Article Response

"The Case Against Summer Vacation" offers some good information, but I do not agree with all of it. The three months of summer that our school system offers has its pros and cons. Many suffer from "summer learning loss" after not focusing on school for a quarter of the year. The academic slide varies between students but all fail to retain at least a month of what they learned. In my opinion however, these three months of summer is completely needed. Students need a break! The system is not as flawed as  the article is making it out to be. Students can seek extra academic help over the summer months if they feel it is needed. Waking up very early in  the morning and having five days in a row of school per week is not ideal for high school students, but it is working. Until a realistic alternative to our school system schedule is offered, I think nothing should change.

Album Review

Album title: Nothing Was the Same                                                                                                         

Artist: Drake

Release Date: 24 September 2013

Genre: Hip-Hop, Rap

                Nothing Was the Same was Drake’s third studio album. The album did more sales in the first week (658,179), than his previous and also extremely successful Take Care. Drake returns to his “old self” on this album and raps in almost every song unlike his unique choice to sing a majority of the time on his previous album. Fans were pleased to have his old sound back and so was I. Drake also blends in his R&B style on the album. The song order and flow of the album is well chosen and creative. In the opening six-minute “Tuscan Leather” intro, Drake is all verse and no hooks as his bragging lyrics start immediately ("This is nothing for the radio/ But they'll still play it though/ Cuz it's the new Drizzy Drake, that's just the way it go") but his rhymes have a lot more bite to them. Drake knows this is the best rap album of the year (and his career) and is not afraid to express it. NWTS is a perfect blend between the rap of his first album and the singing/R&B of his second album.

 “Hold On, We’re Going Home” featuring Majid Jordan, which serves as the second official single from NWTS, finds Drake doing his best to please is singing radio fans. “Started from the Bottom was also released several months before as a catchy radio rap song to create hype for the album. In “Worst Behavior” and “Wu-Tang Forever” Drake is in top solo form as his intense lyrics and tailored beat have Drake in his best form yet. Drakes has few features on the album and chooses wisely who goes on his tracks. Jay-Z is featured on “Pound Cake” as Drake matches one of the all-time greats of rap bar for bar while still throwing in his own style. He also provides another track with fan favorites 2 Chainz and Big Sean on the song “All Me” as all three toss in credible verses as Drake seals up the song with the hook.

Drake’s audience ranges anywhere from young teens to people in the mid 20’s, but many of his songs off of NWTS are timeless. As an unbiased opinion, anyone can appreciate the talent and passion Drake has for music, shown through his creative lyrics and storytelling.

Rating- 9/10

Overall balance- well balanced between singing and rapping

Criticism- Have some more featured artists

Holiday Spending

Holiday spending has grown to be a huge expenditure in the U.S. and the crazy thing is that numbers are still increasing each year. In recent years, we have spent as a whole 200+ billion dollars from all the major holidays combined. The amount of money spent on holidays, especially Christmas, is very disturbing to me for a few reasons. Many people, almost all of America, have lost the real meaning of Christmas and why it is celebrated. If you look at it from that perspective, the amount of money spent on presents should not even exist. Also, imagine if instead of spending money on things that we want and do not necessarily need, the money (125+ billion) was used to eliminate hunger in the U.S. or provide education for those who cannot afford it. Christmas in the U.S. has exploded into a hectic time of gift buying instead of spending time with family and celebrating what it is all about, the birth of Jesus. I am not complaining about all the presents I will receive on the 25th, but rather that this is all people care about and it is clearly shown through the enormous amount of money spent each year. Holiday spending provides us with happiness and satisfaction but ironically only for a season, the joy is only temporary. Each year, we will spend the same amount of money to again never be fully satisfied. The money could be used for a better purpose or simply not spent at all. The money saved would be put into the economy slowly instead of in a small period. Do not get me wrong, I love the holidays, its just the insane amount of money spent on them seems unnecessary to me.

