April Is National Autism Awareness Month
As published on Miss Millennia Magazine.
In recent times it seems as though more children are being diagnosed with autism and, according to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), this observation seems to be true. 1 in 88 American children are diagnosed as being on the spectrum, and out of those figures, boys are commonly associated four out of five times than their female counterparts. In the U.S. two million individuals are diagnosed and tens of millions fall within the spectrum worldwide. The 10 to 17 percent increase in rates however is suspected to be a result of research conducted and by improved diagnosis and awareness. (more…)
The Religious Left
As published in Miss Millennia Magazine.
Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton eloquently delivered her passionate opinion endorsing gay marriage on Monday. Republican Senator, Rob Portman of Ohio, recently reversed his opposition to gay marriage, and the President has mentioned he supported gay marriage even recently mentioning in an ABC News interview that he couldn’t imagine a constitutional defense for states to ban such unions. According to a poll released on Monday conducted by CNN/ORC which surveyed 1,021 Americans, 53 percent of the country believed same-sex marriage should be recognized as valid compared to 44 percent of the population who say it should not. The study revealed that women, Democrats, those under 35 and non-churchgoers were the most likely to support the legalization of same-sex marriage. So why is it, in a country currently dominated by an overly saturated religious and misogynistic political appearance, a poll representing a more tolerant society toward same-sex marriage exist today? (more…)
Women Through the Eyes of Religion
As Published in Miss Millennia Magazine
There are many questions in our universe that are left unanswered, and there are images tucked away in the cosmos still yet to be seen. Humans live their lives only knowing some of the ways of the world, and at other times they may not even know their own selves. According to some estimates, there are roughly 4,200 religions in the world each offering a solution to the great mysteries of the world. They do their best to set aside a collection of world views and belief and cultural systems that may act as a moral compass. The meaning of life and the origin of the universe can be explained away for now with dogma, but when you look at the roles given by women in the majority of the world’s more popular religions, one begins to wonder if women are seen as equals to men in a spiritual sense. (more…)
How Technology Will Impact Higher Education
As published by Examiner.com
Smart phones, tablets, laptops and social media have changed the way we function in our lives and in society. They have made connecting with people and the world around us easier, and have created a new way of communicating. Because this change in the way we interact with each other has influenced all of our lives, it also makes sense that social technology has also changed the way we approach education. (more…)
High-tech Education in Obama’s State of the Union Address
As published by Examiner.com
Propositions for pushing better strategies for climate control, the discussion of gun laws and immigration reform were just some of the topics President Obama spoke about during the State of the Union Address Tuesday night in Washington. The speech given by Obama showed a sterner president pushing for Congress to come together for the nation. One of the other major topics covered by Obama included education and its relation to technology and the competitive job market and how the nation’s students stand with the rest of the world. (more…)
Cal Poly Pomona Student’s Alleged Threats against LA Schools
Kyle Bangayan voa Facebook
Re-posted from Uloop news.
In the wake of one of the most violent and heinous crimes in our nation, Cal Poly Pomona student, Kyle Bangayan, 24, was brought to the attention of news organizations for allegedly posting violent threats on social media sites against schools in the Los Angeles area.
Following the aftermath of the elementary school shooting in Connecticut, Bangayan, was found with nine firearms including rifles, handguns and a shotgun and was arrested at his parents’ home in Hollywood and taken to the Men’s Central Jail in downtown Los Angeles.
Prosecutors announced late Monday that Bangayan would not have any file charged against him reporting that, although he had referenced the massacre in Connecticut on his Facebook page on Sunday, he made no specific threat against a school or person and he told the police that he was just joking.
Bangayan wrote that thousands of children die in other countries and that Americans needed to get over the shootings which took the lives of 20 children at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Conn and six adults who tried protecting the lives of other children still in the building. (more…)
Education and Innovation: Why We Should Invest More in Our Schools
Gaze up into the dark velvet blanket of sky that is decorated with an arrangement of shimmering diamonds. What appears before you is just the front door to the rest of an entire unknown universe. The possibilities of life, other worldly knowledge and further innovation is knocking and waiting for someone to open it. Although this other world of possibilities is accessible, the door is still locked. The key lies in the minds of our future generation, and to obtain that key, we would need to support education.
