The grey wolf was placed on the endangered species list in 1974 after being almost completely decimated by hunting and environmental programs. Hunters will now be able to apply for licenses to shoot wolves, except in northern Wyoming, where the species is still protected.

After being reduced to about 300 wolves in 1973, the grey wolf population in the lower 48 now stands at roughly 5,500, and the population grew eight percent last year.

Groups like Defenders of Wildlife decried the removal, calling it “potentially disastrous” and saying they plan to fight the decision in court.

Well that’s the story, short and simple. The grey wolf made a comeback since it’s placement on the endangered species list. There are absolutely no issues with that decision right? I beg to differ. There was more to the removal of the grey wolf than a glorious comeback; the grey wolf became a victim of lobbying and bad politics.

On April 26, President Barack Obama stepped into a bloody fight between two American populations with clout in Washington and a loud voice in the news media – wolves and elk.

In a budget bill signed by Obama is a provision to remove grey wolves in a wide swath of the American West from the U.S. endangered species list.

The move, sponsored by a bipartisan group of senators from rural western states and one of several policy measures grafted on to the budget, will eventually allow affected states to manage the size of wolf packs and, hunters say, help restore elk herds they say have been ravaged by hungry wolves.

But wildlife conservation groups fear it could set a precedent for political interference in a process that has previously been left to biologists.

Hunters’ groups and state wildlife officials say the wolves have wrought havoc on herds of elk and other wildlife and killed livestock and even pets.

They say wolf populations have met target recovery goals and states need more flexibility to manage the packs through controlled hunts.

“Unmanaged wolves have destroyed jobs, rural economies and the opportunity for people to put food on their plate,” said Don Peay, founder of Sportsmen for Fish and Wildlife, a group of conservation-minded hunters.

There is a problem in the minds of the human population. Like children, we refuse to take responsibility for actions. When something goes wrong, we point fingers but never at ourselves.

When it comes to tertiary predators such as wolves, cougars and bears — and I don’t know if it’s fear or we just have entitlement issues — we kill them their worlds cross with ours. We argue that they eat our cattle. pets and destroy our property. There have been cases where these animals have even attacked people, and we call them problem animals and do away with them.

Problem animals? Are they really the problem? Why can’t we admit that our constant expansion is forcing them to cross into our world. We are notorious for completely decimating entire ecosystems and depleting the resources for these animals to use.

As a result of our “all-about-me” attitude and apathy, these creatures are forced to live in our cities, around our farms and hunt in our backyards. They have nowhere else to go.

What really angers me is one of the reasons for making this move. Hunters were complaining that elk populations were being completely ravaged by the wolves as if they had no hand in it all. They argue that they need to put food on the table, but I’m certain that elk isn’t the only thing these hunters can eat.

On the other hand, wolves have no choice. They don’t have farms, grocery stores, restaurants, no other way of obtaining food. Yes, they may hunt livestock, but can we really blame them? We hunted them to near extinction, and we continually hunt their food source. The culprit for this crisis is ignorance.

The world naturally balances itself out, but we never fail to interfere with that balancing method. We tear apart the web of life and complain when we have to face the consequences.

Take the wolf for example. An average pack consist of about 12 members. That is a lot of mouthes to feed. Every living thing has instinctive need to survive and to ensure the survival of its kin. When we take away the wolf’s main food source – elk, we force them to seek out another that will fill the stomachs of every member in the pack.

They can hunt rabbit and squirrel, but that is not nearly enough. So what better food source than something locked in a fence or behind chicken wire.

We are persecuting an animal because it wants to survive, just as we do. But I remember learning at young age that history repeats itself. You see, when the early settlers arrived to the Americas, the wolf was seen as a sacred animal to the natives, but to the new arrivals, they were seen as spawn of the devil himself.

Wolves were hunted constantly, being blamed for death of livestock and even missing children. And today we are accusing them of over hunting and taking away from our lifestyle. So what do we in response? We give permission to hunt them.

