The True Nescessity of Nescessities

Well I’m glad that I’m not the loner on this subject.  I’m also happy everyone got my point that I tried to put across; don’t lean on Wikipedia but at least allow us to use it.  I just wanted to point out something I have dealt with for the majority of my schooling.  I thought it was close to another one of the topics I’ve blogged about so far.  It’s just something that is always present but nobody ever really challenged the thoughts behind it and I believe a part of being young is to stand up and say why?  Thanks for the comments!

We’ve all heard our teachers stand in front of the class and drone on about another pointless time consuming paper or internet assignment.  Every time they give you one you must have “X” amount of “credible” sources, but always at the end of their rambling they give the disclaimer; Wikipedia does NOT count as a resource.  Now bear with me for a moment, we are all college students creating papers for college level classes, if you cannot go on Wikipedia and tell the difference between opinionated information and whats real you need to do more research elsewhere.  Yes the data on the website is put up by individuals and not scholars but basic info about mainstream things is most generally hard to contradict or make up. 

A study was done to compare Wikipedia with a more “credible” source like Encyclopedia Britannica.  Ten history educational terms were randomly selected and compared with entries in both Wikipedia and Encyclopedia Britannica. These terms were: American Civil War, Panama Canal, Dust Bowl, California Gold Rush, Pony Express, Great White Fleet, Abraham Lincoln, War of 1812, Louisiana Purchase, and the New Deal.  All entries in the Wikipedia were typically longer and provided a lot of information. The entries in the Encyclopedia Britannica where shorter, however the information was comparable. There were few differences between the content of the information in both sources. This appears to indicate that the information in Wikipedia is accurate enough to be used in education.

This goes to show that not all of wikipedia is BS some dude wanted to write down and think people would actually believe it.  Granted some information generated by wikipedia is outlandish and extremely insane but that doesn’t mean all of it is garbage. 

Now I’m not saying every student should have free reign to use Wikipedia, just ones old enough to know well enough to look around and get more than one source for their information so that they can compare and make sure that their Wikipedia information matches up with other sources.  Granted if you are in a graduate program it may seem unprofessional to use Wikipedia which is understandable.  But for the average student just doing another mundane paper or project about something you covered in class Wikipedia should be acceptable.

When its all said and done Wikipedia should be considered a credible source but only when cross referenced with other sources that back up the claims of Wikipedia.  Simply put we should allow Wikipedia but only at the users discretion.

Well now that the holiday season is upon us the holiday music is being played everywhere you go.  You can all see where this is going… the debate is brought up every year and this is where i take my stand.  With CHRISTMAS (NOT THE POLITICIALLY CORRECT VERSION “THE HOLIDAYS”)  just around the corner we all love to get into the spirt and the music does go with it but, we still have 26 days until it gets here, TURN THE CHRISTMAS MUSIC OFF!!  I can handle it a few days before but not almost an entire month in advance!  I don’t mean to be a scrooge but come on is it necessary to talk about our big trees and sleigh rides through the snow when we don’t even have snow on the ground?  I’m not sure about you but I can’t see the necessity in it all…

This weeks installment of non-sensical rambling about things we don’t need is about the news.  When i was little my grandma and I would watch the news and look at all the good things that happened during the day and what the next day would bring and as i got older i kinda got out of that habit.  Well over the summer i started watching the news again and planning my day or even an entire week around the weather and if there were any certain events coming up.  But i honestly couldn’t stand watching much else.  All it is is how this politician screwed up or this athlete took these drugs or this many people died in Iraq this week.  Its sickening to see how negative it gets.  Don’t get me wrong they have the occasional story about a cat saved from a tree or someone surviving a car wreck but the news is so depressing that they should have an age limit on it some days.  I’m not sure if its just me but i would be just fine if they told me the weather and called it a night i got enough wrong in my life i don’t wanna hear about the rest of the world but that’s just me…

