From wood to Composite

Did you know that hockey sticks can cost around $300? Read more to find out why.

http://www.us.all.biz/img/us/catalog/80527.jpeg

Hockey is a sport that has changed over the years, before the hockey sticks were made in wood and now they are made in really complex composite type material. Bleacher Report, a sports news site, states in their article: “The Evolution of hockey” that the game of hockey is no where close to what is was back in the days. The source is very reliable because Bleacher Report has been one of the most growing sports companies since 2011. They cover all sports and have been very good for keeping up on all the latest news.

Q: How has hockey changed?

A: It has changed in so many ways, the sticks, players before played with heavy lumbers, now they play with composite sticks which makes the puck drive a lot harder. Also, compared to the 80’s and 90’s the players are bigger, faster, stronger and a lot more skilled than what they were.

Q: How do the best players in the days stack up against today’s best players?

A: I don’t think that anyone in today’s NHL is able to single handedly dominate as much as Wayne Gretzky, Maurice Richard and others. Knowing that back in the days, the players did not have the luxury to train as much as hockey players do today. Players are a lot more equal these days than ever before,  which makes it a lot harder for one player to dominate the game alone.

Q: Is winning the stanley cup these day pure luck or not?

A: Not totally but by showing how many teams won back to back Stanley Cup lately, it shows how slim your chances are. And know championship teams are the balanced teams that play as a team compared to before where 1 superstar could lead you to the Stanley Cup.

I think that this question shows how everything must evolve over time. How everything since the late 70’s have changed and you can even see the difference in the game of hockey. I think that the fact that the players have access to a lot better workouts and that they can get a lot stronger during the offseason plays a big part in how hockey has been evolving. Without taking out the fact that the equipment has changed to a point no one thought it would be. 

In my next blog post will have access to information like: Are the fans following more hockey now than before, and how the NHL companies have been spending on their business.

Technology Making an Impact

~Technology has been a huge factor of shaping the lifestyles throughout the world.~

SOURCE: www.brockpress.com

-“The ancient people did not get the chance to learn in interactive classrooms with projectors and even 3D images. Computers, powerpoint presentations and also the internet technology has brought about teaching in a very different dimension”.

What I found interesting about this section in the article is that it’s very much true.  According to tnark.org, the New Technology Organization which researches the impact of technology, education has been more computer dominated. A lot of classrooms have personal computers for each student to work on, websites where you can find all of the things you need to know about a class created by teachers, and papers that are getting typed instead of hand written. Technology has given students many more opportunities to learn in different ways. This is very important to shaping society because kids are now used to technology in their younger lives, and it will only improve as they get older

-” I do not believe we could go as far to say that technology has changed who we are as human beings, but I do believe it has changed the way we live our everyday lives”.

This quote from the article is very bias and opinionated, but I do agree with it. Brockpress.com states that technology has made life easier. It doesn’t change our personality or who we are as a person, it just changes our lifestyle. Technology allows us to communicate without meeting them face to face, or instead of going on a bike ride, people may stay inside and watch T.V. Although it has changed our daily routines, it may not be for the better in some cases.  

-”A singer’s bad notes, a model’s blemishes, or an overcast sky in a movie scene can be fixed as easily as a spelling error”.

The main idea of the article in nbcnews.com is talking about the top ten breakthroughs over the past 50 years. The quote above really stood out to me as I was reading. You never really realize how little things make such a big difference, and how easily technology is able to alter things. Just as stated in the quote above, a model can have blemishes, scratches, or whatever on their skin. With the help of the newly invented app called Photoshop, you are able to change and falsify the picture to your liking. Technology can provide many advantages to our society.

Future Research: What do you plan on researching next?
-How will technology influence the way people behave?

Hockey Could Be Causing Too Much Violence

          

Hockey has always been considered a dangerous sport but it could have reached the point where it is extremely dangerous. Even all protective padding and gear may not be enough to protect these kids anymore. What is the main reason causing so many hockey players to get hurt and how can we prevent the high rate of injuries? 

http://www.livestrong.com/

According to the website Live Strong, a website that writes about sports and athletes, shows us how hockey can be dangerous. Some important excerpts are below.

