With Labor Day behind us, the public pools are starting to be drained and the leaves are beginning to fall. Summer is unofficially over. So, there’s no better time to recap the season then right now. Here’s my list of “Stories of the Summer”. Did I miss any? What did you feel was the most important news? Drop me a line sometime.

-Jake (Aaron Rochester’s dog) escapes
-Jaxson Stark tragedy
-North High wins state baseball title
-Michael Jackson death and surrounding drama
-City Council vs. porch furniture
-Three year old Evelyn murdered in SSC
-Female ex-jailers sue Dakota County
-Longtime businessman Dwight Hauff dies
-Another successful Saturday in the Park
-Musketeers name new head coach
-Jon and Kate breakup (…just kidding)

Say…doesn’t this look like a great topic for a daily SCJ front page poll or Speak Out? Alert the nearest editor.

-DeRoin.

Don’t act like this has never happened to you before.

Situation: Your cell phone’s battery died (or you dropped it in the toilet or it was ran over by a car or …well, there are just too many fun scenarios to list) and you must call your Mom now!

Dilemma: You can’t remember her number, for Pete’s sake! (This is especially bad if calling up Momma would really benefit your pal Pete.) But with your cell phone out of commission, you’re really up the creek.

So, have we collectively succumbed to technology’s power again? Without our digital contacts list, are we helpless to remember data once oh-so vital?

I investigated by doing and no research and asking like three people…and of course, the answer is a resounding ‘Yes’.

Before cell phones, I could remember any Bridgette’s seven digits. Still to this day I can recall most of my best friend’s home phone numbers from when we were growing up…plus my favorite pizza joint. (That one is 402-494-2999; call ‘em up and get a Canadian Bacon and Pepperoni pie– excellent!)

Alas nowadays, I’m stuck without the mystical powers of my celly’s phonebook. I guess I’ve got better things to memorize…or not. Case v. Point- life might be too convenient these days. So, is memorizing phone numbers just the latest skill to fall into obsolescence these days thanks to technology? Only time will tell (I just hope telling time never goes out of style, I rock around the analog clock).

In closing, don’t feel bad when you can’t remember your Mom’s number, I can’t either. If the number’s not 876-5309, I’ve got no clue.

PeAcE,
C. DeRoin.

A quick Saturday drop…

If you’ve never checked out:
http://homestarrunner.com/
then you don’t know animated, internet comedy at all and should be banned from pointing-and-clicking forever!!!
(Three exclamations points better peak your attention meter.)

I won’t tell anyone, but here’s your late pass.

This website is worth its e-weight in terabytes. If you miss out, it’ll make your Twitter bitter. It’ll blow you iTunes right outta the iPod. The consent is so epic, you may need you iEyes checked, cap’n!

So check it out and report back with your findings in a 3-5 page essay, citing 6 sources…due tomorrow.

-DeRoin.

Extra! Extra…read all about it (while you still can)!!

Don’t act like you don’t read BCU’s Cliff News. But, I’ll give you a pass (this time) if you don’t and missed this piece…because here’s your second chance to check out a good editorial on the sad state of the newspaper.

The Obituary of the Newspaper
by Mary Pat Soderberg
(update: the article has been moved to a new link: look here for “The Sidebar” on page 3)

PeAcE,
DeRoin.

Kids are getting dumber, or is it- more dumb? SMH.

Well, anyway you look at it; keyboards are making the written word marginally obsolete (good for me, I had terrible penmanship in elementary school). With the advent of chat rooms (hey, now that sounds like another “90’s on my Mind” topic…agreed?) and text messaging, spelling and punctuation has gone out the window. LOL.

If a verb has a ‘G’ ending or a phrase can be turned into an an acronym, it ain’t worth spelling out. Ya know what I’m sayin’. It sure makes writin’ shorter, but English is turning into a collection of slang, broken sentences, and movie quotes in today’s generations. Time saving sure, and I’m as guilty as junior high Joe or Jenny and I’m not suggesting we push for a return to Shakespearean English, ‘cuz thou art would be ye ol’ upmost terrible!! ROFL! But let’s take some value in the written and spoken word, aight?!? How do you feel?

ttyl, c u.

PeAcE,
DeRoin.

