The Privilege of Choosing

     What is more unnerving: finishing off the fall semester with an overload of 17 credit hours, what was I thinking, or contemplating the job market potential?

      Maybe I should go to grad school. This is more of a dilemma than a choice. You cannot make a decision solely based on earning potential. Look at the banking industry.

      I have a friend who is a small business owner. Half of all the businesses he has dealt with over the years are gone. They provided at one time a livelihood for their families and number of employees along with insurance. They do not exist anymore.

      Yet somehow he has survived and over the past few months business has increased. Is the economy coming back from recession and slowly from the depression of lost jobs and homes?

      News stories everywhere are stating that spending is up this year in Christmas sales. It’s a hard call about what to do. But, like the last few years, I cannot base my decisions solely on finances. I need to build a life and something I can bank on.

-Julie Post

Viral Video Fame

           In the current era we are in fame is something desired by many, but only achieved by so few. People will go to any extent to become famous. If you were to recall last year’s infamous balloon boy incident, where a fame-obsessed dad went to all knew lengths to try and become famous. Or you can look at people like the Kardashians! Who to be honest I don’t even know why there famous. But with changes in technology and where the public’s attention is we are seeing a new type of fame, and that would be viral fame. Long gone are the days where one has to be a talented actress, singer, or athlete to be famous. In are they days where all it takes is a odd man on a mountain looking at a double rainbow to be famous. I don’t have anything negative to say about the viral video stars, I actually credit them for putting stuff out there to be viewed by the world and I guess there are the odd cases such as Justin Bieber who end up making a successful career out of it. But I want to know what you guys think about the viral video stars. Do you see this trend continuing or something that will dye off in the long run? I personally think its here to stay! I posted some links below of some of my favorite viral videos.

Double rainbow song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tHjg8WClzz0

Penalty kick: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1XuEGHHoZGM

Famous glasses guy: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JJ2NQIGLhUA

--Ross Radcliffe

 

North vs. South

Recently I was home for Thanksgiving break , and I realized just how much I really miss the north. The south is great and all but just doesn't have that extra flare that only the north can provide. Charlotte is a great city if you are looking to start a family but really just is not for the average college student, its small with not much night life and everything closes early! When I was home in Philly not only did me and my friend pauls night begin late , at 12 am, but even when it ended close to 4 am , there were plenty of things still open to allow us to either grab something to eat or drink.

I guess the best example of how the North is just better suited for me would start at my appetite. I'm hungry 24/7. In Charlotte if you get hungry on a weekday at 3 am the only place that has something to eat is the gas station. At home if I got The 3am hunger on a weekday, I have at least 10 different food places around me that can satisfy my hunger. One in specific ( my favorite ) has to be Wawa , its just heaven in a store , and being open 24/7 it will never disappoint me! Wawa alone makes me miss the north but overall I'd say I just miss being in a city that has a pulse!

-Jason Cuzzupe

2012 And the Sun

The sun goes through phases, if you weren’t aware. In his new book Chasing The Sun, author Richard Cohen explains that the sun is due for some serious activity between 2010 and 2012. Could this be a part of the ancient Mayan prophesy? This over activity will mean that the sun will eject billions of tons of hot matter called coronal mass ejections into space. This probably means earth is doomed, right? Well be melted by globs of sun matter in the year 2012. Not likely. The fact is that the sun goes through this cycle every few years. It’s happened plenty of times since man has been on earth. In fact, observing this event is possibly one of the ways the Mayans were able to use the sky to predict cosmic events so well. Weather or not one of these coronal mass ejections will blow earth to bits is hard to calculate. There very sporadic, and hard to predict. However, from what can be calculated the likely hood is quite small. So really, it’s not even that important of an event for earth. That is if it were a normal part of the cycle. What is being theorized is that this particular cycle will reach a solar maximum of activity. Meaning that the sun will be emitting stronger coronal ejections than in a usual cycle. So basically, were all doomed. Sorry.

- M. Tilley