paper 3 claim and reason

Our current generation is too hyperactive to sit down and read a book. The rise of technology has caused people to be more engaged with the newest technologies rather than reading books. Television, the internet, video games, and specifically YouTube have transformed the people’s reading and learning habits.
People are increasingly avoiding newspapers, magazines, and print in general because reading text now can almost seem like a burden. People today show a definite preference for video that is ready to play on a screen because it only takes our passive attention to acquire the new information. Why take the time to sit down and read information when you can take a phone out of your pocket and watch news clips from one's phone.
Due to the new ways technology can present information, magazine and newspaper companies are forced to lay off workers. Newspapers are losing subscribers and are forced to no longer print daily.

post

I commented on Chris' blog about life without a cell phone.

Detroit A Struggling City: With Help On Its Way

This past weekend a few friends and I watched the Final Four of the NCAA Basketball Tournament that is currently going on. This year the Final Four teams are competing in the city of Detroit, Michigan. The city is struggling because it is the base of the United States auto manufacturing market, and with the economy the way it is right now, there are only economic woes. Currently Detroit has the highest unemployment rate in the nation with a 12% unemployment rate. The Big Three automakers are in need of multi-billion dollar government bailouts in an attempt to stay on their feet.

The city of Detroit expected 100,000 fans to visit, leading them to rent cars and stay in hotel rooms. Michigan State University is also one of the remaining four teams left in the tournament which is also a plus. Durrell Summers, a sophomore guard playing at Michigan State even said, "I have family members that are unemployed right now."

Hopefully the revenue and money that is produced during the Final Four can aid in opening up some more jobs for families and that the city can prosper in a time of need. It's really sad to hear about hard-working men and women that get laid off from their respective jobs for no reason and for Michigan State to compete for a National Championship in their home state certainly gives the people of Detroit something to take pride in their city as well as to take their mind off of the troubling economic times that they are all going through.

Should College Athletes be Paid? I Think Not

It is March and the NCAA basketball tournament is approaching. As I was watching a basketball game the other night one of the reporters mentioned whether these athletes should receive pay for their play. At first I thought it was an absurd remark but when I thought about it in more detail, college atheltics accounts for a strong portion of a school's revenue. For example, in the national championship game in football two years ago between Ohio State and Florida each team received $17 million that was to be divided among their school and the other teams in their respective conferences.

A player from the Ohio State football team mentions the pay of college athletes when he states, "I think, in all honesty, one of the most exploited groups of people in this country are college athletes, we basically have a job that generates millions and millions of dollars and at the end of the day we don't see any of it." He does make a valid point because when you think of all the television money, the advertisements, ticket sales, and merchandise sales such as jerseys and apparel that is a tremendous dollar amount that none of the players see. College athletics also play a large role in Las Vegas where betting on sports is very common.

Although these players may believe that they should be paid for all of the money they are helping other businesses and people make, they too are already being paid in a sense. The majority of these athletes are already on scholarship for four years of college which can amount to six-figures for out-of-state students. These athletes also are forgetting that they are given clothes that they do not have to pay for. I think it's very irrational and absurd to have college athletes paid because college is a place to learn, not to make money. It is a priveledge to be watched on national television on ESPN, not a job.

Gun Control Across Our Borders

I recently just got back from my spring break. Once I arrived back to my dorm at school I unpacked and started to relax. I turned on the television and started to watch the news. When I was watching the news there was a special story on CNN regarding the drug trafficing and dangerous drug cartels in Mexico. The story discussed how the United States is one of the largest contributors to the problem.

I was baffled and almost dissapointed at how the United States is such a big part of the problem in Mexico. the strict firearms laws, small number of gun shops, and few licensed gun holders provides an incentive for immigrants to purchase guns in the United States and then return to Mexico. A government report even stated that 99.4 percent of the weapons belonging to Mexican criminals are suspected to have come from the U.S.

The news story focused on how the U.S. contributes to the problem by selling a certain type of psitol named the FN-57. They are nicknamed "cop-killers". The firearm is the most used gun within the Mexican drug cartels mainly because they are fairly inexpensive and the ammunition that is used in the firearm is capable of piercing through body armor that is typically worn by the Mexican police. They can also be attained from in one day's drive from the border.

Although we are in a troubling economy right now, capitalism and selling weapons to immigrants that cross the border back into Mexico eventually just leads to larger problems for both our own citizens and the people of Mexico. I believe the U.S. should have a stricter policy for the sale of firearms because not only is it a problem in the U.S., it becomes a larger problem for the wellbeing of other nations as well.

