Outside Reading Blog #4

A lot happened in chapters 11-14. Piper was able to trade jobs from electrician to a construction worker because of the offensive things that her boss had said to her and some of the prisoners she worked with. I didn't ever think that the people that work for the prison could cross the line with the prisoners by saying inappropriate things or even getting involved with a prisoner. I would think that the prison workers have to try and show the prisoners how to make a lifestyle change, not talk to them in degrading tones and use offensive language towards them. In chapter 13, Piper talked about how there was this one woman who would always talk and flirt with one of the workers. I know that any kind of relationship with a prison worker is prohibited but I think that they need to notice if any kind of relationship is starting and take care of the prisoner by sending her to a separate place. It seems a little extreme but I think that in prison most women end up understanding that they want to make a lifestyle change and they won't be able to achieve any of those things if they have the chance the form a relationship. From what I've read of the book, it has made me feel like I'm in the prison with them. Piper is really great at describing all of the situations that she is in and that is what makes it so easy for me to be so opinionated about the different situations because I really feel like I am there in the prison with her.

Outside Reading Blog #3

In chapters 8-10 it demonstrated a lot of how close the women in the prison got to be. They celebrated birthdays together, cooked together and celebrated when women were leaving the prison together. I thought that it was really interesting that even in prison Piper had managed to make cheesecake out of the scarce amount of ingredients she was given. Her cheesecakes were huge hits at every celebration they had in the prison. She shared her recipe with many and they all praised her for making the cheesecake for dessert. Seeing how much the women would share with each other gave me a sense of community in prison. I never expected that there would be any sense of community in a place that was always thought about so poorly. Chapter 10 focuses a lot about the schoolwork that they are doing in the prison. A lot of women try and get their GED while other women have classes that they are taking in prison and those classes are really important to them. Piper helps her bunkie Natalie prepare for the GED test which she finally is able to pass after multiple times of taking it. Piper explains that she feels like breaking down and crying when Natalie finally passes her test. This warms my heart because it shows me how strong relationships in prison and get even if you don't plan on becoming good friends with anyone in prison. Piper also helps Mrs. Jones with a class that she needs to get an A in. Piper helps her write papers and helps her with certain activities from the classroom. This reminds me of my friends and I because we are always helping each other out with homework problems that we don't understand or helping each other come up with ideas for essays. Reading about the community that's formed it makes me realize how closely related school life and prison life are besides the very restrict policies in prison.

Newtown Shootings

After the recent shootings in Newtown, Connecticut I am finally old enough to understand how terrible the shooting really was. When the Columbine shooting happened, I was only four years old so I didn't know anything about what had happened in Colorado. The shooting is obviously something so tragic that has happened to our country but something that I saw on Facebook has made a big impact on how I view this situation. The quote that I saw on Facebook was supposedly from Morgan Freeman but I don't think that he actually had said it. Regardless of who said it or not, it still got me thinking. The quote was saying that the reason these people go out and do these massive shootings is because of the way the media portrays the killer. The quote was saying how the thought process of these killers is so messed up that they would rather leave their lives well known than leave as a nobody so they do things like massive shootings. The main point of the quote that stuck out to me was "do you know the name of a single victim of Columbine?" Thinking about the many situations that have happened; Virgina Tech, the Batman Movie and now in Connecticut. I doubt that there are not many people that can name a victim of these terrible tragedies, certainly I cannot. This made me take a look at this situation and decide that I shouldn't focus on the rumors that are going around and not focus on the media so much. I could never imagine being in the situation that those families are in and the last thing that I want is for the killer to get more media attention. The only thing left to add is please turn off the news channels!

