Are Faster Trains Worth the Cost?

Last week, in Obama’s State of the Union Address, he stressed how the United States must “out innovate, out educate and out build” in order to “win the future”.  Living in such a competitive time, Obama believes we must advance in our technology and research in order to compete with such countries as China and India.  One way he wishes to do so is by building high-speed rail.  While I agree that innovation is key for such competitive world we live in, I do not necessarily think high-speed trains are worth it.  He mentions how China “is building faster trains”, and calls to the attention that we Americans, who first built the transcontinental railroad, must improve our system.  He states, “Within 25 years our goal is to give 80% of Americans access to high speed rail.”  While it would be nice or cool to have the fastest trains in the world, I do not believe it would be that beneficial.  In fact, with so many alternate ways to get to work, many people don’t even use the trains that much. Yes, there are definitely some who ride the train to work everyday.  Yet, with all of the highways that are easily accessible and our extensive airport system, train travel seems to be fine as it is.  It’s sufficient enough, in my opinion. 

In fact, Governor Scott Walker of Wisconsin cancelled a high-speed rail project in his state.

“Walker argued that Wisconsin didn't need $810 billion for a 78-mile line between Madison and Milwaukee because there's already a transportation artery — Interstate 94 — that enables people to get from one city to the other in a little more than an hour."

And for us Chicagoans, we should “consider the $1.1 billion track improvement on the Chicago-St. Louis line in Illinois. It would reduce travel time between the cities by 48 minutes, but the trip would still take over four and a half hours at an average speed of 62 miles per hour.”

Driving to St. Louis really doesn’t take much longer than this proposed train system.  Although I frequently drive there for field hockey tournaments, I’m not quite sure if a good amount of people travel between the two cities enough for it to be beneficial.

Therefore, I do not think it would be worth the money to create the fastest trains.  However, maybe if I rode the train more often I would think differently.  I would be curious to see what other people think, or how much a difference you think it would make?

Meta Post II

Overall, I feel blogging has become easier for me this quarter.  First quarter, I had trouble coming up with topics to blog about, and sometimes rushed to come up with a post. Last quarter, I feel like I only blogged when I felt like I had a strong enough or interesting enough topic.  However, that was also a negative factor because I sometimes waited over a week to blog.  Although I still have a fair amount of posts, next semester I definitely want to work on blogging more frequently and consistently.

I have to admitt, at first I really dreaded blogging.  I think the reason was because I was so nervous about putting my opinion out there, and worried what people would think.  However, if there’s one thing that I know we’ve been taught over and over this year, it is that “writing is a process”, and there’s only room for improvement.  The more practice I get, the better I will become at writing.  While sometimes it can be scary and nerve-wrecking putting your opinion out there, it only helps.  Take peer editing, for example.  Once I write a rough draft, I’m always a bit hesitant about having others read my work.  However, getting their feedback only helps me grow as a writer.  I feel like blogging is so great about that.  While with blogging people aren’t necessarily critiquing your writing style, they still are reading your opinion and responding to it, either to agree or disagree. 

Speaking of people’s responses, I used to only think it was “good” if people commented “agreeing” with my opinion.  However, now I realize I prefer when people disagree or challenge my view, because it makes it more interesting and really gets me to think, and see the issue at different perspectives.  That is the great thing about blogging; the opportunity to have virtually any internet-user to comment on your writing.  However, if I want classmates to comment more on my posts, I realize that I myself need to step it up and comment more on theirs.  I feel like commenting is an important aspect to the blogging world, and I would like to be better connected to that “world” by commenting more next semester.

Looking back at my “Meta Post” from first quarter, I had three main goals.  One was “creating more concise and to-the-point posts”.  Reflecting back on last quarters’ posts, I think I only somewhat achieved this goal.  I have definitely had some that are shorter, but some have been a bit lengthy.  However, for the most part, I feel the longer ones were the length they needed to be to get my point across and to provide adequate proof. 

Another goal I had after first quarter was to “extend the conversation”.  Once again, I feel like I have improved on this some, but still find it something I want to continue to work on.  For example, second quarter I had more comments on my posts, some of which led to a debate.  In my “The Price of Awareness” post regarding a high school football player who was kicked of the team for wearing pink cleats in support of breast cancer, people commented on whether it was right for the coach to do so or not.  One person agreed with my viewpoint in that the boy’s civil liberties were violated, while another took the coach’s side.  And more recently I blogged about “Teen Pregnancy and the Media”.  After mentioning a specific area where teenage pregnancy is so high and showing one reason people think it’s so high is because the media seems to “glamorize” it through shows like “Teen Mom” and “16 and Pregnant”.  I ended the post with the following:

“That mom argues that these teenagers are getting so much attention over a controversial topic.  Do you believe it is morally right to give such attention to these girls?”

By posing a question for the audience to respond with really opened up a conversation.  One person allowed me to see the issue in a completely different light by giving a statistic that such TV shows actually “helps them [teenagers] better understand the challenges…and why they should avoid it.”

My last goal from first quarter was to vary my topic choice, and I feel like I’ve done that.  I’ve written about strictly class discussion topics, as well as pop culture posts.  I’ve written serious posts, and some that are more fun.  I think having a variety is important, and I hope to continue writing all different types of posts next semester.

As this semester ends, it is hard to believe how much I’ve grown as a writer.  While I still have plenty to improve on, I am thankful for the chance to practice blogging all next semester.  A process is a "continuous action", and this writing process is one that I plan to continue working on, and to strive for improvement.

*Doc OC and Mr. Bolos-- Please read "Teen Pregnancy and The Media".  Thanks!

