Blog #6

Quote Analysis:
“Dad never took his eyes off of Lucas. ‘Yes.’ Then he grabbed Lucas by the throat. I screamed. Had dad gone crazy? Suddenly Lucas pushed his arms through my father’s, prying him off, and then Lucas’s fist slammed into Dads nose” (259-260).
Analysis/Summery:
What is happening when this quote is said is when Bianca’s family and friends realize that Lucas is one of the vampire hunters from the group called The Black Cross. The fight started with Bianca telling a story about how Lucas’s great grandfather had gone to Evernight and was kicked out for dueling over a girl. In reality his great grandfather was also part of The Black Cross and was trying to exterminate the vampires but he was the only student excepted in at the time who was not a vampire. There was no competition for the vampires, so he ran away. This is almost exactly what Lucas had done. Lucas’s difference was that while on his mission he fell in love with a vampire. Also he was responsible for Enrich’s death, because Enrich was stalking one of the human students Lucas thought it was necessary that he was killed before he could kill the human. After the fight with Bianca’s father, mother, Balthazar, and Patrice, Lucas was able to escape out the glass window in the main hall. He ran thought the woods to the main town. He purposely went a specific way so that the vampires would get stuck at the river, running water, one of their fears. Since Bianca came to hunt down the new Lucas who is a vampire hunter she was able to cross the river without a problem. She ran after him without the help from her parents or Mrs. Bethany or Balthazar. Bianca found Lucas in the antique store in town where he had bought her a broach; she knew he would be there. Lucas and Bianca very stand-off-ish at first but then Lucas told her to come with him to get away from Evernight so they could be together. They had to wait for the bus to Boston, since it was raining they waited till the bus pulled into the station and then once it was there they ran for their lives in case the others had caught up. Once they are finally in Boston they realize that neither one of them has any money nor any place they can stay. Bianca realizes that she can pawn her broach that she is wearing at a pawn shop. Once they get what little money they can they find a cheap hotel. This was very awkward because Lucas makes sure that the room has two beds so they don’t have to sleep together. Bianca thinks that this is a smart idea but she doesn’t follow through with sleeping in the other bed. Nothing happens even though they both want something to… In the morning Lucas and Bianca wake up to Lucas’s mother standing in the doorway of the hotel room, she picked the lock. There is when she reveals that Lucas is not a teenage boy but he is 20. After an awkward meeting of Lucas mother, Kate, they all head off to the Black Cross meeting place. Bianca feels very uncomfortable in the place where they meet. She at first thinks that it is just that meeting a group of vampire hunters while you are half vampire is frightening but she looks around and realizes that she is in a church. Then all of the sudden she hears the door behind her open and hear her Father yell “BIANCA!” This is how far I am there is only a few chapters left in the book.

Blog #5

The following is an e-mail that the main character, Bianca, wrote to her boyfriend Lucas.

