Majors Presentation

For our majors presentation I was in a group with Jessica, Julia, and Michael. Our major was liberal studies because that is three of ours major. When we first received the assignment we discussed who was which major and then started to discuss what we would put in our powerpoint. We did the majority of our work via email. We divided the work into slides; I would do the first two slides, and then one of my group members would do the next slide, and it continued until each one of us had a slide done and the project was complete. After all of us did our part in the project, one of us put all the pieces together and then sent it out it all of us to go over. By doing so, each one of us was prepared to present it to the class.

I think our presentation went very well. Our group communicated through out the project and we finished it smoothly. My major is liberal studies and I know a lot about the major, but by doing this project I learned even more about it. I learned that there are programs for a liberal studies major that doesn't require a student to sit in a classroom. It's a more hands on experience. CSUMB does not offer this program at the moment, but it is still good information because it could help benefit my future. This assignment was fun, and it was very educating.

Swine Flu Emergency!

President Barack Obama declares a swine flu emergency. The declaration was signed friday and announced to the public on Saturday. This action gave Obama's health chief the power to allow hospitals to move their emergency rooms offsite. By doing so, this will help increase treatment and will also help protect non-infected patients. Philip Elliot of the associated press (Monterey Herald) states, "optimistic estimates that as many as 120 million doses of the vaccine could be available by mid-October." There have been more than 1,000 people in the United States that have died from this flu (H1N1); almost 100 of them have been children. Eleven million doses have gone out to health departments according t the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention officials.

Hospital drive-thrus and drive-up tent clinics have been created to screen and treat swine flu patients. This idea was created to help keep infectious patients out of the public and to also keep infected people away from other sick patients; therefore preventing new strains of swine flu. Officials have said, "The government hopes to have about 50 million doses of the sine flu vaccine out by mid-November and about 150 million in December." There isn't an exact count of how many swine flu cases there have been, because the government doesn't test everyone. But, to confirm how serious this disease is, there have been more than 20,000 hospitalizations.

Two Teenagers Killed

Five teenagers were driving down Archer Street and pulled off to the curb near University Street. One of the backseat passengers pulled out a handgun and shot the other four teenagers in the car. Two of the young boys died, and the other two remain in critical condition. According to Salinas police, this all occurred at about 5:35pm. This is the 24th homicide of the year, and last years record is 25. The shooting is being investigated to be gang related.

2009 Nobel Peace Prize

On Friday, October 9th President Barack Obama was awarded the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize. Obama is only the 4th president to have the honor of winning the Nobel Peace Prize; the last was Jimmy Carter in 2002. According to the Nobel website, Barack Obama was recognized for his, "multilateral approach on conflict, nuclear weapons, and climate change." The committee of five Norwegian Parliament appointees also recognized him for the "renewed US commitment to international organizations, in particular, the United Nations." The Democratic party leaders were very supportive compared to most of the Republican party. Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele stated, "It is unfortunate that the President's star power has outshined tireless advocates who have made real achievements working towards peace and human rights" (Associated Press Report). Many Republican party leaders are questioning Obama's accomplishments, but the award stands its ground.

Fort Ord Burns

Fort Ord continues to burn a 295-acre parcel, two miles east of Seaside. According to the Monterey Bay Unified Air Pollution Control District, all of these fires on Fort Ord are controlled; fires are being ignited depending on weather conditions. Acres of Fort Ord are being burned to clear vegetation so that munitions workers can remove unexploded ordnance from the former military base. Although this fire is controlled and is a benefit to munition workers, the Fort Ord Environmental Justice Network claims the burn is putting residents at risk by stating, "The soil at Fort Ord is littered with military munitions and toxic chemicals, which are released into the air when the Army ignites the fires." In result, we are left with two questions: Do we put munition workers at risk it save our health or do we save munition workers by putting out own health on the line?

GO GREEN!

"Monterey County launches recycling program for multi-family residences." The State Department of Conservation is trying to help the "Go Green" affect by recycling. The department gave a partnership of local agencies, non-profits and hauling companies a grant to "implement" recycling programs. All of this is happening in the Monterey Bay area multi-family housing units. By doing so, recycling outreach specialists will hand out indoor recycling bins at the Monterey County Health Department's kick-off event. Hopefully with all of this change, the low recycling rate at Monterey County will change. Monterey County is making huge steps to Go Green!

Major Fair

On Wednesday, September 30th,  I attended the major fair. The fair was very organized with all different booths separated by departments. I was able to walk up to different booths and learn more about any major I wanted to. There were also booths about studying abroad in places such as Australia, Denmark, Italy, and many more. I also was given information about financing studying abroad if I needed it, and I learned that there are many grants and scholarships that can help me travel. There was also a food table with snacks if anyone got hungry. Overall this major fair was a huge success. It offered me more information about my college career and how to become who I want to be through out my actions.