The article by Robert Hill found in The Colorado College Bulletin discusses the negative side effects of college students, especially first year students use of alcohol. The article states “It increases absenteeism” referring to alcohol. The article also goes into the Colorado College’s methods to curb the use of alcohol. Whereas the article speaks mostly of the actions Colorado College is taking to stop alcohol abuse it relates to the topic of alcohol causing absenteeism because that is one of there concerns. It speaks of how Colorado College intends to relate topics such as rape and aids to alcohol as a method to convince students not to abuse the substance. The article relates to the class because it is aimed at students, and the class consists of students. It may seem as though it is merely aimed for those involved in The Colorado College but in actuality it is more about them telling others how to deal with the same problem of alcohol abuse. The article is related to Sociology as a whole because it looks at the behavior of the groups of people drinking, of how they interact. It speaks of how in the setting of the dorms for instance persons whom abuse alcohol cause trouble amongst the fish bowl society.



The Colorado College Bulletin. (1998). Campus Alcohol Policy Designed to Educate. Retrieved September 25, 2006, from The Colorado College Bulletin Web Site: http://www2.coloradocollege.edu/Publications/thebulletin/spring98/Alcohol.html

In the 1960’s people thought it was ultra important to go to the moon before the commies got there. Through-out the 60’s people thought it was imperative to show that America was technologically advanced, to do this we had to always be a step a head of the commies. The entire space race of the 1960’s revolved around this concept. Everyone was very excited about the prospect of going to space not to mention the moon; people had never believed we would so the closer we got there through-out the years the more thrilled people got. People in third world countries and countries like china were not fully aware of the happenings of the space race.
In the 1960s the climate was changed by the space race because of all the new technologies it made available to governments like satellites. The space race was a very inspirational thing for even people not involved especially when we won by landing on the moon first. I believe that winning made people gain more patriotism for America. Winning also gained America respect from other countries. The space race in my opinion changed the climate of the 1960s significantly.

so due a month ago

The Need to Landscape with Native Plants
-Rachel Grace Edwards -–- Environmental Science A-
The spread of invasive plants has become over the years a growing problem in the United States of America. Invasive species have entered this country deliberately and on accident. It first started when the European settlers came over and settled our land. They kept small gardens in their yards to grow food or look pretty, using plants that they had brought from there homes in Europe. These gardens once took up small areas that were surrounded by a great vastness of natural ecosystems. This is not the case of what you see today, we see the exact opposite. Non-indigenous plants from all over the whole world dominate the landscape of America. In Illinois there is 0.01% tallgrass prairies found in small and scattered preserves. There were originally tallgrass prairies that thrived in approximately 65% of Illinois. (Great Lakes Environment: Greenacres – landscaping with native plants fact sheet.) America has become overrun by invasive species that take up the space and resources that the native plants require to survive.
Native plants are plants that have evolved in a specific location for far over thousands of years. These plants are just right for the amount of resources provided by that area. It is the native plants of a region that are best capable of getting the most out of the supply of water, soil nutrients, and sunlight that an area can provide. The native plants in an area form communities where they become dependent on one another. It is in these communities of native plants that native wildlife can find homes and food, a habitat.
Invasive Plants are plants that have been introduced into an environment that they did not originally evolve into. These non-indigenous plants often take over an existing ecosystem using up the resources and space that the native plants need to survive. The introduction of non-native plants can result in the decrease of native plants. For example, in the 1800’s a plant called the Purple loosestrife was introduced from Europe as a medicinal herb and ornamental plant. Purple loosestrife spread incredibly fast and now is found in 42 states across America. This plant likes to colonize wetland areas it out competes the native plants for the water nutrients and sunlight of the area. The wetlands that are infested by the Purple loosestrife often have a lost of there original native plant populations of 50%. This decrease in variety of food and cover is a very dire affect to the habitat that birds need, and can cause the birds to disappear from a wetland completely. (Great Lakes Environment: Greenacres – landscaping with native plants fact sheet)
The modern day lawn is in itself even worse then just this take over of invasive species to our environment. The maintenance of the green grass lawn causes more pollution than many people realize. In America we use over 70 million pounds of pesticides every single year just on our lawns. These pesticides run off the lawns and get into lakes and river systems. (Great Lakes Environment: Greenacres – landscaping with native plants fact sheet). Americans use 30% of the water consumption on the east coast and 60% of the water consumption on the west coast just with urban lawn irrigation. 5% of America’s air pollution is from gas powered garden tools used for mowing lawns. Each year 200 million gallons of gasoline is used for mowing lawns. There was a study done by Applied Ecological Services of Brodhead Wisconsin that showed that over a 20 year period of larger properties that the cumulative cost of maintaining a non-native turf grasses costs $20000 per acre, whereas maintaining a prairie or a wetland costs only $3000 per acre. (Great Lakes Environment: Greenacres – landscaping with native plants fact sheet.)
The use of Native plants to create a Prairie setting in ones yard is a very efficient way to use the space in front of ones home rather then maintaining a lawn of turf grass. Native plants shouldn’t require pesticides or fertilizer so there is no runoff from them. Native plants are adapted to the specific environment and do not need to be watered unless there is a drought. Native plants should not be mowed so that cuts down on air pollution and time spent on ones yard. Native plants provide beauty and interest to the landscape all year round. Trees and shrubs can offer foliage and flowers throughout the spring and summer time. In the winter they provide bark, berries and needles. Prairie flowers have color all summer and prairie grasses display their gold’s and crimsons throughout the winter season. (Neil Diboll of Prairie Nursery, www.prairienursery.com) Native plants can support 10 to 50 times more of the local animals, insects, and bird species then what exotic or introduced plants can support. (Resource-Efficient yard care packet) when native plants are used in landscaping more animals are provided with suitable habitat and less pollution is caused.
The thing people can do to reduce the amount of invasive plants and amounts of pollution while there at it is to plant native plants in there yards instead of a full tuff lawn. Using a variety of native trees, shrubberies, flowers, and grasses in landscaping is the best thing one can do with there yard. Besides simply planting such a garden of native plants people can spread the word about what a good idea it is because the more people who do it the better it becomes for the ecosystem.