“I’m not telling you all of this because I expect to get you back. I know I don’t deserve that, not after what I did, an even though you’re not in danger at Evernight, I guess you don’t want to come anywhere near the school ever again.
Mostly I’m writing to ask you, please, if you haven’t already told anyone what you saw here, don’t. Don’t show anyone this e-mail. Keep this secret for me. If the truth got out, my parents and Balthazar and a lot of other students would be in danger, and it would be all my fault. I couldn’t bear it if I were responsible for hurting anybody.
I didn’t tell any of them that you saw me and Erich upon the roof. I did that to keep you safe. You can do that much for me in return, right? That’s all I ask. Maybe it’s more than I deserve, but it’s not about me. It’s about the people who could get hurt.
I also wanted you to know that I do care enough about you to tell you the truth. I’m sorry that I waited until too late. But I hope it means something to you when you understand how I really feel.
I’ll never stop missing you.
Good-bye, Lucas” (Gray 212).
Background:
Bianca wrote this e-mail to Lucas during the month break for Christmas. Christmas break happened to begin the day after Lucas found Bianca and Enrich on the roof. The whole break Bianca was miserable because she didn’t talk to Lucas at all but that’s all she wanted to do. When break was finally over Bianca waited for Lucas to come back but she didn’t think that he would, considering that he realized that the school was full of vampires. While Bianca was helping Raquel with her bags and avoiding Enrich they see Lucas who tries to get away from them but Vic comes up and starts telling stories about his vacation in the Bahamas. There is tension between them but Vic doesn’t notice. A few days later Courtney comes into Patrice and Bianca’s room with the news that Enrich has run away from the school. This is great for Raquel because she doesn’t have to deal with him bothering her anymore. The weird thing is he took all of his school supplies but none of his clothes, according to his room mate. That night while Bianca was sitting in one of the turret staircases watching the road for anything interesting that might happen Lucas comes up behind her, wants to talk about what happened. Bianca insists that they need to be in private to make sure that no one hears their conversation. While they are in the tower that is used for storage of all the records of students Lucas confesses to Bianca that he wanted to run away and never come back or speak to her again but he couldn’t because he needs to be with her so badly. Bianca doesn’t expect this at all but they are back together again and are happier then ever. In the cold storage room they start making out and Lucas tells Bianca that she can bite him again so she does but this time he remembers it. This is really strange but then Bianca realizes that if you bite a human more then once then they can become a vampire too. She vows not to ever bite him again unless he asks her to. They go back to their rooms for the night. The next day though Lucas isn’t anywhere to be found. After classes Vic confronts Bianca and asks her to sneak into the boys rooms so she can convince Lucas to go to the doctor because he is really sick. When Vic leaves the room Lucas explains that his senses are much stronger then he thought was possible and Bianca is worried that he is turning into a vampire. Over the next few days some senses fade and others are still strong and so Bianca decides to test him to see if he likes blood. He drinks some and he thinks that it is disgusting. So Bianca decides that he is not becoming a vampire. They decide that the only way they are going to understand what is going on with both of them is to confront Bianca’s parents. When she tells them they are furious which was not expected. Bianca’s parents decide that they have to bring in Mrs. Bethany, the mean head mistress. She is even more furious. Mrs. Bethany gives them information on what they will need to know so that they can understand their changes. When Mrs. Bethany is done talking Bianca realizes that when she was talking to Lucas it wasn’t as if he had a choice to become a vampire, she was basically telling him he would HAVE to become a vampire which he was not comfortable with.

Passage analysis:
The e-mail to Lucas was to make sure that he doesn’t ruin the school secret. Bianca was really worried that he would tell someone. Luckily that was not the case. She also wanted to make sure that Lucas knew that she did care about him and she couldn’t have told him the secret. I think that there might be some foreshadowing with this e-mail because I think that somehow the e-mail will be read by someone else and the school will be compromised.

Blog #4

Summery/Quote analysis:
What I have found out since my last blog is that the school is for vampires who look young enough to be teenagers so they go to this special school where most of the people there are also vampires. Just recently the school started accepting human students (ie. Lucas, Raquel, Vick). Bianca is a special case though because she is one of the extremely few vampires who were created by two other vampires so she will not turn into a vampire until later in life, or now in the book. Bianca doesn’t realize that she is a vampire until she is at the Autumn Ball. While she is outside she is with Balthazar Lucas comes up because he feels that Bianca and Balthazar are getting too close. Lucas still really likes Bianca though and Balthazar can tell so he leaves them alone. Once they are alone Lucas and Bianca go to the gazebo that they first met at and talk about their problems. They end up making out, almost having sex (in the cold outside) but while Bianca is kissing Lucas’s neck she ends up biting him and he passes out while she drank his blood. Lucas doesn’t know that this happens, he thinks that a crossbar fell and hit him in the neck. So Lucas and Bianca are all good again but Bianca isn’t hanging out with Raquel as much. During one of the trips to town Raquel goes missing. Bianca and her parents go looking for her. When Bianca finds Raquel she is being threatened by Enrich who is a vampire. Raquel has no idea that they are vampires but Bianca scares off Enrich. Raquel has no idea that enrich has also been the person who has been scaring her on the roof ever night. This is where the following quote comes in;
“‘Lucas?’ At first I didn’t understand, but then it hit me. My fangs were still sharp. My mouth was still wet with blood” (Gray 195).
To scare Enrich off the roof Bianca bites him and drinks his blood. She is successful in getting him to go away but she realizes while she is climbing down the roof that Lucas had watched the whole thing and now he knows the schools secret. Lucas is now scared of her and she feels terrible.

