Gas prices have gone too high

According to AAA, the national average price of gas is $3.86/gallon, steadily increasing almost a penny a day. Last year, the average price around this time of year was $2.85/gallon. While the gas prices seemed to have gotten out of control, the Obama administration had decided to step in to make sure Americans are not being cheated.

Obama has approved an assembly of a new task force to investigate the high-rising gas prices this past week.  On CBS’ “Face the Nation” with Bob Schieffer, Connecticut Sen. Richard Blumenthal formulated a jury investigation of possible wrongdoings in relation to the rising gasoline prices and spoke with confidence that this investigation could be a cure to the pain of the nation’s empty wallet syndrome.  He stresses that the government will not tolerate any type of action that may be cheating Americans or any illegal trade speculation. While the gas prices remain a problem in American, there is not much citizens can do. People still need to drive to work, school, amongst other activities or obligations they have.  Whether they like it or not, they will be forced to pay the price of freedom in America. Obama disagrees with Republicans proposal to cut and that “the 70% of clean energy investment cut will harm the efforts of reducing gas prices.” The gas prices have negatively affected Obama’s approval rating and believe that he is to blame for the current status of the economy.  While Obama’s ideas for clean, alternative energy seem plausible, it is merely idealistic and not realistic at this time. In fact, it will cost taxpayers more and just continue the steady hike in gas prices.

In an address he gave on April 23, Obama stated that there is “no silver bullet” for gas prices.  He believes that we need a long-term solution and that we should cut wasteful spending but invest in our future instead of sacrificing it. However, I do not think we should worry about something such as alternative energy until the nation can walk on its own two feet again.  With the value of the American dollar decreasing and consumer products and education costs increasing, these matters should come first. Once we are balanced economically as a nation should we then progress towards “alternative” solutions.

Amanda Leonard, Communication Studies, Wilkes 2013

New Rhetoric: Critique of PA Governor Tom Corbett’s 2011-12 Budget Address

            “Cluster of words are dances of attitudes” is just one of the many thoughts of Kenneth Burke relating to dramatism. This idea of dramatism clearly stands true throughout Corbett’s speech. He is all over with his words and the way he arranges them. In the very beginning of his speech he is doing a great job of relating to the people of Pennsylvania. According to Burke it would be a great use of agent, but then he begins speaking about cut backs “I’m not asking you to read my lips, I’m asking you to read my budget”. This is a perfect example of purpose within the pentad. He is directly saying what he wants the people of Pennsylvania to do, but maybe not be saying it in the best way. Does he even have the authority or credibility to speak this way to Pennsylvania? This could be taken many ways and if one is like Burke, using language as symbols, that statement sends the symbol of arrogance and rudeness. He is just making a statement that he wants the people of Pennsylvania to read his budget and understand he is doing it to repair the deficit but he could have different work usage.

            Agency was not carried out well with his previous quote. He did not create or accomplish anything positive with that comment, if anything he could have offended people right at the beginning of his speech. Therefore they already were annoyed and this could have reflected how they heard the rest of the speech he had yet to give.

            There has been some reaction to his speech especially concerning the budget cuts to education. There were rallies on St. Patrick’s Day, and Corbett has not responded to them well. He completely avoided the protestors, and he is not facing his actions head on. He is acting like he has something to hide, and that is the true symbol of a coward. The scene for this was clearly defined by his words and his plans to cut education funding which directly caused the protestors. He has clearly upset a wide range of people within Pennsylvania and is not making a huge effort to improve his image.    

            The main substance of Corbett’s budget was focused on four core principles; Fiscal Discipline, Limited Government, Free Enterprise and Reform. He then broke his speech down into these four principles to further discuss each of them.

