1 Plane or 25 Schools…Take Your Pick

             When researching for Junior Theme topic ideas today, I came across an article from Forbes that I found to be very interesting. The author, Loren Thompson, details that by 2015, the U.S. Air Force is planning to buy 80-100 new bomber jets to increase our national security and, as the government stated, to “deter nuclear aggression”. I found it peculiar that this would be an act meant to prevent violence, because wouldn’t buying 100 deadly airplanes create alarm in other nations? As shown by the title of his article (“What Planes Cost – And Why $550 Million is Cheap for a New Bomber”), Thompson believes that the government is being very economical in their spending.

However, according to the very same Forbes article, each of these planes is projected to cost about $550 - $700 million, and that does not include the price of testing and developing the planes, nor does it include the price of the support systems that will be needed, like refueling tankers. Not counting the impact that inflation will have on the price, this new fleet of jets will cost around $55 billion. This doesn’t sound all that “cheap” to me.

            While I am aware that our Air Force’s current fleet of jets is about 30 years old and many people think we need more bombers, we could be spending all of this money on something that I believe is far more important – educational systems in America. Perhaps we could reduce military spending in other areas in order to accommodate for this new purchase. In the article, Thompson explains that each one of these $550 million planes is equivalent in “opportunity cost” to about 25 high schools. That means that instead of buying a new fleet of planes for our Air Force, we could provide our nation’s students with 250 new high schools.

            To me at least, there seems to be a problem here. We are, without a doubt, the strongest nation in the world in terms of military power. However, we are not the strongest nation in terms of our educational system. For example, our education system is considered to be “mediocre” according to an internationalranking of OECD countries. So in my opinion, we should be spending this money on making much-needed improvements to our education system, rather than spending it on a new fleet of jets.

America Finally Starting to Buy Smarter Cars

             I was watching TV last night and came across a commercial that I found to be very interesting. The ad was selling the new eco-friendly Smart Car, a very tiny automobile that is quite popular in Europe, and has been for some time now. For example, when I traveled to Rome with my parents six years ago, the streets were filled with small cars, like the Smart Car and the Fiat (another type of small car). I was amazed because it was so radically different from all the SUVs, vans, and big sedans on American roads.

My family is definitely guilty of buying cars that are not the best for the environment. I’m not particularly proud of this, but we currently have two SUVs and one mini van. To be honest, I hate it because it seems like every time I go out, I have to fill up the car with gas! I can’t even begin to imagine the negative impact our cars have on the environment.

However, especially on the North Shore, I don’t think that my family is the only one with obnoxiously big cars. They’re all over the place in the U.S.! That’s why I was so surprised when I saw the Smart Car commercial on the TV.

I could tell that the company was trying to address the values that Americans have when it comes to buying cars. We tend to value big, powerful cars that make us feel safe. In the commercial, the narrator says that the Smart car comes with “eight airbags, a crash-management system, and the world’s only tridion safety cell, which can withstand over three and a half tons.” The narrator mainly focused on the safety aspects of the car, stressing that although the car is small compared to the typical American citizen’s car, it can still provide adequate safety for drivers.

Hopefully this commercial will help Americans realize that it is still possible to fulfill our car needs with a smaller, more environmentally - friendly car. Compared to five years ago when there were no Smart Cars in the U.S., we have come a long way. The U.S. car market has expanded and now includes Fiats and Smarts, which in unavailable in the U.S. until recently. We have made progress, but not enough. More Americans need to start considering smaller rides for their next cars.

Choosing to R.I.P.

  

         In case you’re not aware, Belgium is getting ready to legalize physician – assisted suicide for children. In an article from the New York Times, Belgium senator Philippe Mahoux was reported to have said “This [the legalization attempt] is an act of humanity that allows the doctor to make the most humane course of action for his patient…What is scandalous is the suffering of sick children when they are going to die.”

I’m sure that many people (especially in the U.S., where only a few states have legalized physician-assisted suicide) think that this opinion is absurd and are appalled that a law legalizing the assisted suicide of children has been passed. However, I agree with Mahoux. I think that terminally ill kids (and their families) should have the right to decide how they want to die.

            I understand why some terminally ill children, with no hope of cure, would want access to physician-assisted suicide. They want the suffering to end quickly and with as little pain as possible. I would choose this ending as well. I would want my family and friends to remember me in a positive light, and not as a sick person. I would want to “die with dignity”, as Belgium lawmaker Karine Lalieux said in the article. And who should be able to tell me that I cannot choose this ending? Nobody.

What opponents to physician- assisted suicide do not understand is that this bill only applies to children without a chance for a happy ending. Either way, these kids are going to die, and I think that it is disrespectful and degrading to them to not to let them choose the way they want to die. Letting them decide their fate is the only acceptable and humane way to handle this.  The loss of a child is heart wrenching, but worse would be forcing the child to endure pointless suffering while waiting for the end.