Outside Reading Blog #2

In chapters 5-7, Piper talked a lot about the friendships she was making and how important they were to her. She created strong relationships with the people in Room 6, the first room she lived in, and the people she lives with now in Dorm B. I really admired the way that she is able to gain trust with a lot of different women even though she moved to a different area of the prison. She had strengthened relationships with people she never thought she would be friends with. In particular with another inmate named Pop. She was always so tough on the outside and after a negative run-in with Pop in a previous chapter, Piper wanted to avoid her. After a mutual friend was leaving for a drug program, Piper took the chance at becoming closer with Pop and she didn't look back. It was inspiring to me how Piper could push past the negative interaction before and become friends with Pop, because becoming friends with other women in prison doesn't seem like an easy thing to do. The other thing that was amazing to me was how each prisoner supported each other when they were down, even if they weren't friends. The last chapter that I read was about how everything involving the visiting hours worked. There were different emotions from the prisoners that everyone was able to read and everyone was there for the person that was upset. It made me really happy to see that in a place where nothing was going right for anyone, they were always able to support each other through the good and bad times.

Abortion

After reading the CQ researcher packet we received in class, I realized that there are a lot things that I disagree with. I am pro-choice, I think that the women who is pregnant has the right to do whatever she pleases with the unborn child. After reading the packet I was surprised to see the amount of things some states must do before a women get an abortion. They were saying that the doctor has to show the women the ultrasound image of the fetus before she has the abortion. That makes me really mad because that's basically like guilt tripping them into not giving the abortion because as a girl see a picture of a baby I know it hits my heart and if I were to see an ultrasound image of the fetus I would definitely back out of the abortion. In the packet it also said that in Montana it is  "required that a women be told that a fetus feels pain during an abortion and that an abortion ends the life of 'a separate, unique, living human being.'" How does the state of Montana actually think that it is okay to tell the women that it hurts the child and then think that they are going to go through with the abortion. I think that the woman should decide what she wants to do without anyone telling her or showing her anything before she decides to go through with it. The woman is clearly making this decision because she feels this is the best option for her for whatever reason, but that reason should be left alone and not brought up.

Outside Reading Blog Post #1

For my outside reading assignment I chose to read Orange is the New Black by Piper Kerman. This book is a memoir about Piper's experience from her early 20s to when she was sent to federal prison for transporting drug money a decade before her case. During the first chapter of the book it talks about everything she was involved with after her college life and how she got involved with the things she got involved with. In the second chapter she talks about how her life had changed instantly from this trial, she was on the right life track but her past caught up with her. The third chapter really talks about the transition she made from real life into the prison. What I found the most interesting from chapter four is that when she talked about how during her transition from a "newbie" to just a regular prisoner, she talked about how there were different "tribes" of women that took care of the women. They mostly were racially bias unless the people from the prison were just sincerely that kind. I was shocked to see how much racial bias still plays effect into the real world. I wasn't oblivious to the bias before I just didn't think that in a place where everyone is going through a tough time and they're all kind of in the same situation, that there would be so much racial bias. This book really intrigued me because it talks about how she was charged with her crime a decade after she did the crime. On the back of the book there are review quotes and one that stuck out to me from the L.A. Times was, "This book is impossible to put down because [Kerman] could be you. Or your best friend. Or your daughter." This quote made me think about how easily it could be you or someone that you know. Relating this quote to Kerman's situation made me realize how many people think that they're invincible and they're not. Kids around here think that they can get away with anything they want and by only reading four chapters of this book, I've realized how untrue that is. Kerman had just graduated college when she committed the crime and she probably thought that she would never get caught but with something that big, there is no way that her crime would be able to be a secret. I'm not trying to "hate" on the kids around here but there are some people that think they can get away with anything and I think that this book would be very helpful for them to read because it shows that if they make that one bad choice when they're kids, it could effect their life when they are adults.

Long Term Effects of Sports

The game of football impacts many of the players for the long term. There have been many cases of suicides due to the effects that the sport has on the player. Just yesterday the Kansas City Chiefs linebacker, Jovan Belcher, killed his girlfriend and then shot himself in the head after. Football is pretty bad contact sport that can destroy your brain as you continue in the sport. In the past couple of years there have been professional sports players that have committed suicide and have had their brain undergo tests to see if there has been any damage. Dave Duerson and Junior Seau are two players that have recently took their life due to brain damage. The continuous hits on a players body can contribute to brain damage that can cause depression and other brain conditions. Mike Webster is an example of someone who was diagnosed with depression, dementia and amnesia even before retiring from the NFL. Even though I think the sport is still pretty rough I think after seeing so many examples the NFL organization stepped up their concussion policies. I think that being more strict on concussion policies it will better the lives of the players after they retire. No one wants to see someone lose their life over the effects of doing something they love, so being more strict about the concussion policies will be a positive rule for the future.

