Story I: Judge: Lesbian student's rights violated...

Should the student who sued the school district have been allowed to attend the prom with her same-sex date?

Point blank period we as Americans have rights weather it's freedom of speech, religion, petition, and in today's time be in a relationship with whoever you choose. The young 18 year old girl Constance McMillen should of been able to attend her senior prom with her girlfriend, and her girlfriend should of been able to come in a trash bag if she choose to.Yes, they absolutely should be allowed to go to a dance with a same-sex date. If people are offended or disgusted, that is 100% their problem, not the problem of gay people. There will always be bigots out there, and banning people from celebrating an important milestone in their life such as graduation, weddings, but in this case prom with the person that they love is just plain wrong, and is lot more ‘offensive’ or ‘gross’ than any same-sex relationship.

Really people what is the big idea? This is the 21st century and statistic show that for every ten people, one is gay; however research shows that the number may be more like 1 in 20. With that being said there may sit at least four people in this very class who is a lesbian or gay. If lane college was to have a formal dance would they not be able to come with their significant other dressed the way they want to for the occasion, NO. This is because who is anybody to tell another person what is acceptable or not if you are going about it in the proper manner.
So of course a gay or lesbian teenager should be allowed to bring a same-sex date to a school dance. It is disappointing though unsurprising that this is even a question in our society, but glad that the judge ruled in Ms. McMillan’s favor. Hopefully my school would not try to impose the same restriction, and if there was a same-sex couple at a school function there would be, if anything, nothing but pride that they were willing to stand up for themselves against what other, conservative-minded students might say or do. It is agreed wholeheartedly that it is an issue, and when talking to people about it, it is readily related to racial discrimination,and yes it is certainly a civil rights issue. Even if being gay is a choice, and all evidence points to this not being the case, religion is a choice as well, and don’t we have ‘freedom of religion’ and things of that nature as has already been stated.

When you think about it, the two are practically the same but for how far have people come in getting rid of them; people are being irrationally discriminated against for something that is both out of their control.Constance is a student just like everyone else. She worked hard to get to that point in her senior year just like everyone else, so why shouldn't she be able to celebrated with the one she loves at the prom. If there was a cost for the prom Constance wouldn't have a problem paying her money for the prom just like everyone else, so why is it that she gets denied to go to prom just because of her sexual orientation.

People today worry and concern themselves with the wrong things. When it comes to the gay community people can also be very judgemental not realizing that those who judge will be the first to be judge by the one who calls all the shots. Only God can judge Constance McMillen and the decisions she chooses to make in life, but in the meantime we as a people need to learn to just love, live life, proceed, and progress.

White House and President Obama's forecast: no roaring economic recovery in 2010

The first major signs of the most recent economic recession began in late 2007. The stock market was sitting above 13,000 and many people believed that the recession would be a short-lived one, but the economy was falling so quickly that even the most negative forecasts weren’t low enough. What started as a problem that was confined to the housing and mortgage sector had become a general problem throughout the American economy. How long it will take to fix all of these problems is an area of concern.

President Obama is clearly faced with some challenges, and came into office with a lot on his plate. Despite all the other issues going on in America the economy is the biggest one. Even though President Obama came into office ready to make things happen, things are always “easier said then done” especially when you are trying to clean up the mess made before hand. The people have faith in their president and believe that he can solve the problem. The economic recovery in 2010 is likely to fall short on job growth. But higher jobless figures might not be a bad thing as long as people are looking for jobs again to keep the economy and work force flowing. The economic recovery is in the air as America emerges from the longest and worst recession since World War II. Everyone wants to know what’s being done for the economy in 2010. Perhaps most important, new jobs may be created opening doors of opportunity for those with a desire for the work force. President Obama is clearly faced with some challenges, and came into office with a lot on his plate. Despite all the other issues going on in America the economy is the biggest one. Even though President Obama came into office ready to make things happen, things are always “easier said then done” especially when you are trying to clean up the mess made before hand. The people have faith in their president and believe that he can solve the problem. Our president takes charge when it comes to his effort to create new jobs. The president sees the frustration of the American people who can’t get a job and cares. President Obama is thinking of ways that he can expand the job market and encourages these businesses to hire. What we need is employment support. Employment support are services which include counseling and workshops to assist people out of work in understanding the workplace and how to find a job in their area. This would be a much less burden on the taxpayers which would be implemented without too much new legislation and would have a much faster positive impact on the economy.

As usual there is a conflict of interest when you want to do something good for the people. Republican John Boehner who has not even seen the legislation feels that it is premature. Obama is making it his business regardless to make things better. The job market is far from healthy, but it is stabilizing. It is definitely a work in progress, but all the people can do is just wait it out or keep trying to get hired at various jobs available.It’s just not going to happen over night.

The economy is not expected to snap back and bring smiles to everyone on Main Street. Instead, the unemployment rate is expected to stay uncomfortably high, and businesses may remain timid about expanding for the fact that the cash flow may not yet be where they would like it to be.

