Football has become a Deadly Game

Pete Stenhoff, 17, a student at Chula Vista High School in Redmond, Calif., was hurt in a game during his junior year. He rammed his head into the ball carrier's chest. Stenhoff cracked vertebrae in his spine and now is confined to a wheelchair for life.

There are 20,000 injuries in high school football each year. 12 percent of them permanently disable the victims. Last year thirteen youths died.

"I knew the risks involved when I decided to play football," Stenhoff says, and adds, "I wish I would have known just how bad it could be."

At the time of the accident, he weighed 210 pounds; now he weighs 172 pounds. He didn't graduate with his class is and trying to get his diploma by taking correspondence courses.

Topical Blog Post #2

Some young people go to college with knowledge of what they want to do with their future. Others go without the slightest idea of what they want to do, but have hopes of figuring it out. Some just do not want to be in college and are just there to have a good time. However, all of these young people that go to college are there to grow. In which direction? It varies, but it would be rare for someone to come out of college the exact same person they were when they enrolled. For many of us, young college students, the transition to adulthood we experience can be difficult.
Recently, websites have been created to spread among young, growing college students. These websites, such as juicycampus.com and thedirty.com allow anyone to post anything about anyone of their peers, anonymously. You can search a student by there name, school, organization, or location. The problem with these websites is that there is no way of taking down a picture or blog someone else wrote about you, and there is no way of knowing who posted it.
I like to think of this as a hate crime of the 21st century. Students, using technology to destroy the reputations of their peers. We are the next generation, together. We are all growing, together. This unnecessary form of hate needs to stop. Young people in such a vulnerable stage in their lives are known to react in extreme ways when hurt like this.
So what do we do about it? By the time someone sues this website people will be onto the next, new thing. What we can do now is just stop going on these sites. They only strive because students blog on. If students stopped, so would the websites. I ask you to in a sense, uneducate yourself. Clear these websites from your mind.

Topical Blog Post #1

Marriage has been on my mind ever since I was a little girl. If you look back to the time of works such as, Jane Austen's, Pride and Prejudice you'll easily be able to contrast the reasons for marriage to present day. Today, we are so fortunate to be able to marry for love, not for status or any other agenda. Yet, I find so many people, particularly in our country, who take this privilege for granted. This is something that has bothered me since my parent's divorce. Monogamy and respect for marriage seems to be often, nonexistent.
Take a good friend of my family. He is well known as a highly respected businessman, a generous charity donator, yet he has been divorced three times. Of course, he's not flawless, but something that has recently bothered me about him is that he was for California's proposition 8. A man, who has been divorced three times.
I suppose it is hard for someone to understand something unless they are exposed to it. This is something I try to keep in mind when I find a strong opposition to someone's views. I was fortunate enough to attend a lesbian wedding this summer. My good friend's mom married her life partner in a beautiful ceremony on a gondola, this summer. As the sunset over the bay, I watched the ceremony, and it became clear that this is what marriage is about. What I saw was two people so completely in love with one another. There was no question of faithfulness, no hidden agenda regarding money, just two people who wanted to spend their lives together.
It is hard for me to continue my respect for this man who votes yes on proposition 8, yet makes marriage out to be such a joke himself. I suppose his light hearted view of marriage is his prerogative, but then why should he deny this right to people so sincere about their testimony of love to one another, a testimony in which he mocks so blatantly? Something there just is not right.

Vogue magazine, "The world's most influential fashion magazine," according to book critic Caroline Weber of The New York Times is most famous as a presenter of images of high fashion and high society. Unable to afford high fashion, or high society lifestyles, I read Vogue as an inspiration of my fashion choices and as a collection of beautiful art. Vogue publishes writings on art, culture, politics, and ideas. Since 1892, this magazine has been read by women in every class, typically from ages 18-54 who want a glimpse at the beautiful, unattainable lifestyle it portrays. To catch a glimpse yourself, click on the magazine's website link below.

VOGUE website

America Votes for Change

The American People have spoken and Barack Obama will become the 44th President of the United States of America.
Today, Tuesday, November 4, 2008, was my first time being allowed to vote for the president. However, when I arrived at Grace Baptist Church in San Jose to cast my vote, I was taken by surprise as a man picked my pocket, making today a day of firsts. I have never been robbed before, and unfortunately my driver's license was taken by his grasp as well. Not only was I short twenty five dollars, but a right to vote as well, with no form of proper identification. Hopefully, in four years I will be able exercise my right to vote for the President of the United States.
This election was the most controversial in the history of our country. However today would of been historic no matter who won. Under John McCain, was Sarah Palin, who could have been the first female vice president, as well as Barack Obama, who is now the first African American President of the United States. In my personal opinion, when it comes to leading our country out of economic crisis, race and gender are my last concern.
Cnn.com was my number one source to the election. The website provided the world with updates by the second. Obama won by a landslide, with 388 electoral votes, in comparison to McCain's 155 electoral votes. Nevada, Colorado, New Mexico, Iowa, Flordia, Virginia, and Ohio, all previously Republican, were converted by Obama's campaign.
As a proud Republican in a Democratic state, rather than wallow in defeat, I can only accept the change that the majority of my country has voted for and support our new president. I can only hope that President Obama, Vice President Joe Biden, and the Democratic congress keeps their promises to build a new economy and to rebuild our country's leadership in the world. Especially since our country is in the face of what is arguably the darkest economic outlook since the Great Depression. A lot of pressure is riding on President Obama to lead us through the many challenges we face.