Underaged drinking

High school drinking is very common in the world today. It only gets worse as you get older, especially with college students. I know someone who had a very negative experience with alcohol. My good friend Michelle was at her 21 year old boyfriend’s college for the weekend. She attended one of the local parties with him and was influenced by him his friends to drink, even though they knew she was underage. They began playing a drinking game and it ended up lasting about an hour straight. Since she was not used to that much alcohol consumption, she vomited and passed out. She, like the boy in the story, got rushed to the hospital and had to get her stomach pumped. Like that wasn’t punishment enough, she was in so much trouble with her parents that even her best friends couldn’t talk to her. She hasn’t used alcohol at all after that incident, in fact, just the smell of it makes her queasy. Seeing her like that in the hospital made me never want to be in that position. Alcohol should only be used responsibly and for people who are of age. It should be drank socially, and not to get drunk.

Regrets

Everyone has regrets about certain things that they should have done one point or another in their lives. Although the reason for not doing something may vary, the regret is always agonizing. In the article Anxiety: Challenge by another Name, the reason why the person didn’t do things that he wanted was because he was afraid of change.

When deciding what college I was going to attend, I had the opportunity to go to Boston University. I always like that area, and dreamed of going to that school. There are several different reasons why I didn’t go. First is because of the amount of money that the school cost, and the amount of money they offered me. If I was going to go there, I had to be sure that that was what I wanted because I would be paying it off for a very long time. The second reason why I didn’t go was because of the distance it is away from home. Although I really wanted to go away because I feel like its time for me to spend some time away from home, I didn’t know how I felt being away from my family for such long periods of time, especially because I have a newborn nephew. Also, I wasn’t sure how I would adjust to the new environment and the people.

Now that I’ve started here at St. John’s University, there is some sense of regret tht I didn’t take the opportunity to go to Boston. It’s not that I don’t like St. John’s, but it’s the thought that I didn’t follow my dream of going to Boston. I sometimes wish I would have taken advantage of going away to school, and thing I may do it in the future.

The Quiet Hour

In my last class we had to read a selection called "The Quiet Hour". It was about adopting a new tradition where there would be a full hour that t.v. stations would not broadcast any shows or movies so that this way families can spend time together and grow closer.

While reading the story, I kept thinking to myself, “Families are NOT like this”. They over emphasized every little detail about watching television or spending time to sit and talk to each other, and personally I think it made families look bad. To me, the story was making it seem the television was the reason why people get divorced and mental illnesses begin. Their reason for this analysis was that we spend more time watching television than we do actually communication with each other. Mayer includes that if families spend the “Quiet Hour” to sit and talk about their problems, that the divorce and mental illness rate will go down.

Personally, I wouldn’t care if they made it mandated that television programs couldn’t play for an hour. I have a good relationship with my family and taking an hour away from T.V. wouldn’t make a difference. I only watch television on rare occasion, and for the most part during that time my family watches with me. Taking television away wouldn’t affect our lives.

cancer rate dropping =]

i recently read an article in the advance about how cancer rates have dropped by an average 2.1% per year since 2002. The reason for this is because of a new found diagnosis for colorectal cancer, which is the 2ed leading cancer killer. There are screening tests that can spot precancerous polyps in time to remove them and thus prevent cancer from forming. The article also said that the smoking rate in men decreased, which made it more likely for girls to get lung cancer than boys. Also that breast cancer rates are going down due to postmenopausal hormone therapy.

I was so happy after reading this article. I feel more secure knowing that there are certain ways to detect and maybe even prevent certain types of cancer. By taking precautions cancer rates are decreasing each day. There is still no cure for cancer, however, taking care of yourself can lower the risk.

$40 a day

I was clicking through the channels one day when I came across a show called $40 a day. It's a show in which Rachael Ray (a cook from the food network) travels to many different locations all over the world and shows you how you can have great meals without spending any more than $40 a day, even in the most popular areas. The episode I saw was when she traveled to Miami, Florida. She ate at these places where you never would have thought would be good but turned out to be amazing. At night she went to some bar where she ordered a large portion of food for so cheap which also included live entertainment.
I never would have thought that this show would "tickle my fancy" yet I was very intrigued. I've never been to any of the places she traveled to , but some day I would love to just travel the world. The hardest part about traveling is being a tourist and not knowing any of the hot spots. There are so many times I went to an area so simple like the city ,and wound up eating at what I thought is a typical Italian restaurant, yet my order of chicken parm is just fried chicken with a sauce that tastes like they mixed ketchup with some spices, and cheese melted on top. Now, if I ever travel, I will know where I can get good food for cheap.

Spitzers illegal license

I recently read an article on how Gov. Spitzer wants to give illegal immigrants the opportunity to obtain their drivers licences. All the need for the application is a passport as their form of identification. They dont even need a valid yearlong visa or other evidence of legal immigration. Some reasons why Spitzer wants to give them licenses include what he feels is "one step closer to eliminating exploitation". This means that it will be easier for immigrants who want to work in this country to get around, probably meaning from work to home and back. He also feels that it will improve traffic safety and lower insurance costs for all New Yorkers by ensuring that more immigrants have valid licenses and auto insurance. Republicans in the Democratic-controlled State Assembly feel that it is unlawful. “Handing licenses out like lollipops to illegal immigrants is an affront to those who are in our country legally and puts our communities at risk".
I can understand some points Spitzer is making such as it benifiting the government because of the money we'd be getting from the taxes and insurance that the new drivers would be paying.
I feel that its not a good idea to give illigal immigrants licences for several reason. One being that it completely reverses the law that Gov. Pataki made four years ago that made it impossible for illegal immigrants to get their drivers license. I also feel that it would put Americans in danger because whose to say that one of these illegal immigrants isnt planning to use their license in some shape or form for a terrorist attack. Not saying that they cant do that anyway because they get licenses other ways, such as using another persons identity or going to another state where it is legal to get their license.
I hope the republicans bill that will hopefully be passed next month will put a stop to Spitzers ignorance.

Iranian President

I don t know how I feel about this whole Iranian President speaking at Columbia University tomorrow. People are debated on whether or not he should even have the right for him to speak, and on top of that, he wants to visit the World Trade Center site. Is he insane? Does he realize how awkward that would be for us Americans?

On Monday, September 24, 2007, Iranian President Mohmoud Ahmeinejad will speak at Colombia University after being invited to do so by President Bollinger.

President M.A. has called the Holocaust “a myth” and called for Israel to be “wiped off the map”. Iran sponsors terrorism and is trying to develop nuclear weapons. Who’s to say that if President M.A. gets his hands on a bomb, he won’t take action against America?

I feel that he should be allowed to speak at Columbia, not because I agree with what he stands for, but because I would like to hear what kind of answers he comes up with for the questions that are asked of him. I feel that his stand oh denying the Holocaust [of ever happening] is completely absurd and him thinking that Americans would actually allow him to visit ground zero is totally crazy and morally wrong.

Hearing his answers and his lecture will give Iranians and others the opportunity to see that it’s not only the Bush administration that oppose him, but the American people as well and that democracy is about debate and the open exchange of ideas.