What are Teenagers Reading? - Extra Credit!

Today's presentation dealt with the topic of what teenagers are reading. The presentation was based on a research forum that the Dean of HEHD has been working on over the past four or so years. Students of different ages were interviewed to find what kids/teens were reading and what they were finding enjoyable. The research looked at if students found what teachers were assigning them as books they could consider enjoyable. The majority of books assigned by teachers were not found in the books that they really enjoyed. This was due to the books being too long, boring, and not applicable to the individual reader's life. These assignments were also found to be a factor possibly as to why kids and teens are reading less on their own due to having so much of the assigned reading to do. Books that were found popular to teens seemed to be novels that came in series, comics/graphics, and magazines. They were said to be able to relate more to series since it was continuous and liked magazines because it dealt with things of today that could be found interesting and enjoyable. The Dean encouraged us all to not stop reading for our individual enjoyment.

Baptizing the Gun

This story was quite different to me. The story begins with it seeming like one misfortune after another is occurring. When the man's car dies and he ends up with the Lagosian, I became more interested to see what was going to happen. A large part of this story was the mood that was created while reading it. From the moment of introduction for the Lagosian, a more ominous feeling sets throughout the story. It seems like a lot of the details were acting as foreshadowing, such as the gun and the man's different sweating and anger-like moments. There are also a lot of mentions of death and different people who are seen or talked of in that sense. It sets up the reader to believe that the priest is going to end up wounded or dead and that the Lagosian would be a "bad guy." The surprise ending of the two men actually having very wrong thoughts on one another was an ending I would have never guessed but made the story more interesting and unique. I thought it was funny how the "gun" was actually nothing more than his handkerchief. While the stranger began as something that did nothing less than terrify the priest and keep him on edge, he ended up also being the one to bring him peace towards the end with the priest concluding with "as [his] passenger faded into the night, his laugh [was his] absolution."


coiffure - a style of arranging or combing the hair, a head covering; headdress
"The chef, sporting stretch jeans, a T-shirt, and a Grace Jones coiffure, is dancing for the crowd."

World's Tallest Tower - BIOSC

Japan has recently built what is now being said is the largest tower in the world – the Tokyo Sky Tree. It was built with the main purposes of a television and radio broadcasting mast. The tower is over 2000 feet tall and has been being built for almost four years. The building is said to be built in ways allowing to withstand an 8.0 magnitude earthquake and should open in May of 2012.  It is said that not even 50 percent of the tower is usable floor space. Other than the technical reasons that the tower was built for, it is not an strayed thought to assume that it was also built to assist in tourism after dropping so much due to different natural disasters. The tower contains two places in which observations may be made by visitors, both over 1000 feet high in the air. There is also a “sky walkway” that is a glass covered walkway in which people can walk and see a full view of the entire city. Although questioned on its durability during earthquakes, engineering expert Andrew Charleson, agrees with the builders of the tower making note that the technique that was used (vibration control system with a central spine of reinforced concrete pillars) should be very beneficial and work during the natural disaster.

To start off, the pictures of the tower seem unreal. One of my first thoughts was the Twin Towers that used to stand tall and proud in New York City. The towers stand high above all the rest and make quite a large statement. I think that the tower will be very beneficial to the country in terms of tourists. With different visitor activities and viewings up in the tower, I think a lot of money could be raised and they could bring themselves more into the public eye. With the economy in the way that it is, I guess that drastic calls are sometimes made in order to make money and help the people of the area. I think that Japan definitely did this. Along with this however, I would be very interested to see how much such a tower would cost. I am honestly not aware of Japan’s financial standings, but I would assume that such a piece of architecture would lead to a large amount of money. It also brought along thoughts of terrorists. This went along I guess with my thoughts of the Twin Towers. Although it is quite different than the towers as in multitudes of people wouldn’t be inside working and such, I’m sure it will contain hundreds or so people at a time and could probably cause a large amount of damage if anything (terror or not) occurred to the building. Something I found interesting was how sure the people seem to be with its withstanding of an earthquake. No one seems to really be worried as to whether or not their infrastructure will really be successful. If it can indeed stand an earthquake with a magnitude of an 8.0, then Japan could definitely lead to helping surround countries with the same problems and teach them how to build buildings of such strength. It could also possibly lead to stronger builders being build in general and with similar structures.

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/travelnews/2011/11/111128-worlds-tallest-tower-tokyo-travel/