Current Connection 2.1

In the article "College Prep" by Eric Beirker he asks the question "can college students live like animals and get away with it?" In this informative read he explains how the right decisions for college can effect  your life in the future. Beirker mentions that parents are a big deal in the process of this decision, because kids that have a little guidance in what they are doing won't drop out their sophomore year.

Parents should know that teens grow increasingly independent as they transition from high school to college. Beirker states "your teen should follow through on tasks without repeated promptings from you" (the parents) if they do not he wrote that it is a danger sign on the road to college. Teens should exercise freedom and responsibility not to mistake freedom with the lacking of responsibility. Many teens go in to college thinking its the fifth year of high school. Parents should ask questions not give teens answers about college because teens need to start thinking for themselves.

"Adolescents that have a higher degree of foreknowledge are better able to plan their responses" Beiker stated. First time college freshman overestimate their ability to adjust to the college environment. Twenty five percent of college freshman do not return for their sophomore year. Beirker says that parents should challenge their kids to prepare them for the future challenges. Teens, a life full of uncertainty, a indecisive record, have a hard time making tough decisions.

When entering college it is a time when you have to make choices in what is best. Teens wont have mommy or daddy there to get them out of trouble or to make a curfew rule for them. College is a time to grow and find your calling in life. There are many temptations that come along with college. Beikers mentions how "college relationships are the most fun but the most painful." He also spoke about how sex, drugs, and alcohol are major distractions and that is where making good decisions comes in to play.

College, a fun place to be, will change the way teens see life. Stress, a undeniable feeling in college, can take a toll on many. The decision to stay with your studies is a sigh of relief when the semester is over! College, a hard transition compared to high school, will make you a stronger and more responsible person with good decisions. 

When teens go off to college hopefully they will learn more about life than being an animal. Experiences, a life full of memories, will stay with teens forever. Parents be there for guidance when teens need help in making that decision.

Works Cited


Bierker, Eric. "CPYU | The Center for Parent/Youth Understanding."College Prep: Helping the Teens You Know Transition to the University Years. N.p., 23 Jan. 2004. Web. 04 Nov. 2013.

Current Connection

Stephenie Meyers Twilight series got several hits and caught the attention of its teen audience but can her new novel The Host beat it? This descriptive article will inform us on the story.

Meyers borrows from Jack Finney's "Invasion of the Body Snatchers," the thought of aliens being out there to get earth never gets old. In this story the aliens have won and only a few humans remain. The main character,Melanie, refuses to let them take over her mind. The alien using Melanie as a host just won't give in to the idea of letting a human win it over. This keeps the audience wondering who will win the feud between the two.

This is the first novel to read where the aliens and the humans meet half way. These aliens do not steal, kill, or lie so how'd they take over Earth in the first place? The alien named Wanderer and Melanie eventually learn to trust and rely on each other throughout the story which keeps things interesting.

This promising young actress, Ronan, did a marvelous job making it all look so real. During the whole film she is debating in her mind with Wanderer. It will make you wonder how you can not have control of your own brain. Melanie eventually gets the upper hand and the fight to find her brother and her lover is something she achieves.

I have not seen this film but I have read the book and it does not hold a candle to the Twilight series. With all this talk I hope the movie is better than the book. But like Twilight there is a dramatic twist and the girl is torn between two boys.

Twilight is still loved by all of its fans. This new series Stephenie Meyer has shared with us will be loved by its fans too. We will see the challenge this new movie makes as it takes on Meyers Twilight series!

Replacing the Book Review (Fifty Shades of Grey)

Why does he have such an unnerving effect on me? His overwhelming good looks maybe? The way his eyes blaze at me?
"Why can't I just act normal around him?" Anastasia asked me. All the questions she had asked seconds earlier had got me thinking.
"Haley!" Ana yelled, snapping me back to reality.
"Sorry. You've never really dated before maybe it's just first time jitters." I say thinking this could be a possibility.
"I've dated before and never had this feeling towards the others. It's just him!" Ana exclaims practically pulling her hair out.
"We'll what does he do that makes you feel this way?" I ask.
"He doesn't have to do anything. He can just look at me and I'm putty in his hands."
I began to think about this man she's been seeing. He's gorgeous, rich, and he owns his own business. Rich was probably an understatement. He's more along the lines of billionaire. I can see how people could find him intimidating.
"You'll have to get used to him. Right now this feeling is driving you ninety to nothing. The more time you spend with him the less you'll feel weird around him." I explain.
"Weird? Do I act weird around him?" Ana questions.
"Heavens no! I was just describing the feeling."
I've seen him with her. All fixed up like an Abercrombie and Fitch model. He makes other men cower as he walks by.
"I like him don't get me wrong but it's just a confusing relationship." She told me.
Christian Grey stole her heart from the very moment she walked into his office. Whether he does good to it or not we will have to find out.
"Why is it confusing?" I ask.
"He doesn't do the "love" thing." Ana explained.
I know he fell in love with her he just hasn't admitted it yet.