Cyber Monday

This past Thursday I spent time with my family giving thanks for everything that we had been blessed with over the past year. From Friday to Monday stores and shops online have very big sales to celebrate the season. I'm not saying that shopping on these days is awful because I definitely took part in deals that I thought were very good but some deals are very not even worth the purchase. At some stores the sale would be 10% these items and at another store you could get 40% items that were very similar. During this shopping weekend people don't shop smart because they just see that there is a sale and they buy things that they normally wouldn't buy it it wasn't on sale. Cyber Monday and Black Friday are basically the same just Cyber Monday is mostly online and the sales are just repeated from Friday. I think that Black Friday and Cyber Monday are both something fun and enjoyable because I know that I got clothes for a very good deal but I just don't think people know how to be smart shoppers on these two days. http://shopping.yahoo.com/news/cyber-monday-deals-guide-232336661.html

Hurricane Sandy

There has been so much going on in the world the past three weeks. There was the Presidential election and the bombings in Israel but it all started off with Hurricane Sandy. There was so much devastation that happened in the New York and New Jersey area and there is still so much that we can do to help. I think that it's very important to help out when the country is in need. When Hurricane Katrina hit in 2005, everyone in the nation was really supportive and helped out in many ways. For this past hurricane, we as a nation  need to do that same. Everyone in the country should really think about taking time out of their daily life to put themselves in the shoes of the hurricanes victims. The victims have lost a lot and after imagining yourself in their situation wouldn't you want to help them out? There have been many telethons to support the relief and you can also text a number, found in this article http://abcnews.go.com/US/hurricane-sandy-victims/story?id=17598687#.UKmDylTl6rM , to donate money to the Red Cross to support the victims of Hurricane Sandy.

Amendment 64 and Sports

Even though Amendment 64, the legalization of recreational marijuana use, passed in Colorado and Washington, the NFL and the NBA are still enforcing the strict policies against smoking marijuana. I think that it is really smart for the NBA and the NFL to still enforce the laws in the states because the athletes of the two leagues are role models to kids everywhere. In this article, http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/2012/11/07/nfl-marijuana-substance-abuse-policy-colorado-washington/1688971/ it talks about how the kids in little league are wearing pink in October for Breast Cancer awareness and doing anything they can to do to be like the players in the NFL. Even kids on the school football team were wearing pink during home games to support Breast Cancer like the players in the NFL do. The players of the two leagues influence a lot of young athletes to be inspired by the game they play and love. I know as a basketball player, I look up to the players in the NBA for how they present themselves on and off the court. With marijuana still being illegal under federal law, the players of the leagues would be breaking federal law which would ruin the way people view that player. I think a great way to describe what will happen to their career was a line in the article that said, "light up a joint and a sports career can go up in smoke." I think that is completely true because that player will loose their job and potentially any endorsements that they have. Tiger Woods is a good example of a career that went downhill quickly because of a mistake and smoking marijuana while in such a high profiled profession is definitely a mistake that can ruin a career.

