12/18 assignment (1st essay)

   A major problem in today's society is the evil intentions of teddy bears. They are indeed like their bigger relatives, with that killing instinct. I had found a certain article, in one of my Field & Stream or Outdoor life magazines, that pertains to this subject. A stuffed teddy bear reportedly fell into a trout farm facility, "blocking the aerator and therefore suffocating all 2,500 fish" in that body of water (McArthur). This in turn grew to be a great loss for those who owned that pond. This is a huge problem when they clog up drains and pipes in cities, which could  actually kill people, due to unhealthy fish and loss of plumbing usage.

   This problem hasn't been fixed because, well, people are still not prepared and do not take measures against the possibility of the "release of any teddy bears" or other animal of the stuffed kind ever did do that to another fish pond (Haines). Besides the ordinary precautions taken to prevent these kind of events from ever happening, they still somehow do. That was one small isolated incident. However, could you imagine how devastating it would be if that happened to a cities water or sewage lines? People couldn't get water and sewage would not be taken out of the city.

   However, there is no need to panic. The is an simple and cost effective way to prevent any crisis like those described from ever happening. Proper protection of filters and water/ sewage line would leave any stuffed bear from entering and wreaking havoc. Covering all possible entry points of unintended material deposits would indeed make those bears think twice about laying their furry little paws on them and prevent them "from becoming a killer" (Fawcett). This would greatly decrease the possibility of of a clogged water main or filtration system.


1.   http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/09/26/teddy_bear_slaughter/

C:  Haines, Lester. "Teddy bear slaughters 2,500 trout." Register. (2006): n. page. Web. 18 Dec. 2012.   <http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/09/26/teddy_bear_slaughter/>.

Summary: A teddy bear dressed in a "yellow raincoat and hat" blocked a drain at the Fish and Game Department's hatchery in Milford and suffocated the pond's resident trout.

2.   http://www.wildlife.state.nh.us/Fishing/Fishing_Reports/Fishing_Reports_2006/fishing_report_092106.htm
      You have to scroll almost to the bottom for this article.

C:   Fawcett, Robert. "TEDDY BEAR KILLS FISH!." N.H. Weekly Fishing Report. (2006): n. page. Web. 18 Dec. 2012. <http://www.wildlife.state.nh.us/Fishing/Fishing_Reports/Fishing_Reports_2006/fishing_report_092106.htm>.


Summary:Water flow in hatcheries is life support to the fish. Stop that flow, which delivers the dissolved oxygen required for fish respiration, and the fish suffocate and die. RELEASE OF ANY TEDDY BEARS into fish hatchery water is not permitted.

3.   http://www.imnewswatch.com/2007/09/14/teddy-bear-kills-2500-and-other-top-producing-headlines-ken-mcarthurs-blog-post/


C:   McArthur, Ken. "Teddy Bear Kills 2500! and other top-producing headlines’ – Ken McArthur’s Blog Post." Internet Marketing News Watch. (2006): n. page. Web. 18 Dec. 2012. <http://www.imnewswatch.com/2007/09/14/teddy-bear-kills-2500-and-other-top-producing-headlines-ken-mcarthurs-blog-post/>.


Summary: This was an article on an article that a man had posted on his blog, talking about how this bear had killed an entire fish pond.

Things Can Change summary

            In Beverly Gage's article, Things Can Change, she contends that inspite of the violence people experience in their lives, they can use proven methods from the past to solve their problems today: Passing federal laws that outlaw certain physical violence would make most people think twice about attacking one-another; creating campaigns aimed at influencing public opinion would make it socially wrong to fight another person; and more enforcement on certain laws would definitely cut down on most violence with weapons.
            When things seem like they won't change, they often do so slowly; It took this nation  years to create a better process for managing labor-employer relations, and it took people more than one-hundred years to abolish lynching, one of the most gruesome forms of violence in the U.S. The most influencial thing that could be done about these violences it to combat the idea  that these crimes can't be stoped, that they are part of this nation. This can be done by passing federal legislation to stop these events, as well as change the publics view to make violence, any kind, sociably unacceptable.

