Dog Owners Live Longer Lives?

So as I usually do, I asked my friends what this week’s topic was. They shouted out boring, mundane things taht didn’t really peak my interest, but one came up that did. It was, of course, about dogs! According to her, it was only fitting as my website name is puppies are beautiful. As you can tell from the title, the topic was how dog owners are said to live longer lives. At first, I was really surprised. “Wait? What?!” Now, my argument was how it isn’t necessarily the dog that gives you a longer live but the things the dog forces you to do, such as exercise more. I realize that these equate to the same things, but I’ll talk about that more in the upcoming paragraphs.

This topic interesting me meant that I would choose it as this week’s blog topic, which also ean

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Experience vs Skill

Over the period of this week, mainly after our soccer game on Monday, I began thinking about each player on our team. I thought to myself how we could make this team better and each individual player’s style, skill, and experience. I also thought about which is more important skill or experience–today’s blog topic. Is your ability to do something well more important than the amount of time/exposure you’ve had to a topic/sport.

To make it easier, we can use soccer as an example. Is the amount of skill and technical ability a player has more important than the amount of years a player has been playing and learning from experience? Or is it vice versa? Skill is an important factor in sports; without it, you won’t win games, or get anywhere. But experience is also important too! It allows you to learn from yourself and others, from both your successes and failures. I know of certain people that’ll complain when they don’t start or when they don’t get captain with the argument, “I’ve been here longer,” and, “She doesn’t have as much experience as me.” Having experience doesn’t necessarily mean that you are highly skilled; it just means that you have been doing something for a long amount of time.

So with this thought in mind, I chose to believe that having skill is more important than having experience. The amount of experience you have doesn’t directly correlate with the amount of experience you have– for example, a person playing soccer for two years may have a higher skill that someone who has been playing for six years, and that’s the sad reality. But if you ARE thinking of taking up a new sport, you still need experience, practice, and exposure to high-intensity games. You can’t just jump head-first into a game with some amount of skill and expect to win, especially if you haven’t practiced and EXPERIENCED playing with your teammates. The reason I chose skill as the more important factor is because experience can be gained over time, but, in my opinion, there is a limit to the amount of skill one can have and gain.

Sources: https://phys.org/news/2017-11-soccer-success-skill.html, http://www.topdrawersoccer.com/the91stminute/2014/10/athleticism-vs-skill-the-eternal-american-sporting-debate/, https://www.researchgate.net/post/What_is_the_difference_between_experience_and_skill

ACT vs SAT

Planet Pluto?

This week in science, we were learning about our solar system and the masses in them. We learned about our sun, called Sol, and moon, Luna. In addition, we learned facts about each planet and Pluto! We talked about how in 2006, Pluto was no longer considered a planet, and some of my classmates talked about how this was sad and unfair for Pluto–To be declared a planet for eighty years only to being demoted down to a dwarf planet later. Some are still debating on whether or not Pluto should still hold the title of “planet”, but after a bit of research, I think that it shouldn’t be one.

Recreational Marijuana Made Legal??

I was talking about with my friends yesterday about the most recent bill our governor, Lou Leon Guerrero, signed just two days ago. My mom brought this topic up to me about a month ago when I was still thinking about applying for JSA and had to find a political issue to talk about, and this just stuck in my mind. I’ve been thinking about the effect recreational marijuana would have on Guam, and I believe that they would be negative and harmful to our community.

Marijuana comes from the leaves, stems, and flower toppings of the hemp plant, “Cannabis sativa”. Also known as “pot or “grass”, marijuana is the most commonly used drug in the United States. Though it can be used for medical purposes, many people instead use it as a psychoactive drug in most areas and heavily abuse it. It’s generally smoked in a pipe or joint. Marijuana has tons of short term effects, such as paranoia, sudden mood changes, and panic, as well as several major long term effects, like lung cancer and bronchitis. This is the main reason I’m against recreational marijuana being allowed into Guam.

I believe that by legalizing marijuana, we don’t solve problems or help “allow our people to live in a safer environment”, as Governor Leon Guerrero said. I think that we’re just creating more opportunities for addicts to get ahold of the drug, and there’ll definitely be a rise in the number of druggies on Guam and the amount of crimes people commit under the influence of marijuana. The risk of legalizing marijuana is too high, and we’ll just be adding onto the problems alcohol and vaping gives our island. One thing to remember is that this doesn’t just affect the adults, but also their children and the future generations to come.

