PLN 14

What matters today is an iceberg, about the size of Lexington (European country between France and Germany), that collided with the Mertz Glacier in Antarctica, and shaved off a new ice berg of the same relative size. The new iceberg is 48 miles long and 24 miles wide. It is said to hold roughly the equivalent of a fifth of the world's annual total water usage. This event matters because now, the two are floating relatively close to the Australian coast. This is a problem for multiple reasons. One, it could be a boating and shipping hazard. Big cargo ships do not have the maneuverability of a speed boat, and the pair of giant Rhode Island size chunks of ice could cause ship wrecks. Two, the closer to the equator that the two ice bergs travel, the more likely they are to melt. This is a major problem because of their size. If they were to melt, water levels around the world would rise half an inch. That may not seem like much, but adding just that much more water can cause hurricanes to become more frequent and more deadly. Number three; this is a sign of global warming. The average temperature has risen to a point that allows giant pieces of a completely frozen continent to fall off. That should be a big enough red flag to cause more people to go green.

PLN 13

What matters in the world today is a world record breaking diamond sale in Great Britain. The article on Yahoo! news, talks about a 507-carrot rough (un-cut) diamond that sold for $35.5 million. The Cullinan Heritage is in the top 20 largest, pure, un-cut diamonds in the world. Experts estimated the value at $25 million and are very excited that it sold for more. The purchase was made by Chow Tai Fook Jewelry Co. in Honk Kong. The Cullinan mine, where this diamond originated, has been the source of many large diamonds, including the world's largest rough diamond, the Cullinan, at 3,106 carats. That gem was cut into the Star of Africa stones that are now set in Britain's Crown Jewels. This matters to the world because diamonds are one of Africa's largest resources, and if companies like Cullinan were to give back to the community, then lives of African natives might improve. Life in Africa is so low compared to America. People die every minute of Aids, or malaria, or starvation. The diamond business currently only brings more violence to the continent, and if company’s like Cullinan could help, it would make another part of the world a better place.

PLN 12

What matters today is the lost gold medal of Sven Kramer, the long track speed skater from the Netherlands. In what is possibly the biggest blunder of the games, Sven is disqualified from the 10,000 meter, the event in which he holds the world record. The Dutch skater was entering the last lap of the race with a commanding lead and was setting what would have been the gold medal time. Kramer was going down the back stretch of the oval, where skaters are to change lanes to even the distance. At the last second his coach, Kemkers, tells him to move to the inside lane. Kramer was supposed to be moving into the outside lane, but he assumed that his coach was right. He was then disqualified for being in the wrong lane. Kramer is a super star in the Netherlands, where the past time is speed skating. The 23 year old is already a millionaire from assorted sponsorships. It is said that the sponsorships are also on a bonus system, and seeing as he had already won gold in the 5,000 meter, winning the 10,000 would have given the kid almost a 300,000 euro bonus. The metal error by his coach lost him an Olympic Gold and almost half a million dollars. Now granted, Kramer probably should have been keeping track of his lane, but his coach should not have made the mistake in the first place. This whole scandal matters because Kramer holds the world record in the 10,000 meter race, and he deserved to win gold on the highest stage possible. This matters to me because of the sponsorships. No 23 year old should be making that much money; they would not know what to do with it. They have been playing their sport instead of going to school and gaining the knowledge of what to do with millions of dollars. It is not just him either; America is the worst at promoting sports before education. Young kids out of high school go into the NBA or MLB because they want the money. Students work harder at their sport than at school because they think that they have a shot at making it to the big time. Yet less than 10% of them will actually make it to a major league team. Americans lives revolve so much around sports and money that kids end up forgetting about what is important.

PLN 11

What matters today is a plane crash, similar to 9-11, in Austin TX. A man, who was mad with the IRS, crashed a plane into the revenue service building in Austin. This matters because he killed many people, just because he had personal issues. Not everyone at the IRS deserved to die, and this man out of anger, destroyed not only his life but many others. This situation matters because it shows that people can do horrible things with technology like airplanes, all because of their emotions. With so much technology today it is very easy to eliminate life, and people who are emotionally unstable, have the power to do so. This shows that using technology the wrong way, can turn a helpful tool like a plane, into the equivalent of a bomb. That is why we have to be careful with things like nuclear weapons, because eventually, we will end up destroying ourselves. This man had some personal issues, and he used the readily available technology to solve his problems.

