Florida Gators vs. Alabama Crimson Tide. The No. 1 and No. 2 teams in the college football polls a week before the BCS computers start calculating ranks. One is the team that won the last BCS National Championship. The other is the team that would have won the BCS National Championship if it had not lost to the former. Who would have imagined the following season would shape up as it has, leaving both teams with paths leading back to a year ago and a repeat of the game that many say was the real national championship battle.
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What is the difference between the bird flu and the swine flu?
As a child, there was one thing that I hated. School.
The swine flu has swept the world, caused quarantines of people in some countries, and generally been the most covered news story of the year outside of Michael Jackson’s death or Twilight romance gossip. Fear has played a big role in the public’s interest in swine flu and its progression, and the media has played off of the fears very well to get more people to tune in. An understanding of swine flu would go far to help the public base decisions and opinions on the disease on a more rational basis instead of having fear as a guide.
By now you’ve heard that North Korean dictator Kim Jong-il, 67, may or may not have pancreatic cancer. The Associated Press reported, according to South Korean TV station YTN, Kimmy was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer when he was hospitalized for a stroke last August.
When we were younger, our parents would always tell us “Don’t speak to strangers.” Today, children learn about “Stranger Danger” in schools across the country. As children, we don’t realize the terrors of what can result if you get caught with a creep. Adults give special attention to ensuring that children are safe from the horrors of life. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t but we do try.
It’s not been an easy year for any of the world’s economies. The housing market crumbled and took down banks and brokerages left and right, destroyed the American auto industry, which was once regarded too big to fail, and sapped the U.S. economy alone for over $1 trillion in stimulus money attempting to slow the free fall and break us out from the worst economic situation we’ve had in most of our lifetimes. Unemployment has shot up, with the national average nearing 10 percent, while some metropolitan areas, such as El Centro, Calif., are looking at upwards of 26.9 percent unemployment. Jobs are hard to come by, and to make matters worse, jobs that pay enough to make ends meet are even more scarce. There is, however, one group of people that the media keeps claiming are the beneficiaries of the moment: college students. Student loans, scholarships, grants and cheap living make lives for these individuals easier, according to the news outlets and general consensus. I beg to differ on the matter.
The last time I can remember having a truly stress-free day, I was 5 years old and my grandparents were taking me to Disney World to see Mickey Mouse for the very first time. My biggest worries of that day were deciding whether or not to cry on the dinosaur ride, if would upset my grandmother by continuing to lick one side of my chocolate ice cream cone and watching it hit the ground in a big dribbling mess and how long I could take walking in the 95-degree Florida weather before diving into the cushiony seat and shade of my covered stroller. Ah, those were the days. Over the years, stress has increasingly become a major part of my life; so much so, that sometimes it’s hard going back to that day at Disney in my mind, recalling a time when I didn’t experience it for a good 24-hour period. From making sure I’m at work on time every day to completing homework and term papers on the right due dates, to being there for friends and family when they need me and then somehow maintaining a personal life (not to mention eating, paying bills and even maintaining a regular hygiene routine), it’s become rather difficult for me to balance my stress. I know I’m not the only one feeling this way. |
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