Hungry&Cold

I knew that thousands of people died from starvation and disease, but I had never known thousands more died from the cold. When we wake up under toasty covers, when we are dressed with heavy fleece from head to toe, and when exposure to the cold is many times limited to 15 meter walks from heated building to heated car, it's hard to literally imagine the term "freezing to death." For refugees in Kabul, Afghanistan, however, this horrific term is a part of reality. Refugees like 8-year-old Farzana fight the cold daily. Because governments rarely like admit they need help from outside and are having trouble with growing refugee conflict, thousands who are in need are being denied valuable sources of food, shelter, and clothing. When a third of the country's population (9 million) is suffering from food shortages and hundreds are "freezing to death" in refugee camps, I think it's evident there needs to be dramatic change. The question is where do we start?

Bad Hair Day

It happens every winter; bad hair days. Every time I take off a wool hat or pull on a sweater my hair goes haywire. Either it's standing up or glued to the side of my head and combing it worsens the doo. Have you had those days too? I knew it was caused by static electricity however I never knew it was because of the dry air. Static electricity is the imbalance of positive or negative charges and the dry winter air acts as an insulator for the electricity which causes a buildup of static. You don't experience the same amount of static during the summer, because the humidity acts as a conductor, quickly transferring the electricity and preventing a static buildup. So when you take off a wool hat or sweater in the winter, the loose electrons in your hair transfer to the wool. Now your hair has a positive charge, and because like charges repel, your hair stands up and apart from each other. Luckily, the hair crisis can be quickly and easily managed by a little water or various hair products.

Women's Rights: Hard Battle Fought, Harder Battle to Fight

As Thanksgiving was nearing and I reflected upon what I was thankful for this year; a childhood, an education, a life. Bored, I was skimming through the Chicago Tribune when a bold title caught my attention, "Indian school tries to steer girls from prostitution". Women's rights in the U.S. has come a very long way. Being so immersed in a culture that values the power of women, I think it is sometimes hard for Americans, especially teens, to look beyond our borders and into the rural areas of other countries; for instance Rewla Khanpur, India. This small Indian village, like many others, is only an hour away from the thriving, modern capital of New Dheli. However, the two cities are worlds away. In Rewla Khanpur, many girls of the ages 7 and 8 are being sold as prostitutes; by their family. At age 7 and 8 I think I was busy on playgrounds with friends and picking at my greens than being sold to provide money for my family. This year, as I share a Thanksgiving table with my family, I will be thankful for the long and hard battle that had been fought to give me the opportunities avaible as a teenage girl and reflect on the yet harder battle to fight.

Twilight & Gas Prices

Three words I have heard all week were Twilight and gas prices. It's quite evident that drastic increases of gasoline prices have become a core issue in our nation. However, this past week drivers across the country have had their first break in a long time. As of Friday, the average price of self-serve, unleaded gas in the United States was $2.78 a gallon, compared to $3.31 on October 10. Compared to the all time high of $4.11 set on July 11, we have come a long way. The cause of this dramatic price cut was the low demand (due to economic struggle). Gas prices had gone from $147 a barrel (July) to an astonishing $64.15 (Friday). According to national surveyor, Trilby Lundberg, gas prices will stay relatively low. For now, America can take a deep breath, relax, and fill up their cars.

Mr. Presdent, Do You Need a Break?

I can only imagine how hard it is to be the president of the United States of America. I am not saying that I think President Bush did the greatest job as head of the State, because by the looks of our economic state and the war overseas, there is much room for improvement. From all of the negative comments I hear about Bush, and the SNL shows and comic strips that make fun of the president, I always thought it was obvious there needed to be change; for the better. But it was during my Torch class, as we were reading newspapers, that I was shocked by a picture of President Bush at the start of his office in 2000 and towards the end of his office in 2007. It was quite clear that two terms in office had taken a great toll on our president. But how could it not? Daily, the president has to make decisions that could easily effect the 300+ million US citizens. "When you get to the Oval Office, there are no easy decisions," said Kenneth Duberstein, who was chief of staff to President Ronald Reagan. "Any decision that reaches the president's desk is a close call. It's not black and white. It's shades of gray." Personally, I am not the biggest Bush fan. There are many decisions the president had made during the last eight years that I do not agree with; at all. However I also do acknowledge the fact that being the head of 50 united states everyday for 2,920 days must be one of the hardest things to do. So my question is, Mr. President, do you need a break?

