McCall Trip

The McCall trip was very fun and very appreciative, thank you Chris and other leaders who helped put this together.  I thought it was good weekend for everyone to get away from school and relax, have fun, and spend time with one another.  My favorite part of the trip was the snowball fights.  I also loved looking beautiful while ice skating with Hunter, I am confident to say that we are professionals now.  I was looking forward to the hot springs but I understand why we didn't go, it was no ones fault.  The cabin was way nicer than I expected.  I also enjoyed cooking in groups for everyone because I don't really cook, so it was a fun experience.  Thanks again for the great trip!

McCall Retreat

First of all, big thank-you to Chris and the other leaders who helped make this trip possible! I enjoyed the beautiful view by the lakeside cabin as well our midnight snowball fights and campfires, catchphrase, ice skating and being able hang out with EVERYONE in the Lifetime Rec Community! I loved getting to know everyone a little better, but I was also dissapointed that the overall expectations were not met.  I understand that we could not make it to the hot springs due to weather conditions, which is fine. But rather than finding something else to do like going back to the cabin, changing into warmer clothes, and then heading into McCall and exploring around or going for a hike, we ended up playing brain games. I know that they were meant as a team building effort but everyone wanted to be outside and was not enjoying them. And I think that the number one thing that surprised me most (maybe because I wasn't able to make the Thursday night meeting), were the sessions. I felt like I was in school again, and I started to think that it might have been better for me to stay at the dorms and work on homework and studying for tests, where I could actually get credit. I truly do appreciate the effort that was put into this trip, and I have no idea how hard it is or time consuming to put together these events, but as I have read in other posts and agree, we already know about diversity and not being judgmental of one another; and I also think that we could have better utilized the time of being in McCall and doing things that we could not do in Boise. I cannot say that I truly learned anything besides learning more about my friends in the LRC. I hope that this post is not taken as me saying that "we have terrible leaders" because I think that you guys are awesome and I appreciate the time and effort that you put into this group! Rather, I hope that this will just be used as some useful feedback to better our trips and activities.

Thank-you again for the fun trip!
~Joanna

McCall Trip

Overall the McCall trip wasn’t what I had expected. We stayed inside the entire time we were there, which is not what we were told we would be doing; we were told that we would be doing most of the activities outside. McCall is a great outside/nature oriented town. Sadly I had more fun the first time I was up there at the start of the school year. I know that the snow may have thrown us a curve ball and not allowing us to go to the hot springs but there still was another hot springs we could have gone to. The majority of the group was really looking forward to a hot springs, especially with the snow. I cannot say that the activities were bad that we did because they did get the whole floor to interact and learn more about each other since we do have our little cliques. I did enjoy the get away from school which helped relieve a lot of school related stress. In the end we did get a relaxing get away but, it fell short of the expectations for what we were told. 

McCall Trip

The McCall trip was fun and I enjoyed a weekend away from school. Thank you Chris and the Outdoor Program for all your help.

We've only just begun......

Folks at home, folks at home. What can I say about the McCall trip? I think you mean what CAN'T I say about the McCall trip. I guess I could go on to describe the awesome snowball fights we had, the late night bonfires, glorious foozeball matches, Blades of Glory status iceskating, and relaxation time, but that would be too redundant amongst my fellow LRLLC members. Instead, I would like to present a brief haiku written by no other than the great Charles de Lint on the same day we left the McCall Cabin.

Snow falls thick and hard:

instant winter arrives; good

and bad, all covered

Don't tell me I am the only one refreshed after that haiku. Thanks Charles for the lovely words of mother nature, and thank you LRLLC for showing me a wonderful time this weekend.

Oh, and I mustn't forget.....we've only just beguuunnnnnn!

-Hunter Votolato

McCall Trip

I enjoyed our trip to McCall. The week before I had been extremely stressed and overloaded with homework. I found myself spending late afternoons and nights in the library almost every day. I had a lot of fun ice skating and hanging out around the cabin. So it was very beneficial to me to be able to relax and not think about school. However, despite all the fun and relaxing moments, I thoroughly despised the "sessions." I found it a complete waste of time to talk about something I was taught in 8th grade. I've been going to lectures about diversity and equality all my life and I'm seriously getting sick of them. It's like teaching a fish to swim. My parents raised me to ignore the boundaries of race, religion, and whatever else other people believe sets us apart. I truly do not see the difference between me, a Caucasian, and a black kid. Therefore I find it a complete illogical waste of time to be filling Lifetime Rec's programs with these speeches, lectures and, sessions. We've been on the earth long enough to comprehend the lessons you're trying to teach us, the first time you teach them. I joined this program because a friend who participated in it last year brought up a lot of hype and strong feelings about it. She told me, "this is something you will definitely enjoy." After camping with her for years and mountain biking across southern Utah, I knew she was pointing me in a direction I would enjoy. As we close in on the end of the semester, I will be going home to my family for Christmas. When they ask me around the dinner table, "so what type of things did you RECREATION dorm group do?" All I can really tell them about is inner tube water polo, mountain biking, and our trip to McCall. I enjoyed the trip, because of the fun we made for ourselves, not because of the program designed for us. I don't mean to sound ungrateful, just stating my opinion. I appreciate the time and effort put into the trip by the staff.

