January 13, 2006

I had a successful four years in high school with great friends, good grades, and a position on the varsity lacrosse team. Upon graduation I decided to attend Penn State University with an intended major of secondary education with a focus in English.

While my friends were attending graduation parties and preparing to go to college, I spend three weeks traveling in England, France, Switzerland, Italy, Austria, and Germany. When I returned home I began to prepare for college life. I cannot imagine myself anywhere else but Happy Valley and I look forward to the next three years.

January 16, 2006

While reading Dr. Martin Luther King’s letter, I am curious who the criticizers he is referring to are. If the criticisms are coming from within his African American community, I would be surprised because of all the work he has done to advance their position in American society. I know that white men of the time though his deeds were “unwise” but I am not sure as to why he would be responding to their attacks.

I find the statement “I was invited here” (if it is in relation to the jail time he is serving,) highly ironic. No one seems to willingly go to jail and here is he suggesting that he accepted the invitation to go. I’m sure that Dr. King was well aware that his efforts often got him into trouble with the law, but he gladly accepted that challenge on behalf of his followers.

This letter, like all of Dr. King’s speeches, is very well written. He was an eloquent speaker as well as an eloquent writer. His message is strong and he presents it well. Although in this day and age, I find it hard to relate to this time period, it is important for this history to be remembered so that we can overcome past mistakes and move on to a time where racial bias is no longer an issue.

January 17, 2006

So I found out today in class that we are expected to do four blogs a week. This means that we must do one blog in addition to the three blogs that are assigned by Kem. This came as a surprize to everyone in the class. Mind you, no one was really excited about it. I understand the reason for these blog entries. The reason has become imbedded in my head over and over. "In order to get better at writing, you must write, a lot." I get it. I have no problem writing this additional blogs, as long as I can write about what I would like. Sometimes, I don't want to trek downstairs to the lobby to pick up a USA today. Sometimes, I just want to vent about my own thing. As long as thats cool with this class. I will have no problem writing these entries.

January 18, 2006

My name is Elizabeth Heidt, but ever since the sixth grade I have been called Libby. Most people are overjoyed to find the connection between my name and the popular theme song for a juice drink. Friends actually get confused when someone calls me Elizabeth because of the way I have been introduced. Most of the time, I’m the person in class who makes obvious comments and then gets laughed at because people think I'm blonde. Go Nittany Lions!

January 20, 2006

The snapshot I chose to analyze was posted on USA Today and was entitled "What investors prefer." It claims that "more than nine in ten investors say they would chose a financial services company with strong ethics; just 5% prefer higher returns." This article claims that investors prefer ethics over profit. It portrays investors as more concerned with values than money, but as investors, one of their main focuses is money in the first place. Also, if these investors are more concerned with values, what values are they that they prefer? I wonder how these statistics were achieved. I find it hard to believe that all of the investors in the United States were polled to find their opinions. And what kinda of investors are they considering? There are too many questions unanswered for this chart to be substantial.

January 23, 3006

President Roosevelt’s speech is very persuasive. It argues that the American government has always been a strong one, and this argument helps to appeal to many Americans. As a country, and especially in recent years, we have had a strong sense of patriotism. This sense of pride for our country has always brought people together, especially in times of hardship. While Roosevelt stresses the power of the American nation, he always stresses that we have dangers and opponents to face. In doing so, he stresses that we are human, and in turn not perfect.

Roosevelt stresses that a danger does exist and that everyone must work together to promote a safe and happy country. By reinforcing this sense of pride, Roosevelt promotes Americans to stand up for their country and take action when necessary. By using statements such as "The best way of dealing with the few slackers or trouble-makers in our midst is, first, to shame them by patriotic example," he shows people that they must take action or they will be made examples of. By suggesting that people who do not take action are "slackers or trouble-makers" he is essentially threatening people who don't intend to take action.

