D.A.R.E.

It has been many years since I, myself, had to go through the D.A.R.E. program at my elementary school, but I remember it quite clearly. It was the most exciting part of the year. All of the little fifth graders got so excited because we got to say words that we were never aloud to say before, so when our officer told us to scream those words at the top of our lungs it was exhilarating. And while I think that the program is a fantastic idea, and it probably scared a lot of kids away from drugs and alcohol, the program had virtually no effect on any of the students. Maybe that is because I saw our officer, who was teaching us all about the awful effects of smoking, smoking cigarettes outside of her squad car one day. That was ironic. But as a senior in high school, whenever we talk about D.A.R.E. now it is the punchline of a witty joke. I've even seen people wear there D.A.R.E shirts as a joke, or a D.A.R.E. shirt party were everybody gets together wearing the shirts and basically defaces them with what they are doing. So no, the idea of scaring fifth graders out of their wits did not work at all. I think that there are many better ways of going about the D.A.R.E. program, ways that don't involve scare tactics. Because, simply put, D.A.R.E. was a lie. I know that now, and so does everybody else.

Rules and Logic: Two Conflicting Forces in Gym Class

Over the last couple weeks in Gym class I have been having some serious problems with the new Heart-rate monitors. Once every week we go into the weight room and we wear these high tech straps that can access our heart rate as we work out on the machines. Also, we are graded based off of how high or low our heart rate jumps around. It sounds like a fantastic idea, and a great way to grade kids in gym class, but it isn't. I work out every day, and i would say i i'm n above average shape, so for me, getting my heart rate up is very hard. Especially when you only have 15 minutes to be graded on. Heres what really gets to me. I asked my teacher if I could just run for 15 minutes, on an 7.0 speed, with an incline, which is a great workout for anybody. I asked if I could do that and receive 4 our of 4 points for the day, and my teacher told me no. You see, i've tried many times to get the 4 out of 4 points by using the heart rate straps, but its just not possible. Last week I ran for 8 minutes and then went all out on the rowing machine for another 7, only to get my heart rate up to a 70 percent. I received 1 out of 4 points while there were other students sitting on the bikes just barely pedaling and getting 4 out of 4's for the day. There is no logic. I think what it comes down too is the department not being able to admit to their faults, which are these heart rate monitors, and the teachers having to go through with the demands of the department chairs. But why I cant just earn the points by running, when he knows i wont be cheating or getting around the workout in any way, thats beyond me.

Yik-YakGate

Interestingly, last week I chose to blog about my feelings on technology in the classroom. They are overwhelmingly negative in almost every way. Just yesterday the Yik Yak mobile app exploded at my high school. I would say that 9 out of every 10 students was talking about it by D-Lunch, every teacher was talking about it too. The app is basically an anonymous chat room with everybody within 5 miles of you, everybody who has downloaded the app. It started small, apparently people had been Yacking for a week or so, but just yesterday it caught on and seemingly instantly the app was exploding with posts, hundreds of them coming one after the other. Here is the trouble: most of the posts were horribly inappropriate, or racist, or included unspeakable things about specific people. There is nothing on the app that restricts the use of names. These are actual names, people I know, teachers at my school, and everybody who was Yacking was posting these awful things about them.

I first heard the word Yik Yak in 5th period, and must of heard it a thousand times after that. That really is not an over exaggeration. While many people were cracking up, laughing at the things that people were anonymously posting about other people, I didn't even download the app. I didn't want to support the evil that the app brought, so I chose to not even bother downloading it. Honestly, im not surprised that it happened, but I am disappointed. I know, firsthand, that there are awful people at this school who are irrationally mean hearted, those people are everywhere, but to see it is always shocking. To see my peers using the N-word, calling girls whores, making up nasty lies about teachers, its shocking. At times society feels like its moving forward, learning from its mistakes, but something like this proves the exact opposite. I hope that im not grouped in to some massive generalization about the students at my high school, because I in no way support or supported what happened yesterday.

The Problem With Technology

A couple days ago, on Facebook, I started to notice these Facebook groups designed specifically for the students of a future graduating class of a college. "University of Illinois Class of 2018" would be an example. At first I thought this was really cool. I mean, its like opening a gift up the night before christmas, its very exciting. But at the same time, your just ruining something that is meant to be a surprise. To me, it just doesn't sound right. That is why I feel like technology is, in school at least, a ridiculous and unnecessary strain on the mind. Maybe Im just bad with technology, but to me, I can honestly say that we don't need it, and we should have little to none of it. 