McCall Trip

When I saw on our amazing list of things we would be doing this semester I was stoked. However, we haven't done half of those things, and we are almost done with the entire semester. I was really looking forward to McCall because I have heard of how gorgeous it is. And it was, and this entire weekend I felt trapped inside of a cabin listening to talks all day. I don't think I was the only one who felt this was, I think I can speak for a lot of us when I say we were disappointed by the outcomes of the trip. Every one of us applied to this rec because we like recreation of some sort and we were trapped inside. Everything we did in McCall we could do right here in Boise. I think that the team exercises were irritating because we all know each other pretty well. I was so annoyed that steam was coming out of my ears (ask Kelsey). Several times I voiced going outside and building a snowman or going on a adventure, but it quickly came to my attention that we would be building towers with spaghetti and marshmallows instead. The talks I have heard all before, in all my years of public school as have probably most of us. I don't need more stats about how being a woman is difficult. Being trapped inside when our favorite thing in the world is outside- gorgeous as can be- made me so infuriated. I had fun when I was not participating on standing on a sheet of cloth attempting to flip it to the other side. The snowball fight was my favorite part of the entire trip, as well as standing on my porch over looking the lake looking at the beauty that we did not get to enjoy to the fullest. It was a good get away, but I am praying that next semester will be 20X better. I'm not trying to attack anyone in any way, I am just being honest as it is good feedback.

McCall Trip

       I really this enjoyed this trip. I enjoyed it because of how our community connected by having snowball fights and just hanging out with each other. Even though I enjoyed this trip, it was still a disappointment. This fact can be proven by defining Recreational activity. This is the refreshment of one's mind or body after work through activity that amuses or stimulates play. We did not do this as often as we should. Out of the 2 nights we were there we only did one recreational activity and three sessions about equality or diversity. Last time I checked, this was Lifetime RECREATION, not a separate university foundations class. We go over ethics in this class and it's not one of my favorites. To learn that we do the same thing in this class pisses me off, due to the fact I've spent 18 years of my life listening to this over and over. I thought signed up for an active recreational class. With that said, I expected that we were going to go hiking out in "nature" and be outdoors. Sure ice-skating was fun, but it clearly wasn't enough. The least they can do is for the amount of sessions we have, is the amount of recreational activities we have. Our ratio was 3 sessions for every ONE organized recreational activity. I was not to thrilled about that. Next time we go on a trip, I will expect less sessions and more recreational activities.

Reflection on McCall

This weekend in McCall was one of the best weekends I've experienced here at school. But definitely not for the reasons that it should have been. I really enjoyed getting to spend time and talk to some of the people who don't hang around the dorms. I felt like for the first time we were really a living learning community. Everybody just talked to everybody. There were no groups, no cliques, nothing like that. I enjoyed getting to have snowball fights with everyone.
However, when I left for the trip I was anticipating a weekend of hiking, going to the hot springs, cosmic ice skating, visiting the town of McCall, and other ways of utilizing the fact we were in McCall. Other than the snowball fights, we failed to utilize the fact that we were in McCall. We didn't go to the hot springs (no one's fault), didn't get to go cosmic ice skating, and didn't get to explore the town. I feel like everything we did could very easily have been done here in Boise.
I struggled with the team building exercises for a few reasons. I was disappointed in the fact that we didn't get to go the hot springs. Coming back after missing out on the hot springs and doing team building games was not fun. Second, I feel that as a group we have advanced past the typical team building exercises that everyone does at orientation. We have already been living together for 2.5 months. Doing basic teamwork exercises are boring when we already know so much about each other. And for my last reason. The outdoors were a huge part of my life when I was growing up. Riding motorcycles, shooting guns, hiking on trails and blazing our own trails, tracking (but not killing) wildlife, exploring mountain ranges, and mapping areas of wilderness were on my basic weekend to-do list. For me to be in such a beautiful place, with extraordinary weather, cooped up building towers with spaghetti and marshmallows tore apart my insides. I wanted to hike every trail, visit every lake, climb up to every viewpoint that McCall has to offer. And we just didn't do any of that. My mind was always wandering to the outdoors, and I found myself staring outside because I really wanted to be out there.
As far as what I learned, I wish I could report back more. I didn't learn much at all. I went to a public elementary school, public middle school, public junior high, and public high school. I have heard all the speeches about racism, sexism, equality, LGBT rights, and equality of religion. Every single year from 6th grade to 12th we were forced to read a book about racism. I understand the want to educate us about equality.We have already been educated. We get it.
When I applied for the LRLLC, I was anticipating going hiking, biking, rafting,  rock climbing, wake boarding, water skiing, snowshoeing, and snow skiing nearly every weekend. I had prepared myself for every single weekend to be packed full of recreational activities. I am starting to find out that the emphasis of this program is not on the recreation part; recreation seems to be one of the last things on the priority list. I look back at the packet that was given to us at the beginning of the year, and a great deal of activities in the packet just didn't happen.
This wasn't written to offend anyone. But the topics here are kind of sensitive, and hard to bring up gently. I feel like these were some point that needed to be addressed sooner or later.

