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.