G20

Watching the youtube videos in class and during the presentation I sat thinking thank God my house is nowhere near anyplace significant where people would want to protest…unless Home Depot is the new hot spot for protesters… It’s really scary to think that weapons used by the military on enemies at WAR were being used here on the citizens that the weapons were created to PROTECT. What made it even scarier was the fact that they were being used on young college students. Listening to the speakers talk had me thinking that the government has every right to be sensitive to protests and possible terrorist threats but using methods such as those used at the G20 protests was taking it a little too far, especially since they used these tactics on their own citizens based on an act that is supposed to be protected by the government. It’s insane that the police think that they can use their authority over citizens and suspend rights. It even sounded ridiculous that they punished a guy for tweeting ways to help innocent people escape from a situation that they didn’t deserve to be harassed for simply being in a town.

Peer Pressure Revised...

Peer pressure negatively influences students’ everyday. Many surrender to peer pressure rather than be looked down upon by their schoolmates. Peer pressure comes in many forms. Negative aspects include cutting classes to hang out, drug and alcohol abuse/addiction, and engaging in other risky behaviors. Although there may be negative aspects, peer pressure can also positively influence students through support from family, teachers, and friends.

The main purpose of going to school is to further one's education so that they will succeed in the future. But what is school life without having friends to endure the ups and downs with you? With this in mind, most students look for ways to fit in, or become socially acceptable. Some examples include changing their appearance, the music they listen to, even the company they choose to associate with.

It is often considered that peer pressure is the cause of all negative behaviors associated with teens. However, friends are an important part of development of finding one’s identity as an individual and finding one’s self separate from their family [1]. Friends offer support on a different scale than a family can, especially since most of their time is spent outside of their immediate families. Peers can create a comfortable atmosphere for trying new things than parents/guardians can, and is more likely to be open to new experiences.

One way peer pressure can negatively impact someone is cutting classes to hang out. This can lead to reckless behavior such as experimenting with drugs and alcohol. Some feel that this activity will make them look “cool.” Whether or not they know the consequences of the activity, the only thought running through their minds is “will I be liked more if I do this?” with no thought as to how this will affect them later in life.

Peer influence is not as effective when strong family support is present in the homes of students. However, some students may come from broken homes where familial support is minimal and rebellion and experimentation become appealing. While other factors may play a role in drug addiction and alcohol abuse, statistics show that 82% of teens will try drugs due to peer pressure, and 79% of them lack sufficient parental supervision [3].

Within the years spent in school students will attend parties thrown by either friends or the school itself. In high schools and colleges drinking is definitely considered a social norm.

Studies show that drinking early on in life can not only cause severe liver problems, but also memory lapse and brain erosion. Excessive alcohol consumption can lead to the development of brain disorders such as Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome (WKS), which can lead to learning disabilities,[2] which would be detrimental to students. About "25% of college students report that drinking has caused them to face academic problems such as missing class, late assignments, falling behind, and doing poorly on exams and papers" [4].

Another example of how friends can influence one in is drugs/smoking. You might have friends that are opposed to smoking and drug use in general, they are the reason you refuse a cigarette or some other drug initially, but what if other friends keep persisting that you just try it because “once won’t kill you.” Eventually, the more you continue to “try it” it becomes a habit. Like alcohol, drugs have harmful effects on the brain. They tend to falsely activate neurotransmitters that cause exhilaration and other pleasurable feelings that may last for a short period of time they also leave behind long term effects that cause memory loss and irrational thinking.

With all the ways that negative peer pressure can affect the well being of teenagers, there are ways to prevent them from surrendering. Researchers have noted that one of the most effective ways of preventing teens from peer pressure is family support. Setting up firm boundaries and having regular, open discussions with their children is highly recommended. According to researchers, teens that live in family households that have less rules and uninvolved parents are most vulnerable to falling victim to peer pressure.

