Death Penality

Illinois abolished the death penalty March 9, 2011. Governor Pat Quinn signed the bill and said doing so was "the most difficult decision" that he had ever made as governor, but he felt "it was the right step forward for Illinois."

Quinn also commuted the sentence of all 15 inmates on death row, and now they will serve a life sentence instead of the death row punishment.

My question to you is how does this make you feel about the decision of the Illinois law makers and Governor Pat Quinn? Also, how do you feel about the death penalty in general? What are the advantages and disadvantages of a state having the death penalty?

Tyler Farmer (11:00)

Is abortion ever okay?

Is choosing to have an abortion ever the right thing to do morally? Is choosing to abort your baby ever morally okay? Or do you think abortion is always morally wrong?

What if conception of an embryo was caused by rape or incest? What if the mother cannot emotionally care for an infant? What if having the child puts other children in the home at a higher risk--less money for food to eat, clothes to wear, shelter, or medical attention? What if adoption can't guarantee a loving home? Is abortion an okay choice in any of these cases?


Peggy B. (1:00)

marijuana--should it be legal?

What do you think is the real reason our country will not legalize marijuana? Studies have shown that more people use marijuana than any other substance and that sellers make more profits from selling marijuana than from any other drug. Many people argue that marijuana is a plant that can help or even cure diseases and that marijuana is a relatively safe drug. Many studies suggest that smoking cigarettes is worse for you than smoking marijuana. So, what do you think--why hasn't marijuana been legalized by now? What are the advantages and disadvantages to legalizing marijuana?

Dea'Shanay (1:00)

Are You Thirsty?

The FDA has once again turned its eyes toward one of America's addictions--this time it's energy drinks. Though the ban has yet to be in effect, the process is in motion right now. The ban would target energy drinks that have more than 80 milligrams of caffeine, which is equivalent to a cup of coffee. Anything more than that and you must be over the age of 19 to purchase it. A popular drink called Four Lokos has been blamed for the cause of deaths in the state of Florida. Three states have banned the energy drink from its stores so far. One FDA official says," The concept is the same thing as for smoking. Why put foreign contents in your body?" Should energy drinks be banned? If not, should there be a certain age limit on them?

Rocky V. (1:00)

Do you think women degrade themselves by being in music videos?

Music Videos . . . Do you think men are degrading women in their music videos, or are women degrading themselves? Do you think the issue of degrading women (or men) in music videos is not a big issue or problem? Why or why not? Are the women in these music videos influencing young women in today's society? If so, how?

Slim (1:00)

Community colleges or universities?

With universities regularly raising tuition, community colleges are becoming more and more popular as less expensive alternatives to major universities. Do you think community colleges like Parkland are going to become the "new" universities? Are universities like the University of Illinois, which just approved a tuition increase (for the second year in a row), pricing themselves out of reach of many students' budgets? Do you think potential employers will start to look at Associates degrees closer than they ever have before?

Jared (1:00)

Serious Relationships At A Young Age

Do you think it's healthy for teenagers to consider themselves in a serious relationship? At that age do you think either the boy or girl is ready for what serious relationships bring: babies, serious commitment, and marriage?

When you're in a serious relationship, do you think you tend to make choices considering what is best for the relationship instead of what's best for you? Should teens be doing that--putting the priorities of a relationship before the prioroties of what's best for them as individuals?

Do you think the biggest regrets people have are from their teenage years? Do you think teens sometimes waste a lot of time and energy on something that wasn't meant to last?

Stephanie Odom (1:00)

How can we tell what's right or wrong?

As you know, the world is widely different, made up of individuals with their own tastes and styles. Different regions of the world have different lifestyles and behaviors based on the beliefs and systems valued in their culture. People in one culture are often raised to have different values from those raised in other cultures. What we in our culture see as normal might be seen as stupid or inhumane by people in other cultures. Sometimes individuals within one culture even pick fights with individuals in other cultures to try to force them to see things as they see them. How can we call ourselves civilized human beings when we turn on each other and even kill each other over cultural disagreements? Why can't people get along with others despite their differences? Who is to say who is right or wrong when entire cultures are in conflict with other cultures? If no one is right and no one is wrong, why do people kill each other over their disagreements?

Daniel (1:00)

Alcohol vs. Smoking? Jail time for weed possession?

Alcohol vs. Marijuana

Why do you think that the government thinks it is okay to drink alcohol but it isn't okay to smoke marijuana?

Every year 85,000 people die from being intoxicated with alcohol, but there has not been one known cause of death due to marijuana, why is that?

Why is alcohol legal when it kills people every year, and impairs your abilities to where you can no longer function?

Do you think that things would be a lot different if marijuana was legalized?

In the year 2006 they arrested 829,625 people for marijuana. Do you think they should have to go to jail for just possessing marijuana when more serious crimes like rape and sexual assault should be taken more seriously?

-Nikki (1:00)

Abortion . . . who makes the decision?

WHO SHOULD MAKE THE DECISION TO HAVE AN ABORTION, JUST THE WOMAN OR BOTH PARENTS? WHO SHOULD PAY FOR IT?

IN WHAT CASES IS IT OKAY FOR A WOMAN TO DECIDE ON HER OWN TO HAVE AN ABORTION? IN WHAT CASES IS IT OKAY FOR THE WOMAN TO NOT EVEN INFORM THE FATHER OF HER DECISION TO HAVE AN ABORTION?

JaTaun (1:00)

SPRING 2011 STUDENTS: STOP HERE! EVERYTHING BELOW THIS IS OLD.

stop here! don't answer any questions below this!

