Guilty Pleasures

Guilty pleasures. I don’t know if there’s anything I wouldn’t be able to admit to watching to listening openly because I like what I like and I know what I don’t like. But I guess there are things that I am surprised that I like or things that my friends make fun of me for liking.

In terms of music I generally don’t like the hip hop/rap genre, it’s never really appealed to me. It’s filled with nonsensical lyrics to synthesizer abused beats in the background. But I do however enjoy cheesy old school hip hop from the late eighties and early 90s like “Informer” by Snow and “Sound Da Police” by KRS. I find songs like those very amusing because I think about how much different hip hop is now a days than it was back then. People generally laugh at me because they say old school hip hop is so lame and cheesy and I agree with them but it appeals to me in this strange way. Old school hip hop to me feels feel very fresh and real while now a days it feels hollowed out.

I also listen to a lot of hard rock and metal music and most of my friends listen to that as well. We all listen and love Guns N Roses, Metallica and the Black Sabbath type bands. But I also love the soft 80s fem type bands as well such as Poison, REO Speed Wagon and Journey which they despise to death. They can’t see how I can love hard rock and metal and listen to to soft rock at the same time. And to that I say these bands offer something different. You can’t listen to adrenaline rushing songs all day sometime you gotta listen to a poetic ballad to sooth the soul. I like a balance of music. For every fast paced song I need a slow paced song as well. I can’t listen to Van Halen’s “Jump” and the Scorpion’s “Rock You Like A Hurricane” without listening to Phil Collin’s “All Against the Odds” and Cyndi Lauper’s “Time After Time” right afterwards.

TV shows that my friends are surprised I watch are “Sex and the City” and “Desperate Housewives”. This are supposedly “girl shows” but I disagree. These shows both provide a good amount of humor and drama. I love comedies and action shows such as “The Office” and “24” as much as the next guy but what those shows don’t offer is drama. “Guy shows” have action and laughs but they lack drama and those shows offer that. Another reason I guess I find these shows very appealing is because I enjoy watching the farfetched lifestyle of women in their forties. Real women in their forties are either going to work or staying at home but either way it’s a pretty regular lifestyle but on these shows they add the most ridiculous conflicts that it makes the shows very enjoyable.

Why I Pick The Career Path I Picked

Ever since I can remember, I’ve always wanted to do something related to the medical field. Why? Because you look on the TV and you always see doctors living exciting lives within the hospital. On TV they’re always saving lives, uncovering weird diseases and curing these diseases. It seemed as if not one moment in their lives were ever boring. Also the level of appreciation and respect they get was amazing as well. I mean I knew it was glorified on TV but doctors do get a pretty good amount of appreciation and respect. So I wanted to be a doctor at first but as time went on I realized that I probably couldn’t be able to handle being a doctor. I couldn’t imagine the psychological tolls that must hit you when one of your patients die and then you have the family of the patient, who would hate with all their guts because to them you’re the reason he or she didn’t live. Also as a doctor, you have to be ready on call every minute of the day. You would have no free time and your entire life would just revolve around the hospital. I still wanted to do something related to the medical field but I wanted something more low key and slow paced. This was around the same time I was coming to the orthodontist every month to get my teeth done, which was a ten year process. I remember walking into that office every month and the second I crossed the threshold of the door I’d feel the most calming relaxing vibe ever. I would feel the coolness of the air conditioner in the summer, the warmness of the heater in the winter and if I were to close my eyes I’d hear nothing but the bubbles in the fish tank, the flipping of magazines by people in the waiting room and of course the heater/ air conditioner. I was absolutely in loved with this atmosphere. And then came the work on my teeth. These people that straighten them were incredible they used their little tools strap some metal in your mouth and then your teeth would eventually become straight. Dealing with teeth was something I could definitely see myself doing. I loved the atmosphere. I loved the little tools they used, especially the little water hose thingy, I loved their large selection of toothpaste flavors, I loved it all pretty much so thats why I want to become a dentist.

Other reasons why I want to become a dentist are for its financial securities, its flat schedules and its slow paced life style. Yes, I know I’m selfish for saying this but I want a lot of money. My dream is to travel the world and live a carefree life without any worries and I need a lot of money to do so. The best time to do that is when I retire and it’s this financial security that being a dentist would provide that makes it possible by age 50 as oppose to 65. Being a dentist has a predictable schedule. I come in from this time to this time and very rarely would I get called in for an emergency as oppose to being a doctor and I like that. I also like the slow paced life style that dentist have it’s very calming and relaxing. Getting to put in a crown or brushing someone’s teeth while listening to Delilah on the Lite FM, that’s the dream.

But becoming a dentist has its trade offs to every perk as well. For starters after getting my undergraduate’s degree, assuming I get into dental school, I’d have to go to school for another 4-6 years depending on what I want to specialize in. So that another 4-6 years I’ll be in school, so that’s another 4-6 years I’d have to pay for school and from what I hear dental school is pretty expensive. So by the time I’d get out of school I’ll have some major student loans to pay back and who knows how long that will take. Also while I’m in school I wouldn’t be bringing in major income until I’m almost 30. So I’d leave dental school broke, with a huge debt and all the money I make for the next couple years are going to go towards paying my debts. Also the dental job market has been becoming increasingly competitive so getting a job might take some time. Some dentists even give up because they’re unable to find work which might explain why dentists have the highest suicide rate among any other profession. But despite all these trade offs I still want to become a dentists because it’s what I think I’d be good at, it’s what I’d think I’d enjoy and it brings me that much closer to my dream of traveling around the world and living care free.

