Christmas-the season of giving or the season of spending?

            What is the first thing that comes to your mind when you think that Christmas is right around the corner? For many of us, we immediately think of presents, our wish lists, and how much shopping we have left to do. The holidays have always been a time of giving, but how much giving is too much? When does the giving of the Holiday season become more materialistic than generous? The Christmas season is becoming less and less about family or traditions and more about the gifts we get and the money we spend. Crazed shoppers skip the sleep on Thanksgiving to fight off others to save money on the years hottest appliances. People spend hundreds of dollars buying for friends and family, and worry more about the money value of the gift than the meaning behind it. The Holiday season becomes more of a competition for who can give the better present than a celebration of religion, family, and loved ones.  

Now more than ever, with the state of our economy, people should be more frugal with their money. So many people are struggling to make ends meet; yet families spend immense amounts of money buying gifts that put them in debt for months. Despite the downward fall of the economy this year, online spending is anticipated to increase by almost 12% from previous years.  While I agree with trying to keep Christmas and other Holidays the same despite financial difficulties, where do we draw the line between attempting to normalize and senseless spending that will cause more problems later? I think that if people focused more on the joy and spirit of the Holiday season than the materialistic aspect, this time of year would be much more joyful.

http://emol.org/emclub/?q=holidayshoppingguide

Downloading is NOT Stealing

Websites and programs that allow music sharing and downloading tend to be thought of as illegal, but why? Yes, stealing is wrong, but downloading is not stealing. Stealing is considered taking something that no one else can now have. When you download songs, it is still accessible for other people. Consider it in relation to a library or video store. They rent out movies, but do not pay per rental to the director of the movie. In fact, most libraries do not even have a charge for movie rentals as long as you have a library card. This is the same as what the internet does for music. Does that make libraries and movie stores illegal?

In regards to the copyrights, it also proves to show that downloading and sharing is not illegal. The copyrights are there for the purpose of showing ownership, not allowing illegal reproduction. This means copyrighted objects are not to be reproduced or used for a profit. These rules are being followed because there is no profit and it is not being reproduced, but instead it is being shared. It is not being sold, it is not being recreated, so what makes it wrong? Why do you think music sharing networks are considered illegal? All they do is allow a circulation of music, not the thievery of it.

Leave that toy on the shelf!

Recent findings in St. Louis discovered that the popular Zhu Zhu hamster pet toy is unsafe. It contains Antimony, which is known to cause cancer, lung and heart problems. It is found on the hair and nose of the hamster. The toy's maker, Cepia LLC claims that this toy is safe for children and has passed all safety tests required. These toys are the latest craze of the holiday season, and in being so, a company named GoodGuide came into play to test these latest toys. The Ceo of the company, Dara O'Rourke, stated to the Associated Press that they have bought 3 of each of this years 30 most popular toys and tested them numerous times. The results founded that Antimony was on 93 parts per million in the hamster's fur and at 106 parts per million on the hamster's nose. The normal amount should be 60 parts per million.

The question here is, why are these toys even on the shelves? If children are prone to these types of serious cancers and heart issues, then why are they offered for sale, when they are aware that they can potentially cause serious health issues?

Think back to when led was a huge health risk across the globe. Parents are more cautious than ever now when it comes to buying gifts for their kids. Stores even sell led testers so that parents can be more aware of what their children are playing with. So do you think it is right that parents have to be so on edge about buying toys for their children? Should these companies be punished more frequnetly? Is there enough testing going on to begin with? What do you think?

Take a look at this article to read more about the dangerous Zhu Zhu...

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091206/ap_on_bi_ge/us_zhu_zhu_pets_safety;_ylt=AjI3wOgrCW4wUlFpL6gIQI_VJRIF;_ylu=X3oDMTJubHRpOXMzBGFzc2V0A2FwLzIwMDkxMjA2L3VzX3podV96aHVfcGV0c19zYWZldHkEY3BvcwMxBHBvcwMyBHNlYwN5bl90b3Bfc3RvcnkEc2xrA2dyb3VwY29udGVuZA--

Just stress, or mental health issues?

According to an article I found, one in three college students is depressed and one in four contemplates suicide. These numbers surprised me. Current college students are under so much stress, especially in ivy league schools where there is so much competition. Freshmen come into college and are used to getting straight A's in high school and being in the top of their class. Then they come to college and get C's and start freaking out. It is definitely a shock to suddenly not get the good grades that you're so used to getting.

