CC 2.1

In a recent article by Veronica Linares entitled "Tsunami debris to wash onto US shores over next few years" she talks about the gigantic, very large or extensive, tsunami, large ocean waves caused by an underwater earthquake or volcanic eruption, that struck Japan 2 Years ago. Debris is starting to just now show up in the Pacific Ocean, and its headed towards the U.S. The amount of debris that is on it's way has been described as the size of the state of Texas, so that's a lot of debris that going to have to be cleaned up over the next few years. Linares purpose for writing this article was to inform citizens of the US about whats happening around them.

As the article states "A significant amount of debris has already arrived on U.S. and Canadian shores, and it will likely continue arriving in the same scattered way over the next several years," There has already been reports of debris, arriving regularly now, on the west coast piece by piece and from the looks of things the debris will continue to arrive for quite a while because of how scattered out the debris is in the ocean.

Next Linares beings up ""As we get further into the fall and winter storm season, NOAA and partners are expecting to see more debris coming ashore in North America" Part of the reason why we will start seeing more of the debris is because of the tropical storms, knocking down anything standing in the way, will be beginning to form. These storms cause the water to move around more resulting in more amounts of debris being pushed towards surrounding countries including the US.

Lastly stated by Linares "The waste includes everything from boats to kitchen appliances. And while around 70 percent of the litter sunk into the ocean, the rest -- some 1.5 million tons -- is scattered in the water and drifting toward North America." This just is not your everyday debris, floating usually in groups, that you may see washed up, these are actually items that are used by humans everyday. If it were not for most of the debris plummeting to the ocean floor like an anchor, it would have taken centuries to cleanup all of that extra debris that would be coming in left and right.

Articles like these are helpful to the world, without them people would have no clue what's going on around them from day to day. I find articles to be a little bit more useful than say a news report, because you can actually read whatever it may be that happened, and there is usually more info included in a article that would take up too much time on a news broadcast.

On that note, the author clearly expresses her reason for publishing this article and provides plenty of supporting evidence that is used to back up her main point. Even though the US will be receiving these large amounts of debris; with the right amount of help the cleanup could go by pretty quick. 

Works Cited:
  Linares, Veronica. "Tsunami Debris to Wash onto US Shores over next Few Years." UPI. N.p., 07 Nov. 2013. Web. 09 Nov. 2013.

CC 1.2

Schools not teaching enough?

In a recent article by Betsy Hammond entitled "Oregon high school students rip schools as too easy, too prone to keep bad teachers" she talks about a certain high school in Oregon where students feel that they are getting under educated by their high school because everything seems so easy, teachers don't seem to care, and the list goes on and on. Betsy purpose to writing this article was to inform others of what’s going on at this high school, in hope of maybe something possibly being done about it in the near future.

     

As the article states "Oregon high school students are broadly dissatisfied with their public education experience, saying school isn't challenging enough, too many teachers are careless or incompetent and too many students are falling through the cracks." Here Betsy is explaining exactly how the students think and feel about their school, and just how careless the school can be when it comes to educating their students.

     

Next Hammond brings up that “Only 18 percent reported they are "very satisfied" with their own education" This is just horrible only 18 percent out of 200 kids believe that their school is doing the best they can, while all the others have taken into account that they are not being educated near as much as they should, and that's okay because chances are they probably are not, according to the data taken from surveys, a gathering of a sample of data or opinions, that were conducted at the school about the issue.

     

Now for the teachers, as Hammond writes "Among students who expressed dissatisfaction with their education, 20 percent cited incompetent or unmotivated teachers" I unfortunately find this somewhat to be true because every school has those teachers that are unmotivated and just let their class sit there, then give of loads of homework at the end of the class; therefore leaving the students stumped because they have no clue how to actually do it because it was never explained thoroughly, or even at all.

     

Can not forget the classes, near the end of her article Betsy states that "Those who want to succeed however are held back, by things like limits on available AP classes." This is also a very understandable topic, some students have the want and drive to learn more than just what a core classes offer sometimes, but have no other option if their school barely has any AP courses that can be alternatively taken.

