Respone to GPS

The original article can be found at http://fabolousblog.blogspot.com/

Sean talks about the use of his TomTom GPS navigator being less stressful and efficient for drivers. This really appeals to me to buy this GPS because it could prove to be a very useful tool to use for driving. I'm going to drive to North Carolina once school is out and I am reasonably nervous about the drive because it's more than 10 hours. I am almost positive that I'm going to invest in the GPS called TomTom to help my drive be less stressful. I imagine that the majority of the United States will do the same thing in my predicament. With the world becoming more technology advanced, the use of GPS systems will become more common. The GPS navigators will be, at one point in the future, be used by every driver in the United States. Maps will no longer be needed to be used for travel, it will all be technological. I feel that the due to the increasing sales that GPS systems are having, that the United States drivers as a whole are going to begin to travel longer distances by car rather than flying because of the rise in plane tickets and accessibilty of the advanced GPS systems. I hope my GPS experience is as less stressed as Sean's experience was.

Evaluation: Lacrosse

Lacrosse is one of the most unique sports available. However, I did not have the opportunity to participate in this sport during high school because my high school didn't offer it. Now that I'm at Ithaca College, I have the chance to watch this sport. I have attended a few games and find the game really cool and exciting. It's said to be the fasting game played on two feet and I believe it because with the skilled athletes sprinting back and forth and the ball whipping across the field creates an exciting sport. I really wish that the sport had been offered at my high school because I think I would have enjoyed this fast pace game. The game has so much to it such as speed, finesse, strength, power, agility, concentration, hand eye coordination, and much more. All of this really makes this game impressive to the spectator and appealing to other athletes. I think that the sport is on the rise in America because it was just recently sactioned as a high school sport and state playoffs for lacrosse are now required and supported. Eventually, this will help create this sport onto a more nationwide level. Most people outside of the Northeast have never witnessed a game but this exciting game could be one of the most popular sports in decades to come.

Evaluation: New York Yankees

What comes to mind when New York Yankees are mentioned? Some say the evil empire, a bunch of overpaid athletes but the real fans say the best baseball team that has won numerous championships. Personally, I was raised a Yankee fan being that I'm from New York (Sorry Mets, just not a fan). I'm not one of the many bang wagoners that choose to join the teams heritaged history but a true fan. Nowadays they have possibly the best lineup in baseball. We have one of the best clutch players in the league in Derek Jeter and one of the best statistic leaders with Alex Rodriquez. The rest of the lineup is full of the best players around the nation, some even out of the nation with Hideki Matsui from Japan. Our biggest question over the past years has been our pitching staff. There have been allegations with Roger Clemens and Andy Pettitte using illegal performance enhancing drugs. Roger is not currently on the roster, but Andy is, and pitched a great game today allowing the Orioles to only one run. We have the number one prospect in the league in Joba Chamberlin. He came up through the farm leagues of the Yankees and has been having an impact on the game since last year. Yes, the Yankees do now use the farm league teams for prospect. We were hated on for not looking for talent within the organization but now we do more than people would believe. As of now the Yankees are a solid 10-10 with a few star players out of the lineup. I think that this year is the year for the Yankees and will add yet another championship to there long list of 26 World Series Championships.

Respone to Shuttle Bus at IC

The original article can be found at http://ccoppin.blogspot.com/

After reading the Chris's Blog I absolutely agree with both, him and the article. Being that I just wrote my proposal paper on the parking here at Ithaca College, I found a lot of problems with it. One of my solutions was this shuttle bus system, however I didn't hear about it until after I finished my proposal. My proposal and that of the article were very similar. As Chris said, it would help cut down on the emissions that are affected with numerous cars being used because it is a hefty carpool system. The big thing that it would cut down on, would be the number of cars on campus. There are always problems with the number of cars on campus because they take up lots of space, and cause problems for public safety and other students. This shuttle bus would allow much more space because kids will not feel the need to jump in their car(possibly shovel off the snow) then drive to class, and vise versa. They would simply jump on the bus(that should be nicely heated) and ride to class. The shuttle would be perfect to fit into the sustainable society of Ithaca College because it would cut down on emissions cost immensely. I really hope that the college implements this shuttle system!