Death Penalty

There are many stages in a death penalty case and there are some of which protect the rights of the people accused. In the pre-trial stage, the court makes sure that there is a suitable jury for the case. This protects the rights of the accused because the court makes sure that there aren't people are clearly biased to the death penalty on the jury because then those jurors would automatically choose the death penalty for the accused. In the Penalty stage you have mitigating factors that protect the rights of the accused. The mitigating factors are things that affect the person in a way that could potentially lessen the punishment of the crime. Mental illness is a mitigating factor because the accused cannot help the fact that they have a mental illness that can interfere with decision making. Clemency stage also protects the rights of the accused because if the person is innocent they can see a pardon board to reduce punishment. The methods of the death penalty are hanging, firing squad, lethal injection, gas chamber and electrocution. As I believe that none of these are humane, if I had to choose i would choose the lethal injection. It seems to be the least painful considering the only pain that you really feel is when they put the IV in and everyone has had at least one shot in their lifetime. The two that I believe should most definitely be considered cruel and unusual punishment are electrocution and gas chamber. With all of the methods they do end up dying but these two seem the most torturous because the process can take longer and the prisoner could struggle during the process. In the gas chamber it is recommended to breathe deeply to speed up the process and some disregard that making their death drawn out and having to deal with dying at a slow pace. There are a lot of states that don't have the death penalty. The state of Illinois and some surrounding states don't have the death penalty but other than those states it is spread out through the country which states have the it and which states don't. I thought that is there sort of is a regional trend because as in the Midwest area, the area by New Jersey also doesn't have the death penalty.  California has the highest amount of inmates on death row with 724 and California also has the most women on death row with 19 inmates. There aren't any statistics for juveniles on death row because in the court case Roper v. Simmons is was ruled unconstitutional according to the 8th amendment to use the death penalty on anyone under the age of 18. This data tells us that even though there are a lot of places that still have the death penalty, there are states that are getting rid of the death penalty at the same time. The state by state data tells us how the death penalty was used mostly before 1976. I think that some of the parts of Illinois Death Penalty Statute are fair and make sense but some crimes don't deserve death as a punishment. The parts that are fair is that if someone was to kill someone who is disabled, elderly or torture was intended. People that kill like that have something seriously wrong with their brain if they feel okay killing someone that is elderly or disabled. The state by state data doesn't tell us why Illinois got rid of the death penalty but I can conclude that Illinois took away the death penalty for the reasons that it wasn't as effective as it is in other states. The death penalty is frequently used in states like Texas, California or Oklahoma but in a state like Illinois there were only so many executions since 1976 compared to the states. In the article it says that in Texas it costs 2.3 million dollars for a death penalty case which is three times the amount it costs to keep someone in a single cell high security prison for 40 years. The economics of the death penalty is that it generally costs more using the death penalty than it does to keep someone in jail for life. The racial factor for the death penalty is that there are more whites executed and more whites in death penalty cases The public opinion is pretty split up between the decisions of the death penalty, life with parole, life without parole, life with parole plus restitution and no opinion. The majority of the people through would rather have the prisoner in prison for life with or without parole rather than have the prisoner go through the death penalty. I thought that the views of the Death Penalty Information Center were that they are against the death penalty. It is convincing because a lot of the statistics that I saw were talking about how expensive it was to use the death penalty over putting the person in prison. They also used statistics talking about how race isn't really a factor in deciding whether or not the person should be getting the death penalty, if they should be getting the penalty at all. 

Election

As the election gets closer, I still don't know who I would vote for. I'm not old enough to vote but it's good to still pay attention to what each candidate represents in the election. There are certain issues where I am still undecided who I agree with. President Obama makes a good point about not wanting the insurance companies to bully the elderly anymore but does the whole United States need the same health insurance coverage? Or is it the states duty to decide what the coverage will be for the residents of the state. The most important thing to me in this election is that the future President creates more jobs and tries harder to lessen the national debt. Having more jobs in the future is important to me because people pay a ton of money to attend universities and then their hard work and money is gone to waste if there are no jobs for them to have. Choosing a candidate to be President would be very hard for me considering I have a 50/50 view on most of the issues.

Health Care Debate

During our research project in class about an issue, I chose to search about health care. After hearing the two candidates positions, I agreed that President Obama's was working for the United States even if Governor Romney disagreed. President Obama's plan is very similar to the plan that Governor Romney had in Massachusetts so I am a little confused as to why he is so against the plan itself. I know that Governor Romney wants the states to be in charge of their own health plans but if the plan was suitable for Romney then, why is it not suitable now? I also agreed with the part of President Obama's plan that talks about insurance company abuse. It isn't fair to the people that get sick to have their insurance dropped because they can't help that they get sick. By having the insurance company dropping those people that get sick it causes the people that are sick to go bankrupt because of the money that they are spending on medical bills. By people spending all of their money on medical bills, it's causing the poverty rate to increase which is never a positive thing for the United States.

