"Save the Whales, Screw the Shrimp," by Joy Williams talks about how humans are destroying the environment all over the world. The title explains our hypocritical take on the environment how we want a better place to live and promote recycling and things but we are consumers first and will go to any length to get want we desire. She gives many examples illustrating how we are slowly killing off our own wildlife and habitats for mundane things like malls and highways. They are being built all over the land which used to be full of wildlife and now they are being destroyed. She also talks about how animals are being born with birth defects due to the heavy use of pesticides.

This article makes me feel bad because I know that as a human each day goes by and I can not help the problem by doing little things. There will always be things that I need or want and I will be hurting the environment no matter what I do. Its pretty much a lose lose situation. Even being on this computer I am using energy and that energy is polluting the world. This article is a lot like the hybrid car. Even though we care about the environment enough to make a car that does not use as much gas we still have to put energy into that car which pollutes. Its a double standard in this country and the rest of the world and it has to stop or be slowed very soon.

In the article "How the Rich are Getting Richer and how the Poor, Poorer" by Robert Reich explains how companies are moving of America and giving jobs to the people who will work for the less money. Huge companies that pull in millions of dollars are making themselves richer every year because they find workers from different countries to work for less money than workers in the U.S. Once the company moves out of the country and finds cheaper labor then they will look for other countries who will work for even less money. This system is making the rich wealthier and the poor poorer.

I think that this is a skewed system of doing things but if I was running a company I would probably do the saem thing. If I was selling something then I would rather it be made for 10 cents instead of 2 dollars. However I still think that it is wrong that companies can fire so many American workers just so they can move their work elsewhere for more profits. It is unfortunate that it is so easy to do this, but at the same time that is what our economy is built on. If a company can make more money by giving jobs to cheap labor then more power to the.

Student/Teacher Relationships

I think that whatever relationship the student has with a teacher or professor in college is fine, but there can be times when a relationship is inappropriate for example good grades and sex. For the most part aren’t student teacher relationships always hard? I mean, how many people really want to see their professor outside of class? What’s wrong with not liking your professor? Has anything really changed with the student teacher relationship? Now professors can look up what students are saying about their class opposed to the good 'ol days when students would just talk behind their backs. I use ratemyprofessor.com just so I don't get stuck with a teacher like I had freshmen year that led me to dinking...just kidding, but seriously I could not stand his class.

If teachers can't take the criticism them maybe they should change professions. Go back to school and see what taking boring classes is all about. Or perhaps these professors should accept the criticisms being posted on them and use them to their advantage and become a better teacher that people want to sign up for. This just goes to show us that even "Professors" don't know it all nor do they hold all the answers.

Adult Crime, Adult Time

The article "Adult Crime, Adult Time" by Lind Collier was about the increasing number of juvenile offenders that are being charged as adults. The author discusses what certain states do to take care of under age offenders and why there is no uniform age across the nation to deal with these young criminals. She does not think that just because someone is of the age of 16 or younger that they should be let off the hook easier than if they were older. Collier believes that if someone does an adult crime that they should serve adult time. She uses examples from real situations such as how crimes with 12-year-olds have doubled since 1965, and the number of 13- and 14-year-olds has tripled.

I think that letting these kids off with little punishment is wrong, but I also think that charging them as adults is somewhat extreme as well. I think there should be harsh punishments for these "kids'' but at the same time I think they deserve a chance to change themselves because they are so young. There should be something in-between that can help them out and teach them a lesson at the same time. Perhaps they should be incarcerated till they become an adult and then have to serve the society for the betterment of the community.

Daria MonDesire, in her article, "Stripped of more than My Clothes," addresses the unfortunate indignity she suffered returning home from abroad. Daria was stripped searched on her return to the United States by U.S. Customs agents. Daria uses comparisons and figures to shock the reader and to gain their sympathy. Comparing her strip searcher's hands to that of a rapist and showing the low percentages of people found carrying drugs.

lthough this is an extrememly unfortunate situation there needs to be someway to filter out innocent people from this process. If I was stripped searched I would probably be extrememly upset and angry that I was searched for no reason. Perhaps if someone is under suspicion of having drugs there should be a drug dog near by. If that dog sniffs something they don't like then there would be reason to search the person. If the dog did not smell anything like durgs then there would be no reason to search the person. I think that this would be a completely logical and time saving process for custom agents and the people being searched.

