10-Reality Check

In America we read a lot of news stories about the starving dying people in poor countries around the world. Sometimes we even give in to the sad commercials displaying boney babies and send 15 dollars checks off in the mail. But how often do we actually stop and think about how directly the individual American’s lifestyle affects the poor? Not often.

When I went to Ecuador I went for 7 days. I was only allowed to bring 20 dollars with me. I came back with 14 dollars. A dollar a day is more than enough for the average person in South America or Africa, or any third world country to live on. 80% of the world is third world. 80% of people are uneducated, poor, starving.

Unfortunately our 15 dollar donations to random charities can not help those people. What would really help them would be for Americans to stop buying the clothing that they slave to make but get barely any money for. It would help if our children did not play with the toys their children make in sweat shops. It would help them if trade was fair.

But we are far too tangled in our capitalist society to stop this madness. The poor continue to get poorer and the rich continue to get richer within “The American Dream.”

9-The Skinny

Buying a bathing suit can ruin a shopping trip for any woman. Finding a flattering suit is the challenge of every spring shopping spree. Losing weight for beach and pool season is a common goal among men and women of all ages, however, young women in America may be taking weight loss goals much too seriously.

The relentless issue of the image of a women in the U.S. is key here. Girls and young women see skin and bones models on magazine covers and commercials every day. Those girls hear males praise their perfect bodies constantly. These ever present images make it extra difficult to throw on a swim suit and head to the beach without giving the mirror a second glance.

That’s why this time of year the girl’s locker room or the aisles of The Gap are full of conversation dedicated to diet plans and workout schedules. Many females (and possibly males) stop eating all together if it means having an acceptable beach bod by Spring Break. It seems that the culture fad of Cancun or Cabo trips for college students has furthered the desire to drop pounds-regardless of the hazards involved.

Of course weight loss can be a happy and healthy thing, but in many cases girls are losing weight in unhealthy ways for unhealthy reasons. It seems to me that this time of year is a prime time for schools and organizations to enforce to young men and women the importance of losing weight in a healthy way, rather than succombing to what may seem to be easier.

8-Questionable Baseball Bans

Throughout the history of baseball dozens of players have been suspended because of drug and alcohol abuse, and in more recent years, steroid use. Of course performance enhancing drugs lead to negative stigma among ballplayers like Barry Bonds, Sammy Sosa, and Jason Giambi. Whether the accused player admits his usage, denies it, or apologizes for it is irrelavent. Once he’s done it, he’s tainted. It’s over. Any records broken or goals met are disregarded or demeaned because of that player’s “history.”

However, players are also looked down upon by their ball clubs and their fans if they prove to be immoral in life off the field. Shoeless Joe Jackson was banned from baseball for life because he did not report his teammate’s involvement in throwing the World Series in 1919. Pete Rose was banned from baseball after betting on a Cincinatti Reds game while he was coaching. Do these men deserve to be kept out of the hall of fame?

Many say yes, that if they weren’t kept out their lives would emplify that gambling and betting inside of baseball is acceptable. I disagree. These men were punished for their by being banned from baseball. I think that should mean that they are no longer allowed to play, coach, etc. However, I do not think that because of their crimes that their athletic accomplishments are negligable.

I think that issues of steroids are completely different. Joe Jackson and Pete Rose did commit crimes but those crimes did not affect their performances on the field. Mark McGwire and Barry Bonds (may) have taken drugs that actually enhanced their performance. In that case their records should be left out of the hall of fame because they are not genuine.

7-Judge Judgement

Almost everyone has an opinion of American Idol. The shoes success is unmatchable in the U.S., and has inspired a dozen others including Dancing with the Stars and Canadian Idol. Those who dislike the show often criticize it’s validity. Some argue that the results are planned ahead of time or tampered with, and that audience member’s votes don’t really count. Criticism also stems from the fact that only one of four of the celebrated “idols” is still regularly in the entertainment scene.

