The battle for oil has been a key issue in the US for many years. Our major energy policies are based around the constant search for oil, and new sources of oil. Oil has seemingly become king, and that king continues to have a strong reign. Even though the reign of oil as a king of all energy sources remains in place, that reign is slowly weakening as time goes on.

As the worldwide oil supply gets closer to depletion, the reign of oil is weakening. The leaders in the energy industry are now beginning a search for more renewable/better energy sources that won’t deplete natural resources as quickly. This is an important movement because the use of oil has contributed negatively to the environment and its use continues to contribute to the deterioration of our environment. Therefore, in the foreseeable future there will be a shift in energy policies about oil.

Additionally, a large shift in energy policy is needed because oil’s reign has become a humanitarian issue that the world really needs to tackle. Many people have been killed, tortured, and/or worse over our energy king called oil. It is very sad to see that wars have been fought over a resource that is rightfully owned by other countries. The wars are destroying the resource more than the actual use of it. The wars are also becoming detrimental to the stability of many nations, particularly many nations in the Middle East. It deeply saddens me to see that world leaders have allowed the kingship of oil to cause violence and destroy countries.

The major issue with energy, specifically oil, is that it has become a sector of the economy that is riddled with greed. This greed has bred hatred and violence among many nations. It must stop. It is of utmost importance that energy policies be reformed to at least shift to a better and “more clean” form of energy. The future holds many possibilities, and the world can only get better.

As of now, with oil as king, the world has become a very tense place to live in. Oil has become one of the main issues facing the international community. If policies aren’t changed, a whirlwind of other issues may come about, and potential for more catastrophes will increase. I hope to see a shift in energy policies and energy culture in coming years. All I know is that oil must be dethroned.

If Sandusky were black or Latino the whole sexual abuse scandal would be a whole different beast for Penn State to conquer, and the level of public outrage would increase tenfold. Our society tends to respond more harshly to criminal cases against blacks and Latinos. It is a sad truth that blacks and Latinos must live with from day to day. Due to the public’s view and radical responses to most crimes of people of color, I expect that if Sandusky were a person of color, Penn State would be under even more harsh scrutiny than it already is. In fact, I feel as though the public would become even more biased against Penn State students. This would become fact because the media would continuously scrutinize Sandusky, therefore highlighting his race. While the race of Sandusky would come to the forefront, and become a main focus, the victims of the whole ordeal would once again be put to the side. This is the worst part of this whole situation… the focus of the whole situation would be less on the victims more on the perpetrator. The focus on justice has consistently been in the way of focusing on helping the victims. Fundamentally, our society is very flawed in handling situations in which there are victims. We are more focused on putting the “criminal” to justice rather than helping the victims cope with the memories of being victimized. Personally, I feel as though we really need a change. We need to shift the focus of our justice system to swiftly hold the “criminals” accountable, and then spend the rest of the time to help victims recover. By doing this, a better support system for victims will be established, and more people who have been victimized will be comfortable to come forward. With the present situation a victim support system would potentially be a successful way to deal with sexual abuse cases. The quiet victims could be spoken for without a worry of being judged by others. The support system would also supply them with a way to be comforted by the company of others who have had similar experiences.

The fundamental flaw with the current way society handles victimization is that we focus too much on getting justice. We really need to change this approach so that real justice is served and the victims can be healed. Healing is a challenging process, so more thought needs to go into that rather than the judging of institutions in which perpetrators are involved.

Penn State’s current situation is one that evokes powerful negative emotion from everyone that is involved, or has heard about it. The sexual abuse of children is no light matter, and the strength of that emotion is apparent to me when observing the public reaction to the findings of the investigation of the grand jury.

Personally, the recent events are going to take a serious toll on me. I am from Maryland and I have found that people who are not part of the Penn State community have adopted a sincerely negative attitude towards Penn State as a whole. Not only has the national community adopted a sort of hatred towards the officials involved in the so-called “cover-up”, but they have also been bashing the Penn State community as a whole. As an out of state student, especially, I feel saddened and frustrated by the negative and irrational thoughts of the public at large. When I open up the major news sources that I read every day, I have noticed a constant stream of negative comments directed towards Penn State students. This has caused me to question whether or not my degree will prevent me from attaining my future goals, just because of the name Penn State be appended to my name. I love Penn State and it has become a part of me like no other school has ever done in my life. I am attached to the spirit of the school, and I have an immense amount of pride to be a part of such a fantastic community of people. Sadly, this pride for Penn State will lead to many hardships in the future. When I go home on break, I am going to be bombarded with taunts and questions from my friends and acquaintances at home. Now, I must take on adversity and explain why I still support my school in defense of how great Penn State actually is. It is going to be a true challenge because the public at large is displaying a drastic amount of dislike for students of Penn State after the violent riots on Wednesday.

