Twenty four year old Jovi Hinojosa says his ultimate dream job is to be a crime scene investigator. Graduating from Cal State University Los Angeles nearly two years ago, he tells of his inspiration behind pursuing this career path despite the obstacles in his way.
A Musician With a Different Instrument
Roderick Muro is a musician of a different sort. His Musical talents lie within the magic of the computer and his fingers. Listen now to learn more.
For more Information, Follow him on Facebook.
The Ultimate Experience of a First Time College Student
- Roxana Jimenez says she is determined not to let anyone, who believes in her, down.
Los Angeles resident, Roxana Jimenez, says living in the dorms is a way to experience life on CSUN’s (Cal State University Northridge) campus. She says it is easier for her to wake up and not have to worry about the two-hour bus ride from Los Angeles.
Jimenez lives with three other first time freshmen and says the biggest challenge is “getting used to habits.”
But she adds, glancing at her wall of inspiration, there’s a family aspect to dorm life. “We all motivate each other to do well,” she says.
Students, like Jimenez, are busy throughout the week with studying and other social life, and Jimenez says, “You don’t have time to pick up after yourself.” So on Fridays, she says, she likes to “clean up before going home to L.A for the weekend.”
Lewd Acts: How does one measure it?
“It’s called, they’re not getting an education right now, because (they’re) closing down a school that students have gotten used to having teachers in and a school that they’ve gone to, to where it’s not fair on the kids and it’s not fair to the kid’s parents because they’re used to the teachers that come to them, telling them the problems of their kids and it hurts the teachers more than it hurts anybody in the world.”
Nicole Johnson, a resident in North Hollywood Calif. says, in regards to the teachers that have been accused of lewd acts on minors, some of which have officially been charged.
Over the past month beginning January 31, news sites have reported a number of teachers and workers in the Los Angeles Unified School District that have been accused of committing Lewd Acts on young children. It started with a teacher at Miramount Elementary in South Los Angeles. The Los Angeles Times reported that former teacher Mark Berndt was charged with lewd acts on 23 children ages seven to ten. Using what he called to be a game, Berndt would tie the children up and fed them spoonfuls of semen and in some instances would blindfold students and put cockroaches on their faces.
From this accusation, more were soon to follow and the Los Angeles Unified School district made the decision to close down Miramount after a second teacher was arrested just four days after Berndt, for fondling a girl.
Residents, like Johnson, were unhappy about the superintendent’s decision. Johnson also said, she didn’t think the teachers should have been laid off, because, “there are still good ones even given the bad ones.”
Even more Los Angeles residents say they are disturbed at the number of teachers that are admitting to these crimes.
Judi Schmidt of North Hollywood Calif. says, “It’s disgusting.” She says, she first heard about the Miramount teacher during lunch, and she was so appalled that she couldn’t eat.
Similarly a local grandparent in Pacoima Calif., Bobbie Johnson says she is surprised at how many teachers have come out and thinks there should have been more signs of the abuse.
LAUSD’s Code of conduct states, no teacher is allowed to touch or have “physical contact with a student that is not age appropriate or within the scope of the individual’s responsibilities.” Teachers are expected to read and adhere to this strict code.
Subsequently, the California Penal Code says that anyone, even teachers, “who willfully and lewdly commits any lewd act on a child under 14 is guilty of a felony”. According to the standard dictionary definition, the term lewd is any acts that are deemed to be “crude and offensive in a sexual way.”
Once convicted in California, under the Megan’s Law, sex offenders will be publicly registered so that the community will know where they are at all times.
Animals stars or Animal Exploitation? Should animals really be working or is it cruel to keep them from being a “Regular” animal?
It’s been debated since animals first started being used in movies in the early 1900’s.
Peta (or People for the Ethical Treatment of animals) is an animal rights organization, dedicated to investigating the unfair practices and abuse of animals.
This includes the use of animals for…
- 1. Food
- 2. Clothing such as fur or leather
- 3. Experimentation or animal testing
- 4. Abuse of any way
- 5. And, use in the Entertainment industry.
Peta Investigation into Ringling Brothers’ Treatment of Elephants
(Video courtesy of Peta website)
One of the forms of entertainment is in the circus. An investigation by Peta was done on Ringling Brothers, and found the elephants were repeated beaten with bullhooks prior to performing. Additionally Peta is also against Animals being used for entertainment, such as Greyhound Racing. The Greyhound Racing Association of America says the breed loves to run and thus are breed at a early age. They say the dogs are well taken care of and most live to the typical age of 12.
