Blog #11

When choosing topics to be used in an educational environment, it is good to avoid topics that are controversial or offensive. Using discretion during the topic selection process removes any chance of a topic being used that is not politically correct. In my opinion, this is why teachers have to ban or avoid certain topics when giving assignments to their students. Only having a few topics for the students to choose from, the teacher can easily grade the papers without having to check a large amount of information and resources. I think that as grown adults taking college classes we should be able to choose whatever topic we want. If a student can choose a topic based on personal interest, the student would be excited and eager to complete the assignment. I have a difficult time finding information and resources during the writing process when given a topic that I have no personal interest in. This also causes a lack of motivation to do the assignment and usually causes me to rush through the paper. A possible solution would be to broaden the variety of topics a student is allowed to choose from. By doing this, there will be a better chance that the students could choose a topic they find interesting. A larger variety of topics would also keep the unwanted and controversial subjects from being used in a student’s paper. Having a topic chosen for me also relieves me of the time and stress of having to find a topic on my own.

blog 10

I think it’s unfair to condemn schools for trying. Schools are severely underfunded and if the goal is to get more funding, where’s the evil? With better funding, schools can create a better learning environment. In the long run this will help more students. I think everyone agrees that these programs have the potential to help some students, obviously not all of them. That would be unrealistic but even if it helped a few, is it not worth it? For those who do it for the money, they will realize that money is not free rather worked for. And yes, sometimes in lousy ways. The point is schools can’t depend on the 'system' to help them so they have created funding for themselves. If, in the process, they can motivate students to do better, then go for it. Many kids can't participate in after-school programs or projects because they have to work to help support their families. Paying children for better grades may better the education system all together, especially for those whose parents can’t afford to provide any incentives for their children to do better in school. When children are offered an award from their parents if they get let’s say an A on a history paper, that child has more incentive to get an A then he did before, right? This sounds like a way to bridge the gap between earnings and school - to show kids that their education is valuable and important, and to keep them in school where they should be, rather than working an evening job at McDonalds. Whatever it takes for kids to improve their education would in turn help improve their self-esteem. It may give them just the encouragement they need to "make something of themselves".

Blog #9

Marijuana should be legal for medical purposes, because it has proven benefits. Marijuana has been proven effective for battling the pain that many people suffer due to illness. To deny these people this option in treating their pain is completely unreasonable. In reality, marijuana is far less dangerous than strong prescription pain killers anyway. Furthermore, not allowing marijuana to be legalized for medicinal purposes will have little to no effect on peoples' recreational use of the drug. Not only do I think Marijuana should be made legal for medical reasons, but for recreation. There is no rational explanation as for why marijuana is not illegal. Marijuana is not nearly as destructive or dangerous as psychotropic drugs dealt to us by the pharmaceutical industry. According to psychological studied Marijuana has a very low addiction rate, and statistics show that it is very rarely associated with injury or death other than the issue of its illegal distribution. Tobacco and Alcohol has been linked to many more deaths and these are both legal, the later because prohibition, what we are now doing with Marijuana, did not stop the sale and use of the product. Making this legal would decrease the number of illegal operations and associated violence and the taboo element which attracts youth to engage in the use of it.

Blog #8

Pop star, composer, songwriter, and recording artist. John Winston Lennon was born October 9, 1940, in Liverpool, Merseyside, NW England, UK, during a German air raid in World War II. When he was four years old, Lennon's parents separated and he ended up living with his Aunt Mimi. John's father was a merchant seaman. He was not present at his son's birth and did not see a lot of his son when he was small. Lennon's mother, Julia, remarried, but visited John and Mimi regularly. She taught John how to play the banjo and the piano and purchased his first guitar. John was devastated when Julia was fatally struck by a car driven by an off-duty police officer in July 1958. Her death was one of the most traumatic events in his life. As a child, John was a prankster and he enjoyed getting in trouble. As a boy and young adult, John enjoyed drawing grotesque figures and cripples. John's school master thought that he could go to an art school for college, since he did not get good grades in school, but had artistic talent.

Lennon met McCartney in 1957 and invited Paul to join his music group. They eventually formed the most successful songwriting partnership in musical history. Lennon left The Beatles in 1969 and later released albums with his wife Yoko Ono, and others. In 1980 he was killed by a crazed fan.

In 1980, Lennon returned to the music world with the album Double Fantasy, featuring the hit single Starting Over. Unfortunately, just a few weeks after its release, Lennon was shot by a deranged fan in front of his apartment complex in New York. Lennon died of the age of 40 at the Roosevelt Hospital on December 8, 1980, after receiving multiple gun shots in the back. His death affected millions of people, record sales soared, and he continues to be admired by new generations of fans.