Drive-By Yogurt

A few friends and I went out to the taverns for a few cocktails last night. At one point in the night, one of my friends said she wasn't feeling too well and wanted to go home. So, I escorted her outside, called a cab and waited with her for the cab to arrive. The two of where standing near the road, just talking when it happened...

A Drive-By Yogurt-ing!

I felt something hit my chest. I looked down and saw a light-green slimy substance on my shirt. I bent over and picked up the culprit... An opened container of Yoplait yogurt laid on the ground half empty.

Someone, or some people, drove by and threw an opened container of yogurt at me and my friend for no apparent reason.*

Who does that?

This type of behavior is disappointing.

*Luckily, none of the yogurt hit my friend.

I won?

I am a currently a law student externing at various law offices. One of my positions is as a law clerk in a District Attorney's Office. The DA's office in this particular county is required to manage cases from the Mental Health docket. This requires the DA or Assistant DA to go to the Mental Hospital and try cases where involuntarily admitted patients state their case to be released from the hospital.

I had watched several of these trials as a law clerk. Recently, I obtained a license that allows me to represent clients while under the supervision of a licensed attorney. With this license, I was given the opportunity to try some of this Mental Health cases myself. I enjoy every opportunity I have been given in the courtroom. Especially opportunities where I am able to try real cases.

However, these types of cases are different. I still enjoy the opportunity to call witnesses to the stand, question them, get out the facts and work on my delivery and style. But, these types of cases involve involuntary admission to the Mental Hospital... meaning, the patient wants out of the hospital and it is my job to keep them in the hospital.

Today, I was congratulated for "winning" and sending two more people back to the hospital. Yes, I felt good about the trial. My direct examinations went well, my cross examinations were effective and I received judgments in my favor.

But I can't help but think... Did I really win?

Yes, some people need medical treatment for all sorts of illness. But, at the end of the day, I'm still sending people to a place where they don't want to be. These people are involuntary admitted. They haven't committed crimes or broken the law in any way...

I love to win and hate to lose... but, I wouldn't mind losing one of these cases once in a while.*



*I only mean that I wouldn't mind losing in cases where the patient is able to live outside of the hospital without problems.

Smart v. Study Smart

There is a person in my class the is very, very smart. "He" receives great grades and is always prepared for class. A discussion came up between myself and some others about this person. No one was saying anything negative about this person, but someone mentioned that "he" was not smarter than us rather "he" just studied more and was only study smart. 

I find this argument to be very interesting. It may be true that "he" studies more than the average person... but doesn't that mean that "he" IS smart? 

"He" is smart enough to study harder than everyone else. "He" is study smart because "he" is smart. 

This is like saying "he is only better at baseball because he plays all the time." Or "I would be as strong as him if I worked out as much as him." 

It doesn't make you any more successful by belittling the accomplishments of others.

Are We All Supporting Communism?

The other day my 7-year-old little brother and one of his friends were fighting over a toy while they were playing together. My impulse reaction was to yell at my brother and tell him to share his toy. As soon as I told him to share, I realized that it may have been the wrong thing to say. Is telling a little kid to share supporting communism?

Of course I'm not completely serious but it is hard not to think about this. The dictionary defines communism as "a theory or system of social organization based on the holding of all property in common, actual ownership being ascribed to the community as a whole or to the state." By telling my little brother to share his toys could mean that I am telling my brother to share his toys with the community. The toy has now become the property of any friend who wants to play with it. 

Athletic $cholar$hip$

This is kind of random, but I was watching a show about why colleges and universities should pay collegiate athletes. The people on the show were arguing that athletes bring in huge amounts of revenue through merchandise and their performances on the field/court and that they should be paid for their efforts. I have several football jersies and I have been to numerous college athletic events and I probably would not have have jersies or gone to these events if the athletes did not perform as well as they do. 

However, I think the athletes are already getting "paid." 

First, these athletes are already getting full-ride scholarships. This includes tuition and room and board. So a free education, a free place to live and free food. 

Second, in addition to what was previously stated, these athletes get free tutoring and free school merchandise. So, they also get free clothes and the "tutoring" is a pretty nice deal. I had a big lecture-type class with about 50 athletes. However, I rarely saw the athletes in class. Funny thing... I guess if an athlete has a "learning disorder" they can get someone who gets paid to take notes for them in class. (I had a friend who did this. Apparently it was a pretty easy job.)  

Finally, these athletes get first crack at all the good classes and "easy" electives. I understand they need to schedule classes around practice, but come on.... I wanted to take Geology 1003 (AKA Rocks for Jocks).

I'll guestimate that an average college costs about $25,000 a year to attend. So, that is $100,000 the athletes are getting "paid" right there. That sounds like a pretty good deal to me. Plus the clothes, "tutoring," food, rent, etc. 

I understand that these athletes work hard and practice daily, but additional payment would be too much. If colleges were allowed to pay athletes, collegiate athletics would turn into which school pays the most. The top recruits would all go to the highest paying schools and all smaller schools would likely lose their programs because they wouldn't be able to pay enough money to get decent athletes. 

I think what collegiate athletes are already receiving is payment enough.

IllinoiSSS

I am from the great state of Illinois. Although I am from the IL, I attended the University of Oklahoma for undergrad. I loved almost everything about OU. BUT, there are 2 things will always extremely annoy me when I think about all the Okies I met. 

#2: From the moment I stepped foot on OU's campus, when told I was from Illinois, EVERY single person replied, "Oh, Chicago?" I don't mean this to be disrespectful of Chicago. I love Chicago, it is one of my favorite cities, but come on. It's not that big of a deal, but it can get annoying explaining that I'm from a small town around Springfield. Oh, nevermind, you've never heard of Springfield either. Okay, It's closer to St. Louis than Chicago... How's that?

I want to preface this by saying this annoyed me WAY more than #2.

#1. I always assumed that it was common knowledge that the S in Illinois is silent.... Apparently not. I literally heard IllinoiSSS once a week. I cannot understand this. Are you not taught United States Geography in Elementary School? I always think of the "50 Nifty United States" song. I'm pretty sure I knew all of the proper pronunciations of all 50 states and their capitals (I was in the Geography Bowl) by the time I was in 3rd or 4th grade. 

How uneducated do you have to be? A scarier thought.... Are elementary teachers in Oklahoma and Texas (OU is 60% Texans) actually teaching IllinoiSSS as the actual pronunciation of Illinois? That can't be good.

Record Setting Voter Turnout

Various news outlets have reported a record setting voter turnout for this election in almost every state. This is a good thing... right?

The increased voter turnout can largely be attributed to the "youth vote." "Get out the Vote" and "Vote or Die" pro-voting slogans have been used to entice young voters to hit the polls and voice their opinions. The problem is... how many of these voters know the issues and are basing their votes off of them? 

How many people do you know that claim they are a Republican or a Democrat? Now, how many of those people do you think actually know why they are a Republican or Democrat? I don't think there are very many.  

My fear is that many of these young voters are merely regurgitating their parent's beliefs. "My parent's are voting for X and so am I!"

I was guilty of his myself. I turned 18 just in time for the 2004 primary elections. I proudly performed my civic duty and voted! I thought I knew what and whom I was voting for, but I was simply  voting like my parents. I knew who they supported so I also supported them too, but why? 

I worry that the increased voter turnout is merely a bunch of people who don't know the issues and are just voting to vote. 

So, is it a good thing that voter turnout is up? 

Hopefully! But I don't think so.