Blog 11

In the article "Penn State's McQueary on alleged rape:'I did stop it'...and did talk to the police", Mark Wogenrich and Andrew Mcgill write about Jerry Sandusky and his latest scandal. Jerry Sandusky is the former football assistant coach to Joe Paterno. Jerry Sandusky is being charged for rape and 40 counts of sexual abuse of children and can be bailed out for $100,000. Sandusky, Paterno, and Mike Mcqueary, also a former Penn State assistant coach got fired for not doing anything about it. Mcqueary said that in 2002, he caught Sandusky in a shower with a TEN YEAR OLD and said that the kid was "being subjected to anal intercourse". The only problem was he didn't go directly to the police when he saw this happen. So far he has been criticized to the extreme, and not in a good way at all. Mcqueary left immediately after seeing Sandusky in the shower and was "distraught" and called his father, according to the presentment, his father told him to leave the building and go to this house.

I think that this is all just disgusting. Jerry Sandusky is one of the most known college football coaches around and to hear about this is sickening.  I don't think that Paterno should have been fired because he didn't know of anything going on at the time. I agree on how the other assistant coach was fired, he knew about it almost the whole time and never told the police about it. He did tell the athletic director but that doesn't cut it. I think that it is so gross that such an old man would do that to little boys. I think its kind of funny because in a later interview Sandusky said that he never touched the boys but he did "touch their legs, but never in a sexual way." That makes no sense at all!

http://www.twincities.com/ci_19341141

Blog # 10

In the article "A Generation of Bigots Comes of Age," author Richard Cohen talks about how the younger generation has turned into a generation of bigots. If a person thinks about the United States as a country, typically it is found that the more schooling a person has, the more likely they will be more tolerant. So for that reason, older people who should have the most education, would be the most tolerant age group. But according to a survey done by the Anti-Defamation League, this is no longer true. "For instance, when white people were asked if blacks prefer to remain on welfare rather than work, 42 percent of the respondents 50 years old or older said the statement was 'probably true.' Predictably, the figure plummeted to 29 percent for those 30 to 49. but then it jumped to 36 percent for respondents under 30." About 68 percent of the younger respondents said that blacks "complain too much about racism," and 63 percent said that blacks "stick together more than others." for both of those statements, the younger age group agreed more than any other age group. A reason for all of this is plain and clear; the younger age group is ignorant of recent American history. Most kids these days know nothing of the civil rights struggles of the 1950s and 60s.

I agree that the youngest age group is the most tolerant because we have learned that everyone is equal. I think that in the south, racism happens a lot more than in the north. But overall it happens everywhere all over the world. It happens with every race also.

Blog Post #8

I read an article called "Ford workers ratify new contract with UAW" by Dee-Ann Durbin and Tom Krisher from the Pioneer press on 10/18/2011. Ford Motor Co.'s US factory workers have approved a new four-year labor contract. The contract promises profit-sharing checks and billions in U.S. plant investments but keeps the company's labor costs under control. A local union in Kentucky was one of the last votes and ensured that the agreement will go into effect. The contract promises more than 1.2 billion dollars in investments and new products at the two Kentucky assembly plants. The agreement covers 41,000 Ford workers in the U.S. The UAW talks are watched because they set the pay for 112,000 workers at the Detroit Three. Ford has promised 4.8 billion dollars in new investments and 5,750 new jobs through 2015. A simple majority of voting is needed for a contract's adoption.

I think that this is amazing! It says in here though that the St Paul factory is supposed to be shut down. So some jobs in the twin cities will be lost. But in Kentucky almost 6,000 jobs will be opened. Overall, more jobs will be opened in the future.

http://www.twincities.com/ci_19141636

Blog Post #7

I read an article called "VIkings fans, beware: Second L.A stadium proposal just got more attractive". It was written in the Los Angeles Times on 10/11/2011. The NFL stadium controversy in Southern California just got more interesting and competitive. Real estate Ed Roski changed his offer to teams eying relocation. His bid for a stadium in City of Industry has for months been lost in the shadows of a rival proposal next to Staples Center. ROski has dropped his demand for a no-cash minority share of a franchise. Instead he is offering to hand over the 600 acres to any team that relocates there. The team would than finance the stadium he propose, and than sell him a share of the franchise at market rate. Roski says "My goal is to bring football back to Los Angeles, create jobs now, and to create an incredible NFL experience every game day for fans." The stadium is expected to be done by 2014 and he is budgeting $16 million over the next six months to complete construction documents on an open-air stadium built into a hillside. The teams trying to relocate include the Chargers, Raiders, Vikings, Rams, Jaguars, Bills, and the 49ers. The team most likely to relocate is the San Diego Chargers.

