HW #13

http://www.newsday.com/long-island/education/li-schools-plan-new-tests-for-spring-1.2545653

Really? Yet another test? Students on Long Island get tested enough as it is so why add on even more now? I'm sure that most other kids and teenagers attending school right now would agree with me. Nobody likes tests. Adults do not have this same feeling towartds the concept however. Social studies and foreign languages are important and are believed to have been looked at as less important than math and English recently according to local school supervisors of these subjects. One foreign language director is right however when he says that it will be a mess if we leave this decision to replace old tests that were taken away due to the economic situation up to local school districts. There will probably be a lot of controversial debates over whether or not this is a good idea. 62 districts have already signed up for them though which is a large number.

HW #12

http://www.newsday.com/long-island/li-gas-prices-among-highest-in-nation-1.2522922

I find it crazy that gas prices recently just went up another 7.7 cents in a matter of a week for us! It's rediculous that on Long Island we have the highest averages for gasoline nationally! These extreme numbers are preventing some individuals from travelling as they want or need. This is very upsetting especially because it is currently the holiday season. Prices tend to be so high in our region due to our skyrocketing taxes and real estate costs. It was just surveyed that we pay around $3.2 for each gallon of regular gas. For some people to pay this daily just to get from one place to the next really adds up! We have almost reached our highest prices yet since 2008. Hopefully we don't make a new record to even get higher in the years to come!

HW #11

http://www.newsday.com/business/more-vermont-families-seeking-food-assistance-1.2500880

The huge issue of there being just too many people can be seen easily through this article. Here it states how the resources for lower class families are vanishing with the downfall of our economy leaving more and more of them to look to places like this town food shelf. To hear that 100 more families than expected show up in need is just rediculous because that is way too many for a single town itself. What's even sadder is that donations aren't keeping up with these rising numbers. If you ask me there should be so many donations that there are extras, if that is even possible! People living in the same community should want to provide as much as they can to support their fellow neighbors. All in all this writing piece is simply another example to show us that we seriously need to get control of our booming population as Mr. Gessler has repeatedly told us in class!

HW #10

http://www.newsday.com/long-island/report-sea-levels-in-region-could-surge-over-70-years-1.2464859

The thought of this comes across as pretty scary to me even though I don't even live in this region of Long Island. Flooding is a threat because it can quickly and easily spread further across our land. 1 to 41/2 feet is a lot for sea levels to rise no matter how long of a period it is over. Although a report is being sent to advise local and state governments I don't believe that much is going to change as a result. People will continue to damage coastal property and natural resources just as they have been for so long now. It is interesting how this is all related to climate change which is a concept that tons of individuals do not even feel is accurate. I feel that people should really start to get their acts together and take actions to help prevent this terrible thing from happening to our environment.

HW #9

http://www.newsday.com/long-island/nassau/group-gets-58g-to-set-oyster-bay-protection-plan-1.2451497

I was very happy to hear this news and learn that there is a group dedicated to this issue. This article mentioned the fish passage ladder also which we had talked about in class and I found interesting because I know what it is now. If I had read this piece beforehand I wouldn't of had any idea of what that was. The invasive species were also brought up like Mr. Gessler had wanted our blogs to be based on this week. The leader of this group is trying to address the growth of these invasive species in the area. I think it is a great idea what they are doing and strongly support it. It's excellent to hear that meetings are continuously being held as well to further this effort.

HW #8

http://www.newsday.com/news/giant-panda-gives-birth-to-third-cub-in-atlanta-zoo-1.2425586

I was very excited as I read this amazing news since this animal is currently endangered. I never knew that cubs were that tiny either so I was able to learn something new from this article! It is very smart to keep both the mother and baby under watch with a camera at all times. Experts around the area should do their best to keep the two of them safe and have them continue to reproduce healthy offspring. The fact that pandas can sometimes act pregnant when they are really not also fascinated me because not many animals have the ability to do that. I'm looking forward to seeing what they end up naming this new adorable cub!

HW #7

http://www.newsday.com/news/nation/nj-weighs-new-bullying-laws-after-rutgers-suicide-1.2400787

I find the fact that legislators even have to think about this issue sad. This should not be a problem in society. It should be something that no one has to even consider worrying about. However, bullying is currently a strong subject being looked at in many areas because of the new levels it has reached. We are finding ourselves having to deal with some individuals committing suicide as a result of this terrible act. I think that other states should start following New Jersey's example and apply similar laws and outlines to try and fix this extremely upsetting dilema.

