Where is all the water going?

As California begins to enter its third consecutive year of drought, the one question looming over the state is what will residents do to help?

Water is used to produce every household item and food in America.

Researchers have found that the standard trash barrel holds 32 gallons of water and a mid-sized passenger car has room for little more than 800 gallons of water.

Farmers use more than 70 percent of the water in the world and when it takes enough water to fill two mid-sized cars to produce a pound of chicken and a pound of beef how can we continue to use all of this water and be fine?

The answer is we cannot.

Water can replenish itself by rainfall, run-off and melting snow, but with the world population count at more than 6.7 billion, we are not going to be able to rely on Mother Nature to get the job done and provide water for everyone at the same time.

The only answer to this global predicament is to reduce the amount of water being wasted and to act quickly.

At least one large corporation has risen to the occasion and has begun doing its part in reducing its water footprint.

Starbucks has cleaned up its act to reduce the amount of water it wastes using dipper wells that constantly run. It plans to replace those dipper wells with eco-friendly wells this summer.

California authorities have set a goal to reduce the use of 80 gallons of water per person a day to 37 gallons.

A few ways you can begin to accomplish this is to reduce the use of water through simple steps at home.

An average of 30 gallons of water can be conserved if the water is turned off while washing dishes.

Plug up and fill the sink with water while shaving to reduce the use of running water.

Keep the sink off while lathering the soap on your hands or in your hair to save water.

Fix any leaky faucets, toilets or water pipes. Even the smallest drip can add up to loosing several gallons of water a day.

Water your plants and lawns at night, it will help keep them alive as well as avoid the wasting of water in evaporation.

Consider washing your face and brushing your teeth in the shower.

And begin shortening your time in the shower by one minute. Shorter showers means less water being used.

For more ideas about how to conserve water and how to be more eco-friendly, visit www.bewaterwise.com. The site also offers information about the second annual Spring Green Fair hosted by the Metropolitan Water District. The fair will be held from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. May 7 in Los Angeles. The event is free, but if you plan to attend a workshop, you are asked to register.

What is the point of a rainy day fund when we're in a drought?

In this photo are hundreds of umbrellas in the quad of Cal State San Bernardino as protesters say no to the alleged prop 1A....


So the Terminator is trying to change our budget again to increase this so called rainy day fund. He is expecting Californians to take tax revenues and put it into this collective pot to store away until our poor state is in dire need of some rescuing. Sounds a little fishy to me.

Why are we as tax payers going to agree to increase our taxing to 12% and place it in this fund that is not going to be regulated? How do I know that my money isn't going towards a senators banquet? or the hooker in the hotel afterward? I mean come on, honestly, you expect me to believe that all this money is just going to magically sit all alone, untouched while we wait for an economic crisis? and if that doesn't come then the scraps will go toward the school system? right.....

I mean the concept in a way makes sense. Reckless California puts money away for desperate times. Kind of like hiding money under your mattress in case the banks fail but this money is way more dirty. Like hiding your money under Pamela Anderson's bed....You just don't want to touch that.

Yes as a student I think our schools should get money, but I am not against this prop because I feel the education system is suffering in all areas of the state. I know some schools that are getting AstroTurf fields and renovating the hallways. While some colleges build new "campus centers" to be used for students but instead throw the administration and higher faculty in there. Yeah my money is going to great use.

So to end this long note...Prop 1A is just another way for the dirty government to try and ruin our lives, why don't you give money to a charity or adopt a homeless child in another country, that would be a better use of your pot o' gold.

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What happend to what we stood for?

"Miss California USA co-directors Shannon Moakler and Keith Lewis will hold a news conference Monday to announce Carrie Prejean's fate.

Officials are reportedly in talks with the beauty queen's camp about losing her coveted tiara over possible contract violations as a result of public appearances supporting opponents of same-sex marriage.

Not to mention those revealing sexy underwear photos taken when she was a teen that she failed to divulge."