There is a list of typical hockey injuries that your aspiring young player may come up against. Concussion tops the list.
I agree with this statement because growing up playing hockey myself, the most common injury my teammate or friend has experienced is a concussion. Other injuries common that most hockey players witness are broken wrists, elbow, hip, knee, back and shoulder injuries.  Also this article showed me that a growing issue around concussion in minor league hockey is that 45 to 86 percent of all injuries in youth hockey in North America are related to body checking.

The history of violence in the sport of hockey is as old as the sport itself. In fact, it’s part of the reason why fans watch it. The cheers come during the fights, the heavy checking along the boards and the emptying of the benches. 
This statement is very and true and this is one of the main reasons why hockey still has so much violence in it. Violence has always been apart of the sport forever so fans have gotten too like it and suddenly changing the rules of the game would cause an outbreak of chaos. To make it as a professional hockey player now, you have to be able to hold your own because the game can get very physical.


As with all sports, you can’t keep yourself completely injury-free. There will always be pulled muscles and bruised elbows. But you can reduce the violence in hockey and keep the injuries to a minimum.
I agree with this statement because no matter what sport you play, you are bond to eventually get some kind of injury but their are ways to reduce getting injured a lot. The first main thing is that you should buy yourself the best equipment you can afford, and make sure it fits properly. Also good sportsmanship, including respect for the other team, go a long way in reducing violence and preventing injuries in hockey.


FUTURE RESEARCH: I plan on researching next how cultures affect hockey? 

Technology Changing Our Lives

Imagine your life without a cell phone.

In a article from academia.edu that I learned that technology is continuing to change peoples life and change our culture.  With the rapid changes in technology.

SOURCE: http://parkplazaexeccentre.com/

Q:  How is technology changing our lives?

A: Technology is changing everything that we do, and some are for the better, and some for the worse.  Technology is changing everything we do from being able to talk to anyone at any time to being able to find the answer to any question instantly.  

Q:  How will technology continue to change our lives?

A:  As technology advances it will also make our culture advance in different ways.  Technology has already changed our lives so much, it will only continue to keep changing us.  When technology advances it will exponentially change us.  

Q:  How is this effecting our culture and the way that we act?

A:  This is causing our society to become closer virtually but become more distant physically.  The internet is bringing people closer together but often causes them not to not to visit or go see each other as often often in real life.  It is causing change for the better and for the worse.


Future Research:
1) What technological innovations will occur in the future?

No Support for the Voiceless Critters

For this blog post I looked at an article by Melissa Kap and took out certain passages I thought stood out, or were written nicely. Those passages I have in bold, I then analyzed them based on what I learned or what I interpreted from her writing.


When humans destroy wild land to build homes, factories, shopping malls, amusement parks, garbage dumps, even to build a visitor center, store and restaurant in a park, the land is changed. The animals that once lived there, from the bugs that lived in the ground to the birds that ate them, all may disappear. Some can move to new home areas, but there are already other animals living there. There is not enough food, water or shelter for all of them. Many of the animals will die.

When farmers spray chemicals on their crops to save them from pests (bugs and molds and things that eat the plants), the chemicals get into the water and into the soil. Bugs that do not hurt the crops die. The birds and mammals who eat these poisoned bugs may also die, or they cannot reproduce, or their offspring die young.

Factories, automobiles, trucks and planes put chemicals into the air. The exhaust from their engines contains tiny specks of toxic chemicals that fall on plants, on the ground, and into the water. There, they get into the animals when the animals eat the plants, drink the water, or nest in the ground. These animals, too, can die or not reproduce.

I found this article very interesting because of the way she shows us examples. I always knew that the pesticides we spray to protect ourselves can kill bugs that weren't necessarily being targeted and, therefore, causing meaningless death but I never thought about how that could effect the animals that eat those bugs. It never struck me until I read this that birds or mammals that eat the bugs may die or become unable to reproduce. It also never occurred to me that our exhaust from cars, factories, etc. can poison animals. I just thought that those emissions threatened our atmosphere, but they can do much more. Besides than the fact that she is an animal lover I can sense no bias coming from Melissa, most of her writing are just solid facts. I think this passage especially illustrates specific things that we do to harm animals.