I understand that we can’t have people who are mentally unstable requesting to die, but with the proper oversight, physician-supervised suicide is an appropriate treatment at the end of life. Certainly waiting periods, review panels, and appropriate oversight by trained professionals is a necessity to prevent abuse of such a system.

            In the U.S., not only are children limited in end of life options, but adults are also unable to choose physician-assisted suicide. Personally, I think that this is just ridiculous. We have so many wonderful freedoms in America, why not the right to die? Even our animals are treated better than this! When they are sick and are suffering, we have the humanity to put them out of their misery, but when a fellow human being is suffering, we do not even give them the choice of ending their pain.

A New Meaning for “A Twinkle in the Eye”

            This is a picture of the latest trend in jewelry… platinum shapes that can be surgically inserted into eyeballs. Apparently, this $3,000 cosmetic surgery has been done hundreds of times in Europe and L.A., but a woman named Lucy Luckayanko had the surgery in November, and became first person in NYC to have the operation done. According to an article from the Huffington Post, Luckayanko said that she had the surgery so that she could have something to “tell people” and so that she could feel “unique.”  How pathetic that a person would think so little of herself (or be so vacuous) that their most outstanding personal quality is a platinum eyeball implant! To me, this seems like a pretty stupid reason to get a potentially dangerous surgery that has not yet been cleared by the The American Academy of Ophthalmology or the FDA.

According to the article, this new fashion trend poses a significant health threat. For example, the author states that the surgery could potentially lead to “infection or bleeding that could cause blinding”. And those are just two of the concerns that were listed. To me, the dangers involved outweigh the want for more bling, and I think the fact that people are actually doing this says a lot about our values. We have become obsessed with looking “cool” and keeping up with the latest trends, even if they put our health in jeopardy. What could be more critical to the quality of life than vision? We have become obsessed with material things and looking for new status symbols to show off our wealth and to prove that we are “hip”.

I know that most of you are probably thinking that this surgery is ridiculous, right? I agree. But I would encourage you all to think about the idea of getting a tattoo, or getting a piercing. These are things that seem normal to us nowadays, but I am sure that when these things first became popular, they were thought of as ridiculous as well. Perhaps eye jewelry will become a common element of body décor in the future.

Halted Rivalry

            On Monday night, I was watching the NHL (National Hockey League) Network when there was an urgent news update. The game that was currently on TV was changed, and a new game came onto the screen. It was the Dallas Stars – Columbus Blue Jackets game. At that moment, I saw one of the scariest scenes I have ever watched on TV. Stars’ forward, Rich Peverley, had just had a cardiac emergency during the first period of the Stars’ game. He had just finished a shift on the ice when he collapsed on the bench. The team doctors and medical staff, as well as a few doctors from the crowd, were called to the scene and were able to get Peverley safely off the bench and into the tunnel (the hallway that leads from the locker room to the team bench). After what seemed like an hour, it was announced that Peverley would be okay. Here is an article that includes a video of the entire incident.

            What surprised me most during the incident was the reaction of the players and the fans. I mean, let’s face it; hockey fans are, in general, sometimes not the nicest people. I have been to many games where fans yell extremely rude comments at players and give them a hard time for missing a shot or losing the puck on a power play. The fans came to see a hockey game, and rather than being impatient when the incident happened and the game was stopped (like I feared some of them would be), they were just the opposite; they actually “remained nearly silent for ten minutes” after the emergency until the announcement was made that Peverley would be okay (article). When the game was cancelled completely later that night, the fans were not upset. They were able to recognize that the safety of the players is far more important than the game itself.

Even more impressive, however, was the way that the actual players reacted. Hockey is, without a doubt, one of the most violent sports played, and these two teams do not usually get along well. The players are accustomed to always smashing each others’ heads into the boards as hard as they can and being as physical as possible with their opponents to try to wear the other team down. Many times, players from the Dallas Stars and Columbus Blue Jackets have even gotten into fights with each other. So, during the emergency, when the players actually put their hostility aside for awhile, I was pleasantly surprised. During the video (in the article), the commentator says “the two teams have actually come together.” Below is a picture from the video that shows this happening.

This clearly reveals that not only did the players forget about the rivalry, but that they actually came together as a group to discuss the issue. A situation like this, where players on opposite teams talk to one another, normally never happens (aside from trash talking). Their communication during an event like this shows that even though they are opponents, they still have a tremendous amount of respect for one another and can still come together in support of a player, even if that player is on the other team. I was really proud that the athletes and fans of my favorite sport were able to handle a situation like this with such maturity and respectfulness. It says a lot about them, and I just wish that when problems like this occur that effect the entire world, our nations would unite like the Stars and Blue Jackets did.

There are way too many issues in the world today that are not being solved because there is a lack of teamwork between nations. For example, with a problem like global warming, when one nation is making an attempt to resolve it, other nations are not contributing to the effort and are just making the situation worse. If we work together, we will be able to fix our issues much more quickly and efficiently before it is too late. The two hockey teams both knew that something horrible had happened, so they worked together to make sure that Peverley got the medical attention that he needed. Without their unity, Peverley might not be here today.