Spring break 09'

Spring break approaches within a week and I cannot wait to get back home and relax. Many of my friends are going on trips all around the globe but I am totally content to just spend my break in California. Several of my friends were trying to get me to go on a trip but I'm so exhausted from school going on a trip and then not being able to come home until the end of the school year just sounded like too much.

For the break I plan to meet up with friends back home and then take a road trip out to Palm Desert for a few days to possibly play some golf and of course enjoy the hot weather. I really miss the warm weather and luckily the past few days here in Dallas have been pretty warm. During the school year it snowed one night and it was the first night that I have ever seen snow when I was not in the mountains skiing.

I'm very excited to see my friends back home. I know several of them will not be able to come down because I know the public school calendar is much different than SMU's. Either way I'm sure it will be a break that's definitely worthwhile

Texas-What I thought it would be like

This past weekend me and a few friends did a community service project working on this old lady's house. It wasn't that bad we just had to do some yard work and it was a nice day to be outside and to get some sun. The best part of this experience though was where the house was located. We were doing community service projects roughly one and a half hours east of SMU and I saw some of the most "southern" people I have seen in my life. I really got a kick out of it.

After working around the house my friends and I decided to get a quick bite to eat at a close by McDonald's. While we were in there I saw one man that I definitely perceived was from the south. He had a Nascar shirt that said, "Dale Earnhardt JR. #1!", a mullet for a haircut, cowboy boots, and a huge belt buckle with the Texas Longhorns logo on it. Honestly, I felt a strong urge to laugh because it looked like such a typical southern stereotype, but instead I just kept to myself.

After eating we were all pretty thirsty, so we decided to get a quick milk shake or ice cream at the Dairy Queen across the street. While inside a couple in their late twenties possibly early thirties came into the Dairy Queen dressed head to toe in hunting gear. The wife had a pink hat but other than that she was dressed in complete camouflage. Being from San Diego there's not a whole lot of hunting that goes on. I go fishing with a few friends on occasion. It was fun and interesting to see Texas as I originally envisioned it: which consists of people some sort of cowboy attire and see people talking with a heavy southern accent. It was certainly fun to see Texas in a different way.

Arrested for Texting?

I did not know about this story until last week. A 14 year old girl from Wisconsin was arrested for disorderly conduct for refusing to stop text messaging in class. I thought this story was made up at first because it is so ridiculous. After hearing the story from a friend I saw the girl at her high school on television as the news anchor was discussing the story. The police officer's justification for arresting her was for lying, saying she did not possess the phone, not obeying the teacher, and disrupting the class.

This story was such a joke to me at first I literally could not get my head around it. When I was in high school I would see students text during the middle of class multiple times. The typical class size in my high school was thirty to forty students per class so students texting seemed to get away with it all the time. If a student had been seen texting by the teacher the worst thing that would happen is getting your phone taken away for two days.

A police officer's job is to protect and serve. Arresting a 14 year old girl for texting is in no possible way protecting or serving the girl. I've noticed that many police officers spend a lot of time on minor problems. Instead of going to a high school to arrest a girl for texting shouldn't the police officer be out on the streets trying to arrest drug dealers and problems that are actually an issue?

Top Athletes Caught Using Steroids.....Again

I am an avid sports fan and I watch almost every sport. But recently I feel that everything I watch has at least one player cheating the game by taking anabolic steroids or performance enhancing drugs for that matter. Several days ago after a long day of school I just wanted to take some time to sit down, relax, and watch some sports. It seemed the only thing being shown on ESPN was all-star baseball player Alex Rodriguez' recent steroid story. Yes, again there is another top athlete who made his way to the pinnacle of the baseball world with the help of drugs.

It's almost become embarassing to realize how many of our country's athletes cheat and ruin their bodies just so they can win. After Lance Armstrong won his last Tour de France, American Floyd Landis won the next Tour. He then had a test come back positive for performance enhancing drugs and was stripped of his title and made the rest of America look bad.

I am not surprised by any means when I see a high profile athlete deny that he or she has ever taken steroids or any other type of drug go on to admit or get caught for having used them. I don't really understand why anyone would want to jeapordize their career of being able to play a sport for a living and get paid far more than one should just so that they can be the better player and get paid more. The risk is definitely not worth the reward.

I am so tired of seeing professional athletes in court testifying to whether or not they used steroids. They might as well have a league for any sport in which the players are allowed to have as many performance enhancing drugs as they would like. Therefore it would be fun to watch because everyone would hit a baseball riduculously far without much effort and there wouldn't be sports drug stories on ESPN the entire day.