Woman Dies in Texas on Six Flags Roller Coaster Ride

http://www.latimes.com/news/nation/nationnow/la-na-nn-six-flags-texas-death-20130720,0,6973213.story

Although this event occurred quite awhile ago, I felt compelled to write about this because of this controversial issue. Reading through this article was quite horrifying and depressing. 

This accident occurred at approximately 6:30 p.m. at the Six Flags Over Texas park in Arlington. A woman tumbled to her death after not being securely strapped onto the ride. 

The author of this article seemed to have taken different sources such as Carmen Brown of Arlington, a bystander as well as John Putman who was also waiting in line. These various sources increase the accuracy of the article and give several different point of views.

The article stated that someone had heard someone screaming, “My mom! My mom! Let us out, we need to go get her!”. This was such a heartbreaking thing to read because if that person was indeed related to her, it would have been very traumatizing to watch her plunge to her death. It would have been more helpful if the article included who the woman was with to identify if the person who was screaming in line was indeed a companion of hers. 

It is obvious that this specific amusement park has an inadequate staff member who had no consideration for others. But this article made me wonder if the employee was prejudice towards larger peoples or if they genuinely believed the the woman was strapped correctly in her seat. I’ve read many other cases where employees have allegedly treated fat people differently than others (Brandy Melville http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2p0t4Rze_O8). 

In all, this woman was so unfortunate to have been in this position and if that person who did not secure her seat belt correctly had done it out of pure stupidity or just inconsideration, there is not much to do now but to mourn the woman’s death and to improve ride safety.

Small but deadly

http://www.economist.com/news/science-and-technology/21582243-biggest-extinction-history-was-probably-caused-space-rock-changed

Reading this article, I actually didn't know that dinosaurs' extinction was caused by a rock from outer space that landed in southern Mexico. I found it interesting that after years and years of research, that the details have changed drastically according to researcher Eric Tohver of the University of Western Australia. 

If this article’s details were drawn from several different sources I believe it would have made it slightly more accurate than one with only one perspective. 

Just last year Tohver and his team of colleagues thought they had found the answer to their questions, the “Araguainha crater” they called it. This wasn’t entirely true of course.

This article about Eric Tohver’s ‘discovery’ seems similar to a time in history where everyone believed that everything revolved around the earth. Just as Eric Tohver is trying to make his idea more widespread, I feel someone will have a more convincing argument with the same idea and be credited for his theory. 

From my perspective I believe that although Tohver has very many good points, it his ideas aren’t fully developed and backed up with enough evidence. I have come to a theory from what I’ve read from this article. Just as Copernicus who had spread the idea of the sun being the center of the solar system, Galileo was the one who had mathematically proved it. This is similar to what I believe that will happen to Eric Tohver’s theory about the crater that made the dinosaurs extinct, that he will widespread the idea, but someone else will come up with evidence that will prove it. 

Royal Baby Boy: Economists Forecast £240 Million Economic Bump

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2013/07/23/royal-baby-economy-boost_n_3638066.html 

As the royal baby coverage continues to take over the internet it sparks a boost in the British economy. Just as the media had covered the marriage of Kate Middleton, a commoner and Prince William they have gotten all the details of their royal child. In the result of the royal baby in the public eye, it has caused a rise in the economy of British. The announcement was made on Monday at 4:24pm to confirm the birth of the royal baby. Before this had occurred, there were attempts to fake the birth of the baby in order to keep the media away when the real birth was going on, but of course this failed.

“According to the Centre for Retail Research, the economy could stand to gain £240 million”. This is due to the bets made on the baby’s gender/name, buying of souvenirs, and other commemorative items. Of course this was not ever asked or necessary, but it does give the British economy a lift.

It may be because of the fact that it was a commoner that gave birth to the royal child that really led to people feeling compelled to buy part streamers and balloons and such. But throughout the process of the media capturing all of these moments before and after the child was born seems like an invasion of privacy. Overall it seems like a win win for the economy of Britain as well as the royal family who welcome a new member. 

http://www.economist.com/news/business/21582001-army-new-online-courses-scaring-wits-out-traditional-universities-can-they

As the advancement of technology progresses, we are able to do almost anything with the internet. We can video chat with someone a million miles away, purchase clothes to be delivered, even take an online course in the comfort of our own home. With that being said, anyone with a laptop has the ability to take courses online for cheaper or even free. Such education can be taken for free through MOOCs.

An example of an MOOC provider is Edx, a non-profit institution that began in May 2012 by Harvard University and MIT. Although this is much to our advantage, it has taken a toll on the business of traditional universities. 

As stated in the later paragraphs, although the education itself on MOOC may be free, providers are charging for other revenues including certificates of completion. The widespread of MOOC has reached out to many different companies and has already formed several partnerships.

The structure of this article begins with a broad topic of the MOOCs and provides example of these in it’s body paragraphs while addressing the main topic. Just as the article in “Obama harms the press”, this author also uses words such as “Certainly...” in order to convey his opinions and provide analysis. He also uses words such as “in contrast” to address both sides of the situation. In the second part of the article, it has another title, “This lecture is brought to you by…” and gives several different point of views (Mr Feerick, Alison, Rob Lyte) on the future of online. 

While the system seems to be improving, there is still much experimentation being done. Therefore, MOOCs may seem great at the moment, with the changes and hidden charges, I would rather stick to a more reliable traditional university rather than taking a risk.