--john 3/16/11

Teen Pregnancy

Why do many teens today think it's okay to have babies at a young age, such as 16 or 17? Is this a big problem in our society? How long do you think teenagers should wait to have kids?

For more information, please visit this site.

http://www.mainstreetmom.com/par_babes_have_babes.htm

Thanks.

Darrian Carter (noon)

Black Women . . .

Do you think black women are degraded and stereoptyped by negative statistics?
Examples:
Most black women are loud and ghetto.
Most black women need welfare.
Most black women drop out of school and have kids too early.

Do you think it's fair that just about every African American woman other than Oprah and Michelle Obama are grouped together and stereotyped negatively?

Do you think it's fair that a black woman can't run a company or become CEO unless the company is black owned? "A black woman has zero chance of rising up through the ranks to the top of a white company no matter how hard she works or intelligent she is."

Do you agree with this statement?

If you view this issue as a problem in our society, can you think of any way to solve it?

Thanks for your thoughts on this!

Martina Harvey (noon)

Stars or the real world

Is it right that every time we turn on the television six channels are reporting Lindsey Lohan going to jail but the soldiers who die overseas go unnoticed by the general population? Why is it that American society is so obsessed with what their favorite celebrity is doing instead of what's happening in the world? Do you see this as a problem?

Dylan Yeazel (noon)

Is steroids cheating?

When most people think of steroids they think it is down right discussing. They think people take steroids and they magically become sports god, a sports god that cheated. Well the thing is steroids doesn't make you connect with a baseball nor does it make you drain a three pointer. It does make you stronger and lets you have more endurance. But lets say you take a batter on steroids and place him against a pitcher on steroids now doesn't that even the playing field. Also say every professional athlete in every sport was on steroids, think of how barbaric sports would be, and how competitive people would be trying to break unbreakable records. Would it not make golf even interesting to watch, heck it may even make figure skating interesting, but lets not push it. If an athlete wants to help better there carrier, they take steroids to help them. By them doing that they know the effects it has on there body and the consequences they will have to deal with if they get caught on them. So should steroids be aloud in professional sports? Would it make sports more interesting?

Micah Pope (noon)

Media Consumption

Facebooking. Twittering. We all do it. But how much time are we spending on online chatting, txting, computer games, TV, and Xbox? Every waking minute--and now, even in school and at work.Today in America, kids and teens between the ages of 8 and 18 spend roughly seven and a half hours a day consuming media. Do we always turn to media as a way of spending our free time? Is this healthy? Are the parents to blame? Should they be doing more constructive things with their time? Many kids growing up have a decreased vocabulary and social skills as a result of over consumption of everyday media. What ever happened to reading and writing? How much time do you spend consuming the media, and how do you think it affects you?

Charlotte Brannon (8:00)

Long-distance loving?

Can a long distance relationship work?

What do you think are the potential drawbacks of having a long-distace relationship? Are there any positives about them--are they in some ways better than relationships where you see the person every day, or several times a week? Do you know of any long-distance relationships tha have worked? Have you ever been in one yourself?

Curtina (8:00)

Is It Fair????

So, you were brought to a different country when you were just a child; you learned the language, the culture, the way of being. You grow up feeling like you are from that country, respecting and following the laws like most other citizens should. You also have these god-given abilities in that you out-perform most people in athletics and in the class room.

When you get an offer for a scholarship, like any young person you take it with dreams of giving yourself a great life. At the climax of your excitement, the school calls you and tells you that because you are not born in the country you reside in, they are taking the scholarship from you.

Is it fair for them to take the scholarship from you? You work as hard as anyone else and out- perform most people, and you did not cheat. Why are they allowed to take the scholarship back?Because of politics? It was not your choice to be brought to this country, so is it fair that you must pay a penalty?

Aaron Vega (8:00)

Is fast food really worth it?

How many times a week do you eat fast food? These days, more children under the age of 10 can identify any fast food character before they can identify any historical figure. Most adults are setting their kids up for health issues by taking them to fast food restaurants a couple times a week. Children get addicted to the sugar, caffiene, fat, and salt used in the food products. The more fast food you eat, the more weight you will gain. So, are your children gaining weight because of the food you are feeding them? As the children grow older, they will still be addicted to the products used in the so called "food." They will also more than likely develop health problems like heart disease or obesity, both of which can lead to a death from heart attacks.

What are your views on this? Do you think most (some) people eat way too much fast food? How often do you yourself eat at McDonalds, Burger King, KFC or other fast-food chains? More than 3x a week? More than 5x a week? Never?

Finally, do you have any idea which fast-food chains are the least healthy and which the most most healthy?

Macy Shupe (8:00)

Should Truckers have their own Lane?

We all hate that moment when we have to get past the long, scary semi that takes up all of its lane and sometimes more . . . well, what if us little cars and trucks had an extra lane to get past without having to get run off the road or worse?

I know that some interstates (near big cities) have lanes designated for cars and small trucks only, so why not expand on this idea and make most interstates much more safe for driving?

This idea might sound silly or unrealistic to some, mainly because we spend so much on the interstates already, but what if this extra lane saved lots of lives? What if we could reduce that 4% of truck-driving related accidents that lead to deaths just by adding another lane on all interstates?

I chose this question because I travel.. A LOT.. and it's scary when I'm trying to get past a semi and they start to come over in my lane. Or when it's pouring down rain in the dark, and it's really windy, and driving is already super dangerous--do we really need 18-wheelers blowing by us at 70 mph to make conditions even more hazardous?

Your thoughts on this? Thanks!

Alex Segobiano :)