For math class this year every single student in any math class had to purchase a 200 or so dollar calculator. The TI-NSPIRE. Which is apparently the calculator of the future. The only problem is that none of the teachers know to use them or want to use them. Neither do the students. Well I bought the calculator by the first day of school, unlike about a third of my class, and I didn't use it once for 3 months after that. We had a long term substitute teacher and she never checked, so nobody used them. Now, we are strictly required to use them everyday, which nobody knows how to do, and it has resulted in me learning much less math and hearing many more complaints about the calculators. Thats probably the result of the higher power telling them that they need to use the Calculators because they were getting so many complaints. I also couldn't use it on any tests or quizes.

In 8th grade math class my teacher and all of her colleagues received their very own SmartBoards. These 3000 dollar costing chalkboards were written on with this expensive pen that could connect with the internet in the SmartBoard or something. She once actually made a phone call to the SmartBoard hotline to ask a question in class. It was little things like that that added up to a huge waste of time in which I barely learned the Pythagorean Theorum. 

There are smaller things too, like having to turn papers in online, or only seeing your grades online, no physical report card, feel unnecessary as well. The last thing a high school senior needs is stress, and that is what technology causes in high school.

Technology

I looked up in homeroom a couple of days ago and, I kid you not, every single student had their head down and was glaring into the screen of their phone. Every single student, probably 15 or so were entranced and there was little to no talking going on. This is not right. Technology should never be this kind of a thing, that is accessed at all times of the day, anywhere, everywhere. I pride myself on not having to take out my phone every minute of every day, but I am often tempted. The effect of technology in society is everywhere, you just have to look up. What surprised me the most was not the fact that the students were all on their phones, but that my 2 homeroom teachers were both on their phones as well, looking at sports and what not. It has become too much. Not only does it annoy me greatly, but it also worries me. What does the future hold? If we have made such a big jump in such a short time, how is technology going to play into my life 20 years from now? What about 50 years? It is incredible to think about the endless potential, but equally scary to think about the possible trouble that can come with this technology.

Sexual Assault

Sexual Assault is a crime that does not simply apply to one group of people, that is what makes it so interesting and complex in discussion. We spent all of class yesterday talking about one specific case in which a girl was raped by two boys, but the vise versa of that could happen just as well. While sexual assault on women is the usual, there are plenty of other cases where this is not what is happening. For example, "Decades of Catholic Church sexual abuse tragedies, the Boy Scouts, Penn State, rape in correctional facilities, sexual assault in the military, recurring episodes at high schools around the country are all examples of entitlement to rape in the face of institutional tolerance," writes  Soraya Chemaly, author of "5 ways sexual assault is really about entitlement." I find this interesting because people would never dare joke about date rape, or any man raping a woman, that would be ridiculous and unheard of. However, I can barely go a day without hearing somebody make a joke a rape in the boy scouts, or in prison (Don't drop the soap), and especially in the Catholic church. Why? I have to ask. How can this possibly be acceptable? Cheamly puts it perfectly, she uses the phrase, "institutional tolerance." That is exactly why we joke about it, because it is tolerated. Rape should never, under any circumstances be tolerated.

In the blog, "Yale Fails To Expel Students Guilty Of Sexual Assault" by Tyler Kingkade, I read about how Yale allowed for six students who had been found guilty of nonconsensual sex to keep living on the Yale campus after the findings. "Yale spokeswoman Karen N. Peart said the university does not tolerate sexual misconduct, but said the school won't discuss the specific cases," but how is that not tolerating what is happening? I think that a large part of this is protecting the legacy that an Ivy league school like Yale beholds, not to mention the money that they need to keep the school up and running. Here is where prioritization comes into play, people need to really slow down and think about which priorities matter and which don't. A blatant assault of any person, man or woman, should rank high above anything else, period. But it doesn't always, and that is the tragedy. To be honest, I do not know what we are really debating here. The issue is sexual assault, and it is an incredibly large issue, everywhere. It is wrong, it is awfully wrong, but the truth is that there are people out in the huge world that are really messed up, for lack of a better word, crazy, and they will sexually assault women or young boys. Instead of ignoring that, lets acknowledge it and fight it. The only way that I can figure is to open our eyes. We all know the truth but we just need to act on it. The people making the decisions for Yale are not helping the cause, they are making it much, much worse. Their priorities are all wrong. The right thing for them to do, in my mind, would be to force those students who committed the sexual crimes out. There can be no toleration if we want any true progress.