The problem that I wish to address is that of landscaping and the lack of local plants in our communities’ gardens and landscape. The use of native plants helps to prevent excessive amounts of runoff that pollute our water. Native plants also help the natural wildlife maintain population by giving the wildlife places to live and food to eat. Landscaping with native plants is easier than landscaping with imported plants because they require less maintenance because they are suited for this environment. People should use native plants in there landscaping for the health of the local environment.
My project idea is to create a pamphlet on the reasons people should use native plants for landscaping. This pamphlet will also include which plants are good to use in our local area. I will also make a poster board with the same information for the presentation of the project. I plan to present my project to a women’s group, perhaps the homemakers club because my mother used to be in it and is friends with them.
My project will benefit the local environment by informing people on how to improve there own yards for the sake of the environment. If the women use the information I plan to provide them with then there will be more habitats created for local birds and small animals. The goal of the project is to decrease the amount of imported plants and increase the amount of native plants in the community.

solayde river, eviomental science class

<^-^> <^.^< <^-^> >^.^> Rachel Edwards <^-^> <^.^< <^-^> >^.^>

Excel Energy
Excel Energy may not dump anything into the stream and they do supply energy to the whole town but they still are harming the river. Excel has built a dam that has no passageways for the trout to get though to the other side of the river. Excel use the water from the river to cool there equipment then put it right back into the water with out cooling that water back down, this is thermal pollution and is causing the rivers temperature to increase. In 1995 Solayde River was 65f and now is 68f before the dam and 70f after the dam. This raise of temperature causes the level of dissolved oxygen to lower. In 1995 the dissolved oxygen was at 7mg/L and now is 6mg/L before the dam and 5mg/L after the dam. These things are all affecting the trout population and are a big factor in there 51% decrease since 1995. The trout need temperatures of at least 65 and dissolved oxygen of at least 6mg/L to survive; they also need a passageway through the dam to use this river. I propose that Excel Energy builds a few passageways in their dam to allow the trout to pass though. I also propose that Excel Energy builds a holding tank for the water they use to cool their machines, to cool the water down also before reentering the stream.

