2012 profile

If you have ever wanted to shoot paintball's at your father who is on a four wheeler from a tube getting pulled behind it with 30 ft of rope in between than Andy MacDonald is a man you should have met.
MacDonald did not always start out this courageous, that is if you count jumping out of his crib with his twin brother Peter before the age of one not courageous. MacDonald would not call this courageous his word choice was "good old fashioned American fun."
MacDonald started this “fun” in Swanzey, New Hampshire where he fell in love with the great outdoors.
“Our parents pretty much let us do what we wanted, that was not a bad thing in the early 90’s. We just played in the woods and built forts,” said MacDonald’s twin brother Peter.
MacDonald and his family of five, three kids two adults, moved around quite a bit and he likes to think that each place taught him something different.
After Swanzey, where MacDonald fell in love with nature and being outside, the MacDonald’s moved to Chelmsford, Massachusetts. Chelmsford was a small town but that is where MacDonald started first grade. He learned to true meaning of friendship, “Though I haven’t kept in contact with any of them, I remember the fun we had.”
Next on the destinations of Macdonald’s life was Columbia, South Carolina. “Columbia might have been my favorite place to be, it was like a vacation.” MacDonald and his family lived on a golf course and lived the “country club life” as he described it. They played golf and tennis every week and in the summers the kids would compete with the swim team. “Living down there taught me my favorite part about myself, how to relax and take life as it comes to you”

Tuesday Times

The biggest article in the paper today was definitely the suicide bombing in Russia. This is obviously terrible news and affected a lot of people. It did not affect however. Being from Massachusetts the most interesting article to was about the 9 students who could be convicted for forcing a girl to commit suicide. I should clarify the 9 students are being charged with bullying the girl to the point that she thought suicide was the only way out. I had never heard of South Hadley before today, but having it happen in my own state caught my attention.

Monday Times

I found today's paper very informing. I first read an article about company executives that have been laid off in this economy are now taking jobs that they are over qualified. This does not always work because new employees may find the job not as rewarding or just not challenging enough for them. Another interesting article was about how ballot dancers are now using twitter to tell the world what they do on a day to day basis. In the past ballot dancers have not had experience dealing with the public, but using twitter allows the dancers to tell whoever wants to listen what they do on a day to day basis. An article that surprised me was one about housing laws. Apparently there are laws in certain cities only allowing 3 or 4 non family members living in houses or apartments together. There is such a law in Boston, that I know, for a fact is not enforced.

Thursday Times

Today's article had many interesting articles. I enjoyed one about USA and Russia getting rid of some of their nuclear arms. It said in the article that it would be to fewest each country would have in the past 50 years so pre cold war. Another interesting article was about texting. I text pretty much every day and it hurts no one. In the article I found out that kids would get text messages to tell them where to meet up, then they would terrorize an area of a city. I do not see the point of arguing that texting is the cause of this. Kids are going to use the new technologies in different ways no matter what those technologies are.

Wednesday Times

The most interesting article in today's paper was the one about the 5 boys that vanished in the 1970s. The man that killed them came forward and admitted guilt. These stories, though they are sad, are reassuring because it puts hope in the eyes of other victims of kidnapping. I also liked the article about California Prisons. The prisons are overcrowded so they are opening their doors and letting convicts out.Another article that I liked was one about Daimler Automotive. They are a German car company and were charged $185 million for trying to bribe government officials. I like this article because I only hear about bribing officials in the movies never in real life.

Biddeford City Airport

The Biddeford City Airport has been a part of the Biddeford community since 1951, but in recent years the airport has been losing money and tax payers have had to pick up the slack.
The Biddeford local government will receive $3 million and save around $60 thousand annually if the town votes to shut down the airport.
Many townspeople want to see the airport go. “Once we started looking at the airport, we came to the conclusion that there is no financial benefit at its existing size and capacity. It continues to be a tax burden,” said Paul Archambault a neighbor to the airport and Chairman to Shut Our Little Airport (SOLA).
“The money is the biggest thing. If it was self-supporting, fine. Let it go on,” said Roland Pelletier Biddeford City Manager.
Archambault has his own ideas for what the 126 acre plot could be used for. “Maybe an industrial park in there…Or how about a wind farm? We could provide power to the nearby schools. That’s the kind of progress we’d like to see.”
The argument to shut down the airport started a few years ago when the airport cut down trees along the runway and begin enforcing no trespassing laws on airport property. The Biddeford city Airport was complying with FAA laws so has not to lose funding.
“We have pedestrians, motorcycles, four wheelers (and) ATVs all using it. They can’t use it has a backyard and that’s against regulations,” said Tom Bryand Airport Manager. Local pilot Phyllis Landry can also remember a time when she had to abort a takeoff because kids ran into the runway.
“The FAA is just doing its job. People need to understand that. They really do. Maybe it’s expensive to run the airport. But it’s a great resource. I know business people who fly in here all the time,” said Landry.
The Biddeford City Airport currently houses 47 airplanes of which half are owned by local businesses. Where will they move to if Biddeford closes? “I have been flying out of this airport for 25 years…I love this airport. If I couldn’t fly here I’d have to go to Sanford or Portland,” Landry commented.