     

There are many more factors that can make students feel like they are being under-educated, poorly or insufficiently educated, by their high school just like the ones above. I can relate to this myself because there are teachers at our school that act the exact same way; Honestly those few should not even be teaching in my opinion.

No one really thinks much of, or pays any attention to this issue, which is where the problem arises. If a teacher doesn't seem to like teaching and can never seem to get motivated then chances are they probably don't belong there and should be replaced with someone who actually wants to help their students succeed.

CC

Apple

As many may know, Apple recently came out with their 2013 lineup of smartphones. The 5C and the 5S these two phones are explained more in depth in this recent article that I read. It is clearly an ad because through out the whole article they are telling your interesting facts and details about the product that make you want to buy it.

For example, "It’s pretty, guys. It’s really pretty. The 5C is made from one single hard-coated poly carbonate  surface with no seams, part lines or joins which has a reinforced steel structure on the inside. ( Poly carbonate is basically a plastic shell instead of aluminum). "The 5C comes in a range of bright poppy rainbow bright colors" the 5C was basically designed to attract younger buyers that's why it's so flashy you could say. The design is also a tad different than previous models released that were more square shaped.

In addition, "The iPhone 5S has an A7 chip, and is the first smartphone ever to have one. The A7 is a modern instruction set, with 2x general purpose registers, 2x floating point registers, over 1 billion transistors and 100 square mm die size." Here are the internals of the iPhone 5S, with just a few minor upgrades from the 5. Not worth the upgrade if you already own the 5 in my opinion.

Lastly, "The new iPhone has a crystal inlaid fingerprint scanner in place of the home button that can read multiple fingerprints. There is a stainless steel detection ring around the home button, so that the sensor can detect your finger without you having to press the button." This is probably the biggest factor that would make you want to go out and buy it, a finger print scanner is quite an advancement for the mobile phone anyway.

On that note, these are all some of the many great new features included in the two new iDevices. This is what draws a consumer's attention to go out and buy the product, and company's know that by now, that's why they continue to do it, and we all fall for it sometimes.

Cc#3

Puerto Rico becoming a state?!


In a recent magazine entitledUpfront by The New York Times, an article named "Puerto Rico: The 51st State?" enforms readers of the possibility of allowing Puerto Rico to be officially apart of the United States, making it the 51st state in the Union.

For the first time ever, Puerto Rico has cast a ballot "in favor of... becoming the 51st state." Puerto Rico is a U.S. territory and has been since 1898, during the Spanish-American War. Now, more than ever, the citizens of Puerto Rico are ready for a major change and hope to one day be an addition to the 50 states of America.

Although the people who live in Puerto Rico are considered American citizens, "those living in the U.S. enjoy full constitutional rights." Puerto Rico is about 1,000 miles from the coast of Miami, Florida and has only one non-voting member of Congress. Also, those living in Puerto Rico cannot vote in the presidential elections, making the residents feel not as important as those who actually live in the United States.

A Puerto Rico local stated in the article that, "[they] are not happy being second-class citizens." Those who support Puerto Rico becoming an official state believe that Puerto Rico would highly benefit from it, both economically and with increased tourism. Those who oppose statehood believe the island would lose it's culture and the residents would then have to pay federal income tax.

This article certainly caught my attention. The fact that Puerto Rico may have the opportunity to become the 51st state is very interesting. It also reminded me how some states were wanting to secede from the Union not too long ago, after the election of President Obama. It's funny how those who are already states and benefit from all America has to offer want to secede, while Puerto Rico would love to join the Union as a state.

It is unfortunate that the residents of Puerto Rico feel like "second-class citizens." It is not sure whether Congress will actually approve the statehood for Puerto Rico, considering it is a very important decision and the United States is dealing with enough issues, including the economy and certain nuclear threats from North Korea. Eventually, it may become an official state though, and those living in Puerto Rico will not stop hoping for this day will come.

CC #4 Trying Times

Trying Times


Times are getting harder as the economy starts to get worse, all that people have known is to go to college, get a good education, and anything to do with college. But is that so much the truth anymore? Dosen't seem like it, because in the artice from a New York Times Upfront magazine they are talking about how the number of college graduates that are unemployed are steady rising, leaving them struggling with debts that have to be paid back, and even just to live.