                                                          http://www.gettyimages.com

There are many people who do not eat animals or wear animal skins (leather). They are called “vegetarians.” There are others who will eat animals, but only when those animals are raised humanely (in clean places with enough room to move around in, with plenty of good food, and few, if any drugs given to them) and slaughtered (killed) without pain, and only when the whole animal is used. When we slaughter a cow, sheep, or pig, we use the whole animal: the slaughtered animal provides food for people and other animals, skin for leather clothes and other goods, even the hooves and bones are made into other things and used for people and other animals.

There are many types of farms and factories that raise animals for slaughter. Many of these animals are kept very close together, so close that they can hurt each other just by moving around. Many are fed foods and drugs to make them grow but that do not make them healthy.

Some animals are raised or hunted just for their skins, bones, shells or internal organs. Some are hunted for meat, but only part of the animal is actually eaten. For example, certain fishermen kill sharks, but just cut off and keep the fin. People kill large snakes and lizards just to get their skin; they don’t eat all that meat. Bears are killed just for their paws and gall bladders.

In the same article previously mentioned, Melissa Kap shows us how people kill animals for resources. She explains the positives and negatives very clearly. Some animals are raised in nice, large fields with lots of room to move and are only fed what they'd naturally eat. Other animals are raised with more industrial tactics, meaning they are kept very close together with little room and are fed supplements to help them grow but doesn't necessarily benefit their health.She explains to us how if an animal is used properly, they can actually end up using the whole animal and leaving none for waste. That, of course, would be the better way to do it but not all people kill with intent to use every part of the animal. Many hunters will just take the best meat and dispose of the rest. Melissa did a very well job of clearly explaining how animals can be used in a good way and how they can be used wrongly or in a bad way.


In my future research I'd like to learn some actual statistics about animals that humans use at an industrial scale.

Understanding PTSD

All human’s have a natural survival instinctive reaction when faced with a dangerous situation. This is our “fight or flight” reaction. PTSD is when an individual's state of mind is always in this state of mind and never fully recovers to a relaxed state. The disorder develops after a traumatic event in some way affected the individual. Many things can cause it such as natural disasters and car crashes. The most well known is PTSD with war veterans.

ametalstateofmind.com

Researchers at the National Institute of Mental Health have found patterns in the study of mice. Mice with a certain level of a fear memory forming protein called stathmin. Mice shown with higher amounts of this protein were more likely to show fear when exploring open spaces after a fearful event. Another chemical called gastrin-releasing pep-tide or GRP seems to help control the level of fear in mice.



FUTURE RESEARCH: What are some views of PTSD in society?

Arboreal Animals Adjusting to Their Home

Humans have features to make the way we live possible, but what do features do animals have in order to make the way they live possible? Arboreal animals are unique because they live their lives up in trees. They have to have distinct features about themselves that allow them to live in trees.  Paw  Nation is a reliable source because it gives factual information about all types of animals and also gives helpful tips for animal life.  

Q. What are arboreal animals?

A.  Arboreal animals are animals that mostly live and spend time up in trees.

Q. Do arboreal animals ever come down from the trees?

A.  Arboreal animals adapt so they can spend a majority of their time in trees. They eat, sleep, and play in trees, but they do come down occasionally.  Some are exclusively arboreal meaning their lives are in the trees, but some come down occasionally and some spend an equal amount of their time between being on land and being in trees.

The slender loris is another arboreal animal.

raxacollective.wordpress.com

Q. Do they have any distinct qualities about them?

A.  Yes, many arboreal animals have different bodies than other animals. They tend to have long tails called prehensile tails.  Their tails can grip and hold onto things as light as a peanut or as heavy as their own body, using them to swing from branch to branch.  Also, they are usually smaller in size which helps them move around faster in the trees more efficiently.

Q. What are some kinds of arboreal animals? Where do they live?

A.  Arboreal animals live in forests all around the world, mainly in tropical forests.  Arboreal animals include koalas, flying squirrels, tree sloths, spider monkeys, geckos, tree frogs, birds, snakes and lizards.

FUTURE RESEARCH:

Do you think humans have any characteristics of any of these arboreal animals?

Do arboreal animals have to adapt to their environment more or less than other animals?

Why were they Killed?

http://wric.com

On Janurary 7th 17 people were killed by a terrorist attack in Paris, France by Muslim extremists.

Source: BBC News I found BBC News to be reliable because they are global news station and shouldn't be bias because they are not Muslin nor are they French.

