I arrive on the first day class of the new semester with my new notebooks and new mechanical pencils full of lead ready to compile vast amounts of new data into a barely legible format. This will later be crammed into my head on top of all the other data that I forgot to purge between semesters in preparation for 2-3 or sometimes 4 heavily weighted exams that will give me panic attacks and anxiety that will compare to betting $100 on hand of war at the casino.

"Recycle – Renew – Reuse"

As a fellow engineering student of mine interjected into a conversation before my last exam, “exams are like taking a crap”, only he used his favorite s-word. This gave me a chuckle because I knew exactly where he was coming from and I thank him for the mild humor setting my mind at ease. To further explain the analogy, he went on to explain how we devour countless amounts of data over a certain time period between exams only to dump it out on a specific date and whether or not it was messy or clean it remains a relief. Hence the crap analogy. Although this is humorous, it sets up my point for this whole post. We as students are required to live by the exam dates and times based on the professors schedule in the syllabus with minor subjection to change by the professors discretion. So why then do they haphazardly decide when they are going to grade the exams, turn back the exams, or even post the grades on Blackboard? I think there should be a 72 hour turn around policy for assignment grades just like for semester grades. We base our whole academic existence on grades. This is the satisfaction for hard work or the indication of lack there of. It is the gauge of progress and it is needed to proceed. I find myself not being able to learn new material until I close the chapter on the old stuff. And for the professors that teach new material before the old material is tested, this is a nightmare! Thats all I have for now. Tell me what you think.

PEACE

Round 2 – This time I have been thinking about a sad, sad topic of late. It involves heartbreak and tears and a serious lack of cheers. I have been in denial for the last couple of months over something and I need to bring it out. It is as if I am having Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder symptoms with headaches and nausea overcoming me whenever this issue is brought to the forefront of my mind. I am trying to get to the point but it hurts so I am just going to ask the question.

WHAT IS WRONG WITH THE DETROIT LIONS?! 

Why Me?

Well all, this will be the first installment of my question of the week. I have been kicking a few things around but I have chosen a mildly controversial topic in which there should be a variety of thoughts on. So here it is.

IS THERE INTELLIGENT LIFE SOMEWHERE ELSE OTHER THAN EARTH?

My answer to this question is that I don’t believe that there is any other life-form capable of intelligent thought or that there is another planet that is set-up to create the environment needed to produce what is present on Earth. This may sound a bit closed minded especially coming from a science-based thinker like myself but I am a strong spiritual minded fella as well. I find myself struggling with the evolution vs. creationism debate quite often because I think that they are both true. I have found a lot of answers to my questions in a book by Francis S. Collins called The Language Of God. Collins was the head scientist on the Human Genome Project which is the U.S. Governments program that mapped the human genome and revealed it under the Clinton Administration. He provides a basis for faith and science to co-exist which has helped me understand many things regarding this topic. One of the topics covered in the book is the probability that there is another “Earth-like” planet among the millions of planets in the existing universe. This probability was first introduced by Francis Drake in 1961 in which he developed a formula to figure out the probability of communicating civilizations in just the Milky Way Galaxy. The Drake equation solved with present values results in a probability of (0.000000022). This is a bit far fetched but it puts the thought in perspective. So until we receive a signal from space, I’m thinking we are  . . . alone.

Well, I must speak to this issue since it has been brought to a tragic light. When is drinking and driving going to stop? Since Alcoholics have a disease, is this a silent pandemic where its spreading lies on the shelves of countless liquour stores across the country. A country where the Holy Day of St. Patrick has been construed into a justifiable day where drunkards can be encountered at 7:00am. In Ireland, where the holiday originated, the day is celebrated in church.

The remains of 4 teenagers lie in grave today and my heart pours out in grief for their families and friends. A 47 year-old women held responsible for their deaths will spend the rest of her life dealing with her actions. She was operating a 4700lb van with approximately 0.16-0.24 B.A.C. level when she slammed into the victim’s car without even touching the brakes. I am sickened by this because it will happen time and time again.

I am making a plea to all fellow students to stand up against drunk driving by vowing to drink responsibly and never get behind the wheel of a vehicle.

Peace to All

WELCOME ALL!! This is my first blog and I would like to start with a general topic. Our country faces a recession and our auto dependent state is attempting to crawl its way back to operating on all cylinders. What decisions are being made by students to make sure that they are going to graduate and have a safe plan for a career? Is there certain degrees that are sought after more than others based on the opportunities that they may or may not provide in the future? It is a frightful thought to have a degree in hand and still be living at home or working a minimum wage job while waiting for that resume to get a hit on Monster.com. It is tough for students to cope with the idea that graduating is not the only challenge ahead. I would make a plea to students to start making plans for career opportunities the minute you set foot into a college classroom if not sooner. Many students I come across have no desire to think of the future and I think this is a disservice to themselves. There are potential career opportunities out there but the competitiveness has given the employers the upper hand. They have a “pick of the litter” sort of speak and it is drive and determination of the potential employee that will force them to take a second look in consideration.