marshablank@sbcglobal.net

In the gulf of Mexico last week has been a major set back to alot of things. It happened in the underwater offshore drilling and has been Americas biggest crisis. It is harming not only innocent animal life but also a bill that the president is trying to produce to have more offshore drilling. In the offshore supply there is 9 million pounds of oil and coming out fast. They thought that only about 5,000 punds would come out per day but it is actually 25,000. If they were to let it all leak out for the whole time it would take it would be up to 360 days, almost a full year. Theyre plan is to stop the leak and hopefully no explosions will occur. It is hard because the leak is 5,000 feet below the surface and its not a tiny hole. Considering that it is 50 feet from sure, as of last night the oil hit land. They are worried about marine life as well. The animals, anywhere from the birds to the fish will be affected. Hopefully they stay under enough to not be affected. It will be hard to swim through 100 miles though. I hope that the crisis is fixed soon because this is very devistating.

In the news paper today and yesterday people commented their opinions and thoughts on the topic about Rancho Cotate High School. I attend Rancho Cotate and I came here my junior your and before that I transferred from St. Vincent High School in Petaluma. You never fully know what a school is like and what the teachers are like until you go there. My two years at St Vincent were probably the most challenging years for me.  The way the kids acted and how they were brought up and taught to act was in my opinion ridiculous.  It was all about who had the nicest clothes and who had the nicest cars. You had to buy your way into popularity.  Looking at St Vincent’s you would instantly think private school, good kids. All the kids there smoked weed, drank, did everything you accuse Rancho students of doing, though know one ever notices that.

            When I transferred to Rancho I was so relieved because there was so many more kids and I wasn’t being judged by what I drove and who I hung out with. I gained real friends that liked me for who I am. You have your group of friends and that is who you stay with, and it doesn’t matter to anyone. People have their own lives. The kids you see that are “bad kids” are the kids you chose to see. At Rancho we have every type of different students. You have your jocks, you have your band kids, and you have your nerds. You have every kind of group, it’s who you chose to associate with and be friends with.  Your kids chose to be friends with who they want to be friends with and no matter where you send them. You can blame rancho for why kids are the way they are but people should start looking at the real reason, then just looking for someone to blame. Every school will have your “gangsters” or the “promiscuous” girls; again it’s all going to be who you associate with.

            People see a group of kids and think that that is how the whole school is. Every high school has every single kind of kid at that school, yet everyone just sees Ranchos qualities for it. Everyone that judges Rancho should walk through it, talk with every group of kids and see every reaction to the school and see who hangs with whom. Saying that everyone that goes to rancho will not attend college is an assumption not a fact. I already planned out my life and I know what I want to do and that is attending college. I do have friends that plan to not go to college (which is their personal choice) but there are also students here that have been accepted into really great schools. Unless you attend Rancho and see what it’s like here should keep what you don’t factually know to yourself

            Rancho has been hit very hard with budget cuts as well. We have no money to buy any more books or computers to help us further our education. Instead of helping and donating money to our school, people would rather complain about the situation. Help us out and stop judging. The amount of students that go here is a large number and sometimes there isn’t enough room for everyone. Give our administration a little bit of slack because they are doing the best that they can and working as much as possible. Most of our teachers are losing their jobs and have no idea what they are going to do but I have never worried about them not doing their job and they still come everyday with a smile on there face. Dealing with thirty plus kids a period for five periods and putting a smile on their face is a big deal yet again that was over looked.

            It’s everyone’s personal opinion on the school but rancho does have positive aspects. They have their blood drives, their dances, their games, and their rallies. We have our honor students, and we have our struggling students. It’s our choice to go to Rancho and I personally like it. I will graduate from Rancho and I will do fine in my life. I hope that the close minded people in this world will see how good Rancho can be but if not it’s ok. Just remember that every school has their good and bad students. You get to chose which one you want to be.

One of the most popular artists of today is the new Lady Gaga who came from new york city. Everyone loves her for her crazy outfits and her spontatnious personality. She has wowed the world with her spunk. I would have no problem saying that she is definatly my favorite singer and I really enjoy her music. She has had alot of problems with rumors in the past of whether she is a hermaphrodite or not, but not being convinced of either or, I believe she is just lady gaga and it does not matter. People rather see the bad in people then the good and I have come to believe that, and that is what they are doing to her. People need to look at the good in her, like how her music is and what she is doing, not how she was born and punish her for something she cannot control if it is true. I say look at her. She wears skin tight clothes that are close to nothing and not afraid to show off her body.