Bureau of Justice Statistics

In the Bureau of Justice I decided to check out the crime statistics in Illinois from the years 1960-2007. What I have learned in the violent crime bracket is that murder, rape, robbery, and assault was on what seemed to be a roller-coaster up and down from year to year. The murder rate did go down from 1999-2007. When it came down to the property crime in Illinois the burglary, vehicle theft,Larceny-
theft was up and down as well. What I learned from this is that the world is a dangerous place, and with that being said people in Illinois should go about self defense, and different safety precautions to prevent most of the violence. I feel this is important because people should be able to know the statistic rate of crime where they live.

Why FOIA is Valuable/Important

It is important that we have access to the FOIA information to know the what went on behind the scene of a person on incident good or bad. This information is valuable for the fact that looking outside in you are clearly not going to know the whole story. FOIA wants to know the good the bad and the ugly, and makes it their business to find all that out even if they block all the information from the public.

As I browsed through the names in the FOIA file I stumbled across the gangster disciples. They first caught my attention because of the information I read the gang being based in Chicago, Illinois so that immediately intrigued by the topic at hand. I feel as though the gangster disciples were highlighted because it is one of the oldest street gangs in Chicago as well as one of the four major gangs in the city. This infromation would be valuable to the FOIA because when it come to street gangs alot of illegal activities go down as far as drugs and murder and that's when the FBI comes in to play.

Color of Money

The series of articles pertaining to color of money is important because it soul purpose is to inform the world how strong racial discrepancies still exist in today’s society. The spotlight is being shined on the city of Atlanta where we have been informed on their discrimination, and redlining of black people period, and in the black community. The banks seem to have little problem giving out loans to white people, but when it came to black people who some had even given years of their business to the bank they couldn’t even get a dime. In the reading when what was done in the dark came to light plenty of the bankers wanted to deny the clear fact of what was going on. They acted as if French was being spoke like they knew know such thing of the turning down of black people for loans. The statistics don’t lye either showing the percentage rates, and loan ratio from the banks in Atlanta comparing and contrasting u can clearly see the difference, and in my opinion there is no justification for that. The banks were denying blacks’ loans as if they asked them to write a check out of their personal check book. My biggest question is what’s the big idea? A loan is money that I guarantee will be paid back and for a bank to deny a person a loan just because of the color of their skin says a lot about a person. Can someone remind me again the color of money because last I recall it wasn’t white?

Review of TIME'S 1982 Person of the Year

I believe TIME picked the computer as person of the year because it was the new, most intriguing invention on the market. At that point in time the personal computer was a bit exclusive, and with everything else going on in the world in 1982 nothing could compete with the computer. The personal computer was a success to the American people who designing programs could afford if. You could now work from home if you wanted to and save on gas. People were and more. Things were looking up for the computer in its sales especially in the corporate world, companies were buying like crazy. The statistics made were an interesting as well. I liked the question asked, will the computer change the very nature of human thought? And if so, for better or worse. Well I feel it's not even a debate, for the fact that some people will find the computer to be a great invention and the answers to their problems, where as other not many in my opinion become intimidated of the idea that a machine is smarter than their human mind when in actuality who really cares as long as the job gets done. There was another question and concern about how even though this computer is a great invention will the computer stimulate the brain's activity or, by doing so much of its work, permit it to go slack? To answer that question I would say yes in every language for the fact that the computer is correcting our grammar if it is incorrect. The comp uter will correct our spelling if it is incorrect, and so much more. Then the question in my mind rises do we really need teachers when the computer seems to be doing a great job of that already, even doing the hard work for us in a sense. We are the computer and technology age, and there is and will always be an upgrade of the latest gadget in technology. I feel as though TIME hit home on some of their predictions as far as what the computer age would bring.

Why I Am Studying Mass Communication

I am studying mass communication because it is the major that will play a great deal in my future success. People ask me all the time what are you studying in school, or what is your major, and I proudly say mass communication where I am sometime immediately shut down by a person telling me that is not a real major that's just something easy to get by. All I think to myself is some people can really be ignorant simply not knowing that just because I may not be studying to be a doctor or lawyer that does not mean my major is not important to say the least. I feel that some people are ignorant and make ignorant comments just because they don't know ofcourse and simply don't understand. That's where the GREAT ME comes to play. I nicely let them know that if there wasn't a such thing as mass communication they probally wouldn't have a life LOL u missed that. See mass communication plays a GREAT role in everyday life from watching that television show that that we just can't get enough of to that radio that we stay bumping in the car, and sooooooo much more see some one has to do it yes some one, and thats where all the GREAT mass communication majors come in. See we care about the world, therefore we provide entertainment to the public. We are sports reporters, critics, the news, radio personalities, television hosts, producers, and again soooooooooo much more. Then I think to myself again if it wasn't for aspiring people like myself and those that came before me who loves and adores just the thought and even ides of mass communication you wouldnt have a life. Then I dare u to down grade my major if your balls are big enough.

*******Untill next time******