McCall Camping Trip

I had a blast at McCall this past weekend.  I had never been in a snowball fight, nor have I ever been ice skating in my entire life.  It was full of new and exciting adventures!  However, I did not enjoy the fact that we were unable to go to the hot springs, nor were we able to do the cosmic ice skating.  In addition, I did not see how the sessions we participated in tied into lifetime rec.  I realize that they teach us important life lessons, but why for this class?  It seems like the past few activities we have planned have all fallen through as well.  I had tons of fun over the weekend, but I feel like if it were more organized it could have been even better.

McCall Reflection

The McCall Trip was a blast. It was really awesome to get away from school and forget about the stresses of homework and tests. I think I can speak for everyone when I say that we all had a good time and would do it again in a heartbeat; however, we would've liked more of a recreational approach to the weekend. Being in McCall and having such a beautiful view was a tease when we had to sit inside and talk about depressing subjects that we have all heard countless times. I think its important to teach us these topics but it could've been done at school instead of a weekend retreat. I think everyone agrees that we should've done more activities outdoors such as hiking or activities in the snow. I would like to thank Chris, Stormi, and the outdoor program for everything they did this weekend. I cant wait to see whats to come for next semester.

McCall Reflection

I thought this weekend was a really great experience. I grew closer to people that I hadn’t gotten the opportunity to do so yet. It was nice to be in one place with nothing to do but interact with each other. My favorite part of the weekend would have to be the ice skating. We all bonded over learning together. I felt like we really acted like a family during this trip. I wish we could have done more outdoor activities but things happen. It was just a difficult place to concentrate on academic type exercises because we were all yearning to be outside. I hope we get the opportunity to do this again. I honestly believe we grew closer as a unit and learned a lot about each other inadvertently. All in all it was a success in my eyes.

McCall Reflection

Personally, I had a great time on our trip to McCall. It was fun for all of us to get a chance to hangout in a setting that wasn't at school or laying around in headquarters. I think we got to know each other a little better and experience our friendships in a new light, which was great.
However, I think we all had high expectations for this trip that weren't necessarily met. Imagining a trip to McCall made me think that we would be out in the mountains sledding or hiking, hot springs, and maybe even having some sort of snow fort building competition. And whether it was due to the itinerary or the weather, I felt that we were inside a lot more than we should have been this weekend. I think that most of us can agree that we would have liked to do a bit more outdoor recreational activities than we did. Due to the fact that we expected to be outside enjoying the incredible atmosphere of McCall, I don't think our sessions were as effective as they could have been. I think all of the sessions were very well planned out and had a great connection tied to them, however, I don't think that the setting was appropriate to get the right reaction out of us. Perhaps those sessions would have been more in depth if we had done them on campus for class, rather than in front of a window that looked out on a beautiful lake.
Despite the amount of time spent inside, I really do believe that we all had a great time this weekend. I know I did. Thank you to Stormi and Chris for planning this trip and taking us there.

McCall Reflection

Looking back on our weekend in McCall, I really enjoyed all the time we had to spend with each other. Although we didn't do as many recreational activities that we planned I feel like we bonded as a LLC nonetheless. Now I know that diversity and discrimination are important topic to learn and to understand, but those topics could have been brought up during our class time to open up more time to activities. I really enjoyed the snowball fight, and ice skating. Thank you Chris for planning this trip and making it one of the best weekends in this semester for me thus far.  