Lack of State Funding For The Schools

Did you guys hear about the lack of state funding amongst the state universities? The state is in a bit of a financial crisis so they cut back on educational funding and as a result leaving schools in turmoil. A number of the schools affected by this include Southern Illinois University Carbondale and Edwardsville, University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana, Springfield and Chicago, the University of California at Santa Cruz (UCSC) . The most publicized of these schools is UCSC.

Within the last year UCSC has had to cut about 11% of their course offerings and as a result leaving the school in chaos. This has been happening to other schools such as UIC as well. Because there are fewer classes available, the existing classes fill up quickly forcing students who didn’t get in to wait till next semester. Due to the difficulty of getting into classes, hundreds of students miss out on core classes. If a student isn’t able to get into a core class than they’re unable to take all the other classes that come after that class which acts a huge blockade in their academic progress which could ultimately lead to a delay in their graduation. Students attending state schools usually come from middle class families and cannot afford an extra semester or an extra year. Some students even lose their financial aid due to the fact that they’re unable to get into a sufficient amount of classes. And to make up for this lack of state funding schools now have to raise their tuition making it even harder to pay for college now.

I really hope that the state will reconsider or that we, the people of state, vote in new members that will start funding the schools more because I don’t really see any reason why we shouldn’t fund the school because favorable it’s to the state in almost every aspect. First, by funding the schools again that will solve the lack of classes issue at schools like UCSC. Secondly, as a nation we ideally want everyone to be educated. Congressman Solomon Ortiz once said, “education is the key to success” so the more educated our nation is the more successful it will be. But if we can’t get the education we need than the less successful our nation will be. So if the state were to provide more funding than more people would be able to complete and afford college. Lastly the students that are in school now are going to be running the nation in a couple years right? So if we them to run the nation well than wouldn’t it be in the state’s favor to fund the schools well so the students now get a high quality education? Or would they rather keep the money to themselves and give the students now a half-assed education so they can go off and try to run the nation?

A suggested solution is to make state colleges vocational schools. That way students from middle class families just go to a vocational school to learn a certain trade right after high school. It would be cheaper for the state and the students will always be learning practical things. Although this would solve lack of core classes but it would cause students to miss out on the college experience. College is about exploring your options, trying new things and finding your passion in life and if you were to go to a vocational school you would just learn one trade and you would be only know how to do one thing rather than being rounded in many different things.

By the state not funding the college it is also ruining our college experience. By not funding the school it causes the students to live in fear. The fear of not getting into the class you want, the fear of having your graduation delayed and the fear of not being able to afford college. And living in fear is not what the college experience is about. College as mentioned above, is about trying new things and part of trying new things are the variety of classes that are available. But with a lack of funding from the state’s part colleges won’t be able to offer a large variety of classes in which case we might as well be a vocational school. These variety of class allow the students to become a well rounded person. By not funding the schools it is as if the state is lessening the quality of our education. As the future leaders of the world we deserve a high quality education and we don’t deserve to live in fear.

8 year Old Boy On TSA List

Did you hear about the eight year old on the Transportation Security Administration’s list of people to look for? Well, it’s not exactly true but a guy who shares the same name as the kid is on the list and it’s this little boy that gets hassled around because of it. Apparently, every time little Michael Hicks tries to board a plane he gets sent away for extra screening due to his suspicious name. During these extra screenings, he’s get frisked around while his mom stands back and watches, often times, delaying their flight. According to the New York Times little Mickey Hicks received his first pat down at age 2 at the Newark Liberty International Airport and his latest just this year, while coming back from the Bahamas with his family. Mickey’s father, coincidentally named Michael Hicks, was also hassled as well. One time Mickey was even denied entry on the plane on a flight to Florida and when his mother asked “why?” the officials just said it was because his name “was on their list.”

This has not only happened to Mickey and his dad but many other people as well. Why should innocent people deal have to endure this when their only crime is sharing a common name with someone from the TSA’s watch list? People should be able to fly wherever they want, whenever they want, without more hassle than they’re already put through. It’s understandable that airport security does this to ensure the safety of the passengers on the plane, but these are innocent people that are being violated at the expense of everyone else. Airport security should hassle people they think to be suspicious, but they have to have reason. A name on some list does not justify the violation of a person’s privacy. They should have a sufficient amount of evidence that would justify their hassling.

Based on what has been happening to Mickey Hicks, the TSA list probably provides nothing more than a name and perhaps the flight history based on what Mario Labbé, a Canadian frequent flier with a suspicious name as well, told the New Yorker that every time he tries to board a plan they aggressively ask him “when was the last time you went to Japan?”. The list probably doesn’t have a description stating a person’s age or height as well or else little Mickey Hicks wouldn’t have gotten hassled so many times, unless the description called for a blond 3 foot tall 8 year old. So adding a description would be a start towards improving the list and narrowing in on the actual suspect. People can change the way they look but if the list had a description than little Mickey Hicks wouldn’t have been hassled so it’s a small step towards narrowing in on the actual suspect and improving the common name situation. But the point here is that the list needs to be improved. The list must provide for than just a name. The more detailed the list is the better the chances of finding the actual suspect, the less number of people gets hassled, the less number of flights get delayed and the more efficient airport security becomes.