I was watching “The Today Show” like I do every morning when I’m getting ready for class, and there was a short segment about Americans becoming dumber.

“The Today Show” was proceeded with a montage of “The Simple Life” “The Newlyweds,” and “Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader?” where people struggled with what a fish-filet was, if tuna was in fact tuna or chicken, and the capital of Hungary.

I don’t know if it’s Jessica Simpson, Nicole Richie and Paris Hilton and even Kellie Pickler living up to the “dumb-blonde” stereotype, or if Americans truly are dumb.

Even Jay Leno enjoys going out on the street to ask young adults who was the 14th president, the capital of France, and the north most point in the United States.

Most people can’t answer, while I enjoy laughing at their stupidity, it also concerns me that they too represent the public school system, and one day could hold a job in a large business or working in government.

It’s not just common civilians; we are led by a president who is mocked in every country for his inability to pronounce "nuclear" and other words along with struggling to make it through a sentence without stuttering.

I’m not knocking Bush, well, not intentionally, but the entire world is making fun of “stupid Americans.” Yes, you become angry when someone from another country says this, but we are.

According to “The Today Show” only 40 percent of people from the age of 20-44 read a book in the last year. One book this includes: “See Spot Run.”

Want to hear what the reason was behind people not reading? They were too busy. My response: You watch four hours of TV a day, and you can’t read a book?

That was the similar response to the people discussing the declining American intelligence.

Yes, I watch a lot of TV, but I have read at least three books this year, and it’s the end of February. Already I’m close to being done with “Pride and Prejudice” and have about 900 pages remaining in “War and Peace.”

Does this make me intelligent? Probably not, as I had to ask what 30 percent of 10 was in one of my classes.

I can however tell you that Budapest is the capital of Hungary, France and England are separated by the English Channel (no, not a channel on TV, you moron!) and it is roughly two English pounds to the American dollar.

No, I didn’t use Google.

I feel like as Americans we are getting fatter, we are becoming dumber, or the news is just focusing on those that struggle with basic elementary history, geography, and science.

I don’t know if it’s because as people get older they begin focusing on other topics, or just wanting to watch pointless television programs after a long day at work.

It doesn’t matter why we choose to entertain ourselves with pointless shows, or whatever else, the fact is, we as Americans can't proclaim ourselves superior to other countries where many citizens speak two to three languages by the time they graduate secondary school.

When I was over in Europe in the summer of 2001, I had the opportunity to stay with the Neuholds, an Austrian family for a week.

The family was amazed I didn’t know German or French. The fact I knew enough Spanish to ask what time it was and if someone wanted to play tennis did not impress them. They were under the impression that as Americans we were taught all the languages our companies did business with.

They were shocked when I said that I didn’t learn another language until eighth grade. Maybe it’s our educational system that is leading to our ignorance. But if I do blame the education system, why is it the adults that struggle with geography questions?

We need to take a good look at ourselves, get over our egos and know that we can no longer proclaim ourselves superior when we’re not.

A few weeks ago I presented some tips on driving in winter. This week I'll share one more, then talk about insurance.

I’m not sure how much more snow we will have this year, but it is very important to be safe on the road when there's snow. I’m not talking about what to do when driving, but rather what to do before you pull out of the driveway.

First thing is start the car. Crawl in from the passenger side if you have to, and get the engine running so the oil has time to change from “molasses in January” to a suitable lubrication. Now get back outside and start brushing and scraping.

I suppose that if the front window has a porthole-size area to see through, that is good enough – but if you get in an accident I don’t think any police officer would look too kindly on you. Be sure that all the windows are clear and that all the headlights and blinkers are free from obstruction. I also clear the hood of snow since it will all blow over the windows when I drive. There might not be any more snow this year, so just promise me that you will remember this for next year.

Okay, now that I've got that pet peeve out of the way, lets talk insurance. It can be costly, but it’s the law and very helpful. My company paid off my first truck when I totaled it back in 2002.

To get your premium lower, start by picking up the phone. You might not need to shop around at all, but go to your current insurer and see how they can help you. The first quote they give you is based on simple qualifications.

I phoned my company and found out that my original price of $680 for 6 months of full coverage could actually be reduced by well over $100. When I very politely talked to the agent, she asked me more in-depth questions.

“Are your grades above a 3.0?” “Do you make less than $500 a month?” These would qualify me for the good student discount, and the low-income discount. My company also offers a ‘steer clear’ program consisting of a DVD and a quiz booklet. Score high and get lower rates.