As Herring says "The end goal is to work in entertainment marketing, but at this time, in this economy, I just need a job" Her dream job that she went to school to major in dosen't have any openings obviously in her area, and she just needs a job doing whatever because some money is better than no money at all.

Stated in the text by Heidi Shierholz "Every way you cut it- by race or gender, with or without a college degree- young people are just not getting the job opportunities they need" What's being said here is that even though most of us don't want to believe it, some people used to get jobs because of their gender, college degree,  and sometimes even race. Well it's not like that anymore, it has now gotten to the point to where that does not matter anymore. There just aren't any jobs available. Simple as that. People are starting to retire later now than what people normally do.

Also stated in the text "The difficult job market is comming at a time when paying for a college degree has become harder" Paying for college's high fee's and prices is already hard enough, truth be told most people don't really have the money to pay for college, so they put their house's, cars and etc up. Which is a huge risk. While other's just take out student loans and slowly pay them back over the years. But how will they be able to do that when job opening's for what they went and payed thousands for are not available, leaving them jobless.

I hope and pray that when I graduate college I will not have this problem because it will be so hard to make it, it will be unbelievable. This problem is killing the 'American Dream" of most people because money is a big part of life, especially with today's economy. My biggest fear is having to move back in at home. Once your gone, I believe that you should not have to come back home, you should try and succed the best you can, then IF you hit rock bottom, then you have no other choice but to.

Hopefully overtime this issue will start to get better, because it's not right for you to put in all the hard work and effort to get through the hard times of college just to come out to basically be devastated, because there are no job openings for what you just spent 4 years of your life majoring in. Time will only tell

Flat tire

CC#3 Topic Of Choice

Flat Tire

Something that is more and more overlooked everyday, and never really though much about is what to do if you have a flat tire. Everyone should know how to change a flat tire, well those who drive anyways and that is exactly what the author of this article is describing how to do.

One thing you will certainly need is a jack to get the car off of the ground and how to properly place the jack underneath it otherwise something could go wrong easily. The text states "The jack needs to go underneath a solid part of the car's frame, not the floorboards!" That would be like putting a jack under a piece of steel, and putting a jack under paper, not going to work. The floorboards would not be very sturdy and the jack could actually come through them and into the car resulting in the car being back on the ground, and now a big hole in your floor. 

Next you will need a tire iron, one should come with your car. As the text states "Usually, when you see the flat tire floating about an inch or two above the ground, you're OK to stop raising the car. That's when you can finish taking the lug nuts off, and removing the wheel entirely" Use the tire iron to get the lug nuts off, it might be kind of difficult breaking the factory grip, like when you can't get the lid off a soda, but not to where you can not get it off.

Last you will need a spare tire, most cars come with this smaller sized temporary wheel that looks like a ugly black donut, unless it has already been used by a previous owner. When putting the tire on you should use caution, as the text states "Immediately replace it with the spare, and start threading the lug nuts back on. Don't try to tighten them all the way, though, or you could actually knock the car off the tiny jack by torsional force alone." You should get the spare on as quick as possible but also as careful too because the jack is made to hold the car up, but not for long periods of time, and can easily slip from under the car if bumped.

I personally know how to change a flat tire, there is not much to it. I have had one flat the whole time that I have been driving, but it is still good to know how because it can save you time and money when having to deal with mechanics coming out and such. 

The author clearly informs the reader of the article on how to change a flat tire if they were to ever have one, and all the steps needed to preform the procedure both safely and correctly.

Metaphor
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Hyperbole

Hit and run book review

I really enjoyed this book is because it was full of twists. Once I thought I knew what was going to happen, it would hit me with something totally unexpected. This type of writing that the author uses kept me thinking. This book leaves me worried, as if what was happening in the book had happened to me. Cassie, Scott, Eddie, and Winks are the four main characters. They are all around my age and it seems like I was going through what they were going through. I guess this book can do that to people. Their situations are unreal, and this stuff happens in the real world. 