Roosevelt also uses the method of threatening people by reminding them of their social liberties and threatening that they will be taken away if they chose not to take action. He stresses that all people must take part in protecting the country and that their social privileges depend on it. I feel that Roosevelt’s speech was well written and very persuasive. The methods he utilizes demand action and will make Americans take notice. If I ever needed people to take action I would utilize this type of argument.

January 25, 2006

This document seems to be a continuation on the Declaration of Independence. It is more detailed and more on the individual liberties of humans than their rights in society. It is amazing to think how these terms were hotly debated when there were first written because they are so widely accepted now. It has taken too long to get this far. At the same time, although all of these rights were widely accepted, we still see people facing obstacles to achieve these rights. Everyday, we hear cases in the news about people fighting for the rights that we all take for granted.

One right that I see that has definitely not held true today is the one that states that everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own, and to return to his country. With all of the terrorism that we have witnessed, this is obviously not possible. These rules should hold standard to all people but it seems that there will always be numerous clauses and different cases that keep things from going as smoothly as they sound in this document.

January 26, 2006

Last semester I lived in supplemental housing with seven other girls. Needless to say, that was a mess. This semester, I still live in supplemental housing, but now I only have three other roomates. The good thing about this new arrangement is that we have a lot of extra space. The four of us get along so well, which is really an accomplishment for me. I have never been the type of girl to have a lot of girlfriends. I have my few best friends, and that is all I need. I really get along well with these girls and we have a lot of fun. The one night, we stayed up until three in the morning playing frisbee on the top bunks of our beds. We then went around the entire room without touching the floor. We played the movie game, and the celebrity name game. It is not out of the ordinary for the four of us to lie in our beds at night reading a magazine and giggling.

Unlike last semester, we plan activities together. We go out to dinner as a group at leats once a week. We go out to parties in partial groups on weekends. Once in a while, we even order pizza and make a game night. We include our boyfriends and even a bottle of our favorite beverage. We watch Sex and the City together every night at eleven o'clock. Even though this takes away from my time to do work, I enjoy having a group of friends that I can bond with and get along with so closely in such a living enviornment. They have helped make my college experience wonderful and I will miss them when we move out in may.

January 27, 2006

President Bush's speech came at a time when Americans needed reassurance that everything would be okay. Our nation was hit with a devastating attack and people were completely unsure of how to come back from it. He reassures his country that it does not need to be reassured. This method is possibly even more effective than listing the reasons why the people of the United States should feel safe. Not only does he speak to Americans, he appeals to many different people all over the world. Over the course of this speech he is threatening, comforting, cautious, and stern. He speaks to the people he are supposed to protect, Americans, people suffering from terrorist attacks all over the world, our allies, and our enemies. By speaking to each, and presenting each their own message, he shows that he truly knows his audience.

January 30, 2006

Although no two countries have determined the same definition of "terrorism" they all seem to agree that it is morally and legally wrong. This difficulty is obvious in the fact that the European Union failed to come up with a definition of terrorism whatsoever. Since no person or country can seem to come up with an all-encompassing definition, the word is often replaced by other more straight forward words.

I feel that the best definition on this site was provided by the United Nations. They stress the blatant negative connotation of the word as well as drawing on the effects of terrorism. This definition seeks to explain how people can negatively exert power for their own benefits at the expense of others. By comparing terrorism to the “peacetime equivalent to war crime,” this definition provides clear portrayal of this word’s power.

Although many people and nations all over the world have various reactions to the word terrorism, everyone knows its effects. Overall, the United Nations provides the most encompassing definition to a complicated and repeatedly debated word. By working towards a successful definition we can hope to learn more about terrorism and fight it.

February 1, 2006

The Article I read was titled "Crime suspects star in billboard ads: Success spurs more cities to use them." The article discusses how cities such as Kansas City, Missouri have been using billboard ads to display pictures of wanted fugitives. Kansas City officials report that out of the 10 billboards posted, 8 have been caught with 7 directly related to the billboard. Some lawyers fear that the billboards may have an effect on trials and jurors who may have seen the fugitive’s picture numerous times.

