I forgot to do one of my work in progress blogs from back in February. It was around the time we were writing our second portfolio, I believe. So instead I’ve decided to write my 12th work in progress blog on the progress we’ve made with our advocacy Facebook page. The page is really coming together nicely! Lenda created the group itself and named it. David posted the first thing to the page just to describe what our Facebook group was all about. I, then, posted a little bit more about pediatric cancer and some of the statistics on it. Lenda posted about Alek’s Lemonade Stand and a video to go with it too! The last thing posted was real life story by David. He added some pictures which make the post more interesting. As a group, we’ve added almost 100 people to our group and it seems to be growing! I plan on posting something about the Red Cross tomorrow. Overall, my group is doing really well working together and making the Facebook page come together!
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Advocacy Project
April 22, 2013 by Stef Smith
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Advocacy Project Ideas
April 16, 2013 by Stef Smith
My groups advocacy project will be a Facebook page promoting pediatric cancer around Penn State. PSU is obviously a huge school working towards pediatric cancer, but we feel it would be a good idea to keep enforcing it! We would make more things known other than THON that can be done for the kids. My job in the project is to talk about the Red Cross club. I’m apart of this club and feel like I’d be the best to give information on blood drives and what the club is all about. The Red Cross club holds countless blood drives throughout the school year. These blood drives are important because something as simple as a blood transfusion can save a life. Kids with cancer need our help and our group is trying to emphasize that!
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The Jersey Shore
April 15, 2013 by Stef Smith
For my very last blog in English 15, I thought I’d write about the Jersey Shore. I live in New Jersey so I’ve been to lots of the beaches along the shore. I also remember a lot of people in the class saying they’ve been to the Jersey shore as well. Well for starters, the Jersey shore isn’t as gross and “guido” as most people think it is. The TV show gave it a bad rep. Although, I’m actually really thankful for that TV show now because many of the Jersey shore beaches (especially Seaside Heights) would not be making such a speedy recovery after Hurricane Sandy if it weren’t for MTV. Hurricane Sandy had some incredibly devastating affects on the shore but I won’t talk about that for now.
As for beaches along the shore, I have been to Ortley Beach, Seaside Heights, Long Branch, Sandy Hook, Belmar, Seven Presidents, Asbury Park, Ocean Grove, Point Pleasant, Lavalette, Wildwood, and Long Beach Island just to name a few. If I had to pick, LBI was my favorite. LBI is beautiful, very clean, and a well guarded beach at the tip of New Jersey. It’s very quiet, having no boardwalk or street vendors. But it is very family oriented! It’s also home to one of only nine Ron Jon Surf Shops in the US! If you ever get the chance to go, the best and most beautiful beach on LBI (in my opinion) is Barnegat Light so don’t forget to check it out!
Point Pleasant is definitely the most family fun beach with an amazing boardwalk. It has tons of rides for all age groups, lots of restaurants, and a great aquarium. If you want to visit a more quiet, family friendly beach I’d have to recommend Stone Harbor. This is a small, laid-back town with lots of shops, restaurants, and family oriented activities. This town is a lot less crowded than most of its other beach neighbors. On the other hand, if you’re looking for more of a party scene I’d reccomend either Belmar or Seaside Heights. Both of these beaches have more of a “young people scene” with lots of bars and clubs. There’s tons of beaches along the Jersey shore and some are much better than others. You just have to know which ones to go to!
Here is a list of some of the bests when it comes to beaches:
- Best Boardwalk: Ocean City
- Best Nude Beach: Gunnison Beach, Sandy Hook
- Best Surfing Beaches: Inlet Beach, Manasquan Whale Beach, Upper Township Long Beach Island (Southern tip)
- Best Gay Friendly Beaches: Asbury Park and Ocean Grove
- Best Upscale Beaches: Mantoloking and Spring Lake
- Best Pet Friendly Beach: Island Beach State Park and Stone Harbor
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more work on my policy paper
April 9, 2013 by Stef Smith
Stephanie Smith
The Benefits of Marijuana LegalizationThe countless benefits of legalization of marijuana outweigh the cons by a far stretch. Marijuana will keep hundreds of thousands out of jail, provide jobs and boost the economy. It also has enormous medical purposes, including the treatment of cancer patients. It’s time that the prohibition of marijuana be recognized as an unreasonable government intrusion into individual freedom of choice.
