Respsonse to Puja: Too fat to be executed?

After reading that post I was extremely disturbed to say the least. That is the most absurd excuse to get out of anything that I have ever heard. The man straight up killed a  woman intentionally and did not deny it. To say that he is too fat to be executed is the grossest most messed up thing I have heard. I understand that being overweight does have somewhat of an influence from genetics and all but wanting sympathy for your body weight is just despicable. This man deserves to die by law, he killed that woman and in turn should be killed himself. No matter what person commits a murder no other factors apply to the death penalty, race, wealthiest, gender, age, nothing; killing is a completely unacceptable act. Being overweight can be genetic, however being obese, such as this man, is not genetic whatsoever. Obesity can be controlled by an individual therefore this man has no excuse.

On the other hand this article brought up a whole new thought for me. Why should the death penalty be quick and harmless? I know that I am not one to give sympathy much at all to anyone in any situation but seriously whether it is a painful death or not what is the major difference. The killers must face the consequences of their actions. I guess torture is viewed as inhumane or wrong but killers must be killed painful or not. Nobody should get special treatment on their death penalty no matter what their circumstances are. If this man is killed painfully with the death penalty then it is his own fault and nobody else's. It seems as only a case such as this would occur in the US, as we are viewed as the fattest country on earth. It is sad that in a country as great as ours we have scummy people like this man trying to beat the system for being fat that is straight up BS! 

Running in Africa

Running is the purest sport on the face of the earth. It is strictly man vs man, whose body can outperform and outlast the other competitor. There are no advantages that can be acquired through buying special equipment with money; all you need is a pair of running shoes, if even that. No other sport is like running because it can be done anywhere by anyone which makes it an extremely cheap sport to participate in. Unlike sports like hockey and lacrosse no equipment or places to play are required; it's as simple as stepping out the door and taking off. Due to the fact that running is so inexpensive it makes it possible for all athletes to compete no matter if they are from a first or third world country. Many small African nations are very big into running as are large first world countries in Europe and all over. However, these types of countries look at running at two opposite ends of the spectrum. Many first world athletes compete in running for reasons such as their love for the sport and for the dedication to their hobby. On the other hand runners from third world countries in Africa run for a much different reason. They run solely for one reason, money. To them running is not a hobby at all it is viewed as a job because where they are from money and high paying jobs are almost impossible to come by. Without a major focus on academics or work athletes of third world countries can dedicate a vast amount of time to running from early on to help them become successful in athletics. The success of these types of runners gets them recognized by international sponsors and trainers who help them become professionals in order to make large amounts of money through winnings, commercialism, and sponsorships.r 

Substance Abuse In Professional Cycling

Although doping does occur in all kinds of sports it seems to have a major focus in professional cycling.  There are a few major reasons that can explain why it is cycling that is in fact the biggest sport involving the use of medical cheating methods. To start off with, doping in professional cycling was found as early as the late 1800's which is extremely shocking. It seems that ever since the beginning of the sport the athletes were always trying to get an advantage one way or another. Unlike many other sports cycling is mostly individual in the sense that one can win on their own without any help or coordination with a team similar to running. Cycling and running are two of the most pure sports in which it is strictly the battle of the human bodies against one another. So then one would ask, why cycling and not running that is so plagued by the use of performance enhancers? It is said that professional cycling is the most difficult and most grueling of all sports on the human body. Races such as the Tour de France and Giro de'Italia having long hard consecutive days of competition that take a huge tole on the athletes bodies. Due to this fact the human body would not normally be able to take on these affects without help from outside sources. This is the reason that athletes take substances to help recover faster, build muscle stronger, and produce more oxygen. There is no greater test of the limits of the human body than professional cycling. The duration of competition is longer than any other sport and is a constant one hundred percent effort.