My problem with the show-although I must admit I am quite addicted-is the judges. I don’t see how their opinions are significant. Paula had one hit song when I was in diapers, Simon has industry experience but that does not guarantee musical success, and I don’t even know where Randy came from! Their responses to contestants often seem premeditated or repetitious. They are supposedly responsible for judging thousands of people’s singing abilities and I am not sure they are qualified.

USA Today has posed a solution to the problem of underqualified judges. They have appointed four “coaches” who are familiar with the music industry and have experience that ensures that their opinions about the A.I. contestants are valuable. These judges, if you will, provide critiques that actually pertain to musical talents and vocal components, unlike the judges on the show.

6-Snappy Shots

*The assassination of JFK remains to be seen as one of our nation’s greatest tragedies. To commemorate the anniversary of the president’s death The Times Union created a photo gallery detailing his murder. The gallery gives a brief synopsis of Kennedy’s presidency but mainly focuses on the day of his assassination. I appreciated the photos of JFK at his innaguaration as well as with family because they reinforce that this man was not only a president, he was also a normal person with a normal family. The photograph I was most interested in is number 9, which was taken seconds before the shooting took place. There is something undeniably intriguing about that concept-seeing the face of the president in the moments before his life was taken. Number 18, which depicts Ruby’s shooting of Lee Harvey Oswald, is a crucial component of the gallery as well, as it provides an ending to the story (which is told photographically).

*The magic of Christmas in New York City is almost too unique to express in words. The Village Voice’s photo gallery provides a unique portrayal of the borough’s holiday spirit. I appreciate the photos in which the artist captured the different lights in the city, and made them the theme of the gallery. The pictures are beautiful and could be enjoyed by any viewer, but also contain an artistic element as well. The hustle and bustle New York is known for throughout the world is also demonstrated by the blurring of the images. This gallery provides an alternative look to Christmas, which could be considered a monotonous time of year for many.

*USA Today provides an original weekly feature entitled “This Week in Space,” which contains amazing color photographs from outer space. This gallery contains entirely unique photos, of course, because they are from outside our familiar world. I appreciate this newspaper’s inclusion of this feature because it provides a variation of the typical news photos that viewers encounter daily. I also enjoyed it because of the educational value it has, as each photo is paired with an informative blurb explaining it.

5-9/11 evacuation slowed by obesity?

September 11th is a day that has been dissected by thousands. The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has done extensive research trying to learn why preset evacuation processes failed so miserably. Information indicates that much of the failure originated in the stairwells of the towers as the swarms of people were clogging hallways, unable to descend.

Theories suspect that much of traffic flow on the staircases was slowed by overweight evacuees. It seems to me that people in such massive states of panic, regardless of their weight, would have varying reactions. Some would freeze up and go into shock, others would wrecklessly bound down stairs shoving others out of the way, other still would remain calm and aid others in manuvering to safety. Body size would not stop adrenaline from flowing.

What if overweight people legitimately did slow down the process? What do we do next time? Skinny people out first, fatter people last? If obesity in America is becoming such a drastic problem that evacuation strategies must be reconstructed to suit fatter people then we have a devastating problem on our hands.

4-Chinese Nets

As the U.S. is known for being a cesspool of the latest technology, it makes sense that we are behind the scenes of many other countries’ technology. However, over in China they have taken a step towards their own techno growth by creating a system of web address domains separate than that of the U.S. China will no longer rely on the U.S. world wide regulation of web addresses performed by ICANN

Unfortunately, the censorship practiced by the Chinese government is much more strict than that of our own. In recent years the internet has been a thorn in the side of Chinese officials because of the difficulties in censoring information it presents. Their government dictates that many religious and political issues should remain outside the hands of citizens. It also seems that many Americans are worried China will use these new web domains (like our own “.com” or “.org”) to keep information secret from the U.S

It seems to me that America’s controlling ALL web domains is at least a little bit unfair, especially in regards to language barriers. The fact that foreigners are expected to work within domains formatted in languages they do not speak seems ludicrous. Progression of technology in other countries is something we should encourage! Unless of course we may be threatened by that technology. In the case that we were threatened by the Chinese’ recent progress within the web it unfortunate and intimidating, but regardless, it is none of our business. I don’t think that it is within our rights to harbor the progress of another nation, even if it is for security measures. They are their own nation! And for the last decade our leaders have done a shameful job of trying to police the world, and have caused more harm than help.

