The Frightening Numbers of Halloween

As Halloween is today, I thought about all the preparation and work so many people put into this fun holiday.  For me, it was a grand total of about 10 minutes right before school, last minute desicion to be a 'lax bro.'  However, when I was younger I remember thinking ahead months in advance and making sure that I would have the perfect outfit.  My 8th grade year was crazy as I realized that I had to spend $50 on a leather jacket.  However, much to my shock, American's will spend about $7.40 billion on all Halloween products in just 2014.  Alone, $2.8 billion will be spent on costumes.  Adding on to that, about $350 million is spent on animal costumes. It is estimated that nearly four million more people are going to celebrate Halloween this year than did in 2013.

Expenses and Statistics for Halloween

In the picture on the left there are all the statistics and numbers of how much was spent on Halloween in 2014.  It also talks about top costumes for the year.  It is interesting to see that 20% of people make their own costumes.  I love to go out and see all those super cool and well thought out costumes.  However, there is one thing that I didn't come across in my research, but what I heard on the radio; Apparently a very popular costume this year was an ebola patient and or a 'sexy ebola nurse'.  It seems funny to me that people are making such light of a serious situation. Hopefully people will think it's clever and not get too terrified by the epidemic.

ACL Insanity

This Saturday morning my alarm was waking me up at 5:15am for a 6 am practice. I watched as my teammate hobbled across the field on crutches, thanking my lucky stars that I was not the one in her place.  About two months ago, she underwent the unfortunate event of tearing her ACL... for the second time. My teammate tore her ACL freshman year of high school, and then again, two years later she tore her other ACL. She was the first of 3 girls on my team, but the only one to have to go through the extensive and frustrating recovery process twice.
Oddly enough, only a few hours later, Maryland backup quarterback, Caleb Rowe, met almost an identical fate to that of my teammate.  During practice, in a non-contact drill, Rowe kicked his left foot to the calf of his right, causing his next step to land awkwardly.  That awkward step did the trick and his left ACL was torn.  Two seasons ago, as a freshman, Rowe tore his same ACL. Now Rowe will be out for the season with a long road of physical therapy ahead of him, as recovery after the surgery can be anywhere from 6 to 12 months.

Maryland Backup Quarterback, Caleb Rowe

Rowe has now joined two of my teammates and the 150,000 other unfortunate people (most of the time athletes) who tore or will tear their ACL's this year. Each year, ACL injuries account for more than $500 million in US Health Care costs. Statistics show ACL injuries are common in teen athletes and that girls are 8 to 10 times more likely to tear their ACL's.  Statistics also show that only 30% of ACL injuries are due to contact.  70% of the time, ACL's are freak accidents like talking an awkward step and just landing funny.  Of the four ACL's that have been torn on my team, only one was due to contact. Rowe will join the 70% of the freak accidents.  It truly is a long recovery process and it takes a lot of motivation from a lot of different people to get back out on the field. Hopefully Rowe and my teammate will be back faster than they think, as I am sure they are telling themselves for the second time.

Are the Police Fighting Us or Protecting Us?

October 12, 2014. St. Louis, Missouri, at least 17 people were arrested after refusing police orders to disperse from a sit-in outside of a convenience store. Aside from the arrests and some pepper spray, the protests were peaceful. The protests were taking place in a St. Louis suburb very close to Ferguson, where earlier this summer an unarmed black teenager was shot dead by a white policeman.  To make matters worse, according to the Chicago Tribune, another "fatal shooting of an African-American teenager by an off-duty cop last week inflamed tensions." The fact that there have been two shootings similar to one another is causing lots of chaos and the people of St. Louis are getting very upset.  It is horrifying and frankly disturbing to me that these two deaths have occurred in such a short period of time, very close geography wise and by the very people who are supposed to protect us.  This brings up a very important and serious issues of race and discrimination.  People were protesting the Ferguson shooting because of how it brought up the fact a white police officer shot a black, unarmed teen, raising the ongoing dilemma that discrimination is truly still a major problem in our society today.  We saw the protest bring police to the scene to make sure that everything stayed peaceful.  However, just like in Ferguson, police were fully armed and equipped with face masks.

Comparison of Ferguson to Birmingham in 1963

This picture shows the similarities between Birmingham in 1963 during the Civil Rights movements to Ferguson.  The photographer who took this photo was quoted saying, “It looked like soldiers. And soldiers’ job isn’t to protect. Their job is to kill people and to be ready to die.” A policeman's job is to protect and if they are being compared to soldiers ready to kill, the people won't feel safe. 

I think it is very interesting to now add this third image in.  All of the police still look as if they are soldiers instead of police officers and it is crazy to think that perhaps we are fighting against the desire to eliminate discrimination with soldiers.  Is everyone truly protected?

Is Crossing our Fingers Enough?

Recently the nation has been clouded with fear of a highly contagious, deadly virus that has now entered the United States: Ebola.  The reason Ebola is so easily spread is because it is transmitted through bodily fluids.  So for example, that guy on the bus who just coughed all over your face, could be giving you a deadly disease. Someone who has ebola might not even know it for up to three weeks.  Symptoms can take anywhere from two to twenty one days to present themselves after exposure. Many common symptoms are high fever, diarrhea, vomiting, muscle pain and unexplained bleeding or bruising.  As of right now, there is no cure or vaccine for ebola.  However, researchers are trying like mad to try and find both a cure and a vaccine. The problem is some people feel like not enough is being done to cure it because it is taking too long. We can sit back, cross our fingers and hope it doesn't spread and wait to hear, or we can get down to the grit and work to find a cure.

 Just this past week, Eric Duncan, was taken to a Dallas hospital where he was and remains the only person in the United States diagnosed with Ebola. A top federal health official said that a man [Eric Duncan] was "fighting for his life" and expressed confidence that the disease would not spread widely to those with whom he had come in contact.

I thought it was very interesting, as my brother attends Southern Methodist University (SMU) in Dallas, that my mom this past Friday received a letter from the school assuring parents that they were closely monitoring the information about the Ebola case.

I never really thought about it until my mom showed me the email, but the possibility of Ebola breaking out right near a college campus is a terrifying thought.  Disease would be running rampant throughout a college campus. Without a cure, it would be frightening to have our future of bright minds be compromised by a fatal disease.  Luckily, we are doing everything in our power to isolate this one case and stop it from spreading.  Fingers crossed my brother won't have to worry about it!