By Stefan D.

Having played soccer since I was three or four and studying the game for almost as long, I have gained an insight which has made soccer more than just a game. Its an inseparable part of my life. Everything about me feels right when I’m in pursuit of the goal, awaiting that moment when the defender attacks and I feed the ball to my teammate to score a goal undefended.

My dream is to play professional soccer in Europe. My current goal is to get on a college soccer team or a professional youth academy team. In my heart I know I could achieve my dream. But in order to do it I have to revamp my way of living. I have to create a structured environment with sets of smaller goals that promote the most production from me.

By getting high grades I can get into a college where I can then focus on a business major that would teach me the skills to run a soccer related business. I need to make a daily exercise plan and stick to is so that I can be ready for that tryout date. And on top of all of that I have to manage my time in a way that allows me to have a job that provides funds for transportation and gear.

Clearly, maintaining that type of work ethic will take its toll and there will most likely be times when I may want to give up. What I’m about to say can be applied to anyone seeking physically, mentally, and emotionally rewarding success. If you follow your heart and use your mind to organize a relentless work structure, you will get the most out of your purpose in life.

A coach of mine once said, “Hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard.” So I asked him, “What if you’re talented and you work hard?” He said, “You’ll be unstoppable and the opportunities will be endless.”

By Tyler M.

Education accounts for a major amount of time during a person’s life. From kindergarten through college the amount of time spent in classrooms consumes the average young adult. That being said, , why is it that according to USA Today Americans ranked 17th among other countries for academic performance in math?
Private schools had all around better scores, but why is it that public schools scored so low in comparison to public schools in countries with GDP’s much lower than America? Is it teachers? Is it students? Is it technology? Is it the lack of technology? Is it a system so outdated that it cannot adapt?
Truthfully, much of the decline has to do with students and their attitudes. As a student in public school I felt lost in the lesson, behind in grades and loaded with work that seemed impossible. My response – I gave up trying creating a huge void in my life that had been occupied by school. What to fill it with? Anything that made me feel good and gave me instant gratification – that was my solution.
The focus on “I feel” rather than “I think” is a major cause of the decline in American education. How often have I heard in the classroom a student respond with “I feel that …” instead of “I think that…” The student is automatically right. After all, feelings cannot be wrong. So the mind becomes lazy, content to feel rather than think with the added bonus of never being wrong!
In a recent study A World of Difference: An International Assessment of Mathematics and Science by Educational Testing Service of Princeton, Koreans answered 83 percent correct on an applied thinking exam and Americans scored  striking low 78 percent. Fortune 500 companies such as APacific Telesis reported: “Only four out of every ten candidates for entry level jobs at Pacific Telesis are able to pass our entry level exam, which are based on a seventh-grade level.” It appears that do enough to pass and then when hit with real world deductive reasoning these text book proficient students are taken out of context and flustered.
From the 1830’s through the 1930’s textbooks such as McGuffeys Readers which were published for the masses included works such as Shakespeare, Longfellow, and Hawthorne. Recently words such as “spectacle” and “admired” were eliminated from a popular high school history textbook because they were deemed “too difficult.” Standards are lowered and students lose the motivation to excel.
It isn’t just the dumbing down of our textbooks. Young people are surrounded by things that dull our intelligence. Rap music and media that focuses on celebrity gossip  for example certainly don’t challenge our higher level reasoning skills. After reading books such as Dante’s Inferno and Shakespeare it is unfathomable that authors of contemporary times were able to create such developed works.
It is known that Higher Education in America attracts international students, professors and researchers from all over. According to Univertias 21 in 2012, we ranked first place at having the best higher education system in the world. Unfortunately top schools cost top- dime and education costing so much is looking weary to those in economic troubles. Hard times have been affecting schools likewise, the budget crisis in California have been forcing private and public schools to become extremely selective. The dwindling money available to pay professors means cutting back, unfortunately the only ones to suffer are students interesting to apply.
There was not a single incident that caused this spiral of educational excellence, but rather an ever changing level of acceptance towards lacking behavior, grades and performance in the class room. I am not saying that every school, student and teacher around is useless because we do produce products and ideas regularly. There is always room for improvment. Getting educated is not a priority anymore to the general student.
I am not entirely sure what I can do to fix this issues that promises to ruin my generation. I know what I should be doing and how to do it, but giving up the entirety of myself to this massive nationwide issue seems hopeless. That is the mentality that many young students have and that is causing such an academic crisis. Teaching others around me to awaken to the mishaps of today’s society is one approach to fixing this issue. I may not reach every struggling student but, as Wayne Gretzky said, “100% of shots not taken are missed.”