Muddy Family Farm
The Muddy family farm may not have changed there practices in decades and the do supply the city with food but they are also harming the river and themselves. The farm fertilizes their fields with cow manure from the Prune Cattle Farm all year long. Muddy family farm also does not rotate there fields growing crops in alternating fields each year which is bad for soil because it sucks all the nutrients out of it. There practices may have worked just fine 30 years ago but now there is a housing development between the farm and the Solayde River. There used to be trees and shrubbery to filter the runoff of fertilizer from the Muddy family farm but now the trees are gone and the runoff runs straight into the river. The runoff is playing a part in the raised level of nitrogen in Solayde River. In 1995 the nitrogen levels were at 8mg/L and now are at 10.1 mg/L before the dam and 11mg/L after the dam. This nitrogen contributes to turbidity, which hinders photosynthesis because the water is to murky for the light to pass threw. Turbidity levels were at 3NTU in 1995 and are now 6NTU before the dam and 10NTU* after the dam. Fish don’t eat, grow, feed or reproduce well in this environment and eventually die off. I propose that the Muddy Family Farm plant a thick row of trees and shrubbery on their southern border to help filter the runoff. I would also suggest they use less fertilizer if possible. I don’t think it really affects the river much but if they were to rotate there crop fields every couple of years they would get a larger yield and would have better soil quality and would need less fertilizer possibly.

Prune Cattle Farm
Prune Cattle Farm provides food and fertilizer to the town and yet is probably one of the worst offenders in the rivers ickyness. The Cattle farm lets its 500 cows cross the river at free will, eating the grass right up to the waters edge and also pooping directly into the river. There is also much runoff from their entire field from the manure because it’s all just grass. Their cows are also getting sick from the water that they themselves have ruined. In 1995 the nitrogen levels were at 8mg/L and now are at 10.1 mg/L before the dam and 11mg/L after the dam. This nitrogen contributes to turbidity as does the cows eating all the way to the rivers edge, which hinders photosynthesis because the water is too murky for the light to pass, threw. Turbidity levels were at 3NTU in 1995 and are now 6NTU before the dam and 10NTU after the dam. Fish don’t eat, grow, feed or reproduce well in this environment and eventually die off. I suggest that the Prune Cattle Farm builds a fence at least 20 meters away from the rivers edge planting shrubbery and trees in that 20 meters. They will also have to build a bridge that can minimize the amount of cow poop enters the river as they cross it.

Estro Plastics
Estro Plastics would appear to be eco friendly with there pond but what you cant see is that there is a leak in the liner of there pond. They also don’t tell you that they dump VOC into their pond. Estro Plastics much like Excel Energy use the water from the river to cool there equipment then put it right back into the water with out cooling that water back down, this is thermal pollution and is causing the rivers temperature to increase. In 1995 Solayde River was 65f and now is 68f before the dam and 70f after the dam. This raise of temperature causes the level of dissolved oxygen to lower. In 1995 the dissolved oxygen was at 7mg/L and now is 6mg/L before the dam and 5mg/L after the dam. These things are all affecting the trout population and are a big factor in there 51% decrease since 1995. The trout need temperatures of at least 65 and dissolved oxygen of at least 6mg/L to survive. Estro Plastics needs to fix the hole in their pond and not put VOC into it. I also propose that they build a holding tank for the water they use to cool their machines, to cool the water down also before reentering the stream.

Willies Campground
Willies Campground while bringing tourism to the city they also have negatively affected the beloved river of Solayde. When building the boat landing they destroyed the bank shore. They also destroyed the shore when they built the beach on Dragonfly Pond possibly though the worst thing to happen to the trout was done by them; they introduced pike to the Solayde River creating competition for the already dying out trout. The ruining to the bank though is causing turbidity levels to rise because more partials get into the water. Turbidity levels were at 3NTU in 1995 and are now 6NTU before the dam and 10NTU after the dam. Plus the pavement of the boat landing heats up any water on it causing temperature to rise. In 1995 Solayde River was 65f and now is 68f before the dam and 70f after the dam. This raise of temperature causes the level of dissolved oxygen to lower. In 1995 the dissolved oxygen was at 7mg/L and now is 6mg/L before the dam and 5mg/L after the dam. These things are all affecting the trout population and are a big factor in there 51% decrease since 1995. The trout need temperatures of at least 65 and dissolved oxygen of at least 6mg/L to survive. Fish don’t eat, grow, feed or reproduce well in this environment and eventually die off. I suggest that Willie does not bring any more pike to the river and encourages people to fish them rather then the trout. He can’t really do much else because the landing and beach can’t be exactly removed.

