Oil Spill Update

Crews have been unsuccessful in trying to stop the leak so far. Specialists have also increased their estimated leakage to 5,000 barrels per day from their previous estimate of 1,000. President Obama flew down to visit and witness what he called "a massive and potentially unprecedented environmen[tal] disaster." Obama pledged to send down National Guard troops down to help with the clean up and containment effort.

Obama has already passed on the blame to BP and has assured Americans that although the government is sparing no expense in the clean up effort BP will ultimately have to foot the bill. If it takes two months to build a new well then it could end up costing billions of dollars. Also, after two months of oil leaking into the ocean it could cause a great amount of damage to the ecosystems. Hopefully the National Guard troops will be able to stop the leak or at least contain it as best as possible in order to preserve nature.

Ocean Oil Well Explosion

The Oil spreading throughout the Ocean(above).

The Explosion being put out by boats (below).

Oil is one of the most precious natural resources in the World, especially in the developed world where the majority of transportation relies solely on what come call "black gold". If it were not for Oil many of the Middle Eastern countries, and some of the wealthiest individuals, would not have the wealth that they do today. Unfortunately, these countries have limited production in order to keep a constant supply to an ever growing demand. If supply does not increase along with demand then prices increase rapidly.

In order to counteract this trend the US and other countries began searching for Oil in a less hostile and closer region. In the Gulf Of Mexico they struck gold. Currently there are hundreds of off shore wells that are basically planted in the ocean and pump the oil directly out. A process that works great as long as the tides are kind and no ocean storms arise.

On April 22, a drilling platform had an explosion and a massive oil leak was created. The leaked oil has spread out to an area of over 1800 square miles. An area sure to have detrimental effects on the natural inhabitants. Currently, Oil is flowing out at a rate of 42,000 Gallons a day. Their are certain strategies that have been tried but it is not possible to tell if they have successfully worked. A worst case scenario would be that BP would have to drill another well and cut off the current flow, a process that would take nearly two months.

The ocean is an incredibly unpredictable place to put such a dangerous rig. I wouldn't be surprised if stricter regulations are required for all current and future oil rigs. Do you think it would be fair for an animal activist group, such as PETA, to sue BP for their carelessness? Personally, I do not think this would be fair because BP correctly followed all current procedures and the unexpected occasionally happens.

As for now let's hope the crews can get the leak stopped and the oceans cleaned before complete ecosystems are harmed. The Gulf of Mexico already has a "dead zone" where coral no longer grows. Hopefully this spill will not ruin what is currently a gorgeous coastline. Do you think the US should abandon its practice of building offshore rigs and drilling in the oceans?

April 15th- Not Such a Burden for All Americans

Everyone pays income tax in America right? That was always the impression I was under so I was astonished when I found out that 47% of Americans will not pay income tax for 2009. In fact a majority of that 47% will actually receive a check from Uncle Sam. It's no wonder why America has such a large national debt. The top 10% of American earners pay 73% of income taxes, it doesn't take much of a economist to recognize how skewed these percentages are. Granted the top 10% do have incomes larger than 10% of the nation's incomes. However, this is America and people should be able to enjoy their right to make money and not bear such a large burden of the Government's Tax Revenues.

These numbers would not seem so unfair if those who didn't pay any income tax just benefited by the fact that none of their income went to the government. But the fact that the government is so far in debt and still handing out checks on April 15th seems a bit superfluous.

According to Deloitte Tax Consultants a family of four making $50,000 a year would end up with a $31 dollar check from the government for their owed income tax for the year. I have never worked anything more than a summer job nor have I tried to raise a family of four so my understanding of incomes might be a bit warped. Do you think that these families should come away from tax day in the green?

Easter Travel Day

I rarely have reason to complain about SMU’s break and vacation policies, which I feel are very generous. However, I think that having Friday, April 2^nd off doesn’t really make much sense for the Easter Holiday. It is more customary to take a Friday off than a Monday but I think in holidays where Sunday is the day of celebration, for most, a Monday seems to make more sense. The whole reason for having the break it to celebrate Easter with your family and friends.

SMU is a diverse community. Professors, students and the administrative staff are comprised of many different religious backgrounds so one could argue that it is not right for Jewish or Muslim student to have their semester broken up by a long break. I am simply stating that if there is a break to be given I think for the majority of student's travel plans a Monday break would be more beneficial. In fact a Monday holiday could actually make the three day weekend less religious because the Friday that is given off is actually Good Friday.

Many Students though live far enough away that they will spend the majority of Sunday traveling to get back for Monday classes. I think Easter should be one of those rare exceptions to take Monday off and hold Friday classes. Do you like the way the calander is set up or do you think the days should be switched?