Works Cited:

1. “Adolescent Mental Health Trainers Guide on Handling Peer Pressure.” 2003. Web. 15 Nov

http://www.searo.who.int/LinkFiles/Technical_documents_Adolecent_Mental_Health_Promotion_Trainers_Guide_on_Handling_Peer_Pressure.pdf

2. “Legal Doesn’t Mean Harmless.” Drugabuse.gov. Web. 17 Nov 2009.

http://www.drugabuse.gov/JSP4/MOD2/Mod2.pdf

3. “Most Americans Say Peer Pressure, a Lack of Parental Supervision, and Accessibility Are Major Factors in Determining Whether a Teenager Tries Illegal Drugs.” Pew Research Center. Web. 23 Nov 2009.

http://www.publicagenda.org/charts/most-americans-say-peer-pressure-lack-parental-supervision-and-accessibility-are-major-factors-determining-whether

4. “Underage Drinking and Drunk Driving Statistics Among College Students.” UMADD. Web. 23 Nov 2009.

http://www.madd.org/docs/college%20statistics.pdf

Peer Pressure

As hundreds of kids enter middle and high school each year, almost every one of them is negatively influenced academically by peer pressure. Teens can feel pressured into following the crowd and becoming just like others in order to be accepted. Statistics show that many teens would rather surrender to peer pressure than looked down upon by other schoolmates. Peer pressure can come in many forms such as drinking, drugs, and stealing amongst other things, putting their health or reputation on the line. Giving in to pressure is mostly caused by lack of confidence or isolation, or simply the result of bullying or even having parents that are not strict enough. Naturally teens feel that social acceptance must have some catch to it, which causes them to engage in risky behaviors. Many often fall into the wrong crowd and change their personality just to fit in with others, while others risk themselves under the impression they will make friends only to be ridiculed.

The main purpose of going to school is to get a proper education so that in the future one will succeed. But what is school life without having friends to endure the ups and downs with you? With this in mind many teens look for people around them that are similar to them in one way or another, while others look for ways to gain social status and “become someone.” Either way all are at risk of making poor decisions based on persuasion from their “friends.” The negative effects are most commonly referred to because as adolescents most of their time is spent with those outside of their immediate family.

In any school you will find students that generally don’t care about their academic performance. In most cases these are the “popular” students. Students who are socially lower than others strive to reach a certain level of acceptance start cutting classes or stop doing work thinking it will give them more time to prove they can be cool.

One of the most common situations of peer pressure is teen drinking. During the four years of high school many students go to parties where drinking is basically a social norm and all partygoers are expected to engage in the festivities. Whether or not they know the consequences of the activity, the only thing running through their minds is “will I be liked more if do this?” Not thinking of how this will affect them later in life. Studies show that drinking early on in life can not only cause severe liver problems but also memory lapse and brain erosion. Excessive alcohol consumption can lead to development of brain disorders such as Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome (WKS), which can lead to learning disabilities, which would be detrimental to students.

Another situation that friends can influence one in is drugs/smoking. Sure you might refuse a cigarette or some other drug once or twice, but what if your friends keep persisting that you just try it once? Once becomes twice and then a few more times. Drugs like alcohol have harmful effects on the brain. Drugs tend to falsely activate neurotransmitters that cause exhilaration and other pleasurable feelings that may last for a short period of time; however they also leave behind long term effects that cause memory loss and irrational thinking

While drugs and alcohol can lead to harmful malfunctions of the brain there is also the case of teenage pregnancy. Statistic show that one in three teen males feel pressured by male friends to have sex before they are ready. In addition many females say that they give in to sex because of their boyfriends. Careless mistakes of giving in to a partner can often lead to unwanted pregnancies, which leave both people at risk of having to drop out of school and leaving their education behind.

With all the ways that peer pressure can mess with the well being of teenagers, there are ways of preventing teens from surrendering. Researchers have seen that one of the most effective ways of preventing teens from feeling that they need to do what others think is acceptable is family support. Others ways that can prevent any type of rebellion by teens is setting up firm boundaries and having regular and open discussions with their children. According to researchers homes that have less rules and uninvolved parents are most vulnerable to falling victim to peer pressure.

Original:

As hundreds of kids enter high school each year almost every one of them is faced with peer pressure. All any of them is concerned about is fitting in. Teens feel pressured into following the crowd and becoming just like others in order to be accepted. Peer pressure can come in many forms such as drinking, drugs, stealing amongst other things putting their health or reputation on the line. Giving in to pressure is mostly caused by lack of confidence or isolation; naturally teens feel that social acceptance must have some catch to it, which causes them to engage in risky behaviors. Many often fall into the wrong crowd and change their personality just to click with others, while others risk themselves under the impression they will make friends only to be ridiculed. No one should feel that they have to do something they don’t want to in order to be liked.

