Book Review

"The four women in the group had known that they were perceived as weak links, and they were determined to prove their detractors wrong,"- David Michaels. A young female pilot, Jenna Munrough, must prove herself as a successful fighter pilot. David Michaels HAWX entertained me with an excellent, action packed adventure.

To start with, the Air Force gender role for pilots has traditionally been male pilots. In the beginning of the book, David Michaels wrote "No woman who had sat in this room a week ago was more determined to triumph than Lieutenant Jenna Munrough." As being seen as a weak link, Jenna wanted to prove that a woman can be as good as of a pilot just as well as any male pilot could be. She wanted the Air Force and other soldiers to realize that a pilot does not have to be a male gender role.

Continuing, women tend to have more administrative jobs in the military, rather than fighting in combat. David wrote in the middle of the book that Jenna is an "administrative liaison...I spend a lot of time schmoozing with customers." Jenna took a job with a PMC, a private military contractor, and instead of flying, she became an administrator for customers. While she performed her job well, she was not piloting a fighter aircraft, which meant that she could not fulfill her overall goal. Jenna really wanted to be back in an airplane instead of doing administrative jobs for a PMC.

Finally, David makes you believe in Jenna's ability to be a great pilot. Towards the end of the book, Michaels wrote that Jenna asserted "Trust me, you have better things to do with your life than to be sitting around in a cell waiting to be executed for treason." Over time, she became confident in her career as a pilot. When someone was going to assassinate the president, she demanded a guard in the Air Force base to allow her to use an F-16.  She warned him that if he didn't let her take a plane, then he would go to prison for treason. The person that was about to kill the president was flying an aircraft, and Jenna needed a plane to take out the killer, before he reached the president.

I would recommend this book to anyone that is interested in action packed books. HAWX was a very well written story that is easy to get into and enjoy.

CC 3.2

In a recent article entitled "Military Gender Issue Reignites as 45 Percent of Female Marines Fail Pull-up Test," Bob Adelmann, writer for The New American, informs readers of the gender issues in the military and how it affects women.

As the Marines plan to gradually incorporate more females into the armed forces, they are faced with problems. In his article, Bob stated that "females have been unable to complete tasks assigned to males in the Corps." In the infantry boot camp training, only 3 of 20 females actually made it through the course. Meanwhile, 221 of 266 men were able to complete the obstacle course. The low numbers of women achieving the tasks is forcing the Marines to consider lowering expectations for women to pass. They claim that will make the tests more equal for female soldiers.

Furthermore, even the women in the best shape struggle to pass the fitness tests. In an interview with Adelmann, Captain Maureen Krebs explained that "zero women have made it through [the] infantry officer training and only a handful have made it through the enlisted course." This means that women female soldiers are less likely to survive close combat. Some even say that women soldiers may not be able to help other soldiers on the field survive.

Finally, the testing requirements can be adjusted to an extent. Elaine Donnelly reported that "some allowances can be made for female Marines serving behind the lines, but they cannot be made for those intending to serve at the front." In order to ensure safety on the front lines, every soldier must be able to perform theirs tasks without any complications. Each soldier must trust another for the survival of combat.

I myself am considering the Army. To be successful, I will have to begin working out and build up strength in order to pass the fitness test.

Only time will tell how the Marines will equal the playing field for female soldiers.

Cc 3.1

In a recent article entitled "Why Most Female Marines Struggle To Pass Pullup Test" written by Richard Leiby, an author for the Washington Post, informs readers about the female gender role struggle in the U.S. Marines.

Up to recently, the gender role of women in the military has not been very big. Female soldiers, however, now face more obstacles as Richard reported that "Most female Marines can’t even do three lousy pullups." He is saying that 55 percent of the females in the marines boot camp can not do the minimum requirement of three pull-ups. The low minimum was set by Gen. James Amos, in hopes that more women would pass the test. Gen. Amos made that test rather than having women do the flexed arm hang option to qualify.

Continuing on, most people want to know why so many females struggle with only three pull-ups. In the fifth paragraph, Leiby stated one reason is "superior male upper-body strength." This means that an advantage that men have, testosterone, allows for them to build more lean muscle mass. Women on the other hand, tend to have more body fat, making pull-ups harder to accomplish. With training though, many women have been able to achieved more than required pull-ups, the highest in the marines being eight.

Finally, for years, women have been told what they can accomplish and what they can not. In his article, Richard said that "we have been telling young girls that they cannot do regular pullups because they will never be as strong as boys." This awful logic of telling women they can not do pull-ups is "one of the worst things we ever developed in physical-fitness classes," as Stew Smith said, a former Navy SEAL and fitness expert. Women have pretty much been discouraged to be stronger and accomplish higher goals.

I, myself, can not do a lot of pull-ups, but I can do more than three. Three pull-ups is a really low number and not really hard for women in shape. However, women have been told for years that they can not do regular pull-ups; therefore, they do not work on pull-ups as much as they should.

The female gender role in the Marines has been a struggle for years, and may continue to be a struggle. Men simply have an advantage to the pull-up physical test.

CC 2.1

In a recent article entitled "Families Brace As Billions In Food Stamp Cuts Set In" written by Jeff Cox, a writer for CNBC.com, Jeff describes a recent event that will change the lives of many Americans.

The American government has been struggling to come up with a plan to balance the budget. In the first paragraph, Jeff claimed Congress is making budget cuts for food stamps that will "siphon $5 billion off a program that helps one in seven Americans." The food stamp program helps many Americans put at least some food on the table. The program is a safety net that catches Americans as they fall into hard times. The Americans that use the program, making too little money to buy food, now fear food stamps will not be enough to provide them food.

