with this article personally. Teens spend more time texting or using their phones on the internet more than they do anything else. They have to be monitored on how much they text, and when their texting. I don't spend my whole day texting but, I minimize my time and I think that's what everyone else should do too. Do you agree with this article as well?

Wednesday, October 3, 2012

Studies Find More Students Cheating, With High Achievers No Exception

Article by Perez-Pena
        
     The article "Studies Find More Students Cheating, With High Achievers No Exceptions" talks about how students cheat more today than years before and the schools are allowing it to go on. The parents and the teachers are being blamed for not teaching their students and children that cheating is wrong and that they should not do it. The article also states that the internet and phones play a big role in cheating as well. "When you start giving take-home test exams and telling kids not to talk about it, or you let them carry smatphones into a test, it's an invintation to cheating." said Michael Josephson, president of Josephson Institute.
       They stated that the internet is also an invintation to plagiarism. "Students are suprisingly unclear about what is plagerism or cheating." Said Mr. Wasieleski, an associate professor of management.
 Cheating so happens to be at many schools around the world. Even the top colleges and high schools Such as, Harvard University, Stuyvesant High School in Manhattan, And the Air Force Academy.
        I personally think that cheating isn't a problem at all schools. Maybe 90% of the students at my school didn't cheat. And I do agree with the aricle on it being the parents and teachers fault because they let the cheating go on in their schools and didn't take the  time to change or enforce any rules on cheating. However, It is also the students' fault for doing the cheating as well. People should start taking responsibility for their own actions and I think that the people blaming just the parents and teachers are actually teaching the students to blame others for their actions and mistakes.

         "We have a culture now where we have real trouble accepting that our kids make mistakes and fail, and when they do, we tend to blame someone else." said Tricia Bertram Gallant, author of "Creating the Ethical Academy."