Revised:As hundreds of kids enter middle and high school each year, almost every one of them is negatively influenced by peer pressure. Teens feel pressured into following the crowd and becoming just like others in order to be accepted. Statistics show that many teens would rather surrender to peer pressure than looked down upon by other schoolmates. Peer pressure can come in many forms such as drinking, drugs, and stealing amongst other things, putting their health or reputation on the line. Giving in to pressure is mostly caused by lack of confidence or isolation, or simply the result of bullying; naturally teens feel that social acceptance must have some catch to it, which causes them to engage in risky behaviors. Many often fall into the wrong crowd and change their personality just to click with others, while others risk themselves under the impression they will make friends only to be ridiculed.

http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdf?vid=8&hid=4&sid=0de39e26-97c2-43bc-92ad-a8a0892d5042%40sessionmgr112

http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdf?vid=4&hid=106&sid=0de39e26-97c2-43bc-92ad-a8a0892d5042%40sessionmgr112

http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdf?vid=6&hid=6&sid=0de39e26-97c2-43bc-92ad-a8a0892d5042%40sessionmgr112

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1NTuwDerg60

Clive Thompson on the New Literacy

Unlike most of the other articles we’ve read, Clive Thompson on the New Literacy is pro online writing. The author starts out by talking about Andrea Lunsford, a writing and rhetoric professor at Stanford. She researched and collected over ten thousand writing samples to evaluate the writing styles of this generation. In her opinion “…technology isn’t killing our ability to write. It’s reviving it…” She found that with today’s generation we write a lot more than any other because of all of the “socialization” that we do online. They say that before the Internet Americans never wrote anything that wasn’t required, and now blogs, e-mails, comments, and chats have us writing more than we realize.

The author then wonders if the writing could be good. Lunsford says it is, the students are extremely capable at assessing their audience and writing in a way that would get their point across. The article also says that the students are enthusiastic about their writing because always doing it for an audience and not for a grade.

1. Why doesn’t reading and writing online seem to register as legitimate text that can be learned from?

2. If reading/writing through the New Media is as effective as this article tries to prove it is, why can’t/don’t more schools try using it?

3. How exactly does reading or writing online cause illiteracy among this generation?

Am I Really Reading Online?

In Rich’s article, Literacy Debate: Online, R U Really Reading?, the author calls on the debate of whether reading skills of the average teenager are increasing or decreasing. On one hand Rich says that Internet prowling has caused teens to malfunction in regards to literacy; yet, points out that no matter what one does with the time spent on the Internet they will have to encounter some form of text. “Some literacy experts say that reading itself should be redefined. Interpreting videos or pictures, they say, may be as important a skill as analyzing a novel or a poem.” Rich uses Nadia Konyk as an example, though she spends much of her time on the internet, she does mostly read, he mentions her visiting sites such as quizilla.com and fanfiction.net [fictionpress is better] which require the users to be able to comprehend the content of the site. Some say that since technology is a major component of everyday life in this generation, it will benefit children when they are looking for “digital –age jobs.” Some countries are even planning to experiment with digital literacy. Some argue to say that yes, books really are helpful but they give you excess information, whereas online you get just what you need. Which is a great thing for dyslexic people, with the graphics that the online world offers comprehension is not a difficult task.

Opposition to the view that the Internet promotes literacy comes from many more; the people in the article have come to disagree with this. “What we are losing in this country and presumably around the world is the sustained, focused, linear attention developed by reading,” said Mr. Gioia of the N.E.A. “I would believe people who tell me that the Internet develops reading if I did not see such a universal decline in reading ability and reading comprehension on virtually all tests.” he basically implies that though many can say that they are better of reading online as it can be more convenient, it can’t really be proven as an effective way to increase skills. The article also points out that many are incompetent when it comes to rooting out fact from opinion or joke. According to the article, there is a test; iSkills that has been developed to test the way teens utilize the Internet.

So are we really reading online? I think that reading, whether it’s a book or webpage, is different depending on the individual. Some people are better suited to get their reading done with print right in front of them, while others can do it online. Its not that people are incapable of literacy with respect to traditional print, it’s simply a choice they make based on what is convenient for them.

New Media and the Slow Death of the Written Word

In the article “New Media and the Slow Death of the Written Word” Mark Zeltner begins talking about how he enjoys the format of newspapers; how it feels in his hands and how well organized they are. He then delves into a story about a discussion he has with one of his classes. He asks them to voice their opinions on the “future of news on paper.” He states that at first he believed they were confused about his inquiry yet they really were questioning his logic. To them I wasn’t a question of “if,” Zeltner states in the article, media would replace the traditional newspaper but rather “when” this change would occur.