It definitely makes sense to be a proponent of education. Not only does it inspire the imagination of billions of individuals, but it ignites new conversations, propels our progress as the human race forward, and it helps us create new opportunities ourselves and the ways in which we live. However, when we neglect our education system, we are in return neglecting all of those inspiring and innovative creations. (more…)
Women and Politics
“I didn’t run to make history, I ran to make a difference,” said Wisconsin’s newly elected female and first openly gay person elected to the U.S. Senate, Rep. Tammy Baldwin, but it’s probably safe to say that she is on her way to make history while accomplishing her goal to make a difference.
Senator Baldwin has not only carved her place in history by being first openly gay person elected to the U.S. Senate, but she was also a part of a group of powerful women senators-elect who won seats held by men.
Democrat, and U.S. Rep., Tammy Baldwin took an open Senate seat over Republican Tommy Thompson who had served 14 years as the state’s governor and was former U.S. secretary of Health and Human Services under President George W. Bush. Republican Deb Fischer defeated Democrat Bob Kerrey, a former two-term senator from the state, for an open seat in Nebraska during 2012 election. Democrat Elizabeth Warren, a Harvard University professor whose attacks on Wall Street fueled her campaign, won her race against the Republican incumbent, Sen. Scott Brown in Massachusetts and was the first woman to represent her state in the U.S. Senate. (more…)
Passage of Prop 30 Is Giving You Back Your Money
California university and college students–parents of those California university and college students. Remember at the beginning of this academic school year when you had to pay more tuition because of the state’s huge deficit. Well we still have the deficit but you may be receiving some of that money back in your pocket.
A Youthful Voice
I was armed with my laptop streaming live coverage of the event through various web and news sites, I listened to my phone streaming special live coverage from NPR, and I kept in touch with friends watching the election unfold through Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, and text. We were all pumped and excited to the point where we all could have been mistaken for football fanatics at the Super Bowl. I was truly amazed for more reasons than just getting to hear the election results, but because I had encountered so many young voters who took the time and try to educate themselves on the issues and voice their opinions at the polls.
I was so proud of my generations attempt at completing their civic duty and caring about their future. They saw the importance of knowing what was going on around them and how it could affect their entire life, and regardless of who they voted for or their political affiliation, I was, and I’m still, incredibly happy that the majority of my friends (except for one individual who has complained about her rights before…) mailed a ballot in or went to their voting place to make a difference. (more…)
What’s on the Ballot in California?- Part 2
There is more to this year’s election than selecting the President of the United States. (There is also more than just Mitt Romney and Barack Obama on the ballot as well but that’s another discussion entirely). Along with individuals electing officials from party-nominated, voter-nominated and nonpartisan offices at the district, city, state and national levels, your state will also tack on propositions, or submitted measures, for registered voters to pass if they feel that it is necessary.
These measures end up on the ballot by either the Legislature, which has the ability to place constitutional amendments, bond measures, and proposed changes in law on the ballot or by any California voter who follows the initiative qualifying process.
After these selected initiatives, or a referendums, are placed on the ballot the state’s voters can go to the polls and select “yes” or “no” to support or oppose the advocated a course of action imposed from a specific viewpoint.
In the 2012 election there are eleven measures submitted to the voters. They cover different subjects, often include an influx in state tax revenue for execution and they are sometimes a little vague if you decide to read their descriptions for the first time while you’re standing at the voters’ booth. (more…)
What’s on the Ballot in California?- Part 1
There is more to this year’s election than selecting the President of the United States. (There is also more than just Mitt Romney and Barack Obama on the ballot as well but that’s another discussion entirely). Along with individuals electing officials from party-nominated, voter-nominated and nonpartisan offices at the district, city, state and national levels, your state will also tack on propositions, or submitted measures, for registered voters to pass if they feel that it is necessary.
These measures end up on the ballot by either the Legislature, which has the ability to place constitutional amendments, bond measures, and proposed changes in law on the ballot or by any California voter who follows the initiative qualifying process.
After these selected initiatives, or a referendums, are placed on the ballot the state’s voters can go to the polls and select “yes” or “no” to support or oppose the advocated a course of action imposed from a specific viewpoint.