Introduction
Marijuana is a plant that contains a psychoactive chemical called tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) in its leaves and buds. It can be used as a medicine, for illegal recreational use, in food, drink, body lotion, make up, and many more. Although there is no proof marijuana poses any seriously harmful threats, it has been illegal in the United States since the 1930s. In reality, the pros outweigh the cons of marijuana legalization by a far stretch. It’s the most commonly used illicit drug, with forty two percent of adults who’ve reported to have used marijuana in his or her lifetime (10 Facts). It is also the most common drug that people are arrested for. Although, it’s been proven to not be a dangerous, highly addictive drug, it’s ironicly enforced very harshly by law. Prohibition of marijuana is an unreasonable government intrusion into individual freedom of choice. Legalizing marijuana would benefit our country in so many more ways than the government realizes including medical purposes, a giant decrease in arrests, as well as a huge leap in income and job offers.
Medical Purposes
Most people think that because one inhales marijuana, it may cause lung problems, but it actually has been found to increase lung capacity in users (All). Marijuana actually has many benefits in the medical field, especially for cancer patients. It can be used to treat and prevent glaucoma, which is an eye disease that puts pressure on the eyeball, which damages the optic nerve and eventually causes loss of vision. Marijuana helps buy decreasing the pressure in the eye and slowing the progression of the disease (All). Marijuana can also decrease epileptic seizures because the cannabinoids, such as THC, inside marijuana bind to brain cells responsible for controlling excitability and regulating relaxation (All). Marijuana also decreases anxiety, slows the progression of Alzheimer’s disease, eases the pain of Multiple Sclerosis, lessens the side effects from treating Hepatitis C, treats inflammatory bowel diseases, and relieves arthritis discomfort (All). There’s not that many illegal substances out there that can do so much for the medical field like marijuana can and yet the government is holding it from treating all of these ailments.
A psychiatrist, Tod A. Mikuriya, who helped propose Proposition 215, the state ballot that allowed doctors to issue patients medical marijuana in California, researched marijuana’s therapeutic abilities in the 1960s. He believed that over two hundred ailments could be treated with marijuana, including premenstrual symptoms, stuttering, insomnia, and writer’s cramp. The National Cancer Institute actually agree with him in that marijuana can treat the side effect of chemotherapy, preventing nausea and vomiting, increasing appetite, relieving pain, and helping sleep (All). There’s an actual chemical called cannabidiol found in marijuana, which prevents cancer from spreading by turning off a gene called Id-1 (All). Therefore, marijuana is an extremely effective drug for cancer patients.
Comparison to Alcohol and Tobacco
One of the reasons marijuana may not be legal is the idea that it is a gateway drug to other more dangerous drugs such as cocaine or heroin. This is actually not found to be true. Marijuana is the most popular illegal drug in the country and most marijuana users have never used any other type of drug. The ones that do, usually don’t become addicted or go on to have associated problems (10 Facts). Marijuana is more of a terminus rather than so-called gateway drug that most people portray it to be.
Alcohol and tobacco are two legal substances bought by many Americans every day. On average, eighty thousand deaths a year are due to excessive alcohol use, making alcohol the third leading lifestyle cause of death in the entire nation. (Facts) Also, around four hundred and forty three thousand people die a year who smoke or are exposed to secondhand smoke of tobacco products and another 8.6 million people live with a serious illness caused by smoking (Tobacco). These statistics make the irony that tobacco and alcohol are considered legal substances in the United States and marijuana is not. This is because there have been zero deaths relating to marijuana use or causes in the entire history of mankind (Deaths). In fact, marijuana was compared to a total of seventeen FDA-approved drugs and it’s interesting to see that marijuana was the one and only drug that didn’t kill or cause the death of any person. Many other drugs such as ones for ADD, narcolepsy, and depression were all primary suspects to thousands of deaths (Deaths).
To take a look at the comparison between getting drunk off of alcohol and getting a high off of marijuana, the effects of alcohol are clearly worse than those of marijuana. For example, not one person has ever overdosed from marijuana use, but many people have from drinking alcohol (Marijuana). Alcohol use also damages the brain and liver, is linked to cancer, and is addictive while marijuana does not (Marijuana). Alcohol use contributes to the risk of serious illness on the consumer, as well. It was found that thirty six percent of hospitalized assaults and twenty one percent of all injuries are alcohol related, while the American Journal of Emergency Medicine says that lifetime marijuana use is rarely associated with emergency room visits (Marijuana). An article in the Journal of Addictive Behaviors reported that “alcohol is clearly the drug with the most evidence to support a direct intoxication-violence relationship,” whereas “cannabis reduces the likelihood of violence during intoxication.” (Marijuana) Lastly, a study conducted by the Research Institute of Addictions found that alcohol increased the likelihood of sexual abuse and domestic violence, while marijuana did not (Marijuana).