Blog #3

Quote Analysis:
“‘Then let me make a suggestion.’ Balthazar hesitated just long enough to let me understand what he was about to do, then folded his hand around mine. “‘Come with me to the autumn Ball’” (Gray 117).
The context of this quote is when Bianca was asked to the Autumn Ball by Balthazar after witnessing Lucas being beat up by Erich, one of the people in the “in crowd”. Erich and Lucas haven’t had a very good friend ship from the start of school. They would childishly pick on each other for no reason. Lucas has gotten into fights with others at the school before Bianca was there but she doesn’t feel safe with someone who could eventually be harmful to her. Bianca is likes Balthazar but she doesn’t want to say yes to him, she is still upset about her date with Lucas where Lucas. He got into a fight with a bunch of drunken guys for no reason. I think that this is foreshadowing to something that will happen at the dance between her and Lucas. Bianca has liked Lucas since she met him after he tackled her when she tried to run away but ever since it’s been a little awkward. I predict that somehow Bianca and Lucas will somehow get into some trouble at the dance but I can’t think of anything that would fit. This I think will be very critical to Bianca’s outcome in the end of this book and the next book in the series.

Blog #2

Dear Bianca,
I am soooooooo excited that you were able to talk to Lucas!!!! I can’t believe that he was spying on the party that you were invited to, even though you were only invited so they could make fun of you. I hope that you and him hit it off well on your FIRST DATE! You will have to tell me all the details, like what you wore, where you were, anything that happens. It took you a while to reply to my letter, you must have a ton of homework… or something you’re not telling me. Do you have a class with your parents? That would be interesting, I think that your parents are cool but I think that it would be really weird to have your parent teaching and grading you. I wonder if you are going to have a school dance that would be cute if Lucas asked you! I hope you don’t get into any trouble, you were lucky that you got away from that party where everyone was drinking before the school patrols found you. I wonder if the fact that you are reading Dracula, a vampire book, in your English/ Language Arts class is going to lead to a vampire showing up at Evernight. I think of anything else that connect with vampires yet. What something that really intrigues me is that Balthazar has some weird thing for you. I can’t believe how rude Courtney was when you were talking to him, she doesn’t have to butt into the conversation just so that all the attention is on her. I wonder what else will happen to you at your new school, keep me undated.

Blog #1 (4th) Letter to main character (from a made up character)

Dear Bianca,
I am very curious about what you life was like before you and your family moved to go to Evernight Academy. Your parents are teachers at the Academy but I still wonder what they were doing before. When I first was introduced to them I felt like they could possibly be Vampires but I don’t think that anymore because another charter seems to be much more mysterious and inhuman. The boy Lucas that you met in the woods when you tried to run away the other morning seems to be very different than any boys that are going to your new school. I don’t understand why he chased after you like that then TACKLED you but at least he is cute. I am a little envious of you because I have always wanted to have a school uniform. It seems like it would be so much easier than having to decide what you want to wear every morning in the 5 minutes you get ready before the bus comes. I think it would be terrible to go to school at Evernight so far. Mostly because your parents are teachers but also because it sounds like it is in the middle of nowhere! And another thing I wouldn’t want to go to a boarding school with gargoyles out my window staring at me. Back to when you were trying to run away…WHY?!? When I was little I always thought about it. But then I thought that being away from my family and home with everything I need in it would be even worse then what was bothering me. Pulse you were only going to leave for the day to cause drama, I think that you would just end up grounded for trying and put in detention for skipping class on the FIRST day of school. Well I have to go back to our old boring school now.
Sincerely, you're BFF