Zeltner then begins to defend the benefits of news printed on paper, as well as pointing out weak points, such as computer screens can hurt the eyes, or are not portable…well at the time of this article that is. After unsuccessful attempts to sway his class, he finally had to acknowledge, “print mediums had serious problems.”

Though he has not given up his appreciation for formal print, he enjoys the features that this “new media” offers such as hypertext, because writing online has to fully capture the reader’s attention and keep them from wandering by giving them things to explore. Also in this section of his article he incorporates what critics think of the “new media,” he quotes Sven Birkerts and Neil Postman’s thoughts on how these new forms of media alter the way people look at traditional media. Zeltner states that these two have points, because the media is in fact evolving at a high pace and due to this it is inevitable that the traditional media will “fall out of favor”; however, he also states, there will always be an audience that will want their reading material in traditional text. I would have to agree here because having access to things online is extremely convenient, because when reading if you get tired you can close you’re screen, walk away and come back later to exactly where you left off; with a book you’d have to re-read the whole page to find your exact spot. However, with a book you would never have to worry about your battery dying when you’re getting to the best part of the story. He goes onto explain how the new forms of media introduced in writing such as audio and video clips give greater depth to what is being addressed. Overall, he explains that the new forms of media aren’t really new; they are just the traditional forms that have been put together.

We are then introduced to ten rules that Zeltner has come up with as a guide to help out beginner writers of “new media.” His rules are all written with the purpose to improve the writing skills for the new media based from his experiences of success and failure with his own writing. They are all pretty straightforward and easy to follow. I like his first rule to keep things concise; get straight to the point. When information is clear it reaches the reader quickly and effectively. I agree with this because I like reading, but I’m not going to go buy every book at Barnes and Noble, and the tiny library in my neighborhood doesn’t exactly have the best selection of books, so I read off of the internet, and it does get annoying when I have twenty minutes to kill before leaving for class and I try to read something and instead of getting a good idea about the story itself I only know what the main character’s hair looks like.

He suggests that breaking texts into parts and organizing thoughts are definitely the way to go and keep your reader from getting a headache. Then he talks about what almost EVERYONE would prefer, the audio and visual aspects of writing, today just about everything has an accompanying sound or image, maybe even both, because they can convey the emotion that actual text can not; but don’t go overboard. He then says that if you are going to use terms that are not common knowledge make sure you have a separate place, but not to lead the readers away from your document, I also think this is a good point because I hate having more than three windows open at once, because I feel might mind might get jumbled just like the screen. Zeltner then talks about hyperlinks, and how they should be used cautiously so that the reader’s attention will stay focused on the piece they are looking at. I don’t agree nor do I disagree, hyperlinks are easy ways to find out what the author is talking about but then they also make new pages appear on the desktop and as previously stated, I don’t like too many windows open at once.

He also talks about the usefulness of sidebars, which is true because they provide you with additional information about the topic without having to go looking for it on your own. Finally, his tenth rule talks about the form your work takes. The author must think about how to organize the contents of their work so that the reader will not get confused with an awkward or random order of information. Overall, I would have to say that I agree with the most of the rules that Zeltner presents, because they make sense and I can understand why he might have written them. But others such as his ‘screenful’ and ‘module’ rules I don’t really care too much about because personally it doesn’t matter to me. If it weren’t pointed out to me I probably wouldn’t notice that there are no breaks in an online site, article, etc.

Nursing Home Abuse

Every year reports show that nearly thirty percent of nursing home facilities have been cited for abuse and neglect of their patients. Nursing homes are very convenient for families that cannot properly care for there loved ones, there isn’t a firm way for them to be sure that their family members won’t be mistreated. The elderly are usually placed in these care facilities mainly because both the residents themselves and their families can no longer care for them; this makes them vulnerable to abuse and neglect. Abuse in this situation includes death, malnutrition, isolation, mental and physical abuse, and insufficient medical attention. In most cases the elder abuse has put residents in serious danger sometimes to a point where it becomes life threatening. Unsurprisingly, many abuse cases go unreported for fear that care takers will do more harm than before. Some argue that workers are stressed because of a shortage of staff and mandatory overtime. Regardless of conditions there is really no excuse for harming people that they are entrusted to look after.