Screamin Green Lawn Care
Screamin Green keeps the cities lawns nice and green. With the residential homes going all the way to the rivers edge these days and still demanding the same type of yards as those farther away from the river the Screamin Green Lawn caretakers have done just that, mowed the lawns all the way to the rivers edge destroying the bank. This grass lets runoff to just run off of it. There is much to run off of this grass to, such as all the pesticides, herbicides, and fertilizer that is put on the grass. Destroying the bank like this causes turbidity. Turbidity levels were at 3NTU in 1995 and are now 6NTU before the dam and 10NTU after the dam. Fish don’t eat, grow, feed or reproduce well in this environment and eventually die off. The runoff of fertilizer is playing a part in the raised level of nitrogen in Solayde River. In 1995 the nitrogen levels were at 8mg/L and now are at 10.1 mg/L before the dam and 11mg/L after the dam. This nitrogen also contributes to turbidity, which hinders photosynthesis because the water is too murky for the light to pass through. I suggest that Screamin Green lawn Care uses less chemicals to make the grass green and especially at the homes near the river require a sort of landscaping that includes a healthy bank with trees and shrubbery.

Gas Me
The city needs gas sure, but these guys are ridicules. They don’t contain there runoff chemicals from there car wash or spilled gasoline they allow it all to just enter the sewers which go straight to the Solayde river. There are so many toxic chemicals in the gas and there is Phosphate in the soap they use for there car wash. Back in 1995 the phosphorous levels in the Solayde River were at .09 mg/L now they are at .12 mg/L before the dam and .15 mg/L after the dam. The toxic chemicals are certainly causing the river to be incredibly unhealthy. I propose that the Gas Me develops a way to catch all there runoff in a holding tank for proper disposal or possibly build a pond and a filter system to avoid contaminating the Solayde river.

The City Planers
They haven’t really done anything besides let all this happen. I propose they make sure everyone does what I propose. I also propose that they really do create a filter system for the storm sewer output.