After 1974, programs to restore the wolf population popped up everywhere across the U.S.. Population control was left int the hands of biologists, individuals who understood wolf behavior, reproduction, every aspect of wolf culture. But with a few strokes of a pen, that duty was given to politicians and hard-headed hunters.

Now the politicians say that population control will be done by controlled hunting, but mama didn’t raise no fool. That will soon turn into vigilantinism, every missing chicken, cat, dog, every dead cow will be blamed on wolves, and before you know, any trigger happy goon with a gun will go out and shoot wolves in the name of their property and way of life.

When will this gracious animal ever catch a break? Why can’t we live and let live? Why can’t we accept that we have a hand, usually a really big one, in every ecological disaster that has happened since we arrived.

With this move, we didn’t save any money or ensure the survival of the elk. This wasn’t some kind of achievement that we should celebrate; we just set a precedent. I believe form this point any animal that is being protected will soon meet the fate of the grey wolf. New irrational arguments will pull them off the list allowing them to be hunted without consequence. I know poaching happens around the world, but if we allow the people who are killing these animals to have the right to kill them, I fear there will be nothing left for us to marvel at.

We are heading down a road to our own demise, and the only way for us to stop and turn around is for us to accept that we are not separate from the animal kingdom, that we need every other living creature to ensure our survival.

A tribute to Earth Day

“If all mankind were to disappear, the world would regenerate back to the rich state of equilibrium that existed ten thousand years ago. If insects were to vanish, the environment would collapse into chaos.” – Edward O. Wilson

The quote above never fails to blow my mind. To think, if all insects were to disappear, you know, those little annoying creatures that buzz around, ruining picnics, and occasionally biting and stinging, the one thing most people would want to rid the world of,  the environment would collapse into chaos. I don’t know about you, but it makes me think twice before swatting a fly or stepping on an ant. But on a more serious note, it makes me realize how much we take this planet for granted.

In my world, as an aspiring zoologist, species extinction is a serious problem, and, as much of a problem this is, little seems to care. About a year ago, I had given a speech on the importance of wildlife conservation at a rotary club meeting. It was a room full of rich, retired seniors. After loosening up the crowd with a joke of how under-dressed I was, I took a moment to reflect on the life and accomplishments of Steve Irwin. I had explained to them the importance of his work and what he had done to better our understanding of life outside of man. He hadhad given us ways and reasons to protect it.

They seemed confused that I would take time to say such words, and, at the end of my presentation, I found out why. As I concluded my speech, I had presented the crowd with the opportunity to ask questions. Now, I will remind you that my speech was on the importance of wildlife conservation. The first question that was asked happened to be the only questioned asked. It was, “Why should I care if some bird that I never heard of goes extinct?” he continued with, “I am 74 years old, and if what you say is true, that species going extinct affects us all, well I have yet to feel anything.” As you can probably guess, I became a bit irritated with this man; it was obvious he didn’t listen to a thing I said.

I asked him if he had grandchildren, “My grandchildren have children, what’s your point,”  he arrogantly responded. I said, “Well sir, you see, although you yourself may not have felt or seen the consequences of this crisis, but I assure you, your grandchildren’s children will.”

“And when they look to find who is responsible, they will look at us because it is we who are  here, and it is we who must do something to set an example for generations to come. We continually promise our kin the world. Well, let’s give them a beautiful world, a world they can be proud of, a world they, in turn, can give their grandchildren’s children.” I will admit, I gave myself a little pat on the back.

I believe there are three core reasons why we are facing this extinction crisis.

The first is lack of education and understanding. When is the last time you read a book about the life of insects, the life of birds? When is the last time you watched a documentary about the social structure of the order Hymenoptera? And just so you know, that order includes bees, wasps and hornets.  But back to my point. When you don’t know about something, you don’t understand it, and when you don’t understand something, well that leads me to my second point… apathy.

Many of us spend our lives worrying about taxes, what shoes will match what shirt, what cereal to have in the morning, and I bet the number of black-footed ferrets in existence rarely crosses our minds. It seems like no one cares if it’s not hurting them or disrupting their daily lives.