As hundreds of kids enter high school each year almost every one of them is faced with peer pressure. All any of them is concerned about is fitting in. Teens feel pressured into following the crowd and becoming just like others in order to be accepted. Peer pressure can come in many forms such as drinking, drugs, stealing amongst other things putting their health or reputation on the line. Giving in to pressure is mostly caused by lack of confidence or isolation; naturally teens feel that social acceptance must have some catch to it, which causes them to engage in risky behaviors. Many often fall into the wrong crowd and change their personality just to click with others, while others risk themselves under the impression they will make friends only to be ridiculed. No one should feel that they have to do something they don’t want to in order to be liked.

________________________________________________________________________

As parents get older and children grow up, roles are reversed and offspring now must take care of their parents. However, the rate of abuse and neglect within elderly care facilities are alarmingly high. Though they can be very useful for people that need to be physically monitored nursing homes are the last place that any elderly person wants to end up; with all the negative things such as abuse and neglect within facilities it’s no wonder why many would rather not to even see what one looks like.

http://www.nursing-home-abuse-resource.com/care_center/nursing_home_statistics.html

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2001/07/30/national/main304038.shtml

http://legalcatch.wordpress.com/2007/12/02/nursing-home-negligence-stories/

Research Topics

Privacy and freedom are two of the most important rights that an American citizen has, yet in some New York City public schools these rights are violated. But now school safety agents take their jobs too seriously. Though the increase in violence in public schools has become an alarming issue in New York City, the precautions taken in controlling it, are often too extreme.

http://www.villagevoice.com/2009-01-07/columns/the-strip-search-room/1

As foreclosure rates increase signs of a second depression is clear. Economic depression is something that the U.S. has not encountered since 1929, yet things are not looking up for the economy as many lose their jobs and homes, while others are struggling to maintain their average lifestyles. Although many attempts have been made to mend the problems being encountered, not even government funding has helped to prevent the fall from reaching a rough landing.

As parents get older and children grow up, roles are reversed and offspring now must take care of their parents. Though they can have many useful points Nursing Homes are the last place that any elderly person wants to end up; with all the negative things like abuse and neglect within facilities it’s no wonder why many would rather not to even see what one looks like.

The two articles “The Internet Is No Substitute for the Dying Newspaper Industry” and “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” reflect view on how the Internet is affecting people in addition to showing how distinct the differences between traditional and technological text are.

In Carr’s article he shows how the usefulness of the Internet, namely Google makes us lazy. Honestly, how long has it been since you picked up a dictionary, why waste a minute or two looking up a word, when you can easily find its case history within twenty seconds online? Throughout his piece Carr compares how he once was able to sit and read long novels such as War and Peace yet now he can barely do so because the Internet offers a much more compact way of getting everything out of the book. Though he seems to show some negative aspects that come with the usage of the Internet such as laziness, he also plays up the benefits it offers. For example one feature that the Internet has the book or newspaper cannot give is the hyperlink, when reading online instead of having to look elsewhere for material being referenced to fully understand what is going on, being online allows you to directly access other works with just one click. Another point Carr makes is “Research that once required days in the stacks or periodical rooms of libraries can now be done in minutes.” now that the world of information is basically at our fingertips. However, with all this handy it seems that people are being too dependent on the web. Which I believe is true; I know the first thing I think of doing when my parents force me to stay home is to come online. I can do just about anything with the computer, I can watch my favorite shows, see and chat with friends, read, and listen to music.

In the second article Hedges points out that the reason the decline of newspapers is not because of the Internet but because PEOPLE prefer “fast moving images rather than print.” Throughout his article, Hedges argues that whereas the Internet can be a useful tool to people, it cannot replace what the newspaper stands for. “Newspapers, when well run, are a public trust. They provide, at their best, the means for citizens to examine themselves, to ferret out lies…” Though you can find out just about anything online, the newspaper offers more authority than you can find online. He also points out that in any case the actual newspaper is where most of the people that are writing online get there information, so you might as well be reading the newspaper rather than someone’s personal take on what is going on in the world. He states that REAL “journalism is about transmitting information that doesn’t care what you think.” However, I think he is a bit extreme when he says that the democracy will die if there aren’t strong enough sources distributing information, yes I agree that people can be easily mislead without proper outlets of information, but I don’t think that the government that is supposed to be based on the opinions of the people will die because of the opinions of the people.