Big Trouble in Little Sochi

These 2014 winter games have been filled with excitement, but also filled with plenty of drama. I have always loved the winter Olympics. While many find it boring I enjoy watching these incredible athletes as they take on their frozen tundra's and compete in the cold. The drama surrounding these Olympics really has nothing to do with the athletes, or the athletics either, everybody seems to be talking about the setting. While the country is struggling to feed all of their citizens, Putin has chosen to spend billions and billions of dollars on new arenas and venues for the games. Here the catch, they cant even fill the stadiums up. Every Olympics I have seen in the past the stadiums have been filled to the brim with excited fans, roaring and cheering for their countries. When I watch the Sochi games I have seen a dormant audience. The few fans that are at the events are cheering but they are not even close to the intensity I have seen in the past. More controversy surrounds these games too. Russia does not allow gay right to be promoted, which is completely against my morals, but also against the morals of many of the people watching the games. All and all, Sochi was not the best choice of venues at this time of change and progression.

Meanwhile, in the summer of 2014, the World Cup will be held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. This competition is surprisingly similar to this winter's Olympics. Both feature struggling countries, especially Brazil, where the slums of Rio are in some places beyond belief. Yet, the government decided to spend an outrageous amount of money on massive stadiums, attractions, or anything else that could make their events stand out. This is the same money that could be spent on helping the starving, feeding the hungry, curing the sick, or really any act of good. Granted, the World Cup will bring great attention and tourism to the country, but that is not always a good thing. It just seems like the priorities are not set, what is really most important is being pushed back further and further.

Hazing

Hazing is a problem because it is not always seen as a problem. As we read in the Rolling Stone article in class, most think that it is "just the way it is." I don't think that it is just the way it is though. No person should have to be put through all of the dehumanizing things that the students at Dartmouth, and I'm sure many, many colleges around the U.S. But here is the conflict, there are some positive things that come out of hazing. The one thing that gets me is when you are a freshman, scared and being punished by the upperclassmen, you are going to be put down so much and be beat down for so long that you will eventually desire to be like those upperclassmen. This to me seems like an unbreakable cycle. The only way to stop it, and this is beyond unlikely, is if every upperclassmen as a certain fraternity were to stop bullying and hazing the underclassmen right now, this instant. This would never happen though because those kids who are upperclassmen now were once in the exact same position that the underclassmen are in, its an awful cycle of violence. Being a freshmen in high school I longed for the day that I could be the big man on campus, walk down the halls with no fear, even maybe push a freshmen or two.

To me, the powerful bonds, the lifetime bonds that are created are not worth swimming in a pool full of human waste. Nothing is worth that. What annoys me the most is fraternities have great potential, the potential for friendship is there and the power is great, but it is misused.

The question that is on my mind is: How do you stop hazing? As I have said before there seems to be an endless cycle of unity, but some say otherwise. "Have the members of your group/organization work together on a community service project.  Visit a ropes course to work on group cohesiveness, communication and leadership skills," says StopHazing.org. And I think that many sororities and fraternities do successfully do these things occasionally, but why do they always revert back to the old drinking games? StopHazing.org also says, "Plan special events when the entire chapter gets together to attend a movie, play, or church service. Plan a "membership circle" when actives and pledges participate in a candlelight service in which each person has a chance to express what membership means to them." This, to me, seems a bit ridiculous. I mean, cmon, how many frat boys are going to want to all go to a church service together early on a Sunday morning. The Key to me is to be realistic. We know a few things, frat boys will drink, and they will haze. So, there needs to be a way to cut those two things down and control them.

