USF Writing Community Server

        Everyone has heard about the controversy pertaining to the struggle of passing the Olympic Torch through Europe; Paris and London in particular.  The protesters are constantly attempting to extinguish the flame by any means, and if this cannot be accomplished they are still putting as much effort as possible into making the touch extremely difficult to take along its course.  They have a good cause to protest; however, it does seem like the Olympics is not the time. Am I wrong?  Protest such as these have occurred several times in the past and I cannot condone the actions of the men and women that practice such violence in a time that, by decades of tradition, is meant to be a time of peace among nations!

        The people protest the human rights violations that the Chinese practice on their citizens.  It is absolutely unreasonable for them to act like its not a problem.  I watched the video about the protests and the torch-run and the correspondent in China reported that the Chinese media is taking a completely different stand by saying that they are more upset about the people protesting and disturbing the course of the touch.

         This is the view that I must agree with.  I realize the China is using this as a stage to portray that they are an economical power in the world, which is kind of under-handed, but the fact that it IS the Olympics undermines everything that the Olympics stands for.  Ever since the beginning of the games it has been tradition for all countries involved to be at peace.  And for the Tibetans and the English to completely ignore this tradition and respect for the games is, in my mind, especially unnecessary.
 

Today started out as an amazing day that my friends and I decided to use as a beach day.  They woke me up at 12 o'clock, still hung over, and told me to get my suit and head down stairs.  The trip to Clearwater beach was long, but it was worth it; or so I thought.

The beach was nice. The guys and I played football while the girls bathed in the sun.  After our game we decided that it would be fun to swim out as far as we could.  My friend Sean almost got run over by a wave-runner and we immediately decided that it was time to go back ashore.

We snacked on Doritos and smoked hookah while observing all of the attractive females that had also decided to make and appearance at the waterfront.  As the hours were winding down, we eventually made the decision to leave, and as I was getting up, I pulled the blanket and the coal from our hookah fell all over my arms.  So not only was I sun burned from being at the beach with no shirt on for hours, but I also had burns on my arms from the coal.

We eventually made our way back to the cars when suddenly my close friend James decides that him and his girl friend aren't going back to campus just yet.  They are going out to dinner. leaving the five of us with a four-seater convertible without seat belts in the backseat.  We almost got pulled over twice on the way home.

These... are the Days of Our Lives...

 "When did American Idol get so emotionally violent?": http://www.slate.com/id/2182340
 

        Personally, I have no bout with anything or anyone affiliated with American Idol. And being that I am neutral in this matter I feel that I can give an honest and constructive opinion. I say that those staff members of the Slate organization whom were involved in the online conversation are completely overreacting. To say that those who are responsible for the things that air on the program are purposefully picking on the "freakish" or "strange" aspects of the participants in the screening process is to say that the entire series is terrible.  I can agree that a few things that they focus on are a bit harsh; however, the fact is that this is the trademark "folly," as it were, of "reality television."

        "Reality television" was created to show what actually occurs in people's lives. Yes, some so-called "reality television" programming is scripted, but this is not to say that real events don't occur.  The point is that if one was to scrutinize American Idol for the ridiculous and seemingly cruel things portrayed of these contestants then one should also be attacking all of "reality television."  To pick on one show just because it is a supposed "family" program is unfair because all of these shows are available to any view.

         It is the point of "reality television" to pick-out its character's weaknesses and exploit them. This is the format that the audience has come to expect and enjoys.  Without this type of "bullying," as is could be called, "reality television" would have no viewers and cease to exist. So to those who a participated in the Slate conversation, I say, "If you are going to argue the faults in 'reality television' programming your time would be much better spent on trying to persuade readers to dislike it rather than belittle a show and its employees for doing there job by giving their audience what it wants. Because that makes you 'the bad-guy.'"

 Schadenfreude - Pleasure derived from the misfortunes of others.
 