Tuesday Times

It is amazing to me that on today's front page a headline was Next Big Issue? Social Security Pops Up Again. There was nothing about the health care bill, we have already moved on. What I did enjoy was reading about Google in China. I met a few people from China over winter break and they talked about Google trying to work its way into the nation, but not having much success. Well now they have backed out completely. Keeping on the topic of China, Hong Kong is well above the Health Departments standards.

Monday Times

Today's paper was pretty historic. The long debated health care bill was passed so naturally the paper was covered in stories about it. The biggest part of the bill that effects me is that I can stay on my parents plan until I am 26. That is reassuring to me, being a senior and looking at jobs for next year. An article that was very entertaining was the one about google offering to set up internet access in a city. City leaders are performing outrageous stunts to get google attention, such as jumping in Lake Superior or skydiving.

Wednesday Times

The first thing that caught my attention in today's paper was the article about the principle who has to advertise for her school. I grew up in suburban towns so I never had an option of multiple public schools. The idea of choosing where to go to to elementary school is very weird to me. An article that I enjoyed was the one about the Post Office. I recently met my dad's coworkers from China and when they saw mail on our counter they laughed. People in China don't use "snail mail" Like so many other things technology is taking over the postal world.

Tuesday Times

Today's paper was nothing special in my opinion. The one article I felt sympathetic for was the one about the man who committed suicide. According to the article he was a confidential source for the government and he was living with those "demons" Other sources have committed suicide in the past as well.

Monday Times

In today's paper there was an article about the US purchasing part of the Florida Everglades. I am all for preserving the environment, but I can't help but think that there are better things the government can spend it's money on right now. An article that I was surprised to hear about was that colleges were accepting students who did not need financial aid. I thought that admissions did not look at income while deciding who to admit, but I guess I was wrong. I was glad hear that some schools were admiting students purely based on academics and extra curricular. An article that I really enjoyed was the one about Pandora. I use Pandora a couple times a month to listen to music and I enjoyed learning the history of the site.

Thursday Times

The topic in today's paper that caught my attention was the article about the Russian Olympic Chairman who resigned after Putin made a statement about how bad the Russians did in the Olympics. I can't believe that Putin is taking the outcome so seriously. Looks like the economy is hitting the big stars in Hollywood as well, because their salaries for movies are no longer in the 20 million range. A new system where stars get paid more if the movie is a hit is in place. This new method makes more sense to me. I love movies, but the actors were getting paid way too much.

Wednesday Times

An article that caught my attention was the one about hulu. Hulu is a website that allows to legally watch TV shows on your computer. Viacom has sold off the rights to a couple of shows on hulu and I hear in the future plans to start charging viewers per show they watch. The only reason hulu became famous is because it is free, I believe its audience will drastically drop when the viewers are asked to give money. By now it is common knowledge that half of Americans that get married, get divorced. A new study shows that if couples live together before they get married the divorce rate goes up 6 percent. This is not what I expected, especially in today's society where buying a house together is a bigger step than putting rings on each others fingers.

Tuesday Times

Movie stars are some of the most famous names in today's society. Movies became adapted from live shows, however live shows have taken a backseat to movies. Big name stars like Will Smith and his wife Jada Pinkett have attached their name to a brpadway show in hopes of selling more tickets. In my opinion this was a great idea and I hope that it works. An article that I was very interested in was the one about how Russia's Prime Minister Putin was disappointed with his countries performance in the 2010 Winter Olympics. It is tough to give an opinion on this because the USA as accumulated over 2500 medals over the years.

Drinking in College

“Students have been drinking as long as we’ve had students,” said Ann Lawing Dean of Students at the University of New Hampshire. College students across the country partake in drinking every week but university administrators think it’s time for a change.
Efforts to decrease college students drinking habits have increased in the past 20-25 years. “We are willing to talk about alcohol now,” Lawing said.
Alcohol abuse is causing harm to all aspects of a student’s life from missing classes to assaults on campus. It is estimated that 1700 students die each year due to alcohol related incidents.
Sheila Lambert the Coordinator of Wellness at Southern New Hampshire University sees improvement in the drinking habit of students.
“The majority of students drink 4 or fewer drinks a week,” said Lambert. New research is available to help students and educate them on the realities of low risk drinking.
Lambert thinks colleges can continue with less alcohol consumption, “they [college students] can still have fun and get the whole college experience.”

Monday Times

As much as I hate that Canada beat the US for the gold medal, I have to appreciate what it meant for the Canadians. The article in the Times helped me appreciate that. The lead about Rev. Glenn Dion was very well done. Another article that I was very interested in was the article about Adam C. Hochfelder. Holchfelder was very big in the real estate business. Real estate is sort of a hobby of mine, so reading about it is always entertaining for me. Especially the toll it took on his life and how drugs and greed overtook him.