            For Fiscal Discipline he made it clear that Pennsylvania would have no new spending. With new spending creates more debt and Pennsylvania already has enough of that. Plus this will support the road to limited government. He did make a positive point when talking about fiscal spending: “We need to find ways to make things work, to make jobs grow. It’s easy to find a reason to spend. Now we have a reason to stop” said Corbett. Most Pennsylvanians can most likely agree with this. His agency was a little lacking. He made a valid point that new spending needs to stop, however he was vague on how that spending is going to stop for the most part. His use of language was well chosen though. He used great metaphors and made it easy for the common person to understand, however he again was not very concise. He addresses specific problems and areas that are going to have funding cut, but does not explain it thoroughly like he should when such major cuts are going to be implemented.

            Corbett then diverges into limited government. He says limited government is not mistaking someone else’s property for your own. Then begins to address the Marcellus Shale Commission; he made it clear that Pennsylvania needs to look at the Marcellus Shale Commission as a resource, not just something new to tax. His use of language while talking about the Marcellus Shale was more positive and not as harsh. This showed that he wants to create something positive for Pennsylvania, but with anything the results will be only be seen within time.

            Corbett began talking about free enterprise with saying that it should not be regulated by lawyers and the potential for lawsuits. With that fear who would want to start a business, let alone be financially sound to cover those expensive insurance costs. Legally liability is scaring jobs away. He wants to change this tort law and reform it. This again was a good point made by Corbett. He clearly defined what he felt the problem was and wants to fix it. Plus he laid out a possible way to accomplish it. His agency and agent were well presented it’s just a matter if he can really put it into effect.

            To wrap up his speech he began talking about a wide variety of topics from integrating prisoners back into society to the expense of government as a whole. He has plans to reform Pennsylvania, just they were very broad. His agency here was spread out and not concise. He needed to focus on one or maybe two aspects he could really focus on and improve. His agency here was not well executed. He failed the whole pentad towards the end of his speech, especially when addressing reform in Pennsylvania.            

            Corbett concluded his speech by saying “Let’s build a new Pennsylvania”. He gained some of his agency back here by having better language usage, but again only time will tell. Throughout his whole speech his language was harsh. He was not comforting; he was strict and made it clear what he wanted. Also it was noted that he was not having room for suggestions or discussion on the matters. When giving a speech with the importance of this one, he should have been a little kinder to the people of Pennsylvania because people are losing their jobs because of budget cuts, or funding for their education. His actions are having life changing consequences and he was not compassionate about at all. He did not identify with his audience at all, and that truly hurt his speech. In the future he should realize that even though these actions may have to happen he could present them in a better manner to make his audience understand and hopefully cope with consequences better and not have protests along with in general other angry Pennsylvania citizens. 

 

Sara Cosgrove Communication Studies Wilkes 2012

Say something- or don’t say something?

I sat- I bit the HELL out of my lip- and I mean this. 

I’m sitting in the Wilkes library- coincidentally enough commenting on blogs in the Freshr’ Ink blogspot and I can’t help AT ALL but become distracted by this guy and girl sitting across from me. 

For the first hour I was there it was no problem- I hardly noticed them besides the fact that I know this girl chills with some of the girls I kind-of know around campus (I don’t know many people around this place) and that I had her in a class at one point. 

Regardless- as I sat there her guy-friend (appearing to be her boyfriend) said, “I have to leave.” She said okay I’ll pack up and leave but I need to save my work.” He handed her his flash drive and she started to go about whatever she was doing. 

As soon as she started wrapping up- he STARTED poking on her keyboard, laughing. At first she laughed. He kept doing it. She laughed. He started forcibly poking her. She stopped laughing. He started pushing her fore-head with his pointer finger- each time BREAKING HER DOWN. She lost her smile. He poked at her keyboard BECAUSE HE FELT HE COULD, and she asked him to stop. 

He took her water and started POURING IT ON HER HEAD- BECAUSE HE FELT HE COULD. She got upset. And I could tell she felt bullied. She said “STOP.” And he started poking the keyboard again. Then HE started shoving HER arms away from the keyboard. 

With water down her face, covering her shirt, face, and hair, she looked like she wanted to cry. He reached over, pushed her back and said, “Fine- give me the drive back,” and pushed her back and ripped it out of the computer. 

