Can the country move forward with the election behind us?

On November 7th, America awoke to a re-elected commander- in-chief, after what was a very unpromising campaign. Don’t get me wrong, we heard many promises from both sides, but gone was the uniting force behind the President’s 2008 sweep of the electoral college. Around town just before the election, one heard not optimistic predictions, but sad utterances such as “Do I have to pick one of them?”

But now that the decision has been made, we must look forward.

In locking up his second four years of residency in the White House, Barack Obama promised more progress. We should support this vision, no matter our political views. Although his policies may have seemed weak, or perhaps nonexistent, since his inauguration, there is a good chance he will become more politically aggressive in the coming four years. Continue reading →

Election ’12: Time to examine candidates, set stage for future

The November elections—pillars of our national pride held the Tuesday after the first Monday of the month—are essential to U.S. Democracy. They give access to the policies that control our lives.

And this link to government gives us the responsibility of correctly choosing our political leaders for the next few years.

There are many schools of thought that apply here. Should I pick the candidate who will work the hardest? Or the one who is the most honest? Or maybe who has the most experience? Is the candidate with the best hairstyle the correct choice?

The truth is that many factors go into governing on all levels, and many factors should be incorporated into a voter’s choice.

Try this simple exercise if you find yourself split between two candidates: Continue reading →

College hopeful targets Oxford…What could possibly go wrong?

A quick anecdote: Over the course of late summer and into this fall, I worked very hard to complete an application to Oxford University, in England.

Realistically, I had almost no expectations regarding admission into such a prestigious school. I just planned to send in the application so that in later years, I could say I did.

After hours toiling away at essays and tests and readings and web-pages, however, I grew strangely attached to the project. I felt as though the application was going to be a landmark accomplishment for me—something of which I could be proud.

I dreamed about the day in late March when I tore open an envelope containing their decision and posted it (no matter the outcome) on the refrigerator for all to see. A real, tangible relic for all my hard work.

The editing of the main essay took slightly longer than expected and I found a pre-scheduled weekend out of town interfering with my time line.

Still, I had provided a two-day buffer for just this reason—I was NOT going to miss the deadline for submission.

The night before this deadline I finalized all components of the application, attached my well edited essay, and proceeded to select the “Pay and Send” option.

A declaration of my superiority over the British application system to my mother was followed by a quick entry of credit card details.

Expecting an “Application Complete” greeting on the next page, imagine my surprise when the payment did not go through because of a nonsense error.

Calming my spike in blood pressure, I tried again.

Same error. Continue reading →

All hail Christopher Columbus and his priceless parades

On Friday, October 5th, a parade will line up in the bus circle at about 3:30 in front of Town of Webb.

This parade, consisting of 6 floats, is a highlight of a student’s career in Old Forge.

Each float is a masterpiece of cardboard, plywood, and spraypaint.

Each is the pride and joy of one of the 7th through 12th grade classes. And each will end up part of a giant bonfire later in the evening, kicking off the elaborate Columbus Day weekend festivities.

Why waste the materials, money, time, and effort creating something that is only to last an hour or two, at most?

It was a question playfully posed to me by a teacher at the high school last week, and one that I found myself slightly angered at. Continue reading →

Graduation: A time for new beginnings, new possibilities

Let’s congratulate our graduates on completing their high school careers and consider what it all means.

John Clendenin, the Senior Associate Dean of Graduate Programs at IE University in Madrid, Spain, gave a recent lecture on graduation and its meaning to these newly minted adults and the world they are about to enter.

He addressed a common goal among high school grads: to bring change into the world.

That’s a lofty endeavor, but Clendenin says it can be accomplished with a simple algorithm.

To change the world, he said, you must first change your mind. Continue reading →

Greatness—and happiness—means shaking off pressure

What makes a great man or woman? Some would say admirable personal character, others might look to financial success. Maybe the great ones are those who live and die with no regrets; or live life surrounded by good friends and loving families.

We all judge greatness our own way.

A quality I admire, and one I consider an indicator of greatness, is a person’s ability to cope with stress.

That means finding a personal stress threshold and working hard to function within it.

Frustration, especially in stressful times, is okay.

However, if someone can deal with the stress that’s pushed on them by life day in and day out, they will have a much better chance to find happiness.

And can a person be truly great without being truly happy?

People need to be happy with themselves and with the change they bring to the world.

They can’t succumb to pressures placed on them by jobs, friends, families, commitments, and the countless other things that weigh on our minds.

Obviously there are other aspects to greatness.

But one area we should all pay attention to, whether we are trying to become great or just trying to be happy, is our management of stress.

Stress is a part of life, yet it does not have to define how we live our life.

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You can follow Colin Criss on Twitter @ADKCurrent

American citizen influence best when spread around evenly

Orr democracy is driven by the population’s interests and problems which, ideally, are told to elected representatives, who then pass ideas to their respective legislative bodies.

A policy is enacted, the problem fixed. Easy game.

There is no shortage of support requests from interest groups—letters, columns, advertisements which urge others to join the fight by writing additional letters, signing petitions, or attending meetings.

And frequently these requests are ignored. Continue reading →