Evernight Reflection

I chose to read the book Evernight because I think that it will be an interesting book in a genre that I am interested in. I went to Barnes & Noble this weekend in search for a book. I asked a kind lady to help me in choosing a book for my English class. I told her that I have read and liked the Twilight and I’d Tell You I Love You but Then I’d Have to Kill You series and so we went searching through the books. The cover states that Evernight is about a girl, Bianca, who goes to Evernight Academy where she meets this boy Lucas, who is handsome and brooding. Lucas and Bianca have a tricky relationship. They find it hard to be without each other, but Bianca will do anything to be with Lucas even though “dark secrets are fated to tear them apart”. Another woman in the store said that she would recommend this book to Twilight fans, so I chose it.

Blog #15

Four Cited for Overcoming the Odds
By Merri Rosenberg

Being a teenager seems hard enough we would think. In this article it shows us how teenagers who have come from poverty or have physical and emotional disabilities overcoming tons of odds. A 13 year old girl Jody had a spine disorder that restricts her to her wheel chair but she still goes to school every day and goes to all the dances and hangs out with her friends like any normal girl. Ailena, a senior, has to juggle her school work with her job because her mother struggled with substance abuse while she was at a young age and she had lived in a homeless shelter. Now she lives with a roommate in an apartment paying her rent and for her clothes and her school supplies. I feel that these people definitely overcame odds of their problems.

Rosenberg, Merri. "Four Cited for Overcoming the Odds." New York Times 11 Jun 2000 8 Mar 2009 .

Blog #14

The Movie: The Notebook

This movie is a tragic love story about Noah and Allie. They were separated by Allie’s mother who believed that Allie could do much better. Allie’s mother then made them leave their summer home, where Allie met Noah, so that Allie could go to school and she could get away from Noah. Noah, who was a construction worker, felt horrible that Allie’s mother made them leave so he wrote to her every day for a year. He never had any replies and eventually he gave up. While they were dating Noah had brought Allie to a old broken down house that he said he would one day buy and fix up, there he promised Allie that he would make specific accommodations for the rebuild of the house. Noah and his friend, Fin, one day heard a radio announcement looking for men to be soldiers, so they end up going to war. During a bombing Fin dies while Noah is with. While Noah was at war Allie was a nurse for the wounded soldiers. When she took care of them she would think to herself that they were all Noah. While Allie was a nurse she met Lon, who was a rich man who was injured in the war. Her parents approved and she thought she was in love again. Lon and Allie eventually became engaged but all she could think about was Noah. In the news paper one day she sees an article about Noah; he had come back from the war and built their dream house. Allie takes a vacation and goes to visit Noah where they reconnect but she feels like she is obligated to go with Lon. After 2 days with Noah her mother comes to visit her and tells her the only reason that she thought that Allie shouldn’t be with Noah was because she had been in love with someone her father had not approved of and they had tried to run away but they were caught and were not able to be together anymore. Allie chooses Noah. Long after this Noah and Allie are in a nursing home because Allie had dementia and Noah had had multiple heart attacks. Noah and Allies kids come and visit to confront their dad about how he should give up on trying to have their mom to remember their past. Noah says that he would never leave Allies side because she is he love and life. I thought this movie was a good example of love because they seem to be truly in love.