HW #6

http://www.newsday.com/long-island/bedbugs-head-lice-make-themselves-at-home-on-li-1.2374563

I find this entire thing very gross and scary. To know that there are creatures living in your bed with you as you sleep, no matter how tiny, is so strange. The fact that there are billions of bugs of different species making a comeback along with bedbugs and head lice is frightening as well. It shows that they are learning to adapt and find new ways in which to better survive. They do not have much of a positive influence for us in any way either. For the longest time I had no idea that these types of insects flourished so much and came up so often. They are being found everywhere too, including some of the top places where you wouldn't want them crawling alongside you. Because they are coming into the country through people from other areas and easily spread, it is hard to find a way to prevent them from entering. We are lucky that they are not truly harmful but just creep individuals out.

HW #5

2 months is a crazy amount of time to be trapped underground without any real resources that people are used to enjoying on a day to day basis. It is a relief to know that 10 out of the 33 stuck below the ground have been saved although the other 23 are still there which is still upsetting. They are doing their best to get back however and are expected to be pulled up within a short amount of time which is excellent news. All of these workers truly had to keep a positive attitude the entire time for the best results which takes a lot of effort im sure. They seemed to keep themselves occuppied for such a long period of time by cutting at the rock to bring back souvenires which was a great idea. Sending up letters stating that they were all safe was another smart idea of theirs. I'm not sure of how they got them to the top from so far down but all that matters is that they did figure out a way somehow. Overall this incident showed the mining complany that they need to modernise and advance their equipment, skills, and techniques for the concern of their workers' lives. It proved the strength of Chile in being able to accomplish a difficult task for its people as well. The entire thing was well planned and organized.

HW #4

http://www.newsday.com/news/mysterious-plum-island-up-for-sale-1.2340785

I agree with those who say that this piece of land should be shared for the public to take account of, rather than sold off to whomever will pay the most for it. It is a great example of life that still remains less urbanized. Individuals can look to this island and observe it as they would like. Numerous people will find it interesting I'm sure, and enjoy studying its different ways. By following this idea the many varieties of species and rare lands can also survive as they have been for quite a lot of years. Their natural development and growth will not be stopped and continue to progress on as it should.

HW #3

http://www.newsday.com/long-island/suffolk/blast-of-early-fall-heat-smashes-records-1.2316021

Just by standing on the sidelines, cheering at our homecoming game this past Saturday I could feel how strong the heat really was and knew that it was not supposed to normally be this warm at the beginning of fall. It was so hot that I was getting sunburned and tan which is crazy! Everyone could feel it and now we have records to prove how extreme it really was. This is a great example showing how the weather is truly changing over the years which may, most likely, be a result of the impact that humans are having on our world. Who knows what degree we will reach another couple of years from now on this same date. It is scary but it should be interesting to see the patterns that are still to come and later compare them to the previous ones.

HW #2

http://www.yournabe.com/articles/2010/09/16/queens/doc4c92c66068639278175770.txt

After hearing about, and reading articles like this one about how hard Queens got hit by the tornado, I felt so relieved that where I live we only got pretty much a regular storm even though we live very close. I hadn’t realized how much was truly destructed and torn down by them. Things seemed to be extremely dangerous and I’m sure it was a lot of work for people such as policemen and firefighters at the time. I’m sure that I would have been very, very scared if I saw all of this happening around me although it also would have been interesting to watch as well. The people living in this area were most likely not ready for anything like that and had been in shock when so many catastrophes were taking place around where their homes had been for so many years. Towards the end of this story it was mentioned how a 60-foot tree was taken up out of the ground by winds. That must have been an amazing sight and the wind must have been incredibly strong. It is surprising that people still seemed to be using transportation almost as if everything were normal too, until a certain point.

HW #1

http://www.newsday.com/news/world/mexico-ups-security-on-bicentennial-attack-concern-1.2289565

I feel that the people of Mexico should not have to be dealing with this concern when they should be having a great time and celebrating on this day like usual. It is a shame that they have to be watching their towns “enjoy” the remembrance of their independence through a television. The partying has been a tradition for years and now it is extremely sad that those living in Mexico have to even cancel all plans out of plain fear. The numbers that have died as a result of drug-related events in this area is terrifying however and something definitely needs to be done about it. Those causing this chaos seem to be doing it through larger attacks on crowds of individuals all at once. Overall, I find the entire thing ridiculous. Those pursuing these acts of terrorism have no right or logical reason to their plans. They are affecting tons around them in a negative way and I am sure making them live in alarm when they really should not have to one bit. The government should work even harder on this issue and do their best to keep security tight and punish or get rid of those causing the huge problems.