Life after high school

After high school there are a lot of options for people to do. Kids can get jobs and go to community college or they can attend college like most students at Deerfield do. I always wondered about how one makes the decision of what they are going to do after high school. Deciding which college to go will the hardest decision I will make in all my 17 years. Most people go off of what they are most passionate about. I read an article about an 18 year old that didn't go to college to make iPhone apps. Spencer Costanzo is probably really passionate about making apps and that's what he wanted to do after high school. Here is a link of a Q&A with Spencer, http://smallbusiness.yahoo.com/advisor/how-a-teenager-snubbed-college-toi-build-an-apps-empire-.html.In the article it talks about how he got started, how he made the decision to not go to college, what his parents thought and ways to inspire other kids that want to create a business like Spencer did.

College Applications

The application process is something that is pretty stressful for most people. I've heard stories that make me dread filling out the application. My friend has to write 11 separate essays and that has stressed me out beyond belief. After looking at the applications of the six schools I'm applying to, I realized I really don't have anything to worry about. Two of the school don't require an essay and I can use the same essay for the four other schools. With schools not having an essay I wonder if I'm setting myself up to fail in college by not preparing well for the school itself or if the schools I'm applying to are not good schools. Thinking about whether or not the school is good makes the process even more stressful.

University of Alabama speech codes

At the University of Alabama their speech codes are restricted and as a prospective student of the University this is a good thing. I know that my speech is restricted but growing up I have always been aware of what to say and if it is at the right time or place. You have to know your audience and what the environment is around you. I hope that at Alabama they would disapprove of the parties that we read about at Auburn. Being a school in the south as well, there have been struggles with slavery and seeing a party like that on campus is unacceptable. I don't think that the speech codes go against my rights because they have to regulate the school somehow and protecting people's rights are important. I agree with the perspectives of the FIRE website because I like that they protect students speech at universities.

Fraternity Life: Jim Crow Style

Hearing about what the different fraternity's at Auburn University made me sick. Yes being a southern school, most southern people attend the university but that doesn't give them the right to hang around a confederate flag and dress as black people. Seeing the different pictures of what the students did made me upset. (See pictures here: https://docs.google.com/present/view?id=0AVf_DLqQA9ovZGZ2bTR3ZmdfMGZ6M25iNWc2&hl=en_US) The behavior should be banned from campus due to all of the hatred that blacks have received in the past. This should be banned from campus because as it said in the article Jim Crow on Fraternity Row, "Thirty-seven years after the passage of the Civil Rights Act," Wes Williams, vice president for student affairs, said, "there is no acceptable explanation for the appearance of students in Ku Klux Klan robes or blackface." It was not okay for the black people to have to deal with harassment until the 1960s, so why would it make it okay for fraternities to make a joke out of it.

Ryder Cup

As boring as I think that golf normally is, the Ryder Cup is something that I've really been enjoying. This Saturday morning of the tournament has been a really tight match. The difference between the Ryder Cup and regular golf tournaments that I like are that they alternate between the two partners. It makes the partners have to really know golf because if their partner hits a bad shot they have to figure out how to get it closest to the pin in a difficult situation. Golf I know is normally an individual competition but watching this as team competition makes it so much more intense and a lot more entertaining. After watching bits and pieces of the Ryder Cup, I understand how hard golf actually is. There are many different angles and have to factor in the wind.