            Ever since the beginning of professional cycling the sport has been plagued by cheating and has become more and more prevalent over the years. It started out with the French teams in the early 1900's and was introduced to athletes from all over in the following decades. It got to a point where it was almost assumed or normal for all professional cyclist to take performance enhancers. Even the rule book to the Tour de France accepted that the riders were using drugs stating that they would not be provided by race organizers. Performance enhancers widespread use throughout cycling made it impossible to be competitive without using them which was an extreme blow to the ideals of sport. It was extremely dangerous early on with substances that had never been tested and it resulted in the death of many athletes. It is very sad to realize that these athletes threw away their lives by cheating just to be successful; another reason why substance abuse has been outlawed in sports. Not until the 1960's did testing and bans on substance get introduced due to the fact of the many medical tragedies along with the influence of moral beliefs. A great deal of riders were caught using the banned substances year after year. As technology increased and cheating became more difficult riders and managers continued to find and use new substances and performance enhancers in spite of the laws with the help of doctors and scientists. This technology battle between good and bad still goes on today with new substances being detected frequently.

            In recent years the international doping agencies have cracked down hard on athletes found to be using performance enhancers. They have stripped the athletes from their titles and records which extremely disappointing for those who admire them and the sport itself. Barry Bonds stripped of his homeruns and homerun title, Alberto Contador stripped of his Tour de France title, and Lance Armstrong stripped of his seven titles are just a few examples of a truly sad reality of the consequences of cheating. The anti-doping agencies are making examples out of these athletes to show that cheating is wrong and completely unacceptable. However, it is now getting to a point where the question of them taking it too far arises. In the cases of Contador and Armstrong neither were indefinitely caught cheating from medical tests and were only 'suspected' of cheating. This itself seems quite unfair. Lance Armstrong was the most tested athlete of all time for ten straight years in his cycling career and never once tested positive for illegal substances. This being true how and why has he justly been stripped of all of his greatness?  If the technology is the basis of the doping law then it also should be the basis of convicting athletes of cheating. A person could be carrying a golf ball and never have golfed in his life just as could be with athletes and these substances. Professional cycling has made major progress since the start of outlawing substance abuse but still has important factors to improve on in a sport that is still plagued by doping

Substance Abuse In Sports

As an athlete of the twentieth century the issue of substance abuse comes up a lot and has really gotten my attention and I spend a lot of time reading and thinking about it. There are many different opinions out there but I have formed my beliefs strongly with a solid background on the topic and feel confident in my views.

Athletics continue to be completely ruined by the widespread use of performance enhances drugs or foreign substances. They are used throughout the world of sports in nearly every country and in nearly every sport. It really is sad that the purest form of mans competition is being destroyed by people using these substances to get an edge. Nothing is more true than beating somebody 'fair and square' but when drugs are thrown into the mix no longer is and victory 'fair and square.' Key ideals of sport include that the result should not be predetermined, and that both sides should have equal opportunity to win. Rules are in place to ensure that fair play occurs, but participants often break these rules in order to gain advantages. The competitive nature of sport often encourages some participants to attempt to enhance their performance through the use of medicines, or through other artificial means. In order to become a successful or professional athlete years and years of hard work and determination are necessary; it is a lifelong dedication.

Many athletes are heroes to their fans and a great deal of young people. They are admired and idolized by kids who want to grow up and be just like them one day. Therefore, when a person has earned so much from their athletic career including things like, titles, awards, records, and fans, is later found to be cheating all of the good things are completely erased by the bad. In cases like Barry Bonds he will never be remembered as the homerun king of baseball but rather as the cheater who used artificial substances to get there. No matter what circumstance breaking the rules and lying by means of cheating are never acceptable and should never be done. Many factors play into the reasons or motives for cheating but those do not justify the act of doing it. The upbringing of our children today is going to affect the society of tomorrow. This is why cheating should not be tolerated and always be dealt with seriously. The acting of cheating breaks all of the character values, honesty, caring, respect, and responsibility, that are important to what makes a good person. If things like substance abuse and the use of performance enhancing drugs are viewed as okay it will not only harm today's society but also the society of the future.