This is a clip from the Washington Post commenting on the recent tragedy with Miss CA.

Now, why does America, and the critics constantly set people up for failure that are in the lime light?

Now I am not saying that she shouldn't have answered the way she did, and put down same-sex couples but isn't this a bit ridiculous?

Yes she is representing CA and in doing so should have thought a little harder about how she was going to address politics but what ever happened to freedom of speech?

The Bill of Rights is constantly thrown down and forgotten when it comes to news and any other type of media communication. The one thing our founding fathers built this nation on is not even used in this day and age.

While I do not think Miss Prejean should have said the things she did, I do not think she should be ridiculed and harassed.

We allow talk show hosts such as Conan O'Brien and Bill O'Reilly to continuously bash politics and celebrities but we the people of the United States are not allowed to do so?

I wish that we would stop being bias and take a second to look around and realize whatever we are critiquing on we are most likely doing ourselves.

Dance it out

Dancing has been proven to release stress from an individual. At the communications department at school I felt I needed to get away from Web Editing for awhile.

Culture confusion

In my Anthropology class we have been learning a lot about cultures and how they celebrate events and overall just live. I have come to the conclusion that the United States of America is completely mixed up with everything except for maybe weddings. Why is it that we take so much time to plan a wedding, we put our very life into this one day where a man and woman are united, but don't want anything to do with death. Why is death such a sad moment filled with turmoil and despair? Death is the passing over into another place (if that is what you believe) no more pain or having to deal with the ridiculous world we live in. Almost every other culture within the world views death as something beautiful, something special. I talk to so many people who are afraid of living because they are going to die, they stop enjoying life. But we are not meant to live in fear, hiding behind the ever growing thought of possibly dying at that very moment. I wish that Americans would stop and see the beauty in everyday life as well as death itself. There is so much to appreciate in this huge and ever changing world! Just take a moment in the day to find something to smile about, the beauty of the sky, the spring flowers, the vast mountain range. Nature is the cure to fear, within the world we live are spectacular events and sights that can make a person completely forget about their worries. And if you don't have time to look outside and your one of the many popular "couch potatoes" then flip the channel to national geographic or the discovery channel. I'm telling you Plant Earth in HD....it will blow your mind.

What makes the news...

Have you noticed that the news on television is not actually news. It is almost unfathomable the type of information that will make the evening edition news program these days. Sometimes I get lucky and actually learn about something useful, such as the country's plan to fix the economic depravity or about whats going on in the rest of the world. Last night I turned on my television and the first thing to pop up on the news was "MICHAEL PHELPS CAUGHT SMOKING MARIJUANA OUT OF A BONG" oh good gracious no, he has committed an act 95% of Americans do daily, tisk tisk. So I decided to wait until "up next" which of course is not until the end of the the program, to see exactly what has caused such an uproar with this young Olympic athlete. After a long 55 minutes of seeing a car chase, how to get new botox, and what not to eat during your lunch break, which by the way without all this information I don't think I would have made it through my Wednesday, Phelps finally comes on my screen. Now I'm thinking it must have something to do with them taking away his medals for smoking an illegal drug during his meets, or someone is going to sue him for being a bad role model, not even close. The anchor comes on and says something to the effect of " Olympic superstar Michael Phepls caught smoking marijuana out of a bong, the young athlete says he regrets his youthful acts and promises it will never happen again....". That's it. Nothing about how he was caught, who, what, where, when, why. And there we have it, a common American "news special" oh don't worry we'll put information about the millions dying of starvation, the eco system being destroyed, and the fact that were falling into a deppression until next time. That is presuming nothing "important" like a car chase, new ways to look skinny, or star accident comes up first.

Maybe if I go stand on Sunset Blvd. and interpretive dance to celien dion with a poodle I might make the evening news edition. "Crazy Hippie girl dances on the streets of LA" I could be famous.