International Problem

Evans, Ian "Refugees fight to stay in one of South Africa's last, battered camps." Christian Science Monitor 31 May 2009: 9.Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 18 Oct. 2009.

This article discusses a current refugee problem in South Africa. Approximately one year ago angry mobs targeted foreigners living in African townships and "brutally" attacked them for 2 weeks straight. Due to the attacks on the townships many foreigners fled their home and went to the safest place from possibly being attacked again; South Africa. Many of these immigrants are from neighboring countries such as Zimbabwe and Mozambique and have no where else to go. Unfortunately these immigrants quickly became hated because they were, "stealing" jobs from poor South Africans. To cope with this problem the government put the immigrants in temporary camps until the violence subsided. By now, most of the camps have been discontinued as much of the fighting has died down, but their is still one operating camp housing immigrants and the government wants them to be shut down. The problem is that it's still way too dangerous for the remaining immigrants (from Somali and Congolese) to return to their home country. The city council has gone to court in order to try and evict the remaining residents of the camp but lawyers for the local camps are trying to "stave" off these efforts. Immigrants living in the camps have been struggling to live peacefully as the locals have sent death threat, attacked, and even raped the refugees. But even with all of the adversity the immigrants are facing they still feel it is safer then going anywhere else, where the would probably be killed.

I hate Winter

The weather the past few weeks has been pretty miserable; rainy, cold and windy. I know it is still only Fall (I think) but this recent weather has reminded me just how much I hate Winter. Winter time means being cold all the time, and that is going to be a lot worse now that we have to walk to all of our classes (actually, walking in general is going to be unbearable). It means less sun. It means not being able to wear comfortable clothes (as in basketball shorts and a fresh white tee). It means no more outdoor sports, who wants to go outside and throw the football when your hands are too numb to catch it anyway? Winter is going to bring along even more sickness, which is about the last thing anyone wants to hear with the Swine Flu epidemic. And considering how modest Indiana's past Summer was, and how cold it is already, it seems like we might be in for a very nasty Winter. The only thing I like about Winter? Spring Break is right around the corner.

College

So after a couple weeks of being in college I kind of feel like it is overrated. Yes their are a lot of parties and drinking and drugs and all of that but I already feel like my everyday life is the same...going to classes, studying or playing videogames, trying to find stuff to do in the dorms, staying up late for no reason and then going to sleep. I guess that is what High School was like to except it was the exact same thing everyday (at least for me). I know everything will improve as the year goes on but as of now it definately seems like college is overrated.

Best Peer Review Question

I feel like the best question on the peer review sheet for our synthesis/ analysis essay is the one that asks about the most important part of your paper; the thesis. Here's the question,

Does the first paragraph end with a thesis? Rewrite it below. Does the thesis make an argument about the significance of a literary element at work in the song? What is that literary element? In your own words, how is this literary element important to the writer’s interpretation of the song’s “hidden” meaning?

This is the best question becasue it makes sure that the author's thesis contains everything that the professor is looking for. Also, I think every paper should have a good thesis for this assignment becasue on the sythesis part you have to relate that thesis to Ishmael Baeh in the book, A Long Way Gone. The question also makes sure that the peer reviewer is doing his/her job by analyzing the thesis to make sure it contains everything that the quaetion is looking for.

KOL Concert

So over the past weekend I went to see the Kings of Leon at the Verizon Center. The concert was a great time of course but the Kings of Leon put on an amazing show, they played some of their popular songs which was nice but they also played some of their lesser known songs and that was even better. I am not a huge KOL fan, I just started listening to them over the Summer, but I am glad I decided to go. I would strongly recommend watching the Kings of Leon live.

Colts

So after four games in the regular season the colts have yet to lose. I know that the colts always start the season well but I was not expecting it this year with the loss of Marvin Harrison and the age of the offensive line. Its not only Peyton Manning who has outperformed expectations but the young receivers as well. The Colt's defense has also stepped it up a notch. If the Colts keep it up then this could be a very successful year...I dont want to get my hopes up too soon seing as it is just the beginning of the year.