The student health director at Washington University in St. Louis says that keeping lines of communication open is very important. Parents and teachers need to talk to the students before academic stress turns into a tragedy. Alan Glass, director of Student Health and Counseling at Washington University, thinks this issue could also be tied to 9/11. After those attacks, students became more globally aware. Thinking about the issues facing our country today can be very stressful, especially the current recession. What are your thoughts on this issue? How do you think it can be solved?

http://news-info.wustl.edu/tips/page/normal/4198.html

Go Green

Over the past decade people have become aware of the fact that the health of the environment is a major problem. Because the environment is not in a good state, there have been many movements to change the way we live. The Green Movement has gained a lot of steam recently, this has led to increased awareness and also alternative environmentally friendly ways of doing normal things. Most people agree that steps need to be taken to improve the health of the planet, because of this the government and many big businesses have started green programs to try and reduce their negative impact on the environment. There are also many individuals who have changed their habits to live a greener life, mostly through the products they buy. There has also been a movement among colleges and universities to be green. UCLA has dorms with solar-heated water. College of the Atlantic in Maine has been carbon neutral since 2007 and gets over 90 percent of the campus’s lighting from compact fluorescents. Arizona State University has more solar panels than any other school in the United States and they also established a School of Sustainability in 2007. Middlebury College has a biomass gasification plant that reduces carbon emissions by 40 percent, and they aim to be carbon neutral by 2016. Oberlin College has the EcoOlympics, which is a four week competition of environmentally themed contests between the dorms. There are over 110 colleges and universities that have built environmentally friendly or efficient buildings. Because students are so proactive about this issue it has motivated many schools to dramatically change their operations on campus to be more environmentally friendly. There are some drawbacks to going green; it can be extremely expensive especially when constructing an environmentally efficient building. What do you think about this issue? Is going green worth the trouble? Should Merrimack try to become more environmentally friendly? If so, what should they do to accomplish this?

Co-Ed Housing in College Dorms

Co-ed housing in college dormitories has gained more and more popularity within the last fifteen years. It used to be that boys and girls were only allowed to live in separate wings or floors of a dormitory. Today, society has come so far as to let boys and girls live together not only on the same floor, but in the same room! Harvard University, Brown University and Clark University are some of the many colleges that are allowing boys and girls to live in the same room together. The residence life staff here at Merrimack College believes that Merrimack will not see co-ed rooms for a VERY long time, do to our Catholic background. Public Universities however, are more likely to see this type of diversity in its dormitories.

What do you think about this idea of boys and girls living together? For those of you who live in ASH Dormitory, you may already live next to a room full of the opposite sex. Those of you in the Deegans, how do you like the way boys and girls are separated by floor? Do you think co-ed housing is a good idea?

Pro-choice

The argument about abortion is one of the most controversial topics discussed today. At the end of the day, what is the right decision or is there a right decision? In 1973, the famous Roe vs. Wade case established the law that allowed women to get an abortion if they so desired. New laws have established a limited time slot to get an abortion of the first trimester. I believe there is an answer to this question.
Pro-choice is the right decision in this case. Arguments against abortion are very valid. It is a harmful procedure that may prevent a woman from ever having children in the future. It is easy to grasp the "killing a life" concept. For those of you who are religious, we know that it is not accepted by the Catholic church. But give it a rest anti-abortion lobbyists, you will never win.
If you choose to not want to get an abortion for whatever reason, it is your right to not ever get one. But can you make that decision for another woman? As Americans, we have rights to our body and what we choose to do with them. After the first trimester, I agree that it is just too late, but before then, a woman should have a choice.
If a law was passed that made it illegal to have an abortion, besides the inevitable riots and fights that would ensue, only harm would become of it. Just like teens and adults will search out illegal drugs despite the law against it, woman will seek out an illegal abortion. But instead of being in a hospital with sterilized equipment and trained professionals, it will be done in someones basement with whatever they could find in their kitchen. This will not only cause the woman to never be able to give birth to a child indefinitely, but also could lead to death in extreme cases. Is this what we want for America? Do we want adults who are not ready to bare a child to go to these measures, or for a stupid teenage girl who got taken advantage of to jump down a flight of stairs in desperation? That is what will happen in this case, and it is wrong for a woman to be reduced to desperation when she could just go to Planned Parenthood.
The same people who lobby for anti-abortion laws, also lobby for the teaching of abstinence, which everyone knows is a lost cause. People will do whatever they want to, and it is wrong to deny teens the right information they need to be safe.
Overall, we know as Americans that we have a freedom to do as we please with our body, with obvious limitations. While every argument against and for abortion is valid, the fact remains that it would be a very unintelligent decision to put a law against abortion. For those of you who stand by your anti-abortion decision, I admire your choices, but it is time for everyone to realize the real meaning and consequence of that choice.