Sources: https://www.guampdn.com/story/news/local/2019/04/03/guam-governor-press-conference-recreational-marijuana-bill/3359591002/ https://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/drugfacts/marijuanahttps://www.postguam.com/news/local/recreational-marijuana-bill-signed-into-law/article_0a470bb6-5679-11e9-b375-5bae58f56bbf.html

Scuba Fishing to be Banned?

Over lunch, my friends and I talked about how scuba fishing might be banned from Guam. Now, this may seem like an unusual topic to talk about, but there was a lull in conversation and I remembered my mom telling me about this. First of all, I don’t agree with this bill and don’t understand the need to ban scuba fishing. Second of all, why now? I don’t know a lot about this topic so I was curious as to why Sen. Sabina Perez decided to introduce this bill earlier this week.

There are two types of scuba fishing: spearfishing while scuba diving and fishing with a rod and reel while scuba diving. Though the article does not specify which one of these two Sen. Perez is referring to, I think it’s safe to assume it’s the latter due to the words, “scuba fishing”, because spearfishing while scuba diving is more often referred to as just spearfishing. The proposed bill would cause scuba fishing to be completely banned from the Guam’s waters. Even though Sen. Perez states that this bill is supported by fisherman, Fisherman’s Co-Op President Manny Duenas has publicly stated that he disagrees. So how can this bill have the support of fisherman if the person who represent’s all of Guam’s local fisherman is against it?

I, for one, don’t agree with this bill. While I do believe in what they are saying, which is how Guam has fish population slowly decreasing and has two species vulnerable, I don’t think it warrants banning scuba fishing completely. Just as Duenus said, “How can ten people, at most, affect the reefs?” Scuba fishing isn’t a popular way of fishing on Guam and using this style of fishing, means you are only able to catch one fish at a time. To help the problem Guam has of certain fishes’ population decreasing, I believe Guam could do other things beside preventing ALL scuba fishing. One option could be too extend marine preserves and isolate the ban there. Another option could be banning scuba fishing below certain depth levels, specifically where higher populations of the vulnerable species live. I think there are so many better options that the one provided for us, and we can avoid drastically changing local fisherman’s’ lives.

Sources:

https://www.guampdn.com/story/news/local/2019/02/26/bill-end-scuba-fishing-proposed-sen-sabina-perez/2987811002/

http://guamcoralreefs.com/sites/default/files/guam_coral_reef_resilience_strategy_final_december_2018.pdf

The Negative Effects of Electronics

This topic was not actually discussed in class, but I did write about it in one of my journals- “What is the biggest problem your generation faces?” I believe I put addiction to electronics, and then I proceeded to write about how it affects your health and the world around you. But what I didn’t talk about was how we could stop the decay of these things. We all know that many of us probably find it impossible to give up electronics for the rest of our lives or even an extended amount of time, so what things can we do that actually seem possible to us ?

First, we first need to know how electronics affect everything, starting with you, the person using one right now. The average human has nine hours of screen time each day- from television to cellphones, and from laptops to tablets. Every minute you stare at a screen, slowly, your eye strain increases, causing headaches, and your blinking rates decrease, resulting in dry eyes. The blue-light emitting from your electronic’s screen is also damaging to your eyesight, increasing your chances of having long-term vision problems.

Besides vision problems, electronics also cause environmental problems. When a phone is not recycled but instead thrown into a landfill, it releases lead, mercury, and cadmium into the land around it. These elements destroy the soil and poison surrounding water for the incoming years. If we’re not careful of the placement of our landfills, we could destroy and pollute fresh-water sources (ie. aquifers and lakes), which has been done several times in the past. We could also damage any nature in the area that absorbed the cellphone’s chemicals and also be killing any nutrients the soil holds, making it even harder for life to regrow in the future.

I see the impact electronics has made everywhere, from my 4-year old cousin who know how to use a phone better than speaking, from my sibling who would rather play video games than go out with his family, and even from myself who stays up till 3 in the morning, squinting at her phone. The impact electronics have on the modern-day world can be seen everywhere if you look close enough, so do what you can to decrease these effects. I don’t disagree with something I saw one doctor said: the best thing you can do is walk away. You can help your eyesight by walking away from your electronic, even if it’s only for ten minutes. This allows your eyes to take a break and rest. You can also glance away from your screen every now and then, use a blue-light filter on your device, and make the text you’re reading bigger. To help with the environmental downsides of having electronics, you can, and should, recycle your devices. Dispose of them the right way and you can prevent soil damage and water pollution. Something you can do that’ll have an even greater effect is waiting until you NEED a phone to buy one. So many people want the newest, latest phone when their current one is only a couple months old! You can save money and decrease the production of cellphones, ultimately saving limited resources and energy.