By Cameron S.

With over 2 million people behind bars, the United States currently has the largest prison population in the world. According to the Bureau of Justice 3,260 of those are on death row awaiting execution. Ironically, the country that provides the most freedom leads the world in locking people up.

Capital punishment has been practiced in America for over 400 years. For centuries people accepted this consequence. In fact, executions used to be held in public squares for all to see. “An eye for an eye” is a belief that has existed since biblical times. But perhaps Gandhi spoke truth when he said “an eye for an eye will make the whole world blind.” Capital punishment eliminates the option for forgiveness, second chances, and repentance.

Death row is corrupt, unfair, and inhumane. Life is a God-given blessing to experience and we, as humans, have no right to take that from somebody, no matter what the circumstance. Let’s not forget the fact that it being in human hands opens up the opportunity for human error.  There are also the rationalizations of it being a deterrent or a cheaper alternative. How can you not question its existence?

From the ages of 13-17 I managed to familiarize myself with the court system. I was selfish, depressed, and angry at the cards life had dealt me. As a result, I turned to things that allowed me to escape, such as drugs and alcohol. Probation, house arrest, juvenile hall – nothing could stop my descent to destruction.

God’s grace and the perseverance of my parents, gave me numerous opportunities to change my life and become a better person. My parents never gave up on me. I always wished they would so that I could do what I want, but that never happened and because of that, today I am completely different. “Don’t quit before the miracle happens.”

Repentance can happen to anyone, and through my experience I know now this to be true. I know there are some of you who are reading this and thinking is this guy serious? These people deserve what they get. But let me challenge that with saying, where would you be if you never had second, third, or fourth chances? Many of us have got away with horrible and heinous acts. People in jail are there because they didn’t get away with what they had done.

Capital punishment is not a deterrent for future murders; studies have shown that capital punishment has no effect at all. According to a 2002 FBI Uniform Crime Report, “. . . the South repeatedly has the highest murder rate. The South accounts for over 80 percent of executions. The Northeast, which has less than one percent of all executions in the United States, had the lowest murder rate.” Texas leads the US in executions. Former Texas Attorney General Jim Mattox, who had presided over many of the state’s executions remarked, “It is my own experience that those executed in Texas were not deterred by the existence of the death penalty law.”

Supporters of the death penalty claim that executing their fellow citizens is cheaper than imprisoning criminals for life. The facts prove the contrary. According to The New Press “it is three times more costly to execute a prisoner than it is to keep them in a single cell at the highest security level for 40 year.” In Texas, “sending a killer to death row costs an average of $2.3 million,” reports the Dallas Morning News.

This method of dealing with criminals only perpetuates the cycle of violent behavior. How can you expect people to listen to you when you’re doing the same thing they were doing? It’s the epitome of hypocrisy!

Capital punishment is faulty in nature, as it relies on the fallible nature of human beings. Room for human error is huge. According to The Nation, “Between 1973 and 1995, seven out of 10 death-penalty cases were thrown out on appeal due to flaws in the trial.”

Countless studies have proven that the death penalty in the United States is riddled with bias – such as class injustices. The facts speak for themselves — Amnesty International reports that “95 percent of all people sentenced to death in the United States could not afford their own attorney.”