Blog #13

Just War — or a Just War
By Jimmy Carter

This article talks about the opinion on the war in Iraq. It clarifies that a just war is only started if all other nonviolent options have been exhausted. I agree with this. Without trying to settle things civilly I don’t think you can really settle anything at all. Also Carter describes how the war in Iraq could be argued not to fit into the definition of a just war because the government didn’t try any other solutions. Also to fit the criteria the violence should be equivalent to the injury suffered. I don’t completely agree with this. I believe in the saying “Do onto others as they would do onto you” but I also believe in the saying “An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind”. There is also debate over if we withdraw our troops from Iraq if there will be a complete democracy that will continue and if some people will feel the need to revolt against us.

Carter, Jimmy. "Just War -- or a Just War." New York Times 09 Mar 2003 8 Mar 2009
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Blog #12

A Survival Imperative for Space colonization
By John Tierney

This article is about how a scientist who is also a teacher at Princeton has predicted how long the earth should survive and how we need to start a colony on mars in the next 46 years to be able to survive the next time something happens to the earth. The whole point of this overly long article is that with science it is weird that we have not colonized on any other worlds since it is a common thing. I don’t believe that anyone can really predict when the earth will end based on this that have supposedly happened in the past. To me this seems to be a lot of work and studying for nothing that will really help what we should be trying to figure out with our own government and the earth at this current moment.

Tierney, John. "A Survival Imperative for Space Colonization." New York Times 17 Jul 2007 8 Mar 2009 .

Blog #11

Forest Loss in Sumatra Becomes a Global Issue
By Peter Gelling

In Sumatra there are projects going on to create palm-oil plantations in the middle of forests. They are deforesting (I didn’t think this was a word) in an area where the Riau Province is currently. A local scientist says that because of the deforesting the carbon monoxide gas that is in the air is getting higher as companies cut down more and more trees to make these palm-oil plantations. Palm-oil is now being used as an alternate in gas so the demand for it is becoming greater so they continue deforest the island. The people of the Riau province used to be able to go shrimp fishing in a nearby river and would earn up to 100 dollars but ever since the deforestation has been going on the shrimp are scarce and they are lucky to earn 5 dollars. It is said that what the deforesters are doing is helping the environment but it ends up that this in Sumatra is 20% of the worlds green house. I think that it is not necessary to cut down all the trees for demand because I am sure that there are others open places that can have a factory or plantation that will be able to produce the palm-oil as well.

Gelling , Peter. "Forest Loss in Sumatra Becomes a Global Issue." New York Times 06 Dec 2007 8 Mar 2009 .

Blog #10

Parents Sue to Allow Religious Holiday Messages in Public Schools
By Emanuella Grinberg

If a young boy at school were to hand you a candy cane shaped pen with a Christmas story on it would you feel that they are offending your religion or trying to convince you to join theirs? I don’t think so but in this article it describes a lawsuit that started by a few actions by students and school officials. A boy Jonathan was this boy handing out the pens, his family thought that he should be able to do this to show his religion to others in the spirit of the schools upcoming holiday party. The pens were taken away by the school officials because it was against the district policy because they didn’t want to seem that they were supporting one religion over the others. According to the article there have been many other cases like Jonathans. I think that the lawsuit is pointless because even though we have freedom of speech it is over the fact that a kid can’t hand out a pens at school. I think that we should be able to freely express our religion but this is just an inconvenience to the school and the families’ time. Last year we almost had a lawsuit against our middle school over a logo on a t shirt that was said to be obscene but now I think it was an interesting experience but some of the people just wanted to get out of class. Overall I think that the lawsuit was not worth it but you should be able to have religious freedom of speech.

Grinberg, Emanuella. "Parents Sue to allow religious holiday messages in public schools." CNN Court TV 27 Dec 2004 4 Mar 2009 .