The Onion

The Onion takes real current events and satirizes them to make them funny yet, show how ridiculous some things really are. For example, in the article about Bush, he is reminiscing about his two terms in office, and how he had great power for nearly a decade, yet did nothing significant. And in the video news report about “The Next Big Thing” being created at the Disney Labs.

http://www.theonion.com/content/video/disney_lab_unveils_its_latest

I found this particularly funny, because as an 18 year old I still enjoy watching the Disney Channel with my cousins and friends, and it was really funny because for the past few years, it seems you can only get a job at Disney if you’re a triple threat, meaning you can sing, dance, and act.

Movie Mania

WASHINGTON- With November just around corner, the craze has begun again. Hundreds of local Twilight fans have gathered in two of the towns mentioned in the best selling novels written by Stephanie Meyer, collecting the latest memorabilia to show off at the premiere, proving that not even a recession can can stop them from supporting their favorite vampire(s).

Chain stores like Hot Topic are cashing in on the benefits the Twilight craze has caused. From their t-shirts to backpacks, Twilight fans can’t seem to get enough.

“Yes, a Twilight lunchbox! I’m going to take this to college!” Samantha Mendez commented inside of a Hot Topic store.

“I’m going to buy this body shimmer glitter thing, I want to shine in the sun just like Edward.” Her younger sister Katherine Mendez said as she too gazed at the huge display of Twilight related items.

“I haven’t played with dolls since I was eight, but I’m saving up to get the Edward and Bella Barbie dolls.” Excited 18- year old Cledis Ramirez told us.

Some locals are even offering to give tours around Forks, Port Angeles, and La Push to make a profit off of the obsessed fans: both resident and tourist.

“We’re hoping that maybe if hang around near the woods long enough, werewolves or vampires might come out.” Says a local teen about her and her friends that have been on the tours quite a few times.

Catching up with a tour group just before they headed out some stopped to be interviewed.

“I’m really looking forward to Port Angeles, I want to visit where Edward and Bella had their first date! If there is enough time my friends and I might even get to try the food that Edward bought for her.”

Five Girls Boycott Prom

NEW YORK- Five friends gather in the South Ozone Park community on a Friday night to avoid the cliché of prom.

“I’d rather spend my last few days of high school with my close friends, rather than watch a bunch of people I’ve never spoken to dance like idiots all night.” Sharan Saini told reporters.

Best friends Devi Lall and Megan Persaud had been planning to avoid prom since their freshman year of high school, and quickly gained the support of three others within the next four years. “Prom is too expensive, my parents won’t mind if we do something smaller.” Karuna Kumari, another involved in the boycott, commented.

Not taking away from their daily routines, the girls planned to meet at Megan’s home in South Ozone Park to get ready after taking care of their responsibilities. They decided to dine out and come back to the home of Ms. Persaud for a birthday celebration.

Throughout the night the five proved to escape on cliché and fall into another. “We ended up acting like typical girls, from watching movies while popping popcorn, to having a crazy pillowfight.” Mili Ali states. “I’m going to miss my friends when I go away to college this Fall, I won’t have these crazy moments anymore.”

“It was the best night, because on Monday our friends that actually went to prom complained about how bad it was, and told us how much they wished they had done what we did.” Said Ms. Lall.

________________________________________________________

I remember my fake prom…

Every girl dreams of the perfect prom; beautiful dress, perfect hairdo, date, and limo to make it the “best night ever.” Well, I had a dress, I combed my hair, had four dates and an Altima. And in my opinion it WAS the best night ever.

Being the typical brown girls that we are, we wanted to have FUN on our prom night, yet we didn’t see the point in spending SO much money on just one night. With that in mind my friends and I created our own rendition of prom that was truly a night I will never forget.

Starting the day Mili and I went to school while Sharan, Devi, and Karuna went to work [coughdropoutscough] at the designated Senior Project area, Coler Goldwater Hospital. We had all planned to meet up at my house to get ready. Finally, at around four I had already done my hair when the others began to arrive. First to get there were Devi, Karuna, and Sharan, a few minutes later Mili arrived and Sharan’s cousin Sandeep to help us if we needed it.

We spent two long hours getting dressed up to meet Sharan’s standards, “Come on guys! This is prom, just because we’re not going doesn’t mean we can’t dress up”; and waited for my mother to come home and approve of us [there is probably an unspoken brown parent code…] before we could leave. After our ten minutes of surveillance, we piled into Sandeep’s car and drove off to a Chinese restaurant. After running to the building in the light rain, slipping around the floor of the restaurant in our heels and eating, we got back into the car and headed back to my house for part two of our night; with a quick pit stop at Walgreens, we picked up popcorn, ice cream, and soda to finish off the rest of our night.

