carolinewebb's blog

for all you math studs out there, here is a little calculus problem to work out for fun...

A fence 8 feet tall stands on level ground and runs parallel to a tall building.  If the fence is 1 foor from the building, find the length of the shortest ladder that will extend from the ground over the fence to the wall of the building.  (Hint 1: if L represents the length of the ladder, the quantity L is minimized when the quantity L^2 is minimized, so you do not have to concern yourself with the square root--just minimize L^2 and that will minimize L.  Hint 2: use similar triangles.)

this morning on the news, it said that there was a community college in california whose student government decided to ban the pledge of allegiance.  The three students believed that they shouldn't have to pledge to god or their government.  I have no objections to people not wanting to  pledge to the government or god, it is a free country.  However, the news program

Imagine a young highschool boy hiding who he really is because of the fear he won't be accepted.  Being a 14 year old boy is hard--hormones are raging. He is also a starter on his 4a highschool basketball team, and has always been known as a tough athelete--the most "unlikely" person in his class to be gay.  He is scared to admit that he is gay because he does not want people to feel differently around him; he does not want to be judged.  However, this young boy decides that he is going to be honest with himself and the people around him, and he tells them he is homosexual.  I think the only thing worse than him holding his true feelings and personality inside him--living in a closet of fear and anxiety that someone will discover his true identity-- is that society has pressured him to feel bad because he is different.  He is a basketball player, he's tough and has always been a ladies man- he shouldn't be gay.  That's what people are led to believe.  But this mindest is wrong, and he shoud feel comfortable with himself.  i think that society's standards on homosexuality influence people to resist being themselves.

does it seem as if the government is not spending enough time or money to provide affordable heathcare to its children?  Funding the war is the highest priority at the moment, and the health of millions of children is being overlooked.  Growing up, my family did not have health insurance.  My dad's position as pastor at a small church did not bring in much income.  We adjusted to not having insurance, and learned that we couldn't go to the doctor unless we were seriously ill.  I remember times when i felt terrible--but in knew that we could not afford to pay the doctor's bill.