The Things People Will Buy

Trends will come and go just like they always have. One trend going around the sports community is Power Balance. Power Balance products, specifically their bracelets, have made a real splash. These bracelets contain a hologram that is supposed to react with a person’s body to make them perform better in some way or another.

The way they attract so many people is the fact that Power Balance have paid celebrities including Shaquille O’Neal and Lamar Odom to endorse the product. That is all there is to the bracelets. According to the frequently asked questions page of www.powerbalance.com, the Power Balance company doesn’t even completely believe in their product with round about answers like “they react differently to every person” and that users have “experienced benefits” from the product.

Different studies you can find online show that it is a placebo. It will affect your skills at basketball just as much as wearing a Chris Paul jersey would. If people want to buy a bracelet that will make them feel better about themselves that is their business.

The real crime about Power Balance is the cost. The Livestrong bracelets that came out in 2004 and became extremely popular were one dollar. They also raised money for the Lance Armstrong Foundation which helps improve lives affected by cancer. Power Balance wristbands are quite similar to the Livestrong bracelets. They are a little fancier than the yellow Livestrong bracelets. They come in many different colors and have different team names and logos on them with the Power Balance hologram (sticker). The cheapest Power Balance bracelet I could find on their website was $30 and they are a private company making huge profits.

This all brings up the question “How important are fads to you?” Personally you won’t see me wearing a $30 bracelet with a sticker on it anytime soon. Also, I hate Lamar Odom.

VCSU in the Process of Beating Flood Once Again

By Zack Lee

At first it seemed like a recurring nightmare to upperclassmen at Valley City State University. When they heard that sandbagging would be in order after last spring’s flood hiatus, images of the 2009 flood were conjured up. Luckily it hasn’t been that bad… so far.

After about a week and a half of volunteer work from VCSU and the rest of the Valley City community, all the sandbags dikes were set for the river’s rise as of 1 pm on April 8^th according to the Valley City Times Record.

The consensus around Valley City is that the city is ready for this flood.

“It seems like we are more prepared,” said Kyle Vareberg, a junior at VCSU who was active in volunteering to fight the flood. “Not as many people jumped at the opportunity to help out, but we managed to get all the sandbags we needed filled in a timely manner.”

The sandbags will be tested on Monday as the Bald Hill Dam northwest of Valley City will be bumping up its outflow levels. The water level of the Sheyenne River is expected to reach 17.5 to 18 feet by Monday according to newsdakota.com. Ironically, this expected level is almost the exact same level as the river was at this time in 2009 according to @VCfloodstage on twitter.com. The flood stage is 15 feet according to water.weather.gov.

The flood fight in Valley City seems to be more dependent on college and high school students volunteering than the Fargo flood does.

“I did go sandbagging once,” said Kent Johnson, a senior majoring in emergency management at NDSU. He was unable to contribute more because of a busy schedule. “It seems like Fargo always has a good turnout of volunteers when flood season comes along.” Unlike VCSU, NDSU hasn’t cancelled any classes to fight the flood as of yet this year.

“I think it’s a good idea because it got a lot of people out there,” said Sierra Lasilla, a freshman at VCSU, referring to the cancellation of classes to go sandbag. “But, there still were a lot of people who slept in, missed class, and didn’t help sandbag.”

Unfortunately not everyone had the desire to go help out on their “day off” dedicated to go sandbagging. However a large amount of people did and some even had a good time.

“It’s enjoyable,” said Cy Kirsch, a sophomore at VCSU who helped lay one of the dikes. “I can imagine it would suck in bad weather, but since it was gorgeous out, it was a blast.”

Kirsch was a part of the freshman class of 2009 who came in after the major 2009 flood. It would seem that this would make people change their mind about coming to VCSU but Kirsch is different.

“I was slightly more excited to come here because there was a chance of some excitement and not just school, school, school.”

In fact, VCSU had its largest freshman class since 1988 in fall 2010 according to vcsu.edu/news. This was only a year and one summer from the big flood. Adding to that, a larger percentage of this class were North Dakotans so they knew what they were getting into.

Time will only tell how bad this year’s flood will end up getting, but as of now, it seems like Valley City is in pretty good shape.

Angele` Curtis has lived in Valley City for 14 years and this is only the second time that she has seen it flood, but, according to her, “It is not nearly as bad as the first time.”

Sources

Advanced hydrolic prediction service (n.d.). In water.weather.gov. Retrieved April 10, 2011, from http://water.weather.gov

Shirley, S. (2010, September 7). Great enrollment news at VCSU!. In vcsu.edu. Retrieved April 10, 2011, from http://www.vcsu.edu/news/news.htm?id=7034

Staff, . (2011, April 8). All sandbag dikes are set for river's rise. In times-online.com. Retrieved April 10, 2011, from http://www.times-online.com/news

Urness, S. (2011, April 10). Bald hill dam to increase outflows. In newsdakota.com. Retrieved April 10, 2011 http://www.newsdakota.com/page/news

ValleyCityFloodStage (2009, April 10). In twitter.com. Retrieved April 10, 2011, from http://twitter.com/#!/VCfloodstage

German Robots

(retrieved from http://cheezburger.com/View/3517259264)

Germany's Chancellor has offered the Japanese prime minister use of radio controlled equipment to help clean up and repair damage at the Fukishima nuclear reactors. The U.S. has already agreed to send some radiation detecting robots to help explore the area. We can only hope that the German robots and any Japanese robots don't hold a grudge from WW2 against the U.S. robots or else, undoubtedly, it would be World War Three: Robot Style.