12/12/12 assignment

1. Students fell short of expected knowledge on a vocabulary exam.
2. This did not surprise him, due to his experience as a teacher.
3. Vocabulary limitations are connected to early childhood(areas of life, family income, home circumstances).
4. A NAEP report confirms these ideas.
5. Further states examples of not knowing expected words for that age.
6. Still more examples of students needing help to understand certian words. (knowing the difinitions)
7. It doesn't always matter what income level they have and the area of learning/growing up.
8. Students whom have a higher vocabulary read more.
9. Students with weak vocabularies can't read well, so the cycle continues.
10. It is not the failing school system, it's the families.
11. Multi-media programs(movies, television, social networking sites) are not improving, more like degrading, vocabulary and reading skills.
12. Those mainly responsible for this are the parents.
13. Richer families are able to spend money and time to expose their children to literature.
14. Lack of knowledge of social, economic, political, and scientific realities also lead to poor reading comprehension.
15. The difference between good readers and poor readers has to do with the differences in the knowledge that they bring to reading.
16. The author can prove and agree with the previous statement in paragraph 15. Family encouragement at home helps good readers.
17.
The author can prove and agree with the previous statement in paragraph 15.Distractions prevent good readers.
18. Exposing your kids to words at three or four start the foundations of a strong vocabulary.
19. You can still impact after the ages of three and four by shaping the home environment with rich materials around them.



In John T. Tierney's article, Vocabulary and Reading: Give Your Kids a Fighting Chance, he argues that many of todays children are far behind what is expected for their age groups and the causes, as well as the ways we can start to fix this.

There are three main causes of our children are far behind on their education, and there are three ways we can prevent or fix this problem: John states that multi-media programs distract kids from reading, writing, and other learning opertunities put aside; parents, according to John, have the biggest impact on children, what with their wage levels, area of life, and home circumstances; and sudents with weak vocabularies can't read well, so the cycle continues. Having a good vocabulary has a big impact on a persons life, and there are many factors to having one: starting at the age of 3 or 4, one can start to develope their childs vocabulary and reading comprehension; having a rich environment (both financialy and literaly,literaly meaning with many words in this context) at home encourages reading and vocabulary literacy; and having support from family members increases the chances of being literate

12/11 assignment

NIC is not the most reliable institution of predictions. However, in Joshua Foust's The World of 2030 Won't Look Anything Like You Think, he also states it encourages adaptive thinking. He says that it helps leaders understand the current trends and how to be flexible enough to adapt to rapid change.



Given the current information, I would have to agree with Joshua Foust. Still, many predictions have been correct, such as the many predictions of weather, for one fact. Yes, I know that that certain topic does not tie into this topic of the article, but it does make for a good example. I do believe that being able to adapt quickly does have many positives, with hardly any negatives.

3/12 Assignment

In Keegan Hamilton's article, Why Legalzing Pot Won't Curb the Drug War, facts point out that legislation of marijuana causing any problems for the criminals, becuase"the gangs are still going to grow marijuana and they're still going to sell marijuana, only now it will be legal for them to walk around with an ounce supply individually packaged and not have any repercussions."



http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2012/12/why-legalizing-pot-wont-curb-the-drug-war/265729/

Nov. 26 Assignment

http://www.newyorker.com/talk/financial/2012/10/15/121015ta_talk_surowiecki

Surowiecki, . "Congress and the Fiscal Cliff." New Yorker. 15 2012: n. page. Print. <http://www.newyorker.com/talk/financial/2012/10/15/121015ta_talk_surowiecki>.

The Fiscal Cliff


  In James Surowiecki's  The Fiscal Cliff he elaborates on what the fiscal cliff is, what the backup plan is for when congress fails on coming up with a plan of their own, and what is cuasing this to happen.

His points are that there was a preset plan(budget cuts) in case congress didn't reach a deal, and that the country would be worse off with these cuts in place. These cuts were supposed to get congress to agree on another plan instead of this one, which they didn't.

http://www.newyorker.com/talk/financial/2012/08/27/120827ta_talk_surowiecki

Surowiecki, . "The Track-Star Economy." New Yorker. 27 2012: n. page. Print. <http://www.newyorker.com/talk/financial/2012/08/27/120827ta_talk_surowiecki>.

