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Article: What makes a president?
I totally agreed with the whole point of this article. She's right, we do need a president who is able to be honest with us and admit their mistakes in their presidency. This is one huge reason why we do have problems with Bush. The guy doesn't know how to quit it and admit it. I'm hoping whoever our next president is, they'll be able to give an HONEST example that allows room to represent all of American voices, and not just their own.
--Generation For Sale
I found this article interesting because i agree with it 100%. The news has more of a priority in talking about people like britanny spears and lindsay lohan and theyre destructive behavior thatn about important topics. If i were to turn on the news when i i get home i would probably be more liek to be able to tell someone about brittneys latest meltdown instead of recieving any information that is accualy important.News about stars and and theyre erratic and unjustified behavior should be kept to television shows like MTV, that are supposed to be foccused on what the stars are doing..otherwise i'm getting sick of hearing about all of this also because all it is having is a negative impact on the impressionable people who watch it.
"serious stress strikes seniors"
i think that they are right how theyre saying that teachers are ignorant and always think that we have nothing else to do except for school work. i play baseball and have a job so i dont always have alot of time to do any homework and when i usually get that free time its late and i want to sleep instead of staying up untill 1:00 and than wake up at 6:00. its crazy how they expect us to do everything and not sleep. i got yelled at in a class for yawning and i thought wow school sucks.
A Deliciously Cold Controversy:
The ice cream machines were put into the commons and main cafeterias. People say they should be taken out because of the statistics in the United States obesity epidemic. They deffinitaly shoudl not be taken out because of that, because we have these machines, it is not forcing anyone to eat it. Its also not fair to take it out for the people who dont have timeto go home and eat within the 30 minutes between school ending, and a sport starting and its thier choice to eat it, if obesity starts becoming a problem, its no ones fault except for the people chosing to eat the food and not working it off.
"Serious Stress Strikes Seniors"
I completely agree with this article, but I don't think it only applies to seniors. Teachers complain when they have to grade tests and essays, meanwhile they yell at us if they're overloading us on work. Humans are a social creatures and have other interests other than schoolwork. Teachers need to cut down on the amount pf homework they give students. School isn't our lives, but a part of it. We have other hobbies and interests that we like to pursue. I'm not saying that we shouldn't get homework and other things as such, but teachers do need to relize that we have lives just like they do, and we have other things to do that are just as important as schoolwork outside of school.
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
Ubisoft Keeps Piling on the Hits
That game sounds AWESOME! Assassin's Creed... Even though I'm not really into that kind of game, (killing games) I'd probably play it just for the graphics! That is... If it's for one of the game systems/consoles/platforms I have... (Nintendo GameCube and Nintendo DS Lite)I hope it comes out soon! YAY FOR VIDEOGAMES!!!
title: darfur trend dieing off
i think its ridiculous that the media isn't focusing on Darfur anymore. like stated in the article, this is still a genocide, and this is still something that really needs attention. At first everybody was all over it and always talking about the war over there and how they wanted to help. as time goes on people slowly stopped caring and worrying. its still an issue though that has to be addressed. thousands of people everyday are loosing their lives and homes because of this. the media isn't even updating people on whats going on over there... people in america have no idea what the latest issues over there are and nobody seems to make a point to care. i think its ridiculous and that people really have to get more involved in this again because after world war II, the united states said that they would never let another genocide happen again... and Darfur is a major genocide that needs attention, and fast.
title: serious stress strikes seniors
i think that seniors have the most stress to deal with. they have to work all the time and do all these apllications plus the teachers think that there class is the only class they have and that they have all this unknow time to get all there work done on top of everything else that they have to do.
" Serious Stress Strikes Seniors"
- the article that i read, i think was a little bit exagerated. I know that your senior year can be stressfull with all your applications and important state tests. I think that students dont try a find time to relax. yes you have to work and study and write essays, but you dont always have to go to those open house parties either. if your complaining you have no time to yourself to relax you should just stay home one night and relax. But im pretty sure that it is stressfull and i can understand studying for the sat's can be hard. im studying for them as well.i think that teachers could let off on some homework too dont get me wrong. there should be a day were every subject doesnt hand out homework. i have my viewpoints on it, and it goes both ways.
I find it hilarious that Al Gore won the Nobel peace for a PowerPoint presentation. I have seen the film and I thought it was very interesting and well put together, however not at all deserving of a Nobel Prize. It makes the fact that he won it even more rediculous upon hearing that there were 9 mistakes made in the presentation such as, polar bears drowning to death because of melting ice caps. Or the huge exaggeration of sea levels rising 20 feet in "a few years".