"TV isn't Violent Enough"

Mike Oppenheim, argues in his essay, "TV Isn't Violent Enough" that television violence is not gruesome enough to be considered "too" violent for the mainstreams of television. As a doctor, Openheim first states that violence on television is so over exaggerated that it comes off as fake, and therefore is not a problem. Secondly, Oppenheim argues that children will not learn anything from violence if they are quarantined from it. Oppenheim believes that shielding children away from violence is bound to do more harm than good. Finally, Oppenheim states that if society is so worried about protecting children, they need to find other ways besides cleaning up TV, because TV is already too "antiseptic."

I think if parents feel that what their children are watching is too violent then it is their responsibily to monitor what their children watch with v-chips and other parental blocking programs. I think in this day and age that parents are becoming over protective and too up tight about what their chilren are watching. I agree with Oppenheim that TV isn't violent enough to be considered too violent. Many of the programs on during the day are not anything that people should worry about because they are geared more for stay at home moms rather than male high school teens. If TV is infulencing kids then maybe there should be a change with the family and social surroundings before people go pointing fingers to the TV.

What Limits Should Campus Networks Place on Pornography?

The essay, What Limits Should Campus Networks Place on Pornography? by Robert O'Neil was about what limits should Cal Poly institution put on their network.

I think that if view porn on the campus networks causes physical problems to the computers then it should definitely be blocked. If it does not cause any physical problems problems for the computers then I do not think that it should be blocked. It is everyones own responsibility to make sure what they view is appropriate if it were to get into the wrong hands. In this case pron popped up on a teachers screen right before a large presentation. I do not think that this should cause any problems for the students because it is probably nothing they have not seen before. I think this case is blown up to be something more than what it is.

Unless viewing porn causes computers to be infected with viruses then I do not see why it would need to be blocked. Perhaps it should be blocked on the teachers computers. That would eliminate any problems that teachers could encounter before giving a presentation, but other than that I do not see why it is something that needs to be blocked or limited by the school.

The Burka and the Bikini

The Burka and the Bikini by Joan jacobs Brumberg and Jacquelyn Jackson is a comparison on how Americans view women, and how the Taliban treat women. These two nations are at two extremes where in one women can wear and do whatever they want. The other nation woman can not go to school and have to cover their face in public.

I do not believe that either is a good position to put women in. However, I do feel that more freedoms for woman are much more appropriate. The problem with America is that there seems to be too much pressure to "look good." This makes people act different that what they really want to do. Woman feel that they need to look a certain way to "fit in." I'm not saying all woman are like this, but there is market for beauty in this country that woman strive for. It's attitudes like this that create "fake" woman who try to be someone their not and allowing the media to influence who they thnik they should be.

With all this said, I think that the treatment women recieve by the Taliban is terrible compared to America. I would rather have women with too much freedom than none at all. I honestly do not mind when girls put on bikini's. If thats what it takes to be patriotic then I am all for America.

Living Leviticus

Christie's "pet peeve" is when people take the Bible and its word litterally, but to not litterally take its word. People who preach the Bible are hypotcritical because there are so many rules that are not obeyed. There are people who argue that the government should support what the Bible says, but the Bible is crazy when it comes to rules.

I think that the targeted audience is a younger demographic. People who not necessarily confident in one religion and are willing to question their own belifes. I think that younger people are more likely to agree and possibly older people as well. However, older people are more likely to disagress because they have believed in their religion for so long that it would be hard to change their opinions.

Christie builds credibility by using direct quotes from the Bible. This helps build a solid arguement with facts that can not be opposed by opinion. Although, everyone has their own opinion on whether or not the quotes hold any weight in todays society, there is very little anyone would say or do to back up the Bibles opinion on the subject matter. By using the direct quotes, the crazy people that believe the Bible is the law, they must adhere to the crazy things it tells us to do for punishments.