I think it would be so stupid for the Vikings to relocate. St Paul is way too big of a market to not have a professional football team. Plus the state of California already has enough football teams. The new stadium proposal does look pretty sweet but it would just be dumb of the Vikings to move. Hopefully a team like the Rams or the Jaguars relocate.

Post 5, Pioneer Press, "After computer theft, data at risk for 16,800 patients in Fairview, North Memorial health systems", by: Christopher Snowbeck, 9/27/11

"After computer theft, data at risk for 16,800 patients in Fairview, North Memorial health systems"
Pioneer Press
By:Christopher Snowbeck
9/27/11

At two hospital systems in the Twin Cities, a laptop computer was stolen, containing private information, such as social security numbers of over 16,000 patients. The Minneapolis-based Fairview system sent letters to nearly 14,000 patients.The Robbinsdale-based North Memorial also sent out 2,800 letters to patients. They confirmed that a laptop lacking the necessary privacy protections was stolen from a car in July. There was no evidence that any patient information has been accessed or misused. The theft happened in a Minneapolis restaurant.The owner of the laptop is an employee of Accretive Health. He is a Chicago-based Consulting firm that is working with both health systems.
"There is a password associated with accessing that particular device," said Lois Dahl, information privacy director for Fairview. "They assured us they have strong passwords, which means it's not something easy to get. Someone would have to use technical measures beyond the average person in order to get at the data on the device." In order for someone to get into the laptop or access anyones' file, they have to enter a password. They have policies and procedures that require all laptops with patient information to be fully encrypted. But because of human error, the missing laptop was not encrypted, meaning the files are potentially at risk of being accessed.


WOW this is horrible! If i was one of those patients i would sue the company or something. Or at least fire the guy who didn't encrypt the laptop. The fact that its over 16,000 peoples files at risk is amazing. I think that also they shouldn't be keeping this important laptop in a car. It should be locked up or kept somewhere safe at work. If you look more into the article it says that a fine for breaking federal privacy laws can get up to $1.5 million!

http://www.twincities.com/ci_18991391

Post 4, Pioneer press "Wild giving 18 year old chance" by: Bruce Brothers 09/21/2011

18 year old Zack Phillips is looking at training camp as his first steps on his way to the NHL, and so far its looking really good. Within the first five days of camp, and the late summer prospects tournament, he has impressed head coach Mike Yeo so much that he will be playing in the exhibition game against the St Louis Blues. The wild say they're vowed to avoid hurrying young prospects into their roster. He played in a Quebec Major Junior Hockey League last year. Yeo observed that Phillips is still adjusting to the pace of the workouts. Phillips was the 28th overall pick in the 2011 draft. Last season he compiled up 95 points with 38 goals in 67 games. That's amazing! When he was 13, he left his home in Fredericton, New Brunswick, to play prep hockey and hopefully lead him to the NHL. I couldn't imagine having that much pressure at such a young age. I just think it's phenomenal if your that young and get to play at such a high level and get payed to do it.

I'm not all that excited when it comes to the sport of hockey, but this kid sounds extremely good. And the funny thing is, he's only 18 years of age. And the fact that he had 95 points in only 67 games is unreal. The Wild didn't do all that great last year but they picked up some new players. One of those players is Dany Heatley, at one point an all star. The other is Phillips who i think could turn out to be an amazing player. He plays the center position and the wild arent too strong in that area.

http://www.twincities.com/sports/ci_18944735

New Coach for the T-Wolves!

http://www.twincities.com/ci_18878434?source=pkg

So this article is about the Minnesota Timberwolves who hired a new head coach this past weekend. His name is Rick Adelman and he is a very experienced coach. He is the teams 11th coach in 22 years, and the fifth coach in the past 7 seasons. He is the eighth most winning coach in NBA history with a record of 945-616. Over the past two season, Minnesota has gone 32-132 and have missed the playoffs seven years in a row. Adelman has been to 16 playoffs with four different teams, spending most of that time with the Portland Trail Blazers and the Sacramento Kings. About a month ago, Adelman told reporters he was planning on sitting out a year to spend more time with the family. But Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor and team president of basketball operations David Kahn talked him out of retiring and to coach the Timberwolves. His deal is worth $16 million dollars over four years. He takes over one of the youngest teams in the league, where every player is younger than 26 except for one, Luke Ridnour who turns 32 in February. Kevin Love, Minnesota's star player got to play with Adelman's son at Lake Aswego High school in Portland. So Adelman got to see him play and got to know his dad, Stan Love, who is a former NBA player. "He'll be a tremendous asset for that team," Stan Love said. "He's exactly what the Wolves need to get things going."