CC4

   In CNN Health an article "Meal Times May Affect Weight Loss Success" written by Jacque Wilson, states that by eating later on in the day you have a harder time in losing weight. This makes losing weight difficult for most because we eat our biggest meal at lunch time past 3 p.m.

   People who try and lose weight are more concerned about what they eat but new studies say that its about WHEN you eat it. Marta Garaulet and Dr. Frank Scheer, director of the medical chronobiology program at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, followed 420 people in Spain during a 20-week weight loss treatment program they split the group in two to test their theory. The early eaters, on average, lost 25% more weight than the late eaters over the course of the study, according to Scheer. In this expository read Garaulet and Scheer explain to us this new weight loss study.

   These doctors checked on other reasons for the slow loss of weight such as; energy expenditure, dietary composition, appetite hormones and sleep duration. All these things were similar in both groups so they decided it was the time of meal that triggered the sluggish weight loss. The doctors theory was correct and so now they share with the world to inform us all that its not only about what you consume but what time you eat a meal.

   Did you know your fat tissue has a built-in clock? The majority of your cells run on a 24 hour schedule. This is called circadian system, it’s controlled by a group of cells in your brain’s hypothalamus. But the “clocks” in individual organs’ cells can be altered by daily activity that doesn’t affect the control center. Researchers have found that feeding animals at odd times during the day can set off the clocks and cause weight gain.

The doctors say that new weight loss strategies should incorporate the timing of food as well as the classic look at calorie intake and distribution of carbohydrates, fats and protein. They say that night workers have a higher risk of obesity than day workers. Even with the same amount of energy they use.

I can relate to the late eaters. I don't get off work until late sometimes and I'm hungry so I'll eat. This discovery could be the reason why people have so much trouble losing weight. If only we could eat whatever whenever we wanted to!

Topic Of Choice

What's the buzz on this new series of books that has everyone talking? Fifty Shades of Grey by EL James has gathered several readers attention. This book takes romance to a whole new level.

There are three books: Fifty Shades of Grey, Fifty Shades Darker, and Fifty Shades Freed. It all started with a deepening relationship between a college graduate, Anastasia Steele, and a young business man, Christian Grey. Fifty Shades of Grey has reached top best seller lists around the world and has sold over 65 million copies worldwide.

After the book became so much talk people were going crazy about it. There were comments such as "The sex scenes were well written which makes me think this author used to write porn.", "Did a teenager write this?", "The overall writing was not very well done." "I did not get passed the second chapter and lost interest in the story." Although this book had several bad reviews it still excelled to the charts. The main viewers this book is attracting are teenagers. One 17 year old girl who attends a private all girls school says no one would be caught dead with this book but she reads the book behind her parents back as well as several of her friends who attend this school.

This publishing phenomenon shall become a movie! Fans give their a opinion on who shall play the rolls. Names like Amanda Seyfried, and Ryan Goslin pop up on the casting list. How they will film this crazy romance is keeping everyone wondering. Fans fight for the future of the film.

Anxious and excited fans around the world can't wait to see this book on the big screen. I've heard from kids my age that the book will keep your attention but has a good story to it. I myself haven't read it yet. It seems like it will be interesting considering 65 million copies have been sold.

CC3 How Facebook Killed the Internet

In this expository article, Facebook was redirecting users visiting dozens of websites to cryptic error pages. They try to get us to believe that that's the reason Facebook isn't as popular but could it just be that it's just not "in" anymore?
What happened to Facebook? What caused Facebook to kill the Internet? There was an issue with the Facebook Connect API that caused users on sites that use that API to redirect users to a Facebook error page. When logging in to another website using Facebook you were sent to an error page.
Another problem with this was that exiting the error page would send you to another error page. All sites like Kayak, and Pinterest were all infected for 10 minutes.
The issue was quickly resolved and Facebook is now up and working again. This bug showed how many websites actually use Facebook to connect to that site. If Facebook gets another bug it not only affects it but millions of other sites too.
Facebook has died out and now Twitter and Instagram are more commonly used. This bug could have been the main reason for it. I have a Facebook and it sends me to a lot of error pages. I've heard the same from others.
People get aggravated at sites that don't pull up. Facebook used to be a reliable source to view several other things other than your personal information. This bug could of cost Facebook more than just 10 minutes of error pages.

Book Review

    In the future, Earth has been colonized by the "Souls" a parasitic alien race which inhabit human bodies, erasing the original occupants. This book takes you on an amazing adventure and tells stories you will never forget. Stephenie Meyer's The Host is thrilling and it keeps you always wanting to know more.
    This book portrays a theme of "team work." Melanie (the human host) and Wanda (the alien) learn to trust each other. When looking for Jared and Jamie they work together in a quick thinking process on how they will find them. As the story goes on they tended to rely on one another. When Wanda needed help with the humans Melanie had advice and when ever Melanie found that Jared and Jamie needed help in health related issues or to make a food run Wanda was always there to do that for her.
     When reading I found myself always curious about the next thing that would happen. The characters were just as curious in the story as I was about them. I felt like this book was a learning process like I was taking a class in school over it. I liked that there was always something new on every page. Something I didn't like was that it was always a question to the characters. Sometimes I found myself drifting off.
     Wanda, the alien, was a character that I never grew to like. Even though she was good in someways I felt as if she was one of those people that would stab you in the back. It was like she had to be nice to the humans because she lived there. She felt the way she felt because of Melanie. Wanda was once disgusted by the thoughts of humans until Melanies emotions started to overwhelm hers and replace them.
     When picturing the place where the book took place I imagined something dirty and dark, and that the people always smelled. A cave in a mountain side was the perfect setting for the situation in the story. The humans needed to hide out away from the aliens away from civilization. Always kept to themselves.
     The Host was a strange read for me. I can not relate this to me personally. I can say I've never been taken by aliens and had my body made into a host.
     I would recommend this book. I wouldn't recommend it to just anyone though. The Host is one of those stories that recquires your full attention to understand whats going on. It was extremely interesting and made my imagination go wild!