And finally,  we are facing this crisis simply because of indifference. We all know what we are doing to the planet is bad–  tearing down forests, polluting air and water, allowing Sarah Palin to kill off anything that moves. And although we know its wrong, no one really does anything, even if they want it to stop.

Many do not understand that other species play a major role in our survival. When people in my state received word of the bee crisis, they couldn’t comprehend the direness of the situation.

Most said they didn’t see why everyone was worked up, that bees were everywhere and all they have to offer is honey. Little did they know that if not for bees, we wouldn’t have corn, oranges and so on. Crops would cease to exist. And as for compassion, I can see why many people would find it hard to have compassion for wild animals, most of the time they see them on TV ripping each other apart and, in rare cases, ripping people apart.

In order to solve this problem, we, whether we are scientists, activists or just aware individuals, need to educate our neighbors, our children, giving them a reason to care about wildlife and forests. We need to get the younger generations involved. How much would it hurt to have a wildlife or environmental club at schools? How much would it hurt to have a community meeting and urge community members to take action, whether it involves watching their waste or donating to organizations?

I’m guessing it wouldn’t hurt at all. And for those of us who are more well versed in these subject areas, we need to be the leaders. We need to petition government officials, not only in the U.S. but around the world. We need to raise our voices and stand for what we believe in.

We need to show the world that this crisis is a serious one and any actions that could help reduce or even eliminate this problem need to be taken now, not only for the sake of wildlife… for our sake.

Last week, it was reported that the Oxford English Dictionary now includes text lingo, such as OMG and LOL.

“Heart” also made the cut. But heart is already a word, right? Well, heart is no longer just an organ that pumps blood. Now, the word also means “to love.” I heart New York would be an example.

This isn’t the first time words like these have made a dictionary; often it is after the term has become part of pop culture. There is, of course, Homer Simpson’s d’oh, which Merriam-Webster defines as a word used to express sudden recognition of a foolish blunder or an ironic turn of events. The people at Oxford University Press have also put bootylicious, a word made popular by Destiny’s Child, and Rachael Ray’s abbreviation for extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) in their word reference books.

The English language is always changing and growing. One use of a dictionary is to chronicle that change and growth.

However, by including words in a dictionary, we automatically validate those words as well. Herein lies the problem.

Abbreviations such as LOL are products of laziness, used to decrease the time it takes to text message someone. Practical? Sure.

But giving these abbreviations and other slang words an official place in the English lexicon is dangerous. After all, these “words” weren’t developed with any regard to the rules of language.

In 2010, The Nielsen Company, a group that does consumer analysis, reported that U.S. teens send an average of 3,339 texts per month.

Bottom line: this is how kids are talking. It has become so natural that text language is making its way into essays at the high school level.

In an article published in early March, the Washington-based newspaper The Columbian reported that text talk is showing up in high school essays and reports. From my own experience, I know that it’s happening here in Canton as well.

For now, at least, the problem is not that kids don’t know correct grammar and spelling. However, if this keeps up, if we continue to validate these types of words, a lack of understanding of grammar and spelling, or even illiteracy, could very well become a big problem.

The problem currently is that, because of the frequency of their use of text language, many teens seem to instinctively use that language outside of texting and chatting on the Internet.

And why not? It’s easy, quick, and accepted in nearly every environment in their lives– all but the professional environment.

That’s why acknowledging these types of “words” as words could be problematic. The words are already globally recognized by media outlets and are part of everyday language.

But what happens when a kid is trying to get into college or trying to get a job and under the interests and hobbies section on an application he writes:

OMG idk, i luv 2  b w/ my friends cuz they make me LOL & go 2 the movies cuz its fun<3

Or under the special skills section he writes:

U r gonna want me to wrk here cuz im gr8 w/ ppl

Simple: he won’t get into the school; he won’t get the job.

We do need to chronicle the progression (if you could even call it that at this point) of the English language. But we need to separate recognition of words being part of everyday speech and words that should be included in a documentation of proper English. Perhaps we should publish two separate books based on these guidelines.

