Gas Prices Take No Prisoners...

I remember "back in the day" when I could get a full-tank of gas for a little more than twenty dollars. It seems that those days are gone forever given the gas prices today. Now, that same twenty dollars gets me a half-tank of gas if I'm lucky. With that being said, I believe that gas prices are way too high.

A few years ago, my senior year of high school I believe; was when I first knew that gas prices were beginning to get out of hand. One seemingly normal day after school, I got into my car after a rough soccer practice only to notice that I was running on empty. My car is one that requires silver or premium gasoline in order to run properly, or even to turn on for that matter. Keeping this car full of gas isn't easy, as you can probably imagine. In fact, this minor detail adds about fifty cents per gallon to my expenses.

Anyway, back to my story. The drive from my high school to my house took exactly twenty minutes every day, so I was forced to stop for gas on my way home. Being extremely low on money at the time, I stopped at the first gas station I saw, hoping that the prices would be reasonable. Of course they weren't, so instead of riding on empty, I bought a half-gallon of gas and prayed that I would make it. Of course, I didn't and as a result, I had to call my dad to pick me up.

I'll never forget my gas experience, but the sad thing is, nothing has changed. Many Americans are forced to find alternative methods of getting around because they can't pay for gas and do other things that involve money, like maintaining a family, as well. Furthermore, if we wish to continue using gas in the future, we must learn to conserve as much as possible. One way to conserve gas is to combine as many daily errands into one trip as possible. The engine runs most inefficiently when it's cold, so by decreasing the amount of cold starts, you can conserve gas. Other methods for conserving gas include driving smoothly and keeping your tires inflated. Hard acceleration and braking use more gas than necessary. According to the EPA, the most fuel-efficient speeds are between about 25 and 60 mph. Under inflated tires require more energy to roll as well. The EPA says that even one tire that is under inflated by only two psi will result in a 1 percent increase in fuel consumption.

Although these methods for conserving gas are very helpful, biofuels as well as hybrid electric and liquid nitrogen cars seem to be the wave of the future. These new technologies are becoming more popular mainly due to their possible environmental and long-term economical advantages over fossil fuel. Soon, they will hopefully revolutionize transportation as we know it and end our gas troubles once and for all!

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My Ideal Job

If I had to pick one ideal job right now, I would definitely want to be a sports news broadcaster, just like the guys you see on Sports Center. A job like this would be absolutely perfect for me for two reasons: one, I love all sports and could talk about them for hours on end, and two, I would have no problem waking up for work every morning, no matter how early, because I would be doing something that I love. The great thing about sports is that every game, every season, there's a feeling of uncertainty. Sure most people have teams in which they want to win, but nothings ever definite. It's this fact that would keep me interested in reporting on sports for my entire life.

As far as my American Dream, this signifies that I want a good amount of freedom in my job, I mean, who doesn't? Usually, the guys and girls on sports center like Chris Berman, Rece Davis, Linda Cohn, and John Anderson wake up rather early, give sports reports until about 1 o'clock, and then they're done for the day. Furthermore, I would have the freedom to travel all over the world reporting live from the sidelines of all kinds of major sports events throughout the year. In so few words, this job would be paradise.

My Best and Worst Educational Experiences

Throughout my schooling, I can remember my best educational experience coming my senior year of high school in Mr. Hilgartner's Ecology glass. Naturally, your last year in high school is always the most fun, but I didn't expect to take such a great class at the same time. In my school, Mr. Hilgartner was what we would call the "hippie" teacher. He's an older male with gray hair and a gray beard. The majority of the student body liked him, but I'd never really thought of taking one of his classes until the point when it really didn't matter what classes I took. So, I figured I might as well give it a shot. What I loved about his class was his ability to engage everyone in what we were doing. Whether he was drawing the life cycle on the board, or taking us outside to go bird watching; Mr. Hilgartner knew how to get information to stick in your head. To this day, I still remember the mating call of the Goldfinch. What was greatest about his class was he also knew how to have fun. On days when we didn't have work to do like before winter and spring break, he would play the banjo for the whole class. It was an all around rewarding experience. I'll never forget my days in Mr. Hilgartner's ecology class.

