Think Before You Act

Accusations of rape are not something that should be taken lighlty.  The heart breaking statistics show that about 68% of sexual assults are not reported to the police, and that every 107 seconds another American gets sexually assulted.   People deserve to have their tragedies reported and not have to live with the burden of such a horrible secret.

However, claiming you have been raped when in reality you haven't, is also a heinous crime.  9 years ago to the day, four Duke Lacrosse players were accused of raping a stripper at a party.  The problem is, once these accusations were made, they followed these four innocent young men wherever they went.  Last night there was a special 60 Minutes story that ran on this subject and Mike Pressler, the head coach of the Duke Lacrosse team at that time said,: Google up one of the boys' names, my name, and then, you know, on the computer you saw the word "rape," "sexual assault" next to your name. That, to me, that just was-- even today, I get emotional about it. Because it just-- everything you built, everything-- all-- everything you stood for. And to have two of those type of phrases or words associated with your name just-- even right now, as I speak to you, Armen, I'm getting angry over that.

Not only did it effect these young men, but it also had a huge impact on Pressler's life.  He was told he either had to resign or risk losing his job.  Being stuck in a spot, he resigned.  However people turned on him as well.  People would come to his house and put signs all over his yard that said "Rapist Lover" and "Do your duty. Turn 'em in" and his daughters and wife's personal lives were completely exposed.  He had a ton of trouble finding a new job because no one wanted to hire someone involved in this scandal.

In the way it played out, the four players were proven innocent and Pressler was able to land a new coaching job and completely change the culture of the school.  He continues to be a very successful coach.  

To me, it is absolutely unnaccaptable to be accusing four people of such a horrible crime.  Rape and sexual assult should never be taken as a way to get attention or money or whatever else might be the case.  You have to think about the consequences that could come from your actions.  The stripper could have seriously ruined a lot of people's lives and it is very lucky that things worked out in the end the way they did.  

So It Begins

That dreaded time of year has finally arrived.  For the next few weeks I will be working on what every student tries their hardest to avoid: the Junior Theme. I have been wracking my brians and reading for hours on end to try and find a topic that seems interesting enough to persue and write this unseemingly endless paper.

I think I have finally decided that I am going to explore the continual issue of homeless children in America.  From the reading I have started to browse through, I have seen repeatedly how homeless children have perhaps a record or have a parent who has been incarcerated.  I want to continue to explore the possibility of a cycle of having a child who has an incarcerated parent and are left homeless and see if they are more likely to end up incarcerated themselves.

As of right now I have a very broad question of which I am attempting to answer which would be, why are their so many homeless children in the United States?

Why Do We React So Violently?

I was shocked and devastated this morning when I was scrolling through CNN and found and article titled "Florida boy kills one brother, wounds another after food fight" At first I was a little confused because when I saw food fight, I thought your normal high school cafeteria scene.  However, upon reading it, I thought the reason he killed his brother was just as silly.  

The three boys were home eating dinner with their mom and oldest brother gone.  They reportedly got in an arguement about food, the details of which were not given.  After their spat, the 13 year old boy got up and shot and killed his 6 year old brother, and shot and wounded his 16 year old brother.  He then took the handgun and turned it on himself, committing suicide.  The 16 year old brother was hurt, but able to call 911 and get help. 

 It is devastaing to think that this family will have to deal with the loss of their two youngest brothers.  However, I was completely shocked that all of this tradegy stemmed from what seems to be a simple argument.  It makes me wonder what messege society is conveying to young minds.  Why do we think that it is ok after an argument to go and shoot your brothers? I know it very well might have come from a deeper problem, but it is still very disheartening to me that a 13 year-olds first reaction is to grab a gun and kill everyone.  I hope that this isn't some idea that he got from media, because if so, I think something really must be changed.  Media influences so much of what people do, but if it is harming others I think it has gone too far. 

Craigslist Killers

Recently I have seen two articles on CNN that talk about how people who responded to an ad on Craiglist have suddently gone missing and died or been seriously injured.  Just the other day, 7 month pregnant, Michelle Wilkins responded to an ad for baby clothes.  She went over there and was stabbed in the stomach and had her fetus ripped out.  She lost her unborn baby and almost  her own life.