This will go into arrests*
Judicial System/Arrests
Marijuana is extremely expensive on the Unites States’ judicial system and should, instead, be taxed to support government programs. It’s unnecessary to spend the time, effort, and money arresting seven hundred and fifty thousand people a year for the possession of marijuana and then having to dispose each case as well (Top). Not only is it expensive, but marijuana arrests make the judicial system less efficient by deflecting the attention of police officers, attorneys, judges, and correctional officials’ attentions from more serious problems such as sexual abuse or violent crimes (Top).
*need more detail
Economy
Having a legal market for marijuana sale would make more jobs available as well as increase the income to the United States. According to the Huffington Post, hundreds of economists estimate that legalization of marijuana would save the United States up to fourteen billion dollars a year because it’s a top selling agricultural product. With a national debt reaching over sixteen trillion, legalization only makes sense. With a current unemployment rate of 7.8%, legalization would increase employment and bring in billions of dollars in federal and tax money. It would also decrease the international money flow. This is because the prohibition of marijuana makes “foreign cultivation and smuggling to the United States extremely profitable, sending billions of dollars overseas in an underground economy while diverting funds from productive economic development.” (Top)
Conclusion
Although recreational marijuana use is still a controversial subject, there are so many positive aspects to marijuana that seem to be overlooked. Recreational use for people over the age of twenty-one has been legalized in the states of Washington and Colorado just this past November. Marijuana use and legalization is increasingly becoming popular and the fight for legality is definitely becoming more prevalent in society as time goes on. There’s no harm in legalization, and if anything marijuana can do a lot of good for the population. Prohibition is obviously failing to control marijuana’s use and distribution. Over twenty five million people use marijuana annually, and it has become the largest cash crop in the United States (Top). So claims that prohibition is successful are ridiculous. Being illegal isn’t stopping any users from selling and smoking it. It’s actually causing harm and inefficiency to the judicial system, as well as the medical field. Thousand upon thousands of people have seen jail time due to possession of marijuana. Not because he or she has done anything wrong while intoxicated by marijuana, but just because he or she owned, possessed, sold, or manufactured it. Another thousands upon thousands of people could be treated of their ailments with the medical purposes of marijuana if only this drug could be legalized. Everyday peoples’ lives are hurt by the prohibition of marijuana. Legalization would aid in so many individual and national problems as long as it was contained and sold in an appropriate way. It’s time for marijuana to be recognized for more than a schedule 1 substance.
Arguments over legalizing marijuana have been disputed for decades over the morality of it, success of smokers, and the health of users. Morally, one should be given the opportunity to make the decision on his or her own to use or possess marijuana. There are tons of successful marijuana smoking advocates out there including Bob Marley, Joe Rogan, and Wiz Khalifa. Just because a person ingests marijuana, doesn’t mean he or she can’t be a highly functioning and successful person in society. The examples given are clear enough to show that marijuana does not have to interfere with a person’s ability to achieve. As for one’s health, the affects seem to be way more positive, including increasing lung capacity and helping cancer patients cope with their serious ailments. All in all, small steps towards marijuana legalization should be taken. First, the government should remove marijuana from its schedule 1 substance classification and decriminalize it so the states can make their own decisions depending on their economical and legal situations. Legalization is making baby steps in the states today, and in a few decades total legality may be achieved!
References:
“10 Facts About Marijuana.” Drug Policy Alliance. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 Apr. 2013.“The Top Ten Reasons Marijuana Should Be Legal.” Alternet. N.p., 31 Aug. 2007. Web. 20 Mar. 2013.
“Fact Sheets- Alcohol Use and Health.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 01 Oct. 2012. Web. 04 Apr. 2013.
“Tobacco Use.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 16 Nov. 2012. Web. 04 Apr. 2013.
“Deaths from Marijuana v. 17 FDA-Approved Drugs – Medical Marijuana – ProCon.org.” Deaths from Marijuana v. 17 FDA-Approved Drugs – Medical Marijuana – ProCon.org. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 Apr. 2013.
“Marijuana vs. Alcohol.” SAFER -. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 Apr. 2013.