I completely agree with Lyndsay McCabe's article "Generation for Sale." It is disgusting that today's youth is more educated about Britney Spears than the presidential election or the war in Iraq. I would say that most of the kids in our school could tell us all about celebrity drama, but probably would have no idea which candidates have dropped out of the election and why. I really do think that our generation is lacking in its knowledge of world affairs. The media is largely to blame for this. When I go on the internet, potential grammy winners should not show up before John McCain or Obama. As responsible citizens, we should try to be more aware of the events in our country and around the world.
"Gore's Own Inconvenient Truth"
I do not think that Al Gore's work in the environmental problems deserves to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. I believe that, even though he did put a lot of work into the facts and making of his video, it does not fall under the 'peace' category. It doesn't fall under the science category either though. Recently, it has been found that many of the facts Gore put into the making of his video were falsified. I think that these facts shouldn't have been changed to have a greater affect on the people's reactions, but because the facts were alarming in the video, more people felt a need to act. Overall, I think that there were other, more worthy candidates for the Nobel peace prize.
"The Matador Online". I think that it is a great idea to put the school newspaper online. I think that people will go on it and read and even leave blogs and stuff. It was a great idea.
Darfur:
I think its annoying how all we ever learn about is the holoscaust when there are so many other genocides. Including the Darfur one happening right now. People need to take action and help. People need to do more than just shed a tear.
Generation for sale:
I think that this article shows how pathetic our generation can be. The fact that we value brittney spears over the war in iraq or that everyone knows who the rapper 50 cent is but no one knows the first black man to seperate to conjoined twins at the head. The fact that when you turn on the news and all you hear about is how celebrities are messing up their lives today and nothing about the war in Iraq or anything more significant than brittney spears is truly pathetic. We spend all our money on CDs and things and people who can only sing through voice enhancement are held higher in our society than people who save lives.
Tony Peck
I read the article "Serious Stress Strikes Students" written by Matt Cerami. This article focused on how senior year is too stressful. Everybody says how senior year will be the best year of your life and whatnot, but the reality is, for most students, it is not. The workload is at least equal if not more than previous years of high school. Yes, some students have only 4 classes and the rest of the day off, but a majority of students have full schedules and a boatload of work to do. There is a number of things students have to worry about aside from school work, such as a job, SATS/ACTS, road tests, and college applications. There really is no "win" in this kind of situation because either you have the full schedule and loads of work, or you take the 4 classes but colleges will look down upon that.
Artical: I Scream, You Scream, We all Scream at the Ice Cream Machine
The author's opinion does share some good points; the fact that our tax dollars went toward buying an ice cream machine and not something healthy is a let down. However, he also states that it is an inconvience. He says that there should be healthy options offered because many kids do not have time to have a bagged lunch in the morning. I have never used the ice cream machine because I bring a bagged lunch everyday to school. I manage to do that with the busy schedule that I have, and really, I hardly get enough time to get a full 8 hours of sleep. It's the students choice to have ice cream and to be unhealthy. They are able to bring a bagged lunch...its not impossible.
"What Makes a President"
Paragraph One: The writers view of politics and reality are a tad skewered. The disposition of a President to accept the will of the masses at a whim is one of the least sought after traits one could ask for. The citizenry has a different feeling about the same issue every other week. If the populace was as informed as the President, and did the same twenty-four hour job as George W. Bush, then I'd give their opinions a bit more support.
Paragraph Two: The fate of the country is not just in the hands of the President, as one could easily decipher per a quick skimming of the Constitution. Even after a quick skimming, one should be able to realize that there is a seperation of power in America, a system of checks and balances if you will. The Judicial and Legislative branches respectively have just as much sway as this "all-powerful man." When the President is sworn in to office, he swears that his decisions will be for the better of the country. The quality necessary is reliability, not admirability.
Paragraph Three: Actually, at the time when the War in Iraq was still being decided on, popular opinion was huge. George W. Bush found the facts that were AT HAND, and he acted on them. More than the "oil," one must look at the amount of terrorist cells, the country's instability, and the lack of a representative democratic system. We'd be at war regardless of Bush being a failed oil tycoon. Also, one cannot blame the War in Iraq for America's inability to accept something that hasn't been proven. "Global Warming" and armed conflict are two different things, no need to tie them together.
Paragraph Four: In relation to the "National Dislike" of Bush, the Democratic Congress has worse approval ratings. Maybe we should stop and note that when possible.
Paragraph Five: Honesty and arrogance are two different things. The ability for one to stay the course doesn't necessarily make them an honest, or intelligent person. Sometimes it makes them hardheaded. Also, JFK didn't admit to a boatload of other things, so don't fool yourselves there. In addition, American opinion of JFK has been steadily declining for years.
Paragraph Six: Presidents NEED to keep secrets. The American populace is simply not ready, or not ABLE to understand the pressures and limitations of the job of the President. This is a delusion, no country does this. Idealism is bad for the soul.
