Blog #12

The article I read was Friends with benefits: Do Facebook Friends Provide the same support as Those IN Real Life? Written by Kate Dailey and published in Newsweek on June 15^th, 2009. A friend named sue that she went to announced the death of her young son and was surprised that she had chosen to share something so personal online. She realized that Facebook is the fastest way to disseminate important information to the group without having to deal with painful phone calls. Numerous studies have shown that a strong network of friends can be crucial to getting through a crisis. Facebook attracted 67.5 million visitors in the US in April and the fastest growing demographic is people over 35. Even though Facebook may not replace the full benefits of real friendship but it defiantly beats the alternative. Having a large group of friends eager to comment on the persons daily life could be good for the person’s self-esteem. Shy people who may not always be able to engage friends in the real world are finding solace in the structure of Facebook.  By posting personal experience, no matter how painful also allows acquaintances who have lived through similar experience to reach out. Still there are experts who worry that too much time online keeps us from living satisfying lives in the real world.

I can see both the positive and negatives that the other said. I have around 700 friends that I either went to high school with or played a sport with. Most of my friends are acquaintances. I can see why sue put on Facebook that her son past away because she didn’t want to have all the phone calls and  have people ask about him when he isn’t alive. I do agree with the author when they said that we spend too much time online and it keeps us from living satisfying lives in the real world. Some people go by what people are posting on Facebook because they think that is in style now.

Etra Credit 4th Annual Inver Hills Marihuana Forum

I attended the 4^th annual Inver Hills Marijuana Forum on April 22, 2013. The first speaker was Tim Davis from the Former chair and senatorial candidate for the Minnesota Grassroots Party. He was for legalization of marijuana. He said that the nature of addiction has to do with beliefs. One of his main points was that Hem is a reliable source, for example cars can run on hem.  Laws are against you and say that you are a bad person if you do drugs but he believes that people do drugs because it makes them feel good. His last point was that marijuana can be used in the medical field for treating diseases. The second speaker was Dr. Charles Rezikoff who was for legalization but only in certain circumstances. He said that we should ignore marijuana in medical test because it is popular and doctors don’t know how to treat it yet. Doctors aren’t ready for it to be legalized yet because they don’t learn about it in medical school. His question was is marijuana a medicine? It is a good pain and nausea reliever, has medicinal effects, intoxicated effect, and can impair one’s ability and that all medicine have poisons in it. He believes that if marijuana becomes legal that it will send a bad signal to younger kids. The third speaker was Brandon Bregon who was for legalization. He believes that people should be responsible when use marijuana. He second believes is that prohibition is more dangerous than using drugs.  One of his favorite quotes was “get high don’t get higher” this was saying use your judgment and know when to stop. The fourth speaker was Ann Elliot from Inver Hills department of Nursing. She said that there are both positive and negatives about the legalization of marijuana. She was worried how people medication would affect them when they also use marijuana. She discovered that marijuana helps with appetite, pain and with chemo therapy. When they figure out more about marijuana they will have to inform patients with their evidence on how it can help them. More home care nurses are noticing that there patients are using marijuana.  As long as we know where it comes from, who should use it and who should dispense it will help the legalization process. The fifth speaker is Shane Stroup from the Inver Hills department of philosophy. We waste a lot on the government trying to stop the legalization but the truth is that the topic has risen and won’t go away any time soon. He believed that all things should be legal. There are zero deaths caused by marijuana compared to Aspirin that has caused 15,000 deaths a year.  He thinks that the benefits of legalization will be high. The last speaker is Michael Server from the Inver Hills from Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice. People can be caught with marijuana up to an ounce and a half and up to a $500.00 and it not going on your record. If marijuana was legal the best place to sell marijuana would be bars.  He thinks that marijuana send the wrong message to young children.

I’m in between on this topic. I think that if they legalize marijuana should e legalized for medical use once the medical field gets more educated on it because it can be used as a pain reliever, appetite, mood and after chemo therapy.  If marijuana becomes legalized I think that it will attract young kids and when if a person is driving it will impair them.  Overall we need to find out more information about marijuana before we decide to legalize it.

Blog #11

The article I read was ” McDonald’s Is not Our Kind of Place” written by Amitai Etzioni and published in Composing with Confidence: Writing Effective Paragraphs and essays and believes that students shouldn’t have jobs in  high school because it takes them away from their academics.  About two thirds of high school juniors and seniors have part time jobs in fast food chains like McDonalds. He argues that at McDonalds there is little room for initiative creativity, self-discipline and self- scheduling. Jobs undermine school attendance and involvement. McDonalds closes late and then have cleanup after; therefore, it interferences with getting their homework done. In fast food chains they have teens supervising teens to keep the costs down. There is no mature adult figure to provide a role model or guidance. Rarely is there much worth learning. Today teen pay may be low by adult standards but is substantial. Many teens find the instant reward of money and the youth status symbols it buys more alluring than school credits.

