Thursday, March 15, 2012

2/28/12

The NFL is looking to advance technologically. Starting next year, the NFL will be implementing some new devices that will further advance the game. The refs will have handheld tablets that will make it much easier for them to make the right call. At the goal line, there will be a laser straight across that will let you know when the ball crosses the plane and it is a touchdown. Coaches will also have handheld tablets that will replace the laminate pieces of paper that coaches currently have on the sideline. This will make it much eaiser for coaches to scroll throgh the plays for thier players.

People are suggesting that it will make the game better by making it go by quicker. All these advances that I mentioned in the previous paragraph will make the game go by faster and get the calls more effient. This will make the game have a lot more of fair calls, therefore causing no controversy.

The way that things were done in the pass were not really advanced. The coaches had laminate play sheets and a headset that they would speak into to let the offensive captain know the play, having them relay the message to the players. The refs had to go to a special booth to review a play and make sure they got the call right and the same thing for whent they were unsure if the ball passed to goal line or not.

This will speed up the game because the calls will come a lot faster. They can get all he right calls in much a shorter time compared to the time it takes during a challang, for example,today. Also, the message from the coaches through their headset will go to each player. Therefore, there are no need for huddles and that will make make the game go by quicker.

Of course they should make these changes. The game is way behind technologically and by making these changes, they will be ahead of everyone else.

Part 2

At first, the NFL started off using hand signals to give signs to players that would stand for a certain play. Once they found out that this was very inefficient and that the signs could be picked up on quite easily, they started to using the laminate playcards and having the offensive captain run over to the sideline and get the play, and then relay it to the huddle. After that didn't work, they moved on to the laminate play cards, and the headset. The offensive captain would have a speaker in their helmet and then the coach would talk through his headset, that would relay into the captains helmet. Then the captain would relay that to the huddle and run the play. Now, they have moved on to the technological advances that this article talks about.

3/12/11

Some of the United States military services are starting to introduce random breath tests of the troops on duty. This applies particularly to the Navy and Marines. The random tests are a part of a broader health and safety push. Officials say that the push will be a tough sell with weary troops that are returning after a decade long war. This program is being installed to identify troops that need counseling or treatment. For the ones that test postivily for a high blood alcohol level or for illegal substances will not be allowed to go on duty but they will not be penalized on their permant record. Armed Forces such as the Army or Air Force do not have such a policy intact.

They are starting these tests because they are coming out of a decade long war and the long term effects that such a thing could have on someone is troubling. By installing such a program, you can see what troops need help and what ones are having trouble coping with what they just went through.

Some people are against this because such troops have been away for years on end and to just al of a sudden tell them that they can't enjoy themselves by drinking is somewhat wrong. They have fought for our country, haven't seen their families in over a decade, and want to celebrate returning home. They should be able to.

In my opinion, I think these tests are good and bad. They are bad because these troops are grown men and should be able to do what they want after being in combat for ten or so years. On the other hand, you don't want your troops getting out of hand. And by doing these tests, you can see who really needs help because of either what they did in combat or for their addiciton.

Part 2

It turns out that the number of Army soliders enrolled in treatment programs for drugs and/or alcohol has doubled since 2003. This is a sign of the growing stress on soliders after the war in Iraq and Afganhistan. Soliders diagnosed with alcohol abuse in 2003 was 6.1 per 1000 soliders. This has increased to nearly 11.4 per 1000 soliders. The Navy, Air Force, Marines, and Army have all noticed that this is do to stress in combat.

Monday, March 5, 2012

3/5/12

According to the article, a bounty, in terms of the NFL is paying players fees to target opponets for injury. In other words, the coaches and possibly some of the players are willing to pay another team memeber if they can knock an opposing player, probably a game changer, out of the game for good, in order to give their teams an advantage on the field and hopefully go on to win the game.

No, it is not "ok" for coaches and players to put out bounties. To put money down for someone to knock a player out of the game is purely disgusting. How could someone do that? Just think of it this way, if someone were to try and knock someone out of the game, and they succeed, then they could end someones career, injuring a player further than they wanted to. It is just a dirty way to play the game.

In my opinion, they would do it so that they could have a better chance at winning. If you can hurt a key player on the other team so bad that they can't come back into the game, then you automatically have a better chance at winning. The player isn't there to make as much of an impact as they normally would, therefore, putting the opposing team in a bad situation while, you can then, pick out that weakness to give your team a better chance to win.

Yes. They should get in trouble. In my opinoin, I think that the coach should be suspended for a minimum of 8 games. The fact that they coach knows that such a thing was going on and did nothing about it is horrid. Secondly, I think that the players should have to pay back the money and pay for the medical bills of the players that they hurt. That may sound a bit harsh, but that is just my opinion.

A type of bounty system happend in the NBA with the Boston Celtics. There was a player by the name of Len Elmore. He loved to takes charges. Cedric Maxwell and other Boston Celtic players had a bounty going on that if he were to take a charge against them, then they would step on his chest. The payment was only $10 but Mexwell says that "it was enough."

