Current Connections: UNT students petition to remove Chick-fil-A from Union

What's the author's purpose?

• To prevent two sides of a war between anti same-sex marriage groups and pro-same-sex groups. It is also to say that people shouldn't be refused a job because of their sexuality.

Does the author accomplish his/her purpose?

• Yes, for the most part. This article only gives a few views on the issue for gay marriage.

What ideas do I agree with?

• I agree that people shouldn't be refused a job just because they are gay. Being gay in no way inhibits nor elevates the ability to perform any kind of honest job like the clerk job refused at Chick-fil-A. Also, refusal of said job infringes upon the equality all people should share. Constitutional rights state that "all men are created equal." The Chick-fil-A Union has made a pretty bold and outright hateful move and the result might be a major lawsuit. Bottom line, you can't fight a sin with hate. Hate only deepens the wound and lenghtens the war. Fight it with love and the wound can be healed.

What ideas do I disagree with?

• Although what I just said leans toward a belief of same sex marriage, I believe that gay people shouldn't be able to marry. Relations like that should exist only between a husband and wife (a man and a woman). It's the way God and nature intended.

What do I not understand?

• I don't understand why people think that hate will win the war against this issue.

What Connections can I make with the text?

• From looking at history and how issues have been resolved, it seems that the best way to solve it isn't going to be with heated arguments.

How can I become a more active participant in my learning?

• Make an effort to read article and texts on current issues I know little about in order to eliminate as much bias as I can.

How can I take responsibility for my learning?

• Take heed of all advice and information that comes my way and keep an open mind.

Book Bucket List

Here is a list of books I would LOVE to read:

• Graceling by Kristin Cashore
• Pride and Predjudice by Jane Austen
• Lost Hero by Rick Riordan
• Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
• Pendragon Book One: Merchant of Death by D. J. MacHale
• Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
• The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
• The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
• Inheritance by Christopher Paolini
• Les Miserables
• A Whole New Mind by Daniel Pink
• Ranger's Apprentice Book Four: Battle For Skandia by John Flanagan
• Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
• Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There

What Does Being Human Mean?

Very philisophical but also simple. What makes us human is in our species name: homo sapiens because we as humans have a higher thought process and intelligence than regular animals. Our own inventiveness and creativeness allow us to go farther than thought possible and to always push limits and break barriers. We argue, we agree, we wonder, we create, we love and we hate. Just being ourselves makes us as human.

Nick's Declassified School Survival Guide

Six word Slant

School is a wilderness to beware.

140 Character Claim

Students in agony over school need to give their best efforts into their grades and rest easy once they have perservered against adversity. (139 characters)

Students all over the country are beset by their teachers and almost all feel the pressure of work and expectations forced upon them. To relieve this pressure, we have to manage our time and make school a top priority.

                We have to be generous towards school because if we neglect it, the consequences can be dire. As Ron Kurtus states in his website, School For Champions, students need to manage time each day to complete assignments. As it turns out, students can actually spend too much time on assignments, taking more time than what is actually needed. So the best way to tackle that pesky homework is to have specific intervals free from distractions and with celerity. For example, every day when school lets out, set the interval from about 4:15 pm to 5:15, giving that hour of cushion to unwind from the day. Also, staying organized can help retain the grade point average. Moreover, keep every graded assignment that gets handed back. This will show what mistakes were made and so that next time the same mistakes will not be made twice.

                In order to make school more of a priority, schedules might need to be rearranged. In the online article, 10 Tips for Getting Good Grades, Randall Hansen advises us to, “use a planner or organization system.” Using a planner will definitely help those with bizarre and changing schedules to help plan out when and where school work needs to be done. In spite of the organizer, sometime in order to fully make school a priority, sacrifices have to be made. No one is able to do everything that they want so when it comes to this, decide what is most dear to keep and what is going to have to be given up. Although, a lot of extracurricular activities like clubs or maybe a job may take up most free time and obdurate people might never give these up. But the wanton truth is students have an obligation to do well in school and if that is hindered by anything, something has to change or school survival is slim. Similarly, in the book Call of the Wild, a dog named Buck is taken from his home and forced to live in the harsh Yukon. Buck has to change his ways and habits in order to adapt and survive in the Yukon.

                All have felt the pressure of school, threatening to make us crack. So if the pressure gets to be too much, help is offered to those who need it. Everyone everywhere has at one time struggled in a class. So if classes get too hard sometimes, most schools do offer tutoring to help students understand material.

                Too many students out there are struggling with grades and too many times it has been from lack of effort. Most would be obdurate as to consider the suggestions that have been stated. But this is promised to work. Make the sacrifice. Make the effort. Make the grade.

Works Cited

S Hansen, Randall S. "10 Tips For Getting Good (or Better) Grades." n.d. Quintessential Careers. May 2012.

S Kurtus, Ron. Get Your Homework Done. 26 September 2011. May 2012. <http://school-for-champions.com/default.htm>.

S London, Jack. Call of the Wild. Tom Doherty Associates, 1986.

The Cost of Life

Whenever someone dies before their time, is one person solely to blame, or do others shoulder some of the blame? We all carry the responsibility of the health and lives of the people next to us because we are our brother's keeper. If we don't care, who will? Why do we ignore the hurts and cries of others when we are the ones who should be helping?

A person is beset by thieves, stabbed and robbed at night and is left for dead. Later, he dies from blood loss. Who is to blame for his death? The first impulse is to say the one that stabbed him. But what about the person walking down the street who thought nothing of the screams? He hears the unwonted cries, but is too concerned trying to get home. All he had to do was investigate the scream, call 911, and the  person could have been saved. So who is to blame more for the death, the thief, or the passerby?


One hundred years ago, the famed ship Titanic sank on its maiden voyage. Over 1,500 souls lost their lives that night. Most could blame the deaths on the captain for not having slowed down that night. But it wasn't just the captain's fault that all those souls lost their lives. A ship sailing in the vicinity that night saw the flares of the Titanic but the captain thought they were just celebrating. There were only enough lifeboats for about half the people on board Titanic. To think that the ship that saw the flares thought nothing of it is... astounding.


Even when there is no one else to blame, sometimes the one guilty does not take it. In the book, Call of the Wild, we see a dog named Buck travel through the Yukon as a sled dog. During one of the treks, a master drives his team of dogs past their limits. The dogs are so exausted and in such horrid shape that one of the dogs actually dies from it. But the masters think nothing of it. All they think about is just getting to their destination as quickly as possible.

We all carry the weight of lives on our shoulders. Not just ours. We are responsible for the welfare of the people next to us because we are our brother's keeper.

How to Survive School

Six-Word-Slant

• School is a wilderness to beware.

140-Character-Claim

• Students in agony over school need to give their best efforts into their grades and rest easy once they have perservered against adversity. (139 characters)

The Bird

He flies high above all the others,
Declaring soverienty to sisters and brothers

Arrogant and haughty he may seem,
Believed himself better than all
Saying to all, "Bow to me!"
Then one day, when the sun was tall,
All of his feathers did start to fall.

Fall, fall, fall from his body, they did
All the while they fell, his grace did too.
His flock laughed and mocked at him,
Pride, once his comfort, was now shame.