Education

To what extent do our schools serve the goals of a true education? I think a true education does not mean anything about learning materials in school. One could be educated in many different aspects. One could be educated by personal experience. They would know how to handle situations while others would not. Today’s standards are that if you did not go to high school or college you are not educated. That is not the case. So many business and wealthy men have not been to high school or college and most are dropouts but are educated. How did they become what they are now then? They have the knowledge on how to get there without going to school. Tests do not determine your level of education. It tests your memory. After a student study’s day and night for a test or midterm they will forget the information the next day. They do not learn it; they memorize it only to pass the test. Schools only teach the basics; Math, English, History, and Science. Those are crucial to know though. Schools are teaching students now how to live in the real word like taking care of a family or paying taxes which is terrific but education is knowing general knowledge, not what you have learned in school. If you know general knowledge then congratulations you are educated.
  

This needs to stop.

“5 people, 2 dogs dead at Phoenix condo complex”                                                                               
By: Melissa Gray                                                                                                                                
Source: CNN
http://www.cnn.com/2013/10/26/justice/phoenix-multiple-homicide/index.html?hpt=ju_c2

Police found five people and two dogs dead on Saturday October twenty-six in Phoenix, Arizona. They were found in a condo with gunshot wounds including the suspect. A resident reported that somebody was firing shots and officers responded to that. The caller told them that the gunman fled by foot but another person reported that shots were being fired somewhere else in the condo. Police decided to look in two apartments and in the first one they found two people dead on the patio and two others dead inside. There were also two dogs dead with them. When officers went to the second apartment they found the suspect dead who shot himself. Authorities are not releasing names and they are still trying to figure out the motive. “Resident Libni DeLeon told CNN affiliate KNXV that he heard a knock on his door in the morning before the man started shooting through his front door. DeLeon said one of the bullets went through his bathroom and into his kitchen.” DeLeon ran upstairs and saw his face a little bit. DeLeon yelled at him and the gunman shot twice upstairs, turned around, and ran. Many shootings have been happening recently and it has become a growing problem. There needs to be something to be figured out to stop all this from happening. The saying “Guns don’t kill people, people kill people” is true and those people need to find a way to control themselves. These are seven lives we will never get back along with others.

Train Tagedy

“BART train kills 2 workers near San Francisco”

http://www.cnn.com/2013/10/19/us/california-bart-train-deaths/

By: Melissa Gray

Source: CNN

Two workers were killed by the Bay Area Transit Train this afternoon in San Francisco. The workers were inspecting the tracks and a reported dip in the tracks. One of the two workers was a BART employee and the other was a contractor. Their names were not released publicly immediately. BART General Manager Grace Crunican says that “Our hearts and prayers go out to the families of the two workers who’ve just been killed on the BART tracks” and she mentioned that the accident is currently under investigation. The train is usually under control with an experienced operator but during the accident it was on automatic computer control. The carts had graffiti on them and after they removed the graffiti the train was being sent back to the train yard. There were people on the train but authorities did not have a chance to speak with them. All the trains have video cameras in them so this train must have had a video camera and taped the accident. The workers have worked around trains for a long time and are experts with trains. The process was to have one employee inspect the tracks and the other to be a lookout for any oncoming trains. They were supposed to inspect the track within fifteen seconds and stay clear. Being killed by a train is terrible. If one falls on the tracks they will never know how much time they have to move away if a train was coming their way. People need to be careful and aware of their surroundings to prevent accidents like these from happening. 

Blind Beat Up

“Suspect named in beating of blind man in Philadelphia”

By: Julia Lull 
Source: CNN                                                          

http://www.cnn.com/2013/10/11/justice/pennsylvania-blind-man-beating/index.html?hpt=ju_c2

 The suspect who beat the blind man on October 2^nd has been named. He is twenty-nine-year old Mustafa Guyton. He is accused of assault after he kicked and stomped a thirty-three-year old man in Philadelphia. The beating was caught on a surveillance camera and the Police say that they released the video in order to figure out who the attacker was. The victim was walking down the street and was not being a burden. The video depicts Guyton putting his backpack down and then pushes the blind man to the ground and continuously punched, stomped, and kicked him. One bystander walks next to the beating, stopped for a second to look and walks away. As soon as Guyton was finished beating his victim up, he picks up his backpack and walks away. The victim is left on the floor with injuries to his head and face. The victim told authorities that he could not recognize Guyton’s voice. Police Officer Tanya Little says that nobody is sure whether Guyton knew the victim was blind or not. That does not matter. The victim could have not been blind; Guyton would still have attacked him. The bystanders did not help at all. They were all staring at the victim being beat up. How come nobody helped at all and why did Guyton decide to beat up a random person? None of it makes sense.

 

Hilary Clinton, Women's Rights are Human Rights

Astghik and Katya did a wonderful job on their project. Learning about what Hilary Clinton has done in her life makes me want to change my views on her. She has traveled to many countries all for woman’s rights are astonishing. Hilary Clinton listed many grievances and knowing about those grievances is heart breaking. The fact that women are tortured and neglected is terrible. One of the grievances mentions how babies are not fed or taken care of because they are born girls. That is ridiculous. Babies are innocent and have done nothing wrong. Why do they deserve all that? Women are sold for prostitution. That is degrading to women all over the world. These grievances are terrible and Clinton makes a huge point to not only men, but everyone. Clinton talks about how women are caretakers of children and how their work is not valued which is sad. Women brought children into the world and without women there would be no life. Clinton wants precautions to be taken against this issue. She wants to resolve all the problems that women are facing. Men should realize that putting women down is not right. Do they not think about their mothers, grandmothers, aunts, sisters, or whoever is a woman in their family? I am sure they would not like it if someone treated the women in their families like this. There is a famous quote by Tupac and he said “A woman brought you into this world, so you have no right to disrespect one” and that is how one gets respect. Even if a woman has no children, that does not mean they do not get disrespected. All women should be treated as equal as men. Although Astghik and Katya did a wonderful on their project, I feel as though Astghik could have been more prepared like Katya and I think Katya could have had more eye contact with the class. Overall it was a pleasant presentation.

Couple were lucky for more than thirty then recently their secrets are revealed.

“Senior couple charged in decades old cold cases”

By: Leslie Bentz

Source: CNN

Alice and Gerald Uden have been charged with murder they have committed over thirty years ago. They killed their ex-spouses in different situations. They are both now in their seventy’s. Alice and Gerald Uden have raised two children in Missouri. They go to church regularly and keep to themselves. Their neighbors had suspicions about the Udens before the secret came out. Allen Bishop told CNN affiliate KSPR "They were good people; we've known them for about 12 years now. They're the kind of neighbors you leaned over the fence and talked about your chickens with.” They seemed like an ordinary family. The couple is in jail and is waiting to be transferred to Wyoming, where the murders took place. Alice Uden killed her husband in late 1974 or early 1975 when he was only twenty-five years old. She was arrested on Thursday. A witness said that Alice told them that she had shot her husband in the back of his head while he was sleeping. Gerald is charged with killing his ex-wife’s two children. One was ten and the other was twelve. They were all killed in 1980. Gerald was charged on Friday. Gerald told officers that he shot his wife and her two kids with a .22-caliber rifle. The gun belonged to the ex-wife. Many people are finding it hard to believe what they did. A Bishop told KSPR "I was in disbelief. They are old people. They don't do things like that.” What he said is not relevant to the murders. They were not old more thirty years ago. They were actually in their twenty’s. Although there is a huge love for senior citizens in me, that does not excuse one of killing.