McCall Trip

          First off, I want to give a huge thanks to everyone who gave up their time to help organize and who also accompanied us on this trip. I am so thankful for the hard work you put in so that we can do great things like this. I feel so lucky to be a part of LRC and to have privileges like this. There were a few thing that I noticed that we as students really need to improve on. I felt like the level of focus, listening, and follow directions when we were asked to, should have been a lot higher and this goes for more than just this weekend. We are in college and we should know better. At the end of the day this is a privilege and we need to act like we deserve it.
          I did enjoy most of the activities even though I wish we could have done those in class so we could utilized out time in McCall doing more outdoor things. I liked the teamwork type  games, those were fun, and I feel like it helped bring us closer. I can see how those games fit with the purpose of our trip. The diversity activities were great, but in a different setting. To be honest I don't know why we did those activities or how they relate to LRC and no one explained it to me. We as students signed up for this living learning community under the impressin that we would be spending our time together doing sports and outdoor activities. I personally spent a lot of time looking into LRC to make sure it was something I wanted to do. If there is to be a few hours set aside for diversity activities I think it should be justified.
          like I said before, big big thanks to everyone who helped out. I really do appreciate the work you do. At the end of the day, I had an absolutely great time! I got to spend the weekend in a cabin full of my favorite people in an absolutely beautiful place and I loved it!      

McCall Trip - Fully Exposed (Joanna's title idea)

I was very excited to hear we were taking a weekend vacation as a community to McCall, a beautiful destination in Idaho. On the schedule was hot springs, ice skating, and I heard "bring hiking shoes". This got me excited and thinking that this is one of those weekends where you are constantly busy with fun activities that make you view others in a way you have not before. Adventure and adrenaline is what was on my mind. Getting my homework done by cramming the days before was unfortunately not what I had to do. The only "recreational" activity we did was ice skating, which I loved - don't get me wrong - but technically that was still indoors. The only time we got to enjoy Stormi's nature was during our free time having snowball fights. The most fun we had was when all the adults were in bed and we just stayed up playing catch phrase and having a campfire, just the things you do when you think of camping. I would have liked to gone on a hike, even a hike downtown, or a hike four miles to the hot springs. I think activities should have been planned out better. If we had decided to go to cosmic skating, the rink would have been closed and we wouldn't have even been able to do that one thing we did. Communication is key. Now to the team building activities and sessions…I appreciate the time and effort all of the group leaders put in, especially Chris, but I felt like the stuff we talked about has been covered during every camp and every class we took in high school. None of us are out to get the minorities, and it is obvious we have all taken each other in with open arms with friendships. I felt like I was in a dream back in middle school orientation during our spaghetti and marshmallow activity. Although it incorporates group work, it just felt childish. We could have been doing ropes courses and things IN THE OUTDOORS like we had in mind, but the learning sessions took up so much time. I hope we are able to go back, and make an even more memorable experience in the Spring. Overall, anytime away from the stress of the school week is a relief, so I am thankful for that. Thank you to all who helped in the program, especially Chris and the OP. I hope this honest evaluation can be something to build upon for future endeavors.

Love,
Mark

McCall Trip

       McCall was the perfect get away for our group to unwind and get to know on another better. Even though we have been living together for almost three months, we all have different schedules and it can be hard to take time to hang out with everyone. McCall allowed us to spend a whole weekend together learning more about one another and becoming more of family. What I thought really brought us together was the outdoor activities and free time. When we had time to play the games we wanted to play, such like spoons, snowball fights, walking around, and sitting around the fire. we all got to unwind and truly appreciate our surroundings and the people around us. Even the cooking incorporated team building--communicating, team work, and the reward of a satisfying meal.
      The discussion sessions we had gave us the opportunity to talk on a deeper more personal level. I learned more about my peers as well as facts about their background. The team bonding however I did not find as beneficial. I would of personally rather our group do team bonding outside, since our time was short in McCall. The weekend overall was an experience I will never forget. Nt only did I gain stronger relationships with the community, but i go to learn more about myself.

McCall Trip

I believe there are many things to be said about the McCall trip. First off, I'd like to thank Chris and everyone who organized the trip for doing so, as well as dealing with such a rowdy bunch. Anyway, what I took away from this trip wasn't what I had hoped for. Going into it, I thought there was going to be a lot more recreational activities and exploring the outdoors. We were told to pack warm clothes, and I felt like I overpacked because we ended up not being outside at all. I get that the hot springs thing was no ones fault, but there was still more outdoor activities we could have done. It seemed like everything we did, could have been done here at Boise State. We didn't take advantage of the fact that we were out of town and up in the beautiful mountains. It's just that we are the Lifetime Recreations LLC, and I don't see how oppression, and diversity fit into that. It isn't that I don't respect or appreciate either of those things, but I am just confused as to how they fit into recreation. I do believe however that some people popped out of their shells a bit, and a few of us grew closer. I know I can say I had some good conversations with people I don't usually converse with and it was great. I'm really glad we all got to get away and enjoy such a magnificent spot together, I just wish it was spent doing other activities.