First is the theme, Hit and Run gives the readers a main message. It shows what can happen in bad encounters. It helps readers avoid these types of situations. Bad situations have huge consequences, as the book said, “Having the feeling of terror after they had realized what had just taken place"

Next is the characters. Throughout the rest of the book all of the guilt each of the characters had felt was unbelievable. I would have the reaction like Eddie had. He was scared out of his mind! He was the one driving that gray night under the Hanson Underpass. He wasn’t expecting a man, wearing a blue and red baseball cap, to be standing in the middle of the road. They were only having fun, out on a little “joy ride.” This idea they had, of driving under age, was unexpected. I personally like Eddie as a character, he seems like a pretty good kid, makes good grades and all but just made the wrong choice. 

Lastly is the author's choice of style. It almost seems adventurous and creative, because it almost seemed as if the whole plot was like a dream/fantasy after the climax of the book (the accident). Mostly because it had now only foccused on eddie, the main character, and the mysterious man.

I think this book was written is to give young adults a realization of what can happen when they drive under age. I would recommend this book for people who are looking for an old-school thriller. I kind of liked this book because of that. I also really enjoyed this book because of its twists and it gave me a heads up on what can happen if I ever came upon this type of situation. People never really know what can happen.

Razorbacks what are we doing!?

We suck


The author of this article Phil Clark shows more of a descriptive side writting about this event because he is describing the new coach throughly, and how the players react towards this new change in their coaching. This has been tugging at my nerves since it all began with a guy and a girl and their relationship. One of these individuals was the Head Coach of the Arkansas Razorbacks, his name was Bobby Patrino.  A Coach that had a job as the Atlanta Falcons head coach went to the Arkansas Razorbacks to improve the program, and to him, the assistants, and the fans of the Razorbacks he did just that with ten wins last year the Hogs were hoping to improve to the National Championship team that Hog nation despotically wanted.  Then that is when the relationship between Bobby and a young lady got involved   Bobby Patrino had had sexual relations with that young lady.  At first he lied about the accusations but then he came clean and that is when the NCAA and UofA said get out.  Which left the Razorbacks without a head coach that they could look up to and to teach them.  After about a month or so Hog nation got their answer for a new head coach his name was John L. Smith.  Everyone including me thought this would make us just as good if not better with him stepping up as the Razorbacks' head coach, but then the truth set in.  After losing three straight games to UofLM, Alabama, and Texas A&M Hog fans were furious.  Most fans were asking if Smith would be fired and when if he was, but Long, athletic director for UofA, confirmed to the fans that he was backing Smith and was going to let him run things until the end of the year.  His exact words were, "I am sticking with Smith until the end of his contract".  Hog fans were not happy about this decision and I was not happy with it in the slit-est.

     John L. Smith is one of the worst punishment coaches there is, in my opinion.  When players come off the field Smith tries to act like a coach but the players have so little respect for him they just walk right past without even a glance.  If you go and read more articles about how the players think of Smith more than half say they like him a lot more then they did Bobby, but is that because Bobby was a coach before a friend or is it because Smith lacks that drive to push his kids to their ability like Patrino did when he was there.  As a fan of the Razorbacks I do not think they are in the condition they use to be in and they also look like they lost some pride and without pride a football team can not survive, especially in the South Eastern Conference (SEC).  I believe that Smith is trying to hard to be a friend and not enough on being a coach.  He is more like an image then an actual coach. I mean when I would watch Bobby on the sidelines it did not matter if it was an important game, an easy game, if they were up by 25, or down by 25 he was always in their faces trying to make them a better football team.  And now when I watch a Hog game it is like Smith just babies them.  I have not seen one occasion when Smith got in someones face and just screamed and telling them what they did wrong.  And trust me this team has to be doing something wrong to be losing by the massive amounts every game. The worst part about having to watch this as a fan is that it looks like our hogs are starting to give up.  I can see it when they walk out of the tonal and I can see it how they play.  That kind of attitude does not come from the players themselves it starts out with the coaches attitude towards his players and team. 