Teen Pregnancy and The Media

When I opened up my Yahoo! homepage, the article “High school dealing with 90 pregnancies” caught my eye.  I clicked on the video to find out more.  After watching and reading the article from Yahoo!, out of interest, I further researched the issue.  I was shocked that within this school year, so far, 90 girls have gotten pregnant or had a baby at Frayser High School in Memphis, Tennessee.  (To see the teen birth rates across the US, click on this map). 

The article goes on to say that while Memphis already has a pretty high teen pregnancy rate (15-20%), at this particular school, the rate is 26%. 

While there are many factors to take into account on why more and more teens are getting pregnant, Deborah Hester Harrison, the executive direct of Memphis’ Girls, Inc., partly blames the media.

“It’s no surprise that Harrison places at least part of the blame on the media, such as the popular MTV shows ‘16 and Pregnant’ and ‘Teen Mom.’”

While I haven’t seen enough episodes to make a complete judgement, from what I have, these shows seem to glamorize teen pregnancy.  In fact, recently I have noticed that more and more articles in "Us Weekly" are about "16 and Pregnant" and "Teen Mom".  Here is just one mom’s response to the media.

“Farrah. Maci. Catelynn. Amber. We know these teens by name. We see them not only on TV but also on the covers of magazines, entertainment blogs and pretty much everywhere we look. Their celebrity status rivals that of any rock star. The bad decisions these teens made have been rewarded with fame and attention. There’s a concern that impressionable young girls will want to emulate these pretty girls who get as much exposure as Miley Cyrus, Demi Lovato and Angelina Jolie.”

That mom argues that these teenagers are getting so much attention over a controversial topic.  Do you believe it is morally right to give such attention to these girls?

1/11/11

1.11.11
January 11th, 2011.  Today's date is significant to a lot of people.  But also insignificant to others.  It's some peoples birthdays (shout out  to Carolyn), some peoples anniversaries.  But besides those who have a reason to celebrate, this day seems special to a lot of people.  Whatever the reason, superstitions or maybe number-obsessed (Haha I must say, I think I fall into that category), the date seems cool.  When really, only 10 days ago the date repeated the same number (1/1/11).

Dates with number repetition or patterns sometimes hold historical significance.  On 1/23/45 Hungary withdrew from WWII.  08/08/08 was the start of the Beijing Olympics, in which the opening ceremony began around 8 p.m. (and in China, the number 8 is considered lucky).  For runners, 10/10/10 was the Chicago Marathon.

Will today's date hold historical significance for years to come?  According to this article, perhaps Verizon's 11 a.m. iPhone announcement will go down in history."  In fact, if you use google images and type in "1.11.11",  this picture comes up... =>

So, for you, is this day significant or just a normal day?  Just something to ponder...

The Significance of Names

Last week when discussing The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Doc OC pointed out the significance of the character’s names.

 

Judge Thatcher

Miss Watson

Widow Douglass

Huck

Tom

Jim

The fact that all adults besides Jim have a proper title in front of them shows how people were viewed at the time; Jim was a black slave, so he wasn’t called by a more proper name.  Huck and Tom were also referred to by informal names because they are children. Thus far in the book, it seems that Twain is drawing a comparison between Huck’s youth and Jim’s status as a black man; they both are vulnerable.  However, since Huck is white, according to society, he has power over Jim.  One example of this at the end of chapter 9, when Huck and Jim are canoeing back to the island: “It was pretty broad day; so I made Jim lay down in the canoe and cover up with the quilt, because if he set up, people could tell he was a nigger a good ways off.” (44)  Jim’s status as a black slave causes people to respect him less than a white child.  I think Twain’s specificity with naming the characters helps us readers better understand society’s views during his time.  

Athletes vs. Firefighters

Last week, we discussed our American culture, and what seems to be valued in our society today.  Many people agreed that celebrities are more valued.  Take professional athletes, for example.  Professional athletes are among the highest paid people in the United States.  In a country where money and status mean a lot, what does this say about our values?  According to the “Top 20 highest paid athletes” article in Forbes Magazine’s June 2009 issue, Tiger Woods is the highest paid athlete of the world (as of 2009), with a annual income of $110 million.  Compare that to firefighters, for example.  The average income for that career is under $60,000 a year.  While obviously not all athletes are paid as much as Tiger, most, if not all, professional athletes do get paid more than a firefighter.  A firefighter saves peoples lives.  Athletes make peoples lives more interesting.  What do these salaries say about our values?  Is it morally right to pay a sports star more than someone whose job is to help others?

Toy Story 3

Over winter break, I had a chance to watch a few movies with my younger brother.  One that I had never seen before was Toy Story 3.  (For those of you who haven’t seen it, I highly recommend it.)  The movie is about the same boy Andy, but now he is all grown up and Woody, Buzz, and his other toys are no longer played with, but stored away in a chest.  He is 17 and headed off for college, and his mom is making him clean out his room.  Now that he is going to college, he feels like he has to be this adult that no longer cares for his toys.  He is torn on what he should do with the toys; throw them away or store them in the attic (minus Woody, which he plans on taking to college).  Andy feels pressure to grow up fast, and tries convincing not only others, but also himself, that he shouldn’t care about the toys.  However, by the end, he ends up giving his toys to a family friend, a little girl who he knows will take good care of his toys.  When he gives them to her, he describes each and every toy, and how important and special they are to him.  He makes the girl promise to take good care of them.  By this point he realizes that just because he may be going off to college, doesn’t mean he has to stop caring about childish things that meant so much to him. It doesn’t necessarily mean he has to rush into adulthood.  And even though he still cares for his toys doesn’t necessarily make him a child either.  Just because we get older, doesn’t mean we have to forget about things that meant the world to us as children.