My final quote was just under $500. Not bad for spending 15 minutes on the phone.

A “Super Mario Kart” advertisement was playing on my friend’s computer. I was only half-listening until I heard someone in the commercial say, “This is not your father’s ‘Mario Kart.’” That seems like an obvious statement: My father’s generation didn’t have a “Mario Kart.” Then the commercial's message hit me like a ton of Tetris Blocks: By “your father’s ‘Mario Kart,’” he meant my “Mario Kart!”

Is there an age by which people should grow up and stop playing video games? Is there a new Mario that has rendered the old one obsolete? Am I just out of touch? Probably not. According to ComScore Media Metrix, the average gamer is 41 years old, and this number has been steadily rising. According to abcmcorp. com, residents of the Willow Dale nursing home play video games on the Nintendo Wii. (I recommend going to the site for more information, and by “information,” I mean “pictures of nursing home residents playing video games.”)

All things considered, college gamers might still be on the young side of the golden coin. I was only six in 1992, when the first “Mario Kart” came out of the pipe. Was it my father who spent his entire life savings on the game when it was first discounted to $20? I wished!

And that’s now. An Oct. 17, 1989 Torch article titled, “Mario Bros. enroll at FSU,” covered the effects video games were having on the campus, according to a later article by Laura Chene. That was 19 years ago. Gamers who were in their 20s back then are in their 40s now, and many of them probably have children who can relate to the “not your father’s ‘Mario Kart’” commercial.

Despite the fact that there are so many gamers beyond college-age, I have had some interesting encounters with younger gamers. I came across a video clip from the old “Super Mario Brothers Super Show” cartoon on Youtube. Someone had commented critically, writing that Mario and Toad don’t talk like that, Koopas don’t look like that, and that Peach’s hair isn’t that color.

I responded, explaining that they all used to be like that until changes were made in 1991 and 1996. Didn’t this person remember? No, he didn’t remember because, according to his profile, he was 13 years old.

Recently my four year-old cousin visited, and he marveled at my shelves of classic Super Mario Brothers merchandise, exclaiming that I had a lot of “toys.” The Simpsons’ Comic Book Guy’s voice played my head as I argued internally, “They’re not toys! They’re collector’s items.”

Another cousin of mine brought the Nintendo Wii that he bought for his son (who could have been targeted with the “not your father’s ‘Mario Kart’” advertisement,) to my grandparents’ house. For the first time in his life, my grandpa played a video game, and he loved it. Before that, he had always said that he didn’t understand how people could stand to play them.

So are college students too old for video games, as commercials that refer to “your father’s ‘Mario Kart’” might imply? Of course not! We’re all reaching higher levels, which gives us a one-up on younger gamers. Why quit when we’re just getting good?

Throughout the course of history, inventions and discoveries have changed the way we live. The wheel, electricity, the light bulb, the automobile all had a significant impact on how we carry out our daily activities throughout our entire lives. I think it is safe to say that the next invention on this list is the cellular telephone.

According to a Feb. 24 article by The Washington Post, there is currently one cell phone for every two people on the planet. That puts the number at around 3.3 billion cell phones. While the United States has a pretty firm market niche, the areas of most rapid growth in cell phone purchasing are developing countries like India and the Philippines. However, with the lack of hardwire or landline telephone capabilities, it’s just easier to have a cell phone in those places.

This begins to beg the question: what will a world in which everyone has a cell phone look like?

Each day when I am getting ready for work at around 7:30am, I give myself a sort of ‘pat down’ in order to ensure that I have all of the items I will need for the day. Left front pants pocket contains my keys. Left rear pocket is empty. Right rear pocket contains my wallet, and my right front pocket is occupied by an ink pen, a tube of mint chapstick and the oh so important bit of technology; my cell phone.

If, during this morning pat down, I am unable to locate my cell phone there is a brief moment of panic followed by a torrent of unorganized searching and eventual victory in determining the phone’s location.

Cell phones feed one of our greatest human desires to socialize. Their design has evolved in the past few years into the realm of the “Smart Phone.” BlackBerry, Treo, iPhone and the like all make up this genre whose primary use is still that of a telephone, but with a greater emphasis on other uses. As stated by the same article in The Washington Post, the largest camera maker in the world is the same company that is the largest music playing device manufacturer and is also currently in talks to take over the map data behind mapquest.com. The company is Nokia. And with their resources, a new wave of GPS, music capable, texting communication devices are soon to be had.

We see cell phones replacing daily objects like cameras, maps and even mp3 players, but more primitive objects like watches and flashlights are at a decline. If you use your cell phone to light your way in the dark, you’re not alone. Sixty-six percent of Americans do it too.