Response: Registering For Classes 2008

In response to Registering For Classes 2008 found at http://jordanraeberry.blogspot.com/

I agree with Jordan! The homerconnect network is a terrible network. Whether it is based from Ithaca or another location, the servers are not adequate enough to handle the load of people registering for classes. I know for the first semester I had no problem but that was because it was broken down by orientation sessions. I was in the second session of six and it was relatively easy to get the classes I needed. However, I first encountered a problem with homerconnect when I logged on, or attempted, to select housing for 2008-2009. My computer loaded the web page amazingly slow. My roommate tried to do the same but his wouldn't even load. Luckily mine loaded eventually and I got the housing that I wanted but it was only because I set my standards low, and chose the towers residence hall compared to the terraces. I felt that the servers at homerconnect are not capable of handling the load of users that Ithaca College presents. When anywhere from 2-6 thousand people try to log onto a server, there will always be trouble but everyone had trouble. It was considered a housing fiasco for this year. Some kids where not able to log on and others where not able to get the housing halls that they wished to get. Today the seniors registered I know some people that logged on at 7am when it opened and they were not able to log on until 25 minutes later. That's ridiculous! How is it a tuition of this sort of standing and financial ability can have these sort of problems with technology? Something needs to be done. I think the homerconnect network should get new servers, with more capabilities to handle more people, otherwise this problem will continue.

Parking Incident

I recieved a call from Kathy of the Parking Services this past Tuesday at 11am. By the time I was able to call her back it was 12pm. She told me that she wanted me to move my car parked in freshmen parking lot M to parking lot Z. LOT Z!!!!! The farthest lot away from my car! The reason behind all this chaos is because she said that there needed to be drilling in the area where my car was parked. What could they possible be drilling for at this time of year? There was no formal e-mail sent out to inform me that on April 8th, 2008 I was not going to be able to have my car there. Instead they called me on short notice. She also stated that if I didn't move it by 2pm then my car would have to be towed. TOWED?! How could I get towed for having my car parked in the correct lot? I think this is rediculous! Giving me 2 hours to move my car is not adequate time to move it. I had a class at 1pm and was forced to rush around before class to make sure my car was not going to get towed. To add into the fun of the day, my passenger window happened to stop operating because it would not go back up after I drove to the Z lot. I had to manually push it up then tape it (with tape I attained from a NYSEG worker, thankfully he was there). I can't believe our parking services here at Ithaca College are so rediculous. Why is it that our parking department is one of the hated services on campus? Well, I can guarantee it's because they are never prepared, organized, or justified. My proposal for my final essay in this class will be written on the Parking Dept due to this incident.

Respone to Locked Out

In response to Sara's Blog: Locked Out, find at http://saraswritingblog.blogspot.com/

After reading her article I feel her pain. First of all I use to suffer from asthma as a child and there was nothing more frightening then having your breathe instantly taken away from you. You can't communicate to people what's wrong or anything, all you can do is make hand gestures and struggle to breathe. I'm lucky and was able to grow out my child asthma but I still have the respect for the people that still suffer from it. I could not imagine having to walk to the health center then explaining whats wrong with me through a glass door barricade. I have dealt with the system from the first hand experience. Me and my buddies got in a fight one night off campus and after we came back to the dorms we thought my friend could have broken his nose and wanted to get it checked out. We took the long, lengthy hike from the towers to the health center to be stuck outside, just as Sarah described, explaining to the lady through the door to let us in to seek immediate medical attention. We finally got in and the service was too relaxed, there were only 2 or 3 people working and they were not in any hurry to service one guy fast medical attention, when he was the only one needing help. After a half an hour the lady working determined that we should go to the hospital. I think an adequate doctor or nurse should be able to determine if someones nose is knocked off the cervix easily. How could it take her 30 mintues to look at his nose? We eventually found our own ride to the hospital and everything was taken care of, but it was mildly ridiculous. Something needs to be changed about this flawed Ithaca College policy.