“All The Reasons Pot Is Good For You.” Business Insider. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 Apr. 2013.
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London
April 9, 2013 by Stef Smith
As you guys know from my blogs, I absolutely love traveling but I’m sad to say that I’ve already told you guys about all the interesting trips I’ve been on and places to see. So from this point on I’d like to talk about the places I’d like to see in my future. I’ll start with London first.
London is the capital of England and the United Kingdom, as well as the largest city, urban zone, and metropolitan area in the United Kingdom. London is a leading global city and has been described as a world cultural capital. London contains forty three universities which comprises Europe’s largest concentration of higher education. It has a population of over eight million and over three hundred languages are spoken there. London included four world heritage sites: the Tower of London, Kew Gardens, the site that includes the Palace of Westminster, West Minster Abbey, and St. Margaret’s Church, and lastly the settlement of Greenwich. It is the home of tons of famous landmarks including Buckingham Palace, the London Eye, Piccadilly Circus, St. Paul’s Cathedral, Tower Bridge, Trafalgar Square, and The Shard. London also has lots of museums, galleries, libraries, sporting events and other cultural institutions, including the British Museum, National Gallery, Tate Modern, British Library and forty West end theatres.
One place in particular that seems like a must see is Buckingham Palace. It’s the home and main workplace of the British monarch. It’s also a setting for state occasions and royal hospitality. Another thing I’d love to see and ride is the London Eye. It’s a giant ferris wheel that sits on the Thames River. It’s also the highest paid tourist attraction and used to be the tallest ferris wheel in the world upon its construction. It’ lights up at night time, so it’s extraordinarily pretty.
If you’re trying to save money while in London make sure to find the free attractions. Some include the National Gallery, Hyde Park, and and the Portobello Road Market. Another way to save money is to ride the tube which is London’s underground system. Taxis will add up quickly so if you buy a pay-as-you-go Oyster Card you can ride the tube whenever. It’s also important to dine smart. Places like Brick Lane have many ethnic choices for bargain prices, and fish and chip shops are always cheaper (as well as a cultural must have).
Although most people in London speak English, much of the slang is quite different. If someone asks to bum a fag they’re really just asking if you’ve got a cigarette to spare. Another slang phrase many people use in London is they’re “in queue for the loo,” which means they’re in line for the bathroom. But if someone asks you to snog, they just want a kiss. London is an extremely fun and attractive place to go, but can be very expensive so try to follow some tips on saving money. Beware of tipping at restaurants too, because they add a ten to fifteen percent service charge!
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Legalization of Marijuana Policy Paper
April 4, 2013 by Stef Smith
Stephanie Smith
The Benefits of Marijuana LegalizationThe countless benefits of legalization of marijuana outweigh the cons by a far stretch. Marijuana will keep hundreds of thousands out of jail, provide jobs and boost the economy. It also has enormous medical purposes, including the treatment of cancer patients. It’s time that the prohibition of marijuana be recognized as an unreasonable government intrusion into individual freedom of choice.
Marijuana is a plant that contains a psychoactive chemical called tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) in its leaves and buds. It can be used as a medicine, for illegal recreational use, in food, drink, body lotion, make up, and many more. Although there is no proof marijuana poses any seriously harmful threats, it has been illegal in the United States since the 1930s. In reality, the pros outweigh the cons of marijuana legalization by a far stretch. It’s the most commonly used illicit drug, with forty two percent of adults who’ve reported to have used marijuana in his or her lifetime (10 Facts). It is also the most common drug that people are arrested for. Although, it’s been proven to not be a dangerous, highly addictive drug, it’s ironicly enforced very harshly by law. Prohibition of marijuana is an unreasonable government intrusion into individual freedom of choice. Legalizing marijuana would benefit our country in so many more ways than the government realizes including medical purposes, a giant decrease in arrests, as well as a huge leap in income and job offers.
Marijuana is extremely expensive on the Unites States’ judicial system and should, instead, be taxed to support government programs. It’s unnecessary to spend the time, effort, and money arresting seven hundred and fifty thousand people a year for the possession of marijuana and then having to dispose each case as well (Top). Not only is it expensive, but marijuana arrests make the judicial system less efficient by deflecting the attention of police officers, attorneys, judges, and correctional officials’ attentions from more serious problems such as sexual abuse or violent crimes (Top).