In the 2012 election there are eleven measures submitted to the voters. They cover different subjects, often include an influx in state tax revenue for execution and they are sometimes a little vague if you decide to read their descriptions for the first time while you’re standing at the voters’ booth. (more…)
Pomona College Student Pursues Lawsuit after Getting Stopped At Airport over Arabic Flashcards
TSA agents are attempting to appeal a dismissal by a district judge who has denied their motion to dismiss a law suit pursued by a Pomona College Student. The student, Nicholas George was “perp walked” through the airport after Transportation Security Administration agents saw the words “bomb” and “terrorist” written in English and Arabic among his flashcards in 2009 and called police.
George was detained in handcuffs at Philadelphia International Airport for several hours over the Arabic language flashcards on his return to Pomona from his home in Philadelphia he has asked a U.S. appeals court last Friday to let him pursue his lawsuit against five federal agents, three TSA agents and two FBI agents individually.
George’s lawsuit accused the agents, Philadelphia police and a Joint Terrorism Task Force of violating his free speech rights and conducting an improper search and arrest. (more…)
Job Experience Vs. Higher Education
I had just come home from a long day at work at my minimum wage paying department store job when I was confronted with this question on a website that I had happened to stumble upon:
Considering the ever-increasing cost of higher education, and the student loans which many college kids amass while working for their various degrees, do you feel the economy actually turned the tide and made job experience just as or more valuable than higher education?
It’s true. The economy is in the crapper and there are millions of students out there drowning in college debt. Is it worth it? I still think so, but I do think having a bit of experience under your belt is also an incredibly smart thing to do. (more…)
Thoughts About A Box
I walked into my classroom the other day, for the first scheduled class, and my teacher introduced herself and then began talking about the course.
“Have you guys ever heard of the phrase ‘thinking outside of the box’?”
Everyone in the class casually nodded and some students slowly started raising their hands to answer the rhetorical question.
“Well that phrase is completely outdated,” the teacher explained. “I want you to throw it out.”
Throw what out?” an eager freshman shouted.
“The box—I want you to throw the box out,” she continued. “The phrase implies that there is a box to begin with. Your thinking should be uninhibited and not based off of any set box or form. You should have your own opinions and think about things without the thought of a box.”
I was reminded of this “thinking without a box” when I ran into a story on Bloomberg about mixed-race Americans. I thought to myself, what box do multi-raced individuals check on the Census? Why do we even have to check a box on tests and other things? And how do we get around this thinking with a box? (more…)
In the Defense of Journalism
Facebook, Twitter, videos uploaded from iPhones to YouTube; information comes swiftly speeding all over the globe to reach those thirsty for information. It’s amazing how, within seconds of some major news event, anyone with complete access to the internet can be updated with the knowledge of that event’s existence. Today in our internet age the consumer is incredibly fortunate to be able to acquire information at the tips of their fingers in an instant, but while the digital age is booming with new possibilities, journalists are becoming concerned about their own futures.
As young students of journalism, naturally, they’re thinking about the future and whether it’s a waste of time to go into such a field that, to a large amount of individuals, seems so up in the air. With the amount of uncertainty that exists during a time when tuition costs are high, jobs are limited and student loans still need to be paid back after graduation, journalism seems less appealing to those attempting to make a career out of it.
So why not just give up on journalism and let the non-journalists on the internet do all the work? Well, the journalists of today are retold over and over again as to why journalists still exist and why they will most likely continue to exist in the future. (more…)
Who Should College Students Vote For In This Coming Election?
As Published in Cal Poly Pomona’s Uloop.
Both the Republican National Convention and the Democratic National Convention came and went sowing seeds of patriotic pride for their own political party and a boost of enthusiasm for the coming Presidential election. The candidates spoke behind pedestals, buttons and silly hats were passed out to the conventions’ attendees, and all of the networks’ lights and television cameras captured images of old men yelling at empty chairs. It was an interesting and uplifting turn of events, but after the stage was wiped clean of all the red, white and blue streamers and confetti, do you know who you should really vote for? (more…)
The Importance Of Being Politically Aware
Conversations about the upcoming Presidential election have been popping up practically everywhere I go. News stories and opinions fly off the handle from people of all ages, and stated beliefs and facts tumble into some incredibly interesting debates.