Surprisingly, the Celtics did not get in trouble. Actually, this didn't come out until about a day ago when all the news about the New Oreleans Saints. Maxwell said it as a defense to the Saints in a way that it happend in every sport. That it is something that just happens and you can't help it. It is too late to punish them now. This happend from 1977-1988.

Monday, February 13, 2012

2/13/12

The article is about the uprising of e-books and how they are starting to take over instead of buying the traditional, paperback book. These aren't just taking over the book business just because of the simple fact that they are easier due to the fact that alomst everyone has a smart phone, it is because, unlike real books, these e-books have other features that are more interative with the user. For example, some of the e-books have short movies, trivia, photo albums, ect. that further help the reader understand and help them interact with the book. Since, most readers really do like these features, the sales of e-books are sky-rocketing while sales of the classic book are on a downward spiral.

These books have come along with the uprising of smart phones and tablets. With people all over the world buying and using smart phones or tablets, they then can do many more things that they couldn't do before. For example, with these inventions, you can now carry multiple books with you without even having them physically on you. You can just download them to your phone and people really enjoy that. Also, since, these e-books are much more user friendly, people would rather spend the $9.99 on a book like this than spend that money on a regular book that doesn't have the fun, interactive features.

Although people are still buying tradtional books, no AS MANY people are. Their sales aren't the same. People don't want them as much. They want the extra stuff that traditional books don't have. But, like I said before, although their sales are hurting, they aren't at rock bottom....yet!

The way an e-book works exactly is that you go right into your app marketplace on your smart phone or tablet, you then find a book that your would like to download. From there, you spend the $9.99 or so on your book. Once it downloads, you can read it straight from your phone. The book may come with extras that are fun for the reader to use and they may help them understand the text even more. Not only, do they have the fun games and such, there are some other cool things. I know that with my phone, when I downloada book, I can highlight and underlince certain words or phrases that I find important. Also, if I don't know what a word means, I can highlight and click the word, and then I will be taken to the definition of the word so that I can go on and finish reading.

Is this smart? Of course. With the amount of people that are using such smart products, it would be dumb if they did not produce such a thing. Why would people go through the hassel of going to a bookstore and rent a book that doesn't have the extas you want. And you can't even highlight the text because you have to return it? In the long run, it is just not worth it.

Monday, February 6, 2012

2/6/12

Part 1
The article is somewhat depressing considering the fact that a school district in a small t0wn about 150 miles outside of San Antonio is considering shutting down their high school sports programs all together. The district in Texas is thinking about this because they hope that by cutting the sports program as a whole, it will save enough money in the long run to keep the struggling schools open and keep the small town alive. To some students, this is disappointing due to the fact that they play many sports. One student said that he and his friends were really disappointed when they heard that there would be no more tennis, baseball, and track since they participate in all three of those. Although the state did say that they would re-consider the decision if they were to see improvements in students test scores across the district.

In my opinion, I don' think that this is the right decision. There are other things that the district can do so that they can keep their sports alive and also have students with higher test score. For example, the district can do what we do here at Pine Ridge. They can put in a system where if a
students is ineligiable if they don't have a passing grade in all of their classes and they student may not play until they raise their grades so that they are passing. That way, if the student really has a passion for the sport, then they will work hard to get their grades up and get back on the field.

Sports are important to schools. They bring in revenue. Since the tickets cost money and items at the consession stand do also. Although this may not be a lot of money, it is still a source of revenue and can help the school in some way. Also, if they were to put in a "pay to play" system like we have here where it is $75 to play your first sport and then a second sport is $25. That way, the school is making money that way too.

Honestly, I think that the schools have such a high truancy rate due to the fact that students grades aren't very high. If the grades were better, you would probably see an increase in school attendance and then from there, see the test scores increase, and then from there, the sports programs stay intact.

Part 2
Here at Pine Ridge, we are not so much as to cutting sport programs as a whole, we are more or less keeping as many as we can active, but having them draw in more revenue with the whole "pay to play" program that I had mentioned earlier. By doing this, we make more money, and students get to play the sport they love. Also, we the rule that you must have a passing grade to be able to participate. If a student is not passing, then they must go to tutoring, raise their grades, and then they can go back to playing the sport.

Instead of cutting out sports, you can cut certain clubs that a lot of people don't participate in. By doing this, you save students and teachers their time and money so that more money can go towards things that students actually participate in. I mean really, how many people actually join and participate in the Earth First Club? If we were to cut those kinds of programs, then money would be saved.

I would apprach it like I just said. By cutting other things that a lot of students aren't active in. So that they fields that the school has put in, don't go to waste and the real clubs/sports that are really a waste and are actually costing the school money to keep, would be cut and have that money go towards more important programs.

Monday, January 30, 2012

1/30/12

In exactly six days, it is the biggest sporting event of the year, the Superbowl, where the New York Giants will square off against the New England Patriots in a rematch of Superbowl 42. The hype around this game is tremendous and will have people tuning in from all around the world for the much anticipated rematch. Although, the game brings much excitment to not only the fans of the teams playing, but NFL fans in general, there are 10 things that are actually not so good about the big game, I know hard to believe.

