William Goldberg 813
Fifteen years ago, two teenagers named Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold brought shotguns and pistols to their school. This school's name was Columbine High School. At the school, the pair went on a mass murdering spree of the people attending the school that day. After killing thirteen people, the two shot themselves in the head, committing suicide. Fifteen years ago on April twentieth, the Columbine Massacre took place. After that day, school securities were tightened, students were frisked, and gun control was debated. Of course, there were always people who felt strongly about gun control, but the Columbine Massacre and other shootings really strengthened their belief. Now there are people who fight for their right to have guns, people who fight for the banning of the selling of automatic weapons, and even people who say guns should just be outright banned.
There are more and more people who have decided that guns are just plain old bad. There are tons of articles online that discuss gun control where the author says that they will "settle" for only pistols being able to be bought. There are even some articles that claim that guns are terrible things that should be banned from the U.S entirely. These kinds of articles are becoming more and more popular now with every shooting. And after the most recent Sandy Hook, there are very few people now left to oppose these gun haters. As someone who was born and is still being raised in New York, I haven't had much interaction with guns. But using the information I do have, I say that the best option for the U.S is to make it illegal to buy automatics and semi-automatics and keep it legal to buy pistols. I believe this is the right choice mainly because you can get the best of both worlds. If you feel like you need self-protection or if you just really want to own a gun, then a pistol is great, and if you oppose guns then you can understand that pistols are a lot less dangerous than rapid fire and long range guns. Sadly, it seems that with all of the shootings going on, most people are just too scared to do this and want to feel completely safe. Even though I see their point, it's unfair to others who'd like to have a gun that won't perform crimes. It seems that they just don't understand that it's not guns that kill people, it's people that kill people.
In conclusion, I believe that pistols should still be allowed to be bought, just not anything stronger or faster. Unfortunately, I see the gun control debate going on for years and years to come since no one is selfless enough to compromise.
Wednesday, January 29, 2014
Friday, January 24, 2014
William Goldberg 813 Kumar Vishwas and Poetry
William Goldberg 813
"Love is so short, forgetting is so long." This is a quote from the mind of Pablo Neruda, a now dead poet who once wrote about love in the form of poetry. Now someone else has decided to do such a thing. A controversial poet has become a leader of the A.A.P and refuses to stop writing such beautiful work. I believe that this man's story shows how poetry can save one's life.
Kumar Vishwas attended the intermediate college at his home town of Pilkhuwa. There he fell in love with a close classmate of his, someone who he never wanted to leave. He was eventually admitted into an engineering college, but decided to stop halfway through when he learned that the love of his life had got married and was already settling down with someone else. Vishwas took the realization of never getting to be with her extremely hard, and left with no other option, decided to turn to poetry to close the now gaping hole in his life. He made poetry his life and decided to give it his full commitment. One of his most popular poems is actually inspired by this lost love, it's called "Pagli Ladki". He eventually became a popular poet as well as a politician, learning to deal with loss by focusing on other things.
I felt that this story was a great example of how poetry can save a person's life. It might not do it in the physical sense, but it can easily save the mind. Vishwas was able to recover really using only poetry to hold him up and keep him alive. Without poetry, he most likely would've never been able to find a way to express his true feelings and fight on through his life. I truly do believe that this majestic art form is able to save someone's life just like it did here.
In conclusion, I feel that poetry is capable of keeping a human being alive in terms of emotion. Kumar Vishwas was one of these people that because of this art form, was saved and was able to become the amazing person he is today.
"Love is so short, forgetting is so long." This is a quote from the mind of Pablo Neruda, a now dead poet who once wrote about love in the form of poetry. Now someone else has decided to do such a thing. A controversial poet has become a leader of the A.A.P and refuses to stop writing such beautiful work. I believe that this man's story shows how poetry can save one's life.