Racial injustices are also present. Not only do the poor suffer from our legal system, but minorities do as well. A recent study at the University of North Carolina has proven that the “odds of receiving a death sentence rose 3.5 times among those defendants whose victims were white.” Bias against the defendant as well cannot be hidden. According to the Death Penalty Information Center, “between 1995 and 2000, 75 percent of the federal cases in which juries recommended the death penalty involved black or Latino defendants.”

How can we call ourselves the “land of the free” with a straight face while remaining one of the few first-world countries that still executes its citizens? Is it comforting to know that “the United States, China, Iran and Saudi Arabia account for over 80 percent of executions” according to Amnesty International?

By Ron R.

As students get ready to apply for colleges, there are a tremendous amount of decisions which need to be made before actually arriving on campus.

In today’s society, the majority of teens feel obligated to attend college because of how common it is to depart from high school and go straight to a high-end university. The process of applying for colleges creates an abundance of stress and confusion which can easily be avoided if the decision is made intellectually. But putting all emotion aside and maintaining full focus on getting into the school which is best fit for your aspiring career can be very difficult.

College takes up such a substantial portion of a student’s life that making this decision is crucial. Students search for schools which will help them find the career that they would like to have for the rest of their lives. Deciding which major the student wants creates added stress to the already demanding high school curriculum.

Teenage life is filled with new experiences and curiosity, which creates a lot of distractions for students getting ready to attend college. The stress students endure throughout high school is a direct result of the struggle to balance academics while maintaining a social life. This added commotion during the pressure to make an imperative decision creates a dilemma. Not only does the decision have to be made about which geographical area the student would like to attend, but making application deadlines, writing college essays, and attaining letters of recommendations is nerve wracking.

As sophomores enter their junior year, they see seniors getting acceptance letters from their schools of choice. They start to feel pressured to choose a school for themselves. Although it is healthy to have a dream, the amount of stress brought upon the students to achieve their goals is immense. Balancing a high school life while keeping up with the résumé-boosting extracurricular activities can be very difficult to cope with. Once a student finds a college that they like they become motivated to achieve academically.

When I started to apply for schools, I had my mind set on one particular university which I was very interested in attending. I was so sure that I would be accepted that I only applied to one safety school which I wouldn’t have been too thrilled to attend. After a couple of weeks the acceptance letter arrived from my safety school. My confidence rose as I awaited the decision from my school of choice. The four weeks were up… I checked the status of my application online and to my surprise saw two devastating words: “Admission denied.” My world shook as I scrambled to find local schools to attend.

After coming to terms with my situation, I began to realize how unimportant it is to attend a high-end university during the first semester of college.

Very successful people have made a living and a name of themselves without having to pay any sizeable amount of money. Renowned Academy Award-winning actor and producer Clint Eastwood attended Los Angeles Community College in Los Angeles before he became such a powerful name in the film industry. Jim Lehrer, famous broadcast journalist during the 1970s, who appeared on MacNeil/Lehrer News Hour, attended Victoria College in Victoria, Texas for two years before he got big in broadcasting. Finally, Gaddi Vasquez, director of the Peace Corps, attended Santa Ana College, in Santa Ana, California, before achieving his title. These people have made significant impacts on our society today, and followed through with their goals without going into financial debt.

A lot of colleges’ academic environment doesn’t match the physical appearance. What looks great on the outside–beautifully cut green grass, newly paved sidewalks, and big buildings –doesn’t match up to the small percentage of people leaving these colleges with careers in line. A comparison of the education that professors provide at “high-end” schools such as Seton Hall or Widener University with various community colleges shows the education quality difference doesn’t match up to the financial dissimilarity.

Through the process of choosing a college, I have learned how important it is to look at what colleges really have to offer rather than looking at the general appearance and size of the school. I have also learned to set priorities on which schools I would like to attend with a secure backup plan and to find out the percentage of students who leave the schools with their career of choice and a degree.

Recently, our journalism team spent some time watching the ground-breaking documentary about gas drilling, Gasland. This is Cameron’s response.