Many Americans get some food from food banks, a place to get food, a resource for hungry people. The reporter stated in the second paragraph that "Margaret Purvis," the president of the Food Bank for New York City, "expects those cuts will draw even more people to organizations." Facing economic troubles, there will be more people showing up at the food banks. Drawing people in, the NYC Food Bank already serves 400,000 meals a day. Many food banks are now warning people that the lines will be longer due to the cuts to food stamps; consequently a lot of Americans will be looking to the food banks to keep food on their tables.

Cutting back on food stamps will have negative consequences on local shops. Jeff stated in his article that grocers "benefit when food stamp users shop in their stores." Stores need costumers to buy their products. There are "47.6 million Americans" that use the food stamp program. With the budget cuts, a large percent of Americans will be shopping less at a grocery store. While many stores will be fine, the cuts will still impact the stores income.

I was once using food stamps. Household income was very low, and there were a lot of mouths to feed. Even though the budget was still tight, we were able to get some decent food. Now, the income is higher and we no longer use food stamps. However, I understand how important food stamps are to Americans.

The reducing of food stamp money will negatively change the lives of Americans that depend on the program, causing food banks to have more traffic in the near future.

Cox, Jeff. "Families Brace As Billions In Food Stamp Cuts Set In." NBC News.
      1 Nov. 2013. Web. 9 Nov. 2013.

CC-1.2 Education

In a recent article entitled "Americans Doubt the Rigor and Quality of Online Education," Allie Bidwell, the author of the article, informs readers of how online education is accepted.

Online education is known as a flexible way to earn a degree; however, online education is questioned by many. Allie wrote in her article that "the value and format of online education are equal to or better than traditional education, [but] many still doubt its quality." What she is saying is that online education can be just as valuable source to get a degree as traditional learning at a school, but Americans and their employers doubt that the education is as good as classroom education. Many students are able to complete the online courses with a diverse curriculum.

The most questioning of online degrees comes from employers. In paragraph 4, Bidwell said employers "prefer applicants with traditional degrees from average universities over those with an online degree from a top university." Employers feel that students are getting a better education when they attend even an average university rather than if a student got a degree online from the best universities. Some say that online courses require more discipline from a student than someone attending an actual classroom education.

Recently, education has gotten very expensive. Allie stated in paragraph 9 that online programs "offer a more cost-effective route to higher education at a time when tuition is sharply increasing." Online programs, a place to get an online degree, do not cost as much as campus programs. Many students go into debt trying to pay tuitions and most are underemployed or unemployed after graduating.

I personally believe that online education is a great option when a student does not have money to attend a university. Employers should recognize the amount of work that a student puts into getting a degree online. Colleges should increase the quality of online courses and support positive viewing of the degrees by employers.

Online education could eventually become a more popular method of students getting a college degree without going in debt.

CC-1 Colorado Floods

In a recent article entitled "Colorado Floods Triggered By Convergence of Geography and Climate, Experts Say," written by John Roach from NBC News, educates readers of a flood that has been threatening Colorado.

After days of rain, Colorado was left with large floods in which the surrounding terrain was not helping. John Roach stated in his article that the water "gushed over and down the Rocky Mountains" which "resulted from a fateful confluence of geography and weather." What he is saying is that the rain is running off the mountains and rushing into the rivers. However, the rivers can not keep up with the flow of the rain. So, as the rivers continue to rise, the water is overflowing into nearby towns and cities.

Since September 12, there has been more than 17 inches of rain that has poured down in the area. Roach added " the soaking, described as 'biblical' by the National Weather Service, left at least eight people dead." The floods have swept people and cars away with the current and some have drowned. There are still hundreds of people missing, which could cause the death toll to rise. Rescue workers have been working frantically to find and help people.

There are many factors that caused the flooding, but one of them is the air flow. John stated in his article that there was a "fetch of tropical moisture drawn north from Mexico by a weak, but large, upper-level low-pressure system" and pushed "into the Rocky Mountains by a persistent southeasterly airflow." As the system moved across the Rocky Mountains, the conditions for storms were just right. The tropical moisture produced an intense amount of rain that flooded the area very quickly.

I can remember having floods in our area, however, they did not compare to what is happening in Colorado. The floods I have seen were not very threatening and did not cause millions of dollars in property damage.

Colorado has cleaning up to do as they were harshly hit by storms that have left a massive flood. The warm air moving through the Rocky Mountains creating torrential downfalls in which the river could not keep up with, leaving towns flooded.

Reflection Time

In my English class, I have been given an assignment to create a short story. The short story will have a lesson to teach the readers. The story will be told using a make belief hero.

In the past week, I have developing a hero to use for the story. The fun part was getting to use a website to create a hero. Thinking of the story has also been rewarding. While trying to teach readers a lesson, I have also learned from the experience.

While there was some fun parts to the project, there were also some difficulties and it could get frustrating sometimes. Thinking of a story has been hard. The story must teach a lesson and provide entertainment with a hero.

My main character that I have created is The Night Watcher. The Night Watcher patrols the city at night, fighting crime while trying to show the citizens that there is someone watching them. Dressed in a red and black coat and pants with a black shirt, he lurks at the tops of buildings in the city with his unique red and white crossbow. He also carries a large black and red sword on his back for close quarter combat and sometimes to show off.

In the end, I hope my story is able to teach the readers the lesson of the short story. I plan to continue developing my story as thoughts roll in my head. I hope my story will entertain my audience.