       I can honestly say that, of all of the people that influence my life from day to day, the person who has given me the most significant experience of my life is my brother. Six years ago, during my brother's senior year of college at the University of Florida, my dad and I went Gainesville to see a football game.  Before the game we made a trip to my brother's fraternity house that has changed the course of my life.  Everyone was there! I didn't know anything of his brothers, but what was more important is that he new every guy. And, they were all the best of friends. The house was a mess; it was safe to say that the house one could hear the house aging.  But all the guys helped to keep the house running because it was a symbol of their brotherhood.

       It son became obvious to me that these guys were not desperate individuals looking to buy someone else's friendship, but they were more like a group of guys that care about what happens to each other and how their lives turn out. Leaping forward into the near-present, during my freshman year in college, I was considering rushing a fraternity but when it came time, I decided against it.  However, through all of the friends I made that first semester, most of the guys I now are now in fraternities, which gave me some insight into which fraternity I might considering joining in the spring.  After learning more about these fraternities, I came to the conclusion that none of them were right for me.

       I spoke with my brother about it on the phone and he asked me if there was a chapter of his fraternity on our campus.  There isn't one, so he said, "Well, maybe you should start a chapter." I thought it was a joke and didn't think anything more of it until I discussed the thought with my roommate the next day.  And after we made the choice to get this fraternity going, I can say with deep sincerity, that this is the best decision I have ever made in my life!  This isn't your typical fraternity.  We don't party all the time an get drunk because there is so much more than that: networking, philanthropy, pride, and above all else academia.   We are all here to learn.  If my brothers' GPA begins to slip I will do everything in my power to help them get back on the right track.

       Without Theta Chi in my life, I would not have anything to be proud of, other than my exceptional ability to dominate every video game that I play. (lol) In all seriousness, I am so glad that I get to be a part of this completely new campus organization that gets to make a positive difference in young men's lives.  Sigma Alpha Epsilon's slogan would lead the reader to believe that they are the "true gentlemen of USF."  All I have to say is that USF hasn't seen anything yet!
 

    I read Liz Addison's article, "Two Years Are Better Than One."  As convincing the article may be, I find it hard to put myself in her shoes.  I, and my parents, have been planning to go to a four-year university since birth; however, I did spend a summer at my local community college, Seminole Community College.

    Now, I can understand where Addison is coming from; for some people, community college literally is the first step into a successful life.  But, in the town where I am from, the community college is seen as extension of High School and to most students it is a joke.  Locals call it, Lake Mary University.  Not because of the quality of education, rather because of the number of students from the surrounding high schools go there.  Our graduating class consisted of over 650 students, about 300 of which when on to a university and of those left, about 250 went to SCC.

    I fell behind in my accumulation of credits so my parents though it would be good for me to go to community college to catch up while I was at home working for the summer.  I can honestly say that it really is like going back to high school.  The "professors" teach as if everyone in the class has a learning disorder.  It's a mockery.

So, if you are headed off to community college, good for you!  Perhaps this is the little nudge you need to boost your self esteem high enough to get you on the track to leading a successful life; however, to all you high school students out there who think to yourselves, "I don't need to do well and go to a university.  I will go to community college for two years and transfer to a university," this is not the way to go.  Do as well as you can in high school because you will be better off in the long-run.

    In a persuasive argument, the author uses ethos, pathos, and logos to sway the audience's point-of-view to match their own.  Propaganda is meant to accomplish the same goal but by different means.  The difference is that propaganda is basically when someone with power finds a weakness in a peoples' or culture's morals and exploits it to make that people see things from their own point-of-view. Let me elaborate... An "Idealist" such as Bin Laden uses his power to promote videos such as the one written about in the article, "Osama's Vision of the Future."  And then he point out things such as problems with our capitalist economy (the weakness in our culture) to sway his audience to his perspective.

   This is not to say that Bin Laden is completely responsible for those who see his videos and convert to Islam, whether extremist or not.  I think that with the way the US economy is right now, there are a lot of people out there who need that little "nudge" to push them to change their perspective.  These people are already anxious for change and when someone like Bin Laden tells them that there are alternatives to the culture they know, they hop on the "wagon."  We also have to remember that in Afghanistan, Bin Laden is not seen as much of an extremist as we see him in America.  So while Bin Laden is strengthening his troop's morale in Afghanistan, he is recruiting from other countries by releasing these videos.