The Dangers of Parallel Development

What puts our national parks/forests in danger you may ask. It is easy to assume pollution and our lack of "going green" could put these parks at risk, however, I feel differently. Of course, pollution does play a factor in the danger of our National forests, but the constant development of housing and buildings being built horizontally rather than vertically will soon be the death of many parks. It is truly inevitable to stop such rapid growth and development and the persistent urge to expand our cities only puts our forests at a higher risk. There are plenty of groups trying to protect our forests and stop deforestation but it is only matter of time before our levels of oxygen are depleted to a minimum and we must gasp for air in our last few breaths. Yes, this is a slight dramatization, but the problem with our endangered National Forests is no joking mater. Development parallel to our Earth affects our forests and ultimately our entire ozone level and world.

The biggest problem with national parks are that humans are too careless.  We pollute the parks which cause even greater problems.  Rivers, lakes, the land, and the air gets polluted and animals pay the price.  Eventually, a lot of animals are going to become endangered and we are going to wonder why, when in reality, it was our fault all along.  We all need to realize the damages we put on our parks and fix them or we won't have them anymore.

National Parks

National Parks are some of the most beautiful and pristine wildernesses in all of america. These parks are the only things that keep wildlife safe and preserve the natural history of the outdoors. Modern day ethics and issues are creating problems for the national park systems. One of the most influential issues with the National Park system would be the people. Citizens and visitors who visit the parks disrespect the natural beauty and disregard important rules. People often disrespect the parks by leaving trash behind. When people leave trash out they provide an opportunity for animals to find unnatural food sources. If animals are used to finding food from people, they will cause issues and endanger the people in the parks. People also disrespect the wilderness aspect of the parks. Hiking trails are marked to preserve untouched wilderness. If people continue to go off trails and destroy natural habitat, animals and plant life will die and the parks would be useless. Another issue with the people is the lack of interest in the new generation. Kids these days would rather sit down on the couch and watch tv or play video games. The lack of interest is going to start to affect the profits of the parks and the importance in the newer generations eyes. If the next generation doesn't find the national parks important, they will be disregarded and utilized for other needs, Ultimately destroying the national parks and their beauty. The issues with funding are problems that need to be resolved in order to preserve the natural beauty of  the park systems. Without proper funding, parks wouldn't be able to regulate people and keep control over the park systems. Overall, I believe the national park systems are some of the most important and beautiful areas left in the united states. Without these parks, we would be losing a large area of endangered wildlife and plant life.

National Parks

Based on the articles, I believe that there are two main problems the National Parks are experiencing right now. Number one involves a lack of knowledge and respect of the great outdoors by many of the parks' patrons. Litter, destruction of property, feeding the animals, and a lack of respect of all of the plants and animals by the visitors are all reasons that are bringing down our national parks. Many visitors to our national parks are tourists, which see our parks as more of a zoo just for their enjoyment. They don't understand that most parks are still wilderness, even though they are populated by people. They leave garbage around, feed the animals like pets, and disturb plant life when they hike. The best way to protect our national parks would be to take all of the people out of them. But if we did, what's the point of having any national parks if we can't enjoy them. The second issue involves a lack of funding. Both Nat Geo articles say our national park system costs 9.5 billion a year to run. In terms of popular politics, nobody will ever bring up the idea of giving our national parks more money. Our government is too focused on intervening in foreign countries and studying healthcare. We need to give our national parks all the money they need to keep in good shape. If our national parks are ruined, there is no way to get them back. We need to appreciate them while we still have them and treat our planet nicely.

I think that the biggest issues facing the National Forests are both the lack of funding and the lack of knowledge given to the United States about the issues that the National Forests face every day. Because of the economic hardships of this day and age, the people who are paid to take care of the forests are faced with less resources to keep the forests safe and properly maintained for the public to enjoy. Due to the lack of funding heading to the National Forests it causes the Forests to face hardships that can't be overcame or improved upon. The lack of money also ties in with the fact that the people of America are unaware of different problems that the National Forests face. They aren't fully aware of the money that is needed to maintain the forests, as well as what we can do as a nation to keep the Forests safe and protected from possibly natural causes or unnatural man-made problems that happen in forests across the world.

National Parks

In our current times today, there are many things wrong with our National Parks. These issues range from climate change and wildlife management, to foreign invaders and water/ air pollution. Personally, I believe that the biggest issue regarding our National Parks is the lack of knowledge of the public. As humans who live upon this earth, we are responsible for what we do and how we effect our surroundings. When looking at issues such as climate change, and pollution, that is mostly caused because of our actions and the waste we are disposing into our planet. People are becoming so ignorant and careless that we are practically choosing to destroy our environment. By putting in the effort to become informed and care, we can start saving our precious National Parks from during into National Dumps.

