PLN30

“Baby drowns in bathtub; father held for investigation,” by The Denver Post talks about a father that is under investigation for child abuse resulting in death because he left his 6 month old baby in the bathtub. The child fell of her bath seat and into the water, she never regained consciousness and died a little while later. I don’t know how it is to have your child be killed, but I can’t even imagine the pain that that would cause. This man is going through even more pain than that, he has been given responsibility for the death of his baby. One side of me feels bad for this man, but the other half doesn’t. He made a stupid decision and left a baby all by herself in the bathtub. To me that seems like a no-brainer that you don’t do that. This man will most likely face a class-3 felony for child abuse resulting in death. Babies should never be by themselves, they get themselves into trouble because they don't know any better, especially not in the bathtub. This story is extremely depressing, but hopefully people can learn from this man's mistake and protect their children. This matters to the world because child abuse is a problem all around the world and it needs to end. This matters to me because I know hearing things like this is going to make me a better father when I get older and this man should have been the same way.

PLN29

just read "Niwot High evacuated in asbestos scare" in The Denver Post, by Monte Whaley about how students and staff were evacuated from Niwot High School today when work crews discovered material in the girls' locker room wall that might be asbestos. The evacuation was done as a precaution, said St. Vrain Valley School District spokesman John Poynton. Air quality tests at the school will be done throughout the rest of the day to determine if there was any contamination. St. Vrain Valley School District spokesman John Poynton said that, "Hopefully, everything will be fine and we'll be on a regular schedule tomorrow, but we haven't gotten that green light yet." The suspected asbestos was discovered during a $20 million renovation which included work on the boys' and girls' locker room.I know that this is a short article, but this is important to the community because we do not need schools putting kids' health in jeopardy. Plus, Niwot is a big school with a lot of students, so we are not just putting a couple of kids at risk, we are putting thousands of kids at risk.This matters to the whole state of Colorado because when construction is done on older schools, we need to be aware that running in to asbestos is always a possibility. All the staff and students need to be on alert at all times because you never know when something like this might happen.

PLN27

"Report: Fatal shooting by Thornton officer justified"
is about an officer in Thornton who shot and killed a man who they called "disturbed" and who pulled a knife on the officer. I here this story a lot and it is sad that a man had to die but the officer did the right thing because the man could have harmed the officer or other people if he was not shot. I also feel bad for the officer because I know that he will get criticisim from the family of the man and he could also be feeling guilty about it. Policeman all over should act the way this officer did against dangerous people because civilians should feel safe and know that policeman will protect them if there is danger. Although the officer did the right thing, I think that he should have used a taser gun to subdue the man. This matters to the world because people all over the world should feel safe with their police force. This matters to me because this could happen anywhere and I should feel protected by my local police department.

PLN28

In the article, “Our boys are falling behind in education” by Dottie Lamm, states that boys are falling behind girls academically because of a verbal differences. First, they explained how the girl’s brain is able to become verbally faster. They believe that boys verbal skills don’t grow until fourth of fifth grade. Though these are the average years, a school in Aurora separated kindergarteners into gender classes and the boys were just as successful as the girls, my feeling is that the verbal difference is not the problem but instead things like motivation. It seems, also being in a gender class myself, I have gained motivation to do well for some reason. Then, they say that the world will have a role switch and the women will be in charge based on what is happening in education; however I don’t feel this is true. There are plenty of guys that do well and try hard in school. Boys just need to step up and take education seriously. Obviously, the struggle that guys are said to have can be fixed and just because guys may struggle in school that doesn’t mean that they will fail in life outside of school too. This matters to the world because the statements are meant for all students even around the world so this may be a problem in other places. this matters to me because I am in a single gender class so I know the effect of what that has on learning.

PLN26

The article, 2txt? Or Nt 2txt by Garrison Keillor talks about how young men have lost social skills because of texting and e-mail. Keillor also states that girls have somehow maintained their personal relationship abilities through these tough technological times. This is because even though girls text as much as boys they also do a lot more talking. In spite of that, I disagree with Mr. Keillor, I personally still have the ability to talk to people and interact. In my own experiences I have found that I am still very capable of holding conversations with adults or even people my age. I text everyday, for the majority of the day, and yet I believe my social skills are fine. I can talk to my teachers, friends, girls, adults and anybody else you can think of without having much of a problem. The case might not be the same for other guys my age, but I know that I have no problem, and my friends don’t seem to have much of a problem either. Thus I am forced to disagree with Mr. Keillor, and say that I am just as capable as any girl, of maintaining good people skills while texting constantly. This matters to the world because technology is advancing everywhere and people could be bringing up the same topic. this matters to me because I felt almost insulted at this article because I have still kept my social skills.

PLN25

I just read "Suspect arrested in iPad theft" by Kirk Mitchell in The Denver Post which is about a man who allegedly mangled a man's pinky during an iPad theft so that the finger had to be amputated and the man was arrested early Saturday morning. Brandon Darnell Smith, 20, was arrested at 1:14 a.m. during a traffic stop in the 3000 block of North Monaco Street. Smith is being held for investigation of second-degree assault and robbery in the April 15 strong-arm robbery of Bill Jordan, 59, according to Jackson, Denver police spokesman. Jordan previously told a reporter that he had just bought the iPad for a friend in Canada and was near the parking lot when the suspect struck. The suspect jerked so hard it stripped the skin on part of Jordan's pinky to the bone. At first he took off running after the suspect but saw blood on his hand and went for medical attention instead.This matters to the State of Colorado because people can feel better that the man who did this has been arrested and will not be robbing or hurting anyone else. It is nice to know that the police handled the situation perfectly and the robber didn't get away.

PLN24

"Zimbabwe: Technology and the end of dictatorship"
by Ndesando Macha talks about how new technolgy (to Zimbabwe) is starting to end the dictatorship that has ruled that country for a long time. People are going over to Zimbabwe and teaching the people how to use technology such as phones and computers and that seems like it is making civalized life easier to accomplish than with an ak47 and a grenade. I think this is a great idea and this should be happening all over the world especially in third world countries so that violence and poverty can be stopped. The world is moving in the fastest technological advancement ever and I feel like every country should be involved in this new world. However if a country or people feel like they are doing fine with their culture and how they worked then technology should not be forced upon them. This effects the world because if this happens in more places then I believe that is one step closer to world peace. This doesn't really effect my community because we are already caught up with the technology and advancements. This effects me because when I am older I may see this idea happen and I will get to see how it changes the world.

PLN23

"Obama & State School Leaders Want Facebook Unblocked in Classrooms!"
by Gary Stager talks about how Barack Obama wants to unblock internet access to things like Facebook and other social networking sites. I personally think this is a good topic to think about but it is a bad idea because it will just never work. If facebook is allowed in classrooms then kids will get carried away and start messaging their friends and looking up things they shouldn't and I feel like that would cause more problems and take away from the kid's time to learn. And if teachers say that it is fun and it helps them learn better and every student will want to participate then they should spend a day in my English class and see how many students in there want to "learn". This effects the world because I am sure teachers all over the world are either trying or not trying to make this available in school and that could be causing some problems. This effects my community because if the school board in my district approves this then a lot of schools will be teaching in a new way. And this effects me because education is the most important thing and if the style of teaching changes halfway through my school career then that could effect how I learn and how I understand things and schools should not take that risk.