But The ASPCA argues. They say “each year thousands of young, healthy greyhounds are killed due to lack of racing potential or being injured or no longer competitive. ASPCA say, the living conditions of a typical greyhound is massively small, with little or no social contact.
Other less conspicuous groups like Animal Actors of Hollywood are more responsible and actually adopt most of the animals that are used for work in the TV and Entertainment Industry. The Trainers say, all of the animals are placed in loving homes, both during the animals work schedule as well as upon retirement.
Just the same, no matter how well their intentions are, there are always Peta groups to insure that all animals are treated right and justly so. According to a petition done on change.org, the following findings were reported.
- 10 billion domesticated land animal are slaughtered a day for food, including 250 million chicks and five and a half million calves
- Between 25 and one hundred million animals are used in testing in the U.S. each year
- Six to eight million dogs and cats enter shelters and half never leave alive
- 80 percent of purebred, AKC puppies are born in puppy mills and sold at local pet shops
- And one hundred percent of all circuses have been cited for animal cruelty
Distractions: Is Texting REALLY To Blame For Reckless Driving?
A debate in Florida has the senate and house quarreling over whether texting and driving should be ban.
As we reported earlier, studies report drivers that text are more likely to be in an accident, however Florida officials who are against the ban, say they are against the “silly laws” not the safety.
A study by the Highway Loss Data Institute shows, in fact, that accidents increased in states where bans were put up.
Subsequently officials both agree, “the problem stems from distracted drivers.”
The California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) defines driver distractions under three types.
- Visual (Eyes of the road)
- Cognitive (Minds of road)
- And Manual (Hands of steering wheel)
Just Drive, a program designed by Froedtert & Medical College of Wisconsin did a survey to find the top five driving distractions. They include,
Additionally the report went on to say “90 percent of these distractions resulted in accidents, however 50 percent say, ‘they will not be giving any of these things up any time soon’.”
Homelessness In LA: What It Will Take To End Homelessness
“Homelessness isn’t universal. It’s unique to the person who’s experiencing it at the time.” (Herb Smith, Los Angeles Mission President)
While the U.S. is currently facing high homeless rates, in Los Angeles, Calif, other statistics show, men in their forties are more likely to make up the homeless
population.
Additionally, the study by the Weingart Center show African Americans make up about half of the homeless population, most, of which, reside in the downtown Los Angeles, Skid Row. Skid Row, by definition, is geographically “a run-down, dilapidated area with a large, impoverished population.” For Los Angeles, it is one of the largest areas where the homeless population live, but Los Angeles MissionPresident, Herb Smith says, “Skid row used to be that kind of a place, but today, that lead to something else, a change in the culture and a change in the individuals and interestingly enough we are now seeing people who are saying, ‘skid row is my home of origin… this is my community’.
One of the largest missions in the country, the L.A Mission provides homeless in and near Skid Row with many services including,
- Hot meals, served 3 times daily,
- Overnight shelter,
- Clean clothing,
- Showers,
- Shaves,
- And temporary baggage storage
The Los Angeles Christian Health Centers works with the mission to provide free medical services, such as,
- TB screening and follow up therapy,
- HIV Education,
- Counseling,
- Testing and follow up,
- Dental care,
- Chiropractic care
- And other general health services.
Many people, Smith says, that come into the mission are “non-skilled”.
Additionally, he says, the mission sees “education as a critical component to the solution of homelessness long term”.
A Navy Hero of a Different Sort: The Act of a True Navy Man (And He Doesn’t Even Need To Go To War)
“Most of the time when things were going on, I was in a different place!” Nathan Maki says with a slight smirk on his face, referring to events like to 1994 Earthquake in Northridge, Calif. He says, when this “tragic” event happened, he was stationed in San Diego, Calif.
Now 54 years old, Maki is a retired Petty Officer of the First Class United States Navy as Hull Maintenance Technician One (HT1). For over 20 years, he been working for Universal Studios Hollywood as a Park Attendant, but he is forever a Navy man. His naval specialty was in Nondestructive Testing and Quality Control in Division RQ (Repair Quality).
He currently lives in Van Nuys, Calif. with his wife, Linda of 16 years and has a total of 11 stepchildren, 33 grandchildren and two great grandchildren, but he says, he has traveled to many different places throughout his naval career.
These places include…
- Guam,
- Japan,
- South Korea,
- Taiwan,
- Hong Kong,
- Singapore,
- Sidney, Australia,
- Bali,
- The Philippines,
- And Bahrain (located in the Persian Gulf).
With each new destination, all he has to say is, “Each (place) is interesting in its own respect.”
