Please sir, may I have a structurally-sound school?

Working at construction publication, I see projects that are currently being planned by the state. There is hundreds of million-dollar future new construction and renovations people don’t know about.

But, what gets me is how the state can afford all these projects, especially when funds are cut from programs and there is a high rate of unemployment.

For instance, there is a multimillion dollar convention center being in Albany. This project seems too extravagant, when Albany already has sufficient hotels and conference spaces available. After all, the city is the crux of state legislation, so I am sure it has a proper number of places to house government makers and organizations.

I see capital improvements on school districts put on hold because there is not enough funding for much-need renovations and alterations. Asbestos is present in buildings and roofs are deteriorating. With the money for the convention center in Albany, you could improve half a dozen school districts.

I even look at my Alma matter. They are building a large sports complex center when current buildings on campus are in dire need of renovations, especially the dorms.

Towns and villages also can’t get funds to improve water and sewer districts. Neighborhoods smell, and people aren’t getting clean water.

Why can’t the state realize there are buildings and other projects that already exist that need a facelift? This will improve the life of New York residents and students, increasing the quality of life and learning. Instead, the state spends millions of dollars to impress non-residents.

It’s disappointing to see the state puts the new construction of a luxurious convention center over the improvements of educational facilities. The focus of the state government should be to work for the best interest of the residents, not what will make New York aesthetically pleasing.

Stuck Between Mud and Sun

Sometimes you are walking in a straight line, and then you suddenly come to a crossroads. Each one is 100 percent different from the other, and each has the potential to make changes in life.

One road looks smooth, and the sun shines on every part of the road, making the path easy to see. There is not a cloud in the azul sky. The path is clear, with no broken branches carelessly askew on the ground and gravel is kept and neat. It looks seemingly perfect and straightforward.

The second road looks rough and mean. Leaves are scattered on ground, and there is mud and muck. You have to jump over fallen trees and the sky is cloudy, with a forecast for rain and thunderstorms. You know your feet will get dirty if you choose this road.

As you are looking at these two roads, sometimes you wish you could go back so you wouldn't have to make a decision. The road you have traveled was familiar and known. There were no questions or uncertainty. But that road has already been walked, so you can't go backward, only forward.

There is hesitancy in the upcoming decision. At times, you want things to be clear and bright, like the smooth road, but sometimes that road has the potential to be gilded. You know that not everything on that road really is perfect. In fact, you know there is the chance for something bad at the end of the road, or good. This road is easy, but you know you are going the easy way because you are afraid of hardship and the unknown. You can deny pain here, and no one will know.

You know the second road is going to be tough by looking at it. There are no questions or hesitancy about the obstacles that will come as you walk forward. But, you question if you have the strength and faith to trudge forward, knowing you will fall on the way. The chief worry is whether you will be able to pick yourself back up after you fall over a branch or become stuck in the mud.

The decision is approaching quickly. You look to the smooth road, then at the rough road. No one else can make this decision, and frankly, you know you are an indecisive person.

As you look to the roads, you are thinking to yourself. You think the rough road is hard, but the pain is real. You know you will scrap your knees when you fall, but you also know that pain will subside eventually. The smooth road will cause no heartache, loss or pain. But you also think that life without suffering is not living. You know you will not grow or "roughen" up with this road, but you are scared of that time when you know you will be hurt.

So, do you choose pain and reality or fantasy and denial?

Choose wisely. You cannot go back.

Cloudy with a chance or rain ... or sun

A country song by George Strait goes like this:

Do you love me, do you wanna be my friend?
And if you do, well then don’t be afraid to take me by the hand
If you want to,
I think this is how love goes, check yes or no.

This is not how love goes today. It’s not as simple as the song goes, but more difficult. There always seems to be some gray area, never strictly black or white.

Yes and no are definite, quick responses. There are no games or confusion with these words because the meaning is clear. This clarity lessens anxiety and excessive over-thinking.

Some people fall effortlessly into relationships. Guy likes girl. Girl likes guy. They end up together, in love and happy. There are no commitment problems or uncertainty.

It can be possible for things to be this easy, but both sides need to be drama-free and open to change and trust. If these things are there, few problems can ensue.

Still, not everything is black or white. There is that hazy, gray area.