Journal Presentations

•   In Australia, a man decided to run around on the freeway and head-butt oncoming cars. Now police and others aren’t positive if he was on some sort of drug, but he was taken in for a mentally distressed evaluation. The man who filmed this event happening, Gawker, say that this is the start to a zombie apocalypse. But in reality the man is either insane or drugged up beyond belief. Although the man’s name has yet to been released, we do know that he is fairly young at age 34. From watching the footage it clearly shows that he deliberately trying to injure himself. The man congested traffic for hours and was head-butting cars for 10 minutes straight without stopping.    

• Two twins who grew up separately have an unbelievable amount of similarities and coincidences when comparing their lives. Ohio resident James Edward Lewis, who married a woman named Linda, but divorced her and married a woman named Betty, with whom he had a son named James Alan. Lewis had been adopted as a baby, he tracked down and met for the very first time his twin brother, James Arthur Springer, who also married a woman named Linda, but divorced her and married a woman named Betty, with whom he had a son named James Allan. When the men met in 1979, they were both in their 30’s and had no specific knowledge of their twin brother. Twins are capable of having very similar traits even if they grow up separately. It turns out the twins had even more similarities: They both liked math and carpentry in school but hated spelling. They both had jobs in law enforcement and suffer from headaches at the same time of day. 
• In the Czech Republic, a man was just eating his pudding at a restaurant near closing time and when closing time came around, it was time to go. The manager made him leave with his pudding on the table and unfinished. The man wasn’t pleased so he then decided to take it a step further than just eating his pudding or taking it home with him. During cleanup, the man came back… this time, with a chainsaw.  He sliced a hole in the door and climbed inside where he then continued to grab his unfinished pudding to eat peacefully. After he was finished he went on to attack some restaurant workers and threatened them with his chain saw. He was eventually stopped when he was tackled and overpowered by the waiter who then brought him to the station. The man will serve some jail time.
  
  
  
  

High Interest Question

Should all students be required to use laptops to take notes and the whole education system go digital (more use of blogs, similar style to our journalism class).

Halloween Spending

Many Americans are unaware of just how much money we all spend as a whole each year on Halloween: 7 billion. Considering our countries financial state, Businesstime.com is wondering what the logic is behind spending extra money on costumes, candy, and decorations when many Americans are watching their spending so closely. Seven billion dollars for one night is a lot for a minor holiday, if you even consider Halloween a holiday. MSN reports that simply because of the major amount of money spent on Halloween it is turning into a major holiday. This is good for businesses and novelty shops because their revenue is seeing an increase as Halloween spending rises. The National Retail Federation says that the average person celebrating the holiday will spend about $75 on decor, treats, and costumes. In my opinion, that seems like a lot of money to spend on a rather pointless holiday. Maybe most Americans have a more emotional connection to Halloween than myself, but 7 billion dollars is a scary number!

Ken Ross Electronics Response

I disagree with the pediatricians group who recommend parents hold their kids to a two hour limit every day, except for homework, because setting a limit on something makes it even more appealing. If a limit is set, teenagers and kids will feel more inclined to use up their max time and have them thinking about it even more. Technology is a huge part of this young generation, something that pediatricians cannot relate to. Our generation was raised up around technology and is something that we all have a huge interest towards. If we were encouraged to use electronics a little less rather than have specific limitations I think it could go a long way. 

Magazine Analysis

Seventeen Magazine

• The average reading age for this magazine is about 11 years old
• For every page, there is an advertisement page to go with it. The advertisements center around fashion, music, and TV shows that young girls would find interesting.
• Two other students at my table had magazines that catered to people of ages from 20 - 30 years old. The magazines were ESPN and Atlantic, clearly for people of an older age. Another student had an Atlantic magazine and his reading level was 13, so I guess it depends on the subject content. My magazine is clearly geared towards a younger audience.
• Seventeen magazine target audience- 11 to 18 years old (ages most interested in pop culture of this genre), female, elementary/middle school reading level, however older ages still are interested in the content, interested in current fashions and famous people, materialistic and of the middle or upper class.