Replacement

All my life I have grown up a huge football fan. My family and I watch football every Sunday and its a part of a tradition. This year when the NFL referees went on strike and I didn't think that it would be as big of a deal as it has became. I noticed that the refs were pretty bad during the first week but during Monday night football the week is when it really stuck out to me. The Denver Broncos were playing the Atlanta Falcons and the referees were calling really bad, potentially game changing calls that were not fair. I know as a huge Denver Bronco fan I would want all the calls to go against the Falcons, but then the games aren't fun. This last Monday night game was ridiculous, there were so many penaltys that were unnessary that it made fans really upset. Every knows that the catch on Monday night was an interception not a touchdown. Finding out on Tuesday that there were 70,000 voicemails left at the NFL offices, made me realize how much the NFL should care abou the situation. If they didn't get the referees in fast, they wouldn't be getting the viewers that they would need. Thank you Roger Goodell for bringing back the refereees and making NFL football enjoyable for America.
http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/8435645/roger-goodell-says-fans-deserve-better-distractions

iPhone 5

We all know that technology is advancing and it will continue to advance. The iPhone 5 is a new product that Apple is selling. What really makes the iPhone 5 different from the iPhone 4? There's a new charger, can hold more apps on one page and it can take panoramic pictures. Are those features really worth spending all that money for a similar phone? Personally, there is only one part of the phone that appeals to me. The coloring, I love the black on black idea for the phone. As much hype as there is over the new product, there are still things that the phone cannot do. Check out this article to find out.
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/8-things-the-iphone-5-still-can-t-do.html

Ohio

During the time of the presidential election, you always hear about "swing states." Right now the topic of conversation is how Mitt Romney will not be able to win the electoral votes of Ohio. In an article that I read it says that you cannot win a presidential election without winning the state of Ohio. Although it says that President Barack Obama has the lead in electoral votes for Ohio, who says that can't change? I'm not stating the I favor one over the other because even though I do have my likes and dislikes of each candidate, I'm still not old enough to vote. I'm saying that yes the numbers say this and the numbers say that, but really how can the media be able to make these assumptions and basically say that Obama will win the election because Romney doesn't have the votes? There are obviously biased news stations, even if they say they are not, but that still doesn't give them the right to assume that Obama will win the presidential election in November.

Burning of the Flag

I believe that burning the American flag is completely disrespectful to the country. Of course mistakes are going to be made, everybody makes mistakes, but those mistakes do not give a person the right to burn something that is very symbolic to the country. The flag of any country is recognized to show pride and be proud to live in the country that you live in. The American flag has made its way through every bad time that has ever happened. As the veteran soldier said in the video that we watched, the flag gave the POW's belief that they could survive what they were enduring. Being tortured like a POW was, I would feel disrespected by the citizens of the country to see that a flag had been burned.

Pledge of Allegiance

The Pledge of Allegiance is something that is sensitive to the citizens of the United States. The West Virginia Board of Education v Barnette (1943) law applied to the Pledge of Allegiance is something I completely agree with. I think that saying the Pledge of Allegiance is completely your decision. It is unnecessary to force students to say it because it violates the first amendment, as stated in every court case in the article. The Pledge of Allegiance does not need to be said to prove yourself loyal to the country. If you do not think that you can be loyal to the United States, now -a-days it is a lot easier to get up and go to a country where you believe you can be loyal to. The most common disagreement about the Pledge of Allegiance is the "under god" portion. I would take this part out of the Pledge because as we learned in U.S. history we were trying to get away from enforcing religion in United States. This part of the Pledge also violates your rights according to the first amendment of freedom of religion. Whomever your "god" is, should be kept separate from something created by the national government.

Senior Year

As you get to your senior year of high school you have your friends that you have hung out with since freshman year. You share a special bond with each one of your friends and I'm hoping to make that bond stronger throughout the year. As my friends and I were getting dressed all in our black on Friday before the kickoff dance, I realized how lucky I am to have the friends that I have. We all are different in our own way, which is why we get along so well. Our personalities compliment each other letting us be able to have so fun much together. Although there have been many fights, mostly stupid,  I know that we can get through anything together. I think that this year is the year you should have no drama between anyone of your friends because it is your last year of high school to spend with the people special to you before you all go your separate ways after graduation.