The Right Way to Study for You

With all of us in the midst of finals and the school year wrapping up, we would benefit from knowing the right way to study in order for us to achieve our full potential. Everyone has a different learning style and these specific style fall under three different categories; visual, auditory, kinesthetic.
Below are different ways to study for each category.

Visual Learners

•  Uses visual objects such as graphs, charts, pictures, and seeing information
•  Can read body language well and has a good perception of aesthetics
•  Able to memorize and recall various information
•  Tends to remember things that are written down
•  Learns better in lectures by watching them

Auditory Learners 

•  Retains information through hearing and speaking
• Often prefers to be told how to do things and then summarizes the main points out loud to help with memorization
• Notices different aspects of speaking
• Often has talents in music and may concentrate better with soft music playing in the background

Kinesthetic Learners 

•  Likes to use the hands-on approach to learn new material
• Is generally good in math and science
• Would rather demonstrate how to do something rather than verbally explain it
• Usually prefers group work more than others

California, Desperate for Water

The drought that plagues the state of California deeply affects the other regions of the United States. California has been known as "the bread basket of the world" because it provides a large amount of food which is grown in the central valley. For example, 90% of the world's almonds are grown in California. Therefore it is crucial that us locals conserve our natural resources through methods such as changing shower heads, fixing leaks, and taking shorter showers. I also believe that in order for California to remain a leading producer of produce that it is necessary for the US government to take action in finding a solution to our lack of H2O. For example, by finding a cheaper way to desalinize ocean water or commandeering water from other states in order to provide California with sufficient water resources to continue growing food. 

Check out this article which states different ways to preserve water in your house.

http://eartheasy.com/live_water_saving.htm 

Tips for Senior Year

With the school year coming to a close and a new one around the corner, I think it is prominent to know how to prepare for your senior year so you can be successful. An article I read on Huffington Post called "10 Things I Wish I Had Known Before Senior Year of Highschool" listed numerous things to check off your to do list. A tip I personally connected with was #8 which talks about the necessity of mental health days. Many times this year when school work seemed like an unclimbable mountain of doom, I would often take a day off from school to finish up all of my work instead of attending class. Although risky, this method has allowed me to remain sane and get my work done in order to be present when I attend school.

Check out the article below!
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/08/15/10-things-i-wish-i-had-known-before-senior-year_n_3763882.html

11 year old with 3 Degrees

Tanishq Abraham was born in Sacramento, California in 2003. According to his Wikipedia page, he was 5 years old when he completed the math courses in five grades (kindergarten to 4th grade) at Stanford's Education Program for Gifted Youth (EPGY) in less than 6 months.  He graduated high school in 2014 and had just graduated from American River College last Wednesday, May 20, with 3 associate college degrees.

Tanishq and his sister, Tiara, are among the youngest member of MENSA, the largest and oldest high-IQ society in the world.

Read more about him here

Blended Sentencing

Recently my friend showed me an interesting proposal advocating for blended sentencing, which is thought to be a more effective method for rehabilitating juvenile offenders. Blended sentencing allows juvenile offenders to be subject to juvenile or adult sanctions, depending on the severity of the crime and the offender's maturity. In some cases, the offender is levied adult and juvenile sentences simultaneously, but can have the adult sentence revoked through good behavior. In other cases, the juvenile sentence is served until the offender reaches a certain age, when he or she is transfered to an adult facility and begins serving the adult sentence.

The idea behind this is to give juvenile offenders a chance to reduce their punishment. They are evaluated before receiving an adult sentence, which could be much harsher than a juvenile one, and given opportunities to appeal. This method has been found to reduce recidivism (relapse into criminal behavior) in youth, since it re-evaluates the offender before condemning him or her to a potentially life-long sentence.

Only about half of the states use blended sentencing, but I think it should be adopted nationwide. Juvenile offenders should be given a chance to show their growth and maturity, and letting them know that their future doesn't have to be prison can be a great motivator for them to change their behavior.

What do you all think about blended sentencing, or dealing with juvenile offenders in general?

Should the FDA Regulate Cosmetics?

The Federal Drug Administration was created initially to protect consumers from harmful carcinogens and contaminants that companies could sneak into their products. However, the FDA does nothing to regulate cosmetics and instead has left the industry to "self-regulate." As a consequence, the closest thing to oversight over cosmetic companies is the Cosmetic Ingredient Review, an organization to which submitting cosmetics is entirely option. This means that bad products often make it to the shelves, and once they're there, are impossible to recall.

It makes sense to try and let a market regulate itself. Many argue that consumers will simply stop buying harmful products and subsequently make the production of those products economically infeasible. However, consumers are often left blind to long lasting harmful side effects. Harmful chemicals that form as a result when common ingredients react after being mixed in don't need to be disclosed on labels. Mercury is allowed in mascara.

The final question we're left with involves the extent of government involvement that should be introduced. Should the FDA be able to recall products once they're on the shelves. Should they get involved before then? Should they be involved at all?

Baltimore Protests

On April 12, 2015, Freddie Gray, a 25-year-old African American resident sustained injuries following his arrest. Gray sustained a coma and Baltimore residents protested in front of the Western district police station. Then on May 1, 2015, Gray's death was ruled to be homicide and legal charges were issued against the six officers involved in the incident, including that of second-degree murder. After Gray's death was announced, numerous protests erupted throughout baltimore. On April 25, 2015, protests were organized in downtown Baltimore. Protesters marched from the Baltimore City Hall to Inner Harbor. After the final stage of the official protest event, some people became violent and damaged at least five police vehicles, and pelted police with rocks. During a press conference, Baltimore mayor Stephanie said most protesters were respectful but a "small group of agitators intervened". She also stated that "It’s a very delicate balancing act. Because while we try to make sure that they were protected from the cars and other things that were going on, we also gave those who wished to destroy space to do that as well. And we worked very hard to keep that balance and to put ourselves in the best position to de-escalate."The phrase "we also gave those who wished to destroy space to do that as well" was interpreted by some conservative-leaning news sources as an indication that the mayor was giving permission to protesters to destroy property, while some others, including Breitbart News Network, pointed out that "when you look at the full context, it’s clear the Mayor meant something different (though it’s also true she didn’t say it very clearly)."

http://www.bostonglobe.com/news/nation/2015/04/27/updates-from-baltimore-riots/YuKFLrjt8PnLWWCDbhkVDJ/story.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2015_Baltimore_protests