Wilkinss was bleeding profusely but still was able to call the police.  She was able to tell them the location of where she was and the dispatcher stayed on the phone until the police found her.  This arguably saved her life.  She is in critical but stable condition and is improving each day.

Dynel Lane, 34, a former nurse aide, is being held on $2 million bail while prosecutors weigh charges against her, including murder. Lane is accused of stabbing Wilkins and removing a female fetus. The murder charge would reportedly depend on whether the fetus was old enough to have lived outside of her mother's body.

I find it very creepy and unsettling that all this innocent, pregnant woman was trying to do was buy clothes for her unborn baby.  It makes me sad that society has become so untrustworthy.  Technology has opened a world of amazing things, but also a door to have something as horrible as this stabbing happen. 

March Madness

March Madness seems to be all people are talking about. From the moment that Notre Dame and Northeastern tipped the ball on Thursday millions of eyes have been glued to screens watching their favorite college teams play in this crazy tournament.  According to the NCAA, 181 million viewers tune in throughout the tournament across television, online and out-of-home platforms.  Every single boy in my class had his Ipad out "working" while really they pulled up the games.  Every time a teacher would come around, they would quickly click back to the actual work or just close the Ipad. 

My favorite part of the madness is all the upsets that occur.  Every year in this crazy tournament you can count on an upset.  This year, tons of people's brackets were busted when number 1 seed, Villanova, lost to number 8 seed, NC State.  On the very first day ,Thursday saw a record 5 one-point games:

• NC State 66, LSU 65
• UAB 60, Iowa St. 59
• Georgia St. 57, Baylor 56
• UCLA 60, SMU 59
• Cincinnati 66, Purdue 65 (in overtime)

I am excited to see who will come out number one. Hopefully there will be many more action packed, exciting and upset-filled games.

Predictions?

What Could You Be Arrested For?

Today I was just looking around on the Internet and found an article on CNN that said that "A New Zealand bar manager and two Burmese colleagues were sentenced to two and a half years in jail in a Yangon court on Tuesday."  What was their crime? It was posting a picture of a Buddha wearing headphones on Facebook, in order to promote an event.  The article mentions a bunch of other strange incidents you can get arrested for in foreign countries.  Which got me thinking.  What strange laws could you be arrested for in the United States?

Upon a little research I found a few websites and some laws jumped out at me the most.  

1.  It is illegal to congregate in public with two or more people while each wearing a mask or any face covering which disguises your identity. 

This first one confuses me a little, because then wouldn't Halloween be illegal?

2. Students may not hold hands at school. 

I thought this was weird, too because I feel like the police would have to come for a lot of kids at my high school.  However, apparently the reasoning behind it is because it is a "gateway" to sexual activities.  Weird.

3. It is a felony to steal more than $1000 of grease

Why would anyone ever need or steal $1000 worth of grease?

There are some pretty funky laws in our legal system and it can be pretty amusing to see what you could get in trouble for.  What's do you think is the weirdest law?

http://justsomething.co/the-22-most-ridiculous-us-laws-still-in-effect-today-2/

http://www.lawguru.com/weird/part01.php

How Well Do You Know The Girl Next To You?

This past week I had the delightful pleasure of learning that my fellow classmate was not only extremely smart, but equally as talented in the arts.  A classmate that I have sat behind the whole year and who I talk to on the daily. I had no idea that she was such a phenomenal ukulele player and had the most beautiful voice to accompany the music.

We were lucky enough that she played for our class, and then I went home with her melodies stuck in my head and proceeded to stalk her on YouTube. I included a short three minute clip of her singing a cover of Bruno Mars' Count On Me.  I truly was so blown away by her singing and it really got be thinking about how I have seen her every day since the start of the school year and how until this past Friday I had never known she was so talented.  It made me think about how you think you can know someone, and then they come out and surprise you.  Learning about my classmates hidden talent made me really want to spend more time getting to know the people around me.  You never know what amazing things people can surprise you with.

You can "count on me" to be at all of her concerts when she is famous!