Month: October 2015

Stuart Scott was not sure he belonged when he received the Jimmy V award Monday night. “I now have a responsibility to never give up”.

Scott was astonished to be mentioned in the same category as Jim Valvano and other greats who have accepted this award in previous years. More than that he said he feels responsible to “Never give up”. Scott said, “You don’t beat cancer when you die, you beat cancer by how you live”. Scott is a man who has never looked shaken or rattled and on stage he looked mentally strong and confident.

In front of an emotional crowd in Southern California, Stuart Scott gave a heart felt speech on the acceptance of the Jimmy V perseverance award. He talked about his everyday struggle with cancer and how he just got out of a 7 day stay at the hospital. “When I couldn’t fight, others did”, said Scott. “Doctors did, and family fought for me”. He said how he needs the support of others in his life like his sister Susan, who he called the other day because he “Just needed to cry”. It was evident that he was moved by the award and was motivated to beat cancer with the support of family and friends.

This article talks about how the country was once again shaken by a school shooting. Columbine, Virginia Tech, Sandy Hook all stir terrible memories in the minds of Americans. Roseburg, Oregon is another addition to this list.

President Obama plans to visit Roseburg on Friday to meet with the grieving families. While a fair amount of people continue to push for more gun control laws Obama’s visit is stirring mixed reactions. Many people, including a local newspaper, said that the President is not welcome in Roseburg and accused him of using the town’s anguish to advance his gun-control agenda. There are many citizens who feel the same way. The Mayor stepped in and said Obama is welcomed and they “will extend him every courtesy”.

Gun control is a very hot topic right now and that is what makes this news story very relevant. It is especially important for presidential candidates to take their sides and make their opinions known. It will be interesting to see how Obama’s visit goes and how this affects peoples outlook on gun-violence. There is mourning in Oregon and across the country right now. We will see how leaders and politicians handle this situation and how much they listen to the people of Roseburg.

If you are looking for an experienced traveled man look no further than Patrick Blaine. If his name isn’t intriguing enough, his life is.

On Tuesday we were privileged to have Blaine as our guest in class. It is hard to know where to even start with Dr. Blaine. He is a professor here at Morningside College who teaches English, Spanish, as well as some C&C courses. His degree in Comparative literature allows him to do many things here on campus like advise the Spanish Club and help with the International Student Association. One of his favorite things to do is travel and he values international education so he plays a big role on the Study Abroad Committee. Blaine will be teaching a couple courses in Sicily, Italy for a few months starting in January.

Dr. Blaine was born in Washington D.C. This is rare because not many civilians are born in D.C. at government hospitals, but his dad was serving in the Military at the time. Blaine grew up in Western Pennsylvania most of his life and then decided to study at the University of Washington in Seattle. He followed with graduate school in Iowa City at the University of Iowa. He said that he, “Wasn’t scared of Iowa like many people on the coast are”.

He now has a wife named Monica who grew up in Chile, and a baby on the way. Patrick is fluent in Spanish and English, he speaks some French and plays with a couple other languages as well. Him and his wife speak in Spanish when they are at home alone, but speak English when a guest is present. They have decided that it will be “unacceptable” for their child to not be fluent in both English and Spanish.

If you can name it, Blaine probably plays a role in it. Film Festival? Charities? Downhill Skiing? He does it all. He enjoys playing around and making his own beer. “It makes a nice gift, instead of buying something I can always bring my beer”, said Blaine. Not only does he enjoy making beer he said that he has a “Passion” for it. He went on to tell us that his favorite sport is downhill skiing and he loves taking long motorcycle trips.

Patrick has traveled to many countries already in his life. He said that one of his best experiences was a two week horseback ride from Chile to Argentina through the Andes mountains. Surfing in Spain was another highlight for him as he thought back on his numerous trips. Blaine said, “In general people are friendly all over the world as long as you give them respect”. He really has enjoyed traveling and meeting good people all over the world, but he did give us a warning to stay away from Kelso, Washington. He implied that nothing good happens there, the people are ugly, it is dirty, along with many other disturbing traits.

It was fascinating to listen to Dr. Blaine and his experiences. If you see him on campus, take the time to listen and learn more about him as well as the world he has seen.

This article dives into the story of Columbine. Everyone can remember the shooting that took place not far outside of Denver in 1999. Were the stories we heard accurate? Did the killers (Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold) target certain groups of students like the media made it sound? After digging deeper it was discovered that Harris was deemed a psychopath by some psychologists and Klebold was a suicidal depressive. The truth is they wanted to blow up the whole place and kill hundreds with a propane bomb that failed to detonate. Only after that did not work did they kill with guns. Still the idea of loner vs. bullies continued to be the theme in the media and applied to later shootings.

Now some parents live in fear that their children could be the next victim. Is there necessary evidence to be worried? Some research suggests that school shootings are increasing while others say the opposite. Different factors make the results vary. The truth is gun violence continues to be a problem in the United States. Not necessarily a focus on schools, but gun violence in general is a problem. Only when an incident happens close to home does it seem to shake us. The truth is more than 300 shootings happen everyday in the U.S. When people see gang violence in areas that don’t seem close to home they become more immune. But for some reason when a school shooting happens it is a bigger deal. Many children’s lives are at risk.

This is an article that is relevant and newsworthy now more than ever. As the media portrays shooting in different lights we may be misled. Should we be concerned about increased school shootings? Maybe, maybe not. What should be confronted is the overall gun violence problem. Does the next school shooting need to happen before people are awoken to the problems outside of schools?

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/28/us/when-columbine-is-invoked-fears-tend-to-overshadow-facts.html?ref=us