When we got back at around ten the house looked different, it was full of food and my parents were…hiding in the basement. Soon after my dad knew we were home he left for work and my mom came upstairs and we took over the basement. For the first few hours we blasted music and danced around still clad in our dresses. By one, the chocolate covered coffee bean we had all consumed at dinner had worn off and almost all hyper-ness had ceased. We changes into our pajamas and made our beds for the night, Mili put the popcorn in the microwave while I set up the DVD player manually because she [Mili] took the remote to the kitchen so that we wouldn’t ruin the surprise she had for us. The opening menu of the DVD came on and we all got happy thinking we were going to watch Antique Bakery. When Mili came back into the living room and pressed play we were expecting the opening scene of an Asian movie, instead we saw ourselves, a slideshow of all the great moments we had ALL shared together within the past two years. After a half an hour of memory lane, Sharan wacked me on the head with a pillow, in shock I took mine and tried to smack her instead she ducked and I ended up smacking Mili, which then started a clichéd pillow fight. After it ended Mili pulled out another DVD she made, the first four episodes of Hana Kimi [Japanese drama based of a manga]. By three o’clock, one by one we each dropped off into dreamland.

I was woken up at five by the sound of the printer, making copies of my mom’s work. Disregarding it I looked around to see everyone was still sleeping, naturally I went back to sleep. Around seven my eyes opened again, this time I wasn’t the only one awake, Karuna and Mili were as well, Mili playing with the multiple iPods and Karuna watching dramas. After everyone was awake, we tidied up and headed into the kitchen for breakfast. We sat around the table eating, talking and laughing all day, at noon Devi and Sharan, the two that are always hungry, decided that it was lunchtime. Getting up, Mili, Devi, Sharan and began to cook [we left Karuna alone because we always force her to cook for us].

Finally, after cooking so long in the heat we were done and ready to eat, when Mili decided that she didn’t want lomein because she hated noodles. Informing her that she had to eat, she grudgingly took it and proceeded to make a noodle float by pouring Pepsi and ice into her plate. We laughed so hard that we couldn’t breathe; Sharan couldn’t take it anymore and fell onto the hardwood floor, rolling.

Sadly, at some point all good things must come to an end, it was time for the girls to go home. We cleaned up the kitchen and living room and went upstairs so that they could pack their things and go home. The adventure had ended for me.

Blogs...

Right from the start Michael Skube states that bloggers are the most attention-grabbing people on the web. Bloggers are like reporters without obligations, they have no limitations to what they can release. According to Moulitsas, a blogger himself, regards fellow bloggers as a means of keeping the media in check, keeping it honest; they “consider themselves a kind of ‘citizen journalist’”; knowing that they can somehow make a difference inspires them to put their opinions out there onto the net for anyone that comes across it to read. He also stresses that blogging cannot compare to journalism in that facts play a key role in distinguishing the news n general than of one’s perception of the news. Basically, he acknowledges that blogging has found its way into the media, but could never replace the traditional form of reporting.

In “The Blogging Revolution” Andrew Sullivan, writes praising blogging as a free way for one to express thoughts and feelings regarding general topics of interest, without restrictions that a traditional journalist would have. Though their individual views may clash they both cannot deny that blogging has made a major impact on the way journalism functions.

I would have to agree with Sullivan because whether it is fact or not, an opinion is still an opinion, and though things can be misconstrued at the end of the day it’s still simply just a personal escape to vent thoughts. As well as readers feeling that they can relate personally to what others are saying in blogs whereas in a formal news piece there is no feeling other than that of what is what period.

I remember...

I remember my fake prom…

Every girl dreams of the perfect prom; beautiful dress, perfect hairdo, date, and limo to make it the “best night ever.” Well, I had a dress, I combed my hair, had four dates and an Altima. And in my opinion it WAS the best night ever. [L-R Devi, Sharan, Mili, Karuna]

Being the typical brown girls that we are, we wanted to have FUN on our prom night, yet we didn’t see the point in spending SO much money on just one night. With that in mind my friends and I created our own rendition of prom that was truly a night I will never forget.

Starting the day my friend Mili and I went to school while our other friends Sharan, Devi, and Karuna went to work [coughdropoutscough] at he designated Senior Project area, Coler Goldwater Hospital. We had all planned to meet up at my house to get ready. Finally, at around four I had already done my hair when the others began to arrive. First to get there were Devi, Karuna, and Sharan, a few minutes later Mili arrived and Sharan’s cousin Sandeep to help us if we needed it.

