Top News Stories That Should Be Covered

1. The Occupy movement.
2. National Debt and legitimate ideas for change.
3. Unbias coverage of the 2012 election.
4. Corrupt politics/corporations.
5. Overwhelming cost of higher education.
6. Government involvement in foreign countries. 
7. Failed policies and the money wasted on such policies.
8. Education model reform talks.
9. Health care system reform. big Pharma and the problems that have stemmed from it. (prescription abuse)
10. Obesity epidemic

James McCollum

Professor Benton

English 102

26 September 2011

Informative Proposal: All Drugged Up

            “One day President Roosevelt told me that he was asking publicly for suggestions about what the war should be called.  I said at once ‘The Unnecessary War’.”  If Sir Winston Churchill only knew how many wars his quote actually described he would probably become sick to his stomach.  Ask Americans currently between the ages of 18 and 50 what the most significant war has been that they have been alive for and the answers will come back quite varied.  Responses might include the Vietnam War, the Gulf War, and even the War on Terror currently in process in the Middle East.  The importance of these wars can be argued until their respective generals turn over in their graves, but I would argue that every single one of these wars rivals in comparison to the War on Drugs. But I digress; a paper of that sort can come only after a general understanding of the War on Drugs has been achieved, and as such will be saved for another occasion.

            War is a topic of vast importance to every citizen of the United States; and it is a topic that is often times greatly underestimated.  One might argue that war, in every situation, is in some way avoidable.   As a citizen, it should be understood that taxes are essentially unavoidable, and the realization that taxes have funded every major war that the U.S. has been involved in should not be a hard on to make.  This fact has never been truer than with the War on Drugs, and as a taxpaying member of society it is important to understand exactly what those hard earned tax dollars are financially supporting. 

            The man who coined the phrase “War on Drugs” is none other than the 37^th president of the United States, Richard Milhous Nixon.  President Nixon is tied to quite a few historic moments in this nation’s history.  His presidency saw the end of the draft, witnessed the first lunar landing by American astronauts, and is even linked to the infamous Watergate scandal. (The Nixon Library and Museum)  Arguably more important than all of those was the establishment of the Drug Enforcement Administration in 1973, and his declaration for “an all-out global war on the drug menace”.  (Drug Enforcement Administration)  With that quote, Nixon slapped a name on what has amounted to a 40+ year war on substances deemed useless or illegal by the United States government. 

            This year alone, the Unites States has spent over $30 billion in tax dollars on the War on Drugs since the 1960’s (While the phrase War on Drugs was coined in the 70’s, preventing a national drug problem began in the early to mid 60’s.).    That number is growing at an estimated rate of $500 per second, and it doesn’t appear to be slowing any time soon. (Media Awareness Project)  Those numbers alone should be enough to send out an alarm to the American public and raise a few questions.  What exactly is the War on Drugs?  Is this global drug war working?  If the numbers do in fact point to the contrary, why has there been no change?  What can be expected in the future?  I hope to answer all of these questions concerning such an impactful subject.  The War on Drugs has impacted more lives that statistics could begin to estimate, and the time to be informed is now. 

Bibliography

Drug Enforcement Administration. www.justice.gov. September 2011. 26 September 2011 <http://www.justice.gov/dea/pubs/history/1970-1975.html>.

Eldredge, Dirk Chase. Ending the War on Drugs: A Solution for America. Bridgehampton: Bridge Works Publishing Company, 1998.

Fish, Jefferson M. Drugs and Society: U.S. Public Policy. Oxford: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc., 2006.

Media Awareness Project. Drug Sense. September 2011. 26 September 2011 <http://www.drugsense.org/cms/wodclock>.

Meier, Kenneth J. The Politics of Sin: Drugs, Alcohol, and Public Policy. Armonk: M. E. Sharpe Inc., 1994.

The Nixon Library and Museum. www.nixonlibrary.gov. August 2006. 26 September 2011 <http://www.nixonlibrary.gov/thelife/apolitician/thepresident/index.php>.

Note: All listed books are possible sources for the upcoming paper. 

Hacker

James McCollum

Professor Michael Benton

English 102-J010

21 August 2011

What A Hack

Ethical. Moral. Useful. Helpful. Criminal. Mischievous. Dishonest. Although it may come as a surprise to most, all of these words are used to define the term.  A ‘hacker’ is more commonly defined as “a computer user who attempts to gain unauthorized access to proprietary computer systems’.  Like most, I fell into the lot that carried around this shared misconception of the term as a definition.  Thankfully I was able to carve out a more accurate description of the term after a little digging on the subject.