Air Pollution

     The problem I see with national parks is the air pollution. There are many factors why I think so. One I would like to discuss is tourist travel thousands of miles to see some of nature’s beauties. Nature can be pretty neat, but when there is smog in the air and the visibility is blocked, it can be pretty shameful for those who created that smog. I would be pretty disappointed to see nothing but smog when attending great Smoky’s national park. Another issue on air pollution is that the smog is not healthy for the environment. It slowly kills plants and wildlife as well as contaminates the purest mountain water. These issues should be acknowledged but I don’t know if there’s quite anything you can do about it. There are other more important issues in the world currently at this time.

I believe that the biggest issue affecting our parks in the disregard for the native species and our infatuation as the human species with consuming for without the farsight to see how it will affect our future. Yet I am going to take the idea of park a little bit farther and write about our planet as our “park”. Most educated people know that the planet is warming up due to the massive energy demand that humans need whether that be through coal plants or nuclear power plants our energy consumption keeps rising due to the fact that our population is rising. People tend to think that we are the apex predator species of our planet and that is true but what we need to know is that we are sharing this earth with thousands of other species that we need to protect. Our earth as a park is leaving species in the dust. Every year you see that another species of bird, or fish as gone extinct because of human’s greed or disregard for other wildlife. For instance the Australian government chose to create shipping lanes that cross the barrier reef to cut prices on gas need to power the ships. I think that we as a human species need to redirect our thinking of how we disregard the many different species that we live with.    

National Parks

I believe the biggest issue right now for national parks is the foreign invaders. Many don't realize what problems all the invaders can cause but it's actually a lot. The animals or plants native to the region can get taken over by these new invaders which can then cause extinction. Prevention is key to this problem because say a milfoil plant is transported from the one lake to another it makes it nearly impossible to get rid of this invader with out killing everything else in the lake. It's kind of a domino effect that is very difficult to reverse.

National Parks

I think that the articles that we read are a good slap in the face for some people. We have this beautiful planet and we are treating it like poop sometimes. Pollution is a big problem that we face and I think that people are gradually taking little steps to make it better. We are the reason why most of everything happening to these places is. We take the water, the trees, we move animals to other places, we tear things apart. Surely we could give back to the parks that give us so much.

National Parks

The biggest issue affecting our natural park system is simply us humans. We are the cause for most of the top ten issues. We the people are the causes for invasive species by being the transporter of bug and unintentionally transporting in snakes. Water demands grow as human race exponentially grows, depleting the water from the natural parks as we see fit. We aren't the ones held responsible for the climate day to day but we are the ones that are responsible for global warming that then affects the climate by polluting it and warming it up slowly. Human development in the search for new land to build as our country grows in sizes greatly affects the parks. Overall in the end, I believe it is us humans that are to be deemed the biggest problem for our natural parks.

Biggest Issue Affecting our National Park System

The biggest issue affecting our national parks, especially in recent years, is budget. You know as well as I do, that if you want something, you have to pay for it, National parks included. The reason this is the biggest issue is because all of the other problems they face can only be solved if they have money. Barna says,  “Depending on your funding, you take care of the most essential ones first. However, if your pipes burst or the roof leaks, your priority list changes and things that were on the top of the list get pushed further down the list.” Since we are on the topic, I’d like to point out that, at the moment, national parks aren’t exactly on the top of the nations priority list. So, if I were in charge, I would start learning how to manage my money and realize that we’re lucky to get any funding at all. “It is incumbent upon us—regardless of our budget—to look for innovative approaches that allow us to do our work more effectively and efficiently,” (Barna).

National Parks

Climate change seems to be one of the biggest problems to date with our national park system.  The warming climate will cause glaciers to melt, which may lead to the closure of Glacier National Park in Montana.  In addition, the warmer temperature can cause fire season to grow longer.  Wildfires, such as the rim fire in Yosemite, will prevent people from enjoying its natural beauty.  It can also change landscape and have devastating effects on species that populate these national parks.  Changes in temperature and precipitation can push species out of their previous ranges towards softer temperatures, either upwards in elevation or northward.  This proves to be the biggest problems with our national parks in our world today.

National Parks

I think a major issue for national parks is climate change. Whether that is drought, flooding, or fires, natural lands stand in the position to be destroyed despite best efforts put forth by the staff to prevent such catastrophes. All lands are vulnerable to natural disasters; a fenced off, titled area does not mean that it is invincible. Fires consume great chunks of national forest lands each year and heavy smog from nearby cities creep into the clear mountain air as well. I would say that climate change and pollution are major obstacles for national parks, but they are also issues that affect just about every area in America.

Issues Concerning our National Parks

I think the biggest issue facing our National Parks is climate change. The erosion and weather deterioration has greatly affected our land. The weather destroys the natural landscape that we have grown to love. Another problem facing our National Parks is the decreasing amount of interest shown by the younger generation. They are more interested in electronic devices and texting "cute boys". The interest shown is nature and the beauty of getting outside and enjoying mother nature is not as present nowadays. Back in the day, people didn't have the incentives to stay in the house, so they enjoyed the outdoors more. I think that people need to get off the couch and go for a hike.