Response to Classmate, Myles: Long Distance Relationship

As is Myles I too am dealing with a similar but different relationship situation, the infamous long distance relationship. Now unlike Myles who lives hours apart from his girlfriend I only live about twenty minutes away from mine. But despite the distance some of the same difficulties still exist because even if it is small any distance is still a separation. Neither me or my girlfriend has access to a car and we are both very busy with academics and athletics which makes the short distance similar to a long distance simply because of the separation factor. As he said numerous people try to tell you what you should do and give you relationship advice but you need to stick to what you believe in. Hearing all the people that tell you it won't or can't work is disheartening but in a way just makes you want to prove them wrong. Because so many people talk so badly about long distance relationships or even college relationships I feel like it turns a lot of people away from attempting to stick with what they have, as Myles mentioned how many people end things before summer is over. In my first few weeks at UHart I was surprised to learn that many of the other freshmen guys were also dealing with distance relationships. When I got to college and talked about it with people I heard all kinds of things from, "Just dump her and have fun" to "If you have something good going keep it that way." I took the advice of the fifth year senior and athletics captain who mentioned the second view that I just stated to back up my personal beliefs on what I should do and tried to tune out the naysayers. I agree with Myles where he says that both sides must be in total agreement and equal in all aspects of the relationship in order for it to work out. It is not easy by any means to maintain a relationship especially when there is a separation and things have to be done much differently. Visits and any physical contact meetings are much fewer and far apart than normally would be so the time spent together must really be valued. The distance and rare opportunity to spend time together really makes you realize how good things were before and makes you appreciate what you are missing. Like Myles said phone calls, skype calls, and packages make things much more personal and less text and internet based to help avoid a relationship that can get to become too technological and socially distant. Although you miss the person in your relationship a great deal while away at college there is plenty going on to keep your mind off it enough. There is plenty of school work and plenty of activities to do. Sports, clubs, and new people are all things that can help ease the pain of missing someone but there are always those times when there is nothing that can stop you from missing them and it is hard at times when you need them the most but can't see them. Similar to what Myles stated, I believe the most important things in keeping any relationship, especially a distance one, are communication, trust, honesty, along with sacrifice. I also believe that if both sides want things to work out then they will because it is the sacrifice of having an easy relationship that both sides must give up in order to stay with one another. Just as Myles states in his last sentence, " This is from the view of a kid who has never been in a situation like this until now and is blissfully optimistic no matter how hard it seems to be." I am in the same exact boat of being new to this and have the same optimistic outlook on my distance relationship for the future. 

Response to Erik's Response to Zac's Blog: Education

Erik brings up some good ideas about the education system that made me think of certain things in different ways.  I agree with what he says about advanced placement classes being beneficial to students that excel in certain subjects. I think that these types of classes are important in helping kids that are interested in pursuing careers that involve those subjects and are interested in getting a head start. I don't think that these classes discourage other less excelling students from trying hard in school. They may view kids that take AP classes as smart kids but it will not deter them from their own academic endeavors. In the second paragraph where he talks about the two students comparing test grades I believe that the attitude whether to try and out-do or to give up trying, is solely a personal choice and not a trend of students. The part where he talks about learning undesired or unhelpful subjects keeps bringing one thought to my mind, the Japanese and Chinese education system. He is reflecting on how in the United States we expose kids to all different aspects of education to broaden their knowledge before they choose what are of study they want to focus on. In Japan and China there is an education system set up similar to what Erik is talking about. From an early age the child decides on what he or she wants to do in life and then begins to focus on that area of study from as early as middle school. So far in this century the two different education systems can be compared not as good or bad but as different or good in their own ways. The Japanese and Chinese education systems have been successful in producing experts in certain fields while the US education system has produced people that are intelligent in various different areas. It is a cultural difference that has both positive and negative sides to it. Similar to the foreign education systems we have magnet schools and technical schools that help students focus on certain areas of study from earlier ages than college. I see some negative sides to this type of education because it refrains the individual from having a wide variety of knowledge and becoming a well rounded person and rather makes them a single minded one track kind of person.