I think that the billboards are a great idea. With more people seeing the faces of these fugitives, they are much more likely to be spotted and caught. The billboards can reach a great audience then flyers posted on grocery store bulletin boards or quick spot on the local news. I also feel that the effects the sign may have on jurors would be minimal. A way around this problem is to select jurors for the case that had not been exposed to the billboard. More cities all over the country should use billboards to get the criminals face in public view so that more crimes will not go uncaught.

February 3, 2006

I am addicted to SoDoKu. I realize that it is the latest fad and that I am just another follower, but I seem to have followed the crowd. Not only do I waste time in class doing these puzzles, but I avoid doing my other homework to do them. Last semester I would get a Daily Collegian newspaper everyday so that I could do the puzzle. This semester, I have an easier time because I recieved "The Essential Book of Su DoKu" for christmas. This semester, I find that the craze has died down a bit, and I spend more time on my school work then doing math puzzles. I still love doing a SuDoKu everyonce in a while, but the urge is not as strong. Now I just have my mom and little sister doing them.

Febrary 4, 2006

This months issue of W Magazine has a special on Penn State. The article is titled "All-American Chic at Penn State." Photographers went around Penn State and selected unique looking people for their photo shoot. They then dressed the girls, and a few guys, up in fabulous designer outfits and had them pose in various places. My favorite shot of the whole special was that of Michael Robinson. Not only does he have his shirt off, but he is displaying that million dollar smile. I was quite dissapointed to read that MRob graduated from Penn State in december. It was kind of my goal to meet him and give him a hug. I know thats a little bit silly, but he looks like such a teddy bear!!! I hate it when girls here idolize the football players, but I can't help having a slight crush.

February 6, 2006

Teachers are professionals because they undergo extensive education programs as well as pass professional competency exams. By not considering teachers as professionals, we are undermining the intelligence of the people who teach all of the other professionals in the world. We fully disregard their abilities as well as disrespect their positions.

The lack of respect towards educators in the world has been present ever since the establishment of the public education system was adopted. Teachers have always had to fight for their position as professionals among doctors, lawyers, and other high paying jobs in society. Why are these jobs considered professional? And why aren’t the people who educate the “professionals” not considered so themselves.

Teachers may not be considered professionals due to the large number of teachers in the world as well as their low-paying status. Teachers are often seen as under educated in relation to doctors and lawyers. If the curriculum of most teacher education programs was truly evaluated, people would see that this certainly isn’t so. Although the knowledge of teachers is quite different from that of doctors or lawyers, their knowledge is well rounded and very specialized in terms of the area in which that teacher will teach.

I am addressing this paper to people who argue that teachers are not white collared professionals. I hope to define what a professional is as well as defend teachers’ positions as established professionals. I hope to inform these critics of teacher’s daily achievements in advancing the world in many different areas. To do this, I will explain the process of teacher education programs, the entrance to profession exams, and the importance of continuing education in the process of educational development.

Because you make valid points when commenting on the classification of a teacher, I find your proposal effective with various possible directions to take your paper; however, it seems you addressed few of the arguments against teachers being professional. In your final paper, various quotes by teachers and statistics on their training could reinforce your argument.

Toulmin Argument:

Claim & Reason: Professionals, a term used to describe highly educated people in specific professions, should be redefined to include teachers; for teachers spend years in college and must pass competency exams in order to teach.

Warrant: Any teacher who spent time taking competency tests and courses in college should be considered a professional.

Counter-Arguments:

1. Although teachers must pass a competency test in order to be allowed to teach, could many of America's teachers pass a re-occuring competency test to ensure their continued capabilities?

2. Because lawyers and doctors are held highly accountable for their work, it may be easy to declare them professionals; however, teachers are rarely held accountable for their ability to teach children successfully and are often unsuccessful. In order to be called professionals, should teachers be held more accountable for their work as teachers?