I agree with Amaitai on most everything he stated. I agree that working and going to school at the same time interferes with their school work. I also think that students should work while in school because it shows responsibly and time management skills that they will need when they go to college.  I have people get there pay check and then go spend it on status symbols. I think that if students learn how to manage more than one thing at a time it will be beneficial for them in their future.

Blog #10

The article I read was High School Football Team Quarterback Sticks Up for Bullied Special- Needs Student written by Gabe Zaldivar and published in bleacher report. Chy Johnson is a sophomore special need student who has a neurological disorder that limits her cognitive abilities. Students have thrown trash at her, called her names and many other actions that made Chy go home in tears from school. Chy mother was about to take her daughter out of school and home school her because of these acts. Her mother knew the varsity quarterback and asked him if he could find out who was bulling her. Jones the quarterback did better than that. He saw chy eating lunch by herself, so he invited her to sit with the football team. Jones said “I just thought if the other kids saw use treating her nicely, then maybe they would do the same”.  He even had a chat with her bullies. Now she is enjoying school again. She says “there my boys and I’m their lucky girl. They’re awesome”. They quarterback and the rest of his team have her under their wings and are this young women’s hero.

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1453666-high-school-footbal-qb-sticks-up-for-bullied-special-needs-student

This story is an amazing act of kindness. Nobody should have to go through bullying. I like how the mom acted upon it and didn’t go straight to the principle. She decided to see if she could help first and it paid off. So many people are afraid to stand up to bullies. Jones and his team broke the social morals and looked after a young woman with disabilities. We need more men out there like him and his team; the world would be a better place for people growing up.  This team has inspired many people to stand up to bulling.

Blog #9

The article I read is called 2012 Sports Kids of the Year: Conner and Cayden Long written by Gary Gramling and published in SI Kids Magazine. Conner Long is nine years old and Cayden Long is seven years old but he has hypertonic cerebral palsy. This leaves Cayden unable to walk or talk on his own. Playing sports is a great way for the brothers to bond but cayden can’t, until Conner came up with a great idea. They started participating in triathlons together. Conner swims while pulling Cayden in a raft, bikes with a trailer behind him that Cayden sits in and pushes the trailer when they run. Conner found the Nashville Kids Triathlon that consisted of swimming, biking and running. His parents said he could race and he insisted on cayden coming along. In their first race they had 100 yards of swimming that Conner pulled Cayden along. Then had Gildersleeve who is a young triathlon coach, biked cayden along the hilly three mile leg race and then Conner insisted that cayden would ride along with him on the bike with him. Next was the mile run that he pushed Cayden along. They completed the race in 43 minutes.  Now they have completed over 14 races and many people see Conner as inspiring. Cayden smiles and giggles throughout the races. Conner ultimate goal is to one day race with Cayden in Kona, Hawaii at the Ironman World Championships.  It will take hard work and sacrifice.  The Long brothers each have one good reason to work towards that dream which is each other.

This story is unbelievable. Conner Long is very inspiring to other kids in the world that have disabilities. They have shown true meaning of love and loyalty. We need more people out there like Conner. I hope that one day the Long brothers will be able to complete the Ironman World Championships. The love that Conner has for his brother is what everyone should have for their sibling. This story is one of the most inspiring stories that I have read.  

http://www.sikids.com/blogs/2012/11/20/sportskids-of-the-year-conner-and-cayden-long

Blog #8

The article I read was “from tragedy to friendship” by Cristina Goyanes and published in Women’s Day Magazine.  The article is about two women, one named Lori who lost her 27 year old son to suicide and Linda who lost her 16 year old son also to suicide. Both of the women donated their son’s organs to the nonprofit organ and tissue bank. Lori decided to call Linda to help her cope with the grief.  Lori consoles moms as a volunteer “grief companion”. After Lori sons 10 year anniversary she realized that she wished she had someone like her to talk to during the early stages. The first conversation that the women had was a little awkward but soon enough they were talking on the phone a couple of times a week. Lori went to go vist Linda at work and as soon as she saw Lori she knew instantly that it was her. The next year Lori found out that both of her kidneys were failing and she needed a transplant. The first thing Linda said was “sign me up” and through all the tests with people that volunteered to do a transplant Linda was the best fit. They did the transplant and when both of them woke up their first words were asking how each other were doing. Even though the women live four hours away from each other, they meet up often. The women say “that they are sister’s now but even closer because they share a kidney”.  Linda says that “just as one bad decision can change your life, one right decision can also change your life forever.

http://www.womansday.com/life/personal-stories/tragedy-to-friendship

This story is remarkable. I think that more people should join groups when their kids pass away to help them cope with the grief. Everyone always says I’m so sorry for your loss but that doesn’t really help the person it makes them think about it even more. If people would join groups and be around people that are going through the same thing I think it would help them a lot. Linda was hit with a tragedy but then got hit again with her kidneys failing but she never gave up because she had someone by her side. I thought this story was very good and that we need to have more people like Lori in are world to help me out when they are having a hard time.  