It’s that time again… let’s reminisce over the best decade I’ve ever lived through. So grab your musket and saddle up to your personal computer cuz we’re heaing due West.

The year is 1848– you and your family are set to leave Independence, Missouri to settle out West. You buy some oxen, extra wagon wheels, sets of clothing, some food, and lots and lots (and I mean lots) of bullets. You, my friend, are going on the Oregon Trail!!

Yes…of course, the old Apple II PC game that we all played in elementary school in the 1990’s during computer/technology class. Who could forget? We always looked forward to starting out our covered wagon journeys on the Oregon Trail with the thrill and suspense of finding about if Betsy will be bitten by a snake, if your wagon would survive when fording a river, if a thief will steal food or extra wagon parts, and who will be the first to die of Cholera or Dysentery. (I still don’t know what any of those diseases do to you.)

But wasn’t everyone’s favorite part of the game hunting?? I mean, who didn’t love to see a message like this- “You shot 1,325 pounds of meat but were only able to carry 200 pounds. You used 32 bullets.”

Oh yeah, the game was educational too, even with its simple (yet awesome) graphics. It taught us about history, geography, and basic survival skills. Truth be told, Oregon Trail made us who we are.

PeAcE,
DeRoin.
(Cardinal Elementary class of ’96)

(P.S.- Sometimes we switched it up…instead of Oregon Trail, it was Super Word Munchers. Who remembers that one?)

(P.S.S.- The long awaited Dumb & Dumber post is just around the corner. So be prepared for a ’90’s double shot this week!)

Bored at work and need to jam out? At the gym and want to stay amped up? Throwing a party and just gotta pump up the volume? Well, look no further than a weekly radio show that’s been on the air since 1996- WeFunk Radio.

Emanating from Montreal, Quebec’s CKUT 90.3 FM every Friday at midnight local time, DJ Static and Professor Groove have been dropping the freshest mixes for 550 shows strong. Hip-Hop, Soul, Funk, oldies, goodies, rarities, new releases, classics, and the one and only James Brown—you can find them all on WeFUNK. Shows stream on the website all the time day and night for your worldwide listening pleasure; plus you can download recent shows by joining the mailing list or through iTunes.

So check it out!

PeAcE,
DeRoin.

For more info or to listen visit WeFUNK right now, ya know, click on the highlighted link.

You got some resource to do? Whether it’s the history of popcorn or the biography of a world leader, this is my starting point, always. I’m just old enough to have slid by using it as a primary source throughout my academic career. But nowadays, teachers and especially college professors are hip to the game. They sometimes write conditions into assignments banning students from using Wikipedia, while some have outright blocked the entire site as a source since the website’s information is open to editing by any average Joe, which can lead to inaccurate or incomplete ‘facts’. But is this really a smart idea by teachers? 

Any savvy researcher can get around this blockade since everything valid on Wikipedia is referenced to another source in the footnotes. So, Wikipedia is actually just a compilation data center that links access to every source it pulls from unlike the one-and-only stop of old World Book or Britannica Encyclopedias (which were typically my sole point of reference for elementary and middle school assignments). But then again, like every bunch has its bad apples, lazy students don’t read anything past the main Wiki page thus giving educators validity to their bans. But then again (again!), these types of students are the ones known for going through the motions not really trying to maximize their time in education. Meanwhile, real students studying any topic at hand will usually always dive deeper into a subject of their interest and read scores of sources. And Wikipedia seems to be the best and most complete and accessible card catalog of internet information we have. 

So where do you stand on Wikipedia?

-PeAcE,
DeRoin.

Should cell phones be illegal on the  road?

That’s the question being asked across the state this week as lawmakers gather in Des Moines for the meeting of the Legislature’s 83rd Assembly.

A member of the Iowa House has introduced legislation to ban the use of hand-held, wireless devices by drivers. Previous attempts to ban cell phone use, some aimed only at teenagers, have failed. That has been in part due to the number of lawmakers who use their drive time to make phone calls.

Many Journal readers sounded off this week when we asked their opinion.

So what do you think – should cell phone use in cars be made illegal? How about just the use of handheld phones, with hands-free units still legal? Do you talk on the phone in the car? Do you think it is safe?
What do you think? To contribute to this conversation, add a comment below or just write your own post.