Blog #9

Bollywood Confidential
By Suketu Mehta

The author of this article, Suketu Mehta, is inspired his whole life by Bollywood movies. He expresses his many likes and dislikes of how Americans interpret the Bollywood movies but also includes that not only people from India have a strange liking to these movies but they have dubbed many versions of movies in different dozens of different languages for places like Spain and France. I think that from what I have heard and the Bollywood light movie we watched in class, Bride & Prejudice, that they seem to be great movies. I really like that they have singing and dancing that seems very random but also in our musicals and Broadway shows we randomly sing as well so I really can’t judge them just for that. Also I like the suspense specifically in Bride & Prejudice because they cannot kiss so I feel like I should be yelling at the screen “KISS ALREADY!”

Mehta, Suketu . "Bollywood Confidential." New York Times 14 Nov 2004 1 Mar 2009

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Blog #8

Emerging Culture of Respect
By an Unknown Author

This Article from the Manila Times in the Philippines explains the view, of the Filipino author, of our culture before and after it was affected by the first commands by our president Barack Obama. The author explains that Obama’s actions of closing down all detention centers and the use or torture were greatly appreciated by human activists across the world. Views in the article make it seem that the fact that our American society had torture and detention centers that we are not to be respected by others countries that do not have these as punishment options. I do agree with that article that we are becoming a more acceptable society in that way. I also think that we were not necessarily a bad society before either. The author comments that our last president George W. Bush made many mistakes and that Barack has said that he will fix all of them. Also the author said that “President Obama should not make the same tragic mistake—for the good of the USA and mankind” (Unknown Author). I agree with this as well. With President Barack Obama I believe that our country is in much better hands.

Author unknown. "Emerging Culture of Respect." Manila Times 24 Jan 2009 25 Feb 2009 .

Blog #7

Accepting Change in Negative Economic Times
By Suzanna de Baca

The author of this article tells us about a book he has read that gave him insight on a new way to see the change of our society and our own personal views that he believes should be positive. The person who writes the book, A Quest to Wholeness, which Baca speaks about, is by Robert Brumet. His ideas are that we should accept the changes we are encountering because it will bring us to a new and better place. Most people believe that change is a bad thing since so many people are losing their jobs and their stocks are not stable as they were told they would be. Brumet wants us to view this as the “glass is half full” vs. the “glass is half empty”. The article says that we should not be pessimistic and resistant to the changes and we should look at them and think that there are many more opportunities for us. I agree with them both, as I grew up whenever I was upset about something my mom would say “Is the glass half full or half empty?” and I would have to tell her something that would make the glass “half full” and so far I think it has helped me get through though things at school and with friends and also I feel like I apply that concept to many things in my everyday life.

Baca , Suzanna de. "Accepting Change in Negative Economic Times." Expert Business Source 05 11 2008 22 Feb 2009 .

Blog #6

When the Bus Driver Cried
By Ed Rowell

At first I wasn’t sure if this article would work for someone seeking hope but once I read the whole thing I finally understood. In his article was about a bus driver who took kinder garden students who didn’t have necessarily the best families to and from school. One afternoon he was pulling into the bus garage and he notice that a little boy, Ryan, was still on the bus because he had fallen asleep and missed him stop. So the bus driver took him home. A few months later, near Halloween, all the kids were dressed up in costumes for the holiday; Ryan was dressed as a vampire. After his last stop the bus driver went home. The next morning was a Saturday and the bus driver was reading the paper, a child had died at the Halloween party that the kids he drove to school had gone to. The child who dies had been trapped under a heavy piece of gymnastic equipment and died. This child who died was Ryan. So the bus driver went to the funeral and shared a moment with Ryan’s mom. He wanted to comfort her in her time of hope that her child was in a better place and that she would be able to live without him. In this period of comforting he mentioned that god also had gone though this experience because he too had lost a son. By Christmas time the bus driver was having a hard time with a stomach ache that wouldn’t go away so he went to the hospital to get it checked out. The doctors believed that he had appendicitis. As the bus driver laid on the gurney he felt a shot of something that took the pain away then saw a woman who looked like Ryan’s mom come in. she ended up being the nurse and she could tell he was in pain. She wanted to thank him for his words of inspiration that helped her though the tough time after Ryan’s death. As she took his blood she said this and he then felt much better about the experience at the funeral, because he had thought he had caused her more pain, but in the end his hope to make her grieving less had worked. Their hope was similar to Rukmani’s because she also lost a son and she turned to god to seek help in her life afterwards.