The first reason is that tickets are so hard to get. It is nearly impossible to obtain a ticket to this event and if you jsut so happen to find a ticket, it may cost you an arm and a leg. Well not really, but you may have to take out another morgage on your home. That was a lie too. But it will cost you a great amount of money to sit and watch a game where you would be closer to the action if you were to just watch it on your living room couch.

Companies that buy ads during commerical time for the Superbowl, pay a lot of money for those measly 30 seconds. So what do they do? They raise their stock prices just because of they hype. For example, Doritos had a huge deal of success last year with their commercials so, there is a lot of hype of what they will do this year, and because of that, they can raise their stock prices.

Criminals love this event. It may be the best day of the year for them. They scam you by scalping fake tickets are a rediculous amount of money and then once the tickets are off their hands, they are no where to be found, and you are stuck outside the stadium with $2,500 less in your pocket.

Office pools have played a huge part in Superbowl week. Once the two participants are decided, office pools take place along with office bets and then it is estimated that there are at least a one billion dollar loss in productivity.

A lot of money is lost also. It is estimated that a total of 10 billion dollars are lost because of bets people bet such as "How many times will Peyton Manning be metioned?" or "Will Tom Brady throw for 280 yards?" Silly bets such as these are too unpreditable and that is why so much money is lost every year. But plenty of people do win also but they do not outweight the losers of the bets.

The ads in the game are what most people talk about. Not the game winning plays or whatever else happend in the game. More people car about the ads and just tune in for the ads.

The stadium in which the big game takes place is a huge target for terrorist attacks. With all the people that are not only in attendce but also watch the game at home, it is a prime target for terrorits and security is always on high alert during an event such as the Superbowl.

During this time, people throw parties and such. It is reported that at least 15% of Americans throw or attend parties for the big game. Also, it is reported that the following Monday is the biggest day to call in sick to work. Therefore, in some peoples' opinion, the game should be on that Saturday, so the drunks have time to recover on Sunday and will be ready for work on Monday.

Such an event, would be fantastic for the local economy, you would think. Wrong actually. For the bid, it takes a lot of upgrades and a lot of spending to make your city the most appealing for the big game. With all the money spent, you may win the bid and get the game in your city, but between all the hotels, tickets, and ect. you really just make back the money you spent to get the game in your city. So, it evens out, not so worth it.

If your team is in the Superbowl, it can be stressful. Actually, it is reported that a Superbowl loss had triggered an increase in heart attacks. So if your team is in the big game, just relax and remember, it is not a life or death situation, it is just game and has no effect on your life.

While reading this article, I learned that although the Superbowl may seem like a great event for the economy, it actually isn't and that all the money that a city spends to host the big game, they just make back to even out a zero. Also, about the heart attacks. At first glance I thought that it was joke or just a figure of speech. In all reality, it is true. Some people with their teams having a big play or loseing because of a big play, actually do sometimes go into cardiac arrest.

According to the article, a whopping 170 million people will tune into the game with a percentage of them just tuning in to the the commercials.

In my opinion, I think it is smart to advertise. You get a lot of people to see your product. But the cost is what is the downside. The price for you to show your product for 30 seconds is just insane, but if you do a good job, and make the people laugh at your commerical, your name will get out, your products will be purchased, and then in the end, it will all be worth it.

According to Stubhub, one ticket to the big game is going to cost you anywhere from $2,500 to $25,000 just to sit and watch a sport that has taken places every Sunday for the past 6 months. In a sense, it is rediculious but it is the Superbowl. The biggest sporting event of the year and they know with prices like that, people will buy in, ecpecially if they are a fan of one of the teams that are playing in the game.

Monday, December 5, 2011

12/5/11

This article is about college students picking easier majors even though they might lose out on some money. The article tells the story of a girl whose parents and guidence counslor thought that their student should major in engineering when she were to go to college. So, she listened and decided to major in engineering. She would later drop out due to the rigorous courses and low grades that she was getting. Then after doing some research, she found out that not many students graduate from college who have that major and then saw that people who major in human relations have a higher graduation percentage but don't make as much money. In the end, she saw that it was worth switching majors and after that, graduated college and has been working in human relations.

People are getting lesser degrees because they realize that their high school didn't really prepare them for the next level. Or maybe they picked the wrong major and they realize that if they were to switch majors then, they don't need a degree as big and can get a job in the real world with a lesser degree. This will eventually means that people will not need to go to college to get a well paying job. So, college will be almost out of the question.

They say that salaries are in the better jobs versus ones that graduates are taking are beacuse, when graduates just get out of college, they go right into the field they desire but they maybe aren't at the level that they want to and therefore must wait, work hard and hope for a promotion. When if people are just taking a job that they can get, they may not have to work as hard and might go right into a higher level with a high salary.

In my opinion, I still think that people should go to college and get a degree. You never know when it would really help you. And before going to college, really think about what you want to major in. Because, you don't want to major in one thing, realize it is not the right thing for you, and switch majors and that college not have the best program for that major.