            The task of responding to a single word in any format seemed broad to say the least.  Being tasked with responding to a word as socially recognizable as ‘hacker’ seems damn-near impossible.  The difficulty didn’t come from lack of information available on the subject.  A Google search returns back about 314,000,000 (yes that’s million for you math whizzes) results on the topic.  The trouble came from a personal misunderstanding of what the act of hacking really was.  Defining the hacker after gaining a knowledge of this skill (some would call it art) would then be a fairly easy task. 

            My research into the topic began fairly common; reading definitions and perusing the first few results on popular search engines.   I moved on to search in other forms of media for insight.  Having the internet at my fingertips I was able to utilize one of my favorite forms of information gathering: documentaries.  Personally I find documentaries to be sort of like a visual encyclopedia entry; a fact-filled detailing of a topic or event in the form of a film.  A well made informative documentary will present as many different angles on the subject as is possible; and this was what I was after.  At the end of my research I found myself watching a 50 minute Discovery Channel documentary on YouTube called “Hackers: Outlaws and Angels”.  I was glued to the screen from beginning to end left wanting more.  I had gained an entirely new prospective on hackers, and the hacking community as a whole, while also sparking an interest in the topic that was previously absent. 

            Towards the latter part of my high school career I had developed into “Renaissance Man” of sorts.  I played a few different sports, dabbled in theatre, took a few art classes, and had always been fairly tech savvy.  A few of my friends started tinkering with some software and learning various programming languages.  As with many Renaissance Men I fell victim to over-involvement and barely scratched the surface of this new ‘hacking’ hobby.  I’d catch a few tips and tricks here and there and even installed a few programs onto my computer that I would eventually never learn to use.  Unfortunately, this tiny dip into the hacking culture left me with an uninformed view on hacking. 

With a little bit of reading, a well directed documentary, and some personal opinion on the subject thrown in for good measure, I have found the following to be true of the common idea of a ‘hacker’.    Very simply, hackers can be good or bad, right or wrong, ethical or unethical, or any combination thereof.  Most computer professionals will give them very definite distinctions.  These usually come in the form of White Hat and Black Hat hackers; with white being the good guys and the black being the contrary.  Black hat hackers are predominately linked with malicious hacking.  Attempting to gain access to bank accounts, company files, or any other form of electronic information with the intent on using it for personal gain or to somehow cause harm are examples of these black hatter’s “evildoing’s”.  On the other side of the law are the white hats.  Often ex-black hat hackers, these men and women are the sheriffs of the hacking community.  They will often assist companies with electronic security, helping to find holes in the security measures that are in place.  They can also come in the form of any person using their computer prowess and hacking skills for a positive means.  While the figurative ‘Grey Hat hacker’ can occasionally be found, most in the community tend to gravitate to one side or the other. 

            I have grown to appreciate assignments such as this one.  A word as recognizable as ‘hacker’ seems impossible to define, let alone write about.  Luckily through a little research I was able to expand on my own personal knowledge of the subject and develop a better understanding of what the word hacker means.  I’ve felt a bit of inspiration stem from this as well- a sort of desire to challenge my usual conceptions of a single word or idea.  Maybe I’ll start hacking into my vocabulary for a while and see what I come up with. 

Works Cited

Hackers: Outlaws and Angels. Dir. Ralph Lee. Perf. Ian Murphy, Steve Wozniak Kevin Mitnick. 2002.

Trim the Fat

James McCollum

Professor Michael Benton

Eng 102

23 August 2011

Trim the Fat

            “Be who you are. That’s actually an attainable goal.”   Greta Christina hit the nail on the head with this one.  Her article on alternet.org entitled “Wealthy, Handsome, Strong, Packing Endless Hard-ons: The Impossible Ideals Men Are Expected to Meet” was a very insightful read.  It was a nice change to hear a little pro-male talk from a woman; especially one that acknowledges a problem as heavy as image issues.  And according to this article, men suffer from body image issues (and a plethora of others) just as frequently as women do.