Hey future self, what is up with you? You, with your lack of decent memory, probably don’t remember me at all do you. Well let me refresh your memory, let me take you back to 2005, November, it’s the 15th, 2:37 in the afternoon, and your in the computer lab for English class, your seventh period and memorial high school. Take yourself back. If you remember, you were rather crazy that day, confused and depressed and still trying to decide whether your going to try to make your girlfriend Holly happy, or if it would be better for her if you just ended it, exactly one week before her birthday. You’ve spent all day asking your friends if they think that you have changed much since last year, all of them said no, or that you had but for the better. Your still fuming over the use of the words “you used to be…” Both Holly and your mother used that on you last night, what makes it worse is that you know its true. You don’t want to go home tonight because you know that your father is going to make you help clean the house, because even though its just the two of you living there, its still filthy. Your sister is coming home next week for thanksgiving and you are decently thrilled by the prospect. Your philosophies are always changing, but you’re in English class and are apparently required to identify them.
I think relationships are important. Not just the girlfriends and boyfriends kinds but just people in general. Getting along with the people you see everyday, or even once in your life is really essential to being happy. I’m all for that being happy thing. I try to be cheerful and nice to the people around me, although I don’t succeed at it a good portion of the time. I believe having friends is critical to my sanity, even though they drive me crazy all the time. I used to not have any really close friends; even my best friend wasn’t that close to me. Thank goodness that I do now though because they have really helped me with a lot of the stuff I’ve dealt with the last couple of years, even knowing that if I did bring it up that they would care is enough. My sister for instance is definitely my ‘best friend’ not because I don’t have others that could be classified as such (which I do), but because she is truly my best friend. Teenagers are crazy, I find it confusing how one friend will hate another and a different one will have extreme dislike for a second individual and then that one will despise the other then there’s always a couple of mad crushes in there, and its all just mind baffling to keep track of them. With all that its hard to keep my friends happy, because often two will want to hang out with me at the same time, yet hate each other so I end up telling them both no sometimes just so neither will think I like the other more and therefore get offended. Friends are like a crop field, you have to water and maintain them and give them all the same of everything or else one grows bigger then the other; then like in the bible story of Joseph and his multi colored dream coat, where the pharaoh has a dream where one field eats another field; its bad when your friends resort to cabalism.
Families, especially ones I’m involved in are anything but perfect. When I was a kid, like little baby type, my mother claims my father was abusive towards her. They got divorced when I was almost five, which is when the roller coaster that is my family life really started. One year my dad will have a girlfriend, and the next he won’t. Whenever he does my father, sister and I all just tag along with her and her family for all the holidays. Years where he doesn’t have a girlfriend are years with pretty pathetic Christmases. My biological grandparents and uncles and cousins and all that silliness, really don’t have much to do with me. On my mothers side they all kind of hate her or something so I only see them once a year for their family reunion where I don’t tend to talk to anyone because I just don’t know them. On my father’s side, they’re all a bunch of Jehovah Witnesses that don’t really want anything to do with me either because I wont join their religion and that’s just how the Jehovah Witnesses do things. Despite my lack of a strong and normal family structure I still value it. I hope to have a big family someday where we all get along.
In my future family I want to have some kids, and not the goat kind. I used to say I would never want of have kids, but I have really changed my mind. Assuming they let lesbians adopt in whatever state I end up in I think I would prefer to adopt children because the world really does have an overpopulation problem. I think I would go through the childbearing thing if I need to though. I really want to have someone to tell stories to; I’m selfish like that. I’m not foolish enough to think that my kids will be friends with me, like my mother is. But I still find my self-thinking “someday I’m gonna make my kid giggle with this story” and I smile. I even know what I am going to name the little monsters, if it’s a girl I’m going to name her Willow, or Dru, or Sonja. If one is a boy I think I shall name it Alexander and call him Xander all the time, that or Joel. I think I want to have two kids so they can bug each other like how I love my sister.
I’m super pumped to grow old. That’s a lie. I’ve sort of had this thing where life sucks and I’ve always thought that I’m not going to live long enough to grow old. I’m starting to change my mind and get over the whole being an adult is scary thing. Part of my getting over that is because I’m not all depressed anymore like I was just a month ago and because I’m starting to just get slowly used to becoming an adult and taking care of myself. Since my dads last girlfriend moved out he has cut off my allowance and doesn’t really “take care” of me like he used to when I was younger. It is more like we live in the same house and he pays for the bills and gives me grocery shopping money every once in awhile to keep the house semi stocked with nutrition. As a result I have had to deal with the fact that I am supposed to be growing up. A part of growing up, is of course growing old, like elderly old. When I’m old I want to hang out with my sister all the time, I think we should live in Wales in some fancy nursing home on the ocean, and make ‘Buffy’ references all the time. I don’t know if she wants to, I’ll higher bounty hunters to kidnap her and stuff if I have to. I hope I don’t get alzheimers though, it’s in my genes to get it and I am scared of forgetting everything, especially my cleaver 'Buffy' referances.
I’m not afraid of death, isn’t that an arrogant thing to say. Everyone is afraid of death; it’s in our nature. We need that will to live or else we as a species would not over populate the world so much. I admit, in the past I’ve wanted nothing more then to just die, better yet to never have been born. I’ve grown out of that, at least for now, who knows what I’ll be up to next month. I don’t follow any religious teachings; I don’t spend my time thinking about the afterlife. I haven’t really decided if I think there is one or not. It really depends on the god thing, if there is a god of some sort then it would follow that there is an afterlife. I am leaning towards the lack of such a powerful being though and cannot see how an afterlife could possibly exist in a world of physics and evolution. When I do die though I want my funeral to be a grand party. I want it to be Rachel themed where every one has to come dressed up as me. I want there to be music and real dancing, not the tons of people leaning against the wall ‘I cant dance’ sort of junk but real dancing. I want there to be pineapple bowls filled with strawberries and grapes covered in whip cream for every guest which there should be many, everyone I’ve ever liked, ever. I want there to be a cover band that does every song I ever listened to. No really though, I could care less if that actually happens for me, I just think that maybe we should do that more often. We should have that party when I’m still around to come. It sounds more like a kick butt 100th birthday party to me. I do want a really nice tombstone though, and in the tiny possibility of my dying with my cat, I want him buried with me. Don’t forget the cement stairs leading to nothing.

would, but not to change anything, it would just be fun to do it again. I do admit, had I known that eating the seeds would kill me; I wouldn’t have eaten them. Looking back now though I don’t see how I could have possibly done anything different to find out this information beforehand. If I had known that I was so close to civilization I would have not accepted that location as a proper one for my adventure and therefore would have gone somewhere else. Being as how I did not know that when I did it, I was happy and am happy with the trip in general.

People may question my motive with giving my money away. Giving the money to charity was actually the easiest thing to do with it at the time, short of just leaving it in the bank account. I like to think I helped make at least one persons life better so that eventually they will be able to stop trying to establish themselves in the world financially and can then abandon the worldly things that they fight so hard for, for at least a short time and go on an adventure much like mine. In addition my uncle did not need the money and would have made inquiries into my intentions of furthering my education in the realms of a graduate degree or a doctorate.

I did not originally intend to abandon my car, but I am glad I did. In doing so I could experience the country much more efficiently. I wish though that instead of leaving it in the mud I could have given it to a needy person. Burning my money was more of a spontaneous thing to do, I do believe that I became overly giddy at the thought of being a true tramp. It could have gone to charity in