Kumar Vishwas attended the intermediate college at his home town of Pilkhuwa. There he fell in love with a close classmate of his, someone who he never wanted to leave. He was eventually admitted into an engineering college, but decided to stop halfway through when he learned that the love of his life had got married and was already settling down with someone else. Vishwas took the realization of never getting to be with her extremely hard, and left with no other option, decided to turn to poetry to close the now gaping hole in his life. He made poetry his life and decided to give it his full commitment. One of his most popular poems is actually inspired by this lost love, it's called "Pagli Ladki". He eventually became a popular poet as well as a politician, learning to deal with loss by focusing on other things.
I felt that this story was a great example of how poetry can save a person's life. It might not do it in the physical sense, but it can easily save the mind. Vishwas was able to recover really using only poetry to hold him up and keep him alive. Without poetry, he most likely would've never been able to find a way to express his true feelings and fight on through his life. I truly do believe that this majestic art form is able to save someone's life just like it did here.
In conclusion, I feel that poetry is capable of keeping a human being alive in terms of emotion. Kumar Vishwas was one of these people that because of this art form, was saved and was able to become the amazing person he is today.
Wednesday, January 15, 2014
Violent Video Games William Goldberg 813
William Goldberg 813
A long time ago, the word video game meant arcades. It meant huddling around a small console with your friends fighting over who got to play. It meant something with simple controls, mediocre graphics, and a basic plot. Nowadays, you rarely ever play locally with your friends, most of the time you're using the internet to play with people far away. Video games can now be described as interactive movies with realistic graphics, fluid controls, and a complex plot that'll leave you thinking even days after playing. These new realistic video games bring more entertainment, while also bringing a new and controversial way of play.
I recently read the article "Parents & Teachers: The Impact of Video Games" which discusses violent video games and how they influence teenagers. The article also provides tips on how to regulate your teen's "media consumption". Overall, I felt that it was very one-sided, but that is to be expected of a parenting guide sort of article. I mainly brought up this topic to express my feelings on the subject. The article brings up many points on how violent video games can make a teen more aggressive, more confrontational, and less likely to do well in school. They provide evidence from other articles to support these points. While I agree that without proper guidance a young child or a teen can experience these changes in behavior, I also think that with one serious conversation about how there is a difference between video games and real life and that you shouldn't let video games affect your real life, you can prevent them. Once a child understands the fine line between fiction and reality, their actual life shouldn't be affected by violent video games or any other video games whatsoever.
In conclusion, despite the article "Parents & Teachers: The Impact of Video Games", I believe that it is definitely possible to let your child play as many violent video games as you will allow them, just as long as they understand that video games are fictional. Now excuse me, I'm going to play some Team Fortress 2.
A long time ago, the word video game meant arcades. It meant huddling around a small console with your friends fighting over who got to play. It meant something with simple controls, mediocre graphics, and a basic plot. Nowadays, you rarely ever play locally with your friends, most of the time you're using the internet to play with people far away. Video games can now be described as interactive movies with realistic graphics, fluid controls, and a complex plot that'll leave you thinking even days after playing. These new realistic video games bring more entertainment, while also bringing a new and controversial way of play.
I recently read the article "Parents & Teachers: The Impact of Video Games" which discusses violent video games and how they influence teenagers. The article also provides tips on how to regulate your teen's "media consumption". Overall, I felt that it was very one-sided, but that is to be expected of a parenting guide sort of article. I mainly brought up this topic to express my feelings on the subject. The article brings up many points on how violent video games can make a teen more aggressive, more confrontational, and less likely to do well in school. They provide evidence from other articles to support these points. While I agree that without proper guidance a young child or a teen can experience these changes in behavior, I also think that with one serious conversation about how there is a difference between video games and real life and that you shouldn't let video games affect your real life, you can prevent them. Once a child understands the fine line between fiction and reality, their actual life shouldn't be affected by violent video games or any other video games whatsoever.
In conclusion, despite the article "Parents & Teachers: The Impact of Video Games", I believe that it is definitely possible to let your child play as many violent video games as you will allow them, just as long as they understand that video games are fictional. Now excuse me, I'm going to play some Team Fortress 2.
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