Evaluation: Counting Crows

As some of you may now Counting Crows came out with a new CD about a week ago. The name of the cd is Saturday Nights and Sunday Mornings. My first impression of the CD was the single they released, called You Can't Count On Me. At first I was not a fan! I've enjoyed all sorts of Counting Crows from the past and was pumped for the new album. This single gave me false hope of what the CD's quality was. However, I still ended up getting the CD. My first full run through of the CD was at 6am this morning (4/6). I thought it started to fast paced than what the Counting Crows should be playing at. It was too loud, too fast, too many instruments, and too high paced of lyrics being spoke. It could be that I was half awake, half asleep but as I listened to the rest of the CD I really begin to enjoy it. The second song was Hanging Tree, one of my favorite lines is... "This dizzy life of mine keeps hanging me up all the time This dizzy life is just a hanging tree"(A Z Lyrics). It is a Counting Crow line at it's best. The second song on this CD secured my thoughts that the Counting Crows were not changing their image and trying to fit the mold of a rock band but staying comfortable alternative music that is known for it's smooth rythym with meaningful lyrics. My false hope of their first bad single, is now overturned because yet it's not my favorite song on the album it's allowable. The songs that have not been released as singles are the true Counting Crows CD. Overall, I think this album is another triumph for the Counting Crows and the box office and billboards should prove to think so, as I expect good results and wait in anticipation for another great CD.

Response to "Freshman Parking Lots"

In response to The Freshman Parking Lot, and Traffic Services by Chris Coppin that can be found at http://ccoppin.blogspot.com/

My first incident with the parking services here at Ithaca College occured on campus before school even started. In preseason for football we were not allowed to move our cars because of some odd football rule (even though we barely had time outside of practices) but I ended up getting a ticket. I tried to level with them but they found no point in disputing it. I then heard of a story from a friend of mine. Last year he was a freshmen and after fall break the freshmen parking lot was full of cars, in which some didn't have parking stickers to even park on campus. He parked his car, the best he could, in the grass off to the side because there were no spots left. He ended up getting a $30 ticket while the kids who didn't even have a parking sticker ended up recieving only $20. Now is this justice? I think not! The parking price is twice as much as it is for upper classmen. Personally, living in the towers, it is a hike! There are times I need to run downtown for supplies, and will not just because my car is so far away. I think that the parking needs to be readjusted because the faculty lots are never full, and the student would gladly park closer to their dorms from the convience. Once again the tuition paid for this school could help fund another small parking lot in a convinient location for students. I know lots of freshmen agree with this statement.

Evaluation: march MADness

March MADness is one of the biggest sport betting events of the year, as many fanatics around the nation will agree. Just as the superbowl betting is, march madness creates the opportunity for huge amounts of money to be bet. I feel every year someone bets their mortage of their house, and some years the select few win and some lose it. The cinderalla teams pose such a great betting appeal because the odds are against them, and all they need to do is surprise a team with a 40 minute performance to change the nation. I feel that the march madness tournament is now the biggest betting sporting event annualy! Between the endless fantasy brackets and single game betting there are endless opportunities to win big or lose it all. How many people reading this article have a bracket set up on yahoo, espn, or even facebook? And of those of you that do, how much have you spent to join it and what's the winning pot size? A simple $5 in the right bracket could end up winning over $100, which is an enormous turn around. Personally, I'm not allowed to bet being an NCAA athlete because it violates some rule, but I envy those that are allowed to join in on the festivities. Watching the games I always root for the underdog, and always will because march MADness is the environment that creates an atmosphere where anything can happen in any game and any time, just ask Davidson College about it. Good luck readers with your brackets.

Response to Abstinence

In response to Jordan's acticle on Abstinence, which can be found at http://jordanraeberry.blogspot.com/

After reading his blog, it reminded me of my high school. I reminised back to a day in 5th grade calss when we had our first sex ed class. It was only a lady that told us about sex, and it was overall a very childish thing that didn't get in depth. Once we got into middle school we were taught about it again with more in depth features of pregnency and std's. To simulate pregnency we had to take care of an egg for a week, and if the egg broke we would recieve a zero for the project. My egg survived but having to take care of baby in high school or even in college is outta control. It's impossible to handle a baby and an education in today's society of trying to get ahead in academics and balancing a baby. Safe sex was definately pushed hard at my school, abstinence was mentioned but overall it wasn't practiced by many. I remembered the older kids above my class had problems with STD's going around the school and I feel my class and the kids below us practiced more safe sex methods than the classes that graduated before us. I feel it's always safe to use a condom when having sex, just to be safe because no one wants to suffer from diseases that don't need to occur when only a dollar rubber can prevent. How do other students feel on this topic? Being in college I imagine views are different from when we were in high school.