Not to say I’m ready for it to be over—I love March Madness. But I am ready for a break, after 48 games in just four days. Especially because even though the first three days featured just eight upsets—there have been 10 in the first two days alone the previous two years—(dis)order has been restored to the tournament in a crazy, exhausting day.

In eight games today, the lower seeds won four.

I expected an exciting day—I figured the Michigan-Duke game would be close (Duke won by 2 after Michigan missed a shot at the buzzer), and had the same feeling about Texas-Arizona (Arizona won in the final seconds too, but more on that one in a minute). But I didn’t figure on No. 2 North Carolina being taken to the brink by Washington, No. 11 Marquette knocking off No. 3 Syracuse, or No. 2 Notre Dame being beaten by No. 10 Florida State.

Even though in the last 25 years only 23 double-digit seeds have made it to the Sweet 16, this year it features four teams ranked 10 or lower—three of them from the same region. And the winner of VCU-Florida State will become just the third double-digit seed to advance to the Elite Eight.

Obviously, my bracket has gotten the crap kicked out of it. I’ve made at least 22 wrong picks so far (some from later rounds, where teams I picked are already out). I’m going to have to regroup and do a new bracket for the Sweet 16—it’s a lot more fun when you have a shot at picking the right winners. Because honestly, my first bracket is just starting to frustrate me.

The most frustrating loss for me so far was today’s Texas-Arizona game. I needed Texas to win. I had them beating Duke in the Sweet 16, before losing to Uconn. And they should have at least had a chance to make my guess accurate.

Up by 2 points with about 15 seconds left, Texas was called for a five-second violation on an inbounds play, even though Texas’ Cory Joseph clearly called a timeout—video replay confirmed that he seemed to call the timeout before the five seconds was up.

Instead, Arizona got the ball, hit a layup, and got a free throw on top of that. Nine seconds later, Texas missed a shot at the other end, and Arizona was moving on to the Sweet 16.

At that point, I knew my bracket had taken just about all it could take, so I just started pulling for upsets left and right. If my bracket was going to be screwed up, everyone else’s could be too.

Thankfully, the Ohio State Buckeyes were a bright spot on my otherwise tarnished bracket. The top-seeded Buckeyes took it to George Mason, which was playing without one of its better players, Luke Hancock. Not that it would have mattered—the Buckeyes had four players with double digits in scoring, and every player scored at least a point. They also forced 17 turnovers, committing just nine themselves.

At this rate, nobody is going to beat the Buckeyes. Kentucky will get the next shot, but they’ve had two close games so far against lower seeds—while No. 1 Ohio State has won its two tourney games by an average of 30.5 points. Look out, Wildcats.

But before then, the players have a few days of rest—rest I’m sure they need. I’m worn out just covering the tourney, so I can’t imagine how worn out the teams have to be. So, until Thursday, it’s time to rest up and have a temporary recovery from the Madness that comes in March.

The Bearcats missed a layup, missed a lay-in at the rim after a rebound, and then after one last rebound, they missed a dunk. The play capped a day that featured just one upset, No. 8 Butler’s victory over No. 1 Pittsburgh.

My bracket fared about as well as the low seeds did. I finished the day 4-4. And to make matters worse, I didn’t even get to see San Diego State’s double-overtime victory over Temple, or Butler’s victory by the hands of Pittsburgh forward Nasir Robinson after an unnecessary foul with less than a second remaining.

The games I did get to see were fun, but nowhere near as exciting as the ones I missed. Kentucky was able to pull away in the last couple of minutes against West Virginia (although it was a good game for the most part), and it took UConn awhile to finish off Cincinnati.

I’ll have to make up for missing the exciting moments by watching as much basketball as humanly possible today.

