AllenA07

I know some medical schools have this thing called an "honor code" where if your cell phone rings during an exam you get an automatic FAIL for the exam. No questions asked. You fail. I can tell you that Law School is the same. If we get caught with a cell phone in the exam room (turned off doesn't matter, the mere presence of the phone is enough) we get a meeting with the dean, if the phone goes off you'll likely be going up in front of the honor council to find out if your education is going to continue. What I do like about how law schools do grading is some of the effects of a forced curve. Our exams are generally done without a proctor (nobody in the room to watch us) but because of the forced curve (basic concept for those of you who never experienced this, before the exam is even given there are a set number of A's, B's, C's and so on. Which means if everybody scores 1 point out of 100 and you score 2 points, you automatically get the A despite doing terrible). It works the other way as well, you might score 99 out of 100 and fail the exam if enough people got a perfect score). In a system like that however we're all very quick to report any kind of cheating, because letting it slide hurts your grade. Personally I don't think system could ever work for a high school class (generally speaking this is a brutal system) but I would pity the person who tried to send a text message during an exam. With that said I'm at school right now (not in class) and should be working. So to avoid being anymore hypocritical I'll conclude my mini-rant here.

^Don't try to change who you are for somebody in a relationship. The truth always ends up coming out sooner or later.

I, as is the consensus it seems, am amazed at how fast the ride is being put together. I'm actually at this point looking most forward to seeing what happens with that back section of the park. I know we're all hoping for some elaborate rethemeing, but with all things considered part of me expects the theme for the ride to begin at the entrance of the ride, and not really extend out to the former Cyclone Bay area. We will see soon enough on that matter.

I don't think age matters all that much in seeing who is for the death penalty. I've always been in support for it, and I'm still under 25. I think that there are cases where people pose such a serious danger to society that the only reasonable solution is death. Remember that even being locked up you can pose a risk to society, because the people in prison are still a society. In fact one of the easiest ways to find yourself on death row is to kill somebody while you're in prison, because that is a great way of showing that you're so dangerous that even in prison the mere fact of you being alive is going to put people at risk.

The only thing to keep in mind wish really harsh punishment, is that the 8th amendment is in place to offer some protections. Basically we can't easily toss somebody into a hole and forget about them without there being some legal problems. In terms of how I feel about the death penalty, well I'm torn. While I fully agree that it isn't really as much of a deterrent as people wish it were, I think it still does scare people to some degree. I think part of the reason that the death penality isn't as much of a deterrent is that because people can't really conceptualize death. I'll explain what I mean. I have never been in the courtroom for the reading of a death sentence (they're exceptionally rare) however I've been in there many time and have seen sentences from probation all the way up to life in prison without parol. People all react differently, but most people upon getting a life sentence do get this look of pure dread and panic on their face. I've seen the faces of people on TV getting death and they don't tend to have that same expression. I think part of it is because when you're told you're going to spending life in prison, it basically means you'll be spending forever there. When you're given the death penalty it's a much open ended thing, because with appeals and everything it's questionable if the date will ever come. Am I for the death penalty? Yes, I do think there are people out there who pose such a serious danger to society that execution is warranted. I think the appeals process is what should be changed, because under the current format it's far to easy to draw out the appeals for many many years. It's the appeals that pose the real expense in an execution.

I just bought a Blackberry.

Try to keep your spirits up!

My Kings are still in the playoff hunt? I'm just not sure how to take this, it has been so long since I've seen them actually winning hockey games.

Trying to do anything is likely going to make it worse, but if it really is terrible, you can always go to your parents. A call from Mom is going to be taken a lot more seriously then a student in the class.

I think everybody was surprised a the the poor response by Disney, but if there is a good thing that came out of this it is that Disney has (hopefully) improved their policies. Still it is a shame what that family had to endure because of this incident.

^I did actually hear somebody make the comment yesterday that Obama is the greatest American President to date. Those comments are annoying considering the man has been in command for a little over 24 hours now. Give it time, my hunch tells me that Obama is going to be an average President. Not ranking in the top 10, but I think he will easily fall in the top half.

Best wishes Homer, do keep everybody here updated, and just know this is a fight you will win.

Also slightly off the current trend of conversation, has there been any (non-Terminator) work going on around the park? I'm just talking general improvements such as paint and things of that nature.

Great great PTR. I think throwing a flux capacitor in my '02 Saturn would really help the resale value.

Overall 2008 was a decent year for me. I got married which was good, but the wedding planning itself was stressful enough to move into the bad side of things. Other then that not much really happened that was either good nor bad, so I broke out even! Hopefully 2009 will be leaning more towards good, but still, I can't complain about a neutral year! Hmm... Better in front of you then on you I guess.

I will join the happy belated birthday crowd!

^^^Is that NHL 93? I still have that game laying around somewhere around here.

If I was coaching the Pen's I wouldn't really want Crosby fighting, don't want to expose my star players to injuries like that. I was surprised that the Pens traded away so many of their enforcers. With all their star power you'd think they'd want a few guys who could protect them. Maybe Marty McSorley should consider a comeback.

Mean while in LA, the Kings are still playing .500 hockey. I'm really thinking that the Kings will make the playoff's next year! I managed to get out and see a game a week or so ago as part of a quasi-bachelor party. They lost the game but looked much better then in previous years.

Looks like the event went really well, the true test is to see if the park does this again for 2010. I'm still assuming that this was the test run, see how things go down. Next year if they decide to do it again it very well may be a bigger event. As is though, for those stuck in the area it looks like a good time!

I'm glad this series is coming to an end. While the first one is amazing the sequels have been anything but. I will say however that I did enjoy the Lost World as a book, I thought it was much better then the movie.

I worked a show at the top of the summit during Fright Fest, and I agree that you never get used to that hill. However as a guest I'd always make sure to plan my day in such a way that I'm taking the stairs up the hill instead of taking the path near Gold Rusher. I do agree however with what some other people have said, there will never be another "transport" ride put into the park. Also just a mention, when I worked up there I can recall several times (normally older people) that somebody would walk up and need to sit down because they didn't feel good. Twice I ended up calling for EMS because they said they thought they were having a heart attack. Basic point is, plan your day in such a way you don't have to hike up the hill!

^My guess is less that they want to keep it a surprise and more that they just don't have a big poster to stick on the wall for it yet. Doesn't really make much sense keeping it a surprise, the more people who hear about it means the more people who will want to come out and ride it when it opens next year. I wonder how much longer before we see the first vertical construction. With cement going down this week I think by the middle of next month we could see the ride begin to actually rise. Generally I've always found the time right after they pour cement to be the most boring part of construction, it takes a while to settle (cure I believe is the correct term) so things tend to sit around and gather dust for a few weeks after cement is poured.

I'm in the middle of finals right now so I'm not reading anything, however at the end of the week I'd like to pick up a book. I'm thinking I might try to get through another "Jack Ryan" book, however those tend to be too long and I'm not sure I'd finish. So I may decide to read The Bourne Legacy instead, as I'm also working through that series.

It's working for me. I don't see much of a difference at home because my DSL here isn't the quickest ever. When I have a chance I'll try TPR at school where I would actually be able to detect some kind of a speed difference.