March Madness

It’s March once again and that means a few things, spring break, the beginning of spring but also March Madness. Every year the tournament is full of surprises, which it what keeps people coming back for more. However, years like this make me want to almost want to never fill out a bracket again. How could I have expected Kansas to be upset by UNI? How could anyone have expected that?

ESPN.com reports that 39.96% of people who filled out brackets on their website picked Kansas to win it all. That compares to only 28% of people who picked North Carolina to win it last year. I am currently in the 9^th percentile of ESPN contestants with at least two of my final four teams, as well as my champion already eliminated. No one on ESPN had a perfect bracket after two rounds. However, one CBS bracket contestant, an autistic kid from Chicago was perfect after two rounds. Unfortunately, amidst the craziness his bracket is no longer perfect.

College basketball is becoming more competitive because of advances in recruitment and increased standards to get in to college. Many students continue to play sports in order to receive scholarships or academic opportunities than they once did. Now mid-majors, conferences comprised of smaller student populations, have started competing with the BCS conferences. This added level of competition, absent even ten years ago, has made picking brackets substantially more difficult.

Due to the increased competition and more comparable levels of play the NCAA has mentioned a possibility of expanding the tournament to 96 teams. ESPN speculates on what a 96 team bracket would even look like. I do not think it will happen before next tournament but if Cinderella teams continue advancing and upsetting majority favorites than I don't think this move would be too far out of the question. The NCAA, like any business, is trying to hype their event as much as possible and a 32 team expansion would do just that.

My First All Nighter

As I sit here typing this blog I am in the process of completing my first all nighter of my Southern Methodist career. I always heard of peers talking about how they stayed up all night studying but I never thought I'd be one of them. Do you know how much work you can do in those 7-10 hours of sleep? However, it was the most productive night of my semester so far and it was more than necessary. I almost don't feel like I have really started classes yet this semester because my most consuming priority is pledgeship and school has not only taken a back seat but it had to go to the back of the bus.

I never prepared myself be for school started at the beginning of the year, I came down and had plenty of time during rush week to get by binders all made up, print off my schedule, pick up my books and locate my classes. However, by the time the first day of school rolled around I had yet to accomplish any of those. I printed off my schedule that morning and grabbed some random binders I had laying around from last semester and headed off to my former first priority.

Tonight, I was able to accomplish all that stuff I had meant to earlier. I had homework to do for the first part of the night but then I just decided I'd take the opportunity to get my life organized. I whipped out the three hole punch and put all those loose papers in my binders, I cleaned my room and did laundry. Then I made a semester at a glance calender and filled out all of my tests and quizzes so that I don't show up to class and remember that quiz I didn't study for.

This might just sound like a sob story but that's not the intention. I knew exactly what I signed up for when deciding to pledge a fraternity. It's remarkable how once you're in the zone you can just keep powering through and end up a week or at least a few days ahead in all of your classes. I'm not sure that it would be my first recommendation to stay up all night to get a few days ahead but if your life is really cluttered and disorganized I would advise tackling that problem before it swells to the size where an all nighter is necessary. Hopefully, the progress I made tonight is not negated by the sluggish day to come until I can return my sleep pattern to normal. Have you ever stayed up all night and then by about 12 the next day regretted that decision?

Snow Day

Students at Southern Methodist loving playing in the snow. This statement is often said in reference to the amount of cocaine that is present on our campus but after thursday it's apparent that SMU students truly do love playing in the snow. While walking to my 12:30 class I watched the boulevard be turned into a massive field of snowmen, football and snowball fights. It's not everyday that Dallas gets enough snow to close down school and students took full advantage of it. I'm not sure what it is about snow that makes it so enjoyable but it seems to put everyone in a better mood.

Spirits were high even as random people threw snowballs at others. A group of students pelted everyone walking though the quad and carrying an umbrella. In one clip someone shouts "umbrellas are for rain." I think its incredible how the school came together to enjoy a rare event. Hopefully it will happen more frequently. There was a massive snowball fight in sorority park as well, and as cold as it was without gloves on it didn't even phase me because of how much fun I was having.

Needless to say, I was relieved when I checked my phone and saw the email announcing school being closed for the day. And yet I was equally surprised, I would never have guessed that I would have a snow day in college, much less here in Dallas. According to the DFW airport they got 12.5 inches in a 24 hour period, a new record for Dallas. I have a hard time believing we got that much snow here on campus but it's possible that people were building snowmen and throwing snowballs faster than it could accumulate. Regardless, there was plenty of snow to go around and it was a pretty wet snow making it primo-packing snow. It couldn't have come at a better time. I have been so busy with pledgeship that I haven't really had time for a nice relaxing day and that's just what Friday was. Feel free to share any of your own snow day stories.