There are certainly some enticing games to watch. Michigan plays No. 1 Duke, after dismantling Tennessee by 30 points on Friday. VCU takes on the No. 3 Purdue Boilermakers after beating No. 6 Georgetown. Florida State-Notre Dame and Arizona-Texas also show some promise, and of course there’s our No. 1 Buckeyes taking on George Mason after the Patriots won a thriller against Villanova.

And I can’t wait. I think the Michigan game may be one of the ones I’m most excited about, after the way they destroyed Tennessee the other day. I have Duke picked to win it, but I can’t help but hope it’s a tough one for the Blue Devils. And after the Wolverines picked up the win Friday (a 30 point win, no less) despite hitting zero—that’s right, ZERO—foul shots, it definitely could be a great one. 

And while the Buckeyes are favorites to go all the way, George Mason should provide them with much more difficulty than Texas San Antonio did Friday.

George Mason is a noted “giant killer,” after making an unexpected run to the Final Four five years ago, knocking off Michigan State, North Carolina and Connecticut (teams with 29 combined trips to the Final Four) before losing to the eventual National Champions, the Florida Gators.

 The Ohio State squad they take on tomorrow is the top overall seed in this year’s tourney, and had been to the Final Four 10 times. With just two losses this year, they’ve looked unstoppable—they can kill you inside with Jared Sullinger and Dallas Lauderdale, or they can beat you outside with Jon Diebler and William Buford. What’s more, they can rely on the leadership of senior David Lighty. The Buckeyes are built for March.

Which is why even though George Mason is a good team, a team capable of beating basketball “giants,” there’s almost no way they’re going to beat Ohio State. If you don’t have the Buckeyes in your Sweet 16, you’re crazy.

And not the good, “March Madness” type of crazy, either.

To say the least, I’m pumped for today’s games. If I watch as much basketball as I plan to, and cheer as much as I’m expecting, I’ll NEED the few days off between the round of 32 and the Sweet 16. But I am so very ready.

Let’s do this!

1. Rugrats 1,177,984

2. Rocket Power 467,694

3. All That 433,302

4. The Amanda Show 87,510

5. Clarissa Explains it All 54,245

6. The Adventures of Pete & Pete 38,697

7. Salute Your Shorts 32,335

8. Kenan & Kel 16,757

And those numbers don’t even account for all the interested 20-somethings that don’t “Like” these groups on Facebook.

To understand what all this whoopee is about, I sampled one episode from each returning show. I was born in the early 90s, and I’m not familiar with many of these titles. My observations are entirely nostalgia-free. And that’s the point. Many here at BRsq are 20-something and really excited for the comeback, but only because they grew up with the shows not that they’re actually good.

So, what’s the big appeal of these shows? I asked myself. To my generation, or to children, or most importantly, to (grown-up) 10-year-olds?

Some obvious comparisons can be drawn between today’s popular Nickelodeon programs and these “classics.”

It’s not as if today’s programs are canon either.

All That, a live-action variety show, opens with children bouncing on trampolines in slow motion. No really, they do that before every show. All That relies on assorted characters in shamelessly manic performances of amusing but predictable mini-plots. It’s no surprise that Kenan Thompson went on to SNL—he’s hilarious. The appeal of All That is definitely in the enthusiasm of the young actors, who are earnest and energetic, devoid of the skepticism that’s apparent in their older roles (many go on to star in the other shows listed above).

The case is such with The Amanda Show. Amanda’s main Facebook page has 87,510 fans. Now this is one show I remember watching. Unfortunately, I picked a really creepy episode with claymation. And I forgot about Penelope, Amanda’s ultimate fan played by Amanda. 87,510 people may disagree with me, but Amanda strikes me as that girl you politely but firmly ignore in public encounters. Her musical guests seem embarrassed for her. I may have enjoyed this pre-teen posturing once upon a time, but I suspect my peers won’t have the (non)sense to now.

Drake and Josh is Kenan and Kel with white guys. All four boys have slick lines, an affection of perfect confidence, and laugh tracks. (Laugh tracks. Who are we trying to convince, here?) The “laughter” maintains a certain feeling that you are stuck in a studio box with these characters, and nobody gets to leave until they get their act together. Literally.