Post #7

The article I read was “Charity Means You Don’t Pick and Choose” written by Patricia O’Hara and published in the Newsweek. In this article a mom, dad and son pass by a homeless guy and he asked if they could spare anything. The son was five years old and has never encountered a homeless person before. They gave him a dollar and the doggie bag of leftover food from the restaurant and the homeless guy thanked them. At the same moment a group of people walked by and barked out “it’d be better if they got a job.”  The dad did have doubts on what the guy would do with the money but was hoping that he taught his son about the principles of charity that he holds. Most people feel more comfortable fiving anonymously like clothing drives or to a Santa Claus ring a bell to help people in need.  A few years  later the mom and her son were walking in New York City as a thin, drugged out young ,an approached them asking them for money.  They passed by him but the son wondered why they didn’t give to him. The mom says” that they didn’t have time and they can’t give to everyone” and the sons says “yeah I wouldn’t give money to people like that.” This showed her son that it i acceptable to classify people as deserving and undeserving poor.

I have come across homeless people when I have traveled. Everyone has different reasons for being homeless but me personally I like to give anonymously. If I give to a person on the street I would buy them food, not give money because you don’t know where it is going. I think that everyone should earn for themselves not rely on other people to give.

Post #6

The article I read was “Dear Dads: Save Your Sons” by Christopher N. Bacorn and was published by Newsweek on December 6^th, 1992. This article is about 15 year old boy who is in a gang, into alcohol, violence and failing grades due to his father leaving. He became more unmanageable and hurt someone in a fight.  The mother expressed her concerns to Bacorn. She wishes that he had a male role model in his life. The counselor Bacorn tried talking to him but that didn’t work because he thought there was nothing wrong with him.  He also talks about, what has happened to the fathers? Where are they? Bacorn says they aren’t at PTA meetings or holding a sick child in a pediatrician’s office they are at home, golf course, drinking, or fishing. Bacorn talks about how poverty prevention concepts says that if fathers were to spend time with their children it would cause less hunger and fewer pregnancy’s. Bacorn told the mother to try and get him to play sports so he can be around other boys would expose him to teamwork, cooperation and friendly competition. That didn’t work he said “it is for dorks” so the boy told his mom it was time to leave. This left Bacorn with a measure of hopelessness. 

I thought this article was very interesting. I believe that it is very important for a child to have a father in their life. I have seen what it does to families when the father leaves. It leads to alcohol, drugs and violence. The sad part is that fathers leaving family’s happen more than we actual realize. Fathers need to put their kids before themselves, meaning that they need to set time away from their activity’s to spend with their child.

Post #5

The article I read was “Caring for an Autistic Adult” by Marjorie Ingall published in Women’s Day magazine http://www.womansday.com/life/personal-stories/autistic-adults. The article is about having an autistic son, which has taught his mom the value of strength, denotation and a sense of humor. From the day he was born they knew he was different because he was reading the encyclopedia at age 3 and incredible with numbers. At age 4 Alex was diagnosed with autism. Pam was told to “focus on Alex strengths, not his weakness because his strengths are what will take him places”. While in school Alex memorized lists of prime numbers and almost 1,500 digits of pi, but he spoke in two word sentences for years and wasn’t toilet trained until 13. His behavior during classes was disruptive and was restrained when he would wonder around the room so they decided to home school Alex. Autism isn’t predictable and his anxiety levels grew. Alex medication didn’t help and he lashed out and attacked his father three times. They had no choice but to admit him into a psychiatric ward.  If Alex needed to stay in a long term facility it would cost $250,000 a year but fought with their insurance companies and couldn’t afford it.  They ended up finding a state funded day program that they were qualified for and she says it feels like she is sending her child off to college. They are now moving forward in there life’s again.