3-Bring on the Bugs!

The U.S. is a car loving country. With President Bush as our fuel obsessed leader we are regularly reminded of the daunting truth-that the oil will run out. Unfortunately it seems that Mr. Prez and his administration are quite wrapped up in their quest of obtaining as much of what’s left of this precious resource as possible, rather than planning for life after it’s exhaustion.
Who would have thought that there would be life after oil? Iogen-a biotechonological corporation dedicated to turning ethanol into the world’s next key to transportation. Ironically the major source for this magical ethanol is waste-that produced by corn stalks and wood. It is even more ironic that creatures we have been exterminating for years in this country are capable of turning this plant waste into usable resources for our automobile industry.
The Times Union reports Bush’s approval of this “waste-to-energy” concept stated during his State of the Union Address. I personally believe it is unfortunate that after years of war, death, corruption, and hostility that NOW our president is looking outside of the oil industry for alternative resouces. The Times Union article says that Iogen has been working toward this technology for 25-50 years now. Not only Bush, but also the presidents before him should have provided economical and techonological resources for this company. If the government put as much money and time into alternative energy sources as they have into obtaining oil our country would not be in such a backward state.

2-Shut down the coal mines?

A tragic number of miners have died during recent weeks in West Virginia and Virginia. Although this career poses a well known threat, the casualties of late have made officials reconsider this field. USA Today reported that after two more deaths this week in W.V. the governer has stopped mining for safety checks in the mines.
I think that the career of mining brings along with it an obvious safety/health risk, and that the miners who chose it are well aware of the dangers it poses. However, it is inexcusable that the mines do not seem to be up to date in safety precautions. Joe Manchin has closed the mines temporarily to update and evaluate mine safety at the moment-this should have been done previously, if not regularly! It should not take MORE deaths even after the tragic deaths in January for the mines to be inspected.
The measures being taken by the state governement in W.V. are commendable, but also lead me to question why many of these steps hadn’t been taken in the past. Currently escape routes and emergency plans are being mapped out throughout the mines, and I think it’s unacceptable that this is the first time someone has thought to do create them. The mines are checked out yearly by federal inspectors, and yet deaths still occur annually. Of course in all careers deaths occur but the deaths occuring in the mines are easily avoidable and irresponsible.
It seems that officials are concerned about issues outside of the miner’s safety after recent events. Many are worried that since the mining industry has proven to be so dangerous lately that it will cease to exist, which would be detramental to national economics. Of course it is natural to be concerned about our country’s economy but not if American lives are at risk. I find it extremely strange that the U.S. is still so reliant on such an old fashioned industry and has failed to improve mining’s techonolgy and safety measures.

1-Faster Flying…

Since 9/11 airport security has buckled down in order to ensure the safety of passengers and crew members. In June of this year the Registered Travel program will be put into works. This program is intended to speed up the airport security check for fliers who have had intricate background checks related to terror ties and national security threats. (Http://www.usatoday.com/travel/news/2006-01-19-trusted-travelers_x.htm).

This program clearly intends to hasten the progress of airplane boarding by eliminating extensive baggage/body/clothing checks for those who have proven to be safe. Those who are not members of the program (which costs roughly 80 dollars annually) will continue to be subject to extensive luggage checks as well as clothing/shoe checks.

After the program is put into effect it will be nervewracking to some that there will be people flying who did not apply for the program, or did not pass the background security checks. Perhaps people will not apply because of the monetary fee, or because they do not mind the extra security measures-but it is possible that they not apply because they are hesistant to be subject to such criteria. I think this will lead to scrutiny and suspicion of those who are not members of the program. This policy may cause only another division in the U.S.

It is also quite possible for those who are members of the program to endanger other fliers despite their background checks. People can still be dangerous or threatening even if it has nothing to do with terrorism. All should be subject to the same safety evaluations, regardless of their histories or connections.