College Application Changes

Yahoo news had an article about 8 new changes to the 2010 and 2011 college admissions. The reason for the changes is because of the high volume of high school applicants to the most popular colleges in the U.S. They are also trying to get rid of applicants who try easy A classes and plagiarize their essays.

1. Less time per application. A survey showed college counselors and peer reviewers spending about 15 minutes on each application.
This makes a lot of sense if they're getting about 30,000 applicants a year. Who would want to spend that much time on an application. Advice: put your BEST stuff first. You want your application to sell you as an individual/student so make it short and sweet.

2. Earlier deadlines. Many colleges are encouraging students to take advantage of the early admittance program. They suggest this so they have more time to get to each application.
Plus, some schools are on a first come first serve basis so if you send in your application early then you may get a response early.

3. Less reliance on recommendations. High school teachers and counselors get a lot of recommendation requests from students each year so they may not put a lot of thought and effort into each recommendation which could count against you.
Unless you have a few unique people to write you recommendations I would rely more on the personal essay to sell yourself than your teachers.

4. Less emphasis on high school class rank. Some high schools don't use class rankings so it makes colleges skip over the class ranking on your application.
Honestly, its not just about where you stand in your class anymore. You can have a 3.2 GPA and win awards for being involved in the community or in extracurricular activities and get into the most prestigious schools in the country.

5. More emphasis on tough high school courses. The harder the classes the more prepared you will be for college. Colleges will look at the AP classes and classes that don't consist of art and music.

6. More emphasis on college essays. This can make or break you.
This should be the most important part of your application. This is the chance you get to explain why you should be accepted, what you can bring to their school, and explain any challenges or mess-ups you have encountered in your high school years.

7. More attention to senior year. In the past, colleges have looked at sophomore and junior year as most important but now they are looking at the senior year because they don't want anyone to slack off.
Senior year should be the most important because it the last year you have as a high school student so it should be the year you show yourself off.

8. More application auditing. More colleges are fact checking essays and any information you provide.
This is important because there are a lot of dishonest applicants and if they are caught it gives an honest person a shot.

                                                      image belongs to the boston globe


The Los Angeles Police Department has decided to increase the ticket amount for jaywalkers in an effort to prevent accidents.They will start in Downtown LA with a hefty fine of $191 since they are having a huge problem with people running randomly across  the street.

From The LA Times: "This is about more than reducing accidents during the holidays," said LAPD Lt. Paul Vernon. "This is about preventing thefts and robberies. Jaywalking is often done by thieves, purse snatchers and robbery suspects to target their victims."
Police say there have been three vehicle vs pedestrian accidents within a month in 2009 and this holiday season is expected to be even busier. 


This should be enforced, hands down. There are so many pedestrian vs vehicle accidents all over LA County and its because negligent people decide to run across a busy street where there is no signal. There was an accident two weeks ago where a person was wearing all black and crossed the street "illegally" at 10pm. Its completely ridiculous to put yourself in that kind of danger and put the driver in that kind of position. Its good to see them trying to battle this issue and hopefully they can expand it to other cities. 191 dollars may cost a lot but it is better to pay that than end up in a bad situation. 

ANIMAL ATTACK.

A four year old was saved over the weekend by two family dogs after being attacked by a wild animal. The little girl was walking to her grandparents home when a fox grabbed her and tried to eat her. The two dogs, pitbull and collie, attacked the fox and scared it away.

A man was attacked by a fox in the same area just a day after while he was working in his garage. He took a hammer and threw it at the fox, which scared it away. Both victims tested negative for rabies.

Its pretty scary to think that an animal attack can happen right in the comfort of your home. Just last night there were coyotes running in a pack down the street. I would encourage everyone to take precautions when taking that early morning run or even running down the driveway to grab the morning paper. It only takes one second and that animal will outrun you and possibly overpower you. Make sure you are always conscience of your surroundings and if you do see a pack of wolves, fox, or bears tell your local animal shelter or police department. You don't want your neighbors to get hurt.