The comments were made by ChoppersBlog

February 10, 2006

Today in English 015, our class got into a heated debate over the bible. Okay, so it wasn't the entire class, but one or two people got pretty heated. The debate came up when we discussed how people in the United States feel about the bible and whether or not it is literal. I personally do not feel that the bible is literal. I belive that is was written in parables, which are not literal at all. I am not trying to argue that there is no fact to the bible, I do not feel that way. I do feel that the passages were not written literally. I do not think that a lot of the descriptions in the bible could actually happen. They seem to be written in an elaborate way that has meaning, but not literal description. I also must confess that I am not an avid church goer nor have I read the entire bible. I have been exposed to numerous passages, but my full understanding of the bible is not thorough enough to have sufficient evidence to prove my argument in this case.

I love my definition paper and you should too. Read it. Now. Seriously though to do it.

February 15, 2006

In the Declaration of Independence, which I am sure most of us have read many times, it states that if people are unhappy with their government then they should be the ones to do something about it. But who are these people? Who decides when the government is no longer effective? Surely, if one day I came out and said "I don't like the government" and got a few of my friends to follow me, I would not have the power to change the government altogether. I would probably not even have the ability to write a letter to my congressman convincing him that something needed to be done. There are too many people in the country to ever get a majority vote on what we as a nation thinks as right. There are too many different opinions to come to one unanimous decision. So even if we all thought the government was to be abolished, how would we decide what to do. We would have to start at scratch and create a new Declaration of Independence.

When the first Declaration was established, the country was much smaller. I know for a fact that not everyone living in this area at the time had an impact on what government would be, but only a few select men. If a new Declaration were to be drawn up today, this would be the exact same case. Only the richest, wisest, or most well known men would have an impact. Government leaders would try to have an impact when they are the ones the country who the majority was rebelling against.

The law officials are bound to government. If people tried to start an uprising they would be quickly shut down. The police upholds the law, and when we are trying to change the laws altogehter, it would be a difficult struggle. I hardly believe that we could ever come to a new sort of government again. I am not criticising the government we have now, I don't even know enough about it to do that, but I think it would be highly unlikely to ever create a new Declaration of Independence ever again.

February 17, 2006

Although never taken seriously for her work, Marilyn Monroe was a talented actress who deserves respect for the work she did as a classic Hollywood star. Marilyn was a very influential actress who set the stage for many actresses to come. She created the “dumb blonde” stereotype while starring in many films and making an extremely successful career for herself.

Marilyn has often been doubted as a serious actress. She habitually played the dumb blonde character, which was often seen as a mockery of her true self. People did not think she could portray any other characters but could only act as herself. This is not true. Although most of her roles were the dumb, blonde, gold digger stereotype, she did play other serious roles.

Many people see Marilyn Monroe as a sex icon of her time. This is true, she used what she had to get where she wanted to go. Some people do not see this as serious acting, but Marilyn was smart and knew how to get where she wanted. She may have seemed to be controlled by her directors and studios, but she was often times the manipulative force in her Hollywood relationships. If critics learned the true story behind Marilyn, they would see that she used the industry for all that it was worth. She made a living doing what she could do best, act. For all of these reasons, I intend to defend Marilyn Monroe’s status as a talented actress

My evaluation paper discusses Marilyn Monroe as a good actress. The reason I wrote this paper was because I have idolized Marilyn Monroe for a good portion of my life. I find her extremely fascinating. She has a stunning beauty that is captivating. She has always gotten a bad rap, which is probably why I find her so interesting. I think that her work is very unique and I love researching about her.

What really irks me is when stars like Christina Aguilera and Lindsay Lohan try to imitate Monroe. Although it has been said that imitation is the biggest form of flattery, they ruin her image. Monroe was the original, and will always be. She may be imitated, but never duplicated. Hollywood studios attempted to find replacements for Monroe after her death, but no other starlets were nearly as popular. My advice let Marilyn and her image alone. No one will ever be as captivating as she was so don't bother trying.