Maki says his naval career began at the age of 18. He walked into the recruiters office, mainly due to lack of jobs elsewhere, and said, “I wanna join the Navy. From there, he went to Boot Camp in San Diego and then trained at a school in San Diego, Calif. as well as San Francisco, Calif. that specialized in Hull Maintenance. He was than stationed on his first ship in 1976 in Japan.
He now holds several achievements that come with being a Navy Vet.
They include…
- Humanitarian Service at Sea
- National Defense
- 3 Battle E’s (Efficiency)
- 4 Good Conducts
- Navy Achievement Medal
- Navy Unit Commodations to the Ship
- And finally because of his 12 years of good conduct with no bad marks, Maki can officially wear gold.
After serving for 20 years in the U.S Navy, he says he “still supports the president,” even if he doesn’t always agree with the political decisions. He says, with a smirk, “The Congressmen are the least likely crooks.” Given what he’s experienced, he says he’s not much into politics and religion.
Texting Extremities- Are We Putting Ourselves In Danger?
Let’s see if we can make our lives safer!
People text, but have we gone too far? Are we so wrapped up in our conversations that we are missing what is going on in the world? Texting is becoming the “way of life” as we reported earlier, and it’s so extreme that people have even coined the term, “Textaholics” as defined by Urban dictionary is simply described as one who is addicted to texting regardless of how rude it looks. Similarly, sleep disorders as well as texting while driving have came out in news reports, but could texting incidentally be dangerous?
Roughly 100,000 people living in the U.S use text messaging as a means of communication according to a study done by Cell signs on Verizon Wireless Customers. Subsequently, the average age of texter is 38, however people from the age of 18 to 54 are found to text most often.
Stll, as we reported earlier from Mashable Tech, the average teen driver sends about 3,000 text messages a day.
What’s more is teen drivers admit that they are guilt of texting or emailing while driving. A study recorded by an Infographics design team shows, while over half of all U.S. states have some form of texting laws in place, nearly 50 percent of drivers between the ages of 16 and 24 still text while behind the wheel.
Ultimately the study determined that the individual caught texting while driving is 8 percent more likely to be involved in an automobile accident.
A chart from Infographics Showcase, asks the question, “Worried You’re A Phone Addict?” The truth is for most of us we are addicted. The chart shows, forty percent never turn their phones off and 83 percent sleep with the device next to them. Other scenarios included in the chart are the use of phones in quiet places as well as work settings.
So here’s what we can do to improve our safety.
Above all, let’s try to put down the phones a little bit. There are other ways of communicating.
- Visit the person if they are in the area;
- Write a letter (Yes, I mean snail mail); and
- IChat or Skype them (trust me, it’s a lot more personal than the TXTing. LOL)
MLK Peace and Unity Celebration
Residents waited in anticipation of the Kingdom Parade on Saturday, Jan. 14, 2012. Lupe Meraz, a resident of the City of Long Beach, Calif. said, “Except for what they show on TV, we’ve never been in person, so I’m excited.” According to the Long Beach Official site, this kingdom parade marks the twenty-fourth annual parade. It began on Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue and concluded at King Park.
As the parade concluded, a celebration with vendors, food and rides followed, in honor of Dr. King’s life and dedication. One of the featured areas was Dreamland. An area that was dedicated to teaching the youth about Dr. King and his legacy. Lara Turnbull, the project director of Healthy Active Long Beach says, “We’re gonna have a better outcome when we realize that we all need to count on each other, do for each other, take care of each other, be more sustainable in our eating, be more sustainable with the planet and treat each other kindly.”
Additionally, Su Luck Chaturabul, a pharmacy student at the Western University of Health sciences, said, “Right now there’s a lot of tough times, just the crazy economic times, and I think just having people, the community, come together, especially local areas, come together and just promote being happy and trying to get rid of all the negativity out there, that’s what I think of peace and unity.
The parade also had several classic cars, including the “9-11 Angel Cruiser Series”, a group that consists of racecars created specifically as a 9-11 tribute. Fueled By The Fallen creator, Kevyn Major Howard said, “About seven years back, watching our news hours we would always see one of our heroes who was killed in the line of duty in Iraq or Afghanistan, and I woke up one morning trying to recall the name of the hero who died for my freedom and I couldn’t do it and I was paying attention and I felt perhaps America was feeling a little complacent about it’s honor and respect back to the heroes and I felt with imagination that the best way to get everyone’s attention was to use the platform of the cars because everyone, 2-year-olds to 92 year olds love an automobile.”
Additionally the celebration included live music, food and carnival rides for the kids. The parade and celebration was from 10:30 a.m. until 5 p.m.