Gasland is a perfectly orchestrated documentary that captures the attention of its viewers instantly. Josh Fox, director of Gasland, begins the documentary by describing his childhood growing up in Pennsylvania. He tells of the sights and smells of his years spent exploring and venturing throughout the woods along the Delaware River. Fox explains how he is personally being affected by gas drilling and how he’s not just another guy doing something for the money and hype.

Throughout the documentary, Fox travels across the country and interviews people who are affected by “fracking,” a method for extracting oil and natural gas. The common theme with all of these people is that they have been taken advantage of by multi-million dollar companies and were all left with unsanitary water. The companies refuse to admit that they are the cause of contaminated water experienced by many residents after drilling took place near their homes. Studies done by the Environmental Protection Agency show that the water contains some of the same chemicals they are using to drill, but the companies are still denying that drilling was the cause. Very few people are getting the help they need and are left to find alternate water sources.

Before seeing Gasland, I was completely ignorant about the hardships these people are experiencing. The documentary reminded me that humans are capable of incredible greed and we can become blind to how our actions affect other people. As I watched this film I began to realize that these issues were happening within hours of where I live. Fear quickly ran through my body as I began to ponder whether this would affect my water source. I knew I had a responsibility to spread the news and do something about it now that I had become aware of this issue. It wasn’t about me anymore; it was about how future generations would be affected and what would become of Earth as we know it. This is a serious issue that everybody should be concerned about and work towards making a difference in the way we use our resources.

On 10/14/2011, the Catskill Mountainkeeper  posted the following first person account of Libby F., a  resident of the Finger Lakes region of New York. There is no question that what happened at Libby’s farm in Bradford County, Pa. is going to happen in the Finger Lakes, the Catskills and all over New York State. Here’s her story:

“Our family farm is in Bradford County, Pa.  Our farm was one of the ?first well sites chosen and is now one of hundreds, soon to be thousands.           

When the folks in Pennsylvania first heard of the wells coming, they were excited. No one had ever experienced the drilling business, so there was nothing to fear. They had toiled their whole lives just to make ends meet, and maybe this was the road to a better life. ?

Then they came. Trucks by the hundreds; tankers, dump trucks, drilling rigs, and fracking rigs. Five-acre drilling pads were bulldozed in the middle of farmers’ best fields, million-gallon ponds were installed, roads were built, woods and fields were trenched and bulldozed for tie lines. Drilling rigs went up at an unbelievable rate. From one spot on our farm, I counted eight? rigs. Then the generators started. You could hear them a half-mile away. Then the pumping stations — small, industrial sites with buildings and pipes ?sticking up out of the ground.

They put one of these at the end of our little dirt road. Now the woods are gone and the dirt road is a main thoroughfare. ?One entire field is a pumping station. When I first saw this, I cried. This industry is like a swarm of locusts, leaving destruction and a ?lasting impact on the environment.

But it goes much deeper than this. It creates greed and pits neighbor against neighbor, even dividing families. Back home, all rental properties now house gas people, as the landlords raised the rents so high that longtime tenants were forced to move. Every parking area is lined with pipes and equipment associated with the gas business. Roads have been destroyed and are barely passable. Motorists are being forced off ?the road by a steady stream of big rigs and trucks. People who are used to a few cars going by their house now have to endure 100 tractor-trailers a day. I went up to our well site and counted 80 tankers lined up so closely that you couldn’t fit between them.

The gas companies do put on a good show. They have a nice booth at the ?fair. They buy bicycle helmets for the kids. They pay to have the walkways at ?the fairgrounds paved. They are always presenting a check for this and a check for that. Their pictures are always in the paper for doing good deeds. What a joke. That’s Bradford County. ?