Alcohol and tobacco are two legal substances bought by many Americans every day. On average, eighty thousand deaths a year are due to excessive alcohol use, making alcohol the third leading lifestyle cause of death in the entire nation. (Facts) Also, around four hundred and forty three thousand people die a year who smoke or are exposed to secondhand smoke of tobacco products and another 8.6 million people live with a serious illness caused by smoking (Tobacco). These statistics make the irony that tobacco and alcohol are considered legal substances in the United States and marijuana is not. This is because there have been zero deaths relating to marijuana use or causes in the entire history of mankind (Deaths). In fact, marijuana was compared to a total of seventeen FDA-approved drugs and it’s interesting to see that marijuana was the one and only drug that didn’t kill or cause the death of any person. Many other drugs such as ones for ADD, narcolepsy, and depression were all primary suspects to thousands of deaths (Deaths).
To take a look at the comparison between getting drunk off of alcohol and getting a high off of marijuana, the effects of alcohol are clearly worse than those of marijuana. For example, not one person has ever overdosed from marijuana use, but many people have from drinking alcohol (Marijuana). Alcohol use also damages the brain and liver, is linked to cancer, and is addictive while marijuana does not (Marijuana). Alcohol use contributes to the risk of serious illness on the consumer, as well. It was found that thirty six percent of hospitalized assaults and twenty one percent of all injuries are alcohol related, while the American Journal of Emergency Medicine says that lifetime marijuana use is rarely associated with emergency room visits (Marijuana). An article in the Journal of Addictive Behaviors reported that “alcohol is clearly the drug with the most evidence to support a direct intoxication-violence relationship,” whereas “cannabis reduces the likelihood of violence during intoxication.” (Marijuana) Lastly, a study conducted by the Research Institute of Addictions found that alcohol increased the likelihood of sexual abuse and domestic violence, while marijuana did not (Marijuana).
One of the reasons marijuana may not be legal is the idea that it is a gateway drug to other more dangerous drugs such as cocaine or heroin. This is actually not found to be true. Marijuana is the most popular illegal drug in the country and most marijuana users have never used any other type of drug. The ones that do, usually don’t become addicted or go on to have associated problems (10 Facts). Marijuana is more of a terminus rather than so-called gateway drug that most people portray it to be.
Most people think that because one inhales marijuana, it may cause lung problems, but it actually has been found to increase lung capacity in users (All). Marijuana actually has many benefits in the medical field, especially for cancer patients. It can be used to treat and prevent glaucoma, which is an eye disease that puts pressure on the eyeball, which damages the optic nerve and eventually causes loss of vision. Marijuana helps buy decreasing the pressure in the eye and slowing the progression of the disease (All). Marijuana can also decrease epileptic seizures because the cannabinoids, such as THC, inside marijuana bind to brain cells responsible for controlling excitability and regulating relaxation (All). Marijuana also decreases anxiety, slows the progression of Alzheimer’s disease, eases the pain of Multiple Sclerosis, lessens the side effects from treating Hepatitis C, treats inflammatory bowel diseases, and relieves arthritis discomfort (All). There’s not that many illegal substances out there that can do so much for the medical field like marijuana can and yet the government is holding it from treating all of these ailments.
A psychiatrist, Tod A. Mikuriya, who helped propose Proposition 215, the state ballot that allowed doctors to issue patients medical marijuana in California, researched marijuana’s therapeutic abilities in the 1960s. He believed that over two hundred ailments could be treated with marijuana, including premenstrual symptoms, stuttering, insomnia, and writer’s cramp. The National Cancer Institute actually agree with him in that marijuana can treat the side effect of chemotherapy, preventing nausea and vomiting, increasing appetite, relieving pain, and helping sleep (All). There’s an actual chemical called cannabidiol found in marijuana, which prevents cancer from spreading by turning off a gene called Id-1 (All). Therefore, marijuana is an extremely effective drug for cancer patients.