Legalization in Illinois

Marijuana legalization has taken over the media lately. Turn on the news and you are sure to see a story about Colorado, probably with a lame pun for the title. Go the internet and you can find countless statistics, facts, and news in regards to marijuana and its use in the nation. To put it simply, its everywhere. The Medical Marijuana Project's online website is a great place to go for this type of news. After looking around, I noticed a few things that made me scratch my head. First, In Illinois last years there were nearly 50,000 marijuana possession arrests. That is a ridiculous amount of money, time, and effort that the police took to arrest those people who were in possession of the plant. Second, and this is the one that gets me, 75% of Chicago murders went unsolved in the same year. Now those two statistics may not immediately feel connected, but they are. Say that marijuana was legalized in Illinois, then the time that the police took to arrest 50,000 people for minor crimes like marijuana possession would be spent on something that I deem much more important, catching murderers. It is really all about your priorities, and I prioritize catching murderers and rapists over a few stoners.

Bullying: First Impressions

In issues we have taken the time to discuss a topic that is present in the lives of every student and even the teacher our class, bullying. This is high school, and where there is a large amount of people there will always be some sort of bullying. However, I am extremely proud to say that for all of the kids at my high school, there is very little bullying going on. The bullying that we are talking about it mostly bullying kids because the kids think that they are gay, and I am proud to say that this high school is extremely open and accepting compared to most. But while we are very, very, accepting of everybody here, there is of course still bullying. I see it playfully in the halls, but it is there nonetheless and I think that as a body of people we need to be a lot more careful with our words. While their is not much bullying, like old fashioned pushing into lockers or swirlies, I've seen a lot of racism and shoving around pushed under the rug. I just hope that it never escalates to anything that I have seen from any of the movies that we have watched. The one movie, Bully, a documentary which focused on a boy being absolutely tormented everyday, had an enormous impact on me and everybody else who watched it. It is hard to watch that and it is hard to believe that their are people who are that bad in the world but the one thing I took away from the movie is this: feel bad for the bullies. Whatever they are doing is because of something they have experienced, something wrong in their life, and that is the truth.

Richistan blog 5

Frank ends the book with a sliver of hope. He writes, "They will see that their money is not a gift but a responsibility. Through smarter philanthropy like Berber's, Richistanis can eventually fulfill Carnegie's 100 year old dream of a 'reconciliation between rich and poor, a reign of harmony.' "While Frank says that this is very well possible, I struggle to fully agree with him. I love his writing though. I love that he calls the Richistanis money a gift, because that is how they are spending it. When I get 20 dollars from my grandmother I never put it in the bank, i always go out and buy a nice dinner that is delicious because the money was a gift. However, when money is a responsibility it gets treated so drastically different. When dealing with the money I have earned that is in my bank account I would never take it out and spend it whimsically because it is a responsibility that I must up take. So the ultimate question that this book asks is, is Carnegie's dream ever possible? In all of observable history, there have been those who have more, and those who have less. That is history. History repeats itself, and it is near impossible to break that cycle. And now that we have entered that cycle of rich and poor I don't see a way that the dynamics could ever change. Frank ends the book with, "We can only hope", and I think that is the plain and simple truth. We can only hope that the Richistanis will come to their sense and see their money as a responsibility rather than a gift. Otherwise, we are doomed to a cycle of rich and poor, poverty and great excess, and hunger and greed.

Richistan blog 4

Frank writes, "The American wealth boom has created a new generation of rich activists. Whether they're funding campaigns or running for office, Richistanis are emerging as the major force in American politics. They've conquered the business world, and now they want power."In the olden days, the super rich were more likely to retire to an island or lay low, but now the times are changing. These activists have very much power thanks to their astounding businesses or investment's, but it seems as if the super rich have gotten bored of sitting around. We see many examples of these Richistanis who have conquered the world of business and then decide to make the move into politics. This gives me a few thoughts. I am not sure that the Richistanis are the ones that I want running our country. Politicians try to appear as "normal" people, but the truth is most of them are not normal. The truth is that many of these politicians come from that 1 percent I talked of earlier. Now, I don't want somebody to be running my country that hasn't truly lived in it. Sure, the Richistanis live in America but they do not live like most Americans. It is fair to say that they have their own little country and it is spread out through the nation. Anyways, I have trouble getting behind these politicians if they are fake, if they haven't struggled or fought or risked anything to get to that spot. Their ambition is respectable, wanting to conquer all of the feats this country has to offer. However, at the same time it is ugly. Why cant they just stick to their quite lives? Why must they taunt the 99 percent of us? The answer is simply, as Frank emphasizes with his insane stories, because they can.