National Parks issues

I think our biggest problem we face today in National Parks are wildfires and pollution. Some of these wildfires this year for example the one fire in Colorado this summer really got out of hand and burned thousands of acres. Once these fires are lit they become rapidly out of control. Also they become very hard to stop. Air pollution too is becoming a big problem also. These industrial factories are producing so much pollution in the air then the winds come and sweep it into our National Parks and forests. Which contaminates our trees and animals.

Top Issue in Our National Park System

Our national parks are very important because they ultimately protect and help maintain our nation's history as well as the wildlife living around the area. Unfortunately it is a part of nature, which means that it changes whether we want it to or not. The top ten issues that it fights today are: the uncategorized artifacts that have been found, but parks do not have anywhere to store or examine them;  the natural deterioration of historical monuments and buildings; the lack of space to protect wildlife; foreign invaders reeking havoc among the native species; pollution from factories, prospecting, and power plants; climate change; freshwater shortage; overused roads and trails; and the negative impacts of overcrowded visitors on the environment. Out of all of these confuddling issues, I think that pollution and money are the most critical when it comes to maintaining our parks. After reviewing National Geographic's article on national parks, pollution is a main factor within all of the issues. The overused roads and trails, the crumbling historical artifacts, climate change, contaminated water, all general pollution which comes from gas emissions, power plants, and etc. One of the unfortunate factors from this issue is that it is impossible to end pollution, many people need vehicles to get from location to location, countries and businesses need natural resources in order to thrive and the list goes on and on. In the article, it was implied and stated a few times that the maintenance backlog which is the parks $9.5 billion maintenance budget is not enough to split between all of our countries parks. As much as I love nature and care about preserving our historical culture, I don't think that there is much that can be done regarding money. $9.5 billion is a lot of money and just as it relates to what was mentioned in the article about prioritization, there are many other causes that need governmental funding's.

National Park System - Alicia Combs

In the first article they list some of the top ten issues facing National Parks which include: Untold stories, crumbling history, wildlife management, foreign invaders, adjacent development, climate change, air pollution, transportation troubles, and visitor experience. Basically the biggest problem right now is that humans have screwed over the system, and the government doesn’t have money to fund National Parks. Nature is always changing, so this is a natural occurrence, but when it comes to foreign invaders, air pollution, and damage to the land, there’s nothing else to blame but ourselves. It’s sad that great things like our National Parks aren’t a priority because I honestly think they are! I want to help and volunteer my time to help out, and I hope you consider the same. You’d think the government would be ran by responsible adults that could agree and make educated decisions all together, but in reality people are stubborn and want things their way, or no way.

Should College Athletes be Paid?

I dont think college athletes should be paid. It is unreasonable to pay athletes when they choose to play the sport that they love. College sports have better sportsmanship and a more competitive atmosphere just because athletes are not paid. The students want to play sports and they are motivated by the game. Professional athletes are driven due to the money incentives. Pros are more likely to have poor sportsmanship and values. They are completely driven to make money. College athletes play the sport out of passion and drive. If college athletes were paid, it would create an unbalanced playing field. Some colleges could afford to pay athletes more than other schools. Good athletes would choose the school that would pay them the most. With this said it would create an unfair advantage for wealthy schools, and would allow these schools to dominate over others. Overall, I believe it would be unfair to pay college athletes. The game should be played out of passion and drive.

College athletes should be paid

College athletes should be paid under certain criteria. If an athlete is able to strive to be better because they are getting paid, of course I feel it would be right. College is a time for growth and development, and sports are able to grow if more players are doing everything they can to be the best. Naturally, not all college athletes shouldn't be paid. There are circumstances that would refrain many from being paid like the obvious ones: Grades, drugs, etc. If a college athlete can maintain great grades, is the most valuable player on a sports team, allows for the team to go to states or nationals, and is regularly tested for steroid use, then I feel it is only more beneficial to that sport for a student to be paid.

Should College Athletes Get Paid?

I am going to have to disagree on this one. I do not think that they need to get paid. One reason from a student’s point of view is that it will raise prices. Paying college athletes will raise the tuition prices for the school and or ticket prices. If they were to get paid then we would need some sort of revenue to pay them with which would either come down to raising tuition and or raising ticket prices. Both these two potential outcomes I see will not benefit anyone but the athletes. Also why pay them when they are already getting some sort of free tuition, either with a full ride or even just a couple thousand dollars. Either which way they are getting free tuition they are already getting college paid for. Scholarships already give athletes free or reduced prices for attending the school and if they are good enough to get paid anyways they will be picked by the major leagues and become professional making millions of dollars. Another problem with paying college athletes is that it will corrupt college sports; it'll become which school will pay more for what player rather then that player picking where they want to go to school and who they want to play for. Overall I don't think that it is fair to the fans the students or the athletes that are competing if college athletes get paid.