This past week a disastrous mud slide hit Guinsaugon, Philippines. Every man woman and child in the town may have perished in the accident. This number could be as high as 2,000. The mud slide occurred after a series of heavy rains and illegal logging on the mountainside in the town. Decades of illegal logging in the mountains has caused the soil to become unstable. After a period of constant rains, the soil let lose and fell on top of the entire town.

The mud is thirty feet about ground level in the town. An entire school with over 200 students inside was completely covered. Although searchers are still digging to find survivors, hope is fading fast. Some partial cell phone calls were received from faculty inside the school building, but so far no evidence of survivors is present. It has been three days since the slide and the survival of any is unlikely.

Natural disasters like this are very unfortunate, but often times avoidable. In the case of New Orleans when Hurricane Katrina hit, the people of New Orleans have been warned for years that they were at risk for a disaster. The river in New Orleans sits above the city and when the hurricane hit, the flood walls broke and spilled out onto the entire city. In Guinsaugon, people have been warned not to log in the mountains for years but the threats were not followed. Although mass disasters like this are often warned far in advance, people usually refuse to believe warnings. When will we take things serious and learn to protect ourselves and others?

When Andrew Sullivan starts of his evaluation with a description of his friend as a drunk, the reader does not expect the story that follows. The shocking adjective of this man does not lead the reader to believe that he could appreciate the greeting of a six year old. This is why this pieces catches the eye of the reader immediately. This strong appeal using pathos is a perfect example of a well written piece.

I found the line "...they are nostalgic for a myth of the feature" in description of Americans quite interesting. I never thought of it that way. I was taught in school that a large part of being American was being proud of our history. Sullivan does not seem to agree that our history is of such value. He stresses that we focus more on the future than anything. I think this is true. Americans are always trying to be bigger, better, stronger, more powerful. We are always trying to achieve new things.

The part I found most interesting about this piece was how argumentative the U.S. is as a country. Although I do believe this to be true, how we do know what it is like in every other country. I think that first hand experience as well as opinion is needed to determine this. Until Andrew Sullivan has lived in every other country in the world, I find it hard to argue that we have such a strong need for argument.

In the February 22 issue of USA today, there was an article entitled "Execution's delay reflects fight over injections." The article discusses the case of Michael Morales, a 46 year old man who raped and murdered a 17 year old girl in 1981. Morales was sentenced to the death penalty, and his execution was to occur this year. His execution has been delayed numerous times now due to the argument over whether lethal injections violate the Constitutional ban on cruel and unusual punishment. The California state attorneys office argued that the drugs would inflict extreme pain on the dying inmate. Similar cases are occurring all over the country.

What I would like to know, is if the inmate does not want to suffer pain, why did he/she kill someone in the first place? If you don't want to pay the time, don't do the crime, right? It makes sense to me. This spring, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear a Florida death row inmate's argument that he should be allowed to challenge lethal injection on civil rights grounds. CIVIL RIGHTS? You are a murderer. What makes you think that you should have such privileges? I'm not saying that I agree with the death penalty. If it were up to me, the inmate would receive a lot more pain than a quick shot in the arm. This is why the punishment for U.S. criminals is not up to me.

In the case of Michael Morales, the judge granted a motion that would allow doctors to be in the room to make sure Morales was rendered unconscious so that he would feel no pain or that they could dispense with the first two drugs used to paralyze the muscles and stop the hear and rely on an overdose of the sedative to kill him. From what I understand from this article, the process is fairly quick and seemingly painless under these conditions. These criminals were sentenced to death for a reason. They are not being shot, gassed, or hung. They are receiving a shot to end their lives. As I see it they are lucky to have it as easy as they do.

The article in the February 22 issue of USA Today, as titled above, tells of the Supreme Court decision to allow a small Brazilian-based religion practicing sect in New Mexico to continue their use of hallucinogenic tea. The Justice Department had argued that this ritual undermines the federal anti-drug law. The Supreme Court decision was based on the 1993 Religious Freedom Restoration Act, intended to protect people from U.S. laws that may affect sacramental practices.