Girls Bedtimes vs. Boys Bedtimes

http://www.economist.com/news/science-and-technology/21581698-regular-sleeping-hours-really-are-good-childrenif-they-are-girls-bedtime

As I child, my bedtime was set at 10pm and not a second later. I remember how every night I would fuse over the fact that I never could stay up late to watch television. Little did I know that my 10pm bedtime every night could affect my intelligence.

This article Children’s intellectual development: bedtime stories reports the affect that a simple bedtime could have on a child. A project called the Millennium Cohort Study took place in order to prove the theory. They brought in a group of kids ranging from ages up to seven years old. 

With later study it was reported that “children that had reached the age of seven, not having had a regular bedtime did seem to affect their cognition, even when other pertinent variables such as bedtime reading, bedroom televisions and parents’ socioeconomic status were controlled for”. Therefore, a constant time to sleep for a child at young age is crucial for their development, if they are female.

Further research shows that although the IQ scale of girls who had a bedtime were boosted by 8-9 points more than those without a common bedtime. Although this had affected young girls, it did not do the same to boys. The boys with irregular betimes had an almost similar IQ level as those with a consistent.

From this article it is seen that there is a huge gap between boys and girls, not only physically, but intellectually as well. Though the reason for this difference is still unknown, it’s still such a bewildering fact.

Zimmerman's Not Guilty. But Florida Sure Is.

http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/jurisprudence/2013/07/zimmerman_acquittal_blame_florida_for_trayvon_martin_s_death.html

Hearing only tidbits of the case of Zimmerman, reading this article clarified some things for me. The shooting of Trayvon Martin by George Zimmerman took place in 2012. “Zimmerman was tried for second degree murder and manslaughter” and has just been recently found not guilty. The commentary and structure of this article were well thought out. It states, “None of Zimmerman’s DNA was found under Martin’s fingernails. None of Martin’s DNA was found on the gun”, but it should have stated how exactly they were able to find that out and what equipment that had used. For some reason this case reminds me of Tom Robinson from ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ because they both include the issue of racism. Although discrimination was supposedly banned in the 1900’s, it is obvious that prejudice is still present in today’s world. The author of this article seems does not have a bias. This case seems very blown out of proportion. If it had been a white man against a white man, or a black man versus a black man, I feel that things would have been much more low-key. Why did they jump to the conclusion that racism contributed to the case? What was the most astonishing to me was the fact that Zimmerman was charged with Martin’s killing without conviction. This case seemed very prolonged and slightly unnecessary due to the fact that “Zimmerman was accused of starting the altercation with Martin and still believed him not guilty of murder, or even of manslaughter, which in Florida is a killing that has no legal justification”.

How do unit blocks help children learn?

http://www.economist.com/blogs/economist-explains/2013/07/economist-explains-6

At one point in our childhood, we have used building blocks, whether it was to build a massive tower or a minuscule fort. Little did we know that we were building the foundation of our intellectual devlopment. This small toy was created by Caroline Pratt in 1913. But did these simple chunks of wood affect our development and learning? This article written by G.F. | SEATTLE discusses the effect that unit blocks has on children’s later development. The structure of the article goes in chronological order, from the making of blocks to the uses of the toys today. Such a simple tool has potentially set the basis of geometric figures, hand-eye co-ordination, as well as social skills. The collapse and re stacking of blocks, introduces children to the idea of gravity and balance. It seemed very queer to me that such a basic toy could have such educational purposes. After several years of analyzation, specialist have concluded that “children who play with blocks significantly outperform those who do not, not just in infancy but over their entire academic careers”. Therefore, it building block should be essential in an kind of children’s environment. Today, it is suggested that children use the color-coded blocks “Cuisenaire rods”. 

As a 90’s child, I remember playing with blocks for hours on end, but today it is very different. With our technological advancements, we see that young kids nowadays are less active due to handheld devices. Instead of playing with blocks, we now see seven year olds with smart phones. Though these blocks were useful to the children of the 1900’s, today with the progress of technology, the use of toys such as unit blocks will slowly diminish.

Goggles for Gamers

http://www.economist.com/blogs/schumpeter/2013/07/oculus-rift

The article Goggle for Gamers, written by C. S.-W. is about the hand held device that could potentially change the future of technology. The article first presents the investments that Palmer Luckey, the creator of the Oculus Rift, has made. The Oculus Rift is described as “set of thick black goggles attached to a headband”. The look of it may be deceiving, but the purpose of this device is quite astonishing. The article discusses how the device will be similar to 3D features. Although 3D movies have just become ‘the norm’ in our society, these goggles have evolved the idea and are said to “immerse the user in virtual reality”. The article is very well written overall and leaves the reader wanting to know more about the mysterious goggles. Though it’s audience was most likely those of the gaming community, the goggles are not only for gaming devices (PS3, Xbox, etc.), but also to in social media sites (Facebook, Twitter, etc.). They’ve created prototypes for the gaming system, but this . The aim of the company is for it to become a consumer good, but with the recession, will this product really appeal to people? It could possibly be like the Great Depression, where people used entertainment (movies, comics, etc.), to escape the inhumane reality of our world. There are many competing corporations such as Apple that have continued to advance, but employees claim that the Oculus Rift will be much more than Apple’s iPhone 5. With that being said, it has set high hopes for many people, but will this device be a hit or miss?