Clarissa Explains It All is as sincere as Nick’s Declassified but without its slapstick. The humor is understated, the funny lines presented in a convincing way. The orchestral sound effects are…neat. As a whole it feels a little more intelligent than its fellows. But there’s no avoiding the fact that it is fraught with clichés and stereotypes. In the words of one reviewer, “That is one white family.”

Salute Your Shorts. Well, I think my 12-year-old brother could relate to this camp soap opera. His life is full of similar angst. Just the other day I lied to him about the last carton of ice cream. But Shorts isn’t all drama. Minutes after the ice-cream debacle, the two boys involved were jazzing it up to a five minute guitar solo played over the scene.

“I hate being stuck here,” says one camper. I feel you, buddy.

Mutilation! Dismemberment insurance! A man with a hook hand! The Adventures of Pete & Pete is one show I just might watch. Its narrator, Pete, and his little brother, Pete (inexplicably), carry the show’s smart and somewhat surreal plots. It is satirical but serious, like A Christmas Story arranged in seasons and episodes. Kids could get into this one.

The only two cartoons on the list so far sport the largest fan-bases. Rugrats has over 1.1 million fans, and Rocket Power has 467,694—remarkable, considering that the phrase “that bizarre cartoon with the Hawaiian skateboarders” is a better identifier than its actual title. And a misleadingly interesting hook. Rugrats is sure to receive the largest viewership, and I think that’s fair. Everyone likes babies.

I’ll let my reviews speak for themselves, but I can’t help but doubt that this new block will get much attention from audiences of my generation.

Wow.

I just got done watching George Mason come back against Villanova, and the adrenaline is racing through me. It’s like the teams playing today waited until I got home to start playing exciting games.

 While the first three games of the day were decided by an average of 16 points (Michigan blew out Tennessee by 30!), the two I’ve been keeping my eye on since I got home have both been close games.

Memphis is leading Arizona by 4 right now, an upset I thought might happen (but am really hoping doesn’t, for my bracket’s sake…4-0 so far today!). About 20 minutes later now, no upset…but an exciting finish! Memphis gets a chance to tie after an offensive rebound (after a purposely missed free throw!), but Arizona blocks the shot to win it by 2 points!

Several hours later now—had to go to work, so I missed a lot of tourney action; fortunately, I didn’t miss much. Most games weren’t close, unless you count Florida State’s 7-point win over Texas A&M.

No. 1 seeds rule the day, winning by 29, 32, and 19 (our Ohio State Buckeyes were the 29, for those of you wondering—Duke led the way with 32 while Kansas won by 19). It’s beginning to look like it’s the No. 1 seeds in a league of their own, and everyone else is on the outside looking in.

But that’s not to say there’s no hope for the other teams. No. 3 seed Purdue showed promise in beating St. Peter’s by 22, and George Mason could certainly give the Buckeye’s more of a threat than Texas San-Antonio did today.

But despite the often talked about parity this season in college basketball, there were just seven upsets in the round of 64, three fewer than the last two seasons.

We’ll have to see if teams can change that tomorrow. West Virginia will try to knock off the Kentucky Wildcats, Butler will try to repeat its unlikely run to the Final Four like last year as they take on No. 1 Pittsburgh, and No. 5 Kansas State will have a shot at putting an end to No. 4 Wisconsin’s title hopes.

Of those, I think West Virginia has the best chance—Kentucky struggled against Princeton (although to the Tigers’ credit, they played a great game), while West Virginia came out strong in the second half against Clemson to win comfortably.

For an upset alert, I’ve got to go with Gonzaga over BYU. BYU is hurting without leading rebounder Brandon Davies, and the Zags looked really good in their win over St. John’s. It should be interesting to see how that one plays out.

My bracket has survived for the most part to this point, at 23-9. Unfortunately, three teams that I had going to the Sweet 16 are already out of the tourney, so the best I can hope for tomorrow is 6-2. Sunday should fare a little better for me, especially with so many higher seeds playing that day.

