Sound and Fury

                        This documentary really proved to be a topic of discussion. While I understood both sides of the argument as to whether the implants help, I ultimately agreed with the parents that gave their child the implant. The grandpa of Peter and Chris persuaded me the most of anyone. When talking to his son (Peter), he made the point that deafness, by its nature, is a fault in a bodily function. Humans are meant to hear. If the opportunity to fix this presents itself, why not take the opportunity? Peter argues that this will destroy the chance to know deaf culture. Peter does have a point here, because if the kid is fully immersed in the verbal world, chances are that his developing mind will become used to the outer world.
                      The theory does survive though that the child could get the best of both worlds. Nita brought this idea up when she talked to the other families. She said she wanted her child to be able to experience the deaf world and the verbal world. Nita became scared when one of the families told her that after an implant, children are discouraged from using sign language. Nita did not want her daughter to stop using sign language and "forget" the culture. A respectable point, but it neglects to ponder the full range of possibilities Heather may encounter. With hearing, the world has no limits because the majority of the world can hear. Her own father even mentions that, although he has a great job, he is limited to the heights that he can reach. The trade off remains here. Does he want to make the possibilities endless for his child? Or does he want to "preserve" the deaf culture?
                     With the implant available to everyone, the number of deaf people in the future appears less than ever. The culture may dwindle, but is this a negative, or a blessing? The fact we can reverse a handicap seems in and of itself, a miracle. Almost everyone would agree. Peter and his wife round out the opposition. Peter feels his the culture he has had his entire life may be in danger from the cochlear implant. When a situation is all a person has known his/her whole life, it can be extremely difficult to let go of the situation. There is great reward in a change of situation for his daughter though. She will experience all the opportunities the world has to offer. The trade-off appears to be similar to this. Would her father rather attempt to save a dwindling culture, or allow his daughter all the opportunities the world has to offer?

Irrational Fear

Fear of Spiders

Chad Herbst

Nowhere else in the world would I want to be. I have the covers just the way I want them on my bed, and the rain dancing on the house creates an even more comfortable situation. Then, suddenly, I feel something crawling on my leg. Without even considering destructing my comfortability, I hurdle out of my bed like an olympic athlete. I fire my blankets across the room onto my brother’s bed, hoping selfishly that the spider finds his bed a more suitable home. Arachnophobia at its finest folks. The spider surely meant no harm, and even if it did, a creature the size of a dime would presumably struggle to adequately harm me. Nevertheless, the fact that I could not locate the eight-legged menace meant a migration to another room for my slumber. No chances can be taken when a spider is on the loose. Now if the the arachnid had claimed the ceiling, that would be ok, because one can always keep tabs on a spider up above. But the second the creature ventures in heat’s opposite direction, that is where the line must be drawn. Then there’s always the unfortunate situation where one individual may be summoned by another to eliminate the spider on the ceiling. Such a precise task this is. Stab too fast with the paper towel, and the spider is knocked from the ceiling to the camouflaged floor below. Attack the creature too slow, and it crawls from the paper towel to freedom for another minute. A sport in its own right: Arach-Attack. Whether the sport catches on or not, people in shoes my size only hope that the ones who do play can maybe put a dent in the spider population.