O Centro Espirita Beneficente Uniao do Vegetal, known as UDV, is a Christian Spritist sect with origins in the Amazon rainforest. There are currently about 130 members in the U.S branch, mostly located in California. The sec uses hoasca, a tea made from plans unique to the Amazon, is used in the communion ritual. This tea contains dimenthyltryptamine, a mind-altering drug under the controlled substances law. A similar exception is that of the Native American Church's use of peyote that has been allowed for years.

I do not think that there is anything wrong with the use of a little hallucinogenic tea every once in a while. Heck, they probably aren't doing any harm. If this drug has been used as part of an ancient religious ritual, who is the United States government to step in the way? People don't try to stop Christians from being dunked in holy water. Other people probably think that's weird too. The UDV's laws should stay as they are, and the US government was right in allowing such practices to occur.

This article was extremely disturbing. To see that a genocide could happen as recently as 1994 is rediculous. I never knew the exact extent of the Rwanda genocide and I was shocked. You would think that people would have learned their lesson after the holocaust, and other genocidal events. The fact that police were actually encouraging the slaughter rather than trying to stop it seems obsene to me. If something like that were to happen in our country I don't know what I would do. Police are supposed to be justice seekers, not disrupters of the peace. I can only think that we will learn from our mistakes, but this does'nt seem likely.

I do not think it is possible to find a piece of writing with no personal affiliation present. No matter what, people have their own personal beliefs that will ultimately affect their choices and opinions. The kind of research you do will also be bias. The majority of research will be in support of the author's argument. I know this holds true for the research in my papers in this class so far. Both have been argumentative papers with a portion based on persuading my audience. In order to persuade my audience, I need support for my argument, and that comes in the form of research that is often bias in my favor. If our class textbook is true, everything is an argument. If everything is an argument, then everyone has an opinion, and a bias in turn. We can't avoid them.

Barbie Dolls lead girls to have a poor self image because they represent an unrealistic body image. When Barbie Dolls have been one of the top-selling girl’s toys for fifty years, it is a bad example for girls to be seeing such a false perception of what a woman’s body is supposed to look like. When poor self image is a leading cause in teenage eating disorders, and possibly more serious effects like suicide, girls need to be set on the right path from an early age. If girls are presented with false realities when they are young, how can they be expected to have an accurate perception of what the female body is supposed to be like?

In writing this paper, I hope to draw attention to the false perceptions that Barbie dolls and other media creations impose on girls. I hope to influence changes that need to be made in the way that popular culture portrays women and their bodies.

This weather is bullshit. It is spring in a week and its 30 degrees out. I am blown away on my walk to classes everyday, and I don't appreciate it. Sure there are random days where the sun comes out and the temperature peaks at 45, yeah that makes my day, but the ice storm the next day kinda blows my high. I go from a light jacket to a fricken parka in the course of an hour, and I just dont get it. It's not like I come from some tropical island either. I'm from Erie, PA. It's cold there, we have lake effect snow. But at least there if its cold its cold. None of this switching up stuff. If I don't see a vast improvement soon, I think that I am going to have a sudden diagnosis of that SAD disorder. Damn weather.

Happy Ides of March. With all the murders going on in State College lately, I think the holiday is fitting. And who celebrates the death of someone? I dunno, just doens't seem like the most pleasant holiday. It was the anniversary of the day my parents first met. They are divorced. Sign? I think so. It was definately an omen (especially if you know my parents.) When asked in class today if anyone knew what March 15 symbolized, I think I was the only person that knew. I guess they stopped teaching latin in middle school a while ago now. I was in Rome this summer and I saw where Ceasar's remains were burned. Its a little pit thing. That was cool I guess. The ruins there were unbelievable. Ceasar, not so impressive. His best friend stabbed him in the back; I guess he must not have been that great a guy.

I love it when Kem postpones things. It makes me happy. More time equals a better effort on my behalf. Plus, it takes Kem a while to grade papers. He has a large amount of students he must grade in addition to all of his other stuff goin on. By postpoing things everyone has more time to do anything and everyone is happy.