We spent two long hours getting dressed up to meet Sharan’s standards, “Come on guys! This is prom, just because we’re not going doesn’t mean we can’t dress up”; and waited for my mother to come home and approve of us [there is probably an unspoken brown parent code…] before we could leave. After our ten minutes of surveillance, we piled into Sandeep’s car and drove off to a Chinese restaurant. After running to the building in the light rain, slipping around the floor of the restaurant in our heels and eating, we got back into the car and headed back to my house for part two of our night; with a quick pit stop at Walgreens, we picked up popcorn, ice cream, and soda to finish off the rest of our night.

When we got back at around ten the house looked different, it was full of food and my parents were…hiding in the basement. Soon after my dad knew we were home he left for work and my mom came upstairs and we took over the basement. For the first few hours we blasted music and danced around still clad in our dresses. By one, the chocolate covered coffee bean we had all consumed at dinner had worn off and almost all hyper-ness had ceased.

We changed into our pajamas and made our beds for the night, Mili put the popcorn in the microwave while I set up the DVD player manually because she [Mili] took the remote to the kitchen so that we wouldn’t ruin the surprise she had for us. The opening menu of the DVD came on and we all got happy thinking we were going to watch Antique Bakery. When Mili came back into the living room and pressed play we were expecting the opening scene of an Asian movie, instead we saw ourselves, a slideshow of all the great moments we had ALL shared together within the past two years. After a half an hour of memory lane, Sharan wacked me on the head with a pillow, in shock I took mine and tried to smack her instead she ducked and I ended up smacking Mili, which then started a clichéd pillow fight. After it ended Mili pulled out another DVD she made, the first four episodes of Hana Kimi [Japanese drama based of a manga]. By three o’clock, one by one we each dropped off into dreamland.

I was woken up at five by the sound of the printer, making copies of my mom’s work. Disregarding it I looked around to see everyone was still sleeping, naturally I went back to sleep. Around seven my eyes opened again, this time I wasn’t the only one awake, Karuna and Mili were as well, Mili playing with the multiple iPods and Karuna watching dramas. After everyone was awake, we tidied up and headed into the kitchen for breakfast. We sat around the table eating, talking and laughing all day, at noon Devi and Sharan, the two that are always hungry, decided that it was lunchtime. Getting up, Mili, Devi, Sharan and began to cook [we left Karuna alone because we always force her to cook for us].

Finally, after cooking so long in the heat we were done and ready to eat, when Mili decided that she didn’t want lomein because she hated noodles. Informing her that she had to eat, she grudgingly took it and proceeded to make a noodle float by pouring Pepsi and ice into her plate. We laughed so hard that we couldn’t breathe; Sharan couldn’t take it anymore and fell onto the hardwood floor, rolling.

Sadly, at some point all good things must come to an end, it was time for the girls to go home. We cleaned up the kitchen and living room and went upstairs so that they could pack their things and go home. The adventure had ended for me.

The South Ozone Park Idea...

Crossing the Van Wyck Expressway on the way to work, or racing to the airport via Air Train JFK the quiet area of South Ozone Park is often overlooked as people go about their daily lives.

“How do you live here? There is nothing around.” Tanda asks incredulously, following the others and me as we walk past a house that could easily pass for a miniature farm.

“This way.” I state crossing the empty street.

As we near my house, Mili states, “Wow, you really do live in the middle of nowhere. You even have a tiny forest thing here.”

“That isn’t true, there is a library and uh…a CPW around here.”

“Why is it so quiet?” Mili asks. “And no one is outside, you’re neighborhood is weird.” It’s not hard to see why the neighborhood is generally regarded as the middle of nowhere, especially when riding a bus that is packed at Kew Gardens, yet empty before it even nears my house; or even when driving past the local pharmacy or market.

Occasionally a car might, just might drive down the block, (not today) other than residents leaving their homes, or the school bus picking up the little girl next door, or a safe ride service picking the little old lady across the street for her weekly doctor appointment. Around here, we have more air traffic than gridlock.

[I stood here (in the middle of the street) for five minutes hoping at least one car would come...]

So what do the residents of the middle of nowhere do in their spare time?

We sit on our front steps and watch the planes fly by so low over our homes that they could potentially land on our rooftops (if they were flat).