Should College Athletes Be Paid?

I believe that colleges should at least be allowed to pay their athletes. It is no secret that college athletics are generating billions of dollars each year for their schools. It seems perfectly logical to me that the students putting in the work should be reaping the rewards. I don’t think it should be required for colleges to pay their athletes, but if they want to use payment as an incentive to encourage higher-level athletes to come to their school I have no problem with that at all. Both parties would be benefiting. The desirable athletes would be paid to play and the school would be making more and more money, as their teams got better.

It is important to realize that most of the sports aren’t creating much revenue for the school so it seems to me that a scholarship would be a fair trade. But for the sports like football and basketball where the schools are making a very large profit off of their athletes, the least the schools could do is to give their athletes a small portion of the revenue they themselves have generated.

Not only do I see many situations in which paying the athletes would be beneficial, but also I can’t see one reason why it shouldn’t be allowed. This is an issue that the colleges and the Athletes can settle completely on their own. There should be no outside rules imposed at all. Each school knows what they make off of their athletes and they can determine how they want to use their revenue.

Should College Athletes be Paid?

After reading arguments going both ways, I have come to the conclusion that student athletes should not be paid.  They already are getting media attention that will make it more likely for them to be picked up by a professional team.  This gives them the advantage they need in life to get their desired salary later in life, so there is no need to pay them while still in college.  I agree with Allen Sack's argument that these student athletes are still students.  The NCAA should not pay their players because it takes away from the academic aspect of college.  They already get scholarships up the ying-yang, so why do they need a salary on top of that?

Should NCAA Athlete's Be Paid?

No, I do not think that we should pay NCAA athlete's. After reviewing the two arguments from US News, I concur with Allen Sack. Rather than taking the focus completely off of academics, which is one of the most important parts of college, athlete's should be given multi-year scholarships. These scholarships would put the focus back onto academics and valuing students. It is agreeable that the world wants to see talented players, but I think they'd also like to see successful men and women off the court or field as well. If we were to begin paying NCAA athlete's, they would most likely be striving towards their money reward at graduation, rather than the degree itself. Plus, it could potentially lead to players becoming cocky and more consumed with themselves if they were able to commercialize themselves while still in college. They would be too busy to work on their academics and get involved with the university's community and students, besides when they play for them. All-in-all, I do not believe that NCAA athletes should be paid for playing sports while in college and should rather be given multi-year scholarships for the benefit of the player, student, and community as a whole.

Should College athletes be paid?

I think no college athletes shouldn't be paid. The article does make good statements about how much money programs and the NCAA make but I don't think that makes it alright to pay them. They are their for school but if the athlete is good enough to go pro then that person should go for it. You want your school to make lots of money because then you get recognition and recruits and more people take interest in you and your school. Also if student athletes got paid what sense does it make for them to go pro or have a pro league if your getting paid already. That's not fair to actual pro athletes.    

Should student athletes be paid?

I believe that student athletes should be paid if they're spending as much time, and putting in as much effort as people working a full time job, like most are. I agree with what the first guy said, and think it would be fair to put the student athletes money into a trust fund that they can receive once they graduate from college. That way the money will be something that they can work toward getting and they'll know that if they do better at the game, they can potentially get themselves more money, which will be put in that trust. I feel that a lot of the media and organizations are getting money off of the student athletes, when a portion of the money should go to them, considering without them playing the sports there would be no money being made for the advertisers or networks. Some argue that they get all their compensation because they get put out there for the NBA or NFL to see, but I don't think that that's enough for them. They are students before they are athletes, so I think that not only should they be paid for what they do for different networks, organizations, and so forth, they should be given full ride scholarships (taken if they quit the team, break rules, get bad grades, etc.). This will show them that being a student still comes first, and that in order to pay for school, and their sports(JOB), then they will do well in school and stay out of any trouble that may come their way.

Should college athletes be paid?

I argue that college athletes should not be paid. Student athletes should not be all about making a profit or receiving all the perks in the world. After all they are ‘student’ athletes. They should be doing it for the love of the game and for the education they receive. I honestly believe college sports are better than professional sports for that very reason. A quarter back on a college team is looking for that giant first down to change the game and bring back the title for his school where as a quarterback on a professional football team is looking for the giant first down to make himself look good in hopes of collecting a raise next season. Professionals are ultimately playing for themselves rather than for their team, community or fan base. If college athletes were paid could you even imagine the selfishness that would be taught? They are already given benefits such as scholarships, top-notch attire and the chance to travel the country. So no I don’t believe college athletes should be paid.