PLN 10

What matters today is a YouTube video about the "new" Call of Duty game, "Modern Warfare 3." The video is a fake news cast that makes fun of how unrealistic current games are. Supposedly, in this new game, players take part in tasks that real soldiers would be performing. Such as guarding a warehouse all night, or settling arguments between fellow soldiers. At the end of the clip, the game is advertised to be sold with a 17 and 1/2 pound wii control (replica of an actual assault rifle) that the player has to "carry around all day and is not allowed to fire unless given explicit orders to do so. This clip is important because it shows that war isn't fun like in video games, and that there really isn't that much action. I think it is important that kids realize that the video games they play and the movies they watch are not real life. Now obviously this is a fictional game, but the video could open the eyes of many young gamers

PLN 9

"Students Helping Students" is a support program at K-State University. The group collects money and then uses it to help students who are financially troubled to stay in school. The clubs president was diagnosed with cancer when she was 20 years old. The group helped her out, and as a result, she joined the group. K-State Proud, buys things like books, lunches, or even will pay your rent for a week. In the video some of the students even help a kid park his car, and then go on to carry a girl across the street. This matters because it shows that the students care about each other and are willing to help each other out. The school obviously is a very tight knit community. I would like to believe that Arapahoe has the same connection, which is why this matters to me. Groups like Link Crew and sports teams always do their best to make the new kids feel at home, and this is good because it encourages kids to get involved. This is important because it allows kids to get the most out of their school experience. The group at K-State matters to the world, because if organizations like the UN took on the same mentality, things would be allot better. Third world countries would be able to make things a little better for their citizens. This would also lower hostilities because everyone would be just a little bit happier. So maybe the president of K-State Proud should give a speech to Congress or the UN about how to take care of one another.

PLN 8

What matters in the world today is how low teacher salaries are. Teachers deserve to be paid more than they currently are. They have more value to the community than any pharmacist, and yet the educator is paid less. Teachers shape the minds of our children and have a lot of effect on every child that sits down in their classroom everyday. Teachers deserve to be paid more, thus I have devised an action plan. Both the state and federal governments should be reviewed for wasteful spending. The profits saved would then be added to teacher salary funds. Some government officials might claim that there is no wasted money, and yet $112 million dollars is spent by the National Defense Department on unused flight tickets. Just that amount alone would be enough to greatly increase the salaries of deserving teachers. George W. Bush had a plan to eliminate the top ten most wasteful items the government spent money on, but it was never put into action. Through my course of action, I intend to mail a letter, to both Governor Bill Ritter and President Obama, with a list of wasteful, unneeded expenditures that can be eliminated. The list will include several of the items from President Bush's list, along with several that I have deemed wasteful, such as the war in Iraq and the Middle East. Teacher salaries should be raised, and I intend to bring awareness to that fact.

PLN 7

What matters in the world today is the post The Lessons of American Idol on the blog Stager to Go. This post lists 19 lessons that could be learned from American Idol and applied to academics. My personal favorite is "You learn by working outside your comfort zone." I believe that this statement is 100% true, because you never know if you like something until you try it. This article is also important because it shows that reality TV isn't all bad. It proves that you can learn something useful in just about everything you do. Yet, I don’t think that the main point of the post is to show that American Idol has a lot of life lessons. I think the point is to show that things can be learned every second of the day just by paying attention to your surroundings and watching what other people do. This is a very important lesson in its self, because by watching other peoples' successes and failures, we can learn how to do things without being in the classroom.

PLN 6

What matters in the world today is Barac Obama's new budget plan for NASA. An article on Spacenew.com explains that the new budget is discontinuing manned space exploration. Instead private companies would be hired to carry out missions. This could cause many problems. NASA has the experience that other companies do not. As a result, the private companies will end up making the same mistakes that NASA has in the past, and this will cause more fatalities and accidents. Private companies will compete with prices and speed. Neither of which are good in the space program. If companies compete for price, they end up developing product as cheaply as possible. This could cause companies to skimp on safety measures and other precautions that could determine whether an astronaut makes it back to Earth. Competing for speed is also bad, because it will end up causing another space race. If space craft are built as quickly as possible, it results in things being forgotten or left out. This again, could cost life. That is why NASA should be aloud to continue the manned exploration of space.