Q: How many days did the terrorist attack last?

A: The attack lasted three days January 7th to the 9th

Q: What happened during each day?

A:

On Wednesday two armed gunman drove up to the Charlie Hebdo building, they forced their way up to weekly editorial meeting, they opened fired first killing the security guard; next they called out the four cartoonists by name and shot them, along with them were three other editorial staff. A police car blocked the gunmen’s route so the gunmen open fired onto the two officers, they left the car badly damaged but the police officers were unhurt. The gunmen were later then seen on a videotape in a boulevard shooting police officer Ahmed Merabet then getting out of the car to the wounded officer and killing him at close range. The getaway car was later found abandoned and another car was hijacked.

On Thursday a gunman shot two people in the southern paris suburbs. They had shot a police women and a man leaving the police women dead and the man wounded.

Later that day the two men had robbed a service station, they fired shots as they stole food.

Police had issued arrest warrants for the two men, Cherif and Said Kouachi.

On Friday after hijacking another vehicle Said was hit in the neck in a shootout with the police, a high speed chase began and the brothers took refuge in a printing firm. Hundreds of armed officers surrounded the building. Elite forces Snipers, helicopters, and military equipment sealed off every escape possible for an 8 hour standoff.

Q: Why did they target the cartoonist?

A: Charlie Hebdo is a newspaper famous for their political cartoons and they had published an issue about the muslim prophet telling the readers “100 lashes if you don’t die laughing”

Q: How did france react to all this?

http://www.huffingtonpost.com

A: The reaction to this was actually quite shocking the reaction from france. They stood even more united as if to say you can’t break us. Tens of thousands gathered united holding up pens, pencils, and notebooks as signs of their freedom of speech.

It wasn’t also france but many other countries showed their support by gathering in streets with signs, candles, and pens. The protesters adopted a slogan “Je suis Charlie” (meaning I am Charlie) in support of the murdered journalists.

Q: What are you thinking about researching next?

A: I would like research more about how France reacted to the attack and how they become stronger and more united.

What happens now as the aftermath of 2012 is present?

Why are we here if 2012 was supposed to be the end of the world?

The 2012 doomsday phenomenon tells us that people are uncertain about their futures. The world as we know it is changing – global warming is changing our ecology, the economy seems more precarious, we feel less certain. The myth is a way for people to express their fear about these changes and the uncertainty they bring.

I found Douglas Ezzy’s view to be very interesting. I find it interesting that he believes this doomsday talk is driven by the fear and uncertainty of our futures. A myth can be defined as a body of interconnected myths, or stories, told by a specific cultural group to explain the world consistent with a people’s experience of the world in which they live.They often begin as sacred stories that offer supernatural explanations for death or the creation of the earth. But I have to say I am behind the author in supporting his definition. I agree that it is a way for people to express their fears of these changes and uncertainty of the world. we are believing things that may sound ridiculous but we support these myths because we are unsure of what the future holds. I agree with this because although it is similar to the other definition of mythology, I think the slight differences it has makes it a more accurate depiction of the term, mythology. I think this article in some ways supports other articles I have read. It is different because it has strong beliefs and feeling being shown through the style of writing. This passage really tells the story of the rest of the article. It represents what point is trying to be put on the reader. The passage really captures the essence of the article. This article can be looked at as extremely biased. As we know the author is not a Mayan. I think this article puts an emphasis on his feeling for the Mayans. These feeling being, very negative and looking at them as crazy. This is an example of enthrocentrism. Because he doesn't have these beliefs as the Mayans do, he looks at them as crazy. This is the reasoning for the posing a threat for a bias opinion.

www.shutterstock.com

When nothing happens today, there will simply be another revelation, another turning point, another intimation of apocalypse. But it is also an opportunity to start a discussion about the changes that are taking place in our society and address the fears the behind the myth.