Sources:

http://www.healthpointchc.org/news-calendar/blog/is-too-much-electronic-use-bad-for-your-health

https://www.theodysseyonline.com/impact-technology-younger-generation

https://www.moneycrashers.com/are-we-addicted-to-consumer-electronics/

https://www.everydayhealth.com/healthy-living/how-technology-is-hurting-your-eyes.aspx

Capitalism vs Socialism

In my geography class, we learned a new lesson: Capitalism, Socialism, and Communism. Now, every government is different but they usually fall into one of these three categories. But which one has the highest success rate, helps the people the most, AND keeps its government out if debt. I’ve never actually researched capitalism and socialism, so that’s what I’ll be focusing on today. I think everyone knows the general idea of communism already; the government controls every aspect of its citizen’s life and they have zero to no free will. But what about capitalism and socialism?

First, we need to know a little bit about each of these things. Capitalism is basically a free enterprise; it’s an economy driven by businesses, which can also be owned privately. The people have more control over their own lives and a thriving economy is very important. Socialism is like public assistance. The government intervenes with the needs of the people and they also provide it’s citizens with free schools, healthcare, retirement, and other services. The downside/giveaway is the huge increase in taxes compared to capitalism.

Personally, I think that you would have to look at the region when choosing either a capitalist or a socialist government. Some countries work better under a capitalist government rather than a socialist. I think I would prefer to be under a socialist government because even though, there are high taxes, I wouldn’t have to worry about not having enough money to send my kids to school or about emergency medical bills. I wouldn’t have to spend my entire life working to build up a retirement fund so I have enough money to survive without a job when I’m older. I just believe that life would have a little less worries with a socialist government.

The Pros and Cons of Gray Scores

I was sick this week but despite this, I still went to school 3 out of the 5 school days. Why is this, you ask? Well, my geography teacher had told me that we might have a map test on Tuesday, so I made the decision to go to school sick, not willing to sacrifice an easy A for a gray score. But do these so-called “grey score” even have any positive effects, and if they do, why is they not widely used? Some people aren’t even familiar with this, I know I wasn’t until my first geography class, so what exactly is it?

A grey score, according to my teacher, is what you get when you’re absent and miss a test in her class, no matter the reason. The first time you receive one, it results in an automatic 70% and the second time, is a 60%. I can’t even come up with any pros of gray scores and couldn’t even research it because it’s not a popular idea. I think my teacher considers the pros of grey scores to be that it motivates student to come to school and learn rather than playing hooky, but this statement can be contested by the fact that the student may actually be feeling sick or have a valid reason! Another “pro” of using a system of grey scores is also that it forces you to make arrangement beforehand and prepare for your upcoming absence so your grade doesn’t suffer. This reason is actually pretty valid to me, but it doesn’t seem as if the pros outweigh the cons.

Keeping all this in mind, I think this use of grey scores should be disregarded and replaced by a better system. I’m not saying that a student should be completely excused from taking the test, but they should at least have a chance to prove their knowledge of what they’ve been learning and have a fair chance at keeping up their grade. Maybe they could take the test the following day during lunch or have a makeup assignment where the highest grade you can get it a 90. My point is that students should not be punished for reasons that are out of their control and sacrifice their health and the health of their classmates so they don’t receive a “grey score”.

Helping the Environment

As a kid, I’ve always been told to help the environment, and though we may not be able to save the world, we can lessen our contribution to environmental problems. Even in high school and as a teenager, I still hear this; the only difference is that they tell us how our actions affect this world and even, sometimes, go into detail with it. In my science class, we’ve talken about stuff that may have driven global warning, such as fossil fuels and green house gases and in AOLG, we proud ourselves on promoting recycling and doing small things to help the environment. One of which is being a styro-free school and having a couple recycle-bins.

My school provides us with the some tools we need to help the environment, but I know, as do many people, that some still continue to waste and use disposable or plastic items that they just throw away after the first use. I’ll be talking more about how what we do affects the environment and be talking about plenty of small things you can easily do each day that can help the environment just a little bit.

What do you do every time you wake up in the morning? Plenty people will say “brush my teeth” but I know almost everyone my age would be thinking, “check my phone” whether it’s to look at any new messages or to check the time. After you put your phone down, you can unplug your charger from the outlet when you unplug your phone. By doing this, you can save power and money, both helping earth and your bank account. Something else you can do that relates to the energy you use in your house is not using the AC during the afternoon. This saves so much energy and you can simply open a window so you won’t be dying of heat or anything like that.

We can all do tiny things each day that only take a couple seconds of our time. If everyone in the world did this, we would make a huge impact on our environment and all its inhabitants, including us.