The Finger Lakes area has been blessed with so much natural beauty — the ?gorges, the lakes, the vineyards. We have so much to protect. We want our fields to be green so our children can walk through them. We need our water to be clean, not only for ourselves but for our livestock and marine life. ?If they start drilling, what’s going to happen to the water in our lakes? ?What’s going to happen if there is a drilling accident and people’s homes ?start filling up with methane gas? Don’t think it can happen? In northern Pennsylvania, it already has. ?I urge you to protect this area, its residents, its natural beauty and our way of life from the ravages of the gas industry.”

Gas Leases vs. Mortgages

 The following is an excerpt from Ian Urbina’s latest article in the “Drilling Down” series in The New York Times. For the full story, see www.nytimes.com, 10/19/2011.

As natural gas drilling has spread across the country, energy industry representatives have sat down at kitchen tables in states like Texas, Pennsylvania and New York to offer homeowners leases that give companies the right to drill on their land.

Over the past 10 years, as natural gas has become increasingly important to the nation’s energy future, Americans have signed more than a million of these leases.

But bankers and real estate executives, especially in New York, are starting to pay closer attention to the fine print and are raising provocative questions, such as: What happens if they lend money for a piece of land that ends up storing the equivalent of an Olympic-size swimming pool filled with toxic wastewater from drilling?

 The Fracking Industry’s War on the Truth

 In an article published 10/20/2011 on the Reader Supported News website, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. explains why he is now against the rush to drilling in New York.

 Superb investigative journalism by the New York Times has brought the paper under attack by the natural gas industry. That campaign of intimidation and obfuscation has been orchestrated by top-shelf players like Exxon and Chesapeake, aligned with the industry’s worst bottom feeders. This coalition has launched an impressive propaganda effort carried by slick PR firms, industry-funded front groups and a predictable cabal of right-wing industry toadies from cable TV and talk radio. In pitting itself against public disclosure and reasonable regulation, the natural gas industry is once again proving that it is its own worst enemy.

I confess to being an early optimist on natural gas. In July of 2009, I wrote a widely circulated op-ed for the Financial Times predicting that newly accessible deposits of natural gas had the potential to rapidly relieve our country of its deadly addiction to Appalachian coal and end forever catastrophically destructive mountaintop-removal mining….

My caveat was that the natural gas industry and government regulators needed to act responsibly to protect the environment, safeguard communities from irresponsible practices, and to candidly inform the public about the true risks and benefits of shale-extraction gas.

The opposite has happened. (Read the full article at readersupportednews.org.)

Philly to Sue DRBC

The Philadelphia City Council has unanimously passed a resolution to sue the Delaware River Basin Commission, demanding cumulative impacts of high-volume hydraulic fracturing be studied and forbidding fracking for now. For complete story, visit http://protectingourwaters.wordpress.com/2011/10/13.

Albany OKs Drilling Ban

Albany city lawmakers brushed aside fears of costly lawsuits from the oil and gas industry Monday night and narrowly approved a ban on gas drilling inside city limits, a move aimed squarely at the controversial drilling technique known as hydrofracking. For complete story, see  www.timesunion.com, 10/18/2011.

Air Quality Managers “Crushed” Says Former DEP Regional Director

“Up until two weeks ago, George Jugovic led the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection’s southwest regional office. On Wednesday, Jugovic told lawmakers at a hearing in Delaware County (Pa.) that his air quality managers were “crushed” by the volume of air emission permit requests. That increase in permits comes from Marcellus Shale natural gas drilling operations, which require the use of combustible engines to extract the gas and push it through pipelines.

Jugovic testified at a hearing on the impact of natural gas drilling on air pollution. He says within the last year, in the southwest region alone, his department issued permits for the release of 13,000 tons of nitrogen oxide related to the Marcellus Shale industry. Nitrogen oxide creates ground level smog. Companies requested the permits for compressor stations, which are needed to pump the gas through distribution pipelines. 

 Many Officials Hold Leases with Shale Drillers

During a contentious meeting in South Fayette (Pa.) recently, the township’s zoning hearing board delayed a decision about a challenge mounted by gas driller Range Resources after calls for several members of the board to recuse themselves from discussions because they have signed leases with the Texas-based driller.