But first, Saturday. I’m off to bed now, with dreams of great games to come.

After my bracket started out 1-3 in the start of March Madness, I thought that I knew two things: this season was as full of parity as advertised (and it’s going to be a great tournament as a result), and my bracket was in serious trouble.

Lucky for me, the first thought was right, but the second one is still up for debate. As it sits now, I’m 11-4 and there’s still one game going on. Unfortunately, St. John’s just lost, so my Final Four just got busted.

But back to the first thought; this tournament has been a thriller so far! I’ve seen nine of today’s 16 games, and five of those were decided on the last play of the game. I’ve been going nuts over teams that for most of the year, I don’t even notice.

They call it March Madness for a reason.

If I had to pick the most surprising outcome of today’s games, it’s hands down Louisville’s loss to Morehead State. What. A. Game.

Morehead jumped out to an early lead, but Louisville managed to chip away at it and tied it back up by halftime. So I kept watching Clemson-West Virginia, figuring the Cardinals would pull away in the second half.

Long story short, they didn’t, West Virginia did, and I changed channels. Next thing you know, it’s in the final seconds of the game, Morehead State is down by 2 points, and they have the ball.

So when senior Demonte Harper jacked up a 3-pointer with 4 seconds left on the clock, I was stunned. No overtime, just do or die. And Morehead State did it.

The shot fell, the crowd went nuts, I went nuts, and even though my pick was wrong it was still a great moment.

And honestly, that’s how most of the tourney has been so far for me. I may have missed a few picks, but several of them turned out to be exciting games. Old Dominion-Butler turned out to be another great one, again coming down to the last shot. Same with Penn State and Temple.

Oh, and three close ones that I got right—UCLA over perennial powerhouse Michigan State (the Spartans had a furious comeback but fell short in the end), Richmond over Vanderbilt, and Kentucky over Princeton. My point: there have been plenty of close games.

Another close one in the books, as Kansas State beats Utah State by 5 points. I guess I’ll end the day 11-5 with my picks.

I’ll admit it—I take my bracket a little too seriously. But honestly, I think that’s what makes the tournament so great. No matter how little I paid attention to some of these teams during the season, every one of these games means something to me at this point.

This tournament belongs to the coaches and players and schools that are in it, but it belongs to the fans too.

Today was a good day. I spent it absorbed in basketball—which many will argue is just a game—but I spent it happy and expect tomorrow to be more of the same.

As the second day kicks off, it looks to have plenty of close games as well. Michigan and Tennessee will face off in an 8 seed- 9 seed matchup, as do Illinois and UNLV. And if it’s upsets you’re looking for, Memphis-Arizona could be a good one to pay attention to.

Hopefully I’ll come out of the second day with a decent bracket—after getting my Final Four busted so soon, I can’t survive another big bust—but whatever the case, it looks to be a great month of basketball, and I’ve got a full-blown case of March Madness.

I knew the dangers of walking around by myself. I knew stranger danger. But never for a second did I think that either of these would happen to me. I suppose that this is why they’re called ‘silent crimes.’ No one talks about them.

Granted, I’m not completely traumatized. I was already paranoid with people walking behind me. It seemed that just when I got over the pain of Aug. 8, 2010, another load of fear and paranoia was dropped upon my shoulders.

Let me step back for a second and explain.

Over the summer, I went to stay with a boy named Joshua at his grandparents’ house in Northern Michigan — the village of Benzonia, Michigan, to be exact. It’s not even big enough to be a town.

Everything went great for the first two months.

But then, it was as if we had spent too much time around each other. And argument after argument took place. Yelling and screaming took place. A perfume bottle put a dent in the wall near my head.

The worst argument of all happened on Aug. 8.

This argument, in particular, ended with me pushed up against the wall with his hands around my neck, unable to breathe. I spent the next six days living in fear. He was my ride back home.

After two months, lots of tears,and a very deep, very personal poem read to a room full of strangers, I got over it. Or rather, as over it as I’ll ever get.

