Are Surveys a Thing of the Past?

Recently I read a quick article in the New York Times entitled "Why People Hate Taking Surveys," just hearing this title made me think of the last time I was asked to take a survey and how quickly I shot down the opportunity. Unexpectedly the article (which can be found here) cited different reasons than I had expected as to why American's are growing less and less likely to respond to surveys. The article quoted one woman who said "One time when I asked a pollster who was sponsoring the poll, she would not tell me. If she couldn't be honest with me, why should I talk to her?" and another man that said "most 'pollsters' are sales campaigners." The first woman had clear distrust with the pollster and this caused her to turn down the survey. The man on the other hand had a distrust in the intentions of the pollster. He does not believe that the pollster is really calling for the reasons they say the are. I was astonished that the article argued for distrust to be the reason people hate surveys. I was certain that the leading reason would be American's lack of time. 

We have all heard the saying "time is money" and I would argue that today this is becoming more and more true. American's can now do nearly anything while on the go through their smart phones and just about everything seems to be getting more and more rushed. I can't remember the last time I did not turn down a sales call because I had more important things that needed to get done than listen to an automated voice or respond to a few questions. American's becoming more hurried is a trend that I believe we will see continue to grow in the years to come and in turn this will make survey less desirable. How does limited time affect you? Do you think time is a larger or smaller factor in the decline of surveys than distrust?

Horse Races: Love of the Sport or Love of Gambling?

With the Belmont stakes coming up this weekend and California Chrome striving to be the first Triple Crown winner in recent years it has made me think about why people put so much hype around a sporting event that last two to three minutes at most. On the day of the Kentucky Derby there was hours on end of TV time taking up solely for broadcasting pre-race, during race and post race coverage. If stations are willing to take up this much time then the races must be bringing in a substantial amount of viewers.

When I think of horse racing the first thing that comes to mind is gambling. And as I try to piece together why the two go hand and hand all that I can find is that people needed an added thrill so that they could love the sport of horse racing. Yes, there are amazing comebacks. Yes, there are underdogs. And yes, sometimes there is devastation during races but horse racing is not all that exciting until you have some of your own money riding on those horses. Is it American culture that gives us the thrill of gambling or is it just part of being a human being?

Concussions: A National Problem

Just the other day President Barrack Obama held a conference in the White House addressing the growing national problem of concussions. The NFL has seen a drastic number of concussions in the past years. In the past years ex-NFL players have been seen developing dementia early and also many of these ex-players have committed suicide. Obama wants to make an impact and create a safer sport with out changing the game or convincing parents to stop their children from playing contact sports.  Obama stressed that he himself enjoys the sport and that he believes it is immensely important for children to grow up staying active.

What I find most interesting is that Obama said that sports are  "fundamental to who we are as Americans". Obama no matter how dangerous these sports are they will never go away because of the deep rooted tradition they have in American culture, and Obama is completely aware of this.  This is why Obama made a point to push for better safety in terms of equipment and rules. This way Americans are able to continue to play the sports that they love but the growth in safety will be there. What are your opinions on safety in high contact sports?

Conspiracy in the NBA?

News recently broke in a BleacherReport article that after the 2006 NBA Championships the Dallas Mavericks owner, Mark Cuban, hired a retired FBI agent to do some snooping around on the NBA officials after many controversial calls cost the Mavericks the championship. Although what was found by the agent, Warren Flagg, are not known to the public, we do know that Flagg told Cuban "Sue and you'll win your case".

As many of you may remember, the Mavericks had started out the best of seven series up two games to zero but things when down hill from there. Arguably the biggest factor being Dwayne Wade's ninety seven free throw opportunities over the course of the six games. Many believe that Wade's free throws were the game changer especially in the Heat's 101-100 win during game 5 of the series.

We do not know exactly what Flagg found out but it is astonishing that he believed that Cuban could have won a case against the NBA. Many conspiracy theorist are taking this as profound proof that there is something fishy going on in the NBA at a level that not even owners know about it. I think it is incredible that in a country that puts so much value on professional athletes and sports that this many believe this to actually be happening. Do you think it is justifiable to believe that this could be happening in the NBA? If this all were to be true how do you think NBA fans would react? Please share your thoughts below.