As I reflect on the events of the past week, I feel as though the response from the students was a bit misleading to the public… The rioting has caused the majority of the nation to think that Penn State students care more about Joe Paterno than the victims of the sexual abuse. I really hope the public opinion changes because it is really frustrating to be stuck in the middle of such hatred.

I personally do not become uncomfortable when people speak a different language around me. In fact, I embrace the opportunity to learn about the language of the person that is speaking. By keeping my ears opened, I am able to explore the world just by listening to others speak in tongues foreign to my own. Language is the most basic form of human communication; through language, humans express themselves and their culture in very unique ways. Keeping an open mind about others, especially their language, is important if you want to learn about the world and get the most out of life. As I run into more situations in which other people are speaking a totally foreign language around me, I have come to understand that people are entitled to speak whatever language they choose. Therefore, it is only ignorant to be annoyed when others are speaking their NATIVE language. I can understand that it could be frustrating to hear others speaking an unknown language, and having an unknown conversation in front of you. But, I think people who get frustrated by this should attempt to open their minds and their hearts to people of other cultures. We are all human beings and deserve to express ourselves in any way we would like. Language is one way in which we express ourselves to others, and it should be respected as much as a piece of beautiful artwork. The flow of words coming out of the mouths of everyone is art that is unique to the individual that is speaking the words. The value of words is especially important in the US, where we are given the right to free speech. Whoever gets annoyed with people who choose to speak a language foreign to their own must realize that they are on the edge of disrespecting someone else’s language. Every person, no matter what background they come from, deserves to be able to speak freely in any language they would like to. Free speech is a basic human right; language is the way in which we speak, so I don’t think the manner in which someone speaks should be disrespected. Therefore, I do not care when people speak their language in front of me. By remaining open-minded, I have learned new things about the world, and have gained respect from others. Language is one of the most interesting human traits, and I am glad that I have been able to keep my ears opened enough to see the beauty of other cultures.

Right now, at 11:10PM on October 20th 2011, our national debt is slowly inching towards the $15 trillion mark. The debt of our nation is continuously increasing by about $4 billion per day, and this has been happening since 2007. According to the video, war is a black hole for spending. It is obvious that our government has begun to fall down the continuous black hole of infinite spending of money on war. This needs to be changed. By spending so much money on war, our government is brushing aside very little money to benefit us, its citizens. We have a major poverty issue in our country, and it really needs to be taken care of. There are numerous families who are out of a house, people out of jobs, and people who are on the edge of poverty that really need our help.

It is sad to see that our spending is focused on the business of killing people, rather than the business of helping people. War IS a necessary evil, but it should not be a major focus within society, because with war comes even more issues.

The narrow focus of our spending has also created a crisis within our country that has not been experienced since the great depression… We are in one of the greatest recessions since the Great Depression. This recession has destroyed the housing market, drawn people out of their homes, and has created a huge rate of job loss. The government really must change their ways so that we can get through this recession a little more unscathed.

I feel as though we need to push for a major reform of our system of taxation. This system must be rethought, restructured, and purged of the corruption that plagues it. Our government officials should rethink the amount of money they are setting aside for military use.

If our government decides to decrease the budget ceiling for defense spending, we may be able to get ourselves out of our pile of debt that we have accumulated. The government needs to reevaluate the distribution of taxes and our problems will be solved. Over the next few years I hope to see the spending per day to decrease to something way less than $4 billion a day. To do so would be an amazing feat, but I think the government could figure it out. Let’s hope everything is figured out soon, so this debt crisis can be over and the world can be in more of a peaceful state.