Economy for Immigrants

James Surowiecki goes in detail in his article Economy for Immagrants, on how hard it is for people( specifically foreign students in the US) to find a good job once they finish school here, what the benifits would be if they were able to get jobs and visas here more easily, and how we compare against other countries.

Many foreign students would prefer to stay and put their skills to work here after they graduate, but they can’t get work visas. People find themselves stuck in immigration limbo for years, waiting for visa and green-card applications to be approved.

http://www.newyorker.com/talk/financial/2012/12/03/121203ta_talk_surowiecki

Surowiecki, . "Disaster Economics." New Yorker. 3 2011: n. page. Print. http://www.newyorker.com/talk/financial/2012/10/15/121015ta_talk_surowiecki.

Cost of Disasters

James Surowiecki informs us of the costs of natural disasters in Cost of Disasters, an article of his that explains the hardships and costs of natural disasters. One disaster he specificaly talks about is hurricane Sandy.

The costs of natural disaster relief is getting to be a great sum. The problem with this is the question of how this country could afford to keep doing this, the fact that our response and "paths" for that response are not up to date, and whether or not politicians would approve laws to set aside money for such disasters.

Michael Newberg

11-13-12

#3

There are two people that had the most influence on me are my parents. My mother came from a large school in California and moved up to Minnesota where she met my dad. My dad grew up in a small town and on a farm in Minnesota. They are both self-employed, my father being an attorney with fifteen plus years of experience in Stillwater and my mother a personal trainer. They have influenced me in many ways. Two specific examples were that they taught me to get the most knowledge I could and to get my work done before I did what I wanted to.

Both of my parents largely encouraged me at a young age to work hard and to learn the most that I could through constantly telling me to do so and by doing it constantly themselves, so it rubbed off on me. That was where I attained a great work ethic and a willingness to learn.  I always get my work done before I do anything else that is a trivial use of my time. I have always been able to get my work in on time, if present for the assignment, as well as if I were gone. For example, I have the project due next Monday for Web Design already done. For the most part it is complete, with the exception of a few tweaks here and there.

Having a great work ethic did wonders for my grades in school and will have a great effect in my future.  It  encourages me to be successful at what I am are doingThe point that I am trying to make is that everybody, meaning those without this quality, would be better off if they did have them.

A willingness to learn also went hand-in-hand with my work ethic, because they both relied on each other in school and in life. Whenever I am confronted with a puzzle or activity for the mind I never give up until I either find it out or happen to be told by someone else, but even then I look to see if it indeed would work or was the right answer. This can have a good impact as well as a bad impact. If everyone wanted to learn at the same level that I do it would create a healthy competition for knowledge. This would eventually give people that otherwise wouldn’t try or that aren’t as good at learning a better chance to be more qualified for jobs than they would be otherwise.

As you now know from reading this document the person(s) who had the most impact on my life were and are my parents. They taught me things that helped/ help/ will help in my life. The two main bits of knowledge they gave me were the willingness to learn and to have a good work ethic, both of which help me in life and specifically helped me with this paper. When I do eventually leave my parents, I will try to apply these two qualities with everything I attempt. If given the chance in life, I will also teach these qualities to others that I influence.

My Biggest Fish

My Biggest Fish (Favorite Event)