Evaluation of ITS Password Change

I just recieved an email from the ITS helpdesk telling about the need to change our passwords, as I'm sure everyone reading this article is in the same dilemma. With only a quarter of the first school year left to go, the ITS decides to change the password secuirty here at Ithaca. First of all it's a waste of time. Honestly, who steals peoples passwords to their email and webct account. There is no benefit of having that password, unless you want to read their lame school emails they recieve or look at their grades. Feel free to steal mine because there is no need for such a secure password for an area that isn't even that meaningful to me. If it were the password to my Etrade account, which is doing as good as the stock market right now, then I would want a very secure password. The requirements of the password are even more ridiculous because you must have a combination of 8 figures with numbers, letters, and a special key such as a % * _ - !. Why would i ever want a special key in my password to confuse me more? A simple letter and number combination is very easy. Another flaw in the system is that in 120 days I have to reset my password. That means on July 15th, 2008 when I'm sitting at home, I'm going to have to work on setting a new password to make sure my account is secure. Luckily I'll remember do it, and even worse remember my password to do it. Otherwise I will have to see the ITS desk personally in the fall to fix the problems this occurs. How do the other students feel on this subject? I can guarantee that the majority will feel the same way because it is a waste of time and shouldn't have to be addressed.

Response to "Britney"

In response to the article "Britney" by Liza found at http://eyorke1.blogspot.com/

I find the whole topic of sex appealing dolls to young girls, absolutely disgusting because why would we want our young audience of children, that soak up everything they can learn as a sponge, idolizing sex appealing tactics. Girls that are targeted as the consumers of the bratz are roughly 4-12 yrs old. That is the age of innocence for young girls where they aren't corrupted by drugs, sex, etc. Then why would we want to change it and introduce them into sex appealing attitudes, where they dress as pretty much sluts when they are only children that haven't even experienced puberty yet. Liza did some great research as she visited the website of the Bratz dolls to find all the girl dolls information. It's insane how one girl is "right now a vegetarian", and another is "not afraid of confrontation, she knows who she is, what she wants and how to get it." Those are some comments that involve a lot of age to bring out of people. Little girls are not suppose to act like that. The marketers and designers of this product should be utterly disgusted with themselves, as they are corrupting the youth of our society. What gives them the right to be able to sell sex provacative toys on the market? There's one thing about making money, it is either done ethically or unethically. At the end of the day if someone can look into the mirror and say that they earned an honest dollar, through hard work and good ethics. Then that is great, but when your dealing with people that corrupt society, well their ethics are thrown out the window long before they can get to see themselves in the mirror of honesty.

Evaluation of an Essay

Being in a writing class, there is a lot of speculation that surrounds writing. When a paper is written what determines the grade that should be recieved. Which brings me to the question of : what makes an average paper into a great paper? Well there are things that I feel are given... A paper must follow the form given, whether it's a persuasive essay, argument, or eulogy remembering someone. It must follow the form for the desired type of essay. Another requirement that must be met is your paper must be gramatically correct. That means no mispelled words, right punctuation, commas, and a good use of vocabulary. The argument exists in the topic of the paper. Just as an artist would create a picture of his or her vision of an object with a different spin upon it or a sort of pablo picasso picture. A paper is very similar because the view of the paper depends on the view given to it by the author. The paper is the authors canvas, words are used like paint, and the final draft is the masterpiece. How is it a teacher can give a D to a paper just because they simple disagree with the topic? I don't feel it's right, as long as facts present the paper that it is portrayed then the grammar and fundamentals should be all that is graded. The opinion of a paper is solely up to the author whether it is in line with the teachers view or against it. Papers are the outlook of authors as artist create their view of the mona lisa, the paper describes it and all the intangibles of it. Does anyone disagree with my statement? Being that we are in a writing class, this could cause stir between teacher and students.