            Being involved in a fighting sport myself, the idea of cutting weight that Christina addressed in this article was nothing foreign to me.  It’s not uncommon for my teammates to transform their eating habits 6-8 weeks before a fight.  We start by eating lean; meat, veggies, and very complex carbohydrates.  This gets the body prepared for the rigorous few weeks of carb-cutting that comes a couple of weeks before a fight.  This drastic reduction in carbohydrate intake will shed pounds like Al Roaker after his gastric bypass surgery.  The idea is to stay as big as you can before a fight, cut down to the desired weight, and then rehydrate and replenish the body the night after you’ve weighed in.  This will often times result in a fighting weight that is 15-20 pounds heavier than what a fighter weighs in at the day before.  Yes, it’s possible to put on 20 pounds in one day; I’ve been witness to it countless times over. 

            What is impossible to do, however; is to achieve the physique of the men seen on the covers of fitness magazines.  The difference between the hell that these models put themselves through and what many fighters endure is not all that different.  In both situations, the subjects are attempting to achieve an ideal weight or appearance in a short time for one to two days.  Before and after these events it’s just general fitness maintenance.  The difference is seen in the psychology behind the dieting and weight loss.  According to Christina’s article, “The image being sold is an exaggerated, extreme, idealized extreme of hyper-masculinity.”  In a nutshell, Christina explains that current societal ideals of the male physique have changed drastically.  Chris Bell’s documentary “Bigger, Stronger, Faster” touches on this very topic.  The popular action figure G.I. Joe is used as an example here.  The man being interviewed shows that as the common conception of what the male physique should be has changed, so have popular toys our children play with.  The original version was a slim, but fit hero.  The current model sports a huge chest, bulging arms, and an 8-pack.   Where the fighter is attempting a drastic cut in weight to meet a certain weight requirement, the model is helping to promote this skewed vision of attainable male physique. 

            After reading the majority of the article I began to seriously question how big of a hand media and advertising has in all of this.  At the end of the day, if a company influences someone to adopt malnourishment and eating disorders as a means of “healthy living’, they’re still making the money.  Countless numbers of individuals will continue to purchase the magazines’, fitness equipment, and diet plans and the companies promoting this vision of physical perfection could care less what it does to the masses.  It’s our job as those individuals to educate ourselves on the reality of this situation, and become better informed on nutrition and fitness.  We can no longer rely on the media to tell us how to look and feel.  Being a healthy person is up to the individual and it is the responsibility of that person alone- not advertisements or strange social norms- to attain that healthiness.  

Works Cited

Bigger Stronger Faster. Dir. Chris bell. Perf. Mark Bell, Mike Bell, et al. Chris Bell. 2008.

Christina, Gerta. "AlterNet." 20 June 2011. www.alternet.org. 23 August 2011 <http://www.alternet.org/reproductivejustice/151344/wealthy%2C_handsome%2C_strong%2C_and_with_endless_hard-ons%3A_the_impossible_ideals_men_are_expected_to_meet/?page=entire>.

5 Little Questions

1)      Where are you from?

My father was stationed in Cleveland, OH with the Coast Guard so unfortunately I can’t call Lexington my birthplace.  Lexington Kentucky will always be my home though.   I absolutely love this city, but I don’t plan on being here my entire life. 

2)      What is your experience with writing?

I’ve always felt that writing came fairly natural for me.  During my middle school career I dabbled a bit in creative writing contests and did well in most of them.  Unfortunately, writing has never really sparked my interest.  I sometimes find it tedious, and I quite often get sidetracked wondering if my writing flows well.  I do however; enjoy the occasional writing assignment that really makes me think deeply. 

3)      Identify Beliefs.

Beliefs.  That’s a tough one for me.  I believe in right and wrong, hot and cold, day and night.  Are we talking about religion?  Is Kentucky Basketball an option?   I used to think beliefs were fairly concrete.  I’ve slowly realized that beliefs actually change quite frequently.  Things happen all the time that have a huge affect on your beliefs.  So I’m going to leave this one fairly blank for the time being.  I’ll fill it in when I figure them out. 

4)      What kind of pop culture do you consume?

I’m a huge fan of most any kind of media that I can find.  I love film.  Most any kind of movie will do, but I’m a huge fan of documentaries.  Music is also a huge part of my life.  I really don’t care what’s on as long as something is.  I’ve been to a couple of music festivals, and really enjoy a good concert, but you can’t beat a good ol’ fashioned pirated CD.

5)      Why are you in college?

I’m in college because any legitimate future employer that I may have will not give me the time of day without that little piece of paper at the end.  A degree is quickly becoming a necessity and I’ll feel a sense of accomplishment when I’m done.  I also have a little girl to think about, and anything that will help me provide better for her is worth the time for me.