Although recreational marijuana use is very controversial, medical marijuana use should be legalized. Recreational use for people over the age of twenty-one has been legalized in the states of Washington and Colorado just this past November. Marijuana use and legalization is increasingly becoming popular and the fight for legality is definitely becoming more prevalent in society as time goes on. There’s no harm in legalization, and if anything marijuana can do a lot of good for the population. Prohibition is obviously failing to control marijuana’s use and distribution. Over twenty five million people use marijuana annually, and it has become the largest cash crop in the United States (Top). So claims that prohibition is successful are ridiculous. Being illegal isn’t stopping any users from selling and smoking it. It’s actually causing harm and inefficiency to the judicial system, as well as the medical field. Thousand upon thousands of people have seen jail time due to possession of marijuana. Not because he or she has done anything wrong while intoxicated by marijuana, but just because he or she owned, possessed, sold, or manufactured it. Another thousands upon thousands of people could be treated of their ailments with the medical purposes of marijuana if only this drug could be legalized. Everyday peoples’ lives are hurt by the prohibition of marijuana. Legalization would aid in so many individual and national problems as long as it was contained and sold in an appropriate way. It’s time for marijuana to be recognized for more than a schedule 1 substance.
Having a legal market for marijuana sale would make more jobs available as well as increase the income to the United States. According to the Huffington Post, hundreds of economists estimate that legalization of marijuana would save the United States up to fourteen billion dollars a year because it’s a top selling agricultural product. With a national debt reaching over sixteen trillion, legalization only makes sense. With a current unemployment rate of 7.8%, legalization would increase employment and bring in billions of dollars in federal and tax money. It would also decrease the international money flow. This is because the prohibition of marijuana makes “foreign cultivation and smuggling to the United States extremely profitable, sending billions of dollars overseas in an underground economy while diverting funds from productive economic development.” (Top)
Arguments over legalizing marijuana have been disputed for decades over the morality of it, success of smokers, and the health of users. Morally, one should be given the opportunity to make the decision on his or her own to use or possess marijuana. There are tons of successful marijuana smoking advocates out there including Bob Marley, Joe Rogan, and Wiz Khalifa. Just because a person ingests marijuana, doesn’t mean he or she can’t be a highly functioning and successful person in society. The examples given are clear enough to show that marijuana does not have to interfere with a person’s ability to achieve. As for one’s health, the affects seem to be way more positive, including increasing lung capacity and helping cancer patients cope with their serious ailments. All in all, small steps towards marijuana legalization should be taken. First, the government should remove marijuana from its schedule 1 substance classification and decriminalize it so the states can make their own decisions depending on their economical and legal situations. Legalization is making baby steps in the states today, and in a few decades total legality may be achieved!
References:
“10 Facts About Marijuana.” Drug Policy Alliance. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 Apr. 2013.“The Top Ten Reasons Marijuana Should Be Legal.” Alternet. N.p., 31 Aug. 2007. Web. 20 Mar. 2013.
“Fact Sheets- Alcohol Use and Health.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 01 Oct. 2012. Web. 04 Apr. 2013.
“Tobacco Use.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 16 Nov. 2012. Web. 04 Apr. 2013.
“Deaths from Marijuana v. 17 FDA-Approved Drugs – Medical Marijuana – ProCon.org.” Deaths from Marijuana v. 17 FDA-Approved Drugs – Medical Marijuana – ProCon.org. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 Apr. 2013.
“Marijuana vs. Alcohol.” SAFER -. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 Apr. 2013.
“All The Reasons Pot Is Good For You.” Business Insider. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 Apr. 2013.
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The Grand Canyon
April 2, 2013 by Stef Smith
The Grand Canyon, located in Arizona, is a huge gorge in the Earth separated by the Colorado River. It’s contained within the Grand Canyon National Park and it’s managed by this National Park as well as Hualapai Tribal Nation and the Havasupai Tribe. Presiden Theodore Roosevelt did a lot to help preserve the Grand Canyon and would go there frequently on hikes.
I forgot to mention in my blog about Las Vegas that while I was there I took a helicopter ride over the Grand Canyon and the Hoover Dam. I sat right up front next to the pilot and had a spectacular view. We had to put on ear phones to be able to communicate with each other because of the loud propellers, which I thought was pretty cool. Riding a helicopter is like no other. Taking off was the best part, because unlike a plane, the helicopter just raised off the ground straight up. It was a weird sensation that I’ve never felt before. The pilot also maneuvered the helicopter really easily and we took twists and turns that a plane could never do. So I highly suggest, that if you ever get the chance to take a helicopter ride to do it!
The Hoover Damn is a giant dam on the Colorado River that separates the state border of Nevada and Arizona. It’s 726 feet high and 1,244 feet long, which means it’s huge! As for the Grand Canyon, that was even bigger! It was a gorgeous orange color, we rode over the plateaus and into the canyon itself. The pilot kept pointing out different formations in the rocks and I remember one of them looking like a face. It was spectacular and a once in a lifetime experience! We never landed at the Canyon, but if we did there’s much to do there! Tourists can enjoy tour bus rides, hikes along different trails, donkey rides, and museums. Personally, I feel that a donkey ride would be amazing! You can take a south rim mule trip along the rim of the canyon. It’s a three hour tour that will show you incredible views. The donkeys get pretty close to the edge, so you’ve got to be pretty adventurous to take this kind of tour!