Ok this week I’m gonna mention that really is necessary.  We know what a designated driver is well people need to assign designated partyers too.  Everyone knows under aged drinking happens and its wrong and blah blah blah.  But once it gets to a certain point we shouldn’t be tryin to stop it all together but teaching smart ways of doing it.  If someone needs to be taken care of there should be someone around sober enough to get them to bed and run the whole show from there.  I know its not legal but the reason it isn’t is because younger people aren’t seen as responsible and partys that have these types of situations where nobody is handling anything just reinforces the belief that we cannot handle the responsibility of alcohol…

Every year its almost an unwritten tradition to watch the “big game” with the family which incurs bonding time between the generations of family members.  So after the turkey is gone and everyone settles in for the game but whenever you turn it on its always the Detriot Lions… I know there are Lions fans out there that think its great but to the rest of the world we would like to change it up a little bit unless its our favorite team playing for our attention against the Lions on everyone’s favorite family day of the year.  I mean football is good and all but why the lions every thanksgiving?  Maybe I’m overreacting or not paying attention at thanksgiving but i think it would be nice to change it up a little…

The topic of today’s ramble is the ever popular “college degree”.  this magical piece of paper that will open any and all doors to every possibility you could ever imagine in life when in reality (hate to break it to you), it doesn’t.  Many people spend many years of their life pursuing the ever changing dream of a degree but mostly it never get far.  Its not a lack of effort or education that snags these people on the road to prosperity in life its the fact the job market, well put simply, SUCKS!  We go out and look get a degree and how many people end up in a job that is the normal 9-5 that maybe required a few days training instead of the hard earned time and money we put towards that ever-so-valuable piece of paper framed on our wall at home that just proves we spent a lot of money.  And in honesty whats wrong with a 9-5?  I’ve loved most jobs like that, days get changed up, there is usually barely any pressure and most of the time you get to have fun.  Does your “degree” promise a fun…

Yes we’ve all seen them, some of us may have been one, others may have wished to be one but in the end we all know they are just a headache.  Popular culture has shown us our entire lives that cheerleaders are the best looking or the most liked people in the school and are envied by other girls and coveted by the male portion of the student body.  But all said and done in my life’s experience they just create more problems then they’re worth.  Some people say “its not a football game if you don’t have cheerleaders” or “it makes the game better with something to look at” when in reality how many of us actually listen to the school color adorned, prancing maidens in front of the bleachers who chant catchy “cheers” to supposedly “rouse” the crowd when in my opinion all they really do is either block the view of the people in the front row or drown out the calls of the refs.  Besides the fact if you need a designated group of people to get fans to cheer for your team does your team even need to be cheered for?  So next time you attened a sporting event ask yourself are you cheering because you want to or is it because the cheerleaders inspired you to…

Ironically I’m posting about how teachers keep connected with their students via Internet…  The reason this really isn’t necessary because there’s way too many ways to avoid assignments because “your Internet crashed” or your computer “malfunctioned”.  I think its just another thing that can be used as a crutch to allow people to either not do their work or use it to cover their own lack of responsibility, and when something really does happen to their Internet or computer the teachers and other students don’t believe you anyways.  What ever happened to face to face interaction between teachers and their pupils?  is the whole digital expansion of the classroom necessary?

And as a side note the reason this is up so late is because my roommates screwed with my computer and now, yes drumroll please, my Internet does not work!  Thank you and good night!

Recently a friend of mine who happens to be in a wheelchair also and he had been recieving tickets for parking “incorrectly in a handicapped space.”  When in reality he had to park slightly on the hash marks so that he can open his door and easily get out of his truck without marking up the next vehicle parked a grand total of 12 inches away from him.  So he goes and complains to them at the public safety office and his complaint is answered with, “oh, your in a wheelchair?  We were unaware of this we’ll fix that for you.”  Now the question is which is more ignorant; not letting him use the handicap spot to its entirety, OR the fact they cannot see that he clearly is sitting in front of of the lady IN A WHEELCHAIR.  So the next time you feel safe because our public safety is watching out for you and your personal property just hope they’re smart enough to tell if you can or can’t walk…