2002 D.C. Sniper Shootings

Living right outside of washington D.C., I remember hearing on the news about the Sniper shootings. I was in about 5th grade, and our whole community was freaked out. I would run home from the bus stop and was scared to be outside alone. After shooting 13 people (killing 10), the two men were finally caught, I was definitely relieved. Recently in the news they reported that the older man involved is scheduled to be sentenced to death on November 10. However, it is controversial because his attorney claims that he suffers from various mental illnesses.

Do you think that he should be sentenced to death no matter what, or do you think that the fact that he has mental illnesses should change the punishment that he is given?

Racism in Our Society

Last night I watched the movie Crash (starring Sandra Bullock and Ludacris), and it got me thinking about racism and how it effects everyone in our society. I suggest that everyone rents this movie from Clemons. It is basically about 5 people whose lives are effected by one another, and every major event stems from some sort of racism agaisnt a different group of people. It was really sad at times, but very eye opening. It shows that there really is no justice in this world when it comes to racism. I believe that there will always be stereotypes and although it's unfortunate that's just the way it is. What do you think?

Research Topic

I think for my research paper, I am going to analyze why Marijuana should be legalized. My representative example (1) could be that Marijuana could help our economy. Some of my observations (10) could be...

-Marijuana could be taxed
-Drug money would go to government rather than drug dealers
-Less arrests->less people in prison->less money spent on prisons

I think my binary opposition is that Marijuana is considered a bad drug to most people, yet I believe it should be legalized.

Safety On College Campuses

After recently hearing about the VA Tech student, Morgan Harrington, it got me thinking about safety on college campuses. This young girl was last seen outside of JPJ, where she then went missing. Her wallet was found in the JPJ parking lot, and I have heard from numerous people that her body was acutally found. While she allegedly had been drinking and was walking by herself, I still don't understand how all of the security outside of the Metallica concert could miss this.

Are college campuses targets for criminals/murderers? I feel as though this type of thing could happen anywhere at any time on our campus. The trolley runs from downtown and all the way through campus, allowing anyone to ride in and out of our campus throughout all hours of the day and night. It is a little scary to think that nearly anyone has access not only on to our campus, but into our buildings/classrooms as well. I know JPJ requires a student ID for entry, but as far as I know almost every other building on campus is unlocked. After the horrible massacre at Virginia Tech, haven't we learned our lesson? I think that all schools should think about having better security on campus. What do you think?

Athletes vs. Non-athletes

Recently, my friend was in a disagreement with another one of my friends about something I don't even remember, and she made the comment "Well I'm right because I got into this school cause I have brains, not muscle." This is the kind of thing I hear over and over again, and it is really starting to get on my nerves. Regular students don't understand how much hard work it takes to be a student athlete. Yeah, a lot of athletes get into UVA with average grades, but that is because we have devoted a large part of our lives to performing on the field. You can't always be great at everything. While regular students probably had all kinds of time in high school to be studying, athletes spend most of their free time practicing, playing games, and working hard to get better so that they can play at the next level. At UVA, we not only have to attend our classes and study for tests, but we have to practice everyday, go to study hall and tutoring, and prepare ourselves for games. Regular students always say how easy athletes have it, but juggling a sport and academics is very challenging. No one will ever understand until they are in our shoes.

Michael Jackson's Death

On July 28, 2009, the greatest entertainer our world has ever seen died. It was reported that Michael Jackson's doctor had given him a sleeping aid, left the room for a few minutes to go to the bathroom, and while he was gone Michael stopped breathing. Michael Jackson had a history of taking all sorts of pain killers and other perscription drugs, and even went to rehab for his issues. His performances and traveling the world caused him major sleeping problems, so he was often given powerful medications to put him to sleep. Looking back now, most doctors agree that the combination and strength of the drugs Michael took were very risky. This may be true, but I think it's sort of suspicious that Michael died in the 2 minutes that the doctor stepped out of the room. It makes me wonder if the whole thing was planned, or if it really was just an unfortunate thing that happened. Hmm..