It feels like the gray area is a cloud, covering up a brilliant, blue sky. That sky is so bright and vibrant, full of hope and promise, but there is a cloud that lazily hovers beneath the opportunity.

That gray cloud also brings uncertainty: Is it going to rain, or is the going to dissipate and bring sun? There is never a true answer with grayness. There are only guesses and untested theories that can drive even the most sane and clear-headed person crazy.

To put it frankly, gray areas are horrible. Something always seems to keep a person on his or her toes, always wondering what will happen next. There is a horrible gut feeling that one day may bring good things, but the next may bring unhappiness.

It can be horrible not knowing or having stability day to day, but that is something of which must be dealt. It’s the reality we live in today, and there is no chance to avoid it.

But why do some follow grayness? It differs with each person, but usually they are scared or unsure of something.

Despite the gray and haziness, there is always hope in the darkest of days. Hope of something good out of a situation, though there is stress and ache on the journey. And sometimes, a rainbow can come from a dark, violent thunderstorm.

Before Green Gables

Anne of Green Gables has captured the hearts of millions of young girls across the world. There is something about the fiery redhead that inspires girls to never underestimate the power of imagination and appreciate the power of dreams.

However, readers only know a little bit of Anne’s life before Green Gables in the series. There are almost a dozen unaccounted years of the heroine’s life with which readers are not familiar. Thus, a prequel, Before Green Gables, provides a believable life’s beginning to Anne.

Budge Wilson, a native of Nova Scotia, close to the beloved Prince Edward Island where Anne’s adventures happened, wrote the prequel. It was refreshing to know a Canadian native, who lived and breathed the beauties that Lucy Maud Montgomery delightfully described in her writings, drafted the prequel.

Readers are finally introduced to Anne’s parents, Walter and Bertha Shirley. They are a loving and kind couple that feels they are the luckiest parents in the world when Anne is born. They can’t wait to watch their little girl grow up, but they are taken ill with an epidemic and die when Anne is only three months old.

From infancy, Anne is placed into the care of the Thomas family, where she works as an unpaid servant until she is nine. After the drunk Thomas husband dies, she is again placed as a servant to the Hammond family, who have three sets of twins, among other children. At these places, Anne is constantly minding babies, chopping food for dinner, hauling water, changing diapers and doing laundry.

Still, Anne manages to bring happiness into her hardworking world. She creates friends and uses her imagination to escape to faraway lands with fairies, queens and castles.

At first, people are unsure what to think of the skinny and freckled-face girl, but Anne eventually wins over the most hardened hearts in the novel. People are drawn to her imaginative personality and liveliness.

The only disappointing aspect about the novel was Anne’s lack of temper. In Montgomery’s Anne, we see her capable of great creativity and intelligence, but also prone to temper when her peers tease her, especially poking fun at her red hair. Wilson’s Anne has enormous originality, but there was a significant lack of the temper and impulsiveness that would cause conundrums for Anne.

Throughout the course of the novel, Wilson remained true to the spirit and style of writing that Montgomery exhumed. If a reader wondered what Anne’s beginnings were like, Wilson’s tales would be an accurate and worthy summary.

Post-graduations blues

Brockport didn’t prepare me how to live life after graduation. It gave me job skills, but not skills how to handle job interviews. Sometimes, I feel receiving interviews from jobs can be worse than relationship rejections.

A few days ago, I received a phone call from a managing editor wanting to schedule a phone interview. After she set up a time with me, I was excited. I anticipated the interview and was ready for anything.

I called at 11 a.m., and everything appeared to be going smoothly. Suddenly, the woman asks me if I just graduated from college in May. I said yes. After that answer, she became extremely isolated and conversation did not flow as easily. She then said they were looking for someone with more experience or at least a master’s degree.

I’m sorry, but that was rude. She had enough time to check my resume, and at the top, I clearly stated my graduation date. I’m sorry if she didn’t have enough time to look over a resume, but I am confident in my abilities and am a fast learner. You don’t need a master’s in writing or journalism. You need experience, and I have had four years.

I’m hoping future employers will take a chance on a college graduate.

Things my mother never told me about guys

I've heard it said that you every guy you date or see, you learn something from him. I think this is true. Each relationship is different, so it is expected you will learn something new from each one. It's also best to treat each relationship as individual, never comparing it to past ones.