Active Reading The Odyssey : Friend or Foe?

Thirty-three pages a night; that's the average number of pages of The Odyssey I am assigned to "actively read" per class. Considering it takes about 2-3 minutes to fully comprehend each page, grasp the underlining meaning, make a connection, and write a side note or two on the text, it takes nearly an hour and a half to read the daily dosage of The Odyssey; actively read it, that is. And every so often I have to take a break, rest my cramping hand, and I find myself laying on my back taking deep breathes. That alone takes about 10 minutes. I am not saying that there aren't any benefits to actively reading, because there really are. It gets the reader involved in the text through previewing, reading, and reviewing. It helps the reader think critically about the material and analyze purposes and assumptions and it definitely helps the reader remember the text, which is very critical, especially in a book like The Odyssey where numerous characters are presented in view of a culture and time very different from our own. However, from personal experience, I have also found active reading having a negative effect on my reading. For instance, many times I am too concentrated on taking note and making connections that I lose the storyline, and once I return to the text from writing a side comment, I lose my place and have to start back from the top. In fact, sometimes, instead of helping me remember, active reading causes me to forget certain characters and events. And above all else, active reading causes stress. On top of the massive amount of homework, study material, friends, family, and daily teenage drama that I must juggle, the nightly active reading tops off the great stress I must manage. To a certain point active reading is a very efficient technique to accompany reading, however, I believe past that point other alternatives must be explored. Actively reading the 541 pg book, The Odyssey, may be pushing those boundaries.

From Grocery Bags to Totes

Imagine your Jewel grocery bag becoming your purse or backpack. It's a crazy idea, but fashion designers all across the world are taking it into their hands to make it a reality. As we all know, some more than others, we are quickly using up the earth's resources and man-caused environmental changes like global warming are starting to take their toll. Now, more than ever, we are advised where ever we go to, "Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle!" Eco-fashion labels like Ecoist and Timbuk2 are slowly emerging into the trendy fashion world, and presenting these ideas in a whole new twist; turning trash into fashion. Ecoist is saving some of the 4.6 billion tons of waste American companies are trashing each year. They are reusing misprinted and discontinued packaging as materials for handbags. These trendy handbags are being sold anywhere from $30 to $180. Other design labels like Timbuk2 have created a machine known as the Lamitron, that bonds plastic bags together to form a new fabric, still having embedded the design of the plastic bag. I think it reflects that, although it should be greater, there really is a concern for the earth today. And personally I believe that this is an ingenious innovation that combines the best of trendy fashion and a movement to save the planet that many consumers in America and throughout the world will embrace.

ChaCha

Today, especially as teens in the U.S., we are so immersed in new technological advances that many go by unnoticed or ignored. Every so often though, there are those that really strike me as amazing; the ChaCha being on of them. Computer-automated text message answer services like Google SMS have been around for some time. However, unlike these computer generated answers, ChaCha texts answers searched and selected, directly by real people. From questions like "Who is Odysseus's wife in Homer's The Odyssey?" to ones like "When is Brad Pitt's birthday?", all questions can either be text messeged to "ChaCha" (242242) or phoned to 1.800.2ChaCha. The question is sent to a guide who searches ChaCha approved internet sources, and finds a reliable answer. In a text messege of 160 characters or less, the answer is sent back to the questionnare in a few moments, free of charge. Although it is a definite technological advancement, and a time saving service, I can't help but wonder if the popularity of ChaCha and resources of the same nature, ultimately reveal the laziness of the U.S. Internet equipped cell phone are becoming more and more common, like the iPhone. The only difference between using ChaCha and personally looking up the question is the step of filtering the may searches and finding the one, reliable source. True, ChaCha protrays the brilliancy of modern technology and it's focus on convenience for the millions of busy Americans. I guess it can be said, when ever, and where ever we are, America wants the answers now.

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