Happiness is a fiction created within the human mind. Long ago, happiness was considered to be luck from the gods and has developed into a more complex idea. Today’s perception of happiness differs from person to person, and the perception varies from materialistic ideas of happiness to being an enriched state of mind. As a society we take advantage of this idea of happiness and use it as a motivation for life. The motivation to live sparked by happiness has driven many who have been unable to attain the happiness that they see in others to become depressed and detached people. Happiness has become a reality that only occurs when people attain goals such as gaining a material possession, becoming rich, or obtaining other hedonistic pleasures. Hedonism has become rampant within American society today; it is ever present within books, magazines, websites, TV and other media. Hedonism has become a capitalist venture that many smart people have been able to take advantage of through the lure of such media. IT has become so common within our society that it has caused many people to be more pleasured by a text message on their phone than having a stimulating conversation in person. The pursuit of happiness has now become the pursuit of pleasure. Our societal pursuit of pleasure has become a distraction from what is important in life. It saddens me to see the value of being intelligent being degraded by the popular culture of hedonism. I have witnessed many people who could be said to have a “one track” and materialistic mind, which causes them to focus on the outward appearance of others rather than the ever-important personality. Shows such as “Jersey Shore” are proof of this. People have become so obsessive over the shallow, obnoxious, and stupid characters of such shows that they change themselves and begin acting like the people portrayed on those shows. With that being said, it would be nice to see a change in our society’s popular culture. This can start with our outlook on the definition of happiness. We should become less focused on ourselves to achieve happiness and more focused on the betterment of ourselves, and the world. By doing so, we can strive for a better future, which will instill a different form of happiness within us… hope. By becoming hopeful, we will be continuously fulfilling our desire for happiness by creating hope for others in our strife to better the world.

On a Friday night at Penn State, when students are gearing up for a weekend of fun and partying, it is not uncommon to see the young women at Penn State prancing around all dressed up in their short skirts and high heels. This feat is seen throughout the year, in the rain and the cold. Every time I see this occur, especially when it is cold, I question why girls do this to themselves. I can understand that girls would like to impress the guys with the way they dress when they go out, but dressing in uncomfortable clothing is not the best way to go out. It is completely unnecessary to dress as if you are going to a wedding every time you go out, especially if you are attending a party that involves sweating and dancing. In my opinion, the young women of Penn State should reevaluate their reasoning for going out dressed up every single night. I think the first question is, “why impress the guys with just my looks alone?”. To me, it’s more important that the girl can have a good time with out caring about what other people think about her. Dressing like every one else is a horrible way to go about this… how can you have a good time trying to conform to everyone else’s standards? Going out should be less about impressing others and more about enjoying yourself in the presence of other great people! Isn’t that what going out is all about, after a long week of work?
Instead of asking us guys to dress uncomfortably, I think Penn State girls should consider dressing more comfortably, however they define being comfortable. By defining what you wear, you will demonstrate individuality, which is way more impressive than dressing like everyone else. By not conforming to the crowd, you are not only impressively individual but you can also be more comfortable in the clothes you wear to go out. Therefore, by dressing how YOU want to dress, you can be more comfortable and express yourself. By expressing yourself, you’re more likely to be noticed (you may actually stand out) and find a guy that fits you.
Essentially, by dressing like everyone else girls subject themselves to being less of an individual and being uncomfortable in their clothes. Fundamentally, girls should become less focused on dressing for a wedding and more focused on dressing to be an individual, and then things will be better for them. Therefore, stop complaining if you are making the conscious choice to dress nicely to go out.

In our isolated American society, we often look at the problems of other societies from the wrong point of view. Even though we attempt to help countries with problems, we often make the problem worse by pumping money into their economies and providing them with certain resources instead of allowing them to produce their own goods. After reading the information about Haiti and watching some of the videos, I realize that something else must be done in order to make the situation within the country better. It seems to me that HPCD is taking the correct approach to fixing the impoverished state of Haiti. HPCD has enabled many Haitians to begin producing their own goods and sell them to make a living. Haitians such as Figaro Louis, who started a business making delicious pastries, have been able to start successful businesses that continue to grow over time.
HPCD is a community project that strives to eradicate poverty by creating jobs. To do so, HPCD provides interested Haitians business classes that teach about business plans, accounting and leadership skills. When the Haitians graduate, they are sent to a warehouse called the Business Incubator. The Business incubator is a building in which many entrepreneurs can run their business in a secure atmosphere. As of now HPCD is a relatively small project, they only have one office, one warehouse, and six employees. HPCD is a project that deserves more attention because they are creating an atmosphere in which the Haitian economy can become better. In order to help them, we must find a way to help increase the amount of resources HPCD has. To do so, there are many options. One way we can help is by creating a campaign to get volunteers to help run HPCD. To start this campaign, we could talk to one of the many larger relief organizations and appeal for them to provide volunteers to the great cause of HPCD. We could also talk to many student organizations on campus and appeal to them to hold a few fundraisers to get money to HPCD.
By helping HPCD, we would be assisting in the creation of many Haitian jobs, therefore creating a more stable economy in Haiti. Haiti’s current situation is a very impoverished one that has been made worse by having too much assistance. By creating jobs, it would be possible for Haitians to become self sufficient and less reliant on outside help. If the efforts of HPCD become more successful, many parts of Haiti will be on the right track to a brighter and less impoverished future. In addition to that, larger businesses could form and expand into a more widespread area within Haiti.