I thought this article was very good. I learned more about autism and thought it was sad what the family had to go through with their son. Especially, when the dad was attacked by their son and had to be put in a psychiatric ward that would be really hard on the family. Since you never know what a kid will do with autism you have to keep your eyes open at all times. My friend has a brother that has autism and was in the same position as this family. In the article it said autism causes tensions in the family but this one they became even closer which I thought was very beneficial for the family.  One day he would be very giggly and joking around, then the next day he could be screaming and having behavior problems.

Post #4

The article I read was “Considering Adoption” http://thisibelieve.org/essay/5461/ by Susie Green. She is a divorced mom of two kids but wants more kids. “One church, one child” is what Susie heard at her church. Even though she didn’t have another room for the child and her income barely enough she was able to adopt two year old Henry. When she adopted him they never told her about his rocking problem or never knew about it. When he was awake he rocked on his knees and at night he rocked his crib. After years passing his rocking didn’t stop but her concern about his family history grew stronger everyday but she couldn’t focus all of her attention on Henry when she has two other children also. She believed “that it’s what we do not know about ourselves that stops us dead in are tracks when considering adoption”. Know he is a junior in college and joined the Air Force and now only rocks out to his music.

I thought this article was very interesting. It made me think about what they kid went through to have to the rocking problem. The message “one church, one child” is very true if a member of every church was to adopt a child foster children would decrease.  This would be very good for children that live in foster homes with a bunch of kids because they would be able have a family that won’t leave them. Even though the mom didn’t make a lot of money she still wants another kid so she adopted and the child overcame his rocking problem years later.

Post #3

On Student Success Day I attended the session Successful Scholarship Applications by Mary Dimick and Mary Saurino. They informed us about where to find scholarships, tips for filling out scholarships and about Inver Hills Scholarship process. Some tips they informed us for filling out applications would be read through the entire application, make a note of all attachments that are requested, letters of recommendation,  narrative, volunteerism or community service ,honors, recognition and achievements and be sure to have your FASFA filled out for the current year. When looking for scholarships consider your employer, organizations that your family belongs to, organizations in your community, search for funds to your career goal and Inver Hills Scholarship Foundation.

The class that I attended was very useful to me. I now know more about scholarships applications and what I a good application are supposed to have.  The tips that they gave for scholarships will be really useful to me when I’m filling out applications for this spring. Through the Inver Hills scholarships I was able to find scholarships that I can apply to and am going to look around my community for more opportunities for scholarships.

Post #2 This I Believe

The “this I believe” article I am writing about is “A death he freely accepted” by Greghttp://thisibelieve.org/essay/1383/ .  Everyday his father would say “I love you” but not once did Greg say it back to his dad until the day his dad was laying in the hospital. He thought it was too late to say I love you but when he was about to leave, his dad raised his hand and put it against Greg check. He then was able to say “I love you dad” but then a few second later his hand dropped, fell into a coma and pasted away.  After this he know believes that in “redemptive power of forgiveness, serve and inspire others through good works, and that with faith and humanity we can discover that every tragedy and unbearable heart break hold the promise of a divine blessing”.

 After reading this I thought it was very sad but inspiring to others that are in the same position he is in. It makes you realize that you need to cherish what you have in life because you never know when it will disappear. I’m glad that he was able to say “I love you dad” before he passed otherwise he would of have to live with that the rest of his life and I feel like that would have been really hard for him. The reason I choose this article was because that I felt it was very touching to me and I was in somewhat of the same position as him.

Post #1

The article "I won’t hire people who use poor grammar" http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2012/07/i_wont_hire_people_who_use_poo.html by Kyle Wiens says that if people can’t pass the grammar test they won’t be hired. They have a "zero tolerance" policy for poor grammar. They believe that a person should have at least high school English knowledge and know the difference between to and too.  Even though ifixit isn’t all about writing they have all their positions take a grammar test. He believes that people who don’t care about writing are more likely” to think lots other things also aren’t important”. That would be why they give grammar test to all employees before they hire them.

 After reading this article I would have to agree with some of their arguments and then disagree about other arguments they had. I also believe that people who make fewer mistakes in a grammar test would make fewer mistakes on the job. One thing I did disagree about was applicant who was perfect for the job but failed the grammar test. You could give that person grammar lessons to improve their writing. Then they could re take the grammar test after some lessons so you would know that they have the proper writing skills for the position.

Practice Blog

Hi my name is Melissa Gustafson. I am from Cottage Grove and am 18 years old. This is my second semester at Inver Hills. After I complete my generals I plan to transfer to University of River Falls and major in psychology. After that I would like to go on and get my masters in occupational therapy. I work for metropolitan center for independent living as a CNA. I take care of a young guy who has brain injury problems. My interests are hockey, movies, hangout with my friends or my nephew, being up at my cabin and traveling.