The water batted across the tiny would-be boat. The wind had stilled as if it too had bee snuffed out, like the candles that it so often does. Rays of golden sun shone down upon my pale white skin and the water draped upon it. No clouds were dawned upon the sky, for there was no cold for them to be of any use. A polyethylene fish lay dangling from a long, flexible cord of plastic attached to a wooden stick with a cranking device on the side. Connected to that fish were short, curving metal rods with points on each end, each group looking like a miniature bent pitchfork. Muscles tense and move the rod with great speed, sending that insignificant fish into the water a distance away. Seven twitches, and a jerk bring a living fish to the bait. Arm accustomed to a stronger fight glide the creature across a pale green algae bloomed water. Greedy hands reach out to that prize that easily fits in them.
Those who call this prize insignificant know nothing of its beauty. Muddy emerald scales tinted with black and gold cover this creature like gems on the royal crown. Released from pain and greed, it swims into the depths of the unknown. Same spot? Why not. Muscles ready and spring. The lure becomes water as it slips into the liquid, becoming invisible from these eyes trained to read the water. Twitch. Twitch. Twitch. My line screams as it is torn out of its compartment. A v forms around the line as it touches the water. The boat turns, proving this is in fact a log of the depths and not a log of a plant. Hands hold and crank the line, bringing this monstrous creature to light.
A noise of pure joy sounds, carried by the lake to all who would listen. "Too big for the well." Too big for the well? Nothing is ever too big for the well. With top speed, the boat races back to its origin a hard clay beach. Taken out of its medium, gasping for breath, knowing all too well what will happen. This prize is destined for a cold prison, and not given freedom like its brethren.



I learned from this event that life can bring you surprises if you wait. Just because you get something small at first (the short end of the stick), doesn't mean that you can't get anything better or bigger. Getting the bigger fish taught me the importance of patience and just because you cover one area/topic doesn't mean you have discovered all that is there. It taught me to be patient with life and not give up on something right away.


Bolded text revision

Nothing was changed.

Well, election day is upon us. Have you chosen who you will vote for? I have, and I will tell you who I would vote for and why.

The person that you should vote for is Mitt Romney. Why? Well, for starters his plan to cut spending has realistic goals. For example, “any turnaround must begin with clear and realistic goals. Optimistic projections cannot wish a problem away, they can only make it worse. As president, Mitt’s goal will be to bring federal spending below 20 percent of GDP, which is in line with the historical trend of 18 to 20 percent by the end of his first term.” Also, Obama's plan failed. “Since President Obama assumed office three years ago, federal spending has accelerated at a pace without precedent in recent history, taking us from an already staggering $3.5 trillion in federal spending in 2010 to a projected $5.6 trillion within the next decade. This sharp rise has been entirely a matter of choice. Even as federal spending remains wholly within our control, Washington is spending money in an out-of-control fashion. Since the 1950s, federal spending as a percentage of GDP has hovered around 20 percent. When President Obama took office, it shot up to 25 percent, a level not seen since World War II. Before the recession, the federal government spent $25,000 per household. That number has now soared past $30,000 and is on track to hit $35,000 within the next decade.” “The Romney plan to reduce spending includes a three-pronged approach including not doing things “the American people can’t afford,” – repealing health care reform, privatizing Amtrak, cutting funding to Planned Parenthood, cutting funding for the National Endowment for the Arts and The Corporation for Public Broadcasting and cutting foreign aid. By cutting Obamacare, the campaign estimates that the federal government will save $95 billion. The additional four programs total $2.6 billion.”

Another reason why you should vote for him is that he has a much better approach to health care than Obama does. For example, “Romney’s Massachusetts plan was limited to the states, it is better tailored to the people of Massachusetts. Obama’s health care plan is an example of Washington overstepping its boundaries because it places a mandate on 100% of Americans.” “The costs are commensurate: Obamacare added a trillion dollars in new health care spending. To pay for it, the law raised taxes by $500 billion on everyone from middle-class families to innovative medical device makers, and then slashed $500 billion from Medicare.” “Mitt will begin by returning states to their proper place in charge of regulating local insurance markets and caring for the poor, uninsured, and chronically ill. States will have both the incentive and the flexibility to experiment, learn from one another, and craft the approaches best suited to their own citizens.” Romney plans to promote free markets and fair competition. Competition drives improvements in efficiency and effectiveness, offering consumers higher quality goods and services at lower cost.  It can have the same effect in the health care system, if given the chance to work.

First Blog Post

My favorite life experience.

My favorite life experience would have to be when I caught my biggest largemouth bass to date, which was almost 7 lbs on Squaw Lake.

I never thought teachers would use Facebook for class.