        John L. Smith is a coach that seemed like he knew what he was doing at the beginning but then we saw his true color in the way he handles adversity   In my opinion, as a Arkansas Razorback fan, is that we should get a new coach that has that special "WANT" to win.  A coach can not just kinda want to win they have to know they will win no matter what.  As a guy that has grown up watching and supporting the hogs through good times and bad, I have to say that this year has by far been the hardest on me to stay faithful to my Razorbacks. This situation reminds of back in my jr. high days whenever our basketball coach had to take a leave for a couple of weeks, so they had some other guy come in and try to coach us, but in reality he had no idea of what he was doing, so eventually we just started coaching ourselves overlooking everything he was talking about.
       To sum it all up if Smith would start being a little harder on his players, and stop trying to act more like a friend towards them, maybe he could start getting better results out of them. You can't make everyone happy no matter what. So if he would just buckle down everything would probably be fine.

American dream essay

          The American Dream is a personal thing. Every person’s belief or thought on what the American Dream is different than anybody else’s. There is one noticeable theme between every dream though, the dream is to live a better life socially, personally, or freely more then anyone. The conflicts at the time helps determine what aspect of life someone wishes to improve on, but it will always most likely be the same or closely similar to those dreams of others. 
          To me the "American Dream" is not just a dollar sign, or a perfect job, but the ability to walk into a room or a home, and know that your presence is welcomed and looked forward to. My dream is realizing that in America, we have the resources to make an honest difference. There are not really others that I can really compare my version of the American dream to, because after all everyone's thoughts are different. Go wherever as far as you like, try what all you want, but realize home is always home. That is Why America is great, because you always have that place to call home sometimes.
          Today, people’s dreams of what America is to them has changed. Many parents have the dream for a better family life than they had. Family life has changed. Many people are getting divorces and having stepchildren. These children have grown up with a Dream of providing a better Family life by supporting them better, spending more time with them, and expressing their love more readily. I dream that my family will one day back get together, but, I know in my head that won’t happen. This is another common dream, is to make a family that they might not of never had growing up.
          The great thing about America even though it is not always about money is, if a person is born into a less fortunate family, he or she has the choice to make things better by excelling towards excellence throughout school, and then later on being rewarded for all their hard work with a degree in a certain area of study enabling them to go on and find high paying jobs that they will actually love doing and not dread. Just like that a person can easily change their life for the better if they just put their mind to it and not give up.
          To tie everything back together I believe that anything can be done, dreams, wishes, or whatever it might be as long as you put your mind to it. Don't always think about the money try and think of non-materialistic things sometimes such as family, friends, and how people will take you out in the real world, that is my American dream.

          
           

California School Shooting

School Shooting

In this article Michael Martinez, the author of the article, is explaining the horror activities that had taken place at a California High school. All caused by a student that had been mistreated and bullied all the time, that had, had enough of the non-sense and reacted violently. Going for the two students that had been picking on him constantly, One of the two kids was hit and was in critical but stable condition and the other one was fine.

"The student did not show up for school on time Thursday, Youngblood said, instead appearing about half through the first period of classes. He was caught on school surveillance cameras, the sheriff said, using a side entrance instead of the school's main door and "appearing nervous" as he tried to conceal the shotgun when he entered the school" The student did not show up until about halfway through 1st period because of what he had planned to do, he wanted to make sure everyone was in class, therefore making it easier for him to target his victims.

"Youngblood laid out a detailed scenario of the hours before the shooting, saying the student planned the assault the night before, and took a shotgun belonging to his brother" I can not very well say that his only intentions were to kill his two victims or others. But from the looks of everything, it looked as if only he were trying to get them and shot others that tried to run.

"The gunman fired directly at one student, who was hit, then as students rushed to flee, the gunman fired again, Youngblood said" This clearly explains that he had intentions to only hurt the ones that had hurt him in the past, I'm not saying this is okay but that is usually the case in these types of shootings.

If I found myself in this type of situation. I would not over react, and get up to start running. I would stay calm and try to figure out what my next move would be. Running students only make another easy target for him to shoot at just for the fun of it. You would think people would know this, but I guess they just panic and do not think of what the results will be.

Everyday school shootings are becoming more and more common for us to hear about in the news, and its sad that our world has come to this type of crime, but if everyone would leave others alone and not bully and pick on people I do not think this problem would be as bad as it is.