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Canada
March 25, 2013 by Stef Smith
Not many middle schoolers get to take a class trip to Canada, but my French class did! Madame, our French teacher, took the six hour bus ride with us rowdy kids all the way up to our first stop in Montreal. We stayed in Montreal for a few days. I remember it being lots of fun because all of my friends were in my French class and went also. One thing that sticks out in my head about Montreal was seeing the Notre-Dame Basilica. It’s Montreal’s oldest Catholic church and is absolutely breath taking. Here’s a picture of how extravagant the church really is. I remember it being huge.
One thing we did while in Montreal was go to a French school and were able to talk to the kids our age about their lifestyles in Canada and how that differed from us, from the US. They spoke to us in English to practice and we spoke to them in French. Although, with only a year and a half of French at the time, I couldn’t really speak it that well. I remember my partner being able to speak pretty good English because they learn it from a very young age. The kids also get to leave school for about an hour for lunch and come back when they’re finished. I thought this was very interesting because I feel like no place in the United States would let middle schoolers leave for lunch because they’d probably never come back!If you ever get the chance to go to Canada, you must try poutine. Its a fast food type dish that is french fries topped with gravy and curd cheese. Many diners sell it here in the US too, but I feel like it was better in Canada. You’ve gotta try it, it’s delicious!After a couple days, we took another two hour bus ride to Quebec City, the capital of the province of Quebec. We did lots of sight seeing in Quebec City. Some things that stuck out in my mind in Quebec City were the cobblestones, ancient streets of Old Quebec downtown, and the Citadel. The Citadel is the largest British built fortress in North America and is still an active military base. Its open to the public and we took a guided tour by a soldier. It was very interesting and extremely historic. I remember seeing one of those guards in a red coat with the big furry hat that isn’t allowed to move. My friends thought it was hilarious to take pictures with him because he was so still. Other things to do in Quebec include going to the Battlefields park or the Montmorency Falls. Canada is a very scenic place, especially Quebec City.There’s lots more to do than I’ve explained including tons of attractions, cute little restaurants, and laser tagging (which we played and Madame beat us all). It was lot’s of fun and I definitely recommend visiting if you ever get the chance! Here’s a picture of pretty Quebec City.
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Legalization of Marijuana for my Policy Paper
March 20, 2013 by Stef Smith
I feel that I would like to write my policy paper on the legalization of marijuana. I would defend the idea that marijuana should be legalized for many reasons. Some of my ideas are…
– prohibition has failed to stop the domestic use, growing and selling of marijuana anyways
– marijuana has positive attributes, especially for its medical value
– the government is spending more money on arresting tons of people for possession, while they could just be putting taxes on marijuana to help the national debt.
– marijuana is not lethal and is definitely safer than alcohol
– legalization of marijuana would reduce the flow of money to international gangs instead of the American economy
– having a regulated, legal market would probably reduce the number of teens exposed to the illegal market
– it would simplify the development of hemp as a valuable agricultural crop, and would help it as a new bio-fuel to reduce carbon emissions
Reference:
“The Top Ten Reasons Marijuana Should Be Legal.” Alternet. N.p., 31 Aug. 2007. Web. 20 Mar. 2013.
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Rebuttal
March 18, 2013 by Stef Smith
Abortion is the purposeful act of termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of a fetus from a woman’s uterus. Abortion, itself, has been a problem in the United States for many years now, especially since the Supreme Court decision Roe vs. Wade in 1973. This case ruled, in simpler terms, to be in favor of a woman’s right to have an abortion. Since then, there have been countless debates between pro-life and pro-choice advocates on the legality of abortion. A pro-choice woman, Mary Elizabeth Williams, wrote an article proclaiming why she has been pro-choice and the rights of women who are put in these situations. Although she points out that she agrees with pro-life advocates and believes life begins at conception, I firmly disagree with her way of thinking.
