Should high schools start an hour later?

Either side brings a valid case, but in the battle of school starting times, the facts stack up against allowing them to remain the same rather than bumping them up an hour and/or switching start times with elementary schools. Typically, high schools start around 7:35 am, a time where many students would rather be getting up instead of trudging off to their first class. An extra hour of sleep, many say, would be beneficial to students emotions and academic performances. Indeed, this has been seen to be a proven fact. Eastham, MA conducted an experiment in the change of start times in order to find some sort of validity to moving start times. A 53% drop in the number of failing grades was presented between the two times, as well as the numbers of D's and F's dropping from 597 to 368. Students with suspensions dropped severely in numbers as well, plummeting from 166 to 19. Something else that also presses the fact of the matter even farther is the fact that many younger children tend to wake up at early times such as 530 or 6 am, whereas teenagers would much rather wake up later in the morning. Suggestions have been made to switch start times between high schoolers and elementary students in order to accommodate both wants and needs of each age group.

This article mainly aims at pulling readers in to the idea of the abundant benefits brought forth by changing the time in which a school beings session. By providing staggering statistics, the author allows the reader to be informed of all of the increasing benefits of this change, ranging from academic performance to social skills in the learning environment. Evidently, this brings forth a strong argument as to why high schools should begin at a later time.





"Let teens hit the snooze"
http://bangordailynews.com/2012/01/23/opinion/let-teens-hit-the-snooze/

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly by Jean-Dominique Bauby

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly was composed by a fourty-three year old editor who found himself completely paralyzed after a stroke that overcame him, leaving him with "locked-in syndrome". In a shocking turn of events, Bauby devised a system in which he could write his memoir through blinking techniques with his left eye which was published days before his death in 1996. The book explores the wonders of his life following his life-changing stroke, reaching all aspects of life from eating to spending time with the family he loved dearly. The memoir served as liberation for himself, allowing him to express his true emotions through his writings, words he could never get across previously due to his paralysis.

I'm hoping that this memoir allows me to get a new insight on life. So many of us are spoiled with nearly anything we could never ask for or desire. Hopefully, his words of wisdom can reflect a truth in life that many of us might never approach or attempt to comprehend. This memoir can hopefully be used as a tool to look at life through a new perspective, where life is a gift, not a burden.

Bless Me Ultima: Chapters 1 - 7

Bless Me Ultima seems to me as if its using many different strategies in order to draw a reader's attention in initially. It blatantly begins with frequent usage of Spanish phrases, such "llano", "que lastima", and including some full throttle sentences in Spanish, such as, "Esta sola ya no queda gente en el pueblito de Las Pasturas." Although I myself have been taking Spanish for many years, throughout these early chapters, I have come across many words and phrases where I am constantly researching the definitions of the words, no matter how much Spanish background I have personally. This left me confused many times, as I would constantly be forgetting the meaning of each word and found myself re-googling each word, slowing the process of reading down considerably each time I google-translated a word, phrase, or sentence.

At this point, it seems as if conflicting points in this novel will be between Ultima's magic and Antonio's religion. Antonio's parents, especially his mother, present their intense expectations of Antonio to prevail with his religion and religious beliefs and become a priest when he is of age. Viewing Luptio's death seems to begin to pose as an issue in the novel, playing a major role with his trust in the outside world and as an issue within his family, affecting his mental state in a permanent manor. Surely his view of the outter world has been skewed after such a morbid experience, and could possibly foreshadow future events to come in the novel. Antonio's personality seems to be that of a typical 7 year old, yet he has already faced great plague within the opening pages of this novel. Surely he faces greater challenges in the future, which could eventually lead to a change in character.

Words with Friends... or More Than Friends?

A simple word game used by millions across the world on their smart phones and ipods created a tale of two lovers, and eventually created an everlasting love between two random players. In 2009, a random game was created by two players living several thousand miles away from each other. Megan Lawless, a resident of Chicago, IL, began the randomized session and ended up being paired with Jasper Jasperse, a man living across the pond in the Netherlands. The two exchanged greetings, and what started out as a simple hello from one side to another turned into contact exchanges and an eventual meeting between the two. This random act of romance is one that touches the heart of technology addicts and also serves as a new twist to any typical love story that circulates the system.

Ben Silverman, author of the article, introduced us to a new tale of two loves, moving past the typical love stories constantly being portrayed by pop culture movies and novels. Silverman draws the reader's attention with the "Words with Friends" reference, a game that many students and even adults can closely relate to. By setting a frequently accessed background in reality, Silverman relates the love tale to readers who often grow weary of the same old love stories being portrayed over and over again, and provokes the reader with this new twist to a classic tale. This love story likely won't be the only one of its kind with this growing technology universe.


"'Words With Friends' spelles love and marriage"
http://games.yahoo.com/blogs/plugged-in/words-friends-spells-love-marriage-173817262.html