At this point I moved my headphones back and gave him the best “STOP IT. YOU ASSHOLE.” eye contact I could manage. And he did what any abusive man (Man?) is very, VERY good at doing. HE pulled her right back in and turned it into a big joke. It’s sad that he has that POWER over her. 

She looked lost. She was embarrassed. And why? Because this immature asshole thinks he can do whatever he wants? I know I don’t know these people. And they have their “own little thing” going on but this situation JUST FELT WRONG. 

I could say something like “Ladies- look out for this kind of thing” or some cheesy line like that. But that’s not what this blog post is. First of all it helped me get this off of my mind a little bit. AND I want feedback on what other people think should be done in a situation like this. And lastly it offers a different perspective for those that may be blinded by this type of “relationship”(I use the term loosely). 

If you can’t look at you partner and say “GROW UP,” or feel like you might need to, you could be in an abusive relationship that lacks respect. The reason these relationships go on so long is because the person (man or woman) that is disrespected, can’t figure out WHY they can’t get the respect from someone they are so very interested in.  

Seriously- who cares if they don’t respect you if they don’t deserve respect themselves? GO for a walk, go online, look around there are millions of people around you every day. This one asshole IS NOT worth your time. And if anything is true- it’s that you won’t be “happy” for long, and the “relationship” is DOOMED in more than one way. If they treat you this way today, they will for the rest of your life. The only person they are going to change for- is someone else after YOU stand up for yourself get that negative person out of your life. 

Joshua Alberola
Communication Studies
Wilkes 2011

Sometimes Words could Hurt more than a Sharp Knife

It had been more than two weeks since I last saw the video on one of the UCLA student showing her hatred toward Asian people. And I am Asian. So I couldn’t help but have her voice clearly repeating in my mind. I will not even try to “recap” what she said to critique if she was right or wrong because thousands of people already made videos to respond to it.

And you as the reader can decide about it. I tried to forget about it since I know for the fact that not everyone is the same. But I can’t bring myself to believe she is the only one who feels that way.

         So, how many other people out there feel the same way as her toward Asian or any other ethnic group in general? That question kept coming up in my mind almost every time now when I stand in front of an American.

“Am I talking too loud?”

“May I pick up my parents’ calls in case of an emergency at home?”

“How am I going to speak English with my parents in front of Americans when my parents hardly understand it?”

  “How should we as a “horde” of Asians learn American manners?  What are the differences between American and Asian manners when I know for sure my parents taught me to be kind and respectul toward others even though they are not from the same background?”

For the last seven years I tried to create a beautiful image of the generous American society and I made myself believe that it was real.

It took such a long period of time for the beautiful Miyako City in Japan to be created; but within seconds, the whole masterpiece just swept away by the massive thoughtless tsunami. Just like that, this young lady destroyed my dream about the generous American society by her words, simple but hurtful! Not to mention that her words actually came back to bit her in the back.  I dare not to speak of her name because I am afraid that I would have a very bad impression on the people with the same name for the rest of my life.

Yes, she is young. Yes, everyone makes mistakes at least once in the life time. Yes, everyone deserve the second chance and to be forgiven. But can she be forgiven if her apology toward people who she hurt did not come out from her mouth with any sincerity? The second chance can only be offered if the person with the mistakes sincerely asked for it and seriously proved that they deserve it!...  

Quyen Nguyen

Communication Studies 

Wilkes 2012

Robot Assisted Laparoscopic Surgery

The question on today’s society is always “where will it end?” when referring to technology. There are cars that talk, phones that unlock your car, and 3D TVs. Why even bother moving off the couch?

The newest advancement in medicine is Robotic Assisted Laparoscopic Prostatectomy. In simpler terms, a robot is performing the surgery instead of the doctor. At first glance you might wonder if the robot has a M.D. like the doctor, but after reading more about this robot surgery I feel that parts of it can make sense.  However, technology is not something you can always trust. 