The situation isn’t unique to Pennsylvania. Communities situated on the Marcellus Shale throughout New York are being governed by Town Boards with the same conflicts of interest. For the South Fayette story, the www.post-gazette.com, 10/16/2011.

 Dimock Water Still Fouled

According to a Wall Street Journal article published 10/15/2011, three years after Dimock (Pa.)residents first noticed something wrong with their drinking water, they can still light it on fire. Read the full story at wsj.com.

Frack Flack

 Gasping for air… In Sublette County, Wy. residents have been complaining about contaminated air. Discoveries of emissions from the gas drilling process have prompted strong anti-fracking diatribes from the community. “Industry has done a lot of great things and they’ve really stepped up to the plate,” said Stephen Smith, Mayor of Pinedale, Wy. “But it’s my job to represent the concerns of the people here, and they are concerned.” Emissions have been decreased by a quarter over the last three years, but citizens are becoming more and more irritated, realizing that the whole process could be detrimental.

 Paved with good intentions… To halt the damage on Route 97, the Upper Delaware Scenic Byway Committee (UDSB) has requested a ban on drilling-related traffic because of the hazards it poses regarding unsafe travel, damage to the road, and the highway’s aesthetics. The  UDSB proposal exempts trucks involved in agriculture, bluestone and lumbering.

 Pipeline fire in Kenya… Officials in Kenya estimated 100 dead as a result of an oil pipeline fire on 9/12/2011. When the pipeline leak appeared, crowds flooded the scene to salvage all the precious oil they could. During the  town’s routine garbage burning, which takes place near the river, the wind blew flames toward the oil which ignited.

 Yellowstone spill This summer, just weeks after a seemingly satisfactory inspection, an Exxon Mobil pipeline exploded, sending 42,000 gallons of oil into the Yellowstone River, with disastrous affects on the wildlife and surrounding communities. The cause of the accident has not yet been determined, but some point to the understaffing of the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA), which has far too few inspectors and resources to enforce safety regulations.

By Roderick O.

On November 11, 2009 my parents sent me to the True North wilderness program in Vermont. At first, I tried to fight the fact that I was screwing my life up. Then I realized that I was afraid of the unknown.

I was scared because I was unsure what my wilderness program was going to be like. I assumed the worst. When I arrived there, I could have kicked, screamed and pleaded with my parents to take me home. However, I decided to stay. As a result, I acquired new coping techniques and learned how to put my skills and knowledge to good use.

On my first day of the program, I was handed a curriculum that I had to complete in order to graduate. There were a large number of challenges that tested various aspects of my character in many different ways.

There were four levels in the program. The first level was the most revealing and the most frustrating. I had to overcome the fact that I was living in the woods and I was afraid. Alone and scared, I did the only thing I could do: think. I thought about anything and everything I could to keep my mind off the harsh reality I was facing.

To advance from the first level, I needed to start my own fire with flint and steel and cook my own meal over the flame. The process of starting this fire was one of the most frustrating things I have ever done. It was incredibly aggravating. I had never had to manually start a fire before! I had to learn patience in order to succeed.

After I advanced from the first level, I got to join the six-person group. In group therapy sessions, I learned about communication. I became able to differentiate between listening and hearing people, grew aware of others’ feelings, and learned to express my true emotions with rigorous honesty.

By the time I was ready to graduate from the program, I was viewed as a natural leader; a “diamond in the rough.” Some abilities I honed during the wilderness program were determination, persistence and efficiency. I was also motivated, which helped me get through the program and inspired me not to give up. Without love as an incentive to better my life, I wouldn’t be where I am today. I have a caring family that I know will always be there for me, great friends who have helped me through many tough situations, and an appreciation for the fact that I don’t take for granted the fact that I am young, and in good physical condition. That is something I will continue to keep consistent and learn from.

I have come to realizations about myself that have made me who I am today. I have learned from my mistakes and now know how to make decisions that will move me toward a brighter future.