Paragraph Seven: Having a vision doesn't mean having a fresh outlook... Ronald Reagan had a vision, and that vision followed more along the lines of conservatism and traditionalism, neither advocating MASSIVE change. The American public may feel more comforterable with their leader if they give him a chance.
Good luck on your next article, whoever you are.
For this response, I chose to respond to the article titled, "Serious Stress Strikes Seniors." Never in all of my years on this great Earth that we live on, in this great country that we live in have I ever seen words more true put onto a page before. The article discusses the many stresses of senior year and why the misconception of this being the "easiest" year of our lives rings so true. I won't sit here and start rambling on with examples of why this is so true, and although I would love nothing more than to do so, for the sake of the space on this page I will repress myself. I belive this goes far beyond the many obvious reasons, and goes all the way to the way teachers themselves conduct their classes in their own ignorant shell of a classroom. I was under the impression that senior year is supposed to serve as the bridge into the "real world" and college and all that good stuff, but if this is true, then why is this bridge missing planks? I think that it is appalling that teachers are so blatenly oblivious to the other school and non-school related activities that run our lives and keep us from eating and getting a decent night sleep, and are so completely unforgiving if something is late or if we miss a homework. Please don't get this response confused with an assumption that I would like to see senior year have no work involved at all or that I would like this year to be a breeze, but all I'm saying is throw us a bone every once and a while. Don't kill us for handing an assignment in a day late, don't crucify us if our will to learn is put into second gear instead of the usual third or fourth, and most importantly of all, don't kill us before we get into the real world.
In response to Alexandra Isabelles article entitled "Gore's Own Inconvenient Truth", i agree firmly. I know that we are damaging the environment and need to do somthign about it but i could also tell when i wathced his movie that he was greatly eggagerating. It is good to shock the people as a wake up call but you ahve to tell the truth, expecially if you are contributing to the problem. Al gore won the nobel peace prize over many peopel that deserved to win it. There were peopel that saved lives and mad a huge difference and all gore got it for usign up double the energy of most americans and making a movie with faulty truths. Even in his movie i saw him talkign about the ice caps melting. He talked about how he went to look at the ice caps and i saw his submarine break a huge whole in the ice. Al gore seems to be a bit hippocritical and i beleive that he wants to get back into the limelight. Al gore flys around in his jet and breaks the ice with his submarines but has the gaul to tell us how we are all hurtign the environment. We ned to do somthign about the environment but need to start in the right direction.
I am going to have to disagree with Eduardo Segura's article "A Deliciously Cold Controversy". In the article Eduardo says that we should have healthier choices in the cafeteria, and that the only reason the new ice cream machine was put in was for the company to make profits. Which is true, but all companys need to make money somehow, and plus all the ice cream machine is doing is giving students a wider variety of they want to eat, and I don't personally see anything wrong with that. The only thing I do agree with is that we should have healthier choices in food to make in the cafeteria, but I honestly can't think of any good suggestions, and no suggestions of healthier alternatives were listed in the article either. So I think all in all the new ice cream machine was good idea.
Senior Stress-
Though i think the author exaggerated a little, he made some good points. I have a senior brother right now and though he is already into the college he wanted, he is currently taking 5 AP classes and is completely overwhelmed with work. He spends hours every night working on English and chem. and govt. yet he never seems to make a dent in all the work. I have noticed too that sometimes the teachers think they have the only class in school. They stuff like " all you have to do tonight is a chapter of notes. Thats it." Well if i had one class every semester id be set. The problem is that i have 6 teachers telling me i only have a little bit of homework. Not to mention, the various clubs, sports, and extra help the teachers encourage us to take but then criticize us for not getting the work done. Is 40 minutes really not enough time to discus the symbolism of a pig or glasses or to explain that the stomach breaks down food?
"I Scream, You Scream, We All Scream at the Ice Cream Machine"
The report on the vending machine was very tipical for a schools authority to say about ice cream. The truth is, its our choice if we want to eat unhealthy or not stay on a diet. Therefore the ice cream machines should be there for us to choose what we want to eat. I feel the report was exactly what an administration would feel about unhealthy vending machines. Lastly it doesnt really matter that our money isnt going back into the school. I think some money shuold go to those big name companys if its giving us enjoyment.
Artical: A Deliciously Cold Controversy
i agree and disagree with this artical. i agree because its stupid that taxpayers are spending their money to have a ice cream machine in the cafiteria, yet students are FREEZING in the classrooms so maybe we should invest a little more on heat instead of ice cream. but anyway i do not agree that this has anything to so with obeisity just because your driving down a road and pass a ton of mcdonalds doesnt mean you have to stop at everyone. its the people with no self control who cause obesity..not every kid has to have an ice cream bar everytime there in the cafiteria.its your choice if you want to eat it noones forcing it on you. i mean i dont mind if they keep it there but some heat in the classrooms would be nice ;-)
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