I think that is my problem. I have always compared current relationships to past ones, and that's where things always get messed up. Each guy and problem is different. It just sucks I learned this now, not before. I think I could have avoided a lot of mistakes with guys, but then again, doesn't everything happen for a reason? I'm not sure if I believe in that phrase of not.

A guy may not be a good guy for me, but he may be a good guy for someone else. Just because he doesn't think I'm the "one," it doesn't mean he isn't the "one" for someone else. I've always thought a lot of guys were assholes, but we didn't fit well. I'm still having trouble believing there are good guys out there, but I'm slowly converting.

Anyway, here's what I learned from past relationships:
-If there is no fighting in a relationship, I don't have much faith in it. Healthy arguing is needed.
-Good and bad needs to be shared. Period. No hiding emotions or secrets.
-It's not my way or his way. There needs to be compromise.
-Your friends are a reflection of who you are.
-The way you treat your mother and kids are also reflections of who you are.
-People make mistakes. But that doesn't need you have to have name-calling or bring up past mistakes.
-Don't let your friends tell you how to act in a relationship; it's between you and him.
-Let him have time with his guy friends.
-Cuddling is a must.
-No one is perfect. You need to accept the flaws and strengths and never, never try to change someone. Accept him for who he is.

Avoid tragic blame game

This has been the year of tragedies. Never before in my four years at Brockport has there been a local death or accident nearly every week. For some reason, there has been heartbreak after heartbreak this academic year.

A multitude of misfortune has hit home at Brockport with the accident of Bryan Parslow to the heinous shooting of alumnus Anthony DiPonzio to the unexpected crash of Flight 3407 in Clarence. There were incidents at other schools, like the death of Geneseo student Arman Partamian when he was pledging for the Pigs, an unrecognized off-campus fraternity.

This incident was tragic, as it cost a life. At 19, a person is filled with youthful confidence, and to die the way he did was a sad waste of life and unfulfilled promise.

As I was going through newspapers that covered the tragedy, a number of sources tended to blame the fraternity for Partamian's death. Though they were somewhat responsible for what happened to him, it is not wholly the unrecognized fraternity's fault.

I rarely ever see blame on the victim of an alcohol-related incident, especially in this case.

People need to know the difference between right and wrong. The Pigs had a negative reputation, so why did the victim choose to participate in their activities? I do not think the victim was so na've that he did not know what pledging involved.

Each person is responsible for his or her own actions. Any person can choose to drink or not drink. It can be hard to say no, but it is more than possible to overcome peer pressure.

One thing that caught my attention was the statement released by the president of SUNY Geneseo. His statement blames the Pigs, 100 percent, laying no blame on the victim.

"The Pigs recruited a good student like Arman Partamian and seemed to put him through hazing, which involved binge drinking," the president said.

The statement reads as if the Pigs coerced and forced the victim to partake in the rituals. Perhaps they kidnapped him off the street and forced alcohol down his throat. They may have forced alcohol down his throat, but I highly doubt they threatened the victim to go to the party that night.

In high school, students are educated about the dangers of alcohol abuse. At orientation at Brockport, students are again reinforced about the rights and wrongs of alcohol consumption. No student is in the dark going into college not knowing about the ins and outs of alcohol.

I think the victim was aware of the dangers of alcohol, but when you are with a great number of people at a party with lots of alcohol, matters have the potential to escalate quickly.

It is important for students, especially freshmen, to know their limits. There is a zero-tolerance policy for students under the age of 21. Let's face it - it's college, and students, especially freshmen, are bound to experiment with alcohol away from the watchful eyes of mom and dad. I'm not saying every freshman goes to parties and drinks, but a significant number of students do experiment their first year of college.

These students who experiment must be aware of their surroundings. It is of the utmost importance to know what you can handle if you choose to drink. You are the one who puts alcohol in your mouth; you are your own babysitter. Not your mom, not your friend, not your roommate. Only you can make the decision whether to drink or not.

It would be foolish to say every freshman follows the zero-tolerance policy. Instead of educating about sobriety, colleges should focus alcohol education regarding making good, safe choices. Times are changing, and so should the education these students receive.

If you go out and drink, be careful. Know your limits. If you don't, you may be the next victim of an alcohol-related incident. Don't put your family and friends through the pain and suffering because you did not have the strength to say no.

College should be about having fun and getting an education, not mourning the loss of a friend or classmate.