I didn’t tell anyone about it for weeks. Not family, not friends. No one knew but me and Josh.

I suppose that’s why people call them crimes of silence. Those who are the victims are too afraid to talk about it.

My most recent brush with a sexual assault happened just two weeks ago.

It was Oct. 22. I was walking home from work, and, against my better instinct, I decided not to wait for my roommate Jerry. And I decided not to take the front way home, going on the Market Avenue side of the Stark County Library.

While walking down Cleveland Avenue, I was being followed by a strange man. He walked up next to me, holding a phonebook, trying hard to strike up a conversation. This conversation quickly went from something so innocent as “you have a pretty smile,” to such lewd comments that I cannot really mention them.

I asked him to leave me alone and took off running. It was unlucky for me that I decided to wear a very loose pair of white Vans sneakers. It was hard to run. He pushed me to the ground and laughed in my ear as he touched me inappropriately. I began to kick and scream, attracting the attention of a patron of Heggy’s Candy Company  and a woman who worked at a private school on Cleveland Avenue.

I managed to kick him off of me, and, as they both yelled “Hey!”, he ran off.

The woman took me across the street to Heggy’s. I sat behind the counter and called my boss, Amadeus, while she called the cops.

A very nice officer came and I described what happene, and what the man looked like. We then filled out a police report, and I came back to the office.

I may not be over this yet, but I am not traumatized. I am not a victim. And I am breaking the silence.

My advice to any other victims: talk about it. Nothing’s going to change if you stay silent.

I don’t make $50 million a year, but Fred Hassan does. What has he done for the money? As the former CEO of pharmaceutical giant Schering-Plough, he prepared the company for its merger with Merck and the laying off of 16,000 workers. Now that he’s with Bausch & Lomb, analysts expect Hassan again to prepare the company for a merger and again make out like a bandit.

If someone who cuts 16,000 jobs in the midst of the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression deserves $50 million, what do the people scraping up rent and getting by on rice and beans deserve? Do we deserve our poverty? Do they deserve their wealth?

Before the crisis, millions of people in the United States were doing the things society tells us we should do when we grow up. They owned cars. They were making their mortgage payments..But since the crisis began, many working people have lost their homes and their jobs – largely because banking CEOs got (more) greedy and messed up.

Millions and millions of people work hard, making things and providing services corporations can sell for much more than it costs to pay them. Then they go home and raise children, which on its own is a full-time job. Parents are often workers, personal nannies, chefs, chauffeurs and tutors, all in one. Are their lives any easier or less valuable than those of CEOs?

In 2008, the average income for 20 CEOs of banks that got bailed out by the government was 34 times the US president’s $400,000 salary, wrote Sarah Anderson of the Institute for Policy Studies. Census statistics from the same year put the average household income in the United States at $52,000.

This way of doing things defies any logic capitalism has for paying its captains of industry. One of the justifications for enormous executive salaries is the amount of stress executives carry. The centralized leadership of corporations means that the high-ups are responsible for the success of the business, and if they mess up, the fate of the business is on them.

But in the case of the bank bailouts, even when they messed up big time they got paid enough for two Learjets. Those of us who aren’t making millions of dollars, in effect, paid for their messing up and creating an economic failure that cost friends and neighbors their jobs.

Of course it’s not fair. For more than a century, business has gotten by through making the small class of bosses rich while the rest of us struggle. But that shouldn’t keep us from asking whether it’s the best we can do.

We need a radical change in the way we do things, not the slight nudge politicians sometimes offer. Let’s shift our priorities from rewarding the small number of top executives. Let’s reward everyone for being productive members of society. Instead of letting CEOs profit from cutting jobs, let’s give everyone jobs that fit their talents and interests.

It may take a lot – a lot – of discussions to figure out something better, but we need to open those discussions. As people, what do we all deserve, and do some people deserve more because they hold positions of power? Is placing power in the hands of a few wealthy people very democratic? What role do less wealthy people play in society?

What would the world be like if everyone had resources to support a decent standard of living?