Speech Codes at The University of Alabama

Monday afternoon I received my admissions letter to the University of Alabama, it being my first choice I was beyond ecstatic. As a recent topic being discussed in my Issues class at school, speech codes on campus is an important and interesting topic. Before this activity I don't believe I knew or could tell someone what exactly a speech code is, but have no fear because this girl knows her stuff now!! Directed to a website known as thefire.org I chose to look at the speech code policies of Alabama. The University received a speech code rating of RED, meaning that there are certain policy's in place that could or do prohibit certain expressions of "free speech," interesting, but not something I found totally surprising. In fact I wouldn't be all that surprised if a majority of University's and Colleges received a speech code rating of RED as well. After all it is in the institutions best interest to protect not only their students (as they provide the college with lots of $$) but also their staff, professors, administration and alumni, all of which contribute or have contributed greatly to the institution. No institution would want to gain an unpopular or bad reputation from allowing anything to be said about what ever and have ties to that specific college or university.

"Jim Crow on Fraternity Row"

What do I think of this? PATHETIC. Reading the article "Jim Crow on Fraternity Row" I was uncomfortable and utterly baffled at the thought that anyone in their right mind would find dressing up as the KKK and pretend hanging someone in black face acceptable or funny. Yes these men were in a fraternity and just joking around but honestly how stupid can you be? As college students, particularly in the south, I would think that they would have received more than just a BASIC understanding of what went on during the civil rights movement and before that. There is no way to justify these students actions because lynching and the KKK are two subjects that are taken VERY seriously, they are not in any way jokes. While looking at the different pictures taken at at these parties I couldn't help but laugh at the sheer ignorance of those men. Yes, I was also laughing at what was being depicted in the pictures because of how utterly insane these "men" must be. Idiotic, disturbed, and totally uneducated are just a couple of adjectives that describe these men, their actions, and the pictures that were taken.

Helium Shortage....?

Helium Shortage Has Balloon Sales Dropping - Brianna McClane - NationalJournal.com


As I was helping a client bring in stuff for her party from her car she mentioned how she was unable to get any balloons for her daughters birthday party. She had called about 5 different Jewels and party city, all of which said they wouldn't be able to provide her with any balloons due to the helium shortage. Helium shortage? I looked at her with a puzzled look on my face to which she replied, "I know, I was confused too." Neither of us could come up with any kind of reason or possible cause that could have contributed to there being a shortage. We're both aware that helium is an element on the periodic table but that was as far as our knowledge of Chemistry was able to take us. Our curiosity turned us to Google. Apparently there has been a shortage of helium for a couple months now and there seems to be more than one reason why. Read the article above to learn more about why the shortage has become a somewhat lingering problem.