The idea that something roughly the size of a pack of gum or a candy bar can have such a profound effect on our lives is a bit daunting. If my mother calls me and I don’t respond within four hours, the response I usually get from her is something to the tune of, “… is everything all right? Are you okay?” Yes Mom, I’m fine.

The ease of communication, the connections we make to others are all at the sacrifice of privacy. Being available 24 hours a day is helpful, but using a telephone as a crutch instead of thinking ahead may be keeping us from really planning our day’s activities. Texting may be a simple way to send your friends a quick message, but it’s also dismantling a grammatical system that was already on the ropes.

Try going a day without your cell phone. Just for fun. Just one day. Can the world survive without hearing from you? Can you survive without hearing from it?

With all the school shootings throughout the past decade, many are weary about safety and wish to protect themselves. A piece of information found on cnn.com states that Michigan has legislation at the House of Representatives that would allow students to carry concealed weapons on college campuses.

First of all, I did some research on Michigan.gov to find pieces of legislation that stated anything about allowing people with concealed weapons to be allowed to bring their weapons on college campuses. I found nothing but information on new legislation that would allow instructors, staff, and administration on campuses to carry concealed weapons.

Knowing a bit about how newspapers operate, I know that it is unlikely CNN would have just made this up. They found something I could not. However, because I don’t have any other proof other than a short statement by CNN, I’m going to say that this is a rumor.

However, it’s a pretty serious one. I do not like the thought nor see the need for students to carry guns around Ferris.

I admit that it’s not an easy process to obtain a permit in the first place. According to Michigan.gov, there are many requirements that are needed in order to obtain a concealed pistol permit. One must be at least 21 and a legal resident of the U.S. (or resident alien). There must be no record of mental health conditions, and the person cannot have been dishonorably discharged from the armed forces. Of course, a pistol safety course must be completed.

Oh, and if a felony has been committed (in any state), don’t think that person will be getting a concealed pistol permit. Also, if a person has been convicted of a misdemeanor like driving under a suspended license or have gotten a DUI within the last three years then he or she won’t be getting a permit.

There are a lot of requirements one must have before getting the permit. However, let’s look at one thing that has happened with both of the last two major university shooters— neither had nothing more than minor problem with the law. The Virginia Tech shooter had three speeding tickets. The NIU shooter only had one. They were fairly respectable citizens who didn’t have law problems.

Which brings up another thing I’m sure you’re thinking. The NIU shooter, Kazmierczak, was taking some sort of medication for an unknown condition, but had stopped shortly before the incident occurred, leaving many to believe that he had some sort of mental condition. Kazmierczak still had a gun on his person. It wasn’t exposed, but that’s what a concealed weapon is: concealed.

No professor is going to ask everyone in the class to see the concealed weapon permits. If a student saw a gun that’s supposed to be hidden, no one would ask about it.

What I’m trying to say here is that some people will have guns on campus without having the permit.

That thick process to get a permit just isn’t perfect.

I do believe that having guns in classrooms could have some positive effect. However, let’s leave that to professors and staff. Having twenty guns in a classroom is not necessary for stopping a gunner.

If you have watched any of the news networks’ coverage of the Democratic Presidential contest over the past month, I am sure you have heard the word “superdelegate” come up at least once. You may be wondering who and what is a superdelegate.

A superdelegate is a unique position and title to the Democratic National Convention. A superdelegate is a party official on the national committee, or an elected Democratic official. These officials include current governors, U.S. Representatives, and U.S. Senators. Past Presidents and Vice Presidents are given this special title and privilege too.

The purpose of a superdelegate is to give party leaders and officeholders a say in who receives the Democratic Presidential nomination. Between August 25-28, 2008, the superdelegates are free to vote for any candidate at the Democratic National Convention in Denver.

There is some major controversy brewing about how the superdelegates will vote at the convention. If Barack Obama wins the March 4 primaries of Texas and Ohio, Hillary is pretty much out of the race. If she wins both of these delegate-rich states, more than likely we will not know who the nominee will be until the convention.

The problem with the race going all the way to the convention is the fact that the voters in all of the primaries would be ignored. During the primaries, each candidate receives a portion of that particular state’s delegates in proportion to the amount of the votes they received. These delegates are called pledged delegates. For example, even though Hillary Clinton won California, Barack Obama still picked up a lot of delegates because the race was so close. Hillary received 52 percent of the vote in California, earning her 195 pledged delegates. Barack won 43 percent of the vote and 152 pledged delegates.