School Shootings

The latest school shooting occured at Northern Illinois University, leaving 5 students dead. When are people going to learn that this is unacceptable in today's society and needs to be stopped? The epitamy of school terrorism occured last year as Virginia Tech had numerous students and faculty killed and injured. I remember reading stories of the student who committed the shootings. He was a loner, that had no direction in life, even his teachers noticed his unstable state of mind and wanted him removed from their classes. In the retrospect of the VT incident, many videos and images were found of the shooter. This proves that the student was trying to make a life for himself by getting noticed in a negative manor. Seeing how the media portrays criminals in the news, he must have known that he could have a reason for his existence by making the newspaper at every doorstep. My arguement is that unstable people in society are beginning to display themselves in a modern "kamikaze" to make a name for themselves. Take the criminal from the VT shootings, as he deliberately left videos and numerous pictures of him holding guns and other miscellanious weapons. I feel that anyone that is at such an unstable state of mind should have moments of calling for help. People just need to notice that and help them as you would help a friend, in order to prevent disasters such as the NIU shootings or the VT shootings. I would end on the quote of "Life is too valuable to waste.

Response to "Video Games"

In response to Beth's article on video games, which can be found at http://ejones1.blogspot.com/

The statistics she provided from CNN, are extremely accurate! Men are easily 3 times more likely to get addicted to video games then women are. From an individual aspect, how many of your friends that play video games are males? Personally, I know only a few women that enjoy to play video games, and no offense to the women reading this but they are not very good at it. The arguement is what makes men have more competitive drive and ease of addiction compared to that of women? She described that men have more brain activity that senses the competition that they feed upon due to the MRI brain scanning results. Could it simply be that women are not interested in flashy video games therefore the tests are altered? Typically women do not take interest in things that are aggresive and "guy-esque" such as cars, alcohol, or drugs as much as men take interest. In today's society men are trained to have aggresive behavior, the same aggresive behavior could lead to the possible addiction to alcoholism, drug addiction, or even video game addiction. Women are by the basis of society, to act in a complacent manor which could lead to less reports of addiction. However, they do get addicted to shopping quite easy(just kidding).

Valentine's Day

Most women in this material world would state this as one of the best holidays there is, due to the fact that it somehow brings them and their "lovers" together. For the men it's considered (this year) as the worst thursday of the year because if they even have a significant other, they have to go out and buy numerous items or for the ones that don't they wallow in self pitty of being single. My point is whether Valentine's Day is being created into another materialistic holiday where massive amounts of presents and love are to be exchanged between lovers. Is Valentine's almost as materialistic as Christmas? Isn't it a day that should be focused on proving your love to someone not buying them presents to make up for the lack of effort. Personally, I've been on both ends of the spectrum. I've been the single guy that notices I need to find someone to make me happy, and I've been the guy that is infatuated with my special girl. I found that either way it's not about the presents you buy for them or the chocolate you eat. It's about what you do to impress them and how creative you are. Another thing about this holiday is that it's not just to be focused on your boyfriend or girlfriend but on all the people you care about, that means your parents, grandparents, brothers, and sisters. It shouldn't be a materialistic holiday but a rejoicing holiday of love.

The Clemens vs. McNamee Trial

As everyone probably already knows, the trial between Clemens and McNamee has been clogging the airways for the past couple days. Due to the speculations of the trial, I chose to bring up this discussion to the class through my blog. For background purposes Roger Clemens is arguably the best picture in baseball, winning the coveted Cy Young Award a remarkable 7 times, while still reaching into his late 30's. The defendant is Brian McNamee that was Roger's personal trainer who worked with the New York Yankees and the Toronto Blue Jays (both teams Roger played for). When the Mitchell Report was released McNamee gave a statement saying he injected Clemen's with anabolic steriods and human growth hormone (HGH). The awkward thing about the incident was McNamee saved the guaze pads and needles from the supposed incident that occurred over 7 years ago. Testifying in a court of law McNamee stated that he injected Roger with those needles, however in prior years to this scandal, McNamee has been known for lying. Is this another attack on "America's favorite past time" game called baseball or could it be another scumbag trying to cash in on one man's success that is known for having a great work ethic and even more talent? What makes it justifiable? What credability does the game have left?