Richistan Blog 3

This book does not only focus on the extreme riches of the super upper class, it look at all different angles. Specifically, it shows the effect of the middle class. And more specifically, how the middle class is forced to watch as the Richistanis parade around and we cant look away. Partly, i feel, we want to watch how they live. That is why shows like Keeping Up With the Kardashians exist. There is something instinctively interesting about looking at the other half, or in the case, the 1 percent. It is ridiculous at times to watch how they act, but it is also extremely interesting to see the similarities that people like us share with these extremely rich and seemingly distant people. A large part is his comic relief throughout the story, he uses silly stories of the extremely rich to show how insane they are, like ordering Ben and Jerry's ice cream to a Yacht at 3 am, and getting it!

All of this makes me think about myself. I am not part of the 1 percent, but I am certainly not in the lower half of the nation either. And, thanks to the ruthless media, i get to watch as the 1 percenters live out their lavish lives without a single worry. Though Frank suggests that we are not so different, me and the 1 percenters, i cant help but continue to think that we are extremely different in just about every single way. I supposed I don't have the mind needed to fall into that category, but that is not necessarily a bad thing. The beauty of this book is that it looks at every angle at this situation. I don't feel bad that I am not one of these people, but it is very nice to be able to understand them, to see their struggles and see their success.

Richistan Blog 2

The nation's richest are, like Gatsby, people of "new money". It is actually very interesting, when we look at Jay Gatsby, main character of The Great Gatsby and playboy, and we compare him to some of the richest that we have to offer, there are a few striking similarities. The key is that both come from new money. Gatsby did not live on the side of town where the people with old money, passed down money, lived. This is because he made a living for himself, he made a fortune with his two hands. Some of our richest are the exact same story. This boom is being pushed by people who came from nothing. These people did not have their millions, or billions, given to them while they were little babies. No, they earned their money. Frank uses the term "workaholic wealthy" and i feel that is exactly what these people are, that is why there are so few of them. Interestingly, here Frank portrays the rich in a good light, they are workaholics who have earned, for the most part. The difference between Gatsby and our Richistanis is that we get the idea that Gatsby's money comes from something illegal. These new rich got money from hard work, dirty hands, cold long nights alone, working. So, where exactly does this new money come from? There are a few possibilities. There are the money movers, who, Frank says,"make investment bankers look middle class (or Middle Richistani) by comparison." They move large amounts of money around the world, through hedge funds, and make a large profit from doing so with great knowledge and skill. There are also the founders, people like Steve Jobs who have founded mega companies. Keep in mind just how many successful companies there are in the world so it is really not a surprise that their are so many of these Richistanis. And of course, the investors. These are the "Microsoft Millionaires" that Frank talks about who invest in smaller companies for cheap and sell for a huge cut when the companies grow. It is so interesting to actually think how these amazing stories happened, how the rich got rich, because in this new wealth boom the money is new. This makes me think that in the future there will be old money being circulated, interestingly, but now the money is fresh, and asking to be taken. 

Richistan Blog 1

Frank entices the readers of his book, Richistan, by starting the book off with an extremely interesting and thought provoking fact that he found. Which, he shares, actually got the book off the ground and going, it was his inspiration. The fact goes, "The number of millionaire households had more than doubled since 1995 to more than eight million." Frank calls this a "wealth boom" and that is exactly the case. I love that he chooses to open with this because it grabs me right away. This fact is really incredible if you think about it. First, most of these households are pulling in much more than just exactly 1 million dollars, its not exact like that. Many of these households are 20 million or higher and the number of the multimillionaires is on the rise. As I have learned out of class, and heard a million times with the 1 percent fiasco, the majority of the nations wealth is owned by a very small population, the 1 percent. That is why this book is so incredibly applicable to every single person in the United States, rich or poor. Secondly, the number has more than doubled in just a few decades. What this really does for me is it brings me more questions, it sparks my mind. In 30 years just how rich are our richest going to be? Its a bit of a scary question to think about especially if you are not sitting at the top of the 1 percent in your household.