It is human nature to categorize. Due to this trait of humanity, people decide to judge others based on their looks alone. This type of judgment even occurs in politics, a field in which looks or race should not matter. In recent years, it seems that the amount of judgment based on looks has increased in politics, particularly in the case of President Obama. Initially, everyone categorized Obama as an African American man, upstanding citizen, and all around smart guy. As he entered his Presidency, and the success rate of many policy changes he aimed to make was very low, the public began to scrutinize him more closely. At first, it was his policy that was criticized, which is an acceptable political practice. Soon, many extreme Republican figures within the media began to take a look at Obama’s past, and came to the realization that he is actually multi-racial. While there is nothing wrong with being multi-racial, the extreme media figures began to conjure up rumors that became harmful to Obama’s public image. For example, they looked at the fact that his middle name is actually a common Middle-Eastern name. Then they began to spread rumors that he was linked to Islamic culture in some way, even though he was clearly involved in some sect of Christianity. In addition to that, another hotheaded media figure began to spread the idea that Obama is not an American citizen. Clearly, Obama is an American citizen, as proven by his Hawaiian birth certificate. But, the media continued with the story and basically took their hatred of Obama then used race as a tool to bash him. Even though the Obama Administration has been very unsuccessful, I disagree with criticizing Obama as a person and judging him based on his race. Therefore, I classify Obama as an African American who should be respected since he is our President. Being President is one of the most stressful jobs on the planet and deserves some sort of reverence. So, it is wrong to judge the President, of all people judge based on his race. I hate the idea of classification, and it is simply ridiculous that it continues in our political sector.
To put it simply, politics is a game of cat and mouse, but race is a low blow. Each and every person that is US citizen, and fit the criteria for the job, should be able to attempt a successful Presidency without being judged due to the color of their skin. We are human beings, and we come in many shapes, sizes, and colors, this is what separates us from the monkeys. Our uniqueness helps to create some type of excitement in the world.

Religion is most definitely based on opinion and view of the world. It is all in the eyes of the beholder. There are many different levels of belief when it comes to religion and, in reality no level of belief is the wrong level. For many people, religion serves as a way of life. These people are extremely invested in their religion and typically attribute many blessings to be given by a higher power. Others, like me, believe in a higher power but cannot make sense of what the function that higher power has in the world. After being Roman Catholic for my whole life, and being thrown into Catholic school from first grade to twelfth, I have grown further from my religion as a result of it being force fed to me for most of my life. Even so, I still believe that there is some sort of higher power that has some type of influence in the world. There are so many things that will never be explained by science, such as the miraculous disappearance of cancer in people with the worst forms of cancer, or the complexity of the human brain and how it grew to be so complex. Religion serves as a mechanism to answer the questions that science can’t. As long as the human race continues to exist, there will always be questions that “no one” can answer, so religion will continue to be the solution. If observed, it is easy to notice that many people renew their beliefs in a certain religion due to tragedy, such as death of a family member or some other catastrophe. Many times tragedies lead human beings to question the world, and why things happen. Religion can clear the fog in confusing times such as these, and allow for a renewed spirit in a person. I have witnessed friends of mine recover from tragedy very quickly when they renewed their faith in their religion. One particular friend’s dad died, he was an emotional wreck for months after. One day, he decided to bring himself out of seclusion and find a solution to his sadness. He went to church. After a week or two of being involved with his religion again, his personality and happiness began to shine through the darkness of the past months. When I asked him how he got the strength to move on, he told me that his renewed faith in his religion had allowed him to keep his dad close to him. This provided him a sort of comfort that gets him through every day. Even though I have yet to renew my faith in any particular religion, religion is important. Religion allows for the explanation of many lingering questions of humanity, and religion also serves as a way to cope with the hard times in life.