Currently, CNN projects that Barack Obama has earned 1,158 pledged delegates, along with the support of 161 superdelegates. Hillary Clinton has received 1,016 pledged delegates, plus the support of 234 superdelegates. Adding these two figures gives us a sum of 1,319 total delegates for Barack compared to Hillary’s 1,250.

As you can see, the race is very close in both the battles for pledged and super delegates. If a clear winner is not decided after the Ohio and Texas primaries, it will be up to the superdelegates to choose the nominee.

There is some argument among the Democratic Party on who the superdelegates should support. Some officials feel that superdelegates should be able to stick to their position description and choose whoever they want. Others are saying that the superdelegates should vote for whoever won a majority of the votes in their home state.

If there is a clear front-runner by August, and a majority of the superdelegates do not like who is poised to receive the nomination, they could theoretically swing the vote to the other candidate. Is there a possibility that this could happen? The answer is yes. But would that really happen? Probably not.

Currently, some superdelegates are going public with who they plan on supporting. From the Michigan delegation, Governor Jennifer Granholm, along with her Lieutenant, John Cherry, have thrown their support behind Hillary Clinton. Sen. Debbie Stabenow, and Reps. Sander Levin, Dale Kildee and John Dingell also support Clinton.

Only one Representative has announced publicly that he is supporting Barack Obama. This lone Michigander happens to be John Conyers from the Detroit area.

Other Michigan superdelegates have not backed any candidate yet including Michigan Democratic Party Chairman Mark Brewer, Sen. Carl Levin and Rep. Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick. Some of the national party figures that are still on the fence include former President Jimmy Carter, former Vice President and Presidential candidate Al Gore, Democratic National Committee Chair Howard Dean, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

Another controversy is also brewing about the future of both the Michigan and Florida delegates. Since both of these swing states violated Democratic National Committee (DNC) rules by moving their primaries forward, the DNC has decided to strip both states of their delegates. The big question is whether or not the delegates would be seated at the convention in Denver. Both Michigan and Florida are swing states with a good number of electoral votes in the Electoral College. Would the Democratic Party be crazy enough to alienate the voters in these key states? This is another major argument that will be coming to a head within the upcoming weeks.

What affect, if any at all, would the superdelegates have on the outcome of the Democratic National Convention? Will the Michigan and Florida delegates be seated at the convention? The only answer to both of these questions that I can seem to find comes from the popular Jimmy Buffett song, “Only time will tell.”

Do women have a built-in hormonal disadvantage when it comes to being stressed about different things in life? That’s the highly loaded question that I asked myself as my mood seemed to change with the weather during last week.

We all have stress sometimes. For some people, it happens before having to speak in public. For other people, it might be before a first date. What causes stress for you may not be stressful for someone else. Sometimes stress is helpful it can encourage you to meet a deadline to get things done. But long-term stress can increase the risk of diseases like depression, heart disease and a variety of other problems.

Stress is defined as physical, mental, or emotional strain or tension according to dictornary. com. Stress occurs all the time in most people’s lives. At some point in their lives, almost all people will go through stressful events or situations that overwhelm their ability to cope.

Today, women make up almost half the U.S. work force. In most cases, this is done out of the necessity to make ends meet and pay monthly bills. Women are more likely than men to have multiple roles. The roles may be a nontraditional college student, a woman who has children or maybe a caregiver to an elderly adult.

More women are now holding higher positions and are working in trades that were mostly occupied by men. Studies show that a job with high demands, low control over how the job is done, and low social support lead to greater decline in health status (cbsnews. com).

Stress for me last week came from me moving too fast, having too many worries and not prioritizing what I needed to do. At first, just thinking about what I had to do got me a little worried. As I sat down and thought about everything, it moved from worry to a headache which I diagnosed as caused by stress.

So with my self diagnosis I found a couple of tips to reduce stress from my life and I wanted to share them with you. Prioritize, simplify, share work, be active, communicate, slow down, get plenty of rest and eat sensibly. A balanced diet provides all the necessary energy needed during the day. A woman should avoid illegal drugs and excessive use of alcohol.

Sometimes, especially in highly stressful situations of a temporary nature such as the death of a loved one, medications can be helpful. However, over the long term, the risks of dependence on medications, or of substituting medication for other productive steps, must be weighed against the benefits.

According to heatlth.discovery. com, eliminating stress from life is impossible. However, doing nothing to counteract stress will virtually guarantee that one will experience harmful physical and emotional consequences.