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Focus on the Family's idea of homosexuality being a disease really irritates me. How about your being told that the way you live your life as a heterosexual is completely wrong, is against God, is a disease, and you're going to hell for it. How would you feel? You would feel like a horrible human being. That's exactly the way I feel when I drive by the Focus on the Family.
Every time I drive by or hear something about Focus on the Family's view of homosexuality, it usually deals with how unhealthy gay and lesbian relationships are, or how homosexuals are not as happy and healthy in general as heterosexuals. How offensive to the gay and lesbian population in Colorado Springs. I, myself, find this extremely hurtful. I'm a happy, healthy lesbian and am in a very healthy relationship--one that is a lot healthier than some of the straight relationships I see.
I also have an issue with how they say that we choose to be homosexual and that we can be changed. Why would a person choose to be ridiculed and harassed on a daily basis? I personally don't like to be called a dyke when I walk down the hallway of my school or have my books thrown on the floor by some person who is against the way I live my life. Neither would a straight person if it was turned the other way around.
Sure I could be changed to be straight if I wanted to live a lie and live unhappily. They think that by prayer and counseling, homosexuals will automatically want to be heterosexual. That's not exactly the way it works.
There's one thing different from homosexuals and heterosexuals in the big picture, and that's who we want to spend our lives with. Why can't Focus on the Family see that?
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Being a college student who has traveled abroad and visited many universities, I have observed different college atmospheres and have found Pikes Peak Community College, Rampart Range Campus, a very satisfactory place to learn. The school cafeteria, however, is another story. The Rampart Café is quite small with a limited variety of food and drinks, and the few options on the shelves and in the coolers are very expensive. Often, the prices are not within a poor student’s budget. I have noticed people’s eyes bulge right out of their sockets when noting that a simple salad falls near $5. Is this the Marriot Hotel or something? What the heck?
Busy students who carry full loads in addition to jobs and family responsibilities find precious time for nourishing themselves. This time limit creates many dilemmas for students as they strive to save money while eating healthy. Students usually lack the necessary time to prepare a healthy entrée for themselves. After having visited the grocery store, they find little interest in the TV dinners on sale and will inevitably find themselves entering the Rampart café with the options of a hot dog, pizza, or the “Special of the Seek,” which has been slowly turned into the "Special of the Month".
Perhaps a student who is able to leave the café without having fallen prey to the temptations there might turn to the vending machines, here he or she is then confronted with chocolate, donuts, or simply a bag of chips. Yet we know that people need proper nourishment to learn, and, therefore, PPCC should provide a better, less expensive way for busy students to nourish themselves. (top)
What I didn't know was that I wouldn't be saving anymore money on school than I did last semester. What we used to just receive from the state for tuition, we now have to apply for. I guess this is so you can appreciate the money the state gives to in-state students. I think the State of Colorado wants to look better to college undergraduates. They want us to think we can't do it without their help.
I don't understand why we have to apply for something like this. It is a complete waste of time and energy for the students. Half of us don't even know what it means, just that we better sign up for it.
Those kids who do not apply for the College Opportunity Fund will be sorry! I don't agree with the whole thing, but I still applied for it. They will be liable for higher tuition rates. So they may as well be an out of state student. They could move to another state and pay about the same as they do now being a resident of Colorado.
I don't think this whole process is going to last very long. It will maybe go for another couple semesters and then more people will realize it was better when the money was just given to students. We have enough to worry about as it is. We apply for financial aid. That by itself is a pain in the neck! When more people get informed on what's happening, I'm sure this will all be history.
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America--land of the beautiful, home of the free, and snake pit politically correct. Can Americans use any type of nicknames for anything anymore without being reprimanded? Recently the NCAA has issued a statement stating that starting in 2008 no sports teams using Indian mascots will be allowed to participate in NCAA sponsored postseason events. To the NCAA the term Seminoles or Utes is hostile and abusive to the Indian nations. This time I think the powers that be have gone too far. The NCAA needs to do some research as to how these tribes feel about their respective name being used.
I don't know where the NCAA deemed that the schools using these mascots are hostile and abusive. Is a Seminole, Ute, or Aztec any different than a Spartan, Trojan, or Rebel? Florida State University uses the Seminole as their mascot, on every sale of merchandise for the school, the Seminole tribe of Florida receives a percentage of the money the school receives. The Utah and Florida tribes both respect the decision of the universities to use their name and have given complete consent to the schools. So why then is the NCAA taking action against them? Who are they to decide the fate of the universities without asking the same people they are trying to protect? The NCAA is dead wrong.
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The issue that I would like to address is the recent disaster with hurricane Katrina.
Why is it that we as Americans help so many countries out with problems that they have and they do not help us in return. For instance, the tsunami in Thailand after that tragedy we went to their aid without question, spent billions of dollars, sent thousands of troops, and now that we are in trouble and our people are in dire need of food, shelter, and clean water, where are our allies.
I understand that the other countries have troubles of their own, but why is it that we can help everyone else even while we are fighting a war, that should have been over a long time ago, we find the time and the loyalty to help them out.
Another issue that I would like to bring up that is bothering me is how President Bush is spending so much money on this "so called" war against terrorism and now he has to take money from emergency funds to help his own country with its own hardships.
I support President Bush with the decisions he has made, but he should worry about his own countries problems rather than a country that has never helped us in the past.
I would like to thank all of the people that have made an effort to help the people that have recently had their livelihood taken from them, and helped them through the hardships they are going through. Hopefully in the future we will get the same amount of help and loyalty that we give in return.
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On the eighth day, God created the idiot. This may not sound like something out of the Good Book, but this is what happened. During a recent episode of the 700 Club, Pat Robertson made a mistake that would surely cost him his credibility. For those unfamiliar with this situation, Robertson called for the assassination of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, calling him a "terrific danger bent on exporting Communism and Islamic extremism across the Americas."
In reaction to the statements made by Robertson, the U.S. dismissed Robertson's statements. Robertson apologized, and our own Ted Haggard decided to fly to Venezuela to try to make good terms with Chavez. The fact that Robertson had to apologize for his statements obviously means that he wasn't thinking about the repercussions of what he said. Having put more thought into his "speech," he probably would have changed his phrasing as to not offend or changed his whole point of view altogether.
Ted Haggard, who is also president of the National Association of Evangelicals, booked a last-minute flight to Venezuela. I think the money placed in those collection plates is going somewhere, and it's not to help the poor. But that's beside the point.
Haggard is not the only one to step up and try to cover Robertson's mistake. You've also got the Rev. Jesse Jackson who offered his support for Chavez, calling Robertson's statements "a criminal act" and that the U.S. and Venezuela should "work out their differences through diplomacy."
This all comes down to a matter of opinion. Asked about the broadcaster's call for his assassination, Chavez said, "It doesn't matter to me. I don't know who that person is. As far as his opinion of me goes, I couldn't care less." There you have it! According to the man who was in the crosshairs of the fierce comments of a religious leader, he doesn't care.
Truly, The Rev. Barry Lynn, of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, said it best: "It's absolutely chilling to hear a religious leader call for the murder of any political leader."
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