Increased Safety Measures

Ryan Stenzel

Article Response

Increased Body Scans and Pat-Downs in Airports

                I read an article about airports stepping up on full body scans and pat-downs because of all of the travelers during the Thanksgiving season.  There have been a lot of complaints about this new policy because people feel it is a huge invasion of their privacy.  According to “the Department of Homeland Security, of the estimated 28 million people who flew during the first two weeks of the new security measures, TSA received fewer than 700 complaints. Of all the passengers who were asked to submit to a full body scan, only 1% had chosen to opt out and instead undergo a pat-down” (Memoli and Bennett Tribune Washington Bureau, Para. 9).  Some people were getting so upset with the body scans and pat-downs that they were posting videos of it happening to other travelers on YouTube.  There have been a few notable terrorist attempts like the “Christmas Day Bomber” who boarded a flight to Detroit carrying a powdered explosive.  He did not succeed in his plot because he lit himself on fire before he could set off the bomb.  Also just recently, some terrorists in Yemen tried to send the same type of explosive on some cargo planes.  They got it on the plane, but the explosives did not actually explode.  Attempts like these are the reason that the United States has to crack down on airport security.

                I think that we need to have some level of airport security that keeps everyone safe, but lets people keep as much of their privacy as possible.  If we did not have such extreme safety measures, people would complain that airports are not safe enough.  I think everyone just needs something to complain about.  If anyone has to wait for anything in their lives, they get upset about it.  They can pick out any reason that even makes them uncomfortable about something and throw a fit about it.

The Grandparents Scam

The Grandparents Scam

                I read an article in the Caledonia Argus about this thing call the Grandparent Scam.  There was a woman in Caledonia who received a call from a guy who claimed to be her grandson.  He said that he was in an accident and needed money.  He also told her how to go to the bank and get money and then transfer it through Western Union.  The grandmother believed that this was her grandson because “grandparents can see and hear with their hearts. In an agitated state, grandpa or grandma, who might not hear as clearly as they once did, are liable to convince themselves that the voice they hear is one they know”(Moorhead, Hometown Argus, Para. 8).  They talked to a woman from the Canadian Anti-Fraud Call Center who explained how people can pull off this scam so easily.  She said all the scammer needs is a number off of the receipt from the money transfer and they can go to any Western Union in North America to get the money. 

                I think that this scam is one of the lowest things I have ever heard of.   I do not know how people can live with themselves when they scam elderly people for their hard earned money.  Especially when they could literally worry them to death by telling them some fake story about their grandchildren getting into an accident.  I also think that whoever is pulling these scams needs to go get a job like the rest of us in America.   

New Warnings For Cigarettes

New Cigarette Warnings

                I read an article online about a new campaign that is supposed to get people to quit smoking.  Apparently the Surgeon General warnings on the sides of cigarette packs do not have enough detail to let people know how dangerous smoking really is.  The Food and Drug Administration has come up with a brand new idea.  They made a bunch of different designs as new warning labels for cigarettes.  For example, one of them is a baby dealing with second hand smoke.  Another one is a man smoking through a hole in his throat.  They want to make the warnings as graphic as possible so people will have a new understanding about the dangers to yourself and others that cigarettes cause.  They also mentioned that other countries have done this with their cigarettes and it has been successful for them.  Another intention of this campaign is not just trying to get current smokers to quit, but preventing kids from starting.  According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “About 21% of U.S. adults and nearly 20% of high school students smoke cigarettes” (Salahi ABC News, Para. 7).

                I think that this is a terrible idea.  It just seems like it would be a waste of money because there are far worse things in the world right now that we could be dealing with than smoking.  I also think that people tear the labels off their cigarette packs anyways, which means that they will only look at the warning one time.  I honestly doubt that this will deter people from starting to smoke.  Kids seem like they start smoking because of peer pressure or advertising which really has nothing to do with the actual pack of cigarettes that they are buying.  I think that kids who do smoke will look at the warnings as just another campaign to prevent smoking and will not let it influence them.  This is because there are already so many anti-smoking campaigns out there that people are used to the idea of them.  They seem to be more of an annoyance than a hindrance.

Narrative-Final Draft

Ryan Stenzel

Shiela Allard

Written Communications

3 November 2010

My Grandfather

                  My grandfather, Joe Sheehan, had many great qualities.  He was always known for giving you advice if you were going through a bad time.  Grandpa always looked at the world from a good perspective.  My grandfather influenced many people throughout his life.  He touched the hearts of his family and even people outside of our family.  Everyone knew Joe Sheehan by name and reputation.  He would help anyone in need without asking for anything in return.  In my opinion this and his amazing work ethic made him one of the best men I have ever had the privilege of knowing.  Some of the reasons why I think my grandfather was such a great man are his generosity, his work ethic, and his warm heartedness. 