A quick explanation of this passage is that the date this article was published was January 1st, 2012. This is the day that the mayans and many others believed the world was going to end. That is why Douglas Ezzy, the author stated that when today nothing happens… I found this article interesting because it is a very strong opinion, just as the last passage was. I also agree with the passage in that, first of all, 2012 wasn’t going to happen and secondly, because it gives us, as a society, an opportunity  to discuss the changes that are causing the creation of these myths. The reason contributing these myths are fear. Myths are driven by fear. The fear of the future of our society. We have these fears because of the quality we are keeping our planet at. What I mean by this is, deforestation, global climate change, desertification, etc. This article connects to the other article I read in that fear drives these myths. This passage does justice in capturing the essence of the article because it is a main idea in the article. This is the main focal point of the article. This is because the rest of the article is built off of those statements in that passage. This particular article shows very little biased opinions. This is because there is nothing to base the opinions off of. Although very strong opinions are expressed through this passage, it is not biased.

Source:

Do you think there will be another myth similar to the Mayans myth of 2012? If so what do you think it will be and how will we handle it?

FURTHER RESEARCH: How do other cultures view the end of the world?

Who is to Blame for Racism?

We all claim racism is becoming less and less prevalent in America, but are we wrong? It seems as though it is increasing. Our problems from the past have yet to be resolved. So whose fault is it? Many times the media is blamed for the extreme amount of influence it has over its viewers. The way the media decides to portray different races is what many use to shape their views, negative or positive.

This research essay was written by Stephen Balkaran while he was studying psychology at Yale. It is reliable because it was not opinion based and he only used sourced information. Similarly, the author’s knowledge on psychology provides a reliable analysis of people’s minds and emotions.

1. “The media has devoted too much time and space to ‘enumerating the wounded’ and too little time to describing the background problems of African-Americans.”

I find this important because I think it is true. It is extremely rare to see a news segment or article on the success of African-Americans. Similarly, media discussing the difficulties blacks have to overcome racially is rare as well. Other articles have mentioned how the media only shows blacks in ways so they are portrayed as “gangsters” or the ones who caused a riot. There even have been times where Hispanics, whites, and blacks were all arrested, but only the amount of blacks arrested was broadcasted. I think it is almost like the media is forcing people who rely on it to understand other cultures and races to view a race in a specific way. In this case, blacks in a negative way.

2. “Media has divided the working class and stereotyped young African-American males as gangsters or drug dealers. As a result of such treatment, the media has crushed youths' prospects for future employment and advancement.”

I think this is interesting because in this case, racism of blacks is not being encouraged to other races, but instead to blacks themselves. I think this is the worst case scenario. Having racial barriers already makes it difficult enough to be successful, but losing hope in oneself just because of one's race makes it almost impossible. If the media actually portrayed all races in the way it portrays white, as heroes and successful people, the media could become a helpful tool in advancing society instead of encouraging the racist mistakes of our past. It similarly would provide role models for all youth, no matter what race, to aspire and look up to.

www.adforum.com

3. “The media has and will continue to portray a self-serving negative stereotype of the African-American community. The societal and economic factors of racism have become more than just a bias. They are also a profitable industry, in which the elite will continue to suppress the lower class in order to maximize profits.”

I found this passage important because racism in the media is not being blamed on the minority of blacks in the industry. It does not come down to how people really feel, but what people want to see. Unfortunately, it seems like this passage is saying people want to see the African-American community suffering. I find this really scary and disappointing. Also, the problem won’t become better because the media wants the money it can make off of continuing to portray African-Americans badly. People may want to see this racism in the media because it is what they are used to the media showing and therefore they have been encouraged to think like that. 

Discussion Question: Think of the stereotypes shows, magazines, or commercials have made out of different races. Do you think the news continually portrays races when they act similar to their stereotypes?

Future Research: I plan on researching how race is depicted in advertising.

Murder is Murder, No Matter What Species

Millions of animals are killed every year---why?

The article, "One species in four 'could be gone in 50 years'. " from the Global Issues in Context Database can help us answer these questions.

1.What human action’s effect animals most?

The largest problem animals face today is our carbon emissions. This can be exhaust from cars, houses, or factories etc. It is creating a sort of “greenhouse” with our planet, meaning it is keeping all the heat in that should be getting out. Carbon emissions are to blame for the rapid decline of the polar ice caps, effecting all animals that live there. Another human practice that is causing extinction is poaching. People will illegally kill endangered animals for their rare hides or bones. They have no sympathy for endangered species because all they care about is money. Our greed can make us do horrible things.

http://africageographic.com

2. How much are humans really to blame for extinction of various species?

Humans are almost entirely to blame for most animal extinction in recent years. Before we were around, animals enjoyed stable environments with minimal change over thousands of years. Now with all the hunting, deforestation, and pollution animals have mear decades to adapt which just isn’t biologically possible. Humans have actually increased the extinction rate by between 1,000x and 10,000x. Because of us ecosystems are shattering and animals are dying. We need to accept that we’re not alone on this planet.

