Presidential Elections

After reading an article in the Mercury News, it is obvious that Bill Clinton will do what he can to be in the media involving his wife 's campaigning. He voiced that he was concerned about the fight between Hillary and Obama. He continued to go on voicing how when he was in the presidential race that he allowed himself to drop to 3rd overall before the start of the Democratic convention where he and Gore were placed first. Bill says that they need to "chill out." In a way I kinda think that Bill Clinton just wants to be in office again and is going through Hillary. If we are going to have our first woman president, I think it will look bad for the female candidate to be elected because her husband has been in office and knows how it works. If this happens, it may reflect poorly on having our first female president.

Summer

Like every other student, I cannot wait for the warm weather and the free time from school and hard work that we have to do all year. I love the idea of going home and being able to relax, but unfortunatley as I get older, summer becomes less and less of a relaxing time. Now when I go home I have to work and take summer school courses. Even though taking classes are more laid back in the summer, it is still not something I am looking forward too. One thing also, I don't know if they have finals? That would suck! I think that students should be provided enough time and credits throughout the regular school year to be able to graduate on time. This way they are not forced to spend more time and more money on school when they are already doing this throughout the year. Unfortunately I am suffering from loading up my summer with classes because I simply do not have enough time to complete the courses I need.

ANYONE PLEASE READ! (FWD)

Hello Friends,

We are parents who are pleading for your help. Our son Michael
is 19 years old and last May was diagnosed with Acute Myelogenous
Leukemia (AML), a fast-growing cancer of the blood and bone marrow.
Many of you already know Michael's story but let me give you a few
highlights. As of May of 2007 Michael was a typical goofy 18 year old
from a typical family in Noblesville, IN who was ready to graduate from
high school. Michael loves hockey and lacrosse. We, as most of you,
thought that nothing would change our lives in such a drastic way. Boy,
were we wrong. Michael had some swollen lymph nodes and when they were
checked we were told the devestating news of cancer. We put on our "big
girl pants" and were ready to fight this thing. In December, Michael
went into remission but by January was back in the fight. This time we
are in the fight of our lives.

Fast forward to now, Michael has been receiving treatment at
Riley Children's Hospital in Indianapolis. His next step is a bone
marrow transplant. Michael needs to have the transplant in order to
survive. From our research the best place for treatment is Children's
Hospital in Seattle, Washington. Now here is the catch. Michael is at
his life-time limit for insurance. In order for Seattle to schedule the
transplant we need send them a check for $500,000. We are no longer the
typical American family and like most of you- do not have $500,000 to
send them.

WE NEED YOUR HELP! We are asking three things from you:

1. Your prayers that we get our miracle and Michael survives
his fight with AML and is able to return to the life of a typical
nineteen year old.

2. Please send a donation of $20.00 to the:
Michael Treinen Medical Trust Fund
c/o Mr. Sid Loomis
Harris Bank
107 W Logan Street
Noblesville, IN 46060

3. Please pass this e-mail to at least twenty (20) of your
friends and relatives and ask them to send this email to at least 20
people. Please feel free to share a personal connection with Michael and
our family.

This a time-sensitive grass roots campaign to raise the $500,000
that Michael needs. Time however is not our friend. We need this money
to be received by Thursday, April 3rd. We have to get treatment started
as soon as possible!

I know that many of you do not know us. I can assure that a
year ago we would never have believed that we would be asking not only
our friends and family, but complete strangers to help us pay to save
our son's life. Believe me when I tell you this is the last thing we
want to be doing. But, you do what you have to do.

Please help us and send a check to the bank...today! Also,
please send this email out to everyone you know. I know we can do this
with your help. If you want to know more about Michael, you can go to

http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/michaeltreinen

67e781d5&URL=http%3a%2f%2fwww.caringbridge.org%2fvisit%2fmichaeltreinen>
.

God bless and thank you,

Tom and Kelly Treinen



PS: All funds that exceed Michael's medical needs will be
donated to charity- of course something to do with CURING CANCER!!!!

Blood Drives

I am pretty sure that everyone close to me knows or has heard about my experiences with giving blood. I am terrified of needles and cannot stand the thought of willingly giving blood without feeling like I am going to pass out. I know that giving blood is an extremely important process that helps many people that are sick or are in need of blood. I am always the person incouraging my friends to donate and to get involved, but then I sit back and think to myself, I WOULD NEVER DO IT! I bet it is hard for people to imagine why people like me do not want to give blood, but my fear of needles over comes my desire to help people. I was recently assigned to a group project where we are helping out with blood drives and possibly creating one of our own to help people in need. It was not drawn to my attention of how bad my issue with needles really was until my teacher brought up the idea that I should give blood to document for our class campaign. I wish there was a different way to donate blood to help people who need it, but as of right now I cannot get the strength to get myself in a donating chair. I am sure that there are many people with my issue and I wish there was a way to fix this!!!

You tube

http://youtube.com/watch?v=PktRhDdWuaY

I thought that this you tube was interesting because it shows how much people care and why each individual vote for the president matters.

Gas prices

I don't think anyone remembers what it was like to have gas prices as low as $1.00 per gallon. The price for gas has risen 30 cents this past month and it expected to rise more over the summer. Last year the record high was less than the $3.28 average it is at right now. Apparently this time of year is when gas prices tend to reach their peek, but it is also the time of year of traveling and spring break where people are more likely going to have to fill up on gas. CNN stated that prices could reach a high of $4.00 a gallon before it starts to decrease at the end of the spring season. I think to make everyone happier drivers, we should all try to conserve our resources and prevent these large increases in prices. Hopefully we will find an alternative to using gas, allowing us to have a cleaner environment and heavier wallets.

Technology

My friend Megan is majoring in Informatics. I found this to be very odd, mainly becuase I did not have a clue of what it was. After a little explanation from her, I learned that she was making probably one of the best decisions majoring in this topic. Technology is the fastest growing part of our economy and soon enough everything will be based around computers and electronical devices. In a way I think this is a wonderful improvment in our society, but then again I feel bad for those who are older and cannot catch on as quickly as the people who are growing up with technoloy. Computers have been an important part to my schooling and have aided in almost every school project or assignment I have had to complete. Take this class, Citizen Media, for example, it is soley based around computers and technology as a source of media. Having the opportunity to major in such a large growing subject will help our society further the growth of technology. If only I had a better understanding of computers. (aka not AIM and facebook)

Understanding Comics

I never thought that I would like or even think about reading a comic book until I read Understanding Comics by Scott McCloud. This book showed me that comics are not just pictures that go along with words, but that these pictures are part of the stories and that they even tell a story themselves. The development of comics takes a lot more thinking then I first thought it would. I found that McCloud explained the development and history of comics very thoroughly. Having the back round of comics I think helps people understand where they come from and the ideas they are based off of. Another thing I found to be interesting was that each human figure that has a visible face contains the standard smiley face. Each character that is drawn derives from one simple shapr that is internationally known. I have yet to pick up a comic book since reading Understanding Comics, but I feel that if I see one on the shelf at the library or at a book store, I will look at it differently and possibly give it a chance.

Declaring a Major

I just changed my major my psychology to publie health and I am hoping that it was the right decision. I have alwasy been interested in issue involving health and I think that this is the right track for me to be on right now as I continue to learn and grow at school. I think it is hard for people to declare a major when they really do not know what it involves until they are enrolled in a university. Having the option of exploritory is a wonderful idea, this way is doesn't force people to declare a major when they are not 100% sure that this is what they want to do with their life. Ya, you can change your major, but if you do it too late you lose credits and may end up having to stay longer in school or be pressured into taking an overloaded schedule.