Williams believes, like I said, that life begins at conception. But that doesn’t sway her from being pro-choice. She says, “we play into the sneaky, dirty tricks of the anti-choice lobby when we on the pro-choice side squirm so uncomfortably at the ways in which they’ve repeatedly appropriated the concept of “life”” (Williams 2013). She describes that the term life shouldn’t be something to squirm over solely because all life is not equal. She proclaims that even though the fetus is a life inside a woman, doesn’t mean that it has the same rights as the mother. Although I agree with her on the fact that life begins at conception, I beg to differ on many of her other points.
Williams uses the word “life” throughout her article, claiming that she disagrees with most pro-choice people in that the fetus is a life inside the uterus. Most pro-choice advocates believe a life doesn’t begin until after birth, but she, as well as myself, and all other pro-life advocates believe life begins at conception. Here is where I agree with her. She created a commonplace between pro-life advocates and used this to try and win her argument to keep abortion. But in my opinion, this only makes her argument even more invalid. A life is a life, whether it is dependent on its mother or not. All forms of life deserve to live.
The title of her article is “So What if Abortion Ends Life?” This statement just doesn’t sound right. It goes against all morals of humankind. As a practicing Catholic, I was brought up to be against abortion, primarily because it is the end of a life. Thou shalt not kill is one of the Ten Commandments that, us as Catholics, follow as a way to structure our lives. So what if someone ended Williams’ life? I’m sure her answer would not be, “Oh that’s fine, I don’t need it anyways.” Life is something extremely precious. Every organism has developed mechanisms for survival, because to stay alive is what is strived for. So why is it okay to take the life of something that cannot do anything to protect itself. Most people don’t want to die. So just because a fetus can’t tell the mother he/she doesn’t want to die doesn’t mean it wants to. If the fetus could somehow communicate to the mother that it wants to live, I’m sure it would. Some people could argue that this type of mental cognition doesn’t fully develop until later years in an infant’s life, but once that mental cognition has developed there’s no doubt in my mind he or she would say they want to live. People would be angered, saddened, or even offended if someone told them that their mother thought about abortion while he or she was still in the uterus. I know I would. It would mean all you’ve ever done on this planet would not have happened. A fetus has the potential, just like any one of us to become anything in this world. That fetus could be the next Mahatma Ghandi, Steve Jobs, or president of the United States. Okay, maybe I’m taking this a little far, but it’s perfectly viable. My point to Williams is that a life is a life and just that. All life deserves the right to live.
Her argument at this point is that just because a fetus is a life inside of its mother, doesn’t mean it has the same rights as its mother. This is because, she says, “all life is not equal” (Williams 2013). In that statement she is referring to human beings. But wait, doesn’t the Declaration of Independence state all men are created equal? Of course it does, Thomas Jefferson wrote those exact words. The United States strives for all people to be created equal, it’s part of our country’s ideals. So, if Williams believes that there is a life inside of a woman there is no reason that this statement wouldn’t apply to it.
Many woman who have abortions to young to be able to support a child, have financial instability, have relationship problems and are unwilling to be a single mother (Lowen 2013), or have been raped. Although these problems are legitimate reasons, there are other alternatives to abortion. For example, mothers can give the their children up for adoption. Some adoptive parents will even pay for all medical expenses. These adoptions can either be open or closed (mothers get to see the child as much as possible or mothers choose to not see the child at all), depending on how much the mother would like to be in the child’s life.
All in all, Williams’ points don’t seem to add up. It’s difficult to say that there is a life inside of a woman, and then say it’s okay to end it. Personally, I believe that is a question on a person’s morals. It’s also difficult to say that the fetus’ rights aren’t the same as the mother’s because if Williams were consistent with her belief that the fetus is a life, then each person has rights. Just because this unborn fetus is unable to communicate and doesn’t have the mental cognition to understand what exactly is happening, doesn’t mean it won’t grow into an adult who will become fully aware of him or herself. One day, I hope the population will be more in favor of the pro-life aspect of abortion, but until then all us, “pro-lifers,” have to keep on fighting for what’s right.
References:
Ertelt, Steven. “LifeNews.com.” Recent Studies Confirm Women Face Depression After
Abortion, Other Problems. N.p., 28 Sept. 2010. Web. 18 Mar. 2013.
Lowen, Linda. “Why Women Choose Abortion – Reasons Behind the
Abortion Decision.” About.com Women’s Issues. N.p., 2013. Web. 18 Mar.
2013.
Williams, Mary E. “SALON.” Saloncom RSS. N.p., 23 Jan. 2013. Web. 18 Mar. 2013.
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