A few weeks ago I left Facebook for good. Throughout the past few months, I’ve deleted my Myspace and many of my forum accounts, and created a new email. I kept my Twitter account, which I use primarily for news, my LinkedIn account and a personal blog.

Well, that was fun

This being finals week, I thought I’d close out the semester with the traditional rundown and commentary on some of the latest current events.

With a significant amount of Americans saying they want to lose weight, it's important to know what to do and how to do it.

Senate fails to lead, again

Last week the Senate failed to overcome a Republican-led filibuster of yet another bill. This has happened so many times in the past five years it’s become almost cliché. A bill gets drafted, usually with bipartisan support, it gets to committee where it gets watered down according to Republican demands, then if it ever reaches the floor of the Senate some Tea Partier decides to block it, usually because he can’t bear the thought of anything getting done.

After getting my graduation announcements mailed to me, I started to think, “Uh, when do these go out?” So out of curiosity, I posted my question on Facebook. The response I got was, “Early April.” This got me thinking, “What else is there that I might not think of until the last minute?”
 

As part of the constant search for a solution to mass shootings, a group of senators recently pushed out new legislature that would put stricter regulations on background checks for gun purchasers.
Ideally, that makes sense.  You have a violent past? Well, no, you can’t have a gun because you’ll obviously go on a rampage. But, wait, what about the guy that’s only been in a couple of bar fights?

Embedded journalists can't be objective when on assignment in a war zone

This week, I heard a lecture from a journalist who traveled to Iraq as an “embedded journalist.” Basically, that means that he traveled with a military unit as he wrote and reported the news.
This has been a fairly common practice since before my time, but there are still journalists who go out on their own to get the story.
A lot of people defend embedded journalism by saying that Iraq, Afghanistan, and other war zones don’t offer the safety for a journalist to move freely. I understand and agree; however, journalism is supposed to be objective.
 

Another day, another spill, another reason to go green!

Just before Easter, an oil pipeline owned by Exxon-Mobil burst under the town of Mayflower, Ark., sending 5,000 barrels of oil spilling into the streets. The source of the leak has since been reported as a gash 20 feet long and two inches wide. This is only the most recent in a growing list of disastrous oil spills we’ve had to deal with in America in recent years.
 

The last few weeks, gay rights have stolen the stage as the key social issue facing this country.  While the Supreme Court has heard arguments on the Defense of Marriage Act and California’s Proposition Eight, conservative states have attacked a separate social issue.  With changing views on gay rights, conservatives have begun looking elsewhere to advance their political agenda.  Since the election, Republicans have tried to find a conservative solution to a changing demographic.  Many have suggested a more moderate stance on social issues could be the answer, but red states continue to stick to their socially conservative core.
 

Light it up blue for autism

April is Autism Awareness Month, and all over the world various advocacy groups, parents’ resource agencies and activists are “lighting it up blue” to build awareness of autism and related disabilities. This annual event was held on April 2, World Autism Awareness Day, and was marked by landmarks all over the world bathed in blue light to draw attention to the cause of finding treatments for autism.
 

Everyone dreads the prospect of the infamous “freshman 15.” As a college student, your budget may allot ramen noodles two meals a day, seven days a week. A good number of students attend school full-time and can’t (or won’t!) hold a job. For these students, as well as those with minimum-wage part-time jobs, finding a way to eat healthy and stay in shape (or lose some weight once you get to college) is a challenge. Keeping a budget and knowing how to shop are key components in being healthy while saving money.
 

Sexual politics in America

Some interesting events happened recently in the arena of sex politics in America. It’s too early to tell yet whether we’ll see any positive changes, but what I’ve observed so far has been tentatively encouraging.
 

A couple of weeks ago someone asked me why I think studying science is so important. I began to answer their question with my usual answer, “It teaches people to think critically and to solve problems.” However, as I thought about it, I realized that was not a good reason to learn anything. It is a beneficial outcome of learning science, but not the reason why people should want to begin studying it.
 

Perhaps some might remember when Nebraska finally ended its use of the electric chair for the death penalty in 2008, but the movement to abolish the death penalty in the state has been a far quieter force.