3. What kinds of species are threatened with extinction?

Thousands of species are threatened with extinction today. The animals we hear of such as polar bears are actually just the tip of the iceberg. Truth is, although some are, mammals are not the kinds of animals that most commonly go extinct. It is mostly small creatures such as bugs that you’re likely to never hear of or encounter. Nevertheless it is still something that is happening as a result of human actions. Smaller animals cannot adapt with their environments as simply as larger animals can. The littlest difference in their ecosystem can have fatal consequences.

FUTURE RESEARCH: In my future posts I hope to learn how we can stop poaching and other harmful effects to animals. 

How did America let 9/11 happen?

Have you ever wondered how the terrorist group that attacked us on 9/11 came to think of such an awful deed to do?

Passages from history.com which is written by historians and used widely for news explains the motivation for the twin towers attack.

http://orientalreview.org/

"The attackers were Islamic terrorists from Saudi Arabia and several other Arab nations. Reportedly financed by Saudi fugitive Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaeda terrorist organization, they were allegedly acting in retaliation for America’s support of Israel, its involvement in the Persian Gulf War and its continued military presence in the Middle East. Some of the terrorists had lived in the United States for more than a year and had taken flying lessons at American commercial flight schools."

I found it interesting that this was the reason for the attack on the United States. This group seemed to have something to be mad at America for, and it was what happened in this specific war. But how was the terrorist group so sneaky as to take these flying classes and sneak box cutters and weapons onto the planes they were boarding? It seems to me that if you are going to take a pilot’s class, where you are planning on flying a plane and having a lot of people’s lives in your hands, you should have a background check done. Also, how was security so lazy as to not catch the box cutters on the terrorist’s luggage?

Many people wonder if there were more planes going to different locations in the U.S. as another attack. Another passage from history.com explains this theory.

"Meanwhile, a fourth California-bound plane–United Flight 93–was hijacked about 40 minutes after leaving Newark International Airport in New Jersey. Because the plane had been delayed in taking off, passengers on board learned of events in New York and Washington via cell phone and Airfone calls to the ground. Knowing that the aircraft was not returning to an airport as the hijackers claimed, a group of passengers and flight attendants planned an insurrection."

I thought this was kind of weird that the plane continued to take off after a 40 minute delay and they had already had heard what happened in New York. Weren't the passengers, crew, and/or pilot at least a little bit suspicious that this could have happened on their flight, too? The flight should not have taken off, or the TSA or flight crew should have gone back and checked everyone’s bag a second time. The flight was delayed and everyone on the plane had already learned about what happened, so why didn't anyone cancel the flight?

So what does the United States do nowadays to prevent things like this from happening and educating people on what happened?

“Operation Enduring Freedom, the American-led international effort to oust the Taliban regime in Afghanistan and destroy Osama bin Laden’s terrorist network based there, began on October 7. Within two months, U.S. forces had effectively removed the Taliban from operational power, but the war continued, as U.S. and coalition forces attempted to defeat a Taliban insurgency campaign based in neighboring Pakistan. Osama bin Laden, the mastermind behind the September 11th attacks, remained at large until May 2, 2011, when he was finally tracked down and killed by U.S. forces at a hideout in Abbottabad, Pakistan. In June 2011, President Barack Obama announced the beginning of large-scale troop withdrawals from Afghanistan, with a final withdrawal of U.S. forces tentatively scheduled for 2014.”

I think that this program being made was a great idea. It gives the United States the opportunity to stop things like this from happening in the future and it disbands a somehow powerful group that could be dangerous to the United States. The death of Osama Bin Laden was just the beginning, and the United States has just opened the door to more of a serious and long term effect on the Taliban and Al Qaeda. This can prevent more dangerous things from happening in the future and can discourage the group after they have lost their leader.

DQ: How do you think the United States could have prevented something like this from happening without even knowing something like this could have been done?

FUTURE RESEARCH: How can governments prevents attacks like 9/11?