In response, i think this was the best choice the Timberwolves had made in years. We finally have a good coach with the experience to back it up. The Timberwolves have one of the youngest and talented teams in the league in my mind. If Adelman can keep the young players in line, it should be a very fun team to watch and i think they have a chance of making the playoffs. I think its amazing that out of his 20 years coaching, hes made it to the playoffs 16 years! He made the playoffs on AVERAGE of 4 out of 5 seasons. That's purely amazing in my mind! Hopefully he can turn this years number two overall pick Derrick Williams into an all star like he should be. I think we have the youngest and potentially one of the most talented starting five in the league. The starting lineup most likely will be: Ricky Rubio, 20 years old, Wesley Johnson, 24, Michael Beasley, 22, Derrick Williams, 20, and Kevin Love, 23. I don't think anyone else in the league has that young of a lineup and that much talent. All five of those players are former top 5 picks. Ricky Rubio was a number 5 pick, Wesley Johnson was a number 4 pick, Michael Beasley and Derrick Williams were number 2 picks and Kevin Love was a number 3 pick. That right there has the potential to win a championship within two to three years.

20 foot crocodile!

On this past Sunday, September 4th, a 20 foot crocodile was pulled out of the river in the Philippines. It took about 100 people to pull it out. The crocodile was weighed at about 2,370 pounds! That's huge! It was estimated to be about 50 years old. They say that a crocodile can live for more than 100 years and live to be 23 years old. There are only about 250 of this kind of crocodile known to be in the wild. So there are many more of them in the philipines.

I think that this is just amazing. I never knew that crocodiles could get that big. This makes me feel lucky that i get to live in such a nice area and a place where no wild animals are. There are so many deaths from crocodiles each year. And just to imagine how big a 20 foot crocodile is, thats like the size of a car, but and extra ten feet longer.


http://www.twincities.com/ci_18838174?source=most_viewed

Pages 2-7

In the textbook "The Writers Response" (p. 2-7) authors Stephen McDonald and William Salomone break down the writing process.

 The solution to effective writing is to follow a process. This process is divided into three stages, prewriting, writing, and rewriting. Prewriting is a way to decide what your central idea is about. Some of the examples of prewriting include: brainstorming, free writing, clustering and possibly talking to other people. Prewriting can happen anytime of the writing process, not necessarily the beginning. Prewriting is gathering information for the actual writing. The writing stage is the part where you actually sit down and begin to write. It makes it very hard if you did not prewrite before. If you hit a wall, you should return to prewriting. Rewriting is the stage where the writer revises and edits their paper. Revising is rewording, reorganizing, and probably rewriting. Editing is correcting spelling, grammar, and punctuation. Editing is fixing the mechanics of a paper. You need both editing and revising to make a good paper. If you get writers block, a good technique is freewriting. Freewriting is when you write whatever is on your mind for a limited period of time. You don't need to worry about the mechanics at this time. Another effective technique is brainstorming. This is the act of listing your ideas with bullet points, writing them as they come to your mind. Brainstorming can help you decide what topic is most important. Clustering is a visual aid to help you organize your material. Your main topic is in the center circle, and from there each thought is in a separate circle connected to the main idea. All three of these techniques are very effective ways of prewriting. Something to always remember when an assignment is due: Think in ink. Writing is not about whats on the paper, but more so organizing your thoughts.

In the past i had always skipped the prewriting step and went straight to the writing. Writing is a process just like math. It takes time, effort, hard work, and a plan. Now i know that every time i sit down to start a paper, i can follow these steps and have greater success. What i really learned is that good writing requires more than just writing, but you have to organize your ideas and get them on paper by using the process. Also once your actual writing is done, you have to go back, maybe more than once, and revise and edit it. It is very rare that the first draft is perfect. Now that I have the tools, i can imagine myself becoming a more polished writer.

Intro to Nick Kieland

Hello my name is Nick Kieland. I just turned 20 on may 12. I live in Woodbury MN and have lived there ever since i was 5. I have one older sister who is about to be 24 in January. She recently just got engaged to her boyfriend of 7 years. Before attending Inver Hills i went to Century College for a semester and before that i went to University of Wisconsin-Platteville for a semester. I love to play sports, including basketball, baseball, softball and football. I actually play in a men's slow pitch softball league during the summer and a men's basketball league during the winter. I work at Super America in Woodbury, i love my job i get to see and meet many different types of people. I have 3 cats and two dogs. One is a mutt and the other is a husky. If you would like to know more you can always add me on Facebook.