Qualitative Data

Qualitative

School fees were unheard of in public schools across America until recently when the economy was suffering. Focusing on Norton High, fees for parking, buses, and extracurricular activities such as sports are still in existence, even after the economy has gained stability. I feel that as a public school, fees should not be required for students, especially regarding transportation. Students who drive to school should not have to pay to park because that is basically paying to go to school, something that does not normally correlate to a public school. I asked six other Norton High School students to see if their opinions matched up to mine.  Out of the six students I interviewed, all agreed that fees should not be required of public school students. Only two out of the six felt sports should have a user fee because they are extracurricular.  Other than that, everyone else agree that sports should be free in a public school. Students who played and did not play sports both had responses such as, “if the school is offering it, they should pay for it,” and “public school should have money to put into these things so students do not have to pay them.” Regarding parking and bus fees, one student said, “user fees and parking do not exist in other towns and did not exist here until recently. Extra fees should not be required of public school students.” All six of the students said that they (or their parents) pay for either the buses or a parking spot. Another student reasoned, “we all have to go to school, so why should we be forced to pay when we park here, the school does not pay for our gas to get here.” Half of the students play sports and the other half do not, however those who did not play sports were still against sport user fees. Norton High should look into revising its school fees, identifying alternative resources to raise funds, and listen to the student body for their opinions.

Research Question

Should school fees be something that all student are required to pay? Qualitative: interview students for their responses. Quantitative: find out what percent of students pay school fees and if they think they should or should not exist.

Interview

Sean Bostrom is a very down to earth and simple kid. He likes to spend his time with his friends and enjoys sports. When asked what his favorite vacation was he answered, "I am not the traveling type", he likes his home town and the people in it. "Cliff jumping from forty feet into water with some friends," is one of the most interesting things he has ever done, to name one of many. Sean enjoys playing sports on game day, but does not like practicing his favorite sport: squash. In regards to school, the experienced senior explains: "The new additions on the school are nice, however ac is needed!" Sean's favorite car is the 67 Ford Mustang GT and favorite movie is Dazed and Confused. Sean does appreciate his relatives and would like to travel eventually. He states, "I would like to travel to Sweden because that is my heritage and I want to learn more about my family". I am sure there is much more to learn about this kind and interesting guy.

Negatives of video games/ video games vs. reality

The controversy over whether video games have negative effects on children and teenagers has been an interesting topic in past years. There are both positives and negatives surrounding video games. Many think that as young gamers we cannot differentiate the video game we are playing from real life. Some negatives of video games are that they cause those who play them to be more violent, obese, and reckless drivers. Shouldn’t gamers be able to distinguish a video game from real life? Video games may just be the blame for poor choices by those who happen to play them.

There have been many reports of parents saying that their children have had increased levels of hostility and aggression after playing violent video games such as “Grand Theft Auto” and “Call of Duty”.  Children may see people shooting each other and think that it is real life. This may be true, but the parents have to take some of the blame as well. A parent is making a mistake by allowing their child to partake in playing a game such as Grand Theft Auto because they are simply not ready to play it. The game is rated “M” for mature players. If the gamer is not old enough to play the game, then those allowing them to play should be at fault, not the video game it self. People have to realize that the video game is fake and not real life.

Video games have been linked to obesity because those who play them seem to lose touch with reality. A child who over plays a video game is spending too much time on the couch and should be exercising. If the gamer is putting more time into their online character rather than going outside to play, the lines of video games and reality have been blurred. Obesity can then cause a downward spiral of other bad things, all stemming from playing too much video games.  Spending too much time playing a video game can also cause a lack of sleep, a contributor to obesity. The brain needs time to relax and not be stimulated with endless hours of video games.

Another negative of video games is that it has been related to reckless driving. Gamers race sports cars around a city running red lights and driving well over the speed limit and then translate that into real life. This is simply the gamers’ fault. They have to be able to draw a line between the video game they choose to play and reality. Just because they can drive like an idiot in a video game does not mean they can run red lights on the way to work. Gamers, experienced drivers or not, should know better and not blame a racing game for why they got into a car crash.

Gaming and reality are two completely different entities that should be compared. Games are growing to become more like real life as ever, but we all have to realize that it is still just a game. There are also many positives to video games such as they can teach hand eye coordination without the gamer even realizing it. Gamers should not blame video games, but rather learn that they have no real effect in their life.