Rowell, Ed. "When The Bus Driver Cried." Christianity today November/December 1997 18 Feb 2009 .

Blog #5

How India Reconciles Hindu Values and Biotech
By Mishra Pankaj

India’s scientists are looking forward to having a chance to bring together Hindu values and stem cell research. George Bush has restricted any financing from the federal government to help stem cell research since the evangelical Christians from the Republican Party are against it. American scientists are jealous that India’s scientists can have this research since based off their religion, which is what Gandhi was inspired by; they shouldn’t be able to do the research either. If you take a deeper look into the Hindu religion there is 2 stories that wouldn’t support the American scientist’s arguments. One of the stories suggests that a woman took her extra skin and left it with herbs had produced 100 children from it. The other story is about how a pregnant woman fell asleep during a part of a war that her husband was in because she was tired then when the child was older and was fighting during the same part of fighting he was killed because he falters, showing that life begins in the womb. I think that scientists should have the right to research whatever they are comfortable with researching because if they even had the idea to go against their religion they might not be as religious as some. Also not everyone has a religion and if they are scientists they could easily find cures for many things and expand the scientific knowledge if they were not restricted by the government.

Mishra, Pankaj. "How India Reconciles Hindu Values and Biotech." The New York Time 21 Aug 2005 2. 16 Feb 2009 .

Blog #4

Men With Traditional Views on Sex Roles Earn More Money

By Jeanna Bryner

Men in higher roles in companies gain more money if they have gender bias views. Studies show that these men that are bias do have higher income then men who believe that women are equal. Also the bias men have more of a chance to gain a higher position in their company. The stereotypical gender roles come into play in this study. Women still are trying to fulfill the homemaker, wife stereotype and men still are trying to fulfill the stereotype of bringing the money to the family. Unlike what most people think should be happening in this generation, women having more power in large companies and men doing more things at home with the families. I think that women do have the right to be the heads of major companies and men should be at home spending more time at home with their kids. I think our society is getting closer to this but with the recession there is not enough jobs for this to be a highly liked option.

Bryner, Jeanna . "Men With Traditional Views on Sex Roles Earn More Money." U.S. News 22 Sept 2008 1. 10 Feb 2009 .

Blog #3

West African Villagers Stake Their Fortunes on the Future Price of Rice
By Lydia Polgreen

In Senegal the prices of rice and other crops are rising. Local farmers are worried that their crop that they doubled the production of in the last year will not have the great outcome that they had expected. Global farming has not had a good outcome which is what started the worries. Senegal in the previous year had to stop their exports of crops because they didn’t have enough for their own country. This caused riots over the poor nations across the world. There is a good outcome to this though; the farmers in Africa could now make their crops competitive as well. In the end the price of the farming materials was too high and farmers were not able to make their dreams of being rich come true. This culture is very different from ours. We do not depend on our crops to supply the needs for our country. I think it is interesting that we have different cultures still with how close we have gotten with people around the world though something that seems so simple, the internet.

Polgreen, Lydia. "West African Villagers Stake Their Fortunes on the Future Price of Rice." New York Times 25 Jan 2009 1-2. 8 Feb 2009 .