Humor, I think comes easy and almost writes itself. Nothing funny writes itself, but using examples of the Bibles says we "should" do if a situation every occures, is pretty funny. Who is going to ask if someone is in their menstural period to make sure its okay to talk to them?

This is a good pet peeve to write about because there are crazy people out there who take the Bible too litterally, but do not necessarily take everything in the Bible at its word. For these crazy people, there can be no inbetween of believing and not believing what the Bible says. It would have to be all or nothing. Good arguement with good evidence!

Bring Home a Black Girl

The essay, "Making the Case for Teaching Our Boys to...'Bring Me Home a Black Girl'" by Audry Edwards" was about instilling the thought that some people do not like interracial marriages. I can understand why someone would want their kids to marry inside of their race, but this essay seemed very naive to anyone thinking about marrying outside of their own race.

The way I see it is all people are part of one race and anyone is fair game to fall in love with. I don't think anyone should manipulate someone else into thinking they should marry a certain person. If two people like each other and fall in love then race, size, and even these days gender should not be factors to keep two people from being together. Instead of teaching our children to marry inside one race, perhaps we should teach children to be open and carrying to all types of people.

Thoughts on Revisiting Race

This article brought up many thought provoking issues. The ones that gropped me delt with offending people. It is interesting outside of this reading to think about "who" is able to offend who. A minority group seems to be able to offend anyone, but if you are not a minority then there seems to be a resonsibility to not offend anyone. This issue makes me angry because why are certain people able to saythings that I am not allowed?

The Jokers Final Laugh

Due to the unfortunate events which took Heath Ledgers life, will the next installment of Batman, The Dark Knight, be praised more out of respect for the actors death?

Being a huge fan of the first Batman, Batman Begins, I think that Mr. Ledger death will bring a new crowd into the Batman scene just to see one of his last major films.  Mostly girls who do not care about the Batman film itself, but thought Heath was a real "hunk-o-soarus" and want to see him one last time, even though he is covered in makeup. I believe that Batman Begins, which sold 370 million in tickets world-wide, should have won an Oscar for Best Picture, but who listens to me anyway? It is very unfortunate though because Ledger still needed to complete sound-recordings for the film.  I'm just spit-balling here, but I am guessing that the Joker dies at the end of this film. But the big question on my mind is will there be another Batman?  

It would not be hard to argue that the cause of his death is directly linked to his final role as the Joker in the film.  The role was disturbing.  The murderous psychopath part left Ledger up night unable to sleep.  Along with the break up of his girlfriend, which friends say sent Ledger into a depression, caused him to take sleeping medication, which could be a direct link to his death.  Jack Nickolson reportedly 'warned' Ledger about the role and it's disturbing nature.  Or is there a bigger picture here?  A few weeks before the actors death he had an interview where he stated that he was at ease with the idea of death.  

Deadly combination of drugs, lack of sleep, depression, or just plain fate, Heath Ledge is gone. I am not a terribly big Ledger fan. I'm not even sure if I have seen any of his movies (but I will see the new Batman regardless) but it truly breaks my heart when a young, well known, famous celebrity, or young anybody for that matter dies unexpectedly.  Heath could have very well been on top of the world.  He obviously had banks full of cash, a two year old daughter, new movies to premiere, and lets face it he was damn good lookin' and I mean that in the manly way.  Something like this just goes to show you that success, wealth, or (and) good looks do not bring happiness.  

So will the death of Heath Ledger bring more respect to the movie? Yes it will. More people will go see it out of respect for the actor.  Will the movie win the Oscar for Best Picture? Probably not, but the movie already has a heightened anticipation and is still seasons away from theaters. 

Can blogs help students?

Can blogs help students, by Rohini Kapur claims that blogs can help students to become better academically. Blogs help students to become individuals when they post their own opinions about people, places, or things. Due to the fact that blogs are becoming extremely popular they are quickly become a new wave of media. This allows anyone to have their own opinion in the media without owning anything more than a computer.

I think blogs can be beneficial for students. It allows them to be critiqued by someone other than a teacher. Which I think is more valuable than grade. Its nice to write something that may effect other people in the world too. If someone else happens to be interested in your blog you may find people subscribing to hear more of what you have to say.