I absolutely love discussing news and politics with anyone willing to sit down for a minute and chat with me, but just as the rise in the well-informed debates pop up around the election season, so does the apprehension of that fact that there are many individuals out there that don’t even have a clue about who our past presidents were. (more…)
Women Banned From Universities In Iran
Republished from PhillyD(dot)TV
Not being able to play football with the boys just sucks, but not being able to grow up and go off to a university is just plain sex-discrimination. That’s exactly what Iran has been up when it decided to officially approve of female students being barred from more than 70 university degree courses according to the Telegraph.
This obviously goes beyond not fair which is why Iran’s most celebrated human rights campaigner, Nobel laureate Shirin Ebadi, demanding a UN investigation of Iran’s plan to have 36 universities make 77 BA and BSc courses in the coming academic year “single gender” and exclusive to men. (more…)
Are Internships Worth the Trouble?
As published on Uloop and the Huffington Post
As the summer ends and all of the academic universities begin to prepare for the new school year, the students print out their schedules for classes and pack up their last bit of luggage to be hauled along with them to campus. Many of us are searching for jobs, buying books and worrying about whether or not our financial aid will kick in on time. Completing the long list of classes for our course curriculum is always the first things on our minds (especially now with all of the educational budget cuts) but should all of these things be the only focus on our minds? What about internships?
Interning for your intended field of business has its many benefits, but many of these internship positions that students obtain are not paid. Students are often left debating on whether or not the internship is worth the lack of time they could have been using at a paid position, and they pass on internship opportunities unless it is absolutely required of them.
Those people, unfortunately, are missing out on the benefits of an internship. (more…)
You Might Just Be A Psychopath
When today’s generation goes out to have a good evening, an allotted amount of time is set aside for quiet updates to every social media alert available. If they’re at a party they’re recording video for their vlog on YouTube and possible posting a short post about the whole event on their blog. They take a picture of their drink or fancy meal with Instagram which links it to their Twitter account and then posts to their Tumblr, tags them into Foursquare, and then posts to their Facebook. But if you’re not up on your social media game, people just find you to be strange.
Apparently some employers do a double take if they can’t find your mug on Facebook and a number of psychiatrists consider an absence on Facebook as abnormal. But why is it so important to join the herd of 955 million individuals on Facebook?
“The Internet has become a natural part of life,” psychologist Christopher Moeller told Germany’s Der Taggspiegel. “It’s possible that you get feelings of positive feedback through online friends.” (more…)
How I Feel About Gun Control
I was raised on the edge of a small country town where the land was vast and the amount of dairy cows roaming around almost outnumbered the people. If I walked down my street out of the small opening that gave access to the rows of picture perfect suburban houses, I was greeted with a lonely back road that winded its way through green pastures and an abundance of rich growing crop. Everyone either owned a farm, some land, a dairy or new someone who owned one. Life was of a slower pace, but almost everyone I knew owned a gun.
My grandfather took me out in the back yard once when I was a kid to show me how a rifle works. He reminded me over and over again about how you should always treat any gun like the safety was off and it was loaded. I was never to point it at anyone, and I was told to always be cautious. When I wasn’t spying through the sight and firing the rifle at a distant target, the safety was on and the rifle was unloaded and pointed in a safe direction with my fingers off of the trigger. I even went to the shooting range with my dad where the same rules were reiterated. I was raised by family and around friends who was either in the police department, in the military, or both at one time or another, so guns were just another part of everyday life for me. (more…)
The Shifts and Changes of Thoughts
Sometimes thoughts and ideas change. Sometimes they grow and shift from one way to another; and sometimes they even shift their way back again. The way we think and what we believe comes as a result of a complex construction of your environment, upbringing, experiences, and practically everything else that you come into contact with in the world. As we grow older and build new memories with the various pieces of life that make us who we are, sometimes the thoughts we gathered in order to answer complex questions evolve and modify, and that’s completely okay.
You won’t ever know every single piece of knowledge that has ever been leaked out into the world because you are not every single person on the planet. One person can never walk in everyone shoes because they are just one single person, but you can definitely try your best. Even super geniuses and the most adventurous travelers can’t see or know it all. The flow of knowledge that comes into the world never ceases, and the range of different perspectives never stops accumulating. (more…)