CC2

http://www.cnn.com/2013/01/28/us/chick-fil-a-philanthropy/index.html?c=homepage-t&page=3


Chick-Fil-A does not support same sex marriages and hasn't since 2011. Therefore they do not find them.
The nearly $6 million in outside grant funding "focuses on youth, education, marriage enrichment and local communities" said Shane Windmeyer, executive director of Chick-Fil-A. All the fuss over this was based on the families biblical beliefs. Chick-Fil-A supports the ideas and beliefs of the family.
Pro-gay organizational groups were not to pleased the Chick-Fil-A. Some called on a boycott against the chain which had annual sales of $4.1 billion last year.
August 1, dubbed "Chick-Fil-A Appreciation Day" by former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee. Their purchase of chicken sandwiches and nuggets to show their support for the restaurant chain and its president brought the restaurant chain record sales.
To set things off with the chain restaurants, The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation then promoted a National Same-Sex Kiss Day at Chick-fil-A restaurants across the country on August 3. "There was a lot of divisiveness and hate on both sides," said Windmeyer. "It was like the Chick-fil-A brand was a chicken sandwich with purpose" said Windmeyer.
When all this was going on I was at a volleyball tournament and I can remember going to Chick-Fil-A that day for lunch. We had called in an order an hour before we got there. The parking lots were full, there were people lined up around the parking lot waiting to buy food. They had all come to support the chain in their decision.
We didn't get our food for a little while but it was worth the wait and I felt good about all the support Chick-Fil-A got on their beliefs!

American Dream

   Everyone has a dream. "I say to you today, my friends, that in spite of the difficulties and frustrations of the moment, I still have a dream."  said Martin Luther King Jr. He was a strong person. He lead against racism. He wanted everything to be equal. Despite everything that happened and all the people that wanted him dead he still had a dream and was going to pursue it!
   I have a dream. My dream is to stop poverty. I couldnt imagine what life would be like living on the street and not knowing when you're going to get your next meal. I think to myself how can one person stop all that? How can that make a big difference? Martin Luther King Jr. was one person and he pursued his dream so I use him as my inspiration and motivation!
  Where would I start? I would get involved with the NASW (National Assocaiation of Social Workers). I'd call them and tell them I want to help make the poverty levels go down. Everyday 25,000 die of hunger because they cant afford to give their bodies the food they need. This makes them sick and to weak o work. I want to be their little push they get when someone helps you get back on your feet!
  My next step in putting this dream in to action. I would talk to my friends, family, and school about how we could raise money to help not only the Unites States but other countries as well. Getting churches and the community involved can help make a difference in someone else's life. Not only would we raise money but we could send can goods or clothes that we don't wear or need to those who need it most! I'd send all this stuff to an organization who helps change others lives.
  Doing this to help change the world and making it a better place will fill my heart! I hope that doing good will help influence others to follow along! Sometimes we don't realize what we have and how much we take for granted. I pray that by fulfilling this dream I can help make someone else's dreams come true too!

CC1

Pebble

Ms.Pepitone explains the makings of the new e-watch. The Pebble e-watch is a watch that can connect through bluetooth to any smartphone. It displays texts, e-mails, and it vibrates for incoming calls! This watch also has apps you can download to it!
The e-watch is a hightech device tens of thousands of people wanted to get their hands on one of these. Unfortunately there were some major shipping delays because the project was not finished at its deadline. 84% missed their target delivery dates.
Upgrading the looks, delaying the production deadline to find that they just stuck with the original plans. Its e-paper display is readable outdoors, and the battery lasts seven days.The watch weighs about 1.3 ounces.
The watch was designed to be a sports and fitness watch. "Its very light on the wrist which was important to us." Migicovsky, the maker of the watch, told Ms.Pepitone.  Pebble is water resistant to five atmospheres. So sweating and swimming wont be a problem.
"Our goal was to make it awesome from day one, and then improve with updates," he said. "We're excited to see how it evolves." Migicovsky said. This device will be a great conveience! Esspecially to Athletes and to people who are always loosing their phones but now that wont happen since its attached to your wrist.
They haven't made any deals yet but don't look for Pebble in any retail outlets. It will be interesting to see how it all will work so well in the world. They could find that their e-watch may not be so resistant or that the watch of convience could be the watch of inconvienence!