Bruins Fans Go Too Far

It is that time of year again when hockey is all that matters in Boston and in much of America. As the Bruins finished off the regular season with the best record in the NHL and have high hopes of bringing the Stanley Cup back to Boston after a disappointing series with the Blackhawks last year, much of the fan base is on edge. The Bruins breezed past first round opponents, Detroit Redwings, and now facing their rivals, the Montreal Canadiens. This is a rivalry greater than New Trier vs Evanston or even New Trier vs Loyola, the Canadiens and the Bruins have hated each other ever since there was only six teams in the National Hockey league. 

After the Canadiens were led to a victory in the first game by their superstar African American defender, PK Subban, Bruins fans were upset. Many of whom set off to twitter to share their anger with the world in the most negative way possible. An onslaught of racist tweets came Subban's way as the Bruins fans let loose. I myself, an avid Bruins fan, heard about this the next day and was stunned. I like to think of Boston fans as some of the best in the world but this was just classless and down right wrong. Many Bruins officials and players came out to express their views on the actions of their fans. Brad Marchand, known for his short temper while on the ice, came out saying "There’s no need at any point or time to be racist, and obviously no one in this room or this organization feels that way. It’s very disappointing." Bruins did their best not to align themselves with the beliefs of their some of their fans. 

Do you think it is common for sports to bring out the worst in people? Is this a national problem? Where has it been seen before?

Cheating in the Air Force

Earlier in the year the US Air Force found out that many of their officers were cheating on their proficiency tests. Although the over one hundred officers that were cheating or are believed to have known about the cheating have not been fired, nine people throughout the entire chain of command were fired yesterday, March 27th. Along with the firings, Col. Robert Stanley resigned on thursday. Stanley has been responsible for all of the officers caught cheating on the test (The article can be found here).

The cheating was revealed when there was belief that some officers may have been in possession of illegal drugs and the Air Force was forced to confiscate cell phones during the investigation. When in possession of the phones Air Force Officials discovered that answers to test questions have been sent via text messages from officer to officer during the time of the testing. A former missileers are saying that cheating on the proficiency tests has been around for a long time and is not anything new. Bruce G. Blair, a former missileer, said that "Cheating has been extensive and pervasive at all missile basis, going back for decades." Obviously, cheating is not a new problem if this is true, but this is the first time that the public is hearing of the allegations of the cheating. This leads many to believe that either the Air Force has been turning a blind eye or was somehow oblivious to the problems. 

The fact that many official have either ignored these blatant acts of cheating or just somehow did not know about them is quite concerning. The United States, in my opinion, is a country that is incredibly strict when it comes to safety. Yet, these members of the US Air Force whose primary job is controlling missiles are able to cheat there way through their job. Something about this does not seem right. What are your opinions on the topic? Do you think more people should have lost their jobs after news of this scandal was released? 

College Athletes: What Rights do They Have?

This past wednesday it was deemed legal for the Northwestern University football team to become unionized. The National Labor Relations Board ruled that the athletes were employees of the school and in turn should have the opportunity to unionize. On the basis that athletes spend upwards of fifty hours  week working solely on their athletics and that many players are being compensated through

scholarships is enough to make them considered employees. In the decision it is said "It can not be said that the employer's scholarship players are 'Primarily Students.'" This would go to imply that for these particular students athletics come first, not their education.

For a long time it would never have even been dreamt of for a college athlete to be considered an employee, that is just way too close being paid, and as we all know it is illegal for a college athlete to be paid. Now that student athletes are allowed to unionize do you think it will change the face of college athletics? Do you think less athletes will leave college early for the pros now that unionization is an option?

Women's History Museum

Today in the New York Times and article was released about the possibility of a museum being created solely about the History of Women (The article can be found here). The new museum would be located in Washington D.C. near the National Mall. The article states that in the past the house has proposed bills that would lead to the creation of a museum on the history of women but it has never had nearly enough support to be passed. Now it is seeming like the odds may be in the favor of the mall.

I feel that the fact that today we can finally come this close to creating a museum for women shows immense growth in the United States of America. Also the fact that America has become supportive enough of women in recent history that enough feats have been accomplished by them to open a museum solely for that also shows tremendous growth. Do you think the museum will end up opening? How do you think this portrays what the future of the United States in regards to women will look like?

