Scott's Thoughts

Alcohol on college campuses has become a hazard to the education of the nation’s youth, with two recent deaths, one at LSU and one at MIT, both dying from alcohol poisoning.

Just this past weekend, three students from the Alpha Beta Zeta fraternity were admitted to the local hospital for alcohol poisoning after attending a party at the ABZ house, according to the university’s public relations office.

The three students taken to the hospital were: Press Martin, a junior; Al Amalek, a freshman and Rob Smith, a sophomore. Martin and Smith were released from the hospital on Monday, while Amalek is still there listed in critical condition.

University president Harvey Smithville had previously restated the policy banning alcohol from fraternity houses on campus or within campus environs.

 “Any fraternity in which the members have alcohol will be immediately suspended,” said Smithville. “A second offense within a year will result in the banning of that fraternity for five years.”

Due to this policy and evidence gathered by an investigation of the fraternity by the University, president Smithville has decided to suspend the fraternity and all its activities on campus.

Interfraternity Council president Bart Addison who agreed with president Smithville and supported the policy is calling for leniency.

 “I do not believe the entire fraternity should be held responsible for the actions of a few,” said Addison. “I am going to ask President Smithville to reconsider his suspension of the ABZs.”

This week I read an article by Sally Jenkins on the IOC of the Washington Post.

In the article, Jenkins talks about how the IOC is failing and needs to be overhauled and take responsibility.

She made a good point about how outrageous it is for the IOC to be looking down on the Canadian Women’s Hockey team for their actions after winning the Gold Medal, yet they practically turned a blind-eye when it came to the deadly dangerous Whistler Sliding Centre. Isn’t the whole point of the Olympics the “amateurism” of the sports? If you are going to have “amateur” spirit of the games – don’t get mad at the Canadian Women’s Hockey team for behaving like they would any other time.

Jenkins also points out the toll the Olympics takes on the host nation and the citizens. She recommends the IOC does something to stop the human rights concerns that are plaguing the Olympics.

I found the article to be a good read and intriguing considering some of the facts she points out about the 2014 games in Russia.

5.10

                Alcohol on college campuses has become a hazard to the education of the nation’s youth.

                Just this past weekend, three students from the Alpha Beta Zeta fraternity were admitted to the local hospital for alcohol poisoning after attending a party at the ABZ house, according to the university’s public relations office.

                Since the majority of drinking on college campuses is done at fraternity parties University president Harvey Smithville had previously restated the policy banning alcohol from fraternity houses on campus or within campus environs.

                “Any fraternity in which the members have alcohol will be immediately suspended,” said Smithville. “A second offense within a year will result in the banning of that fraternity for five years.”

                Due to this policy and evidence gathered by an investigation of the fraternity by the University, president Smithville has decided to suspend the fraternity and all its activities on campus.

                Interfraternity Council president Bart Addison who agreed with president Smithville and supported the policy is calling for leniency.

                “I do not believe the entire fraternity should be held responsible for the actions of a few,” said Addison. “I am going to ask President Smithville to reconsider his suspension of the ABZs.”

                The three students taken to the hospital were: Press Martin, a junior; Al Amalek, a freshman and Rob Smith, a sophomore. Martin and Smith were released from the hospital on Monday, while Amalek is still there listed in critical condition.

a) “Senior Alissa Kain scored 21 points and added 10 rebounds and six assists to lead Loudoun County to a 69-58 victory over Freedom-South Riding in the AA Dulles District final.” (story)

b) “As Maryland junior guard Cliff Tucker trotted off the floor amid the delirium of a Comcast Center crowd that was prematurely celebrating a victory Saturday over Georgia Tech, he figured there was no way Coach Gary Williams would draw up a play designed to end with the ball in his hands.” (story)

c)  “There’s something about the authoritative wrong note that I’ve always really liked,” opined John Mayer at Verizon Center Saturday night. (story)

d) “With the record snowfall this winter, classrooms across the Washington area have spent weeks on hiatus.” (story)

I did not like this lead becase it is very bland. It does not tell me anything I don’t already know. Does not make me want to read more.

Lawsuit:

            No, this isn’t a bad April Fool’s joke by Ellie Maston on Amburn’s Produce Market.

            Today in Circuit Court, Maston filed a negligence suit for $100,000 against the Market. The suit says that on April 1 of this year, Maston walked through some green beans left on the floor of the Market, slipped and broke her hip.

So I just got done watching “SportsCenter” and they were having a Tiger Woods party. Today it came out that he would make a statement on Friday. I get it, that is big news, but do we really need a 10 minute recap of  Tiger’s mess? We know what happened, we know what is going on. I watch “SportsCenter” to find out who won what, get stats and get trade rumor analysis. A mention of Tiger’s Friday statement would have been fine.

I can guarantee you that all day Friday ESPN will have a constant stream of information recapping what Tiger said, what he didn’t say, why he said what he said, etc. It will be nauseating. ESPN has turned into TMZ when it comes to this and it is sickening. Give me highlights of games, stats, trade rumors and recaps – don’t give me a 10 minute story on Tiger Woods when there is nothing new to report on.

Exercise 4.7 page 99 in Stovall

1. Martin Goldsmith, general manager of the local public radio station said the stations goal is to raise $100,000 this year in order to buy more expensive programs for their audience.
2. Marilyn Wall, president of the Walls Tire co., a locally owned tire manufacturer said that this past year has been good for the company, so they have been able to hire more employees.
3. Marsha Moss, director of the local symphony orchestra said that last night’s audience was one of the best yet, and the orchestra enjoys playing for good audiences.
4. Jerry Butts, member of the city council said they faced a tough decision regarding police raises which would in turn raise the property tax.

Photo courtesy of Flickr user e.kristina.

This is a picture of approximately six old books. It is hard to tell because the spines are not in focus. The corner of the books are in focus, and the books become blurry as you move away from the corner. The books are on a red table, with a white design. The books are tattered and torn, in very bad shape. The book covers are red, white, green and blue. Some of the book cover colors are not distinguishable. The background is blurry and you can not see what is behind the books. Only the aligned corners of the books are in focus.

One thing that caught my attention this week in the news media was the ridiculous snow coverage the local stations had. NBC, FOX, ABC and CBS all had round the clock coverage, even during primtime on Friday night.

Yes, it was an epic snowstorm, but do we really need them updating their estimates every 5 minutes, with video of snow falling, or people getting stuck in the snow, or snow plow drivers? Friday night, I am snowed in, I can’t go out and hang out with friends. I want to watch the primtime television, such as “Numb3rs” on CBS, but they moved all primetime shows to the middle of the night to continue with snow coverage.

I think it was a poor call by the news media outlets to do this.

1. The United States composes 50 states.
2. 33 A.D.
3. Czar
4. QE2
5. Court-martials
6. International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers
7. Navy ROTC
8. Liberal
9. Pour
10. Atlanta, Ga