Blog #2

Remote and Struggling, but Still a Bit of America
By Dan Barry

The Eskimo village of Akiachak, in Alaska, has town elders that have written a federal lawsuit demanding that election ballots and referendum questions are in their language of Yup’ik. Many families would like to know who they are voting for and not have to have a translator there. They are worried that they with the high prices of gasoline and heating oil prices they will many more of the peoples will have to move away from their village. In the town store a 12-ounce bag of Lay’s potato chips is $7.39, a 19-ounce can of Progresso beef barley soup is $4.29 and is 20-ounce box of Cheerios is $8.29. The elders of the town are trying to keep their original traditions with the next generation but many of them are more interested in getting iPods then learning about their own history and culture. I think that they should be able to get the voting ballads in Yup’ik since they are so concerned that they have a lawsuit demanding for it. Especially after the scandals that I have heard about where there was possible bias in the translators.

Barry, Dan. "Remote and Struggling but Still a Bit of America." New York Times. 5 October2008. 2 February 2009. <http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/06/us/06land.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1>

Blog #1 3rd Quarter

Snow gamble that ended in tragedy for climbers

By Paul Kelbie and David Smith

In the mountains of the Scottish Highlands a group of men risked their lives by staying their journey climbing the mountain even with the risk of an avalanche. 3 of the men lost their life’s in the avalanche, one man managed to get off the mountain and call for help and then was brought into the hospital with major shoulder injuries. A mountaineer who was familiar to the mountain said, "As the first climber neared the top, a slab of snow, around 300 meters wide, slipped and gave way." 9 climbers total were rescued. The Avalanche Information Service website said that the chance of an avalanche was considerable. In my opinion I don't see how if you know that there is a large possibility that there is an avalanche that you shouldn't be taking the risk to climb the mountain in the first place.

Kelbie, Paul. Smith, David. "Snow gamble that ended in tragedy for climbers." The Observer 25 Jan 2009 1. 2 Feb 2009 .

Blog #15 (Last post-2nd quarter)

Police: Man sold teen daughter into marriage for cash, beer, meat

By Ashley Broughton

http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/01/13/daughter.for.sale/index.html

A man sells his 14 year old daughter to a 18 year old so he could have cash, beer, and meat then he has to nerve to call the police when the 18 year old doesn't comply. Police charged Marcelino de Jesus Martinez, 36, of Greenfield, California with causing a person to be cohabited. The 18 year old, Margarito de Jesus Galindo, of Gonzales, California had an arrangement with Martinez that if he could marry his daughter and give him $16,000, 160 cases of beer, 100 cases of soda, 50 cases of Gatorade, two cases of wine, and six cases of meat. They were from the Mexican state of Oaxaca where it is said to be fair but the authorities of California said "In California, it's against the law." The girl had supposedly willingly moved in with Galindo, but when he didn't pay the father he wanted the authorities to bring her back. The state of California's law states that a 16 year old, with parental consent, can marry an 18 year old but the girl is 2 years short of this law. The girl was reported as a missing child because she couldn't be found. She was actually with Galindo in another city in California on a trip. Once they came back they were questioned by police. Police discovered that they had not been officially married but they had engaged in sexual actions and they had left before the agreement between Martinez and Galindo were ever official.

Reading Minute Blog #14

Police to search home, river for Kansas boy missing since 1999

By CNN

Authorities are planning to investigating a house Wednesday to continue a investigation for a boy who disappeared in 1999. This boy is named Adam Herrman, his biological name is Irvin Groeninger III. Adam was 11 when he went missing from his home in Towanda, a city close to Wichita Kansas. He was living with his foster parents Doug and Valerie Herrman. Valerie thinks that he run away because she had spanked him with a belt. The couple never reported Adam missing because they believed that he had run away to his biological parents, who had relinquished their rights as parents about 2 decades ago in Adams best interest. Doug and Valerie also adopted Adams 2 siblings. Adams biological father, Irvin Groeninger, said that "I thought what I was doing for them was in the best interest of the children, and evidently it wasn't" Adams sister, Tiffany Broadfoot, said the last time she saw him was at a birthday party. I think that this is really unfortunate for the children because they don't deserve to be in this situation and since Adam was missing since 1999 he is most likely dead.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/01/07/kansas.boy.missing/index.html