Talking to Your Children

An article in todays New York Times talked about a new initiative in Providence, Rhode Island to help close the gap in learning between the rich and the poor (article can be found here). The initiative called, Providence Talks, is geared towards poor immagrants who are statistically shown to be behind in learning when they enter preschool at the age of four. It is believed that children of wealthy families are more prone to hearing and digesting a wider vocabulary at a young age, so Providence Talks is calling for lower income families to have their children wear a recording device one day a week so that analyst can listen to how the child is being talked to.

Providence Talks is joining a growing number of initiatives across the country that are trying to fight the battle against the gap in education based on wealth.  With Providence Talks we are beginning to see a shift in the ideals of Americans who instead of wanting what is best for them is striving for greatness and equality for all. We have seen this occur in other times throughout history but not in this context. Do you think Americans believe the success of the entire country lies on the education of all not just a select few? Do you believe the success of the country lies on the education of all and not just a select few? Please share your opinions.

SAT Overhaul

Yesterday College Board announced that as of 2016 the SAT would be totally redesigned. For a long time people were being judged with scores that often time did not reflect how good of a learner the student truly is. David Coleman, the president College Board, said that both the SAT and ACT have "both become from the work of our high schools". Coleman goes on to say that "What this country needs is not more tests, but more opportunities."

Colman and the College Board team have completely redone the SAT test. More common and important words will be added to the Vocab section, and the math sections would be more narrowed in on certain topics that are crucial to the development of students.

College Board announced that only twenty percent of high school teachers believe that standardized testing is a fair measure of how prepared a student is for college and the rest of their futures. The changes in the SAT are designed to help change this. Also, the ACT has recently surpassed the SAT as the number one standardized test in America. These changes will hopefully help make a change to this as well.

Finally a company realizes what american students really need to become successful. Do you think these changes are beneficial? What else could a standardized test do to change into something that helps judge how prepared a student really is?

Free Tilly

I recently watched a documentary called Black Fish, this documentary primarily circles the life of a whale named Tilikum. Tilikum is the largest Orca, commonly known as a Killer Whale, ever to be kept in captivity and he currently lives down at SeaWorld in Orlando, Florida. The movie starts in 1983 by talking about how Tilikum and two other Orcas were brutally captured and how multiple other Orcas died during this process. It then quickly moves on to tell us about  Tilikum's new living conditions and he was horrifically treated by his trainers and the two other Orcas. Since Tilikum was only a child at the time, and not nearly as large as he his now, he was routinely attacked by the two other whales who had to share the small new home with Tilikum. One day Tilikum had snapped and during the middle of a show he attacked his trainer and killed her with little help from the other whales. In return this event lead to the closing of this park and Tilikum was sent to SeaWorld after being bought for a large sum of money. 

Details about the death of the Trainer at Tilikum's first venue were smudged and Trainers at SeaWorld (Where Tilikum was moved to and still resides today) were unaware that Tilikum was the whale that took part in the attack that had lead to such a terrible death. In fact, Trainers were delighted to be able to work with such a "friendly" and "well-trained" animal. As time went on Tilikum began to steal the show at SeaWorld, people would fill the stadium just to see his performances. Over the next twenty or so years at SeaWorld Tilikum has gone on to brutally kill two more people and has shown countless acts of disobedience and aggression. Still SeaWorld has refused to free him after all of this for two main reasons: the money and attention he brings in and the price of sperm. In fact, over half of the Orca's at SeaWorld carry Tilikum's genes. Tilikum is too beneficial when it comes to reproducing more whales rather than capturing new ones. 

Till this day Tilikum spends most of his days confined alone in the smallest tank SeaWorld has to offer and he only comes out to perform in rare, short parts of shows based on his behavior. Former trainers of Tilikum are supporting a movement called Free Tilly Now. From personal experience these trainers know how SeaWorld alter facts both to their trainers and people attending their shows about their whales and they now believe it is time for this to change. Tilikum is clearly no longer fit for this life style and it is only fair for him to be freed. 

Unfortunately, many people believe that as long as the businessmen surrounding SeaWorld care more about profit than they do about the safety and well being of both their whales and trainers things will never change. It seems to be a driving theme throughout history to present day that money what is most important even if it put others at risk. In addition to this many trainers in at SeaWorld are over confident and under estimate the animals that they are working with. These humans do not realize the severity of working with a 12,000 pound animal that they can hardly communicate with. Do you think this is a common American theme? Do you think the treatment of Tilikum is just? Please share your comments.

 You can visit Free Tilly Now's web page here.