The positives to the robotic surgery include reduction in blood loss, pain, recovery time and the unwanted side effects of other treatments. The doctor, a trained robot surgeon, who has had practice with the controls of the robot, doesn’t need to manually cut open the patient because the robot, whose universal name is Da Vinci makes a tiny incision, making the patient more comfortable. After watching a video on how the surgery works, I learned that the doctor is standing many feet away from the patient, using a hand controller, like a video game to perform the surgery. This does not look reassuring.

The first question that comes to mind is how can you trust a robot over the experience of a human? What if the robot malfunctions during the surgery? And does the doctor blame the robot if something goes wrong? These questions are vital when performing something with such risk, like a robot. I want to know if the patient is introduced to the robot instead of the doctor because the doctor is officially behind the scenes. There is so much risk involved with technology and the thought of something going wrong with a robot does not bring a sense of comfort to this newest advancement. 

This makes me wonder if flying cars will exist one day. But there is a difference between useless status technology like phones that turn the lights on in your house and technology that can help patients. Technology is speeding ahead with great force and it has no intentions of stopping.

Allison Roth
Communications Studies
Wilkes 2011

AshleyMadison.com: Accommodating Adulterers Across the Globe

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Suicide By Cop: Who protects our protectors?

            Police officers are out in our community to protect us from harm, but what happens when a sick individual takes advantage of their responsibility to protect?

            That is exactly what one individual (called Seth to protect his identity) did. Seth was a 19 year old and attending college in New Jersey. He had already attempted suicide twice. He had a clean record with the law but he was struggling with depression plus had already attempted suicide twice but was unsuccessful both times. Now Seth was looking for a successful way to kill himself. He devised his plan to die. Seth was going to get in his car and drive recklessly. Then a cop would pull him over for his reckless driving and he would pull some insane stunt in order to make the cop shoot him and kill him because that is the job of the cop to protect the community from those who are a threat.

            Seth put his plan into action on March 22, 1997. He dropped off his girlfriend at a college function, then opened and began drinking a bottle of champagne and began his reckless driving. He drove through New Jersey and made it all the way to his home state of Connecticut. It had reached about 3 A.M. and Seth had yet to see one police car. So he figured he would go find one. He drove to the Wallingford Police Department blew his horn and did everything to get their attention, and it worked. He created a chase involving several squad cars from several counties. He finally ran into the back of a police car. The officer in the police car halted immediately and prepared for a foot chase. But instead Seth came at the officer with the champagne bottle in hand as a weapon screaming “I’m going to kill you! You better shoot me, or I’ll kill you.” The officer  really have no choice but to pull out their gun and use it. This officer did, he shot Seth in the abdomen with the bullet lodging near his spine. Then officers cuffed Seth and he pleaded with them to please shot him in the head. Seth was taken to the hospital and has been receiving depression treatment and is still alive today, but unfortunately this is not always the case.  

            The officer on duty that night, Lt. Mark Poisson, and Seth’s mother Louise Pyers are taking their story to police departments all over the country. When sick and depressed people are at the end and just want to die they think having a police officer shot them is a guaranteed way to die. But what they don’t think about is the police office that has to deal with killing someone. Suicide by cop is becoming a growing problem and its tough getting people to realize that preventative measures need to be taken. Together Poisson and Pyers created the Crisis Intervention Team to hopefully education other police officers. Because if they do encounter a situation like Seth’s, maybe they can talk him down or figure another way to get him under control without killing him.  

            However now we do have the taser that is helping with this growing problem, and that was not an option back when Seth was shot. However the best defense against suicide by cop is knowledge, and with the Crisis Intervention Team hopefully that will happen, because innocent cops are getting wrapped up in someone else’s suicide mission and it is getting out of hand. Police Departments as a whole need to take a stand against suicide by cop and get these sick individuals the help they need.   

Original Story: Here

Sara Cosgrove
Communication Studies
Wilkes 2012