                While I was growing up, my mom would sometimes leave me in my grandfather’s care while she went to work.  My grandpa owned his own lawn care service, which he often let me help with as soon as I got old enough.  Anytime we were mowing a lawn, my grandfather was generous enough to pay me for the extra hours I waited while he visited with each client.  I remember this one time while we were mowing an elderly lady’s lawn, Grandpa and I didn’t even get a chance to finish mowing the lawn before she invited us in for lemonade.  I was only around ten at the time, but I still remember it like it was yesterday.  My grandfather and this woman could have talked for hours about the history that they shared and the stories that they knew.  After we left that day, he told me that getting to know a customer like that was one of the most rewarding parts of having your own business.  My grandfather loved these connections he made with other people.  Anytime he did work for someone, he would charge very little, if anything at all.  Even when my cousins and I were with him, he would make sure that we all learned something before we parted ways.  Like I said before, he taught me everything he knew about business and family and how they do not need to walk hand-in-hand.  He taught one of my cousins all about farming and how to run his own farm.

He also taught me everything that he knew about owning a small business.  Grandpa gave me some of the best advice I have ever heard to this day; “You need to find a career that you like and enjoy going to work every day.”  Besides telling me little bits of wise advice, he taught me how to do simple bookwork and accounting, how to fix small engines, and how to do a lot of farm chores.  He had the best work ethic out of anyone I had ever seen.

Grandpa always preached to me about family and friends being the most important things in life.  He said that I would understand what that meant when I got a little older.  He was right, as usual.    When I was not being babysat or working with him, he would be at our house visiting and having a good time.  He treated everyone that grew up with my aunts and uncles like they were family, even when they turned into adults.  He also would get to know anyone, no matter the circumstances. 

As I got older, my relationship with my grandfather only got stronger.  This all changed when he was diagnosed with esophagus cancer.  He was a smoker for a good portion of his life, but the doctors didn’t think that is what had caused it.  They really didn’t know.  They put him on chemotherapy which just seemed to make him get worse.  He just kept getting thinner and weaker as time went on.  When my family and I would go out to visit him, he was either asleep or incoherent.  He was so heavily medicated that he did not recognize me or anyone in my family for that matter, a lot of the time.  This went on for a while until one day he just didn’t wake up.  This was July 29, 2004.  I got a call at my house from my mom, who had already left to go see him.  I was all alone at the time so naturally I broke into tears.  I didn’t understand why my grandpa had to be taken away from me.  I felt like somebody took a part of my heart and crushed it.  My mom sent our church’s nun to pick me up.  When I arrived at my grandfather’s house, I was not in the greatest situation.  I could barely walk in the door let alone look at him.  Every time I even tried to look in his direction I would break down.  When he died I did not think that I would ever be able to get over it. It seemed like he was taken away from me for no reason.  It really hit me when we went to the cemetery and put his casket in the ground.  I don’t think I have had a dramatic experience like that since that day.  I was not an easy person to be around for the first few months of his death because I was depressed and sad a lot of the time.  That attitude seemed to change as the rest of the year past and my brother Jake was born.  My youngest brother was born on July 29, 2005 at around the same time in the morning that my grandfather had died the previous year.  This gave me a whole new perspective on the situation.  To this day I believe that my grandpa just wanted us to know that he was there for us.  He was there when my brother Jack and I were born.  He was also a huge part of our lives as we were growing up, so I looked at this event as a type of closure.  I realized that he would always be with my family and I in spirit.

                The long and the short of this story is that my grandfather brought joy to many peoples’ lives.  His death taught me that you only have so much time with your family and friends and you should cherish every moment like it was to be your last.  He was one of the wisest and most generous men I had ever met and one of the greatest people I have ever had the privilege of knowing throughout my life.

Caledonia Criminal Justice Center

Caledonia Criminal Justice Center

                I read an article in the Caledonia Argus about the progress on the new criminal justice center in Caledonia, Minnesota.  The article talked about how the progress on the building is going.  Because they did not have a lot of rain for a while last month, they were able to work almost every day to get the building built.  According to Rich Reding, from Knutson Incorporated, the company building the new court house, “Schedule wise, we’re running pretty well,” Reding noted. “Having to put up with the very wet summer was a challenge, but we were able to catch up quite a bit during the last three weeks”(Warner, 8).

                Personally I did not think the building needed to be put in Caledonia in the first place.  They had to tear down multiple buildings to make room for this huge new structure.  I know the building is supposed to house more inmates and nicer offices, but at what cost?  They built this place a block away from an elementary school.  What if an inmate escapes?  They could go and kidnap a child and do harm to them in some way.  The old court house is pretty close to the school also, but they put this one even closer.  Another reason I do not believe that we need a new building is because the old court house is a landmark and is part of the city’s history.  I would hate to see that place torn down.  I do not know if this is their plan, but if it is they can expect to get an earful from Caledonia’s citizens.  The construction of this place is another issue.  Every other day there is a different road blocked off to through traffic because it makes it easier for them to haul their raw materials around.  This just makes it more difficult to navigate around the town.  In conclusion, I do not agree with this new criminal justice center at all.