Toxic Thanksgiving

 

olive and amber

Before giving your pet some turkey on Thanksgiving, listen to this. KNBC posted a story this morning on the risk of sharing your holiday meal with your pet. "The majority of emergency room for pet visits during the Thanksgiving holiday revolve around the turkey. Owners must abstain from feeding any table foods to their pets. Even a small piece of butter-coated vegetable can cause a life-threatening pancreatitis in certain pets. And don’t even think about adding a ladle of gravy to your pets’ kibble. Don’t risk it. Strange foods and diet changes are hazardous to your pets’ digestive system and can lead to vomiting, diarrhea, and a very sick animal." Not only does this happen but giving your pets bones could splinter the throat and intestines.

They suggest putting your pet in a separate room with food, water, and toys, to avoid giving into your begging pet. I love my dogs and I admit I give into giving them food on Thanksgiving and whatever is leftover over the week. Truth is, my dogs are completely spoiled and they will pretend that they hate their dog food and will only eat people-food. Listening to this advice will probably save you a trip to the vet.

Pedophile advice

                                                              taken from samaa.tv

Amazon.com Inc has decided to sell a book that offers advice to pedophiles. The book, titled "The Pedophile's Guide to Love and Pleasure: a Child-lover's Code of Conduct", has caused outrage and concern. This book will be released on Amazon's Kindle (e-reader) and not print. Amazon hasn't responded to the controversy but they are allowing this book to be sold on their site. Amazon allows authors to release their books as long as they share revenue. Many are questioning if Amazon really has a policy or list of things that would be deemed offensive. Amazon does ban materials that are offensive which is why many are baffled.
Yahoo! described the book as follows: "The author of "The Pedophile's Guide," listed as Philip R. Greaves II, argues that pedophiles are misunderstood, as the word literally means to love a child. The author adds that it is only a crime to act on sexual impulses toward children, and offers advice that purportedly allows pedophiles to abide by the law."
Why Amazon would even want to allow this book is beyond me. The only reason one can think is that Amazon only wants to make money so why not allow such offensive material? The point is, the only advice the author should be giving is how to not be sick in the head and find someone their own age. I would need to read the book to really understand what the author is trying to argue or point out but based on the title and the summary it doesn't sound like something we should be buying and selling. Maybe the author is or once was a pedophile. Amazon should just get rid of it all together.

Mcrib is back!

Yahoo! posted an article about Mcdonald's bringing back their "McRib" sandwich. Its a popular BBQ rib sandwich that they bring around for a limited time every year. The sandwich became available last week and will continue for the next six weeks. Many Mcdonald's lovers are really excited about this once a year sandwich that even some drive many miles just to find a Mcdonald's. A representative for Mcdonald's said they only have it around for a limited time to keep devoted customers.
I don't understand the hype with this sandwich. It has 27 grams of fat and it looks like rubber. I actually went out and tried the sandwich to make sure I wasn't judging the item unfairly but I found out that I didn't. The meat tastes like pieces of scrapped meats left over from dead animals and the look doesn't give it any justice. Mcdonald's proved to me once again that you get what you pay for.

image taken from mcmissouri.com

taken from music.cornwarning.com

Yahoo! news had an article this morning about the worst 5 airlines. It was based on the Airline Quality Rating report of 18 airlines. They were graded upon their services, food, parking, lines, baggage, lost and found, customer service, and etc. They were as follows:
5. US Airways
4. American Airlines
3. Alaska Airlines
2. United Airlines
1. Delta


The results didn't surprise me at all. I had the worst experience with United Airlines and I am glad they are ranked at the second worst. One thing I learned was never travel with a pet with any of these airlines. When my mom and I traveled to New York two years ago, we took our little dog with us because we needed a dog for our business trip. We had never traveled with a pet before and didn't know the rules. We had no trouble with lines and getting our baggage but the flight attendants are beyond rude and classless. Little Olive was having an anxiety attack while flying because this was also new to her and my mom peeked her little head out of the dog bag for 3 minutes so she could get some air.
Next thing we know, the flight attendant comes yelling and screaming and waking everyone up on board. Of course, I defend my mom in the situation and some nasty words were exchanged. Then another flight attendant came and yelled at us and the whole time they ignored us. They didn't once give us water once and snuffed us everytime they walked by. I finally got some guy to get us water but I will tell you this: I will NEVER EVER fly United again. What I have experienced with flying, Jetblue and Southwest are better picks for airlines.