In her newest video she is seen wearing underwear and a bra. Its just something that is hard to believe. I say people get over it.

One of the most well known acts out against racism was the Montgomery bus boycott. Although it is very well known, it is not known so much as the act than the indivual. The boycott was a year long process that was against the Montgomery bus’ making African Americans sit in the back and or give up their seat for white people. The Montgomery bus boycott became so big because Rosa Parks, an African American woman, refused to remove herself from her seat for a white American to sit down instead. She believed everyone; woman, men, blacks, and whites were all equal and it was time for her to finally take a stand. She was arrested on December 1, 1995, a day that would later change history drastically.

            Through the month of December in 1995, the African American people began to strike back in Montgomery. They protested by riding bikes, walking, and car pooling. There point got across to everyone, not only in Montgomery but across the United States.

            African Americans were once slaves and from then to now is a drastic change. Blacks and whites did not share anything. Whether it was the water fountains to the seats. Everyone was treated different because of the color of their skin. Because Rosa Parks stood up for something she believed in, she was convicted and lost her case and was charged with violating segregating seating laws.

            The next event that than happened in response to Rosa Parks arrest was Martin Luther King making a speech out front of the Holt Street Church in front of 7,000 African Americans. Martin Luther King’s speech made an even bigger impact in both positive and negative ways. The positive aspect was people finally strating to open their eyes to the segregation going on in the country. Another event that happened in 1957 is the little rock nine which help integrate all the white high school.  Although the schools were intenerated it wasn’t until Ruby Bridges attended an all white school being the first African American to do so which took place in 1960. In 1961 John F Kennedy promised to end racial discrimination in his inaugural address. In return for his civil act John F Kennedy is assonated in 1963. Americans were not ready for everyone to be equal. Not even the president could say what he believed.

            In the same year as the assignation of John F Kennedy, Martin Luther King gave his “I have a dream” speech in Washington DC. In his speech he said something that is very memorable “Free at last.” Martin Luther King was another American assonated for doing something he believed in. Martin Luther King was killed in 1968.

            I would consider everyone that lives in this era to be very lucky. They live in the time that these people have died for and many people take that for granted. I couldn’t believe segregating someone because of the color of their skin. To me everyone is equal. I believe you should be judged for who you are and how you act, not by what color pigments you have in your skin. I believe that you should be judged by who you are and how you act. It makes me wonder why people believe it is ok to treat someone different then someone else. On the inside we are all the same. It takes a weak person to instantly judge someone, it takes a strong person to put your outer differences aside and make friends.

            But we should not just blame all white Americans. They are not the only people that judge. It goes both ways.

United States is not only the richest country in the world but it also is home to the fattest. America has grown over the years and the number of obesse people is sky rocketing. If you were to ask anyone from out of the country they would all have to agree on how amazed they are by all the over weight people here. We should all open our eyes and realize that the country is mostly over weight people and most of the people that are in shape is because they are kids and their metabolism allow them to eat the way they do. Even the obesity of young kids has increased because of what they eat. Giving a child a soda every day or every other day is the wrong choice completely. The thing that is so bad about soda is the high fructose corn syrup that comes in soda. Soda is the most commonly food that is put into the body. It is so common because the taste is so good and it is easiest. Soda is everywhere and anywhere you eat, including friend’s, families, and even your own house have them availible. It is estimated that by cutting out soda for a year women commonly lose ten pounds and men commonly lose almost twenty.

Who would ever think that while going to the doctor’s office to get acne medicine would be effecting HIV. What is happening is the acne medicine is effectively targeting infected immune cells in which HIV lies dormant and prevents them from reactivating and replicating. People are getting HIV from their doctor and have no idea that it is happening. They are blind sided in this procedure and once they have it there is no getting rid of it. I feel as though science is back tracking and not moving foward. They think they find a solution when really they are creating a bigger problem. The HIV that people receive is a low “dose” of it but either way they are infected with the disease. It makes you wonder why they weren’t testing to see the reprecoptions of taking the drug. If people would have known that by taking the drug there would have been a chance they would have gotten the disease, I am sure they would have gone with a different drug or not taken the drug all together. I am glad to hear that more acne medicines with out the disease in it are being created. They need to get that drug out of the hands of people and find a replacement.