Death Penalty

The oldest form of punishment, the Death Penalty (aka Capital Punishment). It is highly debated in America and is thought to be cruel and unusual punishment. Some states in America don't even support the death penalty. New York didn't support capital punishment until in the early 90's. Even then few people have been executed from death row. My senior paper was on this same article. Originally I felt that the death penalty was something that makes America great because it serves as just punishment for the sick criminals that live in this world. Therefore I absolutely supported it, but after looking at statistics of the court cases I was disgusted. If i remember correctly, it costs roughly $100,000 to have an average criminal serve a life sentence under the highest security, but yet the average court case for capital punishment is around $2 million. The money is paid by the taxpayers providing the criminal defense in his case. Would anyone want their money being used for that? That means supporting the defense of a man that could have molested children, raped young woman, or shot an innocent man on the street. I stand by the death penalty but the flaws in the system need to be fixed because there is too much of the citizens money being put into the defense of criminals that deserve to die. Yes, I feel that any man or woman that has a sick enough mind to commit horrific crimes and kill or severely harm innocent people, deserves to die. It's harsh but it's the truth! How would anyone not support the death penalty?

Respone to Why 21?

Original Article located at http://bhaywood1.blogspot.com/

In response to the original article I agree that the United States are harsh on the drinking age laws. It's almost as if the lawmakers are claiming that young adults in America are too immature and irresponsible to handle drinking beer. Other countries have ages such as 16, 18, or parental consent. Why determines the age of 21 to be a mature age? An individual can go across seas to die for his or her country but they can not drink alcohol because they don't have the responsibility? Isn't there a lot of responsibility given to an 18 year old when they are given a loaded gun? It just doesn't make sense! In high school my school had the opportunity of foreign exchange kids to learn from our country. One thing most of them didn't understand was the drinking age. He knew that in his home country the age was 18 (Germany) and it was respected. The interesting thing is he noticed that in America people have people obssessed with underage drinking because it's a revolt against the governments set of laws, and in college everyone does it. In the United States we constantly have alcoholics that develop from waiting to the age of 21 then going crazy with binge drinking at parties which leads to serious injury or death. Compared to overseas where people develop it into a steady habit instead of instantaneous binge drinking, and it is respected overseas also. What is holding the government back from changing the age to 18?

Response to "Nicked and Dimed"

The following post is a response to Seth's evaluation located at http://bhaywood1.blogspot.com/ .
In his post he expressed the aspect of being "nicked and dimed" in which money is taken for every little thing that is used. There is a large consensus, if not all, that people at this college believe that Ithaca College does charge lots of fine fees and expenses compared to other colleges. I know for a fact that at other schools that charge less tuition are given free cable and internet. The only downfall is that they have to pay for laundry. Here at Ithaca we have the benefit of laundry but what most people don't know about the laundry is that tuition rose dramatically when laundry became free. A lot of things at this college have additional costs that add up constantly. Personally, I have lots of small expenses that I've already occurred such as being warned and fined, at the same time, for having too many connecting lights hung up in my room. How do you get a warning and a fine at the same time? I agree with the prior post the this college does take advantage of our money but what could be done to change it to make it better?
I know this is a highly debated topic on campus and everyone has an opinion

First Post

For my first blog post, I took a simple argument that occured this weekend with a group of college kids evaluating a picture of a controversal issue in today's society. Over in my friends room there was a playboy centerfold hung on his wall, as girls began to pile into the room a mixed discussion about whether it was acceptable or disguisting began. Obviously the guy's view of the picture were more than acceptable, due to the pleasure aspect. The real evaluation of this argument exist within the women who split their decision. The accepting group of girls welcomed the picture because it served as motivation to look as fit and beautiful as the girl in the picture. The opposing viewpoint of the other girls was the exact opposite, the girls were disgusted a woman would let herself be viewed like that and were disgusted that it was allowed in today's society. This brings up the point that in today's society is it socially acceptable to have pornography pictures visible hung up? Would be interesting to see this classes views between the girls and guys.