In starting to think about a final project, I think I have decided to work in a group with three of my classmates. These three are also friends of mine; Nina went to a different school in Erie, my hometown, Conor was in my CMLIT100 class last semester, and Todd lives next door to my boyfriend, (he got me to sign up for this class.) I am hoping that things go well; group projects dont always have the best reputation of sorts. They tend to be difficult in getting everyone on the same page and obtaining a level of quality that is up to my standards. So far I feel that the biggest challenges will be my pickiness and Conor's strong Democratic attitude; he isn't even against Affirmative Action. I myself being a democrat as well, can see both sides but have my own opinions. Hopefully we can work together and make a high quality project that is up to Kem's standards as well.

Too many words that I don't understand. I don't want to be a communist. I am learning about the Hollywood Blacklist in Cinema class and I don't want to be a part of that.

Because of their deteriorating mental and sight abilities, elderly people can be bad drivers. They are often going too slow, shifting into another lane, or lost. This is not the case for all older people, but a number of old people show these behaviors. To eliminate these behaviors, or these bad drivers altogether, states need to create stricter licensing rules that may revoke the license of some drivers. States should force elderly people over the age of 60 to retake their drivers test every 3-5 years.

There are some licensing centers today that do defer elderly people to driving centers to determine their driving abilities. These centers should be mandatory in every city in every state. Elderly drivers with decreased abilities need to be taken off the road so that more driving accidents can be avoided. People that cannot see or accurately drive must be taken off the road. They may not be the cause of all or even the majority of accidents, but any accidents that can be avoided should.

I think that we, as a class, should get Kem to postpone our proposal paper. We have two papers that we have yet to get back, I understand Kem is a busy man, but I mean come on, what is the likelihood that he is going to read these papers by wednesday at midnight let alone in the next two weeks. I know that I have a test on wednesday, and that is my main priority. We had a paper due 9 days before the due date of this paper, and thats just too soon. For all those who agree, say I.

I successfully got Kem to postpone the proposal paper. Not only am I proud of myself, my classmates appreciated the guesture and the extra time alotted to write the paper. When I told my dad, (a lawyer and the person with whom I argue most,) that I intended on postponing this paper he had his doubts. Not only was he impressed, but he also said if he ever needed a court date postponed he'd give me a call.

Something about ants and an empty keg. Stigmergy is when the enviornment causes people to act a certain way. Something about ants going crazy, or when the keg runs out at a party people tend to go mental. Breaking things, yelling, running about. I mean, I'm all for drunk people. They make me laugh. In fact, this past weekend I had a good run in with a fellow classmate at canyon pizza. Now, I'm not naming names here, or stating which party was drunk, but there was an intelligent conversation involving "Hey!! You are in Kem's english class!!!" There may have been a woohoo thrown in there. I don't even know. But stigmergy, enviornment affecing behavior.

I am so tired of hearing about the USG elections. Not enough people pay attention to the newspapers or the debates to really know what any of the candidates stand for. I also have only heard about two candidates running together, nothing of their competition. There are posters everywhere, people wearing bright yellow shirts and handing out flyers, and e-mails being sent via ANGEL encouraging students to vote. I HATE THAT by the way. When I get an e-mail on ANGEL, I am assuming that it is from a teacher and something I need to know about. I could careless that you have football tickets to sell, want me to go to a ruby game, or vote for some twin brothers running for a position I see as completely fruitless. Not enough intelligent people vote for those elections. It is once again, like high school, a popularity contest. I guess that we can view all elections, including major political elections, popularity contests. It's all about who looks the best, advertises the most, and makes the most empty promises. I guess I really have no room to talk because I have never paid enough attention to these student elections and gained enough information to go about changing them. I do know that most of these student run governments never directly affect me, so I chose not to pay attention to them. Maybe when they do something for the students, we will pay enough attention to chosing good leaders, not just picking favorites.