Right when you thought the world couldn’t get anymore messed up, Tilikum the killer whale from sea world killed his trainer on February 24, 2010. Tilikum was 12,000 pounds and twelve feet long, as long as a school bus. Dawn Brancheau was killed doing what she loved and it was unfortunate that she died. Tilikum was said to have killed two other people other than her but I believe that he just thought they were toys. What do you expect, killer is in their name. I think that once the whale killed one person it should have stopped doing shows, it had a bad reputation and she was risking her life getting into the water with them. You have to wonder what was going through her mind when that happened.

She knows these whales better then anyone at sea world and that’s what you have to think about. She was one of their most experienced trainers and had been working there for years. She was 40 years old when she died and Tilikum is the biggest whale at that sea world park. Tilikum was said to be acting up that day and not really responding to his trainers. I think right then they should have noticed or known there was something wrong. They lost a very important person and I feel very sorry for her family. RIP

Lately the United States has been in and is going through a huge debt settlement that is ruining a lot of lives. People believe that if they have money its there to spend, and there is really no reason to save it and keep it. Many people have lost there jobs and businesses are closing. What is happening to the United States? The richest country is trillions of dollars in debt because of something we figured would always be there.

Recently an hundred year old woman died and she was a peaceful, kind, loving old lady. She lived alone in a little cottage, and kept to herself. A secret that no one knew is that she had invested in three stocks bought at sixty dollars each and with those stocks they got up to be worth at seven million dollars. She did not spend nor tell anyone about the money. She just kept it to herself and planned to donate it once she died.

I don’t know anyone now days that would be that generous and like I said already if anyone were to have that money they would want to show it off with a big house or fancy car. The thought of donating all that money would never cross most Americans minds.

What is autism? Autism is a brain development disorder characterized by impaired social interaction and communication, and by restricted and repetitive behavior. They look like normal kids, teens, and adults but really they are not normal. They have this outlook almost like everyone is out to get them and the world hates them. Depending on how extreme they have it, they can be very unsocial and even not be able to talk. It is a disorder that involves communication disorders and short attention span and inability to treat others as people. There are an estimated one and a half million Americans affected by this disorder and the number continues to grow. It is estimated that one in every one hundred and fifty children are diagnosed with autism. Austism is diagnosed at a young age, ranging at about three, and is a disorder that the children do not grow out of. It can range from mild or severe. Some kids, you are unable to tell have it, some need special help because of it. Recent studies have stated that boys are more susceptible than girls to developing autism. In the US one out of ninety four boys are suspected of being on the “spectrum”. Although boys are more likely to have the disease, it is said that girls are usually the ones that get a more severe case. Autism is one of the most common diseases yet they still do not know what causes autism. In some cases people believe that their child developed it when they hit their head, others say they were just born with it. It is a hard thing to say. I have known two different people that have been affected by the disorder. One is a friends brother and one is a kid that I baby sit for.  The young boy that I baby sit for has a severe case of autism. He wants to say his words but doesn’t know how. He is a very smiley little boy and loves to play. The television is a big part of his day because it’s so hard for his mom to keep him entertained for a long period of time. He has a very short attention span. My friends brother does not have that severe of a case but you can defiantly tell he does have autism. He does not like to make eye contact with anyone and gets really antsy when he has to talk face to face with you. Instead of walking into a room and talking to you he would rather stand outside the room and talk to u there. Its more comforting being on the other side of the wall. He fell out of a tree when he was younger and they think that is what happened to him, but they aren’t positive. Chris is a really smart kid and can tell you anything about baseball. One of the things that happens when you have autism is you can be really good at something or no everything about that topic. Chris’ thing is baseball. He can tell you about the first game ever played all the way to the most recent. He will tell you who played, who won, how many outs, how many pitches, everything. With other kids the can be good at surfing or school. It all depends on what gets their interest the most. Autism, although it can be an unfortunate thing to have, it is not as bad. The people that are affected by the disorder would love to be normal but if you ask their families if they could change them would they, they would never. It makes them who they are.

Scientists at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have developed a new model of  skin cancer based on the knowledge that a common cancer related molecule called Src kinase is activated in human skin cancer samples. Although i am happy that people are finally starting to get close to cancers around the body, I do feel as though they kind of excite everyone and give everyone hope just to be let down. Are they more knowledgeable about cancer then they were five years ago, definatly but it seems as though it is just never enough. I do not know much about skin cancer however i do know that it is one of the ones that is easiest to see and remove. When are they just going to find a cure, and once you get rid of it and they find a cure, what will the steps of getting rid of it be? Will it be painful and unbareable? And will it stay away for good? Its just like when people beat cancer, they never know when it will come back.