Little did I know that only a year later, I would have the worst educational experience of my life. My freshman year of college, I enrolled in an economics class taught by Professor Dasgupta. I regretted the decision after the first day of class. Professor Dasgupta has been teaching ECON for a long time, and it showed. She seemed as if the whole teaching process was very routine for her. She always spoke extremely fast and wrote quickly on the board at the same time. Her heavy Indian accent made it that much harder to pick up what she was saying. Not only could I not understand her, but she rarely went back to cover information that wasn't understood. I dreaded waking up for that class for an entire semester largely due to the monotone voice she spoke in that put me to sleep almost every class. It's safe to say that I didn't get the highest mark for the semester, but one thing's for sure; I won't be taking one of her classes ever again.

"The Black Panthers" picture analysis

The exhibit "The Black Panthers: Making Sense of History" reminded me how different the world was back during the time of the Civil Rights movement. It's easy for a lot of people to go look at some pictures in a room and applaud their meaning, but the exhibit has a completely different meaning if you take time to think just how different society was during the time of the Black Panthers.

One picture that I found a bit more interesting than the rest was the picture on the left towards the back of the room that showed two Black Panthers, one male and the other female, standing outside of a Black Panther headquarters in Oakland. The man and woman are both dressed in black and look as if they're guarding the building from any non-believers. The first thing that caught my attention in this picture was the body language of the two guards. Neither are smiling, or show any sign of facial expression. Furthermore, both have their knees locked and are standing in a very assertive manner, almost to say that they're not moving for anyone. This type of body language exhibits pure strength. The emotions of these two people embody the entire philosophy of the Black Panthers.

The second thing I noticed about the picture was the building in the background. Although the building is white, it is marked with various posters and things of that nature. The building also has obviously been there for a long time because they're are cracks everywhere in the cement. I think that the building is symbolism for how African-Americans were treated during this time as well as the reason the Black Panthers existed: to bring equality to the black race

The greatest brand ALIVE!

A brand that I’ve liked for as long as I can remember is Under Armor. Growing up, I liked everything that had the Under Armor symbol on it, probably because of their relatively new involvement in the sports world. Pretty soon I found myself buying all different kinds of Under Armor apparel.

In our culture, Under Armor represents the athletic population, or the people who like to work out as often as they can. Since Under Armor is so popular, it’s safe to say that for the most part, we are an athletic (or want to look athletic) generation. Under Armor makes such a wide variety of products that it’s nearly impossible to avoid them in the athletic world.

Not only does Under Armor make clothing for men and women alike, but they also decipher between ages. For example, younger men, while competing athletically, usually are drawn to the tighter fits of Under Armor, but let’s say a man in his 50's or 60's wants so buy some of this product. He would be much more prone to buy the newer "loose gear" rather than show everyone how fat and out of shape he's gotten over the years by wearing tight gear. If it's a classier side you’re looking for, Under Armor also has a wide variety of polo’s that are good for just about any business occasion.

Some of you may wondering what would happen if the temperature dropped. Well, I wouldn't worry because Under Armor also has come out with a "cold gear" line. The cold gear is an insulated long sleeved, tight fitting shirt designed to keep body heat in, therefore maintaining a warm core temperature. Whether it's going to a business meeting or trying to stay warm in sub-zero temperatures, Under Armor, more often than not, has what you're looking for.

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My media habits are influenced by my family, as well as my friends. My mom has worked for the mayor for the past 8 or 9 years so she's really into politics. She always used to talk politics or whatever was on the news when we would talk to I was always caught up on current events. My friends from school, on the other hand, talk more about sports so I'm also up to date on all current scores and things like that. The best aspect of my media habits are that I watch the news so I relatively know what's going on in the world, which is always good stuff to say in a conversation if you want to sound smart. The worst aspect of my media habits are that often stay up late watching various sports games and shows or watch these shows when I should be doing homework. A few steps that I can take to improve my media consumption are try to watch less t.v. and definitely read the newspaper more to stay up to date on current events.

Hey everyone. My full name is Maxxwell Anthony Davis, Maxx for short, and no that is not a typo, my name is actually spelled with two x's. I'm a sophomore lacrosse player here at UMBC and I don't have time to do much else. The term "lax is life" really does apply not only to me, but everyone else on the team as well. When I'm not playing lacrosse or doing homework, I like to watch television. Anything from football, to reality t.v., to cartoons: if it's on the television, I'm probably watching it. Other sports like soccer and basketball usually take up whatever time I have left over. Another interest of mine having to do with college is graduating. As of now my major is undecided, so I'm taking this class in hopes of finding something I like to do so I can turn it into a career, I mean, isn't that what we're all after in the end? I think it is! if you want to learn more about me and the rest of the team you can go HERE.