Can the DREAM be achieved?

Every year, more than 65,000 undocumented immigrant students graduate from high schools across the country. Most of them having been in the U.S. throughout their academic career, they dream of pursuing a higher education or military service like their American peers. However, the cruel reality, is that undocumented students are not given in-state tuition, grants or loans, and cannot work legally to afford their college education. Much like any young high school graduate, these teenagers dreams are to pursue a better education and prove to the world that they were brought to this country to succeed. Although their reasons for staying in this country seem more than just, a new wave of deportations have split the country's opinion in half yet again.

On July 25th, two teenage brothers in Florida, Juan and Alex Gomez, were awaken and arrested by U.S. Immigration officers along with their parents. Like thousands of other young immigrants that are being deported along with their families, Juan and Alex have been living in the U.S. since they were merely toddlers and are more than assimilated into the American mainstream culture. Their parents, having left behind a war torn Colombia, decided to stay in the U.S. after their tourist visa expired, in order to give their kids an opportunity to a better future. That, they did so far; Juan who recently graduated from a high school in Miami, excelled in 15 advanced placement classes and aced the SATs. However, because of his status, his family can only afford a community college education, and now with their sentence to deportation, his goal might never be reached.

As soon as Juan and Alex's friends heard the news, they immediately set out on the Internet to promote their case, and effectively reached Capitol Hill. The family's deportation was suspended for 45 more days in order for Congress to review the case. Through emails, Facebook, and telephone calls, teenagers from across the country heard that news, and in early August, stormed Washington with their cries.

Although nothing has been achieved yet, the teenage lobbyists and supporters from Congress want the DREAM act to succeed. If passed, the DREAM act ("Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors"), will allow undocumented young immigrants to receive federal aid so that they can continue with their higher education. Setting a high standards for young students, the DREAM act would allow thousands of highly achieving teenagers to have an equal opportunity as their peers. The act would also allow for a path to citizenship, if students prove and successfully complete their college education or serve in the army for at least two years. In other words, it would allow these teenagers that are practically assimilated into American culture and have high aspirations, to have a chance to better themselves.

However, critics from both conservative and liberal sides of Congress say that the act would merely be another form of amnesty to immigrant law-breakers. In effect, an act like the DREAM act would serve as a form of pardon and easier way to reach citizenship, but who can limit the "American Dream"? If these young immigrants are more than willing to educate themselves or fight in the army in order to help the U.S., is it right and just for anyone to prohibit this?

How would you feel if you were in their shoes?

The Millionaire Dog

Believe it or not, but there's a dog out there that's probably wealthier than most of us! The news came last August 20th, when New York Real Estate mogul Leona Helmsley died, and in her will left $12 million to her little Maltese, Trouble. It is almost unbelievable how this woman left this portion of her $8 billion estate to her pet and left absolutely NOTHING to two of her grandchildren!

Known for her eccentric personality and harsh temper, Leona Helmsley was nicknamed the "Queen of Mean". Managing hotels and other real estate, she became an infamous popular culture icon for the rich New Yorker who thought she didn't need to pay taxes. However, whenever it came to her little Trouble, the Queen of Mean did not set any limits. According to People magazine, the dog maintains a healthy diet of cream cheese, steamed vegetables, organic chicken, and fish. Not to mention she is always served by hand.

Although the news of Trouble receiving this fortune is mind blowing, she is not the richest puppy on the planet. Crazy but true, there are other people that have left fortunes to their pets, like a German shepherd named Gunther III who received $80 million from the countess Carlotta Liebenstein, and later passed down the fortune to his heir, Gunther IV. Even though it is no one's business to tell these more-than-well-off people what to do with their well earned, or sometimes inherited, riches, it is bothering to know what they are doing with it at the end. It is right to leave your family pet millions and millions of dollars and not leave your family anything? Is this right, even if people all over the world are starving each day, and the dog has absolutely no comprehension of money?

I myself am a dog owner too, and consider my pets a part of my family, but I know that at then end of the day, it is the actually people in my life that matter the most. As much as we want to admit it, a pet can never fill in for family member. They are animals and ultimately do not have the same mind capacity to understand and reproduce the same feelings and thoughts of a human being. That is why I find it more the ridiculously astonishing what these peculiar people do.

Copycat

We've all seen and heard the commotion that the release of the iPhone made this summer. It's the "must-have" piece of technology of the moment. Costing more, sometimes double, of what any other cellphone on the market, the iPhone displays a touchscreen, MP3 player, Internet browser, and the clearest and brightest camera a phone can have. People all across the US stood in line for hours just to get a piece of the newest product from Apple.

What , then, will happen once more and more phones, like the iPhone, starts popping up in the market? The answer to that reached my ears just last week as I sat in the cafeteria talking to a friend. A copycat, look-a-like, exact replica of the iPhone was being made in China! According to my friend, it would be twice as fast, double the memory, fancier exterior, and more than half of what the original iPhone costs. Being the skeptical person that I am, I immediately went and did the research.

As soon as I found the page, I couldn't believe my eyes! A Chinese company by the name of Meizu is currently manufacturing a product so close to the iPhone, that many journalists and tech experts say Apple will surely sue. Just little differences in the chrome finish of the phone and length are visible by the photos online. However, this got me thinking if copying a product this exactly was ethically correct?

Many critics online say that the product will not reach popularity because it is such an exact copy of the iPhone that Apple will surely sue and no miniOnes by Meizu will be made. On the contrary, maybe a copycat phone is the ideal solution for those of us who want a stylish and high-tech phone, but would rather spend their money on something else. Isn't that how everything evolves? One idea copied from another, but only made better, and in this case cheaper? Maybe the miniOne won't guarantee that quality of its product, or have as much status, but if released, it will be a quick end to the iPhone craze that is sweeping this country.

Can you see a difference?

The Arts Loose a Legend

By the end of last week, the news traveled straight from Modena, Italy across the world. Luciano Pavarotti was more than well known for his rich ringing voice that set a standard for opera tenors worldwide. Diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, Pavarotti underwent surgery last year and did not make any public appearances since then. However, it was until August 25th of this year that he was hospitalized again, and consequently ended with his death, last Thursday in his home in Italy at the age of 71.

Starting his career in the early 70's, he quickly established himself as one of the greatest operatic voices of his generation. Later on in the 80's Placido Domingo, Jose Carreras, and Pavarotti set up the "The Three Tenor" project, that once again helped increase opera's popularity among popular culture. Then in the 1990's, he set up charity concerts with stars like Elton John and Bono. Not only did he set a standard in the opera world, but he also gave much of his time and money to help refugees, donated to the Red Cross, as well as other charity causes. Through his career, he was able to maintain a strong and rich voice, and always identified himself with the opera world.

It was to my surprise, however, how little attention the media in this side of the world, gave to this news. I did not hear about Pavarotti's death until I turned on the 10 o'clock news on Friday night and saw a short presentation about his career and life. I believe that such an iconic man in the arts should receive further acknowledgement and praise for his life's work, and the give that he gave the world, his powerful voice.