There's Something About Libya

From what I gathered about Libya is that the government is corrupt and they have been killing civilians left and right. Now, America has come to save the day along with the U.N. They have established a no-fly zone over Libya which, from what I've heard, basically means war. A lot of people I have heard talking about the subject have said things along the lines of America trying to be the world police. What do you think?

Something Creative About True Grit

When I went into True Grit I wasn't expecting too much. My friend dragged me to it and I figured that it was another western shoot 'em up. However, I was pleasantly surprised. The Coen brothers put together, what I thought, was a wonderful movie. It had all the aspects of a western I wanted but it was also touching and FUNNY. What surprised me was the performance of 14-year-old Hailee Steinfield. This teen successfully performed a very believable Mattie Ross. I give it two thumbs up.

Under a College Rock

When I was told to write about the political protests in the Middle East I honestly didn't know much. I knew there was something going on with Egypt that made any pyramid related joke that I could think of relevant. Other than that I was in the Dark. I was too busy thinking about my play and school to think about things going on across the world.

As it turns out, a good percentage of the countries in the Middle East think their governments suck and they want change. Tunisia, Egypt, and the bloodiest of all, Libya have been in some sort of protests or revolution of a government leader who is doing them wrong. Libya's leader Gadhafi has declared war on his own people and is using fighter jets to shoot down protestors according to http://www.tothecenter.com/.

Having to think about things like these protests makes me think. We are lucky. So what if we disagree with if abortion or gay marriage is legal or illegal? From what I can see, our problems with the government aren't nearly as bad as some people are having it.

Five Word Blog

PACKERS WON THE SUPER BOWL!!!!!!

Pregamin' for Super Bowl XLV

With the Super Bowl right around the corner what else could I write about?

This Sunday is the 45th anniversary of the big game and it could be one for the ages. Two teams with great winning histories will face off:

The Green Bay Packers of the NFC will be trying to bring the Lombardi Trophy home where it belongs. The trophy, given to the winning team of the big game, is named after the Hall of Fame Packer coach who led the team to win Super Bowl I and Super Bowl II. The last time they won the Lombardi trophy was in 1996 with future Hall of Fame quarterback Brett Favre.

The Pittsburgh Steelers of the AFC will try to get their two fingers ahead in the Super Bowl ring game. If they win on Sunday they will have won the Lombardi Trophy seven times- that is two more times than any other team in the league. Their most recent Super Bowl wins were in 2005 and 2008.

The analysts have been talking and it seems like the two teams are pretty evenly matched. Both have great quarterbacks. Their defenses are phenomenal with Defensive Player of the Year Troy Polamalu and James Harrison who held third place in the DPOY voting lining up for the Steelers and Clay Matthews who held second place in the DPOY voting and Charles Woodson who held the title last year lining up for the Packers.

Although many Steelers players have some Super Bowl experience I honestly believe that the Packers have all the momentum after making it to the Super Bowl after coming in as a sixth seed. That is my pick for Sunday. What do you expect?

Go Pack Go!!

VCSU Presents: Much Ado about Nothing

VCSU Theatre is in rehearsals for their spring play: "Much Ado about Nothing" by William Shakespeare. The fun comedy that has to do with love and deception opens on February 17th and runs through the 19th. With opening nights still almost three weeks away, the cast and crew are in good shape. The set is almost entirely built under the direction of Tech Director David Ahumada and the play itself is almost entirely blocked and worked. Show times are 7:30 each night with a 2 O'clock matinee on Sunday. It is directed by Jenni Lou Russi.

Has Favre come to his senses, finally?

This is the article I want you to read.

In a year where Brett Favre didn't do too anything special statistically, ended his consecutive starting streak, and was plagued with injury and controversy, it may be possible that he has finally come to his senses.

The 41-year old quarterback has filed retirement with the NFL Monday after 20 seasons (16 of them with the Green Bay Packers). Now, although he has retired two or three times before, I think that this is finally it for the old gunslinger. Personally, I think it would have been better for his legacy if he didn't play this season. This year was the first year he was unable to start a game since Nirvana was all the rage. It was also the year of picture messages and massage therapists. But, I won't get into that.

The reason I liked this article was because it said that Favre believes that the Green Bay Packers will win it all. He said in an email to ESPN's Ed Werder

"[Packers QB] Aaron [Rodgers] is the best QB and the receiving corps is the best ever, maybe," Favre said in the e-mail. "But [defensive coordinator] Dom [Capers] and the defense gets the MVP award at this stage."

It is nice knowing that the future hall of fame quarterback is on your team's side.

Who Am I?

When it comes to writing I find that I can see myself more as a blogger than anything else. I write to entertain more than anything else. In the field of writing, I picture myself as having an opinion column. Expressing my views on current events in the sports and entertainment world would be my interest as a writer.

I am inspired by seeing a person laugh or argue. If my writing can make you bust out in laughter or step forward and debate my writing, then I have done my job.

This type of writing reflects who I am as a person. I like to bring joy to people with my humor while also pissing other people off. Either way, whatever I write will make people think.

Like I said earlier, I would say that my favorite topics to write about would have to include happenings in the sports and entertainment world. I may not always have a lot to say